| Catsu's Corner Archives
July 2003 Back to HOME |
| July 29, 2003 -- The story of Henrietta. |
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Colleene tells the story of Henrietta.
When she was a child she had a friend, Henrietta. Henrietta took dancing lessons. She wanted to be a ballerina. She danced and danced, practicing for hours. Colleene wanted to dance too. She liked the pretty shoes and the pretty costumes. She felt a little jealous of Henrietta's dancing abilities, but she didn't want to practice. She wanted to play other children's games. Henrietta continued to practice and practice and practice. Years later, as an adult, Colleene attended a ballet and there listed on the program, the ballerina dancing that night, was Henrietta. There are two morals to the story. Follow your dreams, they can come true. But realize that it takes a lot of work, and sometimes even sacrifice, to make the dreams come true. Colleene went on to achieve many successes of her own, but being a ballerina isn't one of them. |
| July 28, 2003 -- Building castles in the sand. |
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Yesterday we went to the Annual Sandcastle Days in Imperial Beach. This was the 23rd Annual Sandcastle Competition, but it was the first time that we have gone. Teams compete in either professional or amateur divisions for cash prizes. This is the largest event of its kind in the country. They say it drew 300,000 people last year for the three day event, which also includes a pancake breakfast, a parade, a street fair, band performances, and a fireworks display. It has recieved international publicity. National Geographic even did a program on it once.
We got there early enough to see the teams just beginning to work on their entries. We watched them pack the sand into wooden forms and gather buckets of water in preparation for the actual sand sculpting. Hand tools are used for the sculpting. The teams have only four hours to complete their sculptures before judging so they have to work fast. We had a good time at the beach and at the street fair and enjoyed seeing the sandcastles. Raymond thinks we should gather a team and sign up for the competition next year. I don't know about our family forming a team, but I'm sure he and his friends would have a lot of fun participating in the event. Raymond always liked to build sand castles at the beach even when he was little. I'm sure he could come up with a really cool design now. We'll see, could be a good idea. 
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| July 26, 2003 -- Memories of the zoo. |
We went to the zoo last week with Colleene, Judi, my foster cousin, Josie, and her sister, Patty. As I was watching the endangerd animal show, I was reminded of another time years ago watching this show.
When our kids were young, my friend and I would take them to the zoo quite often. One time, when Raymond was just a baby, we were sitting in the front row of the zoo show, which features a leopard. Raymond was fussy that day and began to cry. The leopard immediately stopped "performing" and turned to look right at him. The trainer regained the attention of the leopard and tried to continue the show, but every time Raymond made a noise, the leopard was visibly distracted by him, even pulling against the leash as though to leap. The trainer stopped the show, explaining that the leopard was displaying "predator behavior," and asked us to leave. She said the baby's apparent helplessness and vulnerability was triggering the leopard's instincts. Even after I took Raymond out of the theater, my friend told me that the leopard kept looking in the direction we had gone and still would not perform. They ended the show early that day. |
| July 25, 2003 -- Stressed out. |
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Raymond has completed his registration for the fall semester of CSUF. He isn't terribly happy with his schedule, but at least he has enough units and it looks like they will all count to fill a requirement.
The process is a little easier now with on-line registration than when I was in college, but it is still a nightmare. He worked out a schedule, then logged on to find that several of his classes were already closed. Back to the beginning. He worked out another schedule and found more classes closed. After eshausting his second and third choice lists, he still needed to register for at least three more units. We were both flipping through the catalog, trying to find something, (at this point, anything) that would fit the time spot he had available. Unfortunately, one of the key classes Raymond needs, which is a pre-requisite for just about every other class required for his major, was closed. I don't think he is terribly thrilled with the prospect of taking anthropology, but at least he was able to get one art class. I remember doing this in front of a huge board listing the classes, while inching forward in a line. People would come and cross out classes as they filled. We would then frantically try to re-work our schedules before reaching the front, so as not to lose our places in line. Oh, I get stressed out even thinking about it. |
| July 20, 2003 -- We all scream for ice cream. |
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July is National Ice Cream Month and, in fact, today is National Ice Cream Day.
I am happy to do my part to promote it. We recently had dinner at my brother's house and for dessert there was ice cream. Now with David it's not, "Would you like Vanilla or Chocolate?" Oh no, no, no. He had at least fifteen flavors of ice cream to choose from, including common flavors (Vanilla, Chocolate), not so common flavors (Peach, Rocky Road, Bubble Gum), and unusual flavors (White Thunder, Moose Tracks, Creamsicle.) It's a good thing they have a big freezer. When I was little we'd have Sunday dinner at my grandparents house. My grandfather always had ice cream for us, but it was always Neopolitan. He figured that should please everyone. Three flavors, one carton, how can you go wrong? Sometimes, as a treat we'd go to the drug store and get an ice cream cone. A single scoop was 29 cents. Looking at all the cartons of colorful ice cream, it was hard to decide which flavor to choose. I remember when I was very little I loved Orange Sherbet. Later, it was always Chocolate Chip. My friend's dad once told me to watch the clerk scoop the ice cream and to choose the one that looked the softest and easiest to scoop. "The softer the ice cream, the bigger the scoop," he said. (This was when they still used real ice cream scoops, not those cylindrical ones they have now.) The Ten Most Popular Flavors of Ice Cream - (According to the International Ice Cream Association) 1. VanillaDid anyone even know there was an International Ice Cream Association? |
| July 19, 2003 -- Kitty No-Name, part two. |
| I think we finally have a name for at least one of the new kittens. The little tabby cat is now named Pippin, or Pip for short. The other kitty is still nameless but we have the choices narrowed down to Polo, Pita, Piper, or Pounce. |
| July 18, 2003 -- I don't know why I'm so tired. |
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The American Pet Products Manufacturing Association reports that more than half of pet kitties sleep with their owners. I know it didn't take any of ours long to figure out that the bed was the most comfy place to spend the night. We usually have two or three sleeping with us.
On the other side, the newsletter "Catnip" reports that of 300 patients surveyed at the Mayo Clinic Sleep Disorders Center, one third of them sleep with their pets. Maybe that's why I'm tired. I must be sleep deprived due to feline companionship. Toby sleeps like a log but he's so big, he takes up a good portion of the bed and he gets grumpy if I try to push him over. Patch likes to get up at 4:00 each morning. She starts prowling around, jumping up on the furniture and knocking things down. It's her subtle way of telling us she wants to go out. And why is it that cats always stretch out side to side across the width of the bed? |
| July 14, 2003 -- Kitty No-Name. |
| The kitties are still nameless. There is absolutely no way for three people to agree on a name. |
| July 10, 2003 -- It's a big world out there. |
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The kitties spent yesterday morning exploring the backyard. They loved being outside and are much less nervous now. They hid in the ivy, rolled in the dirt, scratched on the trees, chased each other, and discovered the kitty door leading in. The little tabby was determined to get out of the netting. She pushed, pulled, dug at it, climbed on it, and tried to push her head through it. I think it is secure, but if there is a way out, she will find it. I know I will have to temporarily modify the front yard where I used the lattice wood because the kittens are small enough to fit right through it. I wasn't considering tiny cats when we built it. The other cats don't seem to mind them, though the tabby/white throws a little fit whenever one is near. She hisses and growls, but they just ignore her. 
They still don't have names. |
| July 9, 2003 -- Here kitty, kitty, kitty. |
Even though adopt-a-cat month has passed, we have just aquired two darling new kitties. Our friend, Sioux, found a litter of feral kittens under her house. She is keeping one of the kittens and the other two are currently staying in our bathroom while they become acustomed to us, the house, and the other cats.
One is a grey tabby, the other is part tabby and part white. I have always been especially fond of tabby cats. We think they are both female, but we are not sure. They don't have names yet. It's been a long time since we've had young kittens, as I usually adopt older cats. It'll be a lot of fun to have kittens again and watch them grow. Raymond is teaching them to play with a string. And they are already beginning to relax and purr when we hold them. The little tabby is a bit more frightened than the other, but they both show signs of becoming sweet lap cats. Sioux has not been able to catch the mother cat yet, but when she does she will have her spayed. The Feral Cat Coalition of San Diego is a wonderful organization. They have many vets who volunteer their time for monthly spay/neuter clinics. They will even help to catch feral (or wild) cats, which are then altered and re-released back into the areas where they were caught. Most of these cats are unadoptable because they are much too wild to be pets. At least this way they are not having more litters of kittens. |
| July 8, 2003 -- Today we are using . . . |
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I was listening to one of the fair pitch-men (he happened to be selling a sushi maker) and he said, "You could use shrimp or anything you want, but today we are using artificial crab".
Artificial crab? What on Earth is artificial crab? Either it is crab or it isn't crab, and if it isn't, then it has to be something. Why not call it what it is? Is it chicken? Is it tofu? Is it some other seafood? The word artificial makes me think of those little, plastic foods the kids used to have when they played house. But this surely must have been edible since he was serving sushi samples. "Today we are using some mystery product and pretending it is crab." Enjoy. |
| July 7, 2003 -- Commotion by the Ocean. |
We went to the County Fair yesterday since Kimberly's dance troupe was performing there. This year's theme was "Commotion by the Ocean". They had a large "Exploring the Ocean" exhibit sponsored by Scripps Institute of Oceanography with a shark cage, some hands-on exhibits for the kids, and films of underwater exploration.
It was a nice day. It wasn't as hot as it has been some years. I enjoy seeing the exhibits. My favorites are the Home Arts building, the Garden displays, and the Mixed Media Arts. Raymond likes to see the Woodwork exhibit and Lloyd likes to watch those extreme bungee jump things. In additon to Kimberly's dance show, we also saw two other dance studios perform, the Recycled Percussion band (similar to Stomp), and a hyppnotist. Kimberly's ballet teacher was one of the audience volunteers to be hypnotized. It is just amazing to me that these people can be hypnotized so quickly. I can understand some one relaxing in the quiet setting of hypnotherapy, but at the noisy fair with people watching? And it takes virtually no time at all. He basically just clicks his fingers, says "sleep now," and they are gone. Amazing. Nicole said that she really wasn't aware of the silly things she was doing and that after the show she just felt tired. Another of Kimberly's dance teachers, who wasn't even up on the stage, fell asleep in the audience. Her daughter says they can't ever take her to these things because she does it all the time. Apparently she is just able to absolutely, completely relax. It's just amazing to me. We had a good time at the fair. We didn't eat too much junk food, (though I do like those Australian fried potatoes) and we did not buy any useless gadgets or things we have no need for, even though those sales pitches make everything sound wonderful.
Josie - Blue Ribbon (kid's hobbies) - A collection of all the money she found on the ground during a one year period Jenny R. - Blue Ribbon (Photographic Arts) - photogragh of a girl MC Sun Newspaper - Blue Ribbon for layout and design, Best in Class MC Yearbook - Red Ribbon |
| July 5, 2003 -- It's how you play the game. |
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I was watching Venus and Serena Williams playing Wimbledon tennis today. These girls are both so cute and have such grace. Though competitors, you can see the love and support they have for each other. I root for Venus, I root for Serena, I root for Venus. Who do I want to win? It doesn't matter, I want them both to win.
It occurs to me that this is maybe why I am not a very good sports fan. I have a tendency to root for everyone. It's the same with other games, as well. Whoever has the ball, whoever's up to bat, I'm rooting for them. "Yes! Go, go, go." Change of teams? O.K., whatever. "Go team! Go, go, go." So I'm never disappointed with the outcome. I'm happy for the winner and sad for the loser. But if positions were reversed, I'd still be ... happy for the winner and sad for the loser. |
| Fourth of July, 2003 -- I love a parade. |
We went to the Rancho Bernardo Spirit of the Fourth parade today. This was Raymond's ninth year of participating in the parade, riding his unicycle and juggling. Raymond has been juggling since he was nine. He started by teaching himself using a video tape. Later we discovered the children's circus skills classes offered by the Fern Street Circus. He juggled with them for a couple of years and learned to ride a unicycle. He's gotten quite good at his juggling and really enjoys it.
He likes to do the Fourth of July parade each year even though it is usually so hot. They say we had "record breaking temperatures" today. It makes it hard for the kids marching in the parade, but I guess it's nice for the people at the beach. This is a fun parade because the community all comes together in the patriotic spirit. Everyone dresses in red, white, and blue and flag print fabrics. The kids all wave flags. It's just like one of those Disney family movies from the sixties. After the parade we went to a neighborhood pot luck block party. It was fun visiting and getting to know our neighbors. There was lots of good food, too. The little kids there had all decorated their bikes and scooters and had a little parade of their own. Tonight we went to see the fireworks. I've always loved watching fireworks, (Sooo pretty.) My favorite are the ones that look like sparkly silver fairy dust. When I was young, my aunt could see the Disneyland fireworks from her apartment balcony. I just thought she was so lucky to be able to watch fireworks every night if she wanted. Our community puts on a nice firework display, coordinated with patriotic music from a local radio station. We sat on a little grassy hill in a parking lot watching the fireworks, listening to the music, the people saying "ahh" and "ohh," and, of course, the car alarms beeping with each firework explosion. God bless America. Happy Independence Day! |
| July 3, 2003 -- Mail call. |
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I subscribe to several magazines and always look forward to recieving one in the mail, but when four come on the same day, well, wow! And one of them was my favorite, Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion. I love all her bright, cutesy, cluttery stuff and the articles about the creative artists and collectors. I especially like magazines that feature craft projects and home decorating ideas.
For about the past two years I've also been recieving Prevention Magazine, though I have no idea how I got this subscription. I'd never even heard of the magazine until it started arriving one day. I've never gotten an invoice or a gift card or anything else from the company, but the magazine comes each month. At first I thought my mother must have ordered it for me, as in, ("Su's looking a little chunky these days. Maybe she should be reading this.") However, she claims she didn't, so it's still a mystery. Anyway, I've been enjoying the magazine. It has good exercise and diet tips as well as articles about all aspects of healthy living. I think I'll renew my subscription when it expires. That is, of course, unless my "health angel" does it for me. |
| July 2, 2003 -- Pizza Night. |
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The first wednesday of each month is "pizza night." A tradition started years ago, we meet my brother and friends at a different pizza place each month. Sometimes there are just a few of us, sometimes quite a few are able to attend. It's a fun night of visiting.
We all have those fund raiser coupon books the schools sell, so at the end of the evening we look through and choose the spot for next month. We've been all over the city trying different pizzas.
Bruno's in San Marcos - hands down the best pizza anywhere Scarcella's (Unfortunately now closed in SD, but the original is still in Rancho California) Fillipe's Pat and Oscar's |
| July 1, 2003 -- I love, I love, I love my calendar |
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It's July, time to turn the calendar page. All during June I've been looking at a beautiful mane coon cat. Now for July I have two rather grouchy looking smash-nosed persians peering down at my desk.
I know these cats are highly desirable as show cats but I just can't understand why breeders would do this to an animal. Many of these cats have respiratory problems and it is also difficult for them to eat and drink. We had a persian for a while. She was an abandoned, stray cat. Her face was so flat she couldn't lap water without submerging her nose. Poor kitty. I seriously thought she was in danger of drowning every time she got a drink of water. And speaking of breeding, what were they thinking when they developed the hairless cat? These poor, skinny kitties always look so embarassed. A cat should have fur and that's all I'm going to say about it. |
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