Monday, May 26, 2008

5-25-08 thru 5-26-08


This is series of emails that were sent between the Wanderer and Hermana. The Wanderer is posted in purple; Hermana is posted in brown. (Editor's notes are in green.)

(It's all a big cheat because we didn't want to be bothered with posting today. We're nurses, damnit! We're busy! Those membranes aren't just going to soothe themselves, you know! - Editors)


WanderingL begins:

John Cusack writes for the Huffington post . He's OK.


I'm not going to up to intelligent blogging until Wednesday or Thursday so review Alec Baldwin's post as well and maybeMartin Sheen as well


Should I pursue this line of thinking or shall I pull William James and Georg Hegel into the fray?Or should I wing it?

Duko reminds me of Thetis--in a black fuzzy way.


-WanderingL




Yeah, but Duko's not submissive. She's seductive. It's only because she's knows she's beautiful. I wish I could have gotten a better picture, but I didn't have time to get my real camera out. Her hair shines and, when she's awake, she fans her tail out like a peacock. Unless she's being a deranged nutcase.

She spends a lot of time in the bathtub, even when the water is ankle deep. (A wet Duko ain't so good-looking.) But she is the perfect ambassador, pleasing for a stranger to be with, tolerant when he makes small advances to her and then stealing his liver treat when he's not looking. She should work for the State Department.

I have read some of John Cusack's stuff and I like it. I'll check his new post. Steven Weber is also very good. (He was the younger brother on 'Wings' with Tim Daly.)


-Hermana


Arianna, Arianna, you wascally wabbit, you!
I would add HuffPo to the list I'm making of 'Links We Like', if it weren't for the right side of her front page. (Below the headlines.) The left side is perfectly inoffensive to me, even when Deepak Chopra has posted. But the right side has entirely too much Tom Cruise, Tyra Banks and Miley Cyrus, who is still a complete cypher to me. What is it that she does actually? (And Patrick Swayze does NOT look good, poor guy.) I really don't want to encourage the 'American Idol"-esque condition of politics. I know this isn't a new phenomenon, ("We Like Ike") but I still despise it.

I'm going to put 'Botany Photo of the Day' on. They have wonderful pictures and it's very informative. Also, 'Wayne's Word' and Robert Krampf's 'Science Videos'. They're lots of fun. (He's always blowing stuff up and getting wet and crushing things.) I'll do that later after further negotiations with Behemoth. Small steps, small steps. - Softly, softly....


-Hermana




Shadow was outside so I decided to open Big B's cage door (Editors Note: The cat's name is now 'Big Tuna) and see what happened. Nothing happened at first. He's been so isolated and disoriented for so many months that I think he's grown a little apathetic. I left the door open and went back to typing. Seven was asleep and Duko was looking alluring. After 45 minutes I noticed Moby Cat stroll by me on his way to the kitchen. Behind him, in an entirely new incarnation was Duko, alias Secret Agent Man! Suspicion radiating from every strand of hair, she followed him from room to room, until she started making ME nervous. I had to shut her up in the bathroom so he could walk around in peace.
He let me pet him and seemed to enjoy it. I didn't even try to pick him up; When I thought that his out-time was over I lured him back to his cage with tuna. He's a tuna hound.


- Hermana



Pinker and Dawkins, together at last.....for a soul-baring conversation! Read it. You'll like it. But it's 19 pages long so save it for your day off.
Is-Science-Killing-the-Soul,Richard-Dawkins-Steven-Pinker

-Hermana


May 26th - Make that the Justice Department. With a GUN!

OMG!!!!! I never saw this coming. And I should've! When Duko (who's now 9 months old) and Seven (who's 8 months old) went to get spayed, they had to keep them in the same cage because when they were separated, Seven cried and Duko tried to chew through the side of her cage to get to Seven. Together, they were calm. Until some poor tech opened the cage door, at which point Duko would shove Seven behind her and attempt to amputate the tech's hand. The techs told me about this, and even Dr. Heidi said, "You know, Duko's a little mean." Mean? Naaah. Rowdy, yes. But not mean. I figured the techs were being weeners and Dr. Heidi was being extra cautious because she is seriously allergic to Duko.

But they were right! Remember I told you that while Duko was following Behemoth around the house, Seven was asleep in the bedroom with Eladio? When I let the Behemoth out again (an hour or so later), I had releashed Duko from incarceration and Seven was awake. Seven was cool. "Hi, Mister.", she said. And he said, "Hey, how're you doing, kid?" and started to amble on his way past her. "Great", I thought to myself, "Two down, one to go." At that moment, Duko, (who's new name is SYBIL !) caught sight of the two of them in proximity to one another and MORPHED INTO A TERRIFYING BLACK MAMBA! I've never seen anything like it! She didn't even look like a cat anymore! She looked like something out of 'Resident Evil'! If I hadn't intercepted her and thrown her into the bathroom, I'm sure she would have done him serious damage. Behemoth just stood there, startled, Seven was "Duh", as usual. And I was......completely astounded! This is terrible. It's just terrible! And, of course, now that he's back in the cage(s), she's pirouetting, singing sweetly and flicking her tail at him again.

I don't think that this is something that reason and conditioning will fix. She was operating on an entirely different level than I've ever seen before. I'll have to try something different tomorrow. I'll put the unknown quantity (Shadow) outside, I'll let the Behemoth out with Seven and I'll put Duko in the dog crate. And if she goes nuts, I'll cover the crate with a blanket. I suppose it wouldn't be a good deed if it was going to be easy.


- A Dazed and Confused Hermana




I hate that about good deeds--I just want them to be satisfying and lucrative. But you're right. It sounds like Duko has something special in her DNA. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Yeah. Kryptonite!) Blog all this; its damned interesting and makes a nice counterpoint to the whole philosophy/political thing we've got going. It brings life down to a small furry focus. Next we can talk about apoptosis and how its good for cancer cells but not for the human race as a whole.

Best to the Cat Tribe. I'd send valium if I could-- for you and Eladio.


-WanderingL




In a few days, when all the characters have assumed their roles, I may put this all into a blog entry. It's just that I really don't want to encourage the cliche of women who blog about cats.

It has been a little exercise in diplomacy and feline psychology, though. Big Tuna (That's his new name and I think it's sticking.) was out and about all morning with Seven, They socialized a little but mostly did their own thing. When I got back from driving Eladio to JB's, where he is watching the ball game, Shadow was waiting on the stoop, wanting to go in. "Oh, what the hell, " I thought, "It's got to happen sooner or later." On his way in, Shadow looked into the cage and saw Duko instead of Tuna. Shadow's no idiot. He wasn't surprised to see Tuna reclining on the couch. Shadow laid himself down in a relaxed manner, fairly close to the food and water bowls. Tuna got down from the couch, walked to where Shadow was lying, stopped briefly to show respect, and then went past him to sniff at the food and take a little water. Then he went back to the couch where he is still lying now. Duko busted out of the cage (she really IS a beast) about 15 minutes later and came running to me in the bedroom. I gave her a serious talking to, with my hand on her head and good eye contact. (Duko, a true psychotic, has no problem holding eye contact.) I carried her to the couch and showed her Tuna and petted him. Then I put her down. She walked up to him, touched noses and then came away. And that is how it stands. I don't know what will happen if Seven innocently gets near Tuna while Duko's within paw shot of the poor guy. I've done all I can.

Apoptosis. Cell death, right? Cell suicide. Let's assume each person represents a cell and that cancer is uncontrolled/chaotic cell growth. In the last 48 years the human population has more than doubled, from 3 billion in 1960 to 6.7 billion at present. Since this kind of growth is exponential, we can suppose that it will re-double in a much shorter period. At least 13.5 billion people by 2050? Remember your Frank Herbert? In 'Dune', Paul states that the 'Law of the Minimum' means that growth (of a tree or a business or a population) is limited by that necessity which is present in the least amount. Sufficient food, drinkable water, clean air, suitable shelter......we're running short on these things right now. Right now! Did you hear about Barcelona? They're having to have water trucked in from France, which is starting to piss off the French because they're beginning to worry about drought themselves. Last summer, Atlanta, GA, was doing a countdown for the number of days their drinking water would last. (It got down to less than thirty!) And, while it's true that a large part of human suffering, like famine and disease, is caused or abetted by political machinations and/or tyrannical lunkheads, we're still living on an ecological knife-edge. With this many people (or more, in years to come) there's no wiggle room for droughts, failed harvests, climate changes or pestilence. We will ALL be refugees and there won't be any refuge to be had!

There are some stats I keep in my head. For instance, the number of people who died on 9/11 roughly equals the number of US citizens who die in motor vehicle accidents every month. I'm not counting the maimed and disfigured. Another good stat to keep is that the USA contains less than 5% of the world's population yet it consumes more than 25% of it's resources. I keep this stat handy for when anyone (See? I'm getting ready to post this!) blames Africans and Mexicans for the high price of gasoline and tomatoes. So, yeah, let's blog about that.

Everything is so quiet here. I wonder when Duko's going to set off her next bomb?


-Hermana




I'm an idiot. I wrote all that and forgot to make my point! My point is (if we're substituting people for cells) we won't be dealing with apoptosis. We'll be dealing with ischemic necrosis, due to billions of cells (people) being starved of oxygen and nutrients. (The basic necessities of food, water, shelter.) THAT was my point. I can see I'm going to have to clean this up a little before I post it.


-Hermana




Yes! People ARE the cancer--killing the host (earth). Growing uncontrollably and eating up all the good stuff and throwing off wastes in masses that starve the host and smother it. I see the host surviving this and people starting from scratch again.. Maybe learning to live with the golden goose intead of chopping its head off. When I used to attend the drug seminars the point was always to get the cancer cells to understand that living forever wasn't a good thing--one had to die off and make way for the young healthy potential. I always hooked this right onto humanity but wasn't able to give voice to it.


-WanderingL




You don't have to read all these letters at once. Save them for when you have a week or two off from work. Duko is flicking through personalities like they're a deck of cards. One moment she's lying on the couch with Big Tuna, licking his head. The next moment she's an entire SWAT team, determined to exterminate him. What a NUT!
- Hermana




Unfortunately, initiating some sort of 'apoptosis' in the human population (such as birth control, or a ban on golf courses and SUVs) will be seized upon as an attempt to impose on individual freedoms. (Although no one seems bothered that I have to take my shoes off and throw away my seltzer before I get on a plane!) Politicians know this. It would be 'un-poopular', as the Vita-Meeta-Vegamin Girl might say. So, get ready for ischemic necrosis on a grand scale.

I can't find how to add permanent links to our sidebar. Do you know, or should I keep looking?

Duko's last incarnation was Charlotte Corday (The one who murdered Jean Marat, not the one on E.R.) She's under lock and key now, with no chance of liberation. I may put her on ROR later this evening. It depends on how she behaves in lock-up. I think I'll name that crate 'Riker's Island'.

'Stab, punch, kick, bite, smile, purr, then impale!'


- Hermana




Keep looking but I think that any sites we add as favorites have to be Google related somehow. Not very populist.You'll notice that the 'help site' for the blog has a list of its own favorites. I'll look too, but probably not until Wednesday. I like it that Duko flips through personalities like a deck of cards. Mom used to do that. Too bad we didn't lock her in the bathroom (She would've chewed her way out!!! Can you picture it?!)


-WanderingL



This is a reply that I wrote yonks ago. It's similar to what you just received. (His letter is appended to my response.)
Dear Sir,

Well.... I think that the word 'intolerance' has 11 letters in it. I think the word 'forgiveness' has 11 letters in it. And I think that if I went to a phrenologist and had him feel the bumps on my head, he would find 11 of them. Because that's how many times I pound my head against the wall everytime I read that some Muslim or some Christian has used his/her faith in God to legitimize wholesale slaughter. If I sound a little cranky, it's only because of this fearful headache I seem to have developed.

-Tia (I gave up numerology years ago) Hermana
ps: There's a reason they named that font 'Wing Dings'.


Uncle Spam wrote: This is about Sept 11....you have to read this.

I would like to know who figures this stuff out. Go to the end, it is strange..
1) New York City has 11 letters

2) Afghanistan has 11 letters.

3) Ramsin Yuseb (The terrorist who threatened to destroy the Twin Towers in 1993) has 11 letters.

4) George W Bush has 11 letters.This could be a mere coincidence, but this gets more interesting:

1) New York is the 11th state.

2) The first plane crashing against the Twin Towers was flight number 11.

3) Flight 11 was carrying 92 passengers. 9 + 2 = 11

4) Flight 77 which also hit Twin Towers was carrying 65 passengers. 6+5 = 11

5) The tragedy was on September 11, or 9/11 as it is now known. 9 + 1+ 1 =116) The date is equal to the US emergency services telephone number 911. 9 + 1 = 11.

Sheer coincidence..?! Read on ! and make up your own mind:

1) The total number of victims inside all the hi-jacked planes was 254. 2 + 5 + 4 = 11.

2) September 11 is day number 254 of the calendar year. Again 2 + 5 + 4 = 11.

3) The Madrid bombing took place on 3/11/2004. 3 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 = 11.

4) The tragedy of Madrid happened 911 days after the Twin Towers incident.Now this is where things get totally eerie:The most recognized symbol for the US , after the Stars & Stripes, is the Eagle. The following verse is taken from the Quran, the Islamic holy book:

"For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of thepeople trembled in despair still more rejoiced: for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah and there was peace."

That verse is number 9.11 of the Quran.

There's more but it was written in Wing-Dings and won't render properly in the blog format. You're not missing anything.


- Hermana

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