Category Archives: Musings

weekly column of general observations

You Don’t Know Jack

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Jack, my recently adopted 4th cat, will be my last. I won’t be guardian to more felines until one of mine goes over the Rainbow Bridge. And it’s not because I’m afraid of being a crazy cat lady. That boat sailed a while ago.

miss crazy cat lady

No, the reason I’m stopping after Jack is because, well, you don’t know Jack. And as it turns out, I didn’t either. Now don’t get me wrong; I wouldn’t change my decision to add Jack to my animal family. It’s just that the more I get to know him, his true personality emerges. Need I say more? (Well actually, yes, or I won’t have a blog post today.) Continue reading →

Technology: Or How To Feel Like an Idiot

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I’m what you’d call technologically challenged. If my computer, cell phone or TV goes on the blink, I stare at it with tilted head, open mouth and squinted eyes. I do this out of utter exasperation because in that moment, I have absolutely no clue what to do. None whatsoever. Continue reading →

Night Owl or Morning Lark?

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hands up

I don’t know about you but for me one of the least desirable aspects of getting longer in the tooth is lack of sleep.

Gone are the nights of 10-hour slumbers like in my teens. In my 20s-30s I often achieved a steady 9 hours. In my 40s-50s, 8 hours hit the spot. Ah, those were the days.

Now that I’m in my 60s, my snoozing time lasts about as long as an Oliver Stone movie, generally just over 3 hours. I’m then awake for 2, followed by another hour or two of semi-consciousness. I tell ya, if I keep going like this, when I hit 70 the act of a prolonged blink will constitute a nice little nap.

dear 3 a.m

I suppose it doesn’t help that I’m a night owl. Now don’t get me wrong; it’s not my fault. I blame my mom. Like my sister and me, she stayed up well past midnight, needing to force herself to sleep around 2:00 a.m. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for a visit from the Sandman, does it? Continue reading →

Our New But Used Catmobile

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A couple weeks ago, the KIA SUV we use in our nonprofit went to that big multi-level parking garage in heaven when it literally blew a gasket. Yep, it became a worthless hunk of metal after lasting us a mere 60,000 miles. Barely time to get acquainted. I ask you, was that meager performance worthy of a place in heaven?

Anyway, being without a vehicle to carry the ferals, traps, shelters,and re-homing equipment made me feel like a fish out of water, to sneak in a metaphor. Sadly, I’m not original enough to make up one of my own but I’ll try: It made me feel like pasta without sauce.

So the hunt was on. And fast. The phone seemed to ring continually with people needing help. One wanted feral mousers ASAP. One needed a shelter, another a trap to help an injured cat. The pressure was mounting. So I spent hours on the internet searching for a used SUV with low miles and the potential to last 200,000 more.

Continue reading →

You’re a Stinker

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Years ago I read that during the filming of Gone with the Wind, Vivien Leigh was quoted saying Clark Gable had atrociously bad breath, making intimate scenes with him extremely unpleasant. To this day I can’t watch a Clark Gable movie without thinking about that and wondering if his female costars held their breath in his presence. His response? “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Just a guess…

Looks to me like she's holding her breath, don't you think?

Yep, definitely holding her breath

Movie stars have a certain image they portray on screen and it sometimes crosses over into real life. Many are glamorized and idolized — all those words ending with “ized.” But the truth often contradicts our impression of them, don’t you think?

Now don’t get me wrong; we all know the persona is an illusion the movie industry created. Still, nobody wants to hear the awful truth, like Bradley Cooper stinks. Yep, you read that right. He’s a…stinker

Continue reading →