Geeky Cat Miusings

I have developed an unfortunate habit of waking up at 5 in the morning and not getting enough sleep. Could it because someone mentioned PRJ666 to me and it brought back very painful memories, like staying at school until midnight in a desperate attempt to complete the impossible project? Is it because I drink too much caffeinated beverages, which I need to drink regularly because of their energizing effects since I am tired because I don’t sleep enough (and round round we go)? Is it because I my mind is filled with the things I want to do and so I wake early to get started but find I have less time to work on projects - which being tired also plays a part in? Is it because one of these two angels wants to have her belly rubbed and Tammy is not willing to comply so she wakes up mommy (oops, did I give the guilty party away)?

We don’t look guilty, do we?

My sister keeps several ladybugs as pets — they are cute and interesting creatures to have around the house as well as useful — if you have aphids (destructive pests) they will eat them right up. A ladybug can eat up to 50 aphids a day. They enjoy eating sweet stuff like raisins but, since they are carnivores, they love cat food making it convenient to have both cats and ladybugs as pets.

People have always made up myths about ladybugs such as the number of spots identifies their age (they have the same number of spots throughout their life) and that all ladybugs are girls (they are both girls and boys, so what is with the name?). They are so beautiful with their bright red or yellow colour and stylish spots but nature has made it them these colours to warn any insects thinking about grabbing a ladybug snack that maybe it is not a good choice.

Mum’s cataract surgery went well. She spent most of the day recuperating with what she calls a turtle shell over her eye. I administer 4 different eye drops to her operated eye four times a day. She is not to have alcohol for 24 hours, she must not bend down, lift heavy objects, or shear the dog (really). Just hours after her surgery she says her vision has already improved - as cataracts cause a cloudy vision — their removal makes everything clearer. That is very promising. Hopefully she will be able to see very well after she has surgery on her left eye. Many people are questioning the doctor’s preference to perform two separate operations for each eye, but it seems most beneficial to the patient to have some vision in one eye as the other eye is healing. The major challenge we face right now is trying to get all the drops into the eye rather than dripping down the face.

My mother, Mirella, is going for cataract eye surgery tomorrow morning on her right eye. She needs to apply eyedrops, an antinflammatory and an antibiotic, 4 times a day and finds it hard to do. Fortunately Milene will be with her and can apply the drops for her as well as take care of her as she should not do anything strenuous after the surgery. I researched cataract surgery on the web and one site said that the patient should not bend down after the surgery. However, the documentation provided by her doctor says bending is fine, just avoid lifting heavy objects. Well, we want to be as safe as possible so we will avoid anything that could be harmful. Hopefully the doctor will provide further guidance.

Good luck mother, we love you!

Sunday was a great day in Toronto, the temperature was mild and the skies were sunny. I jumped up and down as I thought to myself — what a perfect day for a walk about the city and I can finally dust off my camera to snap some photos. Warren and I started our journey in High Park where the mild temperature was melting the snow creating rivers where once there were paths:

I spotted something eerie in a tree — so I pulled out my camera, clicked the power button….wouldn’t you know it?? My battery was dead. I couldn’t capture this tree spirit. Fortunately, Warren came to rescue with camera in hand:

When we reached the south side of the park, we decided to walk along the lake. It was an amazing blue colour and the birds were relaxed:

We then walked up Roncesvalles at which point I needed a really large coffee:

All this walking requires a lot of energy - nothing is more invigorating than a gingerbread monkey cookie:

Walking is not without its hazards — there were bicyclists and joggers to dodge, cars were threatening to soak any unwary pedestrian, there was plenty of dog poo to side step, and streetcars determined to flatten anything in their way:

Somehow I survived all the hazards of the day, but an old favorite theater of mine has sadly not survived:

I can’t wait for many more lovely days to set out and explore >^..^<

Yesterday Warren and I went to Yorkdale to shop for a spring jacket, and after a couple of hours we needed a break because shopping is hard work and we needed to rehydrate. So we stop at Timothy’s, get some coffee, and find a seat. The Timothy’s at Yorkdale is right in the middle of the hallway– all the shoppers of all ages are strolling around the seating area with full view of all the customers. Across from us is a group of five women busily chatting away. We sip our coffee and chat about our shopping strategy. Then comes the pull-down. One of the women lowers her pants and shows her butt to the other women. They look at her tattoo. She dresses herself and they resume their conversation. Warren and I are flabbergasted. What kind of person shows their butt in public? We have known celebrities to do it, but usually teenagers. She was not a teenager. Some minutes later another woman in the group flashed her butt to display her tattoo. Holy grappa!!! I am wondering if the whole point of having one’s butt tattooed is so that exhibitionists have a reason to show their butt in public.

Everyone is talking about it - Steven Davey at Now Magazine, Warren, and many other Star readers are complaining about the grid format in The Toronto Star TV listing. It just does not provide enough information about the show - critical pieces of show information like the show names are shortened to something cryptic in order to fit in the grid. The idea is save paper but, really, the Saturday star has so much paper, it does not make much difference. They could add a few pages to the TV listing and remove a few pages elsewhere because the reason most people buy The Saturday Star is for the TV listing - make the readers happy or they will not buy the paper.

I know I can easily get the TV listings online and it works great if I need to search for a particular program, but typically I will watch something for 10 minutes because of lack of time so it does not make sense to turn on my computer and login to the online listings for such a short period of viewing time. Nor can I remember what interesting shows are scheduled for a later time so I need to consult the handy paper version. I can’t read the TV listing on channel five because that channel is very fussy on my TV.

I am not sure where this TV listing situation is heading, maybe we are expected to print out the listing for ourselves so that we consume more - we will all need to buy printers, paper, and expensive ink all while not receiving any discount for the dwindling TV listings. Should we start a petition Cultural Learnings of TV for Make Benefit Glorious TV Listings of The Toronto Star?

I found a plugin for adding audio to Wordpress Audio Player Wordpress plugin. The plugin allows you to add mp3 to your posts by adding some simple syntax to your blog and you can customize the colour scheme as I have. There are many customizable options such as how to deal with enclosures, adding pre- or post-appended clips to podcasts, how it shows in an RSS fee, and some runtime options. It plays the music with the Flash player and displays the title of the sound by reading the ID3 data. There may be a problem if you ripped the sound with iTunes because iTunes uses ID3v2 data by default. To convert the data in to a readable format just select the track and go to the Advanced menu -> convert ID3 tags -> select version 1.1.

Kitty has found some cool gift giving ideas. You might have seen photos printed on mugs (I given photo mugs as gifts) but you can do much, much more than just mugs with this photo imaging technique. You can plaster your favorite person’s and/or kitty’s face on bottle holders, bibs, id tags, messenger bags, calculators, ceramic tiles, poker chips, coasters. If that isn’t enough, you can get a photo cover for your cell phone. Sounds cool. Well, that is what http://www.imageitinc.com/ promises. Except you can’t purchase online. I think someone should get on to this — make it easy to buy online. Can’t you just see the possibilities? Photos printed on towels, pillow cases, book covers, playing cards, lunch bags, chairs, toilet seats…endless possibilities.

Why do I write my blog?

• I enjoy it - I can write about things I am passionate about or just say something witty or insane. The topic and the sentiment expressed are totally up to me as a reflection of the moment.
• I usually learn something from the experience - as I sit down and write, my mind goes through diverse paths to explore the topic in many angles, and I inevitably think of questions that need to be researched on the Web.
• As an outlet for self expression - I explore my thoughts and feelings about various topics. And since this is not a personal diary, I need to then think about how I wish to express these thoughts to others.
• As a tool for personal development - I am forced to think a little deeper about a topic so I develop my thinking skills as well as my writing skills.
• Exchanging ideas with others - I share my thoughts with people I know, and strangers read my blog as well. My blog readers share their comments either through the blog or on the phone. People have asked for interviews after reading my blog.
• Because it is fun - yes, it is truly fun. I look forward to it. I think about it first thing in the morning and throughout the course of the day. As topics come up or some event occurs, sometimes I think about how I will cover it in my blog.
• It is flexible - the is no schedule, I can write at any time, even in the middle of the night. I can take a couple of minutes to write a small blurb or write a longer one when time allows. I can write as often as several times a day or as sporadic as every few weeks. I can stop in the middle of writing and come back to it later - painting just doesn’t have that flexibility - I still love painting though - just need to have some good solid time. Where I blog is optional - no need to be at home - I can be at any computer, anywhere in the world. I hope, maybe one day, I will have some hand held device so that I can write while traveling on the transit system.
• It is fun to see where your blog shows up in a blog search.