Cats & Saying Thank You

My husband and I have long been trying to guess the mixture of breeds in one of our cats.  When the vet shrugged his shoulders we realized it might be a long shot, but we still try from time to time if we see something that makes us go, ohhh - maybe he's part [fill in the name of a breed of cat here] that.

This morning my husband told me he'd seen a program on Animal Planet where he saw a cat that could be like the elusive heritage of the Fuzzums.  (The cat has a better name, but that's his nickname.  It's far more suitable.)  So I started looking for pictures online.  When I logged into the MSN homepage, I saw a link to an article about gratitude.  I read the article which basically said that saying thank you is good for you, but failed to offer a lot of empirical data to back that hypothesis.

Then again, perhaps it's hard to quantify something as intangible as the factors which make our lives better.  I have far too many things for which to give thanks, and so many of them might seem small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things - but they make my little world a better place.  I try to say thank you every opportunity that I have but if you - anyone reading this - have not been told by me that I am grateful to have you in my life then  please know it was an oversight that doesn't reflect how I really feel.  I believe that people come into our lives for a reason, and that means that you, my gentle reader, are here because I am blessed to know you - even if only via words on a screen.

So in the spirit of Thanksgiving 2009, I wanted to share a few quotes with you on the subject of being grateful.

• At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.
  Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us. (Albert Schweitzer)
• Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful. (Buddha)
• Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary. (Margaret Cousins)
• If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.  (Meister Eckhart)
• There is as much greatness of mind in acknowledging a good turn, as in doing it. (Seneca)

Back to the cat - we still don't know what kinds of parents and grandparents Fuzzums had, but we're grateful for his little fuzzy presence in our lives - whatever mixture of breeds he might be. (And as a side note to which other cat owners can relate - we're very grateful that he hasn't gifted us with any hairballs today.)

Happy Thanksgiving in the United States - and happy Thursday/Friday to the rest of the world.  May you have a day filled with moments for which to give thanks.

The fact is - it's just opinion

I have blogged on and off for years, but I've never done it very seriously.  One reason for the casual attitude is that I so often treat my blog as a kind of online journal.  Bits and pieces are saved here, but it's all just my own opinions and observations with a few handy links tossed into the mix if I'm talking about a specific place or book or CD.  I applaud those bloggers who have worked hard and written so much to reach the attention of large segments of the online population.

In fact, some bloggers have reached the stage of being wined and dined by potential sponsors.  The LA Times has an interesting article which describes a few blogging moms and the attention they attract from both readers and potential sponsors.   I have to admit, if someone offered me a lifetime supply of free coffee to blog about their product - it would be hard to turn down that much coffee.  The cost savings alone could probably cover the remainder of my daughter's college tuitition.

Of course, being the poster child of Murphy's Law, here's what would happen if somebody gave me that offer.  They'd send me their coffee - I'd hate it since I am very picky about the coffee I drink - and then I'd have to go online and say that despite the free samples (and the promise of many more to come), I really hated the taste of their coffee.  

Personal moral of that story - It's just as well that I stick to random observations.

And with that thought in mind, let me add one more random observation which doesn't benefit me at all but can potentially help a lot of kids all over the world.  The Grobanites for Charity 2009 Holiday Auction for the Josh Groban Foundation starts today.   You can see their list of items here.  The auction runs through November 23, and there are buy now items as well as a variety of donated merchandise and homemade items available for bidding.  Scroll down the page to the bottom and you'll see that with the purchase of some buy it now buttons, you're purchase also makes you eligible to win other items including signed Josh Groban merchandise.

Have a great rest of the weekend!  :-)

Making a List & Checking it Twice - 10 Books I Love to Give

As we approach the holiday gift-giving season, I thought I'd start making my own lists of suggestions starting off with 10 books I'd love to recommend.  I confess, only one of these is actually a recent release, but all of my suggested titles are in print and available on Amazon.  They follow in alphabetical order by title.

The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) - This slim volume presents the story of Santiago, but it's such a well-written fable that it's timeless.  The plus side for this book is that it also comes in several, different editions which make it perfect for gift-giving depending on your budget.

City of Shadows: A Novel of Suspense (Ariana Franklin) - Do you like a good mystery?  Do you love historical novels?  City of Shadows is a perfect combination of these two elements.  Set in post WWI Berlin, it mixes desperate liars, Nazis, and a whiff of deposed royalty in the form of a puzzle and a desperate race against time.

Dead Until Dark (Charlaine Harris) -  I confess that I haven't read the Twilight series yet, but I had to include one vampire novel on the list.  It was a toss up between Charlaine Harris' Southern vampire series (which spawned the HBO series True Blood) and Mary Janice Davidson's which starts off with Undead and Unwed.  In the end I went with Charlaine Harris' and her heroine Sookie Stackhouse because who doesn't love a cameo by Elvis?

Everyone Worth Knowing (Lauren Weisberger) - This one comes from the same author who wrote The Devil Wears Prada - okay, it's the same basic storyline with a different setting.  Everyone Worth Knowing is still one of my favorites in the girl-meets-starry-lifestyle novel.    It's not a demanding book to read, but it's a fun one if you like to read about sex, alcohol, fashion, and a fabulously shallow lifestyle.

Jim Henson's Doodle Dreams: Inspiration for Living Life Outside the Lines (Jim Lewis) - This is a very thin book with a very big message.  The drawings were done by Jim Henson, but the quotes throughout (unless otherwise specified) were not Henson's own.  It's still a great little book that gives you a five-minute pick-me-up when you flip through its pages.

The Little Drummer Girl  (John LeCarre) - First published in 1983, this story places us inside the minds of the brilliant actress Charlie who finds herself taking on the greatest role of her life - an international spy whose mission is to save lives at the cost of her own soul.   The time frame is somewhat dated, but the message is just as relevant today as it was when first published.

Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West (Daniel Ladinsky) - No matter what your perspective of the Divine, it's impossible to read this collection of poems and not find something tugging inside your heart to hear the music that floats beneath the words. 

Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking  (Madhur Jaffrey) - I have several Indian cookbooks in my collection, but this was the first one that I bought.  It breaks down Indian cooking into simple steps, and it describes the spices you'll need to bring the magic of a good Indian restaurant home to your own kitchen.

The Magicians (Lev Grossman) - Although this book was marketed heavily as Harry Potter for adults, I really feel that the description does a disservice to the book.  This book is far more than just a bit of wand waving (there are very few wands used in The Magicians, actually), and I'm already talked three of my friends into buying it so I'll have to find them something else for the holidays.   (Note - This book does contain quite a bit of language, so if four-letter words are not your forte, don't get the audio version of this book.)

The Thurber Carnival (James Thurber) - I've been in love with James Thurber's writing for ages.  If you've never discovered his humorous style, this book is an excellent introduction.  Two words - puppy biscuit.  Need I say more?

This Is It

I went to see This Is It last Saturday, but I'm just now putting up my review of the film.   I absolutely loved it.

I was afraid that the movie would be sad with references to Michael Jackson's recent death. I probably held my breath for the first fifteen minutes, waiting for the sadness I was sure would be there. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by how upbeat the entire film made me feel. It has warmth and unexpected humor in places. What an amazing show that would have been if Michael Jackson had lived to do the concert.

There are a lot of numbers that you see Michael do with his dancers and his band - and those men/women are pretty amazing dancers/performers in their own right. Some of the songs are incredible - the new version of Thriller was spectacular with its film effects, and Smooth Criminal was another one that blended music/video performance.

Billie Jean really brought the audience to life in the theater where I watched the film. People had already been singing along at times, but almost everyone went wild for this song. Michael was truly in his element as he sang/danced that number, and it translated to singing, dancing, and even a few screams from members of the viewing audience. (We had a lively bunch in our theater!)

It was a really well done piece, and it definitely benefited from being shown in a large screen format. I give it two thumbs up even if you only liked Michael Jackson's music. I went with my husband (not a huge MJ fan) and my daughter (huge MJ fan), and it was a winner across the board.

Connections

"To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing." ~Elbert Hubbard~

 

Originally, I was going to write a very serious blog post about an experience which happened to a friend of mine earlier this week.  She's very shy.  She makes me look like an extrovert.  She found herself in the middle of a controversy where someone was making some mean and untrue statements.    The comments were delivered online, and I have to wonder if this person would have said the same thing to my friend in a face to face context.   It's so easy to type some words on a screen and send them out for the world to see - even if the world is only a few people who read a particular post or blog.  You never know where your words will land, though, or what impact they might have on the very real person who reads them.

So having spent the better part of two days reminding my friend that anyone who actually researches the facts will know the truth of the matter, I decided to do something different for my blog entry. 

I ran across an article at Huffington Post which taked about a blog from CBN about the demonic effects of Halloween candy.  Now, I have been eating Halloween candy for many years, and since I've been an adult I've also purchased quite a lot to hand out to the neighborhood children.  To the best of my knowledge, I had no ill-effects from either of these experiences, but my daughter (J) told me a story which illustrates that there may be more substance to this theory than previously realized.  She was with a couple of her friends and the following conversation took place.

J's friend #1 - Who is J dating?
J's friend #2 - She's dating S
J's friend #1 - Which one is he?
J's friend  #2 - He's the one who looks like Lucifer.

My daughter's steady boyfriend could be the devil incarnate, and it's obviously directly connected to the fact that I have eaten Halloween candy and allowed her to do the same.  That idea of a time-release curse on the Halloween candy is brilliant, but who knew it took so many years?


I did tell her to at least use that connection, and see if we couldn't get something good out of it.  ;-)

Anyway, all joking aside - I hope that you have a Happy Halloween (if you celebrate it), a great Saturday (if you don't go in for trick or treating on either side of the door), and watch out for things that go bump in the night!
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(And yes - my comments about Halloween candy being connected to anything demonic were all in jest.  Not that anyone reads my blog, but odds are high that if someone did - it could be the very someone who would take that literally.  The conversation about my daughter's boyfriend looking like Lucifer really did take place as quoted, although I have yet to see the boy sprout either horns on his head or a pointy red tail on his backside.) 

Forget GPS - my phone has ESP

I use Verizon as my cell phone carrier.  Overall, I've had great experiences with them.  They have a plan (like other companies) that allows you to replace your cell phone every couple of years at a discount.  I think I bought my current phone two years ago in October, so yesterday - September 30 - what does my phone do?  The screen goes dark and refuses to reappear no matter how much I beg, cajole, threaten, or even offer chocolates.

I was in a neighboring town when this happened, but they also have a Verizon store.  It should be easy enough to walk in there, buy a replacement phone, and go on my merry way for the rest of the evening, right?   So I walk in - sign in (and I still don't understand why that's necessary) - and wait for a sales associate to become available. 

After about ten minutes, a gentleman calls my name.  Yes, that's me.  I smile and show him my phone, explaining that it died - sniff, show some sympathy here - and that I need a new one right away.  He asks if I already know what I want, and I say no - I had not planned to go phone shopping just then.    I tell him that I know I'm looking for something with a QWERTY keyboard.  I was expecting to be pulled over to look at a Blackberry, but no - he takes me to look at some tiny phone whose keyboard isn't anything like what I just described.  So I point that out to him and ask about the display, and he tells me that the only thing he can recommend is an LG phone.  He's had one for years, and they've never failed him.

That's great, but I've never had a positive experience with an LG phone.  So I ask what else is available, and mention several that I looked at while I was browsing.  I ask what's the difference between model A and model B.  He goes - they're all the same, and did I want to browse some more?  Then he heads over to the other side of the store and talks on the phone for twenty minutes.

I know, you're asking why I waited around that long.  Well - part of me just wanted to see what in the world the guy was doing, right?  And the other part of me was still playing with the phones, trying to figure out which model I really did want when I went to a different Verizon store.  

Anyway, long story short - I didn't buy a new phone tonight.  I'm leaning toward a Blackberry for the moment, but we'll see.   I'll get one this weekend.  My old phone - may it rest in peace - knew that it's time was almost up anyway...if only it could have known that closer to a store with someone who wanted to make a sale.

Fiction & Non Fiction

I went ahead and ordered tickets for the Michael Jackson film next month, This Is It.  I don't know if the film will actually sell out since it's showing apparently everywhere, but I like pre-ordering my movie tickets when possible.  It gives you that feeling of having something to anticipate.   I didn't buy tickets for the opening day, but instead I'm going on Halloween.

I also picked up a new book at Borders today.  It's called Occult America by Mitch Horowitz.  I have no idea if it's any good, but  I'll let you know.  It's my latest non-fiction book.  I found three copies of it on the wrong section at the bookstore.  While I realize it was just misshelved, I decided to take a chance on it.  Plus, I had a coupon for $5 off any history title.

In fiction news, I'm still in love with The Magicians by Lev Grossman.  I bought the book because the advertising claimed that the book would be Harry Potter for adults.  I feel that's misleading.   The Harry Potter series is blessed with a hero - Harry - who always does the right thing.  The Magicians has Quentin Coldwater whose decisions seem more like the flawed ones that the rest of us might make in a bad situation.   I'll have to find a Fillory or a Brakebills sweatshirt to go with my Gryffindor scarf.  ;)