I don't think it was wise for Cat Fancy magazine to change it's name to Catster.
I realize they thought Cat Fancy sounded like it was only about purebreds or whatever, but in ten years the name Catster is going to sound terribly dated. It's too trendy.
There.
Two blog entries for the year.
Yeah!
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
It's been more than a year
It's been more than a year, so I am writing a post here.
The last post I wrote was about not taking a vacation because you just can't.
I have definitely not taken a vacation since then.
A lot has happened, though.
Maybe I'll even get around to writing about it.
Who knows?
I was not having a good year, at that time.
One of my cats died of cancer a couple days after that blog entry.
Things did not improve much from there.
So, OK, I wrote a little about it.
The last post I wrote was about not taking a vacation because you just can't.
I have definitely not taken a vacation since then.
A lot has happened, though.
Maybe I'll even get around to writing about it.
Who knows?
I was not having a good year, at that time.
One of my cats died of cancer a couple days after that blog entry.
Things did not improve much from there.
So, OK, I wrote a little about it.
Monday, June 22, 2015
Vacations
Vacation.
This word can mean and suggest many different things.
It could be an entire week away at some tropical resort, or just taking a day off work to get some major chores done around the house.
It can be a 1980's movie about a family taking a road trip.
Or a 2015 movie about a family taking a road trip. (Which could easily lead to a blog post wondering why so many movies are remakes lately.)
But regardless of how you use the word, the fact remains, there are still a lot of people who cannot, in reality, take a vacation, or at least not do so easily.
I don't just mean they can't afford it, as big a factor as that is.
Of course, there are people who can't take time off work, or they'll lose their job. Depending on the job, maybe they can't even take that one day off to do whatever needs done. They might not even be able to take off when they are very sick and need to. And no matter how many would say to that, "Oh, then they should just get a better job", we know this is much more easily said than done.
But there are other reasons it can be difficult to take a vacation.
Responsibilities.
Care giving.
Caring for a severely disabled child, relative, parent.
Caring for a house full of special needs rescue pets.
(And if anybody wants to take me to task for mentioning those two things right after each other... "Don't compare your cat to my child!" or whatever... well, it's not what I'm trying to do. I'm just thinking and trying to write.)
Not having anyone you can call or count on to relieve you of the responsibility. Or at least feeling this is the case. Or just not knowing if you can.
There are a lot of people in those situations.
They can't just hop on a plane and put their cares behind them.
Even if they do find someone who can fill in for them giving care for a few days or a week, there's the question of whether or not you can trust the person filling in.
Or, how about if you yourself are the person who needs a lot of care?
Can you just run off on a trip?
Maybe you have a wheelchair? Oxygen tank? Severe dietary restrictions or food allergies that preclude most restaurant meals? Some other need that is just not easily accomodated away from home?
And back to the special need pets-
If you are reading this, you probably aren't a cat or dog, but special need animals can have needs that are beyond the knowledge of a typical pet sitter. With such pets, a vacation means you are looking at either hiring a vet tech to come to your house, or medical boarding.
People might technically be able to afford a vacation, but not able to afford to actually leave to take it.
And of course, this isn't even covering people who are homeless, and a whole lot of other situations.
It's not a list of everyone who can't take a vacation.
It's not blaming anybody for anything, either. It's not trying to make anyone going on a vacation feel guilty for it. Have fun. Seriously.
It's just something I thought about.
OK. Carry on.
This word can mean and suggest many different things.
It could be an entire week away at some tropical resort, or just taking a day off work to get some major chores done around the house.
It can be a 1980's movie about a family taking a road trip.
Or a 2015 movie about a family taking a road trip. (Which could easily lead to a blog post wondering why so many movies are remakes lately.)
But regardless of how you use the word, the fact remains, there are still a lot of people who cannot, in reality, take a vacation, or at least not do so easily.
I don't just mean they can't afford it, as big a factor as that is.
Of course, there are people who can't take time off work, or they'll lose their job. Depending on the job, maybe they can't even take that one day off to do whatever needs done. They might not even be able to take off when they are very sick and need to. And no matter how many would say to that, "Oh, then they should just get a better job", we know this is much more easily said than done.
But there are other reasons it can be difficult to take a vacation.
Responsibilities.
Care giving.
Caring for a severely disabled child, relative, parent.
Caring for a house full of special needs rescue pets.
(And if anybody wants to take me to task for mentioning those two things right after each other... "Don't compare your cat to my child!" or whatever... well, it's not what I'm trying to do. I'm just thinking and trying to write.)
Not having anyone you can call or count on to relieve you of the responsibility. Or at least feeling this is the case. Or just not knowing if you can.
There are a lot of people in those situations.
They can't just hop on a plane and put their cares behind them.
Even if they do find someone who can fill in for them giving care for a few days or a week, there's the question of whether or not you can trust the person filling in.
Or, how about if you yourself are the person who needs a lot of care?
Can you just run off on a trip?
Maybe you have a wheelchair? Oxygen tank? Severe dietary restrictions or food allergies that preclude most restaurant meals? Some other need that is just not easily accomodated away from home?
And back to the special need pets-
If you are reading this, you probably aren't a cat or dog, but special need animals can have needs that are beyond the knowledge of a typical pet sitter. With such pets, a vacation means you are looking at either hiring a vet tech to come to your house, or medical boarding.
People might technically be able to afford a vacation, but not able to afford to actually leave to take it.
And of course, this isn't even covering people who are homeless, and a whole lot of other situations.
It's not a list of everyone who can't take a vacation.
It's not blaming anybody for anything, either. It's not trying to make anyone going on a vacation feel guilty for it. Have fun. Seriously.
It's just something I thought about.
OK. Carry on.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
So I installed the Blogger app on my tablet.
And look, I am blogging. And because I am up late, I will blog about the fact that I am up late and this seems significant enough to blog about. And it will have to do- I need something to say to test this thing. Yeah.
Edit to add: Yes, this is very much a blog post about nothing, and I know that. I could delete it. But there just aren't a lot of posts here, are there?
So- it stays.
Edit to add: Yes, this is very much a blog post about nothing, and I know that. I could delete it. But there just aren't a lot of posts here, are there?
So- it stays.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Oh look, a blog entry. Rain and whatever.
Yes. A blog entry.
On this blog.
Hard to believe, isn't it?
But I already wrote something on my "fashion blog" today.
OK, it was only about how a certain site that sometimes talks about fashion isn't as good as it used to be.
Whee.
Exciting stuff I know.
But the weather is actually looking nice here where I am at the moment.
Last night on the news I heard there had been 16 days of rain.
No wonder I have been tired and in a terrible mood.
Even if I were perfectly healthy and nothing else bad went on in the world, that would be a mood-dampener, 16 damn days with rain at some point during the day.
In fact yesterday afternoon, it rained horizontally. Rain and high winds. I thought it looked a bit like hurricane footage- and the people across the street from me had a pond in their front yard when it all stopped.
This morning the pond was gone.
I can't figure it was all absorbed into the ground that fast, but I didn't hear any loud machinery doing anything. And they just moved in recently, and I am shy, so I don't know them- so I haven't asked.
But all the same, I hope their basement was OK.
So, there you go.
A blog entry.
On this blog.
Hard to believe, isn't it?
But I already wrote something on my "fashion blog" today.
OK, it was only about how a certain site that sometimes talks about fashion isn't as good as it used to be.
Whee.
Exciting stuff I know.
But the weather is actually looking nice here where I am at the moment.
Last night on the news I heard there had been 16 days of rain.
No wonder I have been tired and in a terrible mood.
Even if I were perfectly healthy and nothing else bad went on in the world, that would be a mood-dampener, 16 damn days with rain at some point during the day.
In fact yesterday afternoon, it rained horizontally. Rain and high winds. I thought it looked a bit like hurricane footage- and the people across the street from me had a pond in their front yard when it all stopped.
This morning the pond was gone.
I can't figure it was all absorbed into the ground that fast, but I didn't hear any loud machinery doing anything. And they just moved in recently, and I am shy, so I don't know them- so I haven't asked.
But all the same, I hope their basement was OK.
So, there you go.
A blog entry.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Wanna know what finally happened to me and the Church?
Between just after Thanksgiving of 1999 and late April of 2002, I went to a number of funerals for my older relatives who started dying off then. Been to a few after that, most notably in 2010 but that's a different time- I'm talking those few years there now. The ones that also had September 11, 2001 happen in the middle of it all too.
But the point is, with enough funerals, you end up in Church quite a bit.
Especially with my Grandfather's funeral, in 2002, because I actually participated and did a reading for that one. The Priest at the time, Father Arko, was almost the only person who was paying attention to the needs of MY generation regarding the death, others only looking to the children, not grandchildren, etc.
I thought, wow, this man, this Priest is really, truly a spiritual person, and made you feel comfortable, and cared about and all that stuff.
I actually thought, wow, maybe I could go back to church.
IF I went back to that particular church.
And...
That's where things went to Hell, because maybe a year after that... I think it was in '03- Father Arko got busted for growing marijuana in the rectory. You might've heard about it? Even though it's a suburban church in NE Ohio? It did get into US national media a bit. Prince of Peace church, being called "Prince of Pot" and all that?
I even remember Jay Leno doing a joke on the frigging tonight show about it, how with all the other scandals in the Catholic Church, when that news broke, they must've thought "Phew, it's just drugs! What a relief!"
Well, the thing is, I knew parishioners had turned him in, snitched or whatever. So, I figured, great. I can't trust these people. I don't grow pot or anything- haven't even tried to use it since college, where I only tried it a few times at parties where everyone else was doing it anyway- but still, just knowing that they'd turn in someone who mainly grew it for medicinal purposes, (which he did) I just felt like, well, screw you people. Like, oh, they can't tell the difference between the spirit of the law and the letter, you know?
(edit: yes I know this was still law-breaking. And I know when I think about it that a lot more people could have gotten in trouble for NOT saying something. But when you are in an emotional state- which relatives dying will do to you- you don't always think with the best logic or clarity. And I don't actually know what motivated the person who turned him in. Yeah, they probably did think they were doing the right thing, not just trying to snitch. And no, I don't still feel mad at whoever it was like I did at the time, because I don't doubt they thought they were doing the right thing. And honestly, I don't really know ANY of these people, nor did I ever know them. )
Of course he wasn't Priest there, or anywhere, after that.
And if he wasn't the Priest, I didn't want to go to the church. Simple as that.
There'd been a chance I could've gone back to church, but in my mind at the time, the parishioners blew it.
Too bad, how sad.
So, that's what happened.
(Edit: I don't mean to sound like I have no idea there could have been consequences for knowing a person was breaking a law, and not saying anything. And I really have no right to judge them. This is explaining what my thoughts were more than anything. And acknowledging that my thoughts are not always objective.)
But the point is, with enough funerals, you end up in Church quite a bit.
Especially with my Grandfather's funeral, in 2002, because I actually participated and did a reading for that one. The Priest at the time, Father Arko, was almost the only person who was paying attention to the needs of MY generation regarding the death, others only looking to the children, not grandchildren, etc.
I thought, wow, this man, this Priest is really, truly a spiritual person, and made you feel comfortable, and cared about and all that stuff.
I actually thought, wow, maybe I could go back to church.
IF I went back to that particular church.
And...
That's where things went to Hell, because maybe a year after that... I think it was in '03- Father Arko got busted for growing marijuana in the rectory. You might've heard about it? Even though it's a suburban church in NE Ohio? It did get into US national media a bit. Prince of Peace church, being called "Prince of Pot" and all that?
I even remember Jay Leno doing a joke on the frigging tonight show about it, how with all the other scandals in the Catholic Church, when that news broke, they must've thought "Phew, it's just drugs! What a relief!"
Well, the thing is, I knew parishioners had turned him in, snitched or whatever. So, I figured, great. I can't trust these people. I don't grow pot or anything- haven't even tried to use it since college, where I only tried it a few times at parties where everyone else was doing it anyway- but still, just knowing that they'd turn in someone who mainly grew it for medicinal purposes, (which he did) I just felt like, well, screw you people. Like, oh, they can't tell the difference between the spirit of the law and the letter, you know?
(edit: yes I know this was still law-breaking. And I know when I think about it that a lot more people could have gotten in trouble for NOT saying something. But when you are in an emotional state- which relatives dying will do to you- you don't always think with the best logic or clarity. And I don't actually know what motivated the person who turned him in. Yeah, they probably did think they were doing the right thing, not just trying to snitch. And no, I don't still feel mad at whoever it was like I did at the time, because I don't doubt they thought they were doing the right thing. And honestly, I don't really know ANY of these people, nor did I ever know them. )
Of course he wasn't Priest there, or anywhere, after that.
And if he wasn't the Priest, I didn't want to go to the church. Simple as that.
There'd been a chance I could've gone back to church, but in my mind at the time, the parishioners blew it.
Too bad, how sad.
So, that's what happened.
(Edit: I don't mean to sound like I have no idea there could have been consequences for knowing a person was breaking a law, and not saying anything. And I really have no right to judge them. This is explaining what my thoughts were more than anything. And acknowledging that my thoughts are not always objective.)
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