Today he is 49, so next year he hits the half century mark. I can’t resist a dig as I’m going to be 52 at the end of the year. 🙂
For his birthday, I decided to take some photos that he took one night and play with them. They were taken with his phone, in the dark, and without flash. He came home with the first one and wasn’t fond of it at first. I played with it and showed it to him. He liked it and came home with a few more.
For Lastech with much love from me, Tito, Miss Jenny, and Titanescu
All photos are by Lastech and I call them Carousel Dreams
Here is the original photo he brought home. It was taken through the plastic sheeting that covers the carousel at night.
I’ve been off doing a MAJOR cleaning and organizing of the apartment. I was doing the super boring job of sorting paperwork for filing when the mail arrived. HOLY WOW! It was gifts for Tito, Miss Jenny, and Titanescu sent by a wonderful woman named Grace.
This post is for Grace.
Titanescu helped with the opening of the box. He says the noms are wonderful.Miss Jenny is now dragging the mousie toy everywhere.Tito loved this mousie toy too. He was also tossing the balls in the air and catching them. He stopped when I grabbed the camera.
The pointy eared people love their wonderful goodies!
Thanks again from ALL of us. Hugs for you and scritches for your fur people. 🙂
Today is Miss Nightshade Jenny’s birthday. She is two. She also behaves like a typical two year old, but she has done that since she came to live with us.
She came to us as a timid youngster. She spent her first three days hiding under the dresser in the safe room, only emerging to eat and dart back under. I lived in the safe room with her and she finally got brave and emerged. She and I get along quite well, but she’s daddy’s girl and has been from the beginning. 🙂
She’s daddy’s girlWhatcha doin’ down there daddy?I haz pretty blue peepers!
She managed to fit in quickly. Tito adores her and grooms her at every opportunity.
Hold still! I gotta get the dirt behind your ears!
Kitsy adored her. She turned into nurse Jenny when he was sick. She wouldn’t let him sleep alone…ever. She stayed with him and kept him warm. She missed him a lot when he crossed the bridge.
Keeping Kitsy warm
As for behaving like a two year old? She’s a pen thief. She steals lots of things, but her favorite is pens. She likes to bring some to bed and the rest she hides somewhere. I figure they’re behind the futon where I can’t get to them. I wrote about her thieving ways here. She also loves to steal taters. She rolls them around the floor and even brings them to bed. Cats are strange and she’s no exception to the rule.
Of course, she’s still a nervous kitty and will hide from strangers, new lamps, new drapes, etc. She’s even hiding from her mousie birthday present.
Lonely mousie
She’ll be playing with it soon. It just might take a day or two. She’s probably still recovering from her fear of the lamp monster.
She was named Nightshade by the shelter. We added Jenny after Pirate Jenny in the Threepenny Opera. Jenny was played by Lotte Lenya in the original movie. She is a prostitute who was mistreated by Mackie (Mack the Knife) and she’s our favorite character. This song is her dream of revenge for the abuse she has endured. This version, by Marianne Faithfull, is a more accurate translation (from the German) than most. I hope you like it as much as we do.
Warning: this song contains a bad word or two and may be NSFW.
On Thursday, a friend of mine is having surgery. To help her fight the “hospital blues”, here is a bit of peace and some cuteness before she heads in :).
My friend, I know you’re a wee bit nervous. A pretty garden is what you need.
Drum BridgeSunlight through the leaves
We’ll be here if you need us, you’ve only to holler.
Gosling getting a snuggle
While in the hospital try to be calm.
Calm Gosling
If you DO get your feathers ruffled, it’s ok to yell a bit.
Pissy Gosling
Soon you’ll be afloat again
Cygnet
…and you’ll be able to turn your back on this whole ordeal…
Cygnet butt
…and go back to being the swan we know you are.
Swan
We’re not done yet. The furkids have a message for you. From Tito
Give your kitty some belly rubs. If your kitty doesn’t like them, I’ll come and you can rub mine. Kitty purrs will help you heal faster. Purrrrrrr
From Miss Jenny
Get better fast. If you do, I’ll teach you the art of tater tossing. Hmrow Purrrr
Today, we are taking time to remember all those brave men and women who died while serving in the U.S. Military.
San Francisco National Cemetery in The Presidio by Fred HsuArlington: A season of remembrance begins by By: Kathleen T. RhemNormandy American Cemetery
We also want to remember the faithful four legged service members who also lost their lives while serving in the U.S. Military. They should not be forgotten either.
A memorial tribute honors a fallen comrade, April 13, at Camp Liberty. “Military working dogs are an important part of the military team and sometimes they are taken for granted,” said Lt. Col. Barbara Sherer, from Springfield, Mo., 1st Cavalry Division chaplain and co-coordinator of the ceremony. “It is appropriate to honor their service.”
Today is Earth Day and a time to volunteer to clean a park, or the beach or any other favorite place. It’s also a day to teach our children about caring for our beautiful planet and the awful effects of climate change.
The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes as national coordinator. Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land.
As a result, on the 22nd of April, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.
Here’s a film clip from that day. Sorry about the quality.
Lastech and I try to use the lessons of Earth Day all year. When we go hiking, we pick up trash. It’s not only ugly, but it’s harmful to the wildlife. I encourage everyone to do the same. Every little bit helps and Mother Earth is more fragile than she appears.
Pink beauty by LastechMiner’s Lettuce by LastechGazania by Lastech
Three squared years ago, Lastech and I tied the knot. Since then we have shared magnificent views and wonderful kitties.
We have shared beautiful sunrises. Photo by Lastech
There has been plenty of wildlife viewing right here in the City of San Francisco.
This beautiful hawk was sitting about ten feet from the trail and at eye level in Golden Gate Park
Lastech is very patient with me when I’m yelling STOP! Actually, I try to keep it from sounding like impending doom and thus scaring the crap out of him as he’s driving. I’m not always successful. This pic is the result of one of those moments. 🙂
I found this Great Egret at the reservoir in McLaren Park
We have even gone storm watching on Bernal Hill.
Rain over San Francisco
The last nine years have been wonderful and I look forward to the next nine.
Today, we hope 2013 will be a turning point for marriage equality.
We look forward to being able to wish EVERYONE a happy anniversary.
Today we want to celebrate our return from the dreaded 403 error code to wish our favorite blogger Nekoneko (aka Catgirl) a very wonderful and happy birthday. She has the great movie review site, Nekoneko’s Movie Litterbox where she reviews horror films from all over the world. Be sure to give her site a visit.
The evil of Farther Christmas has been unleashed upon the world once more. Can a small group of reindeer herders catch him in time to sell it to the Americans?
Like all industries, Christmas is made up of many businesses, the more unsavory and dangerous ones, the more “interesting” the folklore.
The hunters
While NORAD pretends to track Santa’s sleigh every year, the real hunting takes place on the frozen ground of Northern Finland, Lapland to be exact. There, rough men practice skills honed over generations, working in groups of three: the tracker, the marker and the sniper. Their quarry is the Wild Father Christmas, an elusive and savage predator pouncing on reindeer and naughty children alike. The following video is NSFW:
In “Rare exports: a Christmas tale“, Mount Kurvatunturi, the site where Father Christmas was entombed is being “excavated” with explosives by an American company, Unwittingly, they unleash the ancient evil. It is now up to local reindeer herders and father and son Rauno and Pietari Kontio (Jorma and Onni Tommila) to capture the beast and sell it to the Americans.
… Father Christmas is out there, ravenous, nasty and lethal. Until the tame final product, result of hard work and hours of beatings, is fit for shipment around the world. “Rare exports: a Christmas tale” is where it begins…
