Game Addiction

Ok, I know I have ADHD and an addictive personality, and games like this don't help matters any. I swear, I can waste hours on this. And I usually suck at strategy games, but once you figure out what you're doing, it's a lot of fun. If you've got some time to waste, check out Proximity War. Definitely one for the bookmarks list.

I'm also partial to Bejeweled 1 and Bejeweled 2 from PopCap Games.

Yes, these are all basically puzzle games, but I'm a hardcore Tetris fan from way back, and outside of Dark Age of Camelot, those are the ones I come back to again and again. If you know of any games, feel free to make suggestions. :-)

GIANT ALIEN KITTY HEAD

Because what they're *really* thinking when they gaze at you with what you perceive as adoration is: "I wonder how much trouble I'd get into if I ate their brain?"

CATS....IN....SPAAAAAACE!

Click on the picture to see the full-size version. The stars are a bit hard to see in this thumbnail.

The first of the kittypix!

This is, as my friend Rikki so aptly put it, "The purrbox that now owns me". I'd like to introduce you all to Freya.

More pics coming as they are taken, downloaded, and edited.

I have a kitty!

Ok, I know some of you have already heard this, but I'm going to post it so I can point future people here rather than retyping it a million times.

I was visiting my best bud Dan yesterday, and we had gone to get something to eat. When we came back to the apartment complex, there were two boys with a cat carrier who said "Do you want a cat?" They opened the carrier and out came the prettiest butterscotch and caramel colored tabby. She was sorta small-adultish sized, and seemed to be taking the ruckus of being carted around by two 10-year-old boys pretty well, overall. She let us pet her without any hesitation as the boys informed us that she had been found abandoned in a garage-like storage facility after having been there for a week without food or water. Our hearts just melted...she was such a sweet little kitty, we couldn't imagine how anyone would abandon a cat with such a sweet disposition. The boys said they had first tried to find her owner but evidently they had cleared out and just left the cat, so they were now trying to find a home for her. Evidently they've done this before, with other animals. It seemed sort of like their 'mission', almost. Each boy had their own cat, and one of them had two cats, a dog, and a goldfish, and had wanted to keep this kitty too but his mother wouldn't let him. So they were trying to find a home for her so she wouldn't have to go to a shelter or humane society. They just couldn't imagine such a sweet little kitty ending up like that.

Dan and I went into his apartment and considered the options. He had been considering getting a playmate for Chiana, and had the boys bring their kitty inside to see how they reacted to each other. Chiana watched from a respectable distance, but this kitty didn't seem to like being that close to another one. So I started thinking...what if this was an omen? What if I had gone without a pet this whole time so that I would be able to take her when she came along? I called James and asked him what he thought, and he was like, 'Sure!' (But he loves kitties, his parents had two, both of whom have passed since he moved over to the U.S.) So we went upstairs where the boys were showing the cat to another tenant in the building and told them we'd take her. The tenant was glad, because she'd been trying to find the number of a "Vicky's Pet Connection" which was basically the stop-before-the-shelter type of scenario. The boys thanked us profusely for taking her, and we transferred her from their cat carrier to one of Chiana's so we could bring her home. The boys also told us that her 'fang' teeth were about twice as long as a regular cat's teeth were, so that she looked sort of like a sabre-toothed kitty when she yawned. I looked at Dan and said, ""Buffy' wouldn't entirely be out of the realm of believability as a name, would it?" Buffy the Vampire Kitty? :-) Also, her coloring is similar to what Tasha's was, and they called her 'buff' (tho I had other nicknames for her, like my 'honey-colored girl' ;-) ) The boys had been calling her "Mercury" just to have something to call her, but for some reason that just didn't seem to fit her.

Dan and I decided to head back to my side of town in both cars, stopping at a pet store for some supplies on the way. But about halfway home she started crying, and for some reason I seemed to *know* that it was because she needed to go to the bathroom. So I diverted from the plan and went straight home. Dan followed. He had brought some litter and a box we could use till we got one of our own, as well as some food. We got home, let her out and showed her the box and she *immediately* went potty (so I was right!) We left her with James and went to get a litter box, some food, litter, and a couple of toys and came home to settle in with our new houseguest.

I was really tired, so I brought her upstairs and put her on the bed, to show her that she was allowed there, and got in and lay down. Almost immediately she curled up near me, rolled around, stretched, and did a bunch of cute kitty things. Then we napped off and on for most of the night. When J came to bed she climed up on my pillow and lay down, purring like crazy, and even stayed there for a while. She is really the sweetest little kitty, and she seems to have the perfect kind of personality for me. She's pretty mellow, very affectionate, and is good abount not scratching or using her claws to rend your flesh to ribbons. We're still thinking on a name for her, but the more I think about it, the more "Buffy" appeals to me. It may seem silly to some, but it just sorta...slid into place when I mentioned it. I think it might be a good fit. I'll update on the situation, and include some pictures when I can borrow Dan's camera. Until then, here is a picture of a kitty that is very similar to what she looks like.

MY EYES!

Psyche!

This picture just messes with your mind. Even moreso if you swirl your eyes around clockwise.
Disclaimer: not responsible for any ill effects caused by long-term viewing of this image.

About Me!

Ah, my favorite subject. Well, besides my hair, that is. Anyway, since this blog is for, by, and of me, I should probably tell you a bit about myself. I am female, 36, and married, but that's just the boring census-type information. What's really important to remember is that I'm straightforward, incredibly frugal, and fairly sarcastic in my humor. I hate people, at least large gatherings of them, especially if they are driving cars. Around me. And talking on cellphones. Oh, there's fuel for two rants right there. Don't *get* me started yet. :-)

I am known to friends as The Bargain Queen, because of my uncanny ability to sniff out and take advantage of bargains. I almost never pay full price for anything, simply because it's not usually necessary. Even at my age, I still have horrendous cravings for fast food and especially pop, though I try to get diet whenever it's humanly possible. I like indirect lighting, neon, lava lamps, incense, and candles, because all these things help color life a little more pleasantly than the glaring fluorescence of school and offices. I am almost completely dependent on the computer for communicating with people. I can't remember the last time I hand-wrote a letter to anyone. I have a penchant for things that are small and cute. Particularly if they're cocker spaniels. I have an insane amount of music, on mp3, cd, cassette, and yes, even vinyl. I am totally still stuck in the 80s mindset. I miss asymmetrical haircuts. Hell, I miss hairstyles that have been washed, blow dried, and curling-ironed, cuz take a look at Hollywood, folks...evidently the unwashed, unparted, and uncombed look is in. To me, this is even less desirable than the comeback of bell bottomed-hip huggers (note to any young girls ...it is *not* flattering to wear babydoll crop tops and hip hugger jeans if your gut hangs out over the top of them!!) The Salvation Army store near me is my favorite place to shop. It's not one of those where everything is 3rd-generation hand-me-downs like in some towns. I get stuff from the Gap, Union Bay, American Eagle, Tommy Hilfiger, Fubu, etc. from it. Sometimes brand new stuff. I'm like a kid in a candy store there. A kid in a *wearable* candy store! But I digress. I do that a lot, too. I have ADHD, so it's best that you know that beforehand. If you know me, chances are you're already used to it.

Let's see, what else is there? Oh, yeah, if you spend any time at all talking to me or chatting online, you'll also notice my tendency to make up words, or turn words into verbs that maybe weren't before. If you've ever watched 'Buffy, the Vampire Slayer' you know of that which I speak. And even though I am a huge fan of wordplay (and even making up my own) I am a proofreader at heart and the growing inability to write and spell correctly among today's generation seriously worries me. Sure, I may make up words, but at least I know how to use them correctly when it's called for. I feel that you shouldn't be allowed to bastardize a language you haven't even learned all that well in the first place. So, in my blogs, should you come across a word that is misspelled or a sentence that is written incorrectly, assume that I've done it on purpose, or to prove a point.