h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm glad you liked the photos but hope I didn't mislead you - it isn't *my* flat, just a rented flat. But it is very nice and in a wonderful location.

I have been looking through some of your photos today. Oh, your cat is lovely. And big! I like that cat tree idea, I think I will try to make one.

Oh dear, I am ing a lot. So perhaps I'll have an early night.

az

No, I assumed it was rented... What I meant was that those ar options that I wish were available to me....

Benjamin is huge, isn't he?

I got him when he and his brotherswere abandoned in the entryway of our store in the Byward Market. He really is a funny cat. Not very lovey-dovey, but really gets bent out of shape if he smells other kitty-cats on me.

If I am away from the house for an evening, I have to present my hands to be sniffed, just to see that I haven't been consorting with other kitty-cats. Strangely, he doesn't seem to bother about the smell of my friend's cat. I can't think what he is going to think whan I come home this evening. My niece's cat had kittens and I was playig with them.

If I am away for a few days, when I come back, he spends days crawling all over me, calling me, checking to see I am still home.

My fat cat Sunny weighs in at about 7 kilos (15 pounds). He is massive. He's the one you saw in my photo. Huge beast with a very solid body, large head and very thick neck. He is the one that also thinks he is a dog. Go figure.

All of my cats will happily sit on my lap when I get the 'brasero' going. This is a round wooden table with a small electric brazier underneath, that I pull up in front of the sofa to heat myself up when I am watching a dvd or else reading. (no central heating here!) Those little heat mongering scamps! In fact we often have to jostle for position under the table cloth that covers us up and allows us to be heated up by the 'brasero'. Lua (Sunny's mother) and Azar (street gypsy cat) never sit on my lap otherwise. Though once the brasero gets going all of them want to be in the most warmest and comfiest position.

But Sunny is the one who almost ALWAYS has to be seated on my lap. Bless his furry little heart. And once he gets settled in - especially when I am trying to type stuff on the computer - I end up going through contortionist positions in order to type whilst having this huge beast sitting happily on my lap. At times I get annoyed at this, but then Sunny looks up at me with his huge gorgeous blue lovey-dovey eyes and starts purring like mad and then . . . I melt.

I am a cat slave, what can I say?

But I wouldn't have it any other way.

az

Oh... I hear you...

I visited the new kittens at my nieces yestersay. They are three weeksold and very busy exploring. One, we have nicknamed Maco Polo because he is a wanderer. By ar the most inquisative of the three.

Their mother decided that, having seen the Christmas tree in the centre of the dining room, she had found the perfect home for them. She started dragging one downstairs and then asked for help. Eventually, all were ensconced under the tree, with Sheena the Doberman keeping tabs on Marco Polo.

They are all male, two grey and a black, all with blue eyes. The mother is a longhaired Siamese. The father(s) are unknown neighbourhood boys. One of my niece's friends left the door open when she was in heat, and the inevitable happened.

All fresh kittens have blue eyes! But they sound lovely! Ooooh, I am such a sucker for eensy little kittens.

Hey, want to get really upset and rant a bit? Well, assuming you are not homophobic, which I both assume and hope you aren't

Tell me this person is a few bricks short of a load, please!


F19585?thread=343250&skip=80&show=20


I am speaking about Reddyfreddy who seems to speak a load of crap about homosexuals with a self-appointed sense of authority. It just gets to me. I hate all discrimination. Well and it is always my same old joke, paraphrasing good ole Oscar Wilde - if there is one thing I cannot tolerate it's intolerance!

az

I don't even want to start wading in on that kettle of fish... pardon the mixed metaphores...

Personally, I object to the Catholic Church's definition of marriage and their practice of not marrying anyone who walks in the door. Do I have a right to impose my view of marriage on the Catholic Church? No. However, by the same token, and as someone who has had the Catholic Church impose on my marriage (I'm not Catholic and neither is my ex-husband), the Catholic Church has no right imposing their views on people who don't subscribe to their beliefs.

Marriage is, yes, a religious ceremony.... However, only as performed in a religious setting and under the rules of a particular religion. One doesn't need to be married in church to be legally married. Indeed, unless one actually fills out the required forms, even if one has a ceremony performed, one isn't legally married (except in the case of Common Law marriage.

The Unitarian Church has long recognised the right of same-sex couples to officially seal their relationship and has been performing ceremonies even before they were "legally" recognised. They now have the power to legally marry same-sex couples and many, many more marriages have been performed since Ontario and several other provinces made same-sex marriages legal.

Marriage, despite what all those going on about how it has "traditionally been a religious rite" say, was not recognised, even frowne uopn by the church. It was, in fact, a contract, usually in the form of a business contract. The couple usually didn't have much of a say in it, the arrangements being made between family representatives. In some cases there wasn't any sort of ceremony at all. The families decided on a Brideprice or Dowery (in Scotland, a Tocher), documents signed or at least witnessed, the money or goods changed hands, and the bride went off to her new home.

It was only in the Middle Ages that the Church began recognising marriage and even then, only grudgingly. There are still traditions where a couple who wanted to marry went to the village blacksmith and married "Over the Anvil". That was a hangover from the pre-Christian days when the blacksmith was seen as someone who has sort of magical powers.

Since there are so many different traditions around the world, whose is correct? Are we to decide who is or is not married because it doesn't conform to a particular religious view of marriage?

The whole debate is ludicrous, to me.

No one is going to force a church to marry sam-sex couples against their religious beliefs.... If this were the case, then the Catholic Church would have to marry anyone who showed up with a marriage license.....

The debate is not about the church accepting same-sex marriages. It is about the right for same-sex couples to be married at all, by civil ceremony or however.

az

No, I know, but most of the arguments are based on the "fact" that religions and "all" cultures reject the idea. Some religions don't, and certainly not all cultures. And most of the religions that do reject such unions, in fact, have no tradition to back that up.

So why not barge in an say a word or two? You've got me convinced!



az

No, I get really het up about it and without having the time to research my arguments (I am at work) I can't be as precice as I would like. Besides, I am taking a break from controversy. Trying to zone out for a few weeks. I have been a little stressed out.

Oh, you are posting from work? I think I should know what sort of work you do but memory fails . . .

Well never mind. I post from home, which is also work sometimes. Depends whether I am teaching in or out.

Taking a break from controversy, eh? What is the stress about?

Right now I am TOTALLY stressed because my third tenant for next door didn't turn up and now I don't know how i will pay my rent this month. Does this count as STRESS??? It sure does for me. I stupidly live hand-to-mouth all the time. God, I need to sort things out and find a way to get more financial security happening. I know I know I know. But for now, especially since yesterday with the no-show tenant, I AM very stressed.

To be honest, to participate in other people's versions of stress (h2g2 threads) is a bit of an escape.

az

I mention a littleof what I do on my personal space. Since it is to do with litigation,I can't detail it. I can say that I work with documents which are collected for the on-going litigation to do with Inddian Residential Schools.

The stress is all about trying to keep my finances straight. I am somehwat insecure, so I get a bit stressed out about work performance, not that I really have to worry.... I have always been a worrywart.

I am also up to my ears in various projects and have taken on, as usual, too many things. I am getting ready for a craft show at work and madly trying to prepare for that. I am making Christmas decorations of copper wire, and I bought some fabric for aome unknown project. I have two scarves to knit for someone, I have to make my Christmas cards, I have to spray a protective coat on these plaster angels I hand-painted two years ago and have done mothing with yet (but decided to put in the craft show), I need to think about pricing, and I have Christmas presents to take care of (with no money).... SIGHHHHHHHH There is more, but I can't think what they all are... I will remember at 2am when i wake out of a dead sleep in a cold sweat and remember "Cr@p! Not that, TOO!"

Oh, didn't we once talk about this before, many moons ago? Because my mother had been going through stuff trying to get help from her band in Manitoba. Poor thing. Her cancer has come back, after having had her breast removed last year. She lives in slum housing in Winnipeg. I think by now she has given up all hope of getting help from her band. Thing is, her whole deal was about trying to get compensation from having been put in an Indian Residential School when she was five. She was there until she was old enough to leave school, maybe 17 or 18 years old. But her Winnipeg lawyers have apparently just f*+ked her about and she doesn't have the wherewithall to stand up for herself.

Once I wrote a novel (who hasn't?). And a part of my story was about a woman who went through a similar experience as my mother did.

She was the worst mother ever! But now I like her just fine. I reckon she has suffered enough. So I try to comfort her as much as I can from this distance.

az

You should have a look here. There is an alternative dispute resolution initiative starting up. There are still options of going through the courts, and information somewhere else in the site is provided. http://intranet/private/claimres/index_e.asp?index=1#alternative

Yes, I recall now. Way back at the beginning of my time here, I think. I shall have to look back.

The impact on former students has been completely life-altering in most cases. Little wonder your mother had a difficult time.

Just on my way home, now. Talk to you later....

Speaking of stress, I came across this yesterday:

'Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity, or undue depression in adversity.'
-Socrates

I'm also a terrible worrier. In fact, I barely slept a wink last night worrying about how I'm going to pay the bills this month. And although I can see the wisdom in stuff like that quote above and KNOW that worrying doesn't solve anything . . . I can't stop.

btw, I couldn't open that link.

az

Oh yes... it is another one of those ones. I will get the public URL.

Your sargeant flipper is having you on! Very low digit hootoo researcher number and only recently registered and only subscribed to that one thread. Dead give-away.

Anyhoodle, have just been lurking around here and there before I call it a night. Trouble is, my living room is relatively warm and cosy . . . my bedroom is a refridgerator AND I have to get undressed and into chilly pj's (well, chilly until my body warms them up). Brrrrr.

So off to bed to dream of central heating . . . . .

azzzzzzzz

8 hours later. You are probably just getting up, and I am off to bed shortly. I shall say Good Night and Good Morning....

I had the scariest 'dream'. I woke up (as usual) around 5am and after playing with the cats for a bit I decided to read until I got sleepy again. Fine. And then it seemed that I *had* gone back to sleep except I was convinced I was awake. And I was in a 'dream' that felt totally real and I kept telling myself that it *was* a dream and that I could get out of it by WAKING UP. Because scary things started happening. But my 'waking up' attempts in the 'dream' made me feel all psychotic, like NOTHING was real and I was just *this far* away from total madness. In the 'dream' I kept crashing through different barriers of 'reality' until I had no idea what was real anymore. And then I must have woken up because suddenly I was back in bed with cats and my heart beating like mad me feeling like I had no skin. Have you ever been so afraid that it feels like all your skin has disappeared? I get this a lot, well, not really a lot, but too often to feel happy about it.

So I have spent most of today pretending to be normal. So far so good . . .

az