rivervision

the disadvantages and advantages

brooke — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 04:55:49 +0000

of kitten hood..
disadvantage: they are entertained by anything, including all the various white cords and such for the various fruity technology.
advantage: they are entertained by anything and can be easily distracted from the fruity technology cords by a simple piece of wadded up paper or old ibuprofen bottles.

disadvantage: their claws, their sharp little claws that they use to climb up unsuspecting legs causing shouts of various words not in the Bible and even tears.
advantage: their playing, and how their claws help them to do things that older cats simply can’t do that lead to lots of laughing out loud.

disadvantage: their constant meows in the middle of the night for love and attention.
advantage: the cuddling and purring that occurs after being called because of the pathetic middle of the night meows.

——–
so, if you ask max and ava this new addition is horrible. really really really horrible. max really thinks this is awful.

me? i can’t wait for the day that they can all be in the same room together. i love this little bugger. he’s such a sweetheart, and right now a spaz. the unbridled joy he brings when i’m watching him play (like as i post this) is just what i needed. and the unbridled joy he brings when he cuddles up with me, so small, and sweet is also more of what i needed.

yes, i really do like this cat – even if, in less than 24 hours 2 of the nicknames he’s earned include “little f-err” and “dipshit.” (others include lover-bugs, kitten, oh – and his name, used when he’s being all cuddly and stuff – bilal. i love his name and i love saying it, and i love that it’s a reminder of why i chose it.)

oh and this is a “little f-er” moment:

and this is a “bilal” moment:

i’m glad i don’t bank with citibank

brooke — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:36:49 +0000

my friend jeanne is an 11 year cancer survivor, although she’s now in the end stages. as many of you know, cancer takes a great financial cost and the amazing jeanne wants to stay in her home until she dies, which she is foreseeing as being in the next year. she wrote this press release in hopes to get citibank to treat her as a human being, rather than a series of numbers and form letters. oh and for context, jeanne lives in seattle.

meet bilal.

brooke — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 23:25:12 +0000

3 months old. his name? Palestinian as well as Arabic, and, from wikipedia:

Bilal ibn Rabah (Arabic: بلال بن رباح‎) or Bilal al-Habashi was an Ethiopian born in Mecca in the late 6th century, sometime between 578 and 582.

The Islamic prophet Muhammad chose an African slave Bilal as his muezzin [the person who leads the call to prayer], effectively making him the first muezzin of the Islamic faith. He was among the slaves freed by Abu Bakr (see Muhammad and slavery) and was known for his beautiful voice with which he called people to their prayers.

one last one: ipads, not just for humans. not suprisingly they have apps for cats too:

max is royally ticked, ava is mildly annoyed. i predicted this. it’s all good.

calls.

brooke — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 22:25:15 +0000

the call of nature

the call of technology

the call of dirt

the call to worship (Ramadan Mubarak!)

Need a break

brooke — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 22:40:44 +0000

I need a break from electronic gadgets. Of all kinds. The phone, the computer, and now even my newest gadget, this fruity pad thingy. Yes, the very one I am writing this on. I’m tired. I want to go someplace where I can snorkel, walk on the beach, breathe in the sea air, be with people who make me laugh, and think, and who love me. I need not to think about anyone, including myself, that I may be letting down or forgetting for awhile. I need be someplace where I can be me, where I can curse, and laugh, and cry, and not have to worry about offending anyone because of my way of being. I need to be in a place where simply walking outside means that I am in a place of worship, where i don’t have to worry about being hit with the ignorance of a sheltered majority culture. I need to be in a place where I can feel like i can breathe, large and big, and I can do it without someone expecting me to return emails within the hour or two. I’m tired, desperately so.

dear cat,

brooke — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:50:52 +0000

maxie specifically,
i have a deadline. i’m already behind. you sitting with your paws on my right hand, one of my 2 typing hands btw, does not make meeting this deadline very possible, at all, considering there are other resources i need to access. oh and that cute thing with you now leaning your head on my hand while i type doesn’t make things easy either. now i’m going to throw you off the bed and away from my work space. you can handle it, i know you can because 12 years ago i selected you from the other kittens in your litter because even at 4 weeks you were one tough little buckaroo.

love,
me. you know, that human that feeds you and puts up with, and encourages, your codependence.

yep, still like it.

brooke — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:58:15 +0000

it’s morning, and it appears that i still like this thing. glad that’s so. today i begin to undertake the task of putting relevant documents up on google docs so that I can begin to work. I also undertake the task of putting important literature on this thing so I can have it here. This is good. my plan for using it as a dissertation tool begins, hopefully, today.. though I have a busy day, but I gotta start sometime, eh?

a new activist tool?

brooke — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:27:44 +0000

i just bought an ipad. yes, i’ve been talking about it for a long time. as i’ve been setting it up and playing with it i’m realizing.. this could be the new activist tool. i’m downloading pictures to illustrate the situation in palestine, i have occupation 101 on here, suheir hammad, etc.. and that’s not even other stuff i believe in. that’s just palestine. but, not only does this have great potential for writing the dissertation, it also, i believe, have great potential for being a better activist.

oh and yes, i bought the keyboard dock with it. it’s the only way i could imagine using it as a dissertation writing tool.

update: here’s a picture of the set up with this thing:

i’ve been using it just for a night.. i need to get important pdfs over here, but i think this is going to be quite handy, really handy. i wouldn’t do it without the keyboard though. yeah, i do think this thing is going to be handy. quite so. others may disagree, we’ll see.. if i end up getting through phase 1 and phase 2 of my dissertation with this thing i’ll have no doubt it’s worth it.

thank you god.

brooke — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:30:29 +0000

dear god -
2 weeks ago rc was really sick. the docs gave her percentages in the single digits to survive. yesterday she left the icu. thank you. you know, her daughter jcp is a dear friend of mine. you know, i didn’t want jcp to have to go through what i’ve gone through recently. thank you.

-brooke.

ps. it sounds like rc’s cancer is gone. if you could make it stay away that would be really ducky.

birthday.

brooke — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:58:37 +0000

today is my mother’s 67th birthday. the cats sent her birthday greetings:

Maxie dressed in Ethiopian to celebrate your birthday. (I told him you’d appreciate it).

Ava would have dressed up too, but she’s been really ticked off these days about Obama’s peace plan for Palestine these days and just can’t get over it. She apologizes for her attitude but she wants you to know she did put on her smiley face collar to celebrate. :)

and I added:
Yes, please excuse Ms.Ava. She supports a one state solution and Mr. Obama- who was once a hero- is really letting her down. She’s a sensitive little bugger and is taking this a bit too hard IMHO. ;)

—-

today is the first day of classes here at USU. i’m signed up for 3. i’ll probably drop all 3. but i want to see what the work load is. up first is arabic! it’s a freshman level class. even if i drop it, i’ve got the textbooks that i can begin to work through. 2nd up is a cool doctoral class. 3rd is multivariate stats (that’s tomorrow). i have an intense interest in all 3 classes, but i am doing my dissertation and beginning a job search + dealing with all sorts of stormy weather around me. so, we’ll see. today i’m just happy that i’m going to go to day 1 of arabic. it’s a start, right?