"No! Not the children!"
Jun. 1st, 2010 01:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
Apparently I have a lot to catch up on.
I'm thinking of getting a cat. This is a really big deal for me, because I've never had a cat and no one in my family has ever had a cat. I've been around cats because my friends all seem to have cats (and my roommate in D.C. had one), but I've never had one. I'm more of a dog person. However. I really, really want Talis to have a companion while I'm away at work. He's alone like 10 hours every day, which is just too sad.
To that end, I initially looked into getting another dog. Specifically, a small dog, Talis's size or smaller, because he doesn't seem to mind those as much, and when we run into them at the park, is usually very interested in them. Last week I went to a local shelter and had him meet two potentials -- long story short, one tried to bite him and the other was not interested in Talis nor was Talis interested in him. The other thing that I've been hesitant about is that another dog would be a LOT of work, so I really don't want to get another one if Talis would rather be by himself and lonely than deal with the stress of there being another dog in the house (I wish I could just ask him!).
Yesterday, I had lunch w/ J. and described my desire/plight. She suggested that I let Talis into her house to meet her two cats. With both of us kind of nervous, Talis went in, sniffing at every single thing imaginable (as is his wont), and was totally fine with the cats! One of the cats, who is usually the shy one, was really curious about him and let him sniff her and followed him around. The other cat just hid under the dining table, but other than wanting to sniff him, Talis wasn't aggressive or anything. So a cat might be the solution to my problems! I think Talis would be less aggressive to a cat, as they aren't as threatening to him, and who are usually quite independent, so he would have a companion without having to share me the way he would with another dog. And it's good for me, because cats are way less maintenance than dogs, and if I travel or whatever I have friends who can probably help take care of a normal kitty the way they can't with my insane dog.
I'm not totally set on the idea, I haven't gone as far as to buy kitty supplies or anything, but I have thought about where I should keep the litter box, etc. I am possibly going back to the same shelter today to see if there's a kitty that might suit me/us. :D
If anyone has advice about what supplies I should get in order to prepare for having a cat in the house, let me know. Also, if you think it is a very good/bad idea for me to get a cat, speak up!
Several nights ago K. and I went to Senor Moose for dinner, and visited this packed gelato place on Ballard Ave. They weren't officially open yet, but were having a 'soft opening' that night, so they were giving out the gelato for free. The owner/gelato maker was this totally adorable Italian man in his sunset years -- we couldn't understand some of what he was saying because of his accent and because the acoustics in the place leave something to be desired, and he was like, "My English not so good, but my gelato is perfect." Well I have to agree with him; I tried the white coffee (how can something taste that intensely coffee-ish and yet be white? It blows the mind!) and something called crema fiorentina. The latter was SO GOOD. K. got 3 other flavors (nutella, ricotta, and something with a cookie/biscuit in it) but she also liked the crema fiorentina the best as well. I ended up going back there with J. yesterday when they were officially open and got JUST that one flavor. Anyway, the place is called D'Ambrosio Gelato if you're in Ballard.
I've read two books since I last posted, one an excellent nonfiction book by Barbara Demick, following the lives of several North Korean defectors called Nothing to Envy, and total mind candy called How to Be Popular by Meg Cabot. I highly, highly recommend Nothing to Envy. It was fascinating to look into the lives of these North Korean refugees and get an idea of what life is like there, the oppression they suffer without even KNOWING they were suffering it, their experiences with defecting, etc. I challenge pretty much anyone to read this book without gaining new appreciation for what we have. Basically, after I was done I was like, "Wow, I should never complain about anything in my life, ever again. I am so freaking LUCKY." As for the Meg Cabot book, it was actually fairly good mind candy, even if it suffers from what MC books always suffer from, which is a lack of depth, convenient plot devices, and characters that are pretty much the same from book to book.
I've also been to physical therapy for my shoulder twice now. The first time I met with a PT who was just subbing for the regular PT, who was in Haiti helping out the refugees. I didn't like her much. She was perfectly nice, but she didn't really seem to have a grasp of what was wrong with me, and the exercises she had me do took a lot of time and made my shoulder feel worse, not better. The second PT was much better, but she HAD just come back from Haiti so was pretty much like, "It's going to be a miracle if I can get through the day without slapping someone, because after seeing the suffering that the Haitians are going through, it's like, 'OK, so what's YOUR little problem??'" Which is kind of inappropriate to say to her patient (me), because obviously in the big scheme of things my shoulder pain is nothing (see above re: North Korea), but she wasn't directing it at me in particular and I can certainly understand the sentiment. Still I was kind of like, "..." because it's not like I'm not going to try to fix my shoulder because people somewhere else in the world are suffering way worse than I am. >< Anyway, her exercises are much more tolerable and don't cause me additional pain. She also gave a diagnosis -- "shoulder impingement syndrome," which, after reading up on it, just seemed to be a general diagnosis for rotator cuff pain/injury. Both PTs mentioned the possibility of getting a steroid injection in the area, because it's supposed to take care of the pain permanently (by making the inflammation go away), but I don't know if I want to go there. If it's really that easy and doesn't cause extra problems, maybe I should just do that and stop worrying about the shoulder.
Totally missed Glee last night. >< The long (crappy and cold) weekend threw me off and I didn't even think about it. I'll have to catch up on Hulu tonight.
Also, saw Sex & the City 2. Thought it was cute (if outlandish and over the top in a typical S&tC way), but liked the first movie better. The problem with S&tC movies is that they ended the series too well. The series finale was just so good and perfect that following on it is sort of overkill.
I'm thinking of getting a cat. This is a really big deal for me, because I've never had a cat and no one in my family has ever had a cat. I've been around cats because my friends all seem to have cats (and my roommate in D.C. had one), but I've never had one. I'm more of a dog person. However. I really, really want Talis to have a companion while I'm away at work. He's alone like 10 hours every day, which is just too sad.
To that end, I initially looked into getting another dog. Specifically, a small dog, Talis's size or smaller, because he doesn't seem to mind those as much, and when we run into them at the park, is usually very interested in them. Last week I went to a local shelter and had him meet two potentials -- long story short, one tried to bite him and the other was not interested in Talis nor was Talis interested in him. The other thing that I've been hesitant about is that another dog would be a LOT of work, so I really don't want to get another one if Talis would rather be by himself and lonely than deal with the stress of there being another dog in the house (I wish I could just ask him!).
Yesterday, I had lunch w/ J. and described my desire/plight. She suggested that I let Talis into her house to meet her two cats. With both of us kind of nervous, Talis went in, sniffing at every single thing imaginable (as is his wont), and was totally fine with the cats! One of the cats, who is usually the shy one, was really curious about him and let him sniff her and followed him around. The other cat just hid under the dining table, but other than wanting to sniff him, Talis wasn't aggressive or anything. So a cat might be the solution to my problems! I think Talis would be less aggressive to a cat, as they aren't as threatening to him, and who are usually quite independent, so he would have a companion without having to share me the way he would with another dog. And it's good for me, because cats are way less maintenance than dogs, and if I travel or whatever I have friends who can probably help take care of a normal kitty the way they can't with my insane dog.
I'm not totally set on the idea, I haven't gone as far as to buy kitty supplies or anything, but I have thought about where I should keep the litter box, etc. I am possibly going back to the same shelter today to see if there's a kitty that might suit me/us. :D
If anyone has advice about what supplies I should get in order to prepare for having a cat in the house, let me know. Also, if you think it is a very good/bad idea for me to get a cat, speak up!
Several nights ago K. and I went to Senor Moose for dinner, and visited this packed gelato place on Ballard Ave. They weren't officially open yet, but were having a 'soft opening' that night, so they were giving out the gelato for free. The owner/gelato maker was this totally adorable Italian man in his sunset years -- we couldn't understand some of what he was saying because of his accent and because the acoustics in the place leave something to be desired, and he was like, "My English not so good, but my gelato is perfect." Well I have to agree with him; I tried the white coffee (how can something taste that intensely coffee-ish and yet be white? It blows the mind!) and something called crema fiorentina. The latter was SO GOOD. K. got 3 other flavors (nutella, ricotta, and something with a cookie/biscuit in it) but she also liked the crema fiorentina the best as well. I ended up going back there with J. yesterday when they were officially open and got JUST that one flavor. Anyway, the place is called D'Ambrosio Gelato if you're in Ballard.
I've read two books since I last posted, one an excellent nonfiction book by Barbara Demick, following the lives of several North Korean defectors called Nothing to Envy, and total mind candy called How to Be Popular by Meg Cabot. I highly, highly recommend Nothing to Envy. It was fascinating to look into the lives of these North Korean refugees and get an idea of what life is like there, the oppression they suffer without even KNOWING they were suffering it, their experiences with defecting, etc. I challenge pretty much anyone to read this book without gaining new appreciation for what we have. Basically, after I was done I was like, "Wow, I should never complain about anything in my life, ever again. I am so freaking LUCKY." As for the Meg Cabot book, it was actually fairly good mind candy, even if it suffers from what MC books always suffer from, which is a lack of depth, convenient plot devices, and characters that are pretty much the same from book to book.
I've also been to physical therapy for my shoulder twice now. The first time I met with a PT who was just subbing for the regular PT, who was in Haiti helping out the refugees. I didn't like her much. She was perfectly nice, but she didn't really seem to have a grasp of what was wrong with me, and the exercises she had me do took a lot of time and made my shoulder feel worse, not better. The second PT was much better, but she HAD just come back from Haiti so was pretty much like, "It's going to be a miracle if I can get through the day without slapping someone, because after seeing the suffering that the Haitians are going through, it's like, 'OK, so what's YOUR little problem??'" Which is kind of inappropriate to say to her patient (me), because obviously in the big scheme of things my shoulder pain is nothing (see above re: North Korea), but she wasn't directing it at me in particular and I can certainly understand the sentiment. Still I was kind of like, "..." because it's not like I'm not going to try to fix my shoulder because people somewhere else in the world are suffering way worse than I am. >< Anyway, her exercises are much more tolerable and don't cause me additional pain. She also gave a diagnosis -- "shoulder impingement syndrome," which, after reading up on it, just seemed to be a general diagnosis for rotator cuff pain/injury. Both PTs mentioned the possibility of getting a steroid injection in the area, because it's supposed to take care of the pain permanently (by making the inflammation go away), but I don't know if I want to go there. If it's really that easy and doesn't cause extra problems, maybe I should just do that and stop worrying about the shoulder.
Totally missed Glee last night. >< The long (crappy and cold) weekend threw me off and I didn't even think about it. I'll have to catch up on Hulu tonight.
Also, saw Sex & the City 2. Thought it was cute (if outlandish and over the top in a typical S&tC way), but liked the first movie better. The problem with S&tC movies is that they ended the series too well. The series finale was just so good and perfect that following on it is sort of overkill.
