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Why my cat would whip you in a fist fight January 27, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — baileydiann @ 6:44 am

So as many of you know, Owen and I adopted a little fuzzy friend back in October.  We had the intentions of raising a pleasant little buddy…little did we know our tiny kitten was a ninja assassin in disguise.

A few factoids about our little monster for your brain to feed on:

Meet Loki!

1.  After much debate and consideration we named the little guy Loki, after the Norse god of trickery.  When put to a vote on facebook, everyone had wanted us to name him Kirby…I said no.  I knew even after just the five minutes that we played with him at the shelter that this cat was going to be a little shit (excuse my french) and Kirby was definitely not the right fit.  No, when Kirby comes to mind I think of a baseball legend and his touching 7th inning video that they used to play at the dome, as well as a little tiny pink marsh mellow-shaped video game character…much too tame.  Owen and I, having both read the Ever World series, narrowed the names down to Loki and Thor (both Norse Gods).  I mean, divine rulers of a savage and brutal viking people…or number 34 from the Minnesota Twins…Whatever you agree with, we ended up with Loki.  Loki is a much less predictable than Thor and almost literally meant this cat was going to be up to no good (plus, I thought that a four letter name ending with “i” was endearing).  As a side note, Owen really never had a chance at choosing a name for Loki…he surrendered that chance when his first choice was The Hulk followed by his second, Dr. Bruce Banner.  Don’t be too sad for Owen though, because being the loving and caring wife that I am I allowed his official name to be… Loki Thor Bruce Banner Hulk…although thats a wee bit too much of a mouthful to have to yell when he is in trouble, so I just stick to Loki-Thor!

2. He is about 7.5 pounds, has a very long tail, and a very tiny head in proportion to his body.

3. He has huge eyes… and when the pupils dilate you have about a half a second before he mauls your face.

4. He will sleep anywhere and in any position.

5. Weird tendency #1: obsessed with flushing toilets.  He will sit outside the door while you use the bathroom and howl until you open the door for him to watch the toilet flush.

6. He likes to wear sweaters and we like it when he wears them.  Let me set up a few analogies for you Loki is addicted to speed and the sweater is his anti-drug…or Loki is to psychopath as sweater is to straight jacket.  If you don’t believe me, come stay with us one night and we will let you share a room with naked Loki for an hour.

7. Weird tendency #2: we made the mistake of allowing him to sleep in our room…he now refuses to sleep anywhere but on my pillow…even if my head is still on it.  I usually wake up several times during the night due to either being shoved off the pillow or having been smothered to the point of strangulation by cat hair in my face.  Give him an inch and he takes a mile.

8. He likes Meow Mix…haha

9. Favorite activities (in no particular order):

  • climbing all the way to the top of our patio screen door
  • clawing your butt through the back of the couch
  • shoving all his toys underneath the stove in the kitchen and then whining until you get them out
  • unrolling and shredding all the toilet paper
  • knocking shampoo bottles into the tub
  • darting in and out between your legs while you try to walk
  • parkouring off the walls and furniture

10. weird tendency #3: If you don’t pay attention to him he will climb you literally.  I have many scars on my body from him climbing all the way up to my shoulders…this was cute as a little 2 pound kitty but now its dagger claws through your jeans.  We are attempting to repress this behavior…however…

11.  He thinks the squirt bottle is a game not a punishment.

12. weird tendency #4: For long periods of time throughout the day, you might find him sitting at his water bowl in contemplation.  He then continuously paws at the water and flicks it around as though he has never seen anything like it in his life.  He also compares it to the contents of his food bowl.  If only I knew what he was thinking…there is some sort of scientific process going on there…or maybe not enough is going on up there.

13. He plays fetch

14. He talks back to you

15. He fails to engage fight or flight.  Or something like that…a normal reaction to a door closing would be to get out of the way-go either in or out.  Loki on the other hand doesn’t move or will purposely stick his head in.  He likes to poke his head inside the fridge if I am trying to grab something and he has ended up locked inside the fridge because as the door closed instead of back out he walked in.  He is either very confident in himself or very stupid.

16. He loves people.  This may not seem like anything special but he seriously loves people and hates to be left alone.  Most cats I have encountered keep to themselves and spend their time lying around our hiding under beds.  Loki greets people at the door and follows guests around all night (usually involves a fair amount of toe biting).  If we lock him in the guest room where all his things are he whines and whines until you go get him.  He would rather be in someones lap than in his own cat bed.  And if you are alone with him, he will follow you from room to room.  He thinks he is a little fuzzy person.

17. It turns out that his fascination with the water in his bowl has expanded to any liquid in any container.  If you have an open glass of anything anywhere its pretty darn probable that a paw has already inspected it.  Use caution when drinking red wine…he will flick it at you.

Well thats it for now…and don’t bother with the your obsessed or crazy cat lady comments cuz I already know it and you would not have read the blog if you weren’t a little bit curious.  Night!

 

My Life: As Bailey January 22, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — baileydiann @ 6:32 am

*meow* :)

Please forgive me, it has been many months since my last confession… or something like that (I am not Catholic).  But in reality, it has been a long time since I last blogged and it has not been for lack of time or simple forgetfulness.  Rather, I just have not had a whole lot to say because not much has changed.  At first, I was hesitant to admit this but now I feel like I better own it.  And the stagnant periods of activity in my life the last few months have been met with tiny, scattered victories along the way.  So let’s see where I am at…

I still do not have a job.  It has been called to my attention that I do a lot more searching than I do applying, which obviously does nothing to get oneself from point A to point B (but it does sometimes provide me with a small amount of false accomplishment).  There are several reasons for my lack of application, the first being that I am a stubborn, starry-eyed college graduate with big dreams and a small concept of reality… I just want to have a job worthy of a college degree so that I know that four years worth of hard work and money were not all blown to smithereens so that I can go back to waiting tables.  Secondly, I hate awkward situations and having to say “thank you for opportunity but I am going to have to decline your offer for such-and-such position at your company”, or “I am sorry but this job really is not working out for me but thank you for the opportunity”.  Awkward.  And I have had to do that several times.  I do not want to put myself in those kinds of situations so I often find myself second-guessing jobs that I could apply for. This all needs to stop.  I need to stop thinking so much and just follow the advice my mother gave me in high school when I wanted a date for prom…”Bailey, you just gotta put yourself out there!”  I have been afraid to search and apply for jobs that might not be the “dream” job for me in the fear that the moment I settle for any job, the perfect job will come along and I will have missed out.  However, the longer I continue to wait and hold off, the more I second guess myself and lose confidence.  I am willing to wait for that perfect job or career opportunity, but that does not mean I can’t wait tables in the mean time.  Moreover, if I want to keep the option of grad school open in the near future, I am going to need to start saving.  Going back to waiting tables may not be ideal for me right now, but it might give me the confidence boost I need to “put myself out there” and lets me get back to something I loved to do and was good at (not to mention a little extra shopping money!)

One of my little victories in the last month or so was that I received an internship with the Tucson Museum of Art.  Recently, I have been strongly considering going back to school for my teaching license, so I applied for an internship with the education department at the museum.  This way I kill to birds with one stone, getting both museum and education experience.  Every Wednesday from 11-4 I am required to be at the museum.  My main duties have to do with assisting the Davis program, which is an after-school art program with little kids from a nearby elementary.  For an hour and a half every Wednesday we tour the gallery and do art projects associated with current exhibitions.  Currently, we are still planning lessons and weekly themes, but the kid’s first day will be Feb. 3.  My other major project is to independently design some sort of advertisement/poster for birthday parties at the museum.  The education department is always looking for ways to increase revenue and they have recently begun to try hosting kids’ birthday parties without much success.  So I will be working a little bit with the museum’s graphic designer on that project.  In addition, they want me to help brainstorm and develop activities that can be done during the parties that incorporate current exhibitions.  Currently, the main temporary exhibit is Ansel Adams, which is phenomenal.  However, towards the February, we are bringing in an Andy Warhol exhibit (including atleast one Marilyn and one Campbell’s soup can!!), which I think will really interest a lot of people and inspire a lot of fun projects for the kids.  The museum is also bring in work by Mexican-muralist David Tineo, as well as work by Phoenix artist Ed Mell who features western landscape in his painting and sculptures.  The museum is like nothing I have been to before because it is located on the historic block in downtown Tucson.  What they have done is place two of their permanent collections featuring pre-Columbian, Latin-American, and western American art within two historic houses, so it is a much more intimate setting and experience.  The entire block seems to encapsulate southwestern art and history with its adobe architecture, mosaic art, and flowing fountains…its perfect for Tucson.

Anyway, I think that is all I will add for tonight.  I am hoping to blog to you all about my fabulous new job that I plan to get in near future, so cross your fingers for me!  I also want to dedicate this blog to Owen for all of his patience, understanding, and encouragement!  Until next time!

PS: Long live Conan

 

 
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