lizbee | Entries tagged with kitten!

So far, my weekend has not gotten worse. In fact, as I spent yesterday night eating leftover Japanese food and watching Winter's Bone, you could make a strong argument that it's getting better. Just like my ankle.

Arm remains stupidly painful to touch, move, have any kind of pressure on (including the weight of sleeves, blankets and bandages), and also I don't recommend bumping it on walls. But my temperature has stayed down, and I'm a day into a ten-day antibiotic course, and Jerkface the Cat is being very nice to me because he knows he's been bad.

Crossposts: http://lizbee.livejournal.com/1271567.html

Actually, it started on Thursday evening, following a day featuring more sex offences than usual (to transcribe, not to witness or experience), which came following a week featuring more sex offences than usual. Work over, I was out with friends, on my way to see Neil Gaiman speak, and I rolled my ankle as I crossed the tram tracks on Bourke Street. FAIL. It's quite mild, as sprains go, and on my good ankle, which means it will heal in a few weeks rather than six months.

Because I am a superstar, I sent my friends for first aid supplies, then wrapped it, iced it and took an anti-inflammatory, and hobbled down the block to see Neil.

THAT WAS PRETTY GREAT, BTW. The interviewer was overtly fangirly in a highly embarrassing way, but Gaiman was hardcore professional and ducked and weaved around the silliness to basically say what he had set out to say all along. He read from his upcoming novel, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which sounds rather good -- samples of the first few chapters were also given out -- and talked about his many, many other projects. He also discussed his relationship with Amanda Palmer, how unexpected it was to find himself married to an extroverted, frequently naked (his words) rock star, and their different attitude to the boundary between public and private life. On that note, his expression of DO NOT WANT! PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS! IT IS EMBARRASSING AND INAPPROPRIATE BUT I AM MUCH TOO POLITE TO SAY SO when the interviewer started talking about his hypothetical children with Palmer was kind of priceless.

He also discussed his new Doctor Who episode, "The Last Cyberman" (he's not certain this will be the title when it airs), and was able to exclusively reveal that it has Cybermen, and also other things.

There was less about his writing process than I would have liked, but I was fascinated to learn that he earns about $300 for a short story these days, and can simply call up friends and ask to borrow their holiday homes to stay at and write. I need more friends with holiday homes, that's all I'm saying.

Then we took a taxi home, because ANKLE.

I had totally planned to go to work on Friday, because it's a long weekend, and a day off would involve faffing around at the doctor's and getting a medical certificate. But when I got up, I couldn't really get further than the lounge room without pain, so ... I took the day off. And then hobbled to the doctor and spent two and a half hours waiting, because I didn't have an appointment and the receptionist had forgotten to enter me into the electronic queue.

Armed with my medical certificate, I bought some medicinal chocolate and red wine and hobbled home to spend a peaceful evening watching Parks and Rec and embroidering a plump girl in a spacesuit. At some point, the cat came in and jumped up on my windowsill. He's not supposed to get up there at night, because other cats wander around, and he tends to freak out and attack people when he sees other members of his species. The vet said it's a mixture of PTSD and an anxiety disorder, and we give him 5 mg of Prozac a day.

Anyway, I saw him get up there, and I thought, well, I should get him down, but my ankle hurts, it's all the way across the room, I'll take my chances.

BAD MOVE. Because wouldn't you know it, he sees another cat, freaks out, and suddenly I have bites and scratches all down my right arm. And on my hip. And on my leg.

So I fight him off, and he runs away to hide, and I have to take a minute because there's blood everywhere, including all over my bedding, and then I freaked out because I couldn't find the antiseptic cream. IT WAS GREAT. There was crying! Finally I hobbled into the bathroom, applied tea tree oil (which is supposed to be an antiseptic) and anti-bacterial soap, and lots of band-aids.

Half an hour later, I replaced most of the band-aids and went on feeling AGGRESSIVELY SORRY FOR MYSELF.

Eventually I went to sleep, and obviously I was really tense, because I woke up with pain everywhere, but especially my arm and ankle. Some of the scratches are showing signs of infection, and I had a fever, but paracetamol got that down. Suffice to say, in 21 minutes I have a doctor's appointment to get ALL THE ANTIBIOTICS, and should probably find some shoes that will fit over my bandage.

...one hour later, I'm happy to report that I waited only three minutes to see the doctor this time, and now I have penicillin. And two more boxes of band-aids. And a fresh tube of antiseptic cream. And one episode left to go of Parks & Rec season 4.

In conclusion, I think this weekend is going to get better, starting ... now. And feline anxiety disorders are no laughing matter. And they make special band-aids for bendy joints now, which is clever!

Current Mood: tired
Crossposts: http://lizbee.livejournal.com/1271475.html

Dear Sir,

I find myself shocked -- shocked and dismayed -- to learn that we are living in a country where birds -- BIRDS! -- are free to wander freely through a gentlecat's backyard. This is outrageous! Is this a land of anarchy and avian freedom? No! This is Australia, where a cat could expect to live free of such feathery incursions. Truly Tony Abbott spoke truly when he said the ALP have destroyed democracy in this country. Be assured that any future tresspassers will be eaten and their carcasses left for my humans to dispose of.

Yours,
Harvey S. Bumblehud, nomcat

Current Mood: content
Current Music: Patti Smith - Gloria
Crossposts: http://lizbee.livejournal.com/1208633.html

This is probably the least flattering pictures of myself that I have ever posted online. But I think it's necessary in order to convey why eating edamame has unexpectedly turned into a challenge.

[Description: three pictures from a webcam, depicting me (wearing my pyjamas and looking cranky) trying to eat edamame while the cat watches closely in the hope that I'm going to let him have some.]

Not depicted: the moments where Harvey stuck his paw and face in my bowl, then dug his claws into my breast when I tried to shift him. Harvey, we went through this last week: edamame makes you vomit. Cat vomit is gross. Therefore, you are not allowed to eat edamame.

(And I wasn't actually cranky when that was going on! Just slightly bemused! But since my default expression is Chronic Bitchface, and no one looks good when they're eating ... yeah.)

Current Mood: amused
Crossposts: http://lizbee.livejournal.com/1201891.html

1. HARVEY IS BACK. I went out into the kitchen this morning and heard a strange squeak.

"That sounds like a cat," I thought, but I've been hearing phantom cat noises for weeks, so I told myself it was just the washing line.

Then I heard it again.

"No, definitely a cat."

Then again.

"I know that voice," I thought, getting excited. "That mixture of imperiousness and desperation is pure Harvey!"

So I opened the door and there he was.

I have no idea where he's been for the last month, but the bandanna on his collar has faded a little, and he is very, very thin. He was weighed at six kilos a week before he vanished, and now I'd guess he's about half that. And he's become very thin. In fact, I don't like picking him up, because he's so light and bony he feels very fragile. But his fur is still thick and bright, and he's eating normally and seems like his usual self -- only thirty times as affectionate -- so I'm sure he'll be okay. But we're taking him to the vet tomorrow just in case.

A special message from Harvey:

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Switching tracks, the Legend of Korra panel has been transcribed. (Note: the title for the Tumblr contains the word for female genitalia that rhymes with "shunt", and I strongly recommend running the page through the Readability app if you want to actually make out the text.) Anyway, this non-spoilery quote made me laugh:

Over the years we’ve gotten a lot of fan mail which is always great and a lot of fun to read but uh sometimes, you know, it’s pretty bossy, someone telling us what to do, and I have to admit that we’ve been working so hard, we’re all really busy, and I’ve uh stopped opening the fanmail because like, two out of three letters, was like WE DON’T WANT KORRA, stop making this series! So we appreciate the enthusiasm for our work but I just had to stop opening the mail. So don’t send those kind of letters.

Fandom, you are your own worst enemy. Seriously.

And now that LJ is back up, here's a reminder that I can also be found on Dreamwidth and Twitter (same user names), and on Tumblr as Squiddishly (which is my back-up user name)

Crossposts: http://lizbee.livejournal.com/1185473.html

Harvey has been missing since Sunday. You'll already know about this if you follow me on any social networking medium whatsoever, as I haven't spoken about much else. Suffice to say, my next pet will have a tracking device. In fact, when Harvey comes back, I'm going to put one on his collar.

We called the shelters, reported him missing to the council, and today we're going to doorknock the neighbours. Everyone agrees that this is normal cat behaviour. In conclusion: cats are jerks.

A partial list of reasons Harvey hasn't come home yet:

- he's still sleeping off the preschooler he ate on Sunday morning
- he joined a bikie gang, and is trafficking high-grade catnip
- he's whoring himself out for cheap 'nip
- he's fighting crime
- he has been kidnapped by a Clancy Brown character in order to blackmail us

So that's basically been dominating my thoughts for the last four days. Good times. Good WHERE IS MY CAT I WANT HIM BACK times. He's microchipped, so as long as he's found somewhere, I'll be called. BUT WE WANT HIM BACK SAFE AND ALIVE AND CRANKY. AND THEN HE'S NEVER LEAVING THE HOUSE AGAIN.

Other news:

- I bought A Dance with Dragons yesterday (and I'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle in my shoulder lugging it home), but I'm actually so engrossed in Spoiled by the Fug Girls (...okay, Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan) that I haven't cracked it open yet. Why yes, I do lack nerd cred!
- I did my taxes on Friday! Unfortunately, I haven't saved enough money to get to America this year. But I'll be getting enough back in my tax refund to go to Sydney for a K-pop concert in November, and to Brisbane for a visit when my new nephew is born in September, and also a new laptop and some other things. America: will have to stick around until next year.
- my secondment to the Feds has come to an end, and I'm back in the main office at work. People talk to me! I can go to the bathroom and kitchen unattended! I can use punctuation again! On the downside, they use a lot of big words in court, and no one swears.
- I am both writing my Avatar Big Bang (so far: 3000 words of Toph and Azula being wary and arguing) and editing my AU Big Bang (so far: lots of headdesking as I question my ability to construct anything remotely like a plot).

Good times. Kind of. HAVE YOU SEEN MY NOMCAT?

Current Mood: worried
Crossposts: http://lizbee.livejournal.com/1183776.html

1. We took Harvey to the vet yesterday, where he was very popular with the nurses ("Oh yes, he was neutered here! He's such a handsome boy! And so well-behaved!") and with a kitten that was looking for a new home. (Name of Eevie, found as a stray at Essendon Airport, now nine weeks old, spayed, immunised and ready to be Harvey's best friend. Harvey retreated to the back of his carrier and looked faintly overwhelmed.)

Now we have a two month supply of anti-depressants and the number of a cat behaviourist if the pills don't work. The medication solution seems to be going well so far, though. The vet said it would be a couple of weeks before the pills took effect, but he had one, and spent last night curled into a ball, sleeping. This is a bit of a change from his usual night time routine of (a) cry outside

baggers's door, (b) attack passing ankles, (c) cry some more, so we're in favour.

2. I have purchased Christmas presents! For family more than friends; we've decided to postpone Friendmas until after

piecesofalice,

yiduiqie and the Js get back from Japan. But as of this afternoon, the family shopping will be done, and my father, who is usually impossible to buy for, was surprisingly easy this time.

3. Currently watching: Star Trek: The Next Generation and the Avatar commentaries. In the absence of 15+ years of fandom and volumes upon volumes about the creative process and the life history of the extra in episode #221, I'm down to this. Which, commentaries aren't my favourite thing ever, but I'm really enjoying the Avatar ones. Even though, as the series goes on, I'm getting all, "STOP TALKING, THINGS ARE HAPPENING."

But I am learning new things which I hadn't yet absorbed from the fannish hive mind. Like, the network baulked at the end of "The Beach", because apparently you can show a bunch of teenagers capturing a city, but trashing a party might be going too far.

(I'm so glad that ending survived, because I love that, a few months ago, these teens were taking a city, effectively capturing a whole continent, not to mention the bit where Azula took down the Avatar. And now they've been packed off to the beach and they're reduced to socially interacting with normal people, and they just. can't. do it. HILARIOUS.)

4. Currently reading: Dead and Buried, the new Benjamin January novel by Barbara Hambly. It's a bit slow to get into, mostly because I always need to draw up a chart to remind me who the characters are. These books always work better on the re-read.

5. Just finished reading: Nerd Do Well by Simon Pegg. It wasn't a bad read, but the best chapters were when he was talking about pop culture he loves. More Star Wars, less formative sexual experiences, pls. I did enjoy the fanfic he posted as an appendix. And it made me actually want to watch Spaced, so good work.

Current Mood: hungry
Crossposts: http://lizbee.livejournal.com/1156577.html

The cat is climbing my bookshelf in search of a certain squid he loves. This is going to end in disaster, but I can't bring myself to make it stop, because it is hilarious.

Also hilarious: the way, in the wake of the election, the mainstream media has magically decided that rural Australia's interests are newsworthy. I bet the National Party is really regretting letting their Liberal brethren screw over the bush for 13 years.

This is Tony Abbott, leader of the Federal Opposition, possibly Australia's next Prime Minister:

This is Lord Voldemort, Dark Lord:

I KNOW, RIGHT? IT'S UNCANNY!

I apologise for inflicting a picture of the Dark Lord on people without warning. As compensation, here is a recent photo of a being infinitely more evil, yet somehow more fun to be around:

That's what I wake up to most days. Although on the weekdays it's still dark when I wake up.

We are actually thinking of getting another cat, as Harvey's behavioural problems haven't really settled down since we moved, and the vet says it's because he's unsocialised, lonely and still traumatised by the deaths of his kitty-siblings. (If you don't know the story, he was found abandoned in a carpark near a river or creek. He was only about four weeks old, and there were no other cats or kittens in the area. Now, he carries around small stuffed animals and cries, and when we asked the vet, he said Harvey was probably remembering his futile attempts to save his siblings' lives. OUR CAT HAS POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER, GUYS.)

Anyway,

sajee and

dear_prudence recently got a lovely kitten from a local no-kill shelter, and that brought the issue into clearer focus for us. So we're thinking, unless Harvey makes some very sudden changes in the next few weeks, we're going to contact the woman who runs the shelter and see if she has a cat who would be appropriate as a housemate for Harvey. Possibly an older cat who has had kittens of her own. Certainly not a tiny kitten on whom he would be a bad influence.

Poor old Harvey. He swaggers around the house like he's a lion, but he spotted another cat outside the front window and didn't know if he should panic or attack. He settled for maintaining a hypervigilant presence at all the front doors and windows.

SRS CAT BUSINESS, Y'ALL!

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Sarcasm is an adjusted stress reaction.

Saving the world through the power of, um ... oh dear.

Entries tagged with kitten!

Just for the record

The worst weekend ever

A letter to the editor

Cats, man.

Oh fandom. Oh nomcat. Oh ... things.

Bah

Things!

Ummm.

What is seen, cannot be unseen