“Was not expecting to see the headline ‘ham everywhere’ today,” the husband texted.
“… the residents and employees of Rosalita’s are women from New Jersey named Wendy, Mary, Sherry, Sandy, Kitty, Candy, or, of course, Rosalita, who is our founder and CEO.”
Happy trails to the Charo of semiferal cats
Helena, who unlike some of our other animals went by a singular name – much like Charo, Adele, and Eminem – passed away peacefully Monday afternoon after what amounted to 5 years in “kitty retirement” with us. As she was a semiferal cat when we took her in around Thanksgiving 2018, we’re unclear on her exact age, though we suspect she was at least 10 or 12 years old.
(And actually, I lied. We gave her a zillion silly nicknames: Lady Lardbottom, Lady Sparklebutt, Cottonbutt, Señorita Slushbottom, Sister Mary Elephant. Yes, there’s a theme. I guess fatshaming is okay if it’s a cat.)
We got her 5 years ago when Chris saw a social media post from a lady a few blocks away who wanted to find a cat a good home. She said it belonged to her next door neighbor, an older woman who had died; the cat ended up living in some adjacent woods, and the social media poster was feeding the cat but couldn’t bring it in the house with her other cats. It was November, so the lady was worried about the cat, which she named Helena – a variant of her late neighbor’s name, Helen.
So, we adopted Helena, who ended up hiding in our basement for a few months, surfacing only for food and water. It wasn’t until the following spring that she eventually showed up and decided to join the rest of the family; thus began the rest of her years napping on the recliner, napping on the sofa, napping on whatever lap or cushion she could find – and being carried up and down stairs by a little girl who is forever smitten with cats.
Helena also put up gracefully with occasional costuming humiliations at the hands of that now-teenager.
When cats decline, they seem to do so quickly. We took her to the vet only a few weeks ago for respiratory issues, and she went downhill fast from there.
Helena was at once elegant, cranky, and ridiculous. (Like most cats, I suppose.) We loved her. Thanks for sharing your retirement with us, old girl.
I usually have music or streaming video, like the Cornell bird lab’s feeder cam, on the iPad while I work.
Clearly the birds at Sapsucker Woods have transmogrified since we visited there years ago.
New Year’s Eve is as good a time as any to introduce the teenager, a budding D&D dungeon master, to “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”
Back to work. Up late tweaking the Home Office Empire, now with the laptop docking station relocated to allow for a three-screen setup. (C and F pointed out four screens, counting the iPad, but that’s for streaming video Yule logs and old ballgames from MLB.tv archives.)
Note to self: Get a screen protector for the new iPad.
Once I decided to postpone my annual holiday shipments of fudge and candied nuts until after Christmas (and bring batches to colleagues on the East Coast when I join them on a work retreat in February), my stress levels subsided considerably. Maybe I’ll do this every year.
Several hours after ingesting a peppermint mocha, I’m actually ready to call it a night and dream of impending blizzards. So much for working late.
TIL that Mastodon is not immune to mansplaining. 😬
Finally made it to H Mart. Guess you could say I like this stuff.
Flurries and gray skies require new manga and spicy udon ramen with extra pork.
Aaron Judge stays in pinstripes. As a Padres fan, I’m relieved that San Francisco didn’t sign him. But as much as I generally dislike the Yankees, he seems meant to be one, in the best sense.
Just found this ad in my Insta feed. I don’t think I want to buy a candle that smells like stale Old Style and tear-stained Bryzzo T-shirts.
What would a scented candle from your favorite ballpark smell like? ⚾
Maybe it’s just me, but Alexi Lalas is what I imagine a younger, more lucid Bill Walton would be. ⚽
NYT Spelling Bee enthusiasts: Should people post their “Queen Bee” status if they make it clear that they used a cheat resource for it? I’m seeing a few folks doing that on Mastodon, and it’s kinda bugging me (and not because our household has yet to achieve that level).
Down to my last couple of Korean instant coffee packets. Hoping to squeeze in an H Mart visit this week to replenish my stockpile.
Now I know why they sell these things in boxes of 100.
Our first attempt at kolacky looks like a murder scene – and then we put powdered sugar on them.
F: “Now it looks like a murder scene in winter.”
Hello, Amazon customer service? I’d like to register a complaint.
Good morning. Here’s a gratuitous photo of our cat Raymond watching a ballgame, which I wish I was doing right now. ⚾️🐱
THERE IS NO MALTESE IN THE NATIONAL DOG SHOW. Why am I even bothering to watch this, then?
I’m not a soccer (sorry … I mean football) follower, and I understand that this year’s World Cup is particularly toxic.
But part of me really wants to go back and watch those Japan and Saudi Arabia upset games. ⚽
I have not missed frosty mornings.
Been on Twitter longer than my daughter has been alive. But I’m gonna have to find new sources for breaking baseball news, which for me is the only thing it’s been good for.
Between here and Mastodon (@garciabuxton@home.social), I’m getting as far from Space Karen as I can get.
After a very long but grueling week off to help family on the West Coast, it’s odd to look at a day off tomorrow back here at home and think, “Oooh, I can go to bed early tonight. Woo-hoo!”