A Compilation of My Musings on Various Matters.
"Ancora Imparo"--I am still learning.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Cat Toys
Phantom, the foster cat, has discovered that my socks make for great cat toys (it is not like he does not have a ton of approved cat toys around the house). He likes to take a sock, toss it up in the air, grab it, and then run off with it.
At the moment, I am nursing a possible broken toe (very ouchie) and chasing after him is not an option. The best I can do is a fast limp. And fast is still slow.
Oh well, laundry day should prove interesting as I try to find and pair up the socks...
Ah, it would seem that tonight is a full moon. Lovely thing. So, in a way to honor such a lovely thing, I post one of my favorite songs from Sarah Brightman's La Luna CD. Enjoy!
The lyrics are: "Hijo De La Luna"
Tonto el que no entienda.
Cuenta una leyenda Que una hembra gitana Conjuró a la luna Hasta el amanecer. Llorando pedía Al llegar el día Desposar un calé.
"Tendrás a tu hombre, Piel morena," Desde el cielo Habló la luna llena. "Pero a cambio quiero El hijo primero Que le engendres a él. Que quien su hijo inmola Para no estar sola Poco le iba a querer."
Estribillo: Luna quieres ser madre Y no encuentras querer Que te haga mujer. Dime, luna de plata, Qué pretendes hacer Con un niño de piel. A-ha-ha, a-ha-ha, Hijo de la luna.
De padre canela Nació un niño Blanco como el lomo De un armiño, Con los ojos grises En vez de aceituna -- Niño albino de luna. "¡Maldita su estampa! Este hijo es de un payo Y yo no me lo callo."
Estribillo
Gitano al creerse deshonrado, Se fue a su mujer, Cuchillo en mano. "¿De quien es el hijo? Me has engañado fijo." Y de muerte la hirió. Luego se hizo al monte Con el niño en brazos Y allí le abandono.
Estribillo
Y en las noches Que haya luna llena Será porque el niño Esté de buenas. Y si el niño llora Menguará la luna Para hacerle una cuna. Y si el niño llora Menguará la luna Para hacerle una cuna.
[English translation:]
Foolish who doesn't understand Tells a legend That a gypsy woman Conjured to the moon until sunrise Crying she was asking Coming the day To marry a gypsy man
You you have your man of dark skin From heaven spoke the full moon But in return I want The first son That you beget from him Whoever sacrifices his son Not to be alone Would barely love him
[Chorus:] Moon wants to be mother And you don't find a lover Who can make you woman Tell me silver moon what do you expect to do with a kid of skin Son of the moon
From a cinnamon father a boy was born White as the back of an ermine With the eyes grey Instead of olive Albino boy of moon Damn his stamp This son is from a non-gipsy And I won't shut up
[Chorus]
Gypsy man believing himself dishonored Went to his woman knife in hand Who's son is this? You've cheated on me permanently And he hurted her to dead Then he went to the mount With the kid in his arms And he abandoned him there
[Chorus]
And in the nights with full moon It will be because the kid is in a good mood And if the boy cries The moon will lessen To make him a cradle And if the boy cries The moon will lessen To make him a cradle
It would seem that I have some new readers. Welcome! As a result, I am re-posting a picture of my cat, Marcipan (Marzepan). She is my rescue kitty. She was nothing more than a pile of skin, bones, and fur. Now she is happy and always has food to eat. Not to mention a human that loves her dearly. One of the fringe benefits of having a cat named Marzepan is that I get chocolate covered Marzepan for all the holidays. Of course, this concept of gifting gives me ideas for names for future pets.
From Alice Morgan Wright's Humane Principles:
To oppose cruelty in all its forms...To recognize in animals their capacity for friendship and their need for friends; to befriend all Earth's creatures of the land, the sea and the air; to defend them against ravages by mankind; and to inspire in human beings compassion for all.
Okay, as a primary care doctor, you should not tell me to "see a specialist right away" after an examination. My imagination tends to go into high gear and I think the worse case scenario. Yes, the VERY worse case scenario.
Elaboration is a good thing. It is a good thing I asked you to elaborate because you mean "whithin two months" as right away, whereas I think something very different.
It is understandable that everyone has a different concept of time frame terminology. Therefore, I think it is crucial to follow it up with a definition.
And no, I did not enjoy starting my day with a panic attack first thing yesterday morning as a result...
I have quite literally have had one of the worse weeks. Probably could not have gotten much worse if I tried. So, to soothe my soul and tummy, I went to my favorite import store on the way home tonight. Fresh bread, Hungarian salami, imported herbal tea, belgian chocolate truffles, and other such yummy things. When I left the store, a car sped by into a puddle totally spraying me with yucky city water and thus drenching me from head to toe. Water dripping from me and drenched to the skin. Since it was raining, I would say the umbrella I had was a bit of a moot point. It would seem that I am getting drenched in something on a weekly basis. Quite frankly, it has gotten old already...
The driver of the car? Well, I wish that Karma bites him hard in the ass. Hard enough to leave marks...
As for me, I am drawing a nice hot bubble bath, brewing a cup of herbal tea, and listening to Bach's Brandenburg concertos while I soak in the tub for at least an hour or two. Nothing short of a disaster is getting me to budge out of the bathtub...
Meet the new Foster Cat, Phantom. With the "mask" on his face, I am assuming that the person who named him is a fan of Andrew Loyd Weber's Phantom of the Opera.
Hercules is back at the adoption center (Mayfield Hts., I think). So, I agreed to do a "prisoner exchange" and swap foster cats and give poor Phantom a break from being in the adoption center cages. His story is a sad one as his previous owner died and left thus left him without a home.
He is extremely affectionate and is quite the talker. Never at a loss for words. His information can be found here.
I think it is obvious what he asked Santa for. Now let's hope he gets that home soon!
Note to self:Keep a change of clothes in the lab at all times.
Case in point: On New Year's eve, I finished up my experiment and was taking my buffers into to the cold room where I store them. I was about a few feet away from my bench area and Arnab (one of the postdocs) was in front of me. He turned around, uttered some type of sound and proceeded to toss his tank of gel running solution all over me. Apparently I "scared" him by "sneaking" up on him. He did not hear me walking behind him. So, there I was, dripping in gel running solution.
Both Arnab and Thomas spent some time cleaning me up. Water to get rid of the solution on me. That meant I became more soaked and hence wetter.
I was advised that apparently I am too quiet when walking. That I am like a cat that makes no sound when walking. That I should wear a cat collar with a bell so people know where I am.
At any rate, since my experiment was already finished, I decided to call it a day. It was not a pleasant walk to my car from the research institute in the winter cold being soaked to the skin. I was planning on changing my clothes anyhow for New Year's Eve, but had to do it more sooner than later.
The good thing is that at least I was not wearing my more formal-ish attire that I decided to wear for the evening out. It was also a good thing that it was not a day that Arnab was working with cyanide.
