and this is why we have a dog.

SECRET CAT DIARY

DAY 752 - My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.

They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal.

The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the mild satisfaction I get from shredding the occasional piece of furniture.

Tomorrow I may eat another houseplant and cough it up on the carpeting.

DAY 761 - Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded, must try this at the top of the stairs.

In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair...must try this on their bed (again).

DAY 762 - Slept all day so that I could annoy my captors with sleep depriving, incessant pleas for food at ungodly hours of the night.

DAY 765 - Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body, in an attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of, and to try to strike fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was...Hmmm. Not working according to plan...

DAY 768- I am finally aware of how sadistic they are. For no good reason I was chosen for the water torture. This time however it included a burning foamy chemical called "shampoo". What sick minds could invent such a liquid. My only consolation is the piece of thumb still stuck between my teeth and the tiny bit of flesh under my claws.

DAY 771 - There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smell the foul odor of the glass tubes they call "beer." More importantly I overheard that my confinement was due to my power of "allergies". Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage.

DAY 774 - I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit.
The Bird on the other hand has got to be an informant. He has mastered their frightful tongue (something akin to mole speak) and speaks with them regularly. I am certain he reports my every move. Due to his current placement in the metal room his safety is assured. But I can wait, it is only a matter of time.

*PS while I'd LOVE to take creative credit for this, I can't. It's been circulating as an e-mail for years.*

castles and handbags

The Princess turned 6 back at the beginning of the month, but we had her party on Friday. She invited 3 other little girls, and we had the party at our local scrapbooking supplies shop.
The girls made a cute doohickey to hang their hairclips on, and had a ball!




Here is the cupcake stand I made:




I didn't come up with this myself, the original was made by the fabulous Nerrida at Kaisercraft.

Here are the party bags:


and the loot. (not many lollies, as you can see)

It was nice to take some time out from all the sadness, just for a little while.

arsehats and legends

We're hearing some incredible stories come out of the flooding in SE Qld.

There are stories of complete tragedy but I'm not going to dwell on those today.

Here's something to make you feel good, instead. Something like 20,000 volunteers have packed up their mops and brooms and buckets and marched out on Brisbane to help clean up. Twenty thousand. Legends.

Here's another. A baker at McConochies bakery on Blackstone Road (near the old Bremer High) apparently baked bread for 24 hours straight, selling bread for 80 cents a loaf. If a customer didn't have 80 cents, it was free. Plus he gave free tea and coffee to those who had no power.
Legend.

Makes those gougers who were selling their bread at $7 a loaf look pretty shabby.

switching off

When things get too much for me, I retreat.

I unplug the phone

I blog-hop and watch YouTube.

I play computer games


I read


I re-charge.


*image from teresa mcnamara

What about you? What do you do when the world crowds in too close?

for Lori. XXX

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
(W.H. Auden)

My heart goes out to you today, Lori.

cheeky little bugger!

I've been so sad for so long, I really need a laugh today. How about you?

So here we go:

first, if you haven't already, you need to read this hilarious post from The Bloggess

I SO wish she was MY neighbour. (sorry, Real-and-Actual Neighbour, you are very nice and all but I can't imagine having this conversation with you)

second, I read on Facebook today that my fave ever comedian, Danny Bhoy, is donating money from his warm-up shows in Sydney to the Qld Flood Relief Appeal. Tix are $10 so if you can, go along. He's the FUNNIEST bloke.

finally, THIS will make you giggle for sure. Here's the inestimable Danny Bhoy, talking about possums and the Fruit Police.

rain, rain, GO AWAY!

This is so bizarre.

I'm sitting at my computer, warm and dry in WA, chatting to people on-line who are digging trenches and laying sandbags in an effort to keep rising flood waters out of their homes. They've shopped and made sure they have food, candles, batteries, fresh water... they've made emergency plans should they have to evacuate.

I rang my mum, who's in Nth Qld, because I saw a flash flood warning for the area she lives in, and I thought immediately of the devastation in Toowoomba yesterday. She said it was only spitting but she's keeping a close eye on the weather maps and news, because she runs a caravan park on the coast. She'll go straight to my sisters' on a hill, if it looks like raining heavily.

We're glued to the 24 hour ABC news, watching massive amounts of water moving through my home state. And we're hoping that all my family and friends stay safe.

sad

I'm staring at this screen through a blur of tears tonight.

Most of my readers will have read about Lori and her husband, Tony. Their story is so sad and has touched the hearts of so many, and I've been crying all day on and off thinking of them.

Through comments left for Lori, I've been reading other stories, just as heart-breaking, just as unfair.
And I guess a little part of me remembers my own pain and grief, in the first few years after I lost Levi. It's had me thinking a lot today, about life, and love, and loss.

Someone once said that grief is the price we pay for love. The more we love someone, the more fiercely it hurts when we lose them. And, oh God, it's a high price. Grief breaks us apart, and changes us forever. We're overwhelmed by pain, drowned in it, taken over by it. Like the floods in Toowoomba today.
Our love for them never dies. Never.

It's only gradually, and with love from those who love us, that we're able to find our feet again, to begin to live instead of merely existing. It takes a long time for us to heal.
So be patient with us. Be gentle. We're living with pain you cannot imagine.

how much is one life worth?

I read an article this morning about a couple who aborted healthy twin boys, because they're so anxious to have a girl after losing a daughter soon after birth.
If you want the full story, go take a look at the article (but don't read the comments, some of them are pretty hideous.)

I've lost a child myself, a little boy. And did I want another? you bet your ass I did. I seriously understood how people could snatch a baby and run, or steal one from a hospital.
(I didn't really take one. Just saying.)

So I get that deep need for a child.

What I don't get is the logic here. They lost one child and miss her so much that they terminate two others? Nuh. Not seeing it.

I guess this is where the whole termination issue becomes so murky.
It's hard to make laws governing termination, because every person and every situation is different.
Fabio and I had to talk about this when we fell pregnant with The Princess.
I turned 40 that year, and there is already a history of spina bifida type problems in my family.
We talked about whether we could cope with a disabled child, and at what point would the disabilities become too great for us?
I have nothing but sympathy for parents having to decide what they can and can't cope with, because there is no win-win situation. Everyone loses, somehow.

But deciding on gender?

I don't know..... seems to me that this couple needs counselling before they make any more decisions.
Any grief counsellor would tell you that they've clearly not healed from their daughters' death.
Most experts recommend you don't make major decisions for at least a couple of years after a loss like a spouse or child, and having been there, I can say that I agree. (I'm sure there are people who need less time, and I'm equally sure there are those who need more.)

And what kind of message does this send to their sons? Kids have a way of applying family problems to themselves.

I'm all for people being allowed to make choices for themselves, without government interference every step of the way -- but maybe this is one area where we should just accept that life is a lottery?

Thoughts?