Thursday, January 11, 2007

Your burning questions answered!

I'll try to answer as many questions as I can in this entry, but I'm a wordy thang and would feel responsible if your eyes crossed from reading a looooooong entry. Also, I'm a Libra and can't answer questions simply because doing so would involve making a decision (eeeek). So in the order in which I received them:

Which should you trust more--your head or your heart? I should have known Greg would ask a question that requires pondering instead of blithely dashing off "Why, my favorite color is turquoise!" Heh. By the way, check out the site he mentioned as the source of his question. I got lost for quite a while reading some interesting essays.

So to answer the question . . . I want--with all my heart, even--to say you should always trust your heart, and 20 years ago, I would have answered that way without hesitating. In a heartbeat, even. Since then, I've learned that my instincts can lead me to make some bad choices. For a while, that lesson made me bitter, and I vowed I'd rely only on cold, hard logic. I'd be sensible! I'd make decisions rationally, with a mature amount of consideration and thought! Surely my intellect wouldn't betray me, right?

Wrong. I refused to take some risks because they weren't logical and didn't ensure a known outcome; as a result, I missed opportunities for happiness that I regret now. Sometimes you do have to take a leap of faith, whether it makes sense or not and no matter what warnings your head might be screaming at you. Although my answer sounds like typical Libran waffling, I have to say that trying to balance trusting my head and my heart is what works best for me.

Neargem said: Well, I for one would love to know more about your furballs (age, how you got them, funny personality traits, etc.).

I won't include pictures because I've posted some recently, and there's a set on Flickr here. In order of when I acquired them:

Cairo: Shortly after my ex-husband and I separated in 1996, a theater friend called to say he'd found a stray cat with kittens and invited me over to see them. Daniel and I fell in love with a sleek little gray kitten who he swore was an Egyptian cat (hee)--hence her name. We brought her home, and she promptly began bossing around my elderly beagle, Bridgette. She also seemed to think Bridgette was her mother and occasionally tried to nurse from her. When Bridgette was hit by a car, Cairo paced around crying mournfully for a few months, until Holly (next up) came to join us. Now 11, she's a talkative cat and adept at seething looks of hatred until she's in the mood to cuddle. I realize she's neurotic and bitchy as all hell, but I adore her, and she has the silkiest fur in the world. She and Charlie tease each other mercilessly, and I swear I've caught them playing tag.

Holly: A few months after Bridgette died, my sister, who was volunteering at an animal shelter while in vet school, called to tell me a pregnant beagle there had a litter of puppies. I asked her to save one for me, and my parents took care of Holly until Christmas, when she became Daniel's surprise present. My parents had been calling her Molly, but Daniel decided Holly was a better name for a Christmas gift. She turns 10 this year and is a portly, lazy floor ham, unless she senses the possibility of escaping to run around the neighborhood scarfing up fine cuisine from trashcans. At that point, she's capable of ninja-like stealth and speed. Charlie can still prompt Holly into puppy-like running and playing with toys, but she's starting to show her age. She has occasional mild seizures and moves slowly and stiffly in the mornings, and she's developed a snore that would wake the dead. She's a sweet, affectionate dog who would probably lick an intruder to death.

Picard: Soon after we got Holly, the same kitten pusher I got Cairo from called to tell me about another stray litter. Being the suckers we are, Daniel and I went to his house and again fell instantly in love with a tiny black-and-white kitten. Daniel had just started his fascination with all things Star Trek and decided to name the kitten Picard. That tiny ball of fur is now a 9-year-old, 20-plus-pound behemoth. He's definitely a gentle giant, though. He's so laid-back and sweet--except when he's attacking the water jug, that is. The only other time he gets frantic is when his food bowl seems to be getting empty.

Charlie: Last and smallest, but certainly not least, is Charlie the chihuahua. Our next-door neighbor asked if we wanted him because he felt guilty about leaving three-month-old Charlie alone all day while he was at work. Daniel started the begging and groveling immediately, but I'd never been fond of small dogs, and besides, we had three pets already. Charlie's cute act was hard to resist, as were Daniel's promises to train and take care of him, so I caved. About six months later, Charlie became very sick with a mysterious illness and came close to dying. Worrying about him and caring for him during that time changed my casual affection for a cute puppy into . . . well, let's just say I'm absolutely crazy about that damn dog. I wouldn't go so far as to call him "my child"--I'm not that nuts yet--but I had no idea I could love a dog so much. He turns 4 this year and is cuddly, bossy, and thoroughly spoiled. His favorite game is herding the cats out of the room like a sheepdog, and he's convinced he's the size of a Great Dane.

Carol said: Not really a question but I would love to see more photos of the arts and crafts that you and Kevin do. I haven't done much artistically in a while, although I really want to. Kevin and I used to work on projects together in the art room upstairs quite often, and I miss doing that. Part of the problem is that room has gotten out of control because too many interests are crammed into one space. Kevin started creating electronic music a few years ago, so all that equipment is in there, and now he has projects for his artist-in-residence gig taking up space, too. A major cleaning and reorganizing is in the works so that I can work on some collage and rubber stamp projects again. In the meantime, I added some pictures to another Flickr set here, Carol.

And I said I didn't want to be long-winded! Janet, you dirty-minded girl, I'm going to have to save your question for the next entry, along with any new ones. There's still time to get a question in! Just leave it in the comments.