rachelpink rides the bus

TV on the Radio

I'm listening to a glorious episode of This American Life. It's all about television and it's making me laugh. It's also making me jealous that I don't write clever essays and get to read them on the radio while Ira Glass looks on with love.

Cupcake is not laughing, because the voice of Ira Glass sent her off to closet where she'll hide, I suspect, until it's time to soothe ourselves to sleep with BSG.

Conversations with Cupcake, Part 1 (an ongoing series)

Me: Oh my baby kitty. I missed you so much today. Did you miss me?
Cupcake: [silent. runs away]

Me: That's mommy's beer. No, no, no.
Cupcake: [attempts to drink beer]
Me: Cuppy, off. Beer is not for cats.
Cupcake: [tries for the beer again. runs away]

Me: What will mommy wear today? [places today's outfit on the bed]
Cupcake: Purrrrr [sits solidly on top of outfit on bed]

Tuesday

Tonight I left work at 5 to catch a showing of "Baby Mama" with Jaimie, Vince and JP. Dude, that's a funny movie. I love it. Amy Poehler making toast would crack me up. Amy Poehler playing a white trash surrogate mother KILLED me. I snorted. I repeated lines to Vince seconds after they were spoken on screen. Oh so sweet and funny it was. Funny with a healthy splash of earnestness. That's a recipe for Rachel-Love.

I left the movie and headed to Petco. Worst store ever but convenient. Cupcake needed a new collar and a scratching box. She loves those.

I called my mom to check on her sciatica. I called Donovan and Delaney and heard all about their upcoming trip to Busch Gardens. Donovan claims there's a tug o' war with a lion at the park. He was very convincing.

And then I headed home. The movie popcorn didn't do it for me so I was feeling peckish. Stopped at King of Falafel for some chicken and hot sauce. Asked for extra hot sauce and the guys on the cart balked--then threw on extra pickled hot peppers for good measure. We laughed about it, and I walked away smiling and skipping--just a hint of skipping. The falafel cart is the center of my little sub-neighborhood, and it's a simmering stew of good will and delicious chicken.

I was so excited to get home. To eat my super spicy chicken. To give the cat her new scratcher. To finish reading a good book.

This was a fine Tuesday.

Cupcake's New Routine

So while I'm still sans routine, Cupcake has established a new morning ritual.

At 5:45/6am she sidles up to me, climbs awkwardly onto my back and arm, and then begins to knead me (in the adorable kitten-like way) with her RAZOR-SHARP CLAWS exposed. Like Wolverine.

This morning it took me too long to push her off and my shoulder is a pink field of scratches.

Now Sammy, my violent strong-willed Samantha Cat, used to sleep on my back. And I loved it. Part of me hopes that if I let Cupcake claw me for a few days, she'll tire of it and just fall asleep on me.

A Matter of Routine

I thought it would only take a week or so to establish a routine in my new place. But now it's over a week, and there's no real routine in sight.

This morning I headed out to the animal shelter for the first time in three weeks, and it felt like I was back in the groove. At the shelter itself I was a little frazzled. The layout had changed and there were lots of people I didn't know milling about. By noon I felt better. The cats had clean cages, I managed the volunteers, and held some teensy tiny kittens. I left with scratched up arms and a feeling of pure happy.

Here's one of today's kittens. She's going to lose one of her eyes from an injury--but she's running on 100% adorable energy. Another kitten (with two eyes) thought it would be funny to dump her water dish on my head while I cleaned the cage beneath her. And then she stuck her paw in her wet food and flung it at me. Sweet.

The shelter has lots of vet bills right now, and I'm trying to think of some fundraising ideas that would get them some cash. Night of 1,000 LOL Cats?

But back to the routine. There are a few big things I need to get used to. Living alone (with a Cupcake). Taking a new route to work. Living in a quiet building. It's all a little confidence-shaking. I've been talking to Cupcake quite a bit. She doesn't talk back. I'm trying not to call my mom every 5 minutes because between the sciatica and Grandma, she's all booked up. I focus on my friends and Battlestar Gallactica (I watched 5 hours this weekend and I want more) and Cuppy and the shelter and Donovan and Delaney--oh, and WORK. Yeah.

Has Anyone Seen This?

I saw this on the Craft blog this morning. I want to go and find it.

Jonah @ MAKE writes:
This pixellated water was spotted somewhere on NYC's Lower East Side, but it didn't quite evaporate so it's probably still around there somewhere. This type of art is a pretty nice way to re-imagine the city as if it were a video game, a technique that many different artists have been using lately.

 

Via Near Future Laboratory.

Dreamy

For the last four nights, I dreamed I crashed four different weddings of four different high school friends. Each night was a different friend and slightly different surroundings. Three of the four weddings took place in a museum. Outside the museum was a tiger and a small lap pool. I had messy hair in all four dreams.

At dinner tonight, Lisa suggested that I look up what this all might mean in the realm of dream analysis.

Viola!:

To see a wedding in your dream, symbolizes a new beginning or transition in your current life. Dreams involving weddings are generally negative and highlight some anxiety or fear. It often refers to feelings of bitterness, sorrow, or death.

To see a tiger in your dream, symbolizes repressed feelings or emotions that frighten you.

To see your childhood friend in your dream, signifies regression into your past where you had no responsibilities and things were much simpler and carefree. You may be wanting to escape the the pressures and stresses of adulthood.

To see a pool of water in your dream, indicates that you need to understand and deal with your emotions. You need to dive right in.

A Light Note

For years I've had a secret soft spot for "Sunday Morning" and its host, Charles Osgood. A few weekends ago I watched a marvelously happy-making segment about Ashford and Simpson. Previously, I hadn't given the pair much thought beyond the song "Solid" and its deep and catchy cheesiness.

So here I am watching this short little segment and quite unexpectedly and suddenly I'm kind of in love with Ashford and Simpson. They met cute. They sing together. They engage in playful banter. Their happiness seems serene and true. They love their work. They've made a lasting impact in an industry they dig.

The show ended with a clip of a recent performance where the pair sang "Solid" and it wasn't just cheesy anymore. It was sweet and soulful and a little goofy-happy.

Have I gone soft?

Oh

This is a wall.

---------------------------

And I have hit it.

This whole month, heck, most of this whole year, has been messy. It's catching up. It's caught up.

Universe, send some good Karma along to me and everyone else who needs it.

Leaky

Last night Vince escorted me to Home Depot for some plumbing bits. He helped me pick out a new shower head, and a nozzle thingy for the kitchen sink.

Oh I was super excited to get that shower head on. I stepped into the tub and went to turn the old head off. The metal was corroded and it just kind of flopped off leaving half of the attachment stuck the pipe. I realized (too late) that I'd left my wrench at the old apartment), and heck, I'm not even sure a wrench will do it. Maybe I need to buy some of that CLR stuff and douse it?

Anyhow, so this morning I took a shower straight from the pipe. It felt like a beach shower--too fast and too hard but oddly refreshing.

There was a time when this would have turned me into a stressed-out basket case. Not now. Now it amuses me.