Ship's Blog: January, 2006

Now that I'm done with the wedding, I've been able to spend the last week working away on the Great Garage Project of 2006.  Read more »

This is not a cute story about cuddly mice and smart rats in cages. No, it's about my battle with the wild critters of open space that want to move in with me and how I am determined to vanquish them.

When we were fixing the house up in preparation to move in, several contractors let me know that, at least in the past, there had been a rat problem in the attic and crawlspace. EW! I didn't know if this was an active issue. I brought in a pest control guy (Alfredo) on contract and worked with him to try to rodent-proof the house and assess the problem. Aside from one rat he trapped in the attic, we didn't seem to have any activity. It was also summer and very hot...roof rats have other places to go in that weather.  Read more »

I'm not the kind of girl who is into weddings. That is, big wedding affairs with expensive dresses and flowers and bridesmaids and churches…it's all alien to me. Of course, I've been to plenty of weddings for friends and family to show my support, but it always feels a bit like I'm walking on the surface of the moon.

There was a time when I thought I'd have to spend every weekend at a wedding. That was back when I was a portrait photographer. I studied marketing and business enough to know that the best way to build a sustainable photography business was to do weddings in addition to portraits. Weddings made decent money and helped keep your business afloat between creatively-fulfilling portrait sessions.  Read more »

  Pondering World Domination?

Each of our cats has a distinct, well-expressed personality. Skeeter, Kathy's ginger boy, is a serious, lovable, Project Cat. By Project Cat, I mean that when he gets an idea into his head, he'll work away on his project until he achieves his desired result. This can have scary results.  Read more »

Our up-converting DVD player, a Toshiba, recently died. It's not very old and I can't figure out what happened to make it stop responding, so we're not getting another Toshiba.

For those who aren't familiar with up-converting DVD players, these are players that perform a conversion on the picture so that the DVDs that you watch don't look like crap on high definition televisions.  Read more »

Ever since the cows have moved into the open space behind our house, I've become a peeping Alix. Either I'm standing by the window watching them (with binoculars held to my eyes to get a closer look) or I'm out on the deck with my SLR and a long lens, taking pictures.

I'm not sure what the cows think of this. Kathy keeps correcting me and says steer, not cows. She comes from Wisconsin and she knows about such things. I'm a suburban-urban girl who just thinks, "Wow, they are BIG. And very black. Moo."  Read more »

It's been a rough few days.

Tilly still wasn't eating on Sunday, so as soon as the pet supply store opened I went in search of a 10cc feeding syringe. I thought this would help me feed her more food, but she would struggle madly (even wrapped in a towel) and I still couldn't get much food into her. The whole thing has made me very worried. She needed to eat. When cats stop eating, that's almost always a baaaad sign.  Read more »

Today I talked to the veterinarian. We still don't know what was wrong with Tilly, but the blood test had some good news. You see, Tilly has a rare disorder (rare for cats, though not rare for dogs) where her triglycerides are unnaturally elevated in her blood. It appears to be genetic in origin. Because there are no drugs for this condition that have been tested on cats, we have been treating this through diet and crossing our fingers that it works. Yesterday I had the vet do a blood panel to see how her lipids were. The test showed her lipids near normal levels, which is fabulous news. As far as what made Tilly feel sick, it may be something that resolved itself.  Read more »

I am beside myself today. Little Tilly Bear, my ball of gray tabby fur, is sick. I had to leave her at the vet this morning, something I hate to do. I'd rather stay with her while they check her out. Tilly has intense separation anxiety - she stops eating if I'm not around, even if I'm just gone for the day - and so I know this is traumatic for her. Because they had to try several procedures on her (and take her blood) she was terrified by the time they let me come take her home.  Read more »

As many of my fellow cat moms know, it's surprisingly hard to resist giving adorable, goofy names to your little furballs. That such exotic, dignified animals could reduce us to coochie-coo behavior is yet another example of the universe's sense of irony.  Read more »

Most of us can agree that regular workouts are good for our body, but what's a person to do when her rich, inner life is not inspired by endless step aerobics done to monotonous music? If you're a daydreamer who wants to get in shape, try out one of these specialty home workouts to motivate both your mind and body. Whether your secret alter ego is an action hero, spy, samurai warrior, tropical temptress, Bollywood star, or something truly exotic, there's a workout just for you.  Read more »

Since we moved into our house five months ago -- and actually a month or so before that, too -- all of our time seems to have been spent fixing up the interior. Before even seeing the house, I knew it was a fixer-upper. It was the term "potential plus!" included in the listing that gave it away. However, it wasn't until we took ownership that we discovered exactly how much had to be fixed up, and finally, after completing an enormous list of rennovations, Kathy and I can finally take a look at the exterior. Oh, my!  Read more »

Just over four months ago, Kathy and I (and our cats) moved into our fixer-upper on the edge of an open space reserve. Out our back windows, we have a peaceful view of rolling hills. Falcons hunt above our home, horses graze uphill, and coyotes roam at night. Having spent the last nine plus years in the middle of San Francisco, it's quite the change in atmosphere for me!  Read more »

Before I start telling too many stories, I better explain exactly who Marge and Norm are, because I'll no doubt be referring to them often.

It all started a few years ago, when a friend and I were having a conversation about our ideas of how things work. You know, God, the Universe, fairies, chaotic forces...whatever.  Read more »

One thing that I know about blogs is that the most successful blogs have theme. Whether it's 'what's new in the world of gadgets,' thoughts on creating an organized home, or life as a parent, thematic blogs attract readers. If they're well written and interesting, they get repeat visits.

So, it makes perfect sense that I'm starting my first blog without a theme.

I call it "my first blog" because I have thematic plans for the future, to be developed on other sites. But this is home base, and since when has my home base been centered around one single topic, theme, purpose, or identity? I have too many alter egos inside me to be contained under just one Dewey Decimal number.  Read more »