Tony

text message wrong numbers

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:04:18 GMT

Whats up im gone find a bathroom
Styn in my lane

a good morning note from the kitten

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:08:19 GMT

...indeed.

omg spoilers

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:08:55 GMT

*click* ... *click*

And.... there will be pants!

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:35:58 GMT

(Or trousers.)

So, of the 4 main costume pieces and 3-ish accessories I have now finished exactly 1. Did I mention that I leave for LA on Friday morning?

I'm at a sticking point at the cloak because I have to insert the feathers-and-chiffon part into the shoulderpads part. And... it's really tough to do without 500 hands. I tried last night at an ungodly hour... I think I'll try again before I go to bed. There's still significant work there. The shirt could go out the door as is once I hammer on a bit of hardware (while the neighbors aren't sleeping) and... um... there's also supposed to be an underjacket/bathrobe thingy... teehee?

I think I caught the last minute bug. Bleh. Okay, back to work.

costuming with kitten

Fri, 29 May 2009 05:43:46 GMT

I'm trying to draw sketches for that costume concept I mentioned a few days ago. Monty was immediately fascinated...

Kitten: "Hey, you're making a new sound! Let me investigate."
Kitten: "Hey, that stick thingy is leaving spots on the paper!"
Kitten: "MUST EAT STICK THINGY"
Kitten: "MUST EAT SPOTS ON PAPER"
Kitten: "Hey, you moved the stick thingy! *flurry of claws*"

Can't wait until I bring home the feathers.

kitten's first bath

Mon, 18 May 2009 18:12:15 GMT

I gave Monty his first bath! Yay! I was surprised at how well it went, actually. I made sure that there was a warm bath set up and that I had a small saucepan for quickly pouring water over him for rinsing. He was fussy once he realized that I was holding him in the bathroom with a drawn bath and a closed door, but he didn't try to scratch me at all. He just stood there, wet and scrawny and undignified, making the most pathetic yowling sound while I held his scruff and shampooed and rinsed him.

I worked fast, the whole washing process went much faster than the drying process. That took forever... and two towels. He got pretty irritated with me by the end of the drying process, even though he kinda likes being dried off, he was trembling by the end. (With fear? Anger? Coldness?) At the end, I wrapped him up in the dry towel, gave him a treat, then put him wrapped up in his bed. And he got out of bed immediately and "ran away" for a couple of steps, mostly because he hadn't gotten a chance to run anywhere yet and he felt the need to point out that he wasn't a willing participant. Then he looked out the window and went back to his bed.

About an hour later, though, when he was completely dry, he was very affectionate. As in "here, let me wrap my tail around your face" affectionate. And his fur is soft again! I thought that it was soft when he was a kitten and was getting coarse because he's becoming an adult, but really, he needed a good shampoo. I'm really glad this went well, so hopefully neither of us will be afraid to do it again.

Next up: clumping litter! I've been looking at better litters or even an automated litter box, but I haven't found anything completely awesome. (Even though I went out clenching a 20% off coupon in my fist.) Any recommendations or warnings?

an open letter to North Carolina Representative Virginia Foxx

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:05:28 GMT

yay, it's politics again

...glad I don't have roommates

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:20:52 GMT

I found myself singing to Monty this morning.

Kitten time
And the kitten is easy
Kitten kitten
And the kitten is cute

Kitten time
And the kitten is easy
So hello my kitten kitten
Kitten

...I'm a dork.

this morning's hilarious dream

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:21:53 GMT

oh the realism

best birthday ever

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:39:54 GMT

So it looks like seven-year-old Kendra is going to receive the best birthday cake ever.

She's going to grow up to be a drag queen.

my rant about "traditional marriage"

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 06:22:31 GMT

snarky as usual

my life is boring

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:52:03 GMT

Today's crossword puzzle was the best ever. It had "Defender of Castle Greyskull" (HEMAN) right next to "Cuchie cuchie girl" (CHARO).

I love that Castle Greyskull is now a legitimate cultural reference.

tricks of the trade

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:11:37 GMT

Link to this article on main site: eep... now I'm bragging.

I don't claim to have all the answers, but I have learned a few things. One of my favorite life lessons is that a little assertiveness can prevent a lot of silent suffering. As an example: I've seen a lot of respectable, well-educated adults get completely flustered when it comes to telemarketers. I've seen people take the phone off the hook and walk away, say hurtful things, fly into a tantrum, wait meekly and listen to the entire sales pitch with family members holding on the other line, or simply hang up. The telemarketers call back the next day, and the whole thing grows into a cycle of fear of answering your own phone.

I'm not sure how I started doing this, but somehow I learned to simply interrupt the telemarketer with, "I'm sorry, we don't take promotional calls at this number. Would you please remove this number from your list?" That's all it takes. Most of the people I've used this with have been very kind and gracious, and I never get the call again. And the telemarketer never sells my number to 15 of his best telemarketing buddies. In the one or two cases where people have persisted, I just inform them that there has been a mistake, they should not be calling the number, and they need to remove it from their database. Period.

It works.

I guess this is kind of a long way of introducing two assertiveness stories that Susannah linked in her blog this morning. I'm re-linking because frankly, both are awesome.

Kathrynt: "What's gonna work? TEAMWORK!"
Kathrynt: How to make an idiot shut up.

and... it's back to the vet for Monty

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:43:38 GMT

warning: cat medical TMI, not for the faint-hearted

camera advice

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 06:01:10 GMT

I'd like some advice from the LJ oracle.... I'm thinking about getting my first digital camera, and... I don't know anything about cameras. I've had two friends show me their new Canon Elphs in the past couple of weeks (they didn't know I was thinking about getting a camera), and of course we know that I like elves.

Basically, I want a camera to take good pictures of Monty. Good as compared to my blurry cell phone camera. I'd probably also use it for in-progress costume pictures, some circusy pictures, and traveling. I'm creative and picky enough that I'd like a little control over things, but not so knowledgeable or passionate about photography that I want to learn what an f-stop is.

Any ideas?