Butthead the Wonder Cat

Butthead was an amazing cat. He could read. (I must stop here and laugh. I've told this story many times. Some people don't know how to take it. They're like... is she serious? My response is I'm as serious as I can get away with being. Only if that's not too serious or disrespectful of Butthead's awe inspiring abilities.)

I've got a lot of books. I'm not sure how many... but let's just say I have 70 Rex Stout murder mysteries. Before writing this post I would have said I had over 200 books and 40 Rex Stout murder mysteries. Having just counted the one... I'm not going to attempt the other. (Bibliophilia is an inheritable trait. I'm sure one day they'll find a small snickering corner of the double helix that is responsible, in its twisted way, for bibliophilia.)

That's just to give you some perspective on how I know... my cat Butthead could read. Because, you see, there were only 2 books he ever puked on. We lived together for over 15 years. Those 15 years spanned 7 and a half residences. (yikes!) And one small period of living out of my car. (Which was more due to my ineptitude at living logistics than fiscal difficulty.) He was such an easy cat that I became too comfortable with having him roam about... until I stepped on a cat rather than a brake pedal while out apartment searching.

And the 2 books he puked on? And in not just one spew, I must point out. This happened at 2 different times separated by 6 months.... 8 months... a year? I totally forget. (You know how it is. You think they'll be around puking forever.) It would be dismissible if he'd gotten them both in one spew. No, my cat Butthead nailed 2 Vegetarian Cookbooks on distinctly separate missions, thus earning his place of honor in the kitty cat Hall of Superiority forever. R.I.P., Butthead.

The Old and the New

Thought I'd post a couple of jewelry pictures. When looking for some gold scrap for Raven's ring, I rediscovered some stone setting practice pieces I did in school. I thought about listing the earrings for sale... but pricing would be tough! Its a 14 karat gold basket head with cz's set in them. Cz's are pretty worthless... except for stonesetting practice. I like the way they look though. Perhaps I'm just talking myself into keeping them. The ring has a peridot stone... but I fabricated the ring and the head and am not so sure I'll make another! Fabrication is fun, but I'm more of a carver of things. The Good Luck pendant is just an update on an earlier post. The liver of sulfur really helped it... plus polishing. Hope my young relative likes it.... and I'll also list one for sale in my etsy shop.



*pardon the pics! I had to hold the earrings and ring because the camera kept freaking out.

The Rewrite

I have always felt that with a good editor, anybody's life can be at least vaguely interesting.... Though sometimes it reminds me of cutting away the bad parts of a fruit or vegetable and you keep cutting and cutting and then look down and think compost. My life lately has been more compost than fruit, so I thought I'd do a little proactive rewriting. The unsullied truth is, I make a buck a few different ways... one of which is picking up some evening hours at a department store. Last night Jerod Mayo (top draft pick for the New England Patriots) walked in and bought some stuff with a buddy, whom I think might be Wheatley though I could be wrong.

And now to sully the truth. Instead of being a middle aged lady with bad hair bad skin and bad attitude (I mean honestly, what can be worse than a star struck slob?) that spotted this poor fellow and slipped behind the register just in time.... well. I wouldn't want to edit out that slick move. Or my obvious dexterity with the register. Or my recently elbowed out of the way coworker and her look of light befuddlement. Or even my statement of "cool" when I saw his name pop up on the screen because I like the word cool and always have. Someday it might even come back in fashion. Nah. What I'd change is, I'd leave on one security tag. Black Label clothing has a gazillion security thingies on it... 2 to be exact. One regular and one extra pain. It would've been so understandable to accidently leave on one. Mayo even said "don't forget any!" Apparently this is a part of the Patriot's football introduction routine for all rookies. Don't buzz when leaving a department store! Can't you just see Coach Belichick saying that? I can't, but hey.

Not to pick on the store's security guys but it could've been entertaining. An attempted flying tackle by one of the security guys and Mayo looks down at the desperate clinging to his ankle like "Zup? Drop some change?" Belichick's voice booming over the buzzer's mild fart "Mayo that's it we're trading you to the Zets! You were told NO BUZZING ALLOWED!" And Mayo just sort of standing there, slightly shaking his foot, wondering if the fellow down there was finished playing with his shoelaces or whatever he was doing. And wondering if the Zets are some *cool* intergalactic team before he remembers Belichick has difficulty opening his mouth when he says "Jets" and that he probably means... ohhh NOOOOOO!

Well. Welcome to New England, Jerod Mayo.

The Roller Coaster Ride on Life's Learning Curve

"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." I 'm sorry, but if the guy wasn't president... A comedian would pay good money for that silliness. (An old saying in Tennessee...?)

The reason that Bushism popped into my mind this morning was my attempt to remember the old saying about how it seems you know less and less as you get older. I can't remember the quote. (Though I could have helped Bush out...) But, honestly, I'm ready to be an expert in something besides envelop stuffing and weeding. I just made a ring for Ravenwolf and, after finishing I looked at it and thought I'd do so many things differently. Here's the ring....


What I like best are the sides, and Suzanne's SO's emblem. Very cool emblem. I carved the ring out of wax, got it casted into silver, and the emblem is from some scrap 14k gold wire I had. I should have approached this ring differently. (<--- massive understatement.) But, ah, whatever. On back are the initials "R" and "S" with the bottom part of the R and S interlocking in what I hope is reminiscent of a wishbone. Hope it brings her luck!

*the frontal pics of the ring didn't turn out... may add a pic later.*

Jeans

Above is where a basketball hoop is not.

Thursday night I went to watch the Celtics. I walked into town wearing jeans and jeans jacket. The jacket is old, and I think I'm going to have it dry cleaned in hopes it maintains some structural integrity. I dunno. Some things are too good to throw away. But I unfortunately arrived in time for the half, and left during the third quarter when Pierce got injured. It was bad timing. I only wanted one beer. Sounds like it was a great game.

There's a picture of me as a teenager shooting baskets at our house. I'm wearing green pants and a nylon greenish print shirt. (gag.) My parents did not allow us to wear jeans to school though I could buy some for camping. I seem to recall this was the source of a few discussions. Oddly enough, I was not an outcast though all my friends wore regular clothes (jeans and whatnot). One time a sincere girl tried to give me fashion advice, but she wasn't mean about it. (Obviously she was a future advocate for lost causes.) I suspect my junior high and high school were a nerd oasis.

I do believe the wearing or not wearing of jeans has had absolutely zippo impact on who I am today. Perhaps I may be more inclined to do what I want without worrying about it. However, that could be due to my genes and not my jeans.

*I keep thinking on putting up a basket...*

Endurance, or, One Massive Holly Bush

"To increase your success rate, increase your failure rate." (Somebody said that.)

The picture above is in part a past bloom himalayan honeysuckle, my weedy yard, and a massive holly bush. The general area is for the birds. I don't like to trim back the holly much... because that would decrease the winter stockpile of berries for the birds. And besides, what do I care? There is a rosebush on the other side of holly that would prefer a more sculpted yard... or death of a holly bush... But it is surviving remarkably well.

I don't usually watch basketball or baseball. Those guys (and gals) play too much. And since I don't own a T.V. it would involve an awful lot of beer bought in a bar while watching games. Football is one game, once a week, 4 plus (hopefully) months a year. Also, its on Sunday. But out of curiosity and because I've placed an important BET on the outcome and because the NFL off season does drag on and if I read Bellicheat ONE MORE TIME... anyway, I have now watched portions of three Celtics playoff games.

Speaking of endurance. Watching those guys (basketball) run around... Jeeze. Its exhausting. The author of "A Drunkard's Walk Through Life" said in his NPR interview that there was a 40% probability that the worst team will win a best of 7 series. Which illustrates very well why I am not a physicist (as that author is.) Another thing he talked about is the role "luck" plays in success.

I feel quite in sync with the moon phase whatever it is though I can almost promise you its waning and the property of randomness as regards loose change on a sidewalk. Luck, I've got you covered, in silver as it were, and I think I need to increase my failure rate (ah, no!)!