Okay, I might piss off a few people with this post, so bear with me.
Sunday night, a spunky little black and white kitten appeared on our porch. She has a collar (one that looks much too worse for wear if she was an inside cat) and is obviously socialized from the loving nature she has, but she was very skinny and ate the food we gave her like it was her first meal in weeks. There are plenty of squirrels and chipmunks outside, so I am sure she's eaten lately, but she is almost pure skin and bones.
Our two cats watched us pet her and feed her with a mix of curiosity and downright irritation. Cats. Gotta love 'em, right? They sniffed at her through the screen of the front door and were not hissing (which, in our cats, is a very good sign), so it seemed that curiosity won.
Here's my thing. This little six-month-old kitten (whom I have named Nyx after the Greek Goddess of night, which is when we found her... plus our cats are Achilles and Persephone, so it fits the trend if she gets to live here) has lots of character and is not skittish at all. She comes right up to whomever is outside and more or less demands pets in a very adorable fashion. She has been owned. Even if she didn't have a collar, that would be abundantly clear in the way she acts around people. Which leads me to believe one of two scenarios...
The first is that someone in our neighborhood keeps her as an outside cat. Let me explain why that irks me as much as it does. Our next door neighbor has a rottweiler named Charlie who absolutely LOVES to chase and maim cats. Don't get me wrong, Charlie is the sweetest of dogs... it's just part of the instinct she's born with and that neighbor refuses to fence her yard, so Charlie is free to torment whatever smaller animal she wants without issue. Not to mention the fact that she isn't the only one that we've seen in our yard that would have malevolent intentions towards Nyx. A coyote was wandering just along the other side of our fence not a month ago. I highly doubt anyone is going to keep the coyote from simply eating her. And she's so SKINNY. If someone IS keeping her as an outside pet, they are obviously forgetting to leave food out for her. But that must be the most convenient way for them to have a pet. Which is okay, then, right? Wrong.
The second is that she HAD owners that moved. We live in a fairly predominent military community. Being just off the west gate of Fort Leonard Wood pretty much guarantees that the houses in our neighborhood that go up for rent will be rented out by a military family. I once worked for a veterinarian who would sometimes refuse to adopt a pet to someone who is in the service. I thought that was a jackass move on her part until I saw the effects on the animals they would adopt as pets. There are a LOT of people who simply don't want to deal with the inconvenience of moving with a pet. So they will adopt one at each duty station so they can have a family pet without all the hassle.
Are you kidding me?!
So there are dogs and cats being thrown to the wayside because people don't think they're important enough to travel with. I understand that it's difficult to move every couple years in the military. I've been nomadic for almost my entire adult existence. However... if it's going to be an issue to have a pet, then DON'T HAVE ONE. Get a fish. Make friends. Do whatever you have to do to avoid abandoning your animal at every post so you don't have to deal with it. Just the thought makes me sick.
The funny thing about it is that I am not a fur person. I don't spray paint people for wearing fur coats or get disgusted over leather jackets. I eat meat. But I do believe that, once you domesticate an animal, pets are part of your family for better or worse.
So... I intend to set up an appointment to get this kitty checked out at the vet so we can make sure she's in good health and then bring her inside to join our family.
Oh. If you ARE keeping her as an outside pet, you're failing completely. Don't worry, we will assume the responsibility for her now and make sure she's kept safe and fed properly.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Early morning determination.
Have any of you heard of NaNoWriMo? No? It stands for National Novel Writing Month and happens every November. It's awesome to see how many people submit exerpts of new stories that they are trying to get up to the 50,000 word limit. In a world where I feel like the written word is dying, I can have one month to forget all that and join in with the mass rush to squeeze out a partial novel in 30 days.
The object is to hit that 50,000 word mark. What do you win? Nothing. Bragging rights, I suppose. Who cares? It's fun, it keeps your mind in creative mode and you get to share with friends. It's just a great experience.
Gordon Davidescu was the one who introduced me to it in 2006, when I worked dilligently and fell under the 5,000 mark. Or was it 13,000? I can't remember now. I know I haven't gotten to the prestigous 50k, but there is always this year. And the next. And so on.
I set up my page for this year and am excited to start "Girdle" on the first of November.
The object is to hit that 50,000 word mark. What do you win? Nothing. Bragging rights, I suppose. Who cares? It's fun, it keeps your mind in creative mode and you get to share with friends. It's just a great experience.
Gordon Davidescu was the one who introduced me to it in 2006, when I worked dilligently and fell under the 5,000 mark. Or was it 13,000? I can't remember now. I know I haven't gotten to the prestigous 50k, but there is always this year. And the next. And so on.
I set up my page for this year and am excited to start "Girdle" on the first of November.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Kandee is seeping into my psyche...
I have recently been following makeup artist Kandee Johnson's blog. If you have never heard of her, you simply HAVE to look her up. There is nothing like an incredibly perky, talented woman to inspire you. I will admit that, prior to finding that source of positivity, I was swimming in a sea of negatives. I have always been a bit of a cynical person. I am now determined to change that.
Lets consider for a moment the amount of pressure on your average person. They are hassled about what job they have, how much money they make, what car they drive and how great they look. I recently attended my ten-year reunion and discovered how much of it is actually just to exhange stories on how awesome you have become since high school. I think it's hilarious how so many people consider your teenage self something that you have to overcome. But this overwhelming pressure from society bears down on you and you are left with very little self-esteem or self-worth.
Face it, a good portion of the people you know could not care if you have either of those things.
But it's not a reason to start looking at yourself like you should be ashamed. Find ONE thing out of every day to be proud of. Just one. After a while, you'll notice that it's getting harder to see the negatives.
I work at a cosmetics counter. So what? I enjoy my job. Yes, it's retail so there are going to be numerous days where I come home with mass murder on my mind. The holiday season is coming up, so be prepared to hear about that. But I get paid to play in makeup all day. How badass is that? I don't have to do mounds of paperwork, lift heavy equipment, listen to other people whine about their childhood or wipe an old person's wrinkly backside. Instead, I have the rare opportunity to do a makeover on someone and see their face light up when they catch a glimpse of themselves in the mirror.
Making someone else feel beautiful, even if it may seem superficial to other people, is a joy beyond my ability of expression.
Where was I going with this? Who knows... it's a first post to a hopefully long-lived blog. I can make sense some other time. It's a Monday, after all.
Be proud of yourself. Take a moment to acknowledge something that you have to offer. And, when other people tell you that you aren't good enough or get condescending... shrug it off. At the end of the day, you are the only one whose opinion matters.
Lets consider for a moment the amount of pressure on your average person. They are hassled about what job they have, how much money they make, what car they drive and how great they look. I recently attended my ten-year reunion and discovered how much of it is actually just to exhange stories on how awesome you have become since high school. I think it's hilarious how so many people consider your teenage self something that you have to overcome. But this overwhelming pressure from society bears down on you and you are left with very little self-esteem or self-worth.
Face it, a good portion of the people you know could not care if you have either of those things.
But it's not a reason to start looking at yourself like you should be ashamed. Find ONE thing out of every day to be proud of. Just one. After a while, you'll notice that it's getting harder to see the negatives.
I work at a cosmetics counter. So what? I enjoy my job. Yes, it's retail so there are going to be numerous days where I come home with mass murder on my mind. The holiday season is coming up, so be prepared to hear about that. But I get paid to play in makeup all day. How badass is that? I don't have to do mounds of paperwork, lift heavy equipment, listen to other people whine about their childhood or wipe an old person's wrinkly backside. Instead, I have the rare opportunity to do a makeover on someone and see their face light up when they catch a glimpse of themselves in the mirror.
Making someone else feel beautiful, even if it may seem superficial to other people, is a joy beyond my ability of expression.
Where was I going with this? Who knows... it's a first post to a hopefully long-lived blog. I can make sense some other time. It's a Monday, after all.
Be proud of yourself. Take a moment to acknowledge something that you have to offer. And, when other people tell you that you aren't good enough or get condescending... shrug it off. At the end of the day, you are the only one whose opinion matters.
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