They've escaped!

We brought the kittens out of the bedroom and let them have the run of the house. Meli wants to play with them. Horus just growls and snarls at them. Rainbow hid. And Mouse sat on the window sill placidly observing the furry monsters from a distance.

A couple of the kittens were disconcerted by this vasty space and a couple decided they preferred it to the bedroom. Stripes and Woolly Bear are definitely the alpha cats in this pack.

No glamour shots this week, just a muddle of bad pictures 'cause the silly buggers just wouldn't hold still.

Not what I expected

Your results:
You are Green Lantern

Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.
Green Lantern		65%
Iron Man		50%
Batman		50%
Robin		47%
Catwoman		45%
Hulk		45%
Spider-Man		40%
Superman		35%
The Flash		35%
Wonder Woman		32%
Supergirl		32%

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Tarsiger.com

A Snopes.com article entitled Eagle vs. Fox led me to the Tarsiger.com website to check out the full series of pictures the article referred to. Tarsiger.com is a Finnish birding website which hosts some phenomenal photos of all sorts of birds. The site can be viewed in English or Finnish.

My personal favorite - the Gyr Falcon (Tunturihaukka).

We're in trouble now

The kittens have finally gotten their land legs and they've started exploring their surroundings in earnest. So far, four of them have taken to wandering all over the bedroom. Two are Stripes and Wooly Bear and the other two are of the as yet nameless bunch. We have to be very careful opening the door 'cause the little buggers can be anywhere. We've caught them exploring the door hinges and trying to see if they can get under the door to see what's in the Great Outside where people come from.

Poor Izzy. It was bad enough having to deal with seven when they were pretty much immobile, but now . . . No wonder she wants to spend so much time in the Great Outside where the seven aren't. She's happy leaving them alone for a couple of hours while she eats and sleeps.

The Prodigal Son sent me this photo he took of Izzy and the brood. That's Miss Bette Davis she's holding while the rest are nursing. He took the photo with his phone a couple of weeks ago but he didn't send it to me until yesterday.

Three weeks old today

Three of the seven have crib names. The first photo at the top is of Miss Bette Davis. The grey tabby is Stripes. And the last photo on the bottom is Wooly Bear.

You can see that they're just the tiniest bit a bigger handful than last week.

Kitty pile

Herding kittens

My peculiar aristocratic title

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Empress Seitherin the Introspective of Chortling Chesterton Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Math

I snagged this from purple is a fruit:

1. Grab a calculator. (you won't be able to do this one in your head)
2. Key in the first three digits of your phone number (NOT the area code)
3. Multiply by 80
4. Add 1
5. Multiply by 250
6. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number
7. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number again.
8. Subtract 250
9. Divide number by 2.


Do you recognize the answer?

Two weeks old

The Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years, 1953-2002

I stumbled across this list here. Like the poster of that article, I had to see how many of them I had read. I'm also not sure what qualifies these books - especially a couple of them - as 'significant'.

I've bolded the ones I've read and added comments where I felt the need.

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien (I can see why this one would be 'significant' by just about any definition, but, honestly, the book bored me silly. It's been nearly 30 years since I read it and I just can't bring myself to pick it up again.)

2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov (Asimov is one of my favorite authors and is one of the first SF authors I read when I finally got into SF over 30 years ago. I remember nothing about these books except that I liked them when I read them.)

3. Dune, Frank Herbert

4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein (This is one of those books that everyone bows to as the greatest thing ever written. I thought it was crap when I read it 20 odd years ago.)

5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin

6. Neuromancer, William Gibson

7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke

8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick

9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley

10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury (This is my favorite Bradbury. As a biblioholic, a time without books just terrifies me. I've read this one several times.)

11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe (I loved these books when I read them. I only know of one other friend who has read them and enjoyed these books as much as I did. Both of us are female. All of the males I know who have tried to read these books have not liked them.)

12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.

13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov

14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras

15. Cities in Flight, James Blish

16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett

17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison

18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison

19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester

20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany

21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey

22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card

23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson (I tried to read these books. I managed to finish the first one but couldn't bear the second. I don't have a high tolerance for whining self-obsession and that's all Covenant seemed to do.)

24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman

25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl

26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling

27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson

29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice

30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin (I have this book but I haven't read it yet.)

31. Little, Big, John Crowley (I also have this book in my TBR pile waiting to be read.)

32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny

33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick

34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement

35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon

36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith

37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute

38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke

39. Ringworld, Larry Niven

40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys

41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien

42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut

43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson

44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner

45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester

46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein

47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock

48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks (I'm not sure how or why this one could ever be considered 'significant'. I suppose it could qualify as best marketed derivative drivel of a classic.)

49. Timescape, Gregory Benford

50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

50.33% of the books read - .33% for the first of the Covenant books since I didn't actually finish the series - and two more of the books in my TBR pile. Not bad.

It's not the name

This is what came up when I typed in Seitherin Melyssen Meiselas which is the full name of the D&D character I played whose name is the basis of my domain:

If You Were Born in 2893...

Your Name Would Be: Raak Vuis And You Would Be: A High Priestess / Priest

If You Were Born in 2893

This is what came up when I typed in Tristin Zynara Mardil who is the D&D character I am playing now:

If You Were Born in 2893...

Your Name Would Be: Umori Vovv And You Would Be: A High Priestess / Priest

If You Were Born in 2893

And this is what came out when I typed in Gareth Alexandra Regian Toth Ky'Villond which is the name of my most enduring D&D character:

If You Were Born in 2893...

Your Name Would Be: Kiku Pant And You Would Be: An Alien Anthropologist

If You Were Born in 2893

And this is what came out when I type in my complete real name:

If You Were Born in 2893...

Your Name Would Be: Laif Kiku And You Would Be: An Alien Anthropologist

If You Were Born in 2893

I'm sensing a pattern. ;D

This and that and the other stuff

You can't get a decent croissant in this town. I'm still just 'continental' enough to want a croissant and coffee for breakfast every once in a while. So I went in search of such this morning.

The coffee part was fairly easy. There is a place in town called The Local which does a fairly decent cup of Starbucks. They list croissants on their bakery board so I decided to give them a try. Not such a good idea. Their idea of a croissant is that faux white bread used for making sandwiches which is not the kind of croissant one dips in one's coffee. And they were not fresh and had very obviously been frozen at some time since there was still a chill on them when I got them home. Oh, well, I should have known better. This place went from serving their tuna sandwiches on a multi grain bread to serving them on a flavorless sourdough.

I also stopped in the Hastings this morning. I haven't been in since they moved from the mall out on the highway next to Target. As much as I hated the store when it was in the mall, I hate it even more now. Their aisles are like a maze in a dungeon where you get trapped in dark corners and can't escape. Seriously. The store is nothing but dead end aisles where you have to retrace your steps to get to another section. And you can't see over the bookcases which are so close together it makes the place feel claustrophobic. Give me a Barnes & Noble any day.

I also - finally - managed to get the rest of my Christmas cards mailed. I posted the international cards on Tuesday when the machine at the post office started dispensing postage again after being offline for a week. But it still wasn't doing regular US postage. So I bit the bullet and got up in time to hit the two hour window when the post office is actually open for business on Saturday. My, my, my. There was quite a nice little crowd. You'd almost think this was the weekend before the weekend before Christmas it was so busy. I bought real stamps - how boring have Christmas stamps become, I ask - ugly snowflakes on one and a Madonna and child on the other - and slapped them on the envelops(*) and popped the cards in the mail slot. The only thing left to mail is the Best Friend's gift which I will do either tomorrow or Tuesday - I'm such a procrastinator.

And now I'm home. I'm torn between finishing the socks I'm working on and crawling back into my book. Who would have thought I'd get into a book that's more about swordfish fishing than the murder mystery I picked it up for? Live and learn.

(*)Envelops? What, in heavens name, is an envelop? That is supposed to be envelopes. One of these days I will learn to spell. ;D

Driving home in the fog

It was foggy this morning when I drove to work and it was foggy coming home tonight. I honestly don't know if there was any sunshine today or not. I managed to make it all day without either going or looking outside.

What's cute got to do with it?

The kittens are twelve days old today and they are getting slightly more mobile. Although they still enjoy laying in one small lump, watching them jockey for position in the kitty pile is a hoot. Jockeying for position involves rolling over and pawing at the air, rolling over and pawing at each other, climbing over each other, trying to crawl their way under each other. A couple of them have also gotten curious enough to explore the bounds of the blanket that's been their home.

Pretty soon, they'll be a holy terror.

What's in a name?

I just finished updating the Names section. 630 new names were added.

Move over, Vanna!

You are The Wheel of Fortune

Good fortune and happiness but sometimes a species of
intoxication with success

The Wheel of Fortune is all about big things, luck, change, fortune. Almost always good fortune. You are lucky in all things that you do and happy with the things that come to you. Be careful that success does not go to your head however. Sometimes luck can change.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Get ready . . .

. . . to overdose on cute. Here are the kittens at six days old.









So, who wants one?

All together now . . .

Behold! I give you a kindle of kittens . . .

You did it again!

CEL !!

Inquiring minds want to know. Drop me an email - seitherin at gmail dot com. I'm in the mood for a long story, and yes, it has been years.

Cel!

Don't just run through like that! Come back!

Seven swans a-swimming

OK, they're not exactly swans and they certainly aren't swimming, but I'm reasonably sure there a seven of them even though the Prodigal Son only reported six when he woke me this morning to tell me Izzy had popped. He also noted that things must not have been too bad for Izzy 'cause he didn't wake up while she was delivering. That really isn't saying much since he wouldn't have noticed unless she'd planted all four feet's worth of claws in his chest and bitten his nose off. And, yes, those are the Prodigal's now ruined shirts and towel on the floor of the closet where Izzy decided to deliver instead of the nice snug box the Prodigal made up for her.

Most of the kittens take after their momma and are, to varying degrees, black and white. There does appear to be a grey tabby with at least one white paw in the bunch. I haven't really disturbed momma and babies much except to prod at the babies to make sure they were all alive and well and to snap this first set of pictures. Later today I'll replace the bloody mess of clothes with clean dry newspaper and toweling which I shall have to run out and get.

Izzy seems to have taken to mothering despite being a very anti-social cat. She was not very well socialized, to either humans or fellow felines, which I blame on her former owner, the girl who should not be allowed to own an animal of any kind . . . EVER. Izzy and Horus are both her cast offs.

Oh, well, enough blather. Take a gander at the new additions to the household . . .

Music Meme at Eighteen

This comes from Notes From Coode Street.

Go to www.popCulturemadness.com and pick the year you turned 18 (under Pop Music.) Copy over the list of the top 75 songs. Bold the ones you liked; strike the ones you disliked; and italicize the ones you know but neither like nor dislike. The ones you don'’t know will stay as they are.

1. Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
2. I'll Always Love My Mama - Intruders
3. Love Train - O'Jays
4. Money - Pink Floyd
5. Ramblin Man - Allman Brothers Band
6. Friends - Bette Midler
7. Time In A Bottle - Jim Croce
8. Touch Me In The Morning - Diana Ross
9. Crockodile Rock - Elton John
10. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life - Stevie Wonder
11. I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little Bit More Baby - Barry White
12. Feelin' Stronger Every Day - Chicago
13. Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001) - Deodato
14. Drift Away - Dobie Gray
15. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown - Jim Croce
16. You Can't Always Get What You Want - Rolling Stones
17. Daniel - Elton John
18. Do it Again - Steely Dan
19. Superstition - Stevie Wonder
20. Long Train Runnin' - Doobie Brothers
21. Just You 'N' Me - Chicago
22. Superfly - Curtis Mayfield
23. Little Willy - Sweet
24. Frankenstein - Edgar Winter Group
25. Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder
26. Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan
27. Dancing In The Moonlight - King Harvest
28. I'm Just a Singer (In A Rock and Roll Band) - Moody Blues
29. We're An American Band - Grand Funk Railroad
30. Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight - James Taylor
31. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting - Elton John
32. Peaceful Easy Feeling - Eagles
33. China Grove - Doobie Brothers
34. Space Oddity - David Bowie
35. Cisco Kid - War
36. Mind Games - John Lennon
37. D'Yer Maker - Led Zeppelin
38. Dream On - Aerosmith
39. Dueling Banjos - Eric Weissburg & Steve Mandell
40. Your Mama Don't Dance - Loggins & Messina
41. Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round The Old Oak Tree - Dawn featuring Tony Orlando
42. Midnight Train To Georgia - Gladys Knight & the Pips
43. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
44. Rocky Mountain Way - Joe Walsh
45. Free Ride - Edgar Winter Group
46. Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealer's Wheel
47. Hello Its Me - Todd Rundgren
48. Cover of "Rolling Stone" - Dr Hook & The Medicine Show
49. Smoke On The Water - Deep Purple
50. Walk On The Wild Side - Lou Reed
51. Sugar Magnolia - Grateful Dead
52. We May Never Pass This Way Aagin - Seals & Crofts
53. Rocky Mountain High - John Denver
54. I've Got So Much Love To Give - Barry White
55. Hocus Pocus - Focus
56. No More Mr. Nice Guy - Alice Cooper
57. Ain't No Woman (Like The One I Got) - Four Tops
58. I Got Ants In My Pants - James Brown
59. Behind Closed Doors - Charlie Rich
60. Give It To Me - J. Geils Band
61. Could It Be I'm Falling In Love - the Spinners
62. One Less Set Of Footsteps - Jim Croce
63. Danny's Song - Anne Murray
64. Show Biz Kids - Steely Dan
65. You'll Never Get To Heaven (If You Beak My Heart) - The Stylistics
66. Tequila Sunrise - The Eagles
67. Brother Louie - Stories
68. Over The Hills And Far Away - Led Zeppelin
69. Right Place, Wrong Time - Dr. John
70. My Old School - Steely Dan
71. Reeling In The Years - Steely Dan
72. Sail On Sailer - Beach Boys
73. Jesus Is Just Alright - Doobie Brothers
74. Redneck Friend - Jackson Brown
75. Break Up To Make Up - Stylistics

Hm. There was obviously more to hate about that year than like, and there was even more that never registered on my consciousness.

I love violets

I am a Violet What Flower Are You?

"You have a shy personality. You tend to hesitate before trying new things or meeting new people. But once people get to know you, you open up and show the world what you are really all about."