Vans Warped Tour Dallas 07-03-10

Caty's 4th...Happy Birthday!

Caty was born four years ago today.  We brought her home around July/August.  We had decided to stop by PetSmart to look at the kitties...never thinking we were going to adopt a pet.  Adopting a pet was not our intention.  

There were many cats and kittens at the time, meowing and meowing, wanting to be petted.  Only one kitten, however, was rather quiet.  She just looked at us and watched every move we made.  Dora fell in love with her.  She loved the way this kitten just sat so prim and proper, never making a sound.  She wasn't a timid kitten.  She had a happy face.  We brought her home that day and she has been a part of our family for four years now.  

According to the animal rescue representative, Caty is lucky to be alive.  Caty was born with a severe upper respiratory infection.  The mama cat was nowhere to be found when animal rescue found her.  They took her to the vet and immediately began treatment.  Caty had been connected to a breathing machine and she was fighting for her life.  In fact, the vet didn't think Caty would survive the infection.  Thankfully, she did.  Now she graces us with her presence.

Caty (pronounced Katie or Katy...the vowel "a" has a long "a" sound) is a sweet cat.  She has a charming personality.  She's not a timid cat either.  When she hears the doorbell, she quickly runs to the door to see who is at the door.  She meows at our visitors as if she is saying, "I'm so glad to see you."  

 

Caty does not have a mean bone in her body.  She is quite gentle and loves her humans.  She loves her condo, her house, and her toys.  Caty is an indoor cat.  The only time she is outdoors is when we are all out in the patio or backyard.  When we're feeling down and out, she lightens our spirits.  For that, we love her!

HAPPY FOURTH BIRTHDAY CATY!!!!!!

The Naming of Cats

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, or George or Bill Bailey -
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter -
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum -
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover -
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

T S Elliot

The Sesquicentennial of the Civil War

The nation is celebrating the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War and with all of the hoopla comes the question that will always ensue a great debate--"What caused the Civil War?"  States' rights or slavery?  Would it make sense to say both?  States' rights?  No, not states' rights...a single "right" to enslave human beings. "Everything stemmed from the slavery issue," says Princeton professor James McPherson, whose book Battle Cry of Freedom is widely judged to be the authoritative one-volume history of the war. I have also read his other book Ordeal By Fire:  The Civil War And Reconstruction, which explores the causes of war: the disputes over slavery in the territories, the attempts at compromise, and finally the start of the war itself.  Another leading authority, David Blight of Yale, laments, "No matter what we do or the overwhelming consensus among historians, out in the public mind, there is still this need to deny that slavery was the cause of the war."  Reconciliation, however, can only come by way of honesty.

This Friday, the film The Conspirator, directed by Robert Redford, opens in theaters.  I am so there!!!! 

I'M BAAAACCCKKK! New Look...New Attitude...New State Of Mind!

(Be sure to click the play button to the right to hear the theme song to my blog and/or to watch the video.) 

Hey peeps, I am back.  I won't apologize for the long hiatus because I needed it.  Work has kept me busy, but I will keep this blog as current as possible.  As you can see, it has a new look.  My new attitude...well...it's rather simple...DO NOT SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF!  In other words, either you know me or you don't.  Either you agree with me or you don't.  Either you love me or you don't.  Either way, the world will continue to rotate on its axis and I will continue to take life one day at a time without batting an eyelash.  It's that simple folks.  Why the new attitude?  The new state of mind?  I have gotten my inspiration from the City of New York.  Referring to New York City, H. G. Wells once stated:  "To Europe, she was America.  To America, she was the gateway of the earth.  But to tell the story of New York would be to write a social history of the world."  And now for a little history...New York was briefly the U.S. capital.  It consists of five major boroughs--Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island.  

Ah yes, Manhattan.  What is there NOT to like?  Believe it or not, Peter Minuit supposedly bought the island from the Native Americans (Manhattan is a Native American name) for about $24 worth of trinkets.  I suppose you could say future real estate market value was never discussed during the transaction.  

By reading the history of Central Park, you get a social history of the city.  New York's Central Park is the first urban landscaped park in the United States. Originally conceived by wealthy New Yorkers in the early 1850's, the park project spanned more than a decade and cost the city ten million dollars. The purpose was "to refute the European view that Americans lacked a sense of civic duty and appreciation for cultural refinement and instead possessed an unhealthy and individualistic materialism that precluded interest in the common good. The bruised egos of New York high society envisioned a sweeping pastoral landscape, among which the wealthy could parade in their carriages, socialize, and "be seen," and in which the poor could benefit from clean air and uplifting recreation without lifting the bottle."  In the process of constructing the park, many people who had been living in the area (some as legitimate renters and others as squatters) were evicted.  

In the first decade of the park's completion, it became clear for whom it was built. Located too far uptown to be within walking distance for the city's working class population, the park was a distant oasis to them. Trainfare represented a greater expenditure than most of the workers could afford, and in the 1860s the park remained the playground of the wealthy.  As the city and the park moved into the twentieth century, the lower reservoir was drained and turned into the Great Lawn. The first playground, complete with jungle gyms and slides, was installed in the park in 1926, despite opposition by conservationists, who argued that the park was intended as a countryside escape for urban dwellers. The playground, used mostly by the children of middle and working class parents, was a great success.  As the park became less and less an elite oasis and escape, and was shaped more and more by the needs of the growing population of New York City, its uses evolved and expanded.  

Today, as the major site of most New Yorkers' recreation, the park hosts millions of visitors yearly engaging in such activities as rollerblading, fine dining at the Tavern on the Green, watching free performances of Shakespeare in the Park, and relaxing and sunbathing in Sheep's Meadow. 

So there...you have a few pieces of trivia to share with your friends.  

I grew up in a small town, which explains my love affair with the big city...any city.  The skyscrapers...the city  lights...I get chills just thinking about it.  But New York City has always been a future destination for me.  I'm just saddened by the fact that I never had the privilege of seeing the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.  Hats off to NYC for being you!

"One hand in the air for the big city, street lights, big dreams, all looking pretty, no place in the world that can compare, put your lighters in the air, everybody say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah....

In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made, oh, there's nothing you can't do, now you're in New York, these streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you, let's hear it for New York,

New York,

New York,

 

 New York."--Empire State Of Mind, Jay-Z (featuring Alicia Keyes)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTHEW!

Matthew celebrated a birthday on April 2nd!  Congratulations little man!