Library Thing and the Unsuggester

I could very easily get addicted to this, and this is just plain fun and amusing.

And how's this for cool?

beloved Louise

As I've mentioned to some, my darling kitty died suddenly Thursday morning. She'd been fighting intestinal lymphoma for nearly a year, and recently, she had lost several pounds. Her vomiting had subsided, and I had fooled myself into thinking that her condition was getting a little better. Still, I had a dread that she might go while I was on this two-week holiday. This is one of those times when I hate my intuition being right. I had wanted to be with her at the end, and I had even told her that I would be, and all she had to do was tell me when she was ready.



I'm feeling both guilty and hurt that I wasn't there with her and didn't get to say goodbye like I wanted to, which makes me feel even more selfish. My mom says sometimes animals don't want their owners to see them die, and so they wait for their owners to be away, or they take themselves off somewhere to be found later. This year, I've tried to pay more attention to others' point of view, and I guess that even includes a cat's side of things.



The vet called me at 12:30 am Australia time to tell me that Louise had stopped eating, and he asked permission to do some blood work. He also offered to give her an acupuncture treatment. I said yes to both and hoped for the best. He called an hour later, and I could tell by the shakiness in his voice that something was wrong. He said her blood work was horrible, her white blood cell count was all off, and they tried to give her an IV catheter when she suddenly went into cardiac arrest. One doesn't seem to be related to the other. They tried CPR but couldn't revive her. He kept saying, "I'm so sorry for you" and "Everyone here is really upset." I couldn't think of much to say at all except, "what do I do now?"



I'm grateful for everything the vets and the techs at Columbia Animal Hospital did for Louise this one last time and over the course of her life. They got us through a heart murmur and a thyroid condition, not to mention stubborn ear infections and coughs and teeth cleanings. I'm also grateful that they would think to call me directly, and very long distance, to tell me she was gone. I'm picking up her ashes and her blanket and food bowls when I get back to the States. I'm dreading that too - they're going to see me blubber like an idiot.



I'm also grateful to Cat Rescue of Maryland from whom I adopted Louise, and especially Lil Decker, who was Louise's foster mom. I will definitely be adopting from them again, though not right away.



I will remember these things about Louise:

• she would wake me up at 7 in the morning, almost on the dot, by tickling my face with her whiskers, and if that didn't work, pawing at my blankets
• she had her own tumbler of water on the bedside table to keep her from drinking out of my water glass
• she liked to peek into the lower kitchen cupboards to see if everything was still there, though she rarely went inside all the way
• she didn't care for being picked up and held, but she did like to snooze on my lap, especially when I was at the computer; she'd often stretch out a paw to hit the space bar, and hold it down
• she always greeted me at the door when I came home from wherever
• she liked to talk to the birds in the tree outside my window
• she made friends with my dog, and together they'd guard the bathroom door while I was taking a shower
• she'd yell at me whenever she had to go into the carrier, as she preferred being at home to anywhere else
• she very determinedly caught a mouse once and was quite proud of herself for the effort, going so far as to bring her catch to me once she had nabbed it
• she had several favorite hangout spots in the house - the most recent being the bathroom sink
• she liked to share my tuna salad and roast chicken
• she charmed non-cat people into liking her
• she had the prettiest green eyes and the most curious black spots
• much as I love my dog, she made me a cat person

I loved her very much, and I'm grateful she let me be her mom for awhile.

Goodbye, Louise. I'll see you at Rainbow Bridge someday.

how to entertain yourself while writing out holiday cards

Here are my recommendations for what to listen to and/or watch, or not, while making sure you don't seal a blank card in an envelope -

Blue Man Group: Inside the Tube - while a highly entertaining and fascinating documentary, it's rather distracting, because you want to pay more attention to the documentary than what you're writing in the cards, so much so that when you look at what you wrote in the cards, you're not sure what the hell you were thinking

The Snow Queen - an artsy version of Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale, with great music. I'm familiar enough with the story that I can have it on as background noise and not be too distracted.

Loreena McKennitt - To Drive the Cold Winter Away - highly appropriate for the season, and there's only one song on it that I don't care for. I can do pretty much anything with her music in the background. She has a new album out too.

Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack - my sister and I grew up hearing this every year, and we never got sick of it. Again, if you're familiar enough with it, it easily attaches itself to your subconscious and you can get on with whatever. Which of course leads to...

Charlie Brown Christmas special - I can pretty much recite this one word for word, so no distractions there. And since we're talking cartoons of the season, there's always...

How the Grinch Stole Christmas - I do believe I read this before I saw the cartoon version, though it's far funnier to hear Boris Karloff read it. Again, by-heart recitation renders this distraction-free, though not nostalgia-free.

Andrea Bocelli - Sacred Arias - honestly, I prefer to hear him sing classical rather than pop. This is also a good one for the season. There are four versions of Ave Maria on this CD. My favorite is the Schubert version. Not too distracting, but interesting enough so you notice that it's there.

Rasputina - Thanks for the Ether - my favorite gothic-playing, corset-wearing lady cellists. You have to know when to turn it up and when to turn it down, otherwise, you'll never get anything done.

A Christmas Carol - if you've never heard Patrick Stewart's one-man reading of this story, it's pretty amazing, right up there with Jim Dale's version, and it occurs to me that this was how Dickens performed the story to audiences originally. This is my favorite movie version, and I've read the story so many times, I can just follow along subconsciously.

Desk Set - one of my favorite Tracy/Hepburn movies - extremely dated (the computer takes up half the room and makes a lot of noise and has a lot of flashing lights, and the story deals with that long-debated question: will computers make people obsolete), but the dialogue more than makes up for that. It's something you can hear out of the side of your ear that makes for a good giggle while doing other things. I must admit to stopping to watch the interview on the roof scene, the dinner in Hepburn's apartment scene, and the Hepburn and Blondell drunk at the Christmas party scene. This movie makes me want to be a reference librarian. Is that weird?

To the Manor Born - one of my favorite Britcoms; funny banter that you also can hear out of the corner of your ear and giggle at while doing other things, and they even have a Christmas episode.

Good Neighbors - where Penelope Keith honed her comedy skills, which is funny considering that her character "hasn't got a sense of humor." Also good banter, and makes you wish you had neighbors like the Goods and the Ledbetters. I've watched this so many times that it's just comforting background noise, and the pets seem to like it too. They also have a Christmas episode.

So there you have it. No need to be bored while writing out holiday cards. Enjoy.

the lost art of letter writing and group therapy

Letters to Monet from his fellow Impressionists are now up for auction. I've always been fascinated by creative groups - the Impressionists, the Bloomsbury group, the Algonquin Round Table. It's amazing what happens when a group of like-minded creatives gather together and talk and drink and exchange ideas. Personally, I would have loved to have been around these groups just to listen in.

Fancy fonts on a computer really are nothing compared to a handwritten letter. My grandmother told me that she still has the letters that she and my grandfather exchanged when they were dating and he was overseas while in the Army. That would have been in the late 1940s, maybe early 1950s. I hope I get to read them one day.

even scarier

I would never have thought to watch Mary Poppins during Halloween, but after seeing this, I may have to start. And I think I need to read the books again - I remember them as being darker than the film.

And just for kicks and giggles, or not, there's a new scholarly book out on Mary Poppins, with an introduction by Neil Gaiman. I imagine I'll add that to my reading list as well, if only to read the introduction.

scary mary?

either we're all reading too much into this, or I'm suddenly bewildered as to why I never thought to write a paper on Mary Poppins in my women's studies classes in college.

On the December 5th entry, scroll down to "..." then start reading

absurdly simple

diagnosis: female in her early 30s presents with burnout, fatigue, stress, irritability, headache, insomnia, bleary eyes, and possible a touch of SAD, not to mention lack of interest in making herself look presentable lately

prescription: borrow friend's five-week-old baby girl and hold for five minutes - all suddenly becomes right with the world as baby cuddles up on chest; studies prove it

back in NY (again)

My last business trip of the year, and a shorter one too, thank goodness. I very nearly had to go out to California next week for another trip, but fortunately, that one got cancelled.

A bunch of us were up until about 1:30 on Friday night working on slides, and Anne was slowly getting sicker and sicker with her cold. Teresa and I got her to take some Airborne and some oscillococcinum, which Anne thinks of as homepathic Nerds.

This meeting was all about the purple pill, and the workshop I covered got cards and GEs talking to each other, which apparently is a rare thing. A word of advice, which you may especially want to pass on to your elderly loved ones: if you're put on aspirin therapy, or you're heavily taking NSAIDs, you risk stomach upset, or worse, a GI bleed. So do yourself a favor and get on a PPI as well, and you can save yourself a lot of trouble and stomachache.

We stayed at a hotel near the UN, which was an interesting experience. First, there were the sniffer dogs outside the hotel, checking everyone's luggage. Then there was the military guard strolling around the lobby, fully armed. Lastly, there was a demonstration going on across the street from the hotel, though I never could figure out what they were demonstrating about.

My room on the 31st floor was neat, as hotel rooms go. It had that spare, uncluttered, Scandinavian/IKEA look to it, and lots of pillows. I had a decent view for a change as well - most of it was NYC skyline, with a teasing look at the East River and the tip of Roosevelt Island (I could see the ruins of the smallpox hospital from my window). Anne and I were alarmed by the fact that one could actually open the windows in the rooms. Being that high up and having the ability to open the windows doesn't strike me as a good combination. This hotel also makes unusually good sweet potato fries.

Only one more trip this year, and that's my Australia holiday in two weeks. Yay!