game on

Okay, I'll admit it, I like playing some of the games on facebook and online. I'm not crazy addicted where I have to look at them every hour, but I spend some time in the morning early and then again at night (and I'm not fond of the whole farm movement, I have real plants here that need tending, I only play to help others who help me in other games).

I've never considered myself a 'gamer' in years past. There have been games I've liked (Tempest comes to mind, as does the original Legend of Zelda, and 7th Guest, a computer game way ahead of it's time with its graphics), but nothing very addictive, even in the days when Mario ruled the game console.

I love Zuma Blitz. It's mindless, matching 3 of a kind and competing with friends for the highest score. Level 80 is as high as you can get, so PopCap started with letting you reset and start again, I'm over 1/2 way through my 4th time. I play when I'm in the midst of coding because it used to help stop my brain from coding all night while I sleep. Actually the coding overnight is a good skill to have. When I got my BS in computer science, I found that when I couldn't get a program to work, if I went to bed without 'clearing it out of my mind', my brain would work on it all night and I'd usually wake up with a solution. That doesn't make for a good night's sleep though. I would knit or something 'mindless' to clear it out.

If I play Zuma Blitz too late though or right before I go to bed, I find my brain decides to play that all night.....so that's not usually a late night thing.

A new Zynga game (and if you play anything online, Zynga is the king of gaming) is Hidden Chronicles. It is a mansion with a searchable scenes part. So you have this home and you can 'buy' stuff for your estate, which in turn gives you points that unlock other scenes and more property. It is the fastest growing game I've seen. I have probably 40 friends that play steadily, pretty much unheard of. The scenes have a varying set of items you have to search for and you get points and 'cash' for finding them without errors and quickly. I've always liked the 'see what's different' games and searching in general. I used to love the find items last page in Highlights magazine they used to have in the doctor's office. Anyway, the graphics are great and it doesn't crash the shockwave/flash player as often as a lot of the other games seem to. It's low maintenance (your crops don't rot, there's nothing to 'feed') so that has been my 'last stop' before bedtime lately.

I also play Frontierville/Pioneer Trail, though I'm getting about done with that. I've been playing that since they started. It's glitchy, it crashes, it forgets stuff, but I have to say Zynga's customer support is great. You email them, they give you 'stuff' and more. But lately they've been more apt to give you things than fix the overall programming issues. Lately it has become more of a 'chore' than fun. The missions are very redundant and a lot of my friends have stopped playing. You have to beg (every 12 hours) for stuff, even then, you can only get 3 of whatever you need (sometimes 50-60!) at that. It's also the only game where I have 'friends' I don't know. You need so many to keep up, and they have to be dedicated, daily players. Right now, a lot of them have stopped playing because it's getting ridiculous and there is a huge online movement to get Zynga to rethink the way the game is played. We'll see, I play that only here and there now, mainly just to help out others. They even opened a 'new' area but the work involved to play was just overwhelming and not enough 'resources' provided by Zynga to make it fun.

I like the new Solitaire Blitz. You have a minute (or more if you pay with your winnings) to go through the deck and unload all your cards into 3 piles. Also mindless (well you have to pay a bit attention to get the matches and runs, but mindless)

I did the Farmville and My Farm when I first got online. My Farm was kinda fun, I had a lot of stuff, I liked the cow tipping aspect, but honestly I haven't looked at it in years. Farmville I only play every week or so, and just to the requests I get for stuff.

Words with Friends (aka Scrabble) is available online and on my iPad/iPhone. I made a rule that I will only play when I'm on my exercise bike and I don't get to that every day (I walk a lot when it's nice out) so I amended that rule as I was losing games for not playing for a few days. I play with a lot of my friends. You can also only have 30 games going at once, and though that may sound like a lot, when you're the 'grammar police' as I am at work, you can breeze though them. And no, I don't cheat. I know a number of people that have admitted to using programs that play for them or give them words. I mean what's the point then? I sometimes do just throw letters at the board and hope they make a word and I am always surprised when they do. I'm also surprised at how the differing 'scrabble' type games use different dictionaries and what passes in one game and not in another.

The mahjong matching games were nice, but now they are fraught with ads that stop you every 2-3 games and make you watch something you don't want to for :30. Same with playing Words with Friends online. I'm sure these companies need to make some money somehow. Words with Friends, I paid for the app on my phone just to get rid of the ads. I won't pay online though. I do throw some $ (like $25 every 3-4 months) at Frontierville from time to time. I keep hoping they'll get their servers to stop being ridiculous.

Bejeweled Blitz is also a mindless matching game, same thing as Zuma but it's more like a Tetris type in a grid.

Other games gone by the wayside, Mafia Wars. One of the first online/Facebook games. It really got boring after awhile. At first, I was just getting killed off all the time and all my stuff ripped off, but then it was just a clicking thing and different cities/collections, but the same thing. Then they tried a more interactive (looked like the Sims) and I more didn't understand the overall missions. Pirates. I did like Pirates, though similar to Mafia Wars, it had a bit more to it. Zynga discontinued it. The Farm games, both of them, required way too much time and dedication to keep going. I guess they expect you to either play every hour or fork over some real $$ to buy things like unwither for your crops. Don't like them enough to do that.

Angry Birds has just 'debuted' on Facebook. I have it on my phone and all Angry Birds does is makes me angry. It's okay to play if there is nothing else to do, but I personally find it very frustrating. I guess it's funny the first few times the 'pigs' laugh/grunt at you, but after that, yes you just want to slap them upside the head. I play online here and there (like maybe 1x every 2-3 weeks if I'm bored) only because it's larger than trying to play on a little phone screen.

there's nothing better than a great dog

Yes there is truly nothing better than a good dog....dogs are not cats, they hang on your every word, they follow you around looking for guidance, they view you as their queen. I've had some great dogs in my years, not as many dogs as cats because they are definitely higher maintenance (you can't just leave them alone for hours on end).

The first dog I considered my own and not a family pet was Anthony. I got him for my 16th birthday from my then boyfriend. A friend of ours had 3-4 mini adult poodles at his house and there were 2 litters of maybe 6-8 puppies within a week. I wasn't fond of poodles and if I was going to get one, I wanted a black one, but I went over to my friend Steve's house and there were these 10 or so puppies all jumping up in the air at him. It was a pretty funny scene,and Steve was a big guy (he passed away a year or so ago to kidney cancer). All the black ones were spoken for but there was this all dark brown one and I took him. I think my boyfriend paid $10 for him because of the bill for having his tail docked. Well I didn't know a lot about dogs, we'd always had one but I'd never had to bother with it. We had a fenced in yard and would just let them out. First thing, he needed a name. He would just follow me around with no leash on (he was maybe 8 weeks old when I got him) and we had this friend who we would yell 'Anthony' when he drove by in his souped up car (his name was not Anthony and his car sounded like a dishwasher). My little puppy looked up at me, so that is how he got his name. He went everywhere with me and he slept on my bed, though he would get off some time during the night, but was always back by the time I woke up in the morning. He knew a lot of tricks. He would whack at you if you put his bowl on your head and say 'where's my hat'...he knew how to sneeze, he loved his hartz flexi crockie best.

I went off to college and though initially I did take him with me, it wasn't fair to him to be in a dorm room all day (trust me, nobody knew he was there, it just wasn't fair to him) so he went back home. Freshman year my dad died suddenly and I had gotten home and was upset, I remember sitting on the stairs inside and crying and Anthony proceeded to bring me, one by one, every last one of his toys, and finally just putting his chin on me and looking up at me. I swear he cried as well.

I moved off campus after that and he came with me. He was alone a lot and though I think I could leave him for DAYS and he'd never do anything in the house (I never did that, but there were times I'd be gone for hours and he'd wait til I got home). I decided to get him a 'friend'. I was down at a pound in South County someplace and there was this tiny puppy. I brought her home and named her Gretchun, no idea why, I think she just looked like a Gretchun. As smart as Anthony was, so was she, but she didn't use it for good, only evil. Unlike Anthony, she would pee on the floor at the drop of a hat. She learned to move the chair across the floor so she could open the cupboards and steal all the food. She once ate a box of Good and Plenty, then hurled them all over the pillows on the bed. She once ate an entire Gingerbread house and ended up spending Thanksgiving at my vet's house. She also auditioned for the David Letterman show's stupid pet tricks because she could peel a banana and then eat it (she freaked at doing it in front of an audience).

One day Anthony didn't seem to feel very well and it turned out he had kidney failure. There wasn't anything you could do. You can't make a dog drink more water so he was relegated to special food and an under the skin infusion of lactated ringers solution, 1x per day and towards the end 2x. He lived a great life for another 4 years and died when he was 16.

Gretchun, not being a great dog, needed a friend. I got Muff'n about then. She was of mixed breed (Gretchun was Chihuahua and terrier, a white long haired, didn't look like a chihuahua) terrier mix. Muff was a great dog as well, though not as bright as some other dogs I've had. She was great with the kids, larger than Ant or Gretch (both well under 10 pounds). Gretchun went into a seizure one day, I think she was around 12 and died from that.

Muff was an only dog for a long time (not counting the cat population in this story). One day, Sophie came to stay. Sophie was as dumb as a box o' rocks. She was a red shepherd mix. She would retrieve the ball until the cows came home and my kids would throw it for hours. One day when Bec was maybe 2, she was waving the ball in the air and Sophie jumped up to get it, knocked Bec down and as she stepped over her to get the ball, she ripped her face with her nails...over 100 stitches later, I couldn't look at Bec and Sophie, she's the only animal I've ever given back to the pound, but with the understanding they find her a home and not euthanize her. Though not truly her fault, she needed to be a home with older kids in it.

Muff was like having furniture for a pet. Not a mean bone in her body, but not really an active family member. She died at the old age of 16.

I waited a few weeks, but it was summer and summer is always a good time to get a puppy (I'm home a lot in the summer) so I started scouting the pounds, didn't want to drag the kids around to them and things had changed, though the internet wasn't really up and running as an adoption place, pounds were getting more rigid with just who they would give an animal to. I'd go to one place and fill out this huge form and wait, I'm not good at waiting. Finally I saw this 6 month old puppy and brought the kids to see her. She had been thrown out of a car in front of the pound. Stupid people left her tags on and got charged with it. Took her home (after she drooled, hyperventilated and heaved in the car the whole way). She already had a name, Shelby, and she seemed to know it, so the name stayed. That was almost 13 years ago now.


Shelby is a good dog, she also does not have a mean bone in her body (to be honest, Muff'n only tolerated the kids, especially as she got older). It took me over a year to be able to get her into a car. She couldn't even walk by it without heaving. One day I was showing her photo to a friend and she asked if her name was Shelby. I said yes, she then asked her birthdate, which I knew because I had contacted the vet where her tags were from (to find out shots, etc. and had asked about her birthday). Turns out my friend had taken her brother and sister from another rescue. There had been 3 puppies but she took 2 (and felt badly about leaving the 3rd one but 2 was enough).

She does some cool tricks. She sneezes on command, actually all my dogs have done that. My mom taught Anthony. Gretchun (nicknamed the 'weasal' btw) learned that if Anthony sneezed he got a biscuit so she learned. Muff'n learned. Shelby not only does that, but because she is a shepherd mix, they 'snap' their jaws when they get excited, we called that 'crocking' and she does that on command. She also falls to the floor if you yell bang at her (the kids taught her that).

She's 13 next week and really though groan-y and a little limpy, does really well. She can keep up with Ozzy, in fact, she can outrun him to the frisbee (though not this week, she hurt her 'shoulder' last week and has to take it easy for a bit). I got Ozzy because I know 13 is old for a dog, especially a large dog like Shelby (60# of large dog) but she's been blessed with decent health and gets her vet visit tomorrow (though she was there last week for her injury).

cats cats cats

I feel a bit neglectful that I am lumping all the other cats into just one post. They all were good (with the exception of the current evil Luna) in their own right and had their own stories, but none were as involved (or beloved) as Rex. Usually there were always 2, if not 3 cats here at one time so they all overlap their residence.

Starting at the beginning is easiest.....first cat I had was X-it. As I said previously, I had hit a cat on a country road and couldn't find it, so me being me, went to the pound and adopted him. I don't even remember what pound or why because it was so long ago. He was a black cat. Now that I'm involved with a rescue organization, I have learned that a lot of people won't even look at a black cat due to superstition. A cat is a cat, if they have a good personality (and who can tell when they're a kitten anyway? Luna is proof of that!) then you're all set no matter what they look like. I'd like to state though there are some cats that I personally do not find cute, those ones with the smooshed faces (and the same thing goes for dogs with me) or anything purebred, which I would never pay $$ for anyway, though Maine Coons are cute.
Anyway, it was close to 30 years ago, but he used to kinda say his name, he was this weird meow that sounded almost dolphinesque. So you'd say 'X-it' and he'd say urk urk (doesn't translate well to print). I moved a few times with him and he was in the current home I have. He died at the age of 16. He had just gone missing for a couple of days (he was one of the outdoor cats, back before there were the mean things in the wood there are today), and he came back and just wasn't the same. He was dirty and disoriented. The vet thought maybe he had a stroke, and euthanized him.

Next was 'stache. She was a petite, long haired, tuxedo girl with (guess what!) a mustache. She was a priss to say the least, but try as she might, she had no meow, she would open her mouth and nothing would come out. She was killed in my last house when a huge dog jumped my 4' fence (yes in MY fenced in yard) in front of me.

Moola was found at the ATM machine vestibule in the trash can. I heard this squeaking and thought it was a fan, but then I heard rustling and looked inside and there was this teeny tiny little tortoise kitty. She was probably only 5-6 weeks old. Moo was the 'adventure' cat. Once she was missing and turns out she'd climbed into a drawer and was behind it. She also climbed 8' up into a soffit above the cabinets once. Moo's tail got run over by a car as she ran across the street (and no the person did not stop though I was outside). It had to be amputated and she did fine for awhile, but then nerve damage took over after a couple of years and she became incontinent and was having issues walking. so she ended up euthanized. She was 10.

In the meantime, after 'stache, we got Tigg'r, a dilute tortie. and only had her a short time, we found her dead in the yard, not sure if she was poisoned or hit (she didn't look hit).

And then there was Elvis. He was right up there with Rex as far as cats behaving like a dog. He just showed up one day and moved in. He was very vocal. I was at the point of trying to keep cats in (and you know how that goes sometimes, there are just some cats you cannot keep in, especially older ones). He was maybe 4-5 when he showed up. He used to 'talk' to you the whole time you'd be getting groceries out of the car, he was a great cat, had him a couple of years. I also found him on the front yard one day, not sure what happened to him either, no visible injuries.

Bailey came from the pound as a baby. She was a petite, dilute long haired tortie. Also a priss. She would go out only to pee though, she didn't go out otherwise and she NEVER left the deck except to go pee. She used to sleep in the strangest places. I have a photo of her sleeping in the manger at Christmas one year. She was 15 and just disappeared, though my son heard 'noises' late that night, we never found any trace of her.




Moe was my baby. Got him as a kitten at the pound. A big long haired tuxedo boy. If there was a newspaper or magazine being read, Moe was on top of it. He made it impossible to do anything because he'd just lay on it (he was 15#). He was big snuggler. Like all the cats, he came when he was called. He was also totally spooked by anything. Very skittish. He went out only to pee as well. I didn't like him out and he didn't like being out. He usually ran out with the dog after dinner and came back after the dog went out again at night. He never stayed out all night and given at this point I had seen coyotes and fisher cats, I didn't want anyone out. Plus the cat next door had been killed by a raccoon. Moe was about 10 and he ran by me one night as I let the dog out late. I tried waiting up for him but he didn't come back. The next day, while cutting the grass, his 'parts' were found all over my yard. I was heartbroken. He was soooo skittish I can only imagine that it had to have been more than one attacker or he would have just run away. I am totally responsible for his death as I didn't keep him in (though I tried).

The kids brought Pharoah home one day. He was hanging around the bus stop for a couple of days and then followed them home (like a 1/2 a mile followed them home). He was crazy. You'd come home and find the birdcage on the floor, the curtains down, etc. Try as we might (at this point, nobody was going to go out), couldn't keep him in. He'd pee on everything (well he still does, even though he's neutered), he hates everyone except my son (who has now moved out) and now only tolerates us, but he's your best friend when he's outside. I consider him to be a bit more 'street smart' than the other cats. He hangs out on the roof of the house most of the time. He used to bang on the kids' windows to come in (and we've discouraged that because he was ruining the screens, but there is one window he's allowed to bang on now). He's 9 now and he's a blue Abyssinian. He would hang off the ceiling fan if he thought he could get up there. His nickname is 'wheee' because he was always flying around the house. A funny story about him. I was down the street at a gardening place and there was a cat sleeping there that looked exactly like him. After talking to the owner, he was found wandering about the same time Pharoah was found, so I'm pretty sure it's his brother. Pharoah though street smart is also as dumb as a box o' rocks. When the dog gets shaved every year, Pharoah runs up the stairs and hisses and growls at him for days, took me a while to figure out he thinks it's a new dog.....
And yes, he still hates everyone, especially that new stupid puppy.

After Moe passed away (and Rex was still here, I won't do his story because he has his own page on the blog, and Pharoah is here) I got (bella) Luna. I saw her on Petfinders (remember I do the website for a rescue organization).

She was listed as a 6 week old bengal/savannah and as you can see from her photo, she was totally adorable. What I didn't know (and now I know better) is that you don't get to 'pick'. They brought her to my house and she immediately laid on her back in my lap and went to sleep. Not that she didn't win me over with THAT behaviour, but I didn't get to see other kittens. Well, she was fine for awhile, but she hates everyone. Especially the vet. She weighs 5" soaking wet, yet it takes 3 people with gloves to hold her down at the vet. Now she is terrified to go and it's become this double edged sword. They have to hold her down (cuz she bites and hisses and scratches) and they hurt her when they hold her down, not on purpose but you really have to hold her, therefore, she bites and scratches more. She's fine with me 90% of the time. She sleeps on my head at night, she loves the smell of 'wet people' and rolls all over the bath towels. But she'll rip your face off if you look at her wrong. I'm not sure how she feels about the puppy. Being a Border Collie, he will chase her. But I've seen her run on purpose and let him follow her and her roll on her back (okay maybe only a minute, but still...). I've also seen her hide behind something and either pounce or whack at him as he goes by, usually scaring him and resulting in a bark a thon. She also had lupus when she was little (well she's only 3 now) and she is also diagnosed with stress (???) induced cystitis. She's on 1/4 amitriptyline every other day for it. Learning from Rex, she has the water fountain, no prescription food, but I did get her on soulistic, which is a human grade cat food and I feed grain free to all 3 of them. It's under control for now.
She, believe it or not, lets me give her her medicine. I used to wrestle her down and use either butter or whipped cream (treats for her, she loves them) to get it down, but I found that if I'm sitting on my computer and she's in my lap relaxing (seems to be her favourite place) I can get it into her with no wrestling (most of the time). It's also encased in capsules that I had to get at the compounding pharmacy. Seems amitriptyline must taste horrible, she drools terribly if she gets a taste of it, which is why you can't 'hide' it in anything. Truly the worst cat I've ever owned, but she's cute.

The most recent edition is Mugsy. After Rex passed away, we were left with Pharoah who hates everyone and the evil Luna (call my vet, they'll agree!). So though we knew we'd never replace Rex, I started kinda looking. Having your vet's staff emailing you photos of homeless cats doesn't help. SO I saw this cat, Bubbles, on a website and called, filled out the applications and headed down there. Well the staff felt (and this is the rescue I work for now) another cat, Muggles, was a better fit in the household. He climbed up into my lap and went to sleep (after Luna, I wasn't really buying this act). They said he was about 2, he'd been a stray and he was a good boy.
He came home that day and he had big shoes to fill. The week after he came, the great flood of 2010 hit and my basement filled with water, and then the repairs, etc.

All the cat stuff was down stairs, so it all moved up to the 2nd floor and the door had to be kept shut because of workmen going in and out and windows open airing out, etc. The joke was that Mugsy (renamed Mug O' Guinness, with his birthday being St. Patrick's Day, he'll be 4 this week) was probably wishing he'd stayed at the pound. And he HATED the dog (didn't have the puppy yet) I mean hated. And the dog does NOT CARE. The dog would be laying down and Mugsy would walk by, the dog would just shift her eyes over, not even moving any other part of her body just to see what was walking by and swat, growl, hiss. This went on for over a year, they're not the best of friends now, but it's stopped. Took him a year though. Funny thing was when I brought Ozzy home, Mugsy was the first one to greet him!

some of the people I know

I had to do a presentation when I was in grad school on music, and I started thinking about all the bands I'd seen over the years (and continue to see) and then all the famous people that I've met, so I thought I'd write a bit about that.
I think the first concert I even went to without the family (although we used to go to the 'tent' and I saw Herb Alpert and some other shows there) was Grand Funk Railroad at the Civic Center. I went with my friend (we didn't drive yet so we needed a ride).

I've always loved live music, which is why I still probably spend more time than I should these days in clubs like the Met. I have to say, I LOVE THE MET. It's like the old Lupo's...it's not huge, I know everyone in there, sound system is good, only downside is the neighbourhood is a little sketchy so you need to always go early so you can park in front or in the lot across the street. I got there late once and was sent to a back lot that was soooo scary I drove around until something in front opened up.

Anyway, the list of bands/musicians I've seen is very long and there may be one or two I've forgotten, some are just very famous, but local bands, I'll start with the list, in no particular order.

Grand Funk Railroad - several times, Alice Cooper - several times, David Bowie - several times, George Harrison, Rubber Rodeo, Route 44, Mark Knoffler, Dire Straits, The Monkees - several times, Mink DeVille, Queen, The Police (very early in their career), Herman's Hermits, Iggy Pop, The Grassroots, Yes - several times, Steppenwolf, Smithereens, Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, NRBQ, Deep Purple, The Lyres, R.E.M. (one time live at a David Letterman taping), J. Geils Band, Romantics, Mission of Burma, The Cure, The Cult, Beaver Brown/JohnCafferty (probably weekly when I was in college, but have seen him 2x in the last month now), Ted Leo - way way many times, The Kinks, Blue Oyster Cult, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Lou Miami, The Young Adults - a ridiculous amount of times, The Schemers/Raindogs, many times, Spin Doctors, The Neighborhoods - regularly, Adam Ant, Doobie Brothers, Seals and Croft, Nilsson, Graham Parker, The Go Gos, Herman Brood, Flash and the Pan, Chicago, Three Dog Night, David Johansen/NY Dolls - used to pretty much follow him around, Rash of Stabbings, Patti Smith, Television, B52s, Devo, Talking Heads, Roomful of Blues (every Sunday night in college), Elvis Costello, INXS, Interview, Aztec Two Step, Ultravox, Nick Lowe, The Dead Kennedys, The Dead Boys - once was enough, Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds (the only band I ever heard Randy Hein ask to turn it down!), The Ramones, Aerosmith - a few times, Love of Diagrams, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Kristeen Young, Robert Cray, Bo Diddley, KC and the Sunshine Band, The Cars - before they were famous (for a dollar!), Manhattan Transfer, Leon Redbone, Tom Waits, Alan Parsons Project, ELO, The Mundanes, HSR, Warren Zevon, The Tubes, The Cowsills, James Taylor, Johnny Cougar and the Zones (before he was better known as Mellencamp, and he sucked!), Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Sly and the Family Stone - he was 3 hours late for the concert, came on stage, did one song and walked off, Susan Tedeschi, Jim Carroll, Fleetwood Mac (before Buckingham/Nicks), Tommy Tutone, and I had tickets to see T Rex but he died before he got here.

There are only a few I wish I'd seen. I would have liked to see in their heyday Fleetwood Mac and the Beach Boys, but not now. I still would LOVE to see the Stones. The thought of going to a humongous arena to see a band does not thrill me though.

The music people I actually know, who are famous probably only in RI (and at that, maybe if you're a music person you'd know them) has come about more from doing all the filming I do at the Met and being involved with people like Bruce McCrae, aka Rudy Cheeks, once a local radio personality and a former (well and current) lead singer for the Young Adults, RI's premiere party band in the late 70s and Lupo's house band, who we saw (and continue see) every chance we get...they broke up a long time ago but played a 3 night stand as a reunion tour last May (and I was involved in the video, which unfortunately, will never see the light of day because they didn't like the way THEY sounded) and will be playing again on the 25th in the Tribute to Thom (Enright) who just passed away and has been in just about every freakin' band IN Rhode Island.

I knew John Cafferty in High School (as well as his band) and saw him last week and will on the 25th, Thom Enright was in his band as well.

Marty Ballou, look him up, one of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet, been in tons of bands, very well respected musicians and one of my truly favourite people on the planet, he did a few dates with J. Geils recently, but plays the Met (and with the Young Adults) every chance he gets.



Dennis McCarthy, also a long time well known local guy, I harassed him into singing yesterday at the Jam.



Ted Leo, also one of the nicest guys you ever want to know, he married a girl from RI and used to play around here all the time, I got to know him from filming and though he's now in NYC (his wife got a job there) he still keeps his house here. The hardest working man in alternative rock.







When you get into not really celebrities so to speak (local or not), but people famous in their own realm of things, the most famous person I really know is Dr. Francis Collins. I met him through a genetic conference I go to from time to time, 15 years ago, his wife headed it. He would sit on the floor and play folk songs on Friday nights and do a sing a long. But I had known him before that. See when Bec was diagnosed, there was (and continues to be) no test. I saw this nice man on TV talking about genetic testing, so I looked him up and emailed him about the gene for what she had. He graciously answered me back. I had no idea who he was other than some 'nice man on the tv'. When I brought his email up to her Boston doc, he almost fell of his chair, he said, 'you wrote to the big guy!'. Dr. Collins is one of the people that decoded the human genome. He used to head the Human Genome Project at the National Institutes of Health, now he just runs the NIH. And I know him. He even sent me an autographed copy of the decoded genome because I told him someday he was going to win the Nobel prize and I wanted to prove that I really did know him.



At the NIH, there's the Office of Rare Diseases and that is headed by Steve Groft, who I also know. These people are proof that your tax dollars really work.

Bec went down there a couple of years ago because they are now looking for the gene for what she has, andwe got our genomes sequenced, as in the 5th and 6th people in the WORLD to have it done. Dr. Collins had introduced me to 'this guy Les', at the genetics conference one year, who turns out to be Dr. Les Biesecker, who runs the Biesecker Lab at the NIH!










Michael Waltrip, NASCAR driver. He took Bec right into his hauler and put her up on his knee and posed for photos and signed everything we gave him, on several occasions. Very nice and patient guy.








Sgt. Slaughter. Yup, I used to make his pants when he was the GI Joe action figure for Hasbro. Biggest guy I've ever seen in my life. Legs and neck like tree trunks. Well over 6'6" tall. And soft spoken, polite, with a little bitty wife.

Dr. John Opitz and Dr. Victor Dubowitz. Look them up. Bec saw them in Utah in the midst of our diagnosis tour. Dr. Opitz has syndromes named after him and was the editor of many research papers. Dr. Dubowitz also has a syndrome named for him and lives in Great Britain.



And then there's just the list of 'famous' people that I've met. I'm not going to go into every politician; it's so small here that my art work used to hang in my Senator's office (and now his son is the Governor). I used to work in the Mayor's office, who then became the Governor (I didn't work for him at that point). Our current Mayor goes to my church, so it's not like other states. I remember at one of the genetic conferences talking to someone from Texas who was all excited to meet their congressman. Ours all walk in every parade they can and we've probably shaken hands with them a few times. So who I've at least shaken hands with, if not gotten an autograph.

Davy Jones, who just passed away. I met him several times over the years, he was a very gracious soul. Peter Tork, also very gracious. Peter Max (the artist), I purchased one of his paintings and I got a photo with him, my painting is dedicated to me and drawn on/signed/says so on the back of it (so don't come here to steal it!) My mom has a letter written to her and signed (she died years ago) by Richard Nixon. I met when I was 6 skating in Rockerfeller Center Richard Chamberlain. I had a postcard signed by him (I had no idea who he was) but no idea where that would be. I have the genome signed by Francis Collins. I have some stuff signed by Jeff Gordon (though I've never met him). I also have a few NASCAR programs signed by many of the drivers. Jeff Burton, Ken Schrader, Kenny Wallace, too many to list here.

So that's it for now, if I think of more, I'll just edit.

ozzy

This morning I thought I'd write about Ozzy because his story has a happy ending. I've always had 2 dogs, but with vet bills (yes I take my animals, every single one of them, to the vet, when they are supposed to go and when they are sick, I don't even want to do that math) and raising the kids (and an incident with a larger dog with Becca when she was 3) got the household down to 1 dog, but usually 3 cats. Shelby is a good dog, but she's 12 now and I got my Anthony for my 16th birthday and had him until I was in my 30s, so I thought if I got something now, Becca would have someone to grow up with.

That and doing the website for a local rescue league (where Mugsy came from) has you looking at PetFinder a lot. I have NEVER purchased an animal from a breeder, there are plenty of nice mutts, with less health issues, and purebreds in shelters and available for adoption from rescues.

Every pet I've ever had (except Anthony who though was probably a purebred mini poodle, came from a family I knew and had no 'papers' but was also a gift and only cost $10 because of the bill for the tail docking) has come from the local pound/rescue. And that's a lot of pets....

Now I'm distracted so let's see.....well not counting Ant, there were (for dogs) Gretchun, Muff'n, and Shelby, with a stray called Shakespeare that I had for awhile, he was an older Irish Setter but he was only around for awhile, then there was that incident when we got saddled with Chewie, who we took in because someone we knew moved and couldn't keep him. He bit me and ruined my house, so he didn't last long, gave him back (eventually he bit their landlord, ended up euthanized and deemed a 'viscous' dog...and we had Sophie, but she jumped up on Bec to get a tennis ball she was waving around (and had been throwing for her) and caught her nails on Bec's little 3 year old face/top of head and left Bec with over 100 stitches (amazing plastic surgeon, can't even tell now) so I ended up turning her in because I just couldn't look at Sophie and Bec's little face. She's the only dog I've ever turned in, but it was with the understanding she go to a 'guy with a truck' and she did, I used to see her riding around town in a guy's truck, I made sure that if she was about to be euthanized, I would take her back. Every one of my dogs has lived well into their teens, Muff'n the eldest when she died, she was almost 17.

Anyway, then there are the cats....X-it and 'stache, then we found Moola/Moo, she was in the trash can inside the vestibule at the ATM at the bank, hence her name. We had Elvis, he showed up one day and he was right up there with Rex as far as being an excellent cat. Tigg'r, Bailey, Moe; Rex, Pharoah, (bella) Luna, and Mugsy. Usually had 3 at once.

So last summer, because summer is always a good time to get a new dog/puppy, this puppy (10 months old) named 'Banjo' was on Petfinder. He was listed locally (we'll get into what locally apparently means these days, I had always scouted the pounds directly for dogs in the past, but it's a new world out there!) and was a Saluki and was blind. They didn't realize it for a while so he'd been in 3 homes and was being fostered. They wanted a home with a large yard and a larger dog so he could have someone to follow around. There was a nice photo of him with cats laying all over him which also seemed like a good fit (cats rule over here, Shelby doesn't care about anything).

I was renovating (defective kitchen floor that we had put down, 2 years old) and thought I should wait until construction was done before I added a blind animal to the house, that and his photo on the fridge so everyone could be on board with getting another dog......so it was early fall before I finally sent the email to the organization about him. I didn't hear back for over a week and thought oh well, I guess he's gone or they don't want him here, but then I got a response and he had passed away the day I had emailed! So good he wasn't HERE when that happened (or I'd shelled out $400 for him) but the woman thanked me for being the ONLY person who asked after him and offered to help me with any other adoption on their site.

Now I've got the I-want-a-new-dog bug.....I look every few days or so at Petfinders and one day I see this:

Now keep in mind I'm the QUEEN of research when it comes to buying anything or info on the web, I always double check facts, etc.

Not this time. More on that later.

So I really liked the one on the right. They said they were border collies, they said they were IN my town. They said they were too young to determine the sex. Once again, I put the photo on fridge to get everyone on board (it's now fall, I'm teaching, working, Bec's in school, nobody home during the day and now it's a PUPPY not a dog).

So I finally contact the agency via email, nothing. Now I'm obsessed, what is up with these rescue organizations? They have all these animals and they can't be bothered with answering their email? How do they get them adopted? A week goes by, and I decide to fork over the $50 via Paypal and fill out the application, the first email was my list of questions about the puppy, I wasn't about to fork over any $$ without more info (see fact checker above!) and yikes it's worse than adopting a kid! They ask about everything.

Literally, 10 minutes later (I had gone out to run an errand) my phone rang and this woman was going on and on about how she'd called my vet (references!) and they went 'awwww' when she asked about me as a pet person and vet visits, she knew the rescue organization I worked with and LOVED them. She said she didn't want the rest of the $$ for the puppy ($400) because of what I do (I actually only do their website and sometimes work at adoption hours). Then I find out he's not here, and the website listed MY TOWN. She said he was in the next state. So I (stupidly) say I'll send you more money because of transportation. She said not to, she didn't want it, she was more interested in him having a good home. He (at the time!) was healthy, up to date on shots, been microchipped, and in foster care for quarantine. I asked if I could get her the following Thursday, that would give me 5 days home before I had to work and she said sure (long weekend/Columbus Day).

The following Thursday comes and I've heard NOTHING......and I have no contact for this person (her phone number was blocked) except email.

On Saturday (yes I've sat home all weekend) night she emails and says they puppies are not coming because they were deemed 'too young to travel' aka, < 6 weeks old, but next week.

Next week comes, I sit home ALL WEEKEND, nothing, no phone call, nothing.

Mid week, I get an email saying the next weekend for sure.

Nope big snowstorm, I then find out the puppies are in SC, and I was told, got as far as the next state and were not coming any further. So I'm thinking they're in a truck someplace cold, etc. (see I've not done this whole real rescue thing before, but I'm learning!). She assures me they are in another foster placement and are safe.

Mid week again, I offer to go get her. The woman who has them has no electricity and works on the weekend and is not home.

I finally get her phone number (the rescue person I'm dealing with). She NEVER answers her phone and has NO voicemail. NEVER. As it is, I email her (not a lot, not like I haunted her, but now she has my $250 and I have no puppy) maybe 3-4 times to get even ONE response.

I start researching her rescue org (gee they have a nice website!). They have the WORST reputation, there's even a news story on her, not really about not getting the animals, but apparently she works with high kill shelters in the south and the puppies/dogs come up here, almost like an underground railroad and at the time (2 years ago) she didn't have any of the proper state permits, other rescues in the state were giving her a hard time because they felt it was taking away from local dogs who need homes and they found her at her house with the van full of animals and fined her. Now be that as it may, whenever I've looked for a dog/puppy in the pounds, though I've had decent luck, easily 80% of pit bull mixes. I like cute and fluffy. There were also many many complaints about people never getting their animals, animals being sick, not being what they picked out, the foster families she uses never get paid for vet bills....etc.

I was just sick about it. $250 is a lot of money, plus I have a photo of a cute puppy. It's like waiting for an overseas adoption to go through but you're dealing with N. Korea or someplace like that. I also read that she had stage 4 breast cancer and it had come back and she'd just started treatment again around the time I started this whole thing. In fact she had finally changed her email auto responder to say she'd only answer emails Tuesday - Friday (no she didn't do that either).

So another week goes by, nothing, not even an email......it's now November....they're in the next state but they had kennel cough.....and my friends at the rescue I work at are teasing about how old exactly was that puppy in the photo?

I finally get this from her, an updated photo from the person who fostered them: .

All of a sudden, my fluffy little border collie is looking more like a shitzsu. I email her and ask if I can switch which one I want, she says I can have the pick of the litter because nobody else is adopted yet.

So now I'm in research mode on how to choose a laid back, non alpha puppy.....

It's now Veteran's Day, puppies are supposed to come this weekend.....no puppies.....

Finally early in the week before Thanksgiving weekend she calls me and says they'll be at the rescue organization I work for on Friday, she gives me the number for the transport person and tells me to call on that Friday morning, around 7 am. She said it was the 'rescue of her life' she had a lot of animals coming, and that was the reason for the confusion (she never once told me she was sick). Oh and since I wanted to choose on temperament, why don't I take ALL 3 HOME for the weekend and then decide?

Um no, because I can NEVER reach you, yes it would be a deal at $250 but my cats would revolt. I'd end up with THREE new dogs that I cannot afford, etc.

I just say no politely as I'm not home enough and we can't take on 3 puppies.

Shelby has an appointment down at the vet for a teeth cleaning. Oh and keep in mind, every time they were supposed to come, I had a vet appointment THAT DAY that I would have to cancel.

I call that morning and lo and behold someone answers and says yes I have a van full of puppies and I'm on time, and then when I tell her which one is mine, she says, oh yeah, I'm really mad, they're supposed to have been taken care of by foster care and they've been throwing up worms the whole way up (from SC, btw, they were never in the next state, turns out there were 2 litters of border collies and that (supposedly) was the cause of confusion).

I head down there with my crate and there's this van parked in the back, they've been driving for 17 hours from SC. It's cold out. She opens the back of the van and there are 8-10 crates all stacked on top of each other and probably 30 puppies 2-4 in a crate. She asks me which one is mine and up at the top I see a big crate with 4 puppies in it, 3 of which look like the photo.

They were filthy, they smelled, they had crap and hay and who knows what else all over them, last thing I wanted to do was pick one up and flip it over to see if it was docile!

The fluffy one indeed looked like a shitzu, so that one was out. I need a dog that can stand up to my cat, not be smaller than them. I had wanted a female but she wasn't sure which was which. I'm looking at the other 2 and just said, I'll take that one (he's actually the one in the middle on both the other photos, he has 'freckles' on his nose). She said if it makes me feel any better, the 3 of them were the only ones not barking the whole way up.

The transport person went go find the records, they had no names, it just said online 'the bunch' and that's what they're paperwork said, each certificate said they were all male, all black and white, so she didn't know (1 was female) whose microchip paperwork was whose, so I just took one set of papers and she said the vet could tell me the number. I loaded him into the kitty crate and headed to the vet to drop off Shelby.

When I tell you how sad and sick he looked and he smelled, he smelled terrible.
His paperwork said he'd come from here, you can actually see him in the still photo at the 4:27 mark, up at the top. It also said they (the 3 of them, not sure if there were more or where their 'mom' was) were found by the side of the freeway on 9/27 (just a week before I contacted them) and they had his birthday at 7/27 which would have made him 8 weeks when he was found, yet too young to determine the sex? We changed his birth date to 8/30 but that's probably still too early too. My vet confirmed that, but we decided not to change his birth date again.

They had names online; Zelda, Zappa, and Ozzy. There was a suggestion to name him 'Miles' after Miles Davis and the great distance he had come to be with us, but he seemed to know/like Ozzy.

I was going to stop at PetSmart and pick up some extras for him and get him groomed, in fact I was in their parking lot waiting for them to open but he just didn't look well so I went home. I got him into the bath and he just stood there and shivered and just kept looking over at me. I got him all bundled up in a towel and just sat and held him until he dried off and then I fed him.

He had a vet appointment that afternoon and he weighed 5#, he had snotty eyes, he was getting kennel cough, his ears had hematomas in them from banging around in the cage on the way up (and the rescue league I volunteer for took the siblings, everyone else in THAT van and another van of over 30 dogs that came in later that day). His shots had lapsed so we would have to start over, he was not neutered yet, nothing.....he did have a microchip and turns out I had the correct paperwork for that, he was so sick the vet decided to just worm him, she drained the hematomas in hopes that would make them go away, and gave him antibiotics and said we'll see how he is next week.


After all the tests, he had 4 kinds of worms, which required him to get meds, wait a couple of weeks, get weighed, get more meds, get retested, took 3 months for them to clear up...he needed his ears operated on, he had to start on his shots, he got neutered, I think his medical bills at this point are well over $1000. I contacted the rescue after I got him because he was so sick and she offered to refund my money to help pay, but I knew I'd never see it so I said don't bother.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend her organization again; I know she is sick and she did contact me when she had to. But it would take me 4-5 emails before I'd get one answer. I sat home almost 2 months' worth of weekends waiting to hear whether he was coming or not. Not answering your phone after you've told me to call is ridiculous; so is also having no voice mail on it. The lack of communication was the most annoying, like I have nothing better to do than to sit home and wait for someone to email me or call, I finally would walk around with my email going to my phone just so I wasn't sitting. I did end up get the puppy I had picked (well not the original one, but the right litter) and I wouldn't trade him for the world, he is the best puppy.

I took him to work a couple of times now, he greets everyone but then he lays down under my feet and just stays there. Though he's a border collie, he's very laid back. He does nip, and likes to chase the cats, but he's bred to herd sheep so that's going to probably be the biggest behavioural challenge. He's 'wicked' smart. He knew sit and wouldn't touch his food until I told him to right when he came. He loves everybody, especially Becca, he has to be in the same room with someone, he's crate trained, something I'd never done before but he's really good about that. He's just starting to come and get me to go out. He just got neutered so after the stitches come out this week, hopefully he'll be all set with the vet for a while.

He's also cheered up/reinvigorated Shelby, they play all the time. He used to be able to run under her, that's about done. I saw him jump over her the other day, it's gonna suck when he figures out he can jump the gates.

My cats are not so happy, although Mugsy, who when he came home totally hated the dog, I mean for a whole year Shelby couldn't even LOOK at him without him hissing and whacking at her (and Shelby could care) was the first one to 'greet' him when I brought him home. Pharoah has finally stopped hissing at him, though he doesn't like being chased, and he and Luna have a weird relationship. Luna essentially hates him. He can't even lay under the table she's on without her growling, yet she teases him and chases him and seems to like the play, but she's psychotic anyway.

He's in obedience school now, he knows all the commands (so far) that she's thrown at him, but to get into agility, which I think he'd like, you have to go through the other classes and get your certificate.

He is terrified of traffic (understandably) but since he's been out walking a lot, he's gotten better about it. He does like the car, he lays down and goes to sleep, although lately he likes to sit and look out the windshield. He is skittish with loud noises (he bolts, which is scary), this includes fireworks, the police shooting range (which you can hear from the house), a guy using a nail gun 2 streets away the other day, and his shadow (???). Shelby is afraid of fireworks and thunder and has 'happy pills' for it; I'm curious to see how Ozzy handles thunder. He likes to play frisbee and he and Shelby go after it (Shelby beats him to it) in the backyard, unleashed and then they carry it back together. He brings back his toy or his ball for you to throw again, he knows 'drop'. He does stay, but I'm working on that more, along with things like sitting at the door while I put his leash on, sitting at the door before we go inside. I made sure he knew where both the front and back doors were and when he's done outside, I let go of his leash and him run (his leash is 6' long though) alone to front door (if he tries to take off, though I probably couldn't catch him, I could just step on his leash).

Hopefully he'll be around for a long time to be with Becca.

rex cat

so 2 years ago today, Rex, our beloved cat, passed away. I've had/lost pets over my lifetime, but he was one of those one of a kind cats. We used to say the best cats are the ones that are the most dog-like. But he was more than that.

I bought him as a gift for my teenage daughter one Christmas. Got him at Pet Smart. She chose him. He was just one in a long line of cats I've owned.

Never had them growing up, my parents didn't like them, and I was horribly allergic to them, couldn't even sit next to someone that owned one, but years of shots and allergy treatments seemed to finally make that particular allergy go away. During college when I lived off campus in a little village, there was this cat that would hang around my house and it would come sit with me, but it belonged to someone else. I found I did enjoy them and they seemed to be a nice pet. At the time, I had 2 small dogs, my (also very beloved and one of a kind dog) Anthony, that I got for my 16th birthday and the very cute when she was little in the pound but horror show (my friends called her part weasel) Gretchun; I'll talk about them at another time. Anyway, I was driving with my then boyfriend up in the back roads and a cat ran across my path and I hit it with my car, try as I might, I could not find it, and being an animal lover, I was devastated (okay, not so much if I hit a squirrel because though I think they're okay, since I've started feeding the birds, I feel they are just rats with fluffy tails). So the next day I went to the pound and we came home with a black ball of fur, X-it, who was a great cat in his own right...but once again, this is about Rex.

So Rex came home, I think he was maybe 3-4 months old. When I tell you that cat's feet didn't touch the ground for months, I'm not kidding. She carried him everywhere. There was another dog in the house at the time (Muff'n), and I believe the other cats were Bailey and Moe. She kept him upstairs in her room a lot of the time, but once he got older and more adventurous, he had the run of the house.

When he was about 2, he started having some urinary tract issues, he had a couple of infections (in all my years, I'd never had a cat with urinary issues, or any big medical issues and now I know that was the uncommon cat) but then he got a blockage and almost died. My fabulous vet, who I'd been with since college, saved him a number of times (and almost killed him with an experimental treatment, but he didn't and as I say, veterinary medicine is not always an exact science, pets can't tell you where it hurts or how bad it is and he did try something I felt was reasonable, it made it worse, but he kept him and made it right (and called me EVERY day while he was on vacation the week after to give me updates while he was hospitalized here)) and at a minimal price.

When he was there, he was miserable and would not eat so we'd tell the girls (vet techs) to feed him Doritos as that was his favourite treat. The girls loved him as much as we did and he was there often. He came home with all kinds of meds, we had a photo of him with all his syringes and his 'poodle' feet (from shaving for the IV lines) pushing a mini shopping cart (used to hold salt/pepper, I put all his meds in it) and called it Rex's junkie mobile.

He then had the special $50 per bag food that we had to feed everybody because everyone eats out the same dishes, and daily meds, he was totally good about it. We learned that whenever we went away (not often, just a few days to maybe go see the NASCAR race in NH and camp) he would flare up, he didn't like people that were not his family and my friend would watch the pets when I was away, and that made him flare up, so I started sending him to the vet for boarding, which is also stressful, but the girls spoiled him rotten down there and I knew he'd get his meds.

My daughter then moved out/ran off with a guy she'd been dating (now that's another story too, she learns things the hard way) I wouldn't let her take Rex, who was now about 5 because they had another cat, the stress of taking him away from his home, the fact that I knew she couldn't afford his vet bills, and I wasn't sure he'd get his meds.

So Rex stayed here. He meowed when you came into a room or if you said his name, he loved to snuggle on your lap, he liked his squeaky mousies to bat around the house, he tolerated shoving pills down his throat daily and sometimes the needles in his fur. He was an indoor cat, the first indoor cat we had (though from him forward, they were all indoor cats because of the 'mean things in the woods')
He would follow you around the house like a dog, jump into your seat before you sat down, wait at the door for you to come in. He got out one time and stared at us from the woods but was too scared to move, but when it got dark (and I had just given up trying to get him in with food, etc) he ran in the way he got out (unlatched screen door from the kids ordering pizza).

It was a total shock when he died. The kids were all here (daughter was visiting) and he just didn't look right and I said so, they all thought I was crazy, but I just knew....I called the vet the next day (it was a Sunday) and couldn't get him in until that night, well he looked better and I knew how stressful it was to take him to the vet, it really wasn't even anything I could put my finger one except he would not make eye contact with me. I called the vet and cancelled at 4 pm (his appointment was at 6), by 7, you could tell there was something really wrong, I called and they had left for the day. I sat up with him all night, he was lethargic and just sad and his purr was broken, always a sign he wasn't well, I kept poking him to make sure he was still alive, I got all his favourite foods out to try and get him to eat, he wanted to eat little pieces of concrete in the basement floor.....I got him into the vet early and my vet, who is not a people person at all, whisked him away mumbling he didn't like the way he looked, I looked at the tech and she shrugged and said she had no idea what he was thinking.....later that afternoon, he called and said he had Feline Leukemia and he was going to do a transfusion, prednezone, and a bunch of other stuff I didn't hear after the Feline Leukemia....his paw pads and gums were white from the lack of red blood cells, but he said that a lot the time they can zap it into remission with this method and Rex was only 8.....he had been tested when we got him, he'd had the first shot, but being a housecat, he didn't need any more shots for it ever, all the other cats had been tested and had the shots, pharaoh, who goes out, always had yearly vaccine for it, I had just gotten luna and had kept her separated until she was tested (negative), he also said I needed to sterilize everything he ever touched or throw it out so my other cats would not get sick, and I'd probably have to always keep him separate, something I really had no idea how to do...because it was evening, I asked if I could go down but they were doing treatments and said come in the morning and bring the other cats to get tested. In the morning I rounded everyone up and put them into their carriers, I was about halfway there when my cellphone rang and my vet was on the other end telling me how sorry he was, he'd gone into respiratory distress and he died.

I still have trouble talking about it.

I continued down there with my other cats, and when I walked in, there wasn't a dry eye there, they all loved him as I did. The tech that had to test my other cats was crying, the tech that treated him came over and told me he wasn't alone, she stayed with him the whole time. I wrapped him up and brought him home, we put his mousies in with him and he's buried in the backyard. I then had to throw away every thing that was his. Cancer is a horrible disease, in humans who can (for the most part) talk about how they feel, but even more so in animals who cannot.

To this day, they have no idea how he got it, how it didn't show up in any testing, if I'd given him the vaccines anyway, would it have kept it away?

I've had a lot of pets, I've lost a lot of pets (and family) but this was just truly one of the worst. Some people really don't understand the bond you can have with a pet, but they don't judge you, even though he was a cat, he depended on me to keep him safe, I think the sheer shock of him dying in literally one day is what upset me most, if I'd noticed sooner, could he have lived? I don't know. I've lost most of my immediate family when I was young (parents/grandparents) so not like I'm numb to people dying, but I'm usually okay over it, yes I'm sad, but life does go on. I may seem cold about it, but I lost the most important people in my life at the time as a teenager and you have to move on otherwise what is the alternative?
I'm sure at some point I'll write about all of them, especially my dad who had a massive heart attack and died while I was away at college, I was 18, he was only 42.

So Rex it's been 2 years, I still miss you and think about you every day, hope you are up there with your mousies and having a good time with no more pain or meds.

so I got thinking about this whole blogging thing..

You know my becca (aka cutest baby in cyberspace ©1994 Zan) is turning 18 at the end of the month, and she has the most incredible life. Never treated her any differently than the other 2 kids (except don't tend to leave her alone for more than a few minutes, not because I don't trust her but because I don't trust the world). So I'll be writing about her as well....

and the pets, my bella luna (3), the most evil cat I've ever owned (though she does love me and is currently asleep on my lap looking very un-evil), mugsy (4) who came to us after the most wonderful cat ever on the planet, Rex, died suddenly (2 years ago this Saturday in fact) from feline leukemia (no symptoms, sick for one day) and the week before the big flood hit here (and he was prolly wishing he still was at the pound!), pharoah (9) a stray the kids found when they were teenagers (and now have moved out) was mainly my son's cat, he did hate everyone except him, and now he tolerates us, though when he's outside (and he's the only outdoor animal now, after finding my beloved cat moe's parts all over the yard one day) he acts like he's my best friend....then there's shelby (woof) the shepherd/terrier/schnauzer mix who is turning 12 at the end of the month, and the new border collie rescue, ozzy (who has his own story to tell).

and I should write about musicians, I've been into music all my life, Stones, not Beatles, the Monkees, and many other bands....of late, I've been hanging out with the most wonderful local musicians but very famous (nationally as well) and doing video for a local club, nicest people you'd ever want to meet, and then there's (I actually get to call him my friend!) Ted Leo, who I met 5 years ago via my son's interest in him (and he being under aged at the time and wanting to go to a show, I went with him) won a contest to get the tickets and ended up in the VIP area (upstairs of a smallish club) and Ted and his band sat with us and talked and impressed the heck outta my son and his 2 accompanying friends (I won 4 passes). I started shooting video for him later that year, and he played around here a lot for awhile as he'd married a girl from here, last year he packed up (he still has his home and comes up a lot) for NYC as his wife who carries the benefits had a new job there, so I don't see him as much, just twitter and email. But I will write about the wonderful and talented people that I've gotten meet over the years.

The whole gluten free nonsense

Well I guess if I'm going to take this seriously, I should find a subject to blog about because with the whole nature of the internet and the fact I've had some wacko stalking me online (who lives in this state and travels in the 'same circles' as I do, though he seems to have finally knocked it off of late), I'm not one to publicly talk about my life.....So I'm going to (until my attention span runs out) talk about Gluten free. I've been GF going on 4 years now, and though I do feel a lot better (and I've NEVER cheated!!) it hasn't been the easiest or cheapest thing to do. At first I went out and bought 'all' the books, and read certain blogs online for recipes. It's difficult for someone as old as I am to suddenly take things like Italian bread and cinnamon rolls away. In fact, it sucks.

I've gotten to the point where I can make a pretty good muffin/bread kinda thing, regular breads alludes me.

Most of the products sucks. Case and point, I heard there was this new lower carb/good for you bread (and I will NOT name names over here unless it's something positive as I don't want to get into a slander situation (the blog person I speak about is a snot btw!)) The bread was $7.99 online and I had a $5.00 coupon...they said you had to do express shipping because they make it fresh (and of course they are across the country!). That was $5.95, but wait, it wasn't because I-LIVE-ACROSS-THE-COUNTRY...turns out shipping was $12 or so, all I know the bread cost me $17+

and no, it wasn't THAT good.

I also recently spent $20 on 3# of flour at Williams-Sonoma that was developed by a fancy chef guy and is supposed to work cup for cup, no recipes on the bag, but it states it's for 'baked goods' which leads me to believe that doesn't include REAL bread......and like an idiot, I also spent $20 at WS on a brownie mix (and I actually could prolly make decent brownies at this point in time).

Given I'm on Weight Watchers and I'm the ONLY one here who will eat this stuff, it's not good for me to make a whole plate of brownies (I'm really not a 'sweets' person, so I'd have to freeze them anyway, and at $20 per box, I'm really not willing to share!).

Speaking of WW, all the GF stuff is so high in points that it's not worth it (I'd rather have a Mudslide if I'm going to go points crazy). Those WW breads and things that you see that are 1-2 points? Yeah the thinnest GF bread is still 5, and given I only (now, on the power foods thing I'm on) have 49 for the whole week, I'm not about to blow 5 on a piece of bread.

There is one thing I've found that's decent, it's Heavens' Mills pita bread. I don't have a 'funny' taste in my mouth afterwards, I'm not overly thirsty afterwards (usually due to a higher tapioca or other starch content) and they 'act' like pita breads. Link is here: http://www.heavenmills.com/gluten-free-pita-bread.html .

seldom doesn't even define this right now....

after talking to friends this long week, I had to hunt this down and find it, which even though it had only been a couple of years of not posting, shows you just how much the internet and companies that are giants have changed. This was just blogger when I started....and this account was associated with a long gone email address (can you say dial up?), and though I'm 'here' right now, apparently blogger is now part of Google (although Microsoft Windows Live was giving me a run for my money with the association). Anyway, I have a few more things to do before I'm really back, but beware of the blog!!!