Catherine Street

When I was born our family lived in a small house on Catherine Street across from the railroad yard.  I only remember one Christmas having a package in my hands with a toy airplane in it and asking if it was mine before  opening it.  I also remember peeking through the crack of a pair of locked doors to a garage at the car inside and being reprimanded for being where I knew I shouldn't.  We moved when I was three.  Later we would go back to visit the neighbors who I was supposed to remember as these great family friends, even though I wasn't old enough to remember much of anything when we lived there.

Quote

 “The opposite of love is not hate; it’s indifference.” 

                  -  Elie Wiesel

A Great Way to Start the Holidays

Thanks guys for a terrific concert.

Quote: Me

“Show up,

                  Pay attention,

                        Don’t be indifferent.”

Quote

“Sometimes you have to divorce your friends.

 Sometimes you have to divorce your family.”

           -  Oprah Winfrey

 

It’s not that they’re sleeping on my bed; it’s more that I’m crawling into their bed every night.

Quote: George Carlin

“Anyone driving slower than me is an idiot and anyone driving faster is a maniac.”

Quote: Douglas Adams

“I love deadlines.  I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”

Amazing Gracing, 4th verse

11 months ago I was sitting in a waiting room when I saw an elderly lady in much worse shape than I was in.  She taught me that if I wrote down every blessing in my life I could be at it forever, and after all that time I wouldn't be any closer to being done than when I started. Since then the number of angels in my life has increased exponentially.  Since then I see something to be grateful for in everything.

“When we've been here ten thousand years
     Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
     Than when we'd first begun.”

Sluts

Recently my friend Keith did the Slutwalk in Seattle to reinforce that the cause of rape is the rapist and not women who might dress in a way some may disapprove.  It got me thinking about the word and the way we use it.

For a while I've thought ‘slut’ to be a worthless word.  It implies guilt and shame, which are worthless emotions.  And it's impossible to pin down exactly what it means.

Where's the line between virtue and sin?  

The Catholic Church considers anyone who's had sex with more than one person, ever, to be a slut.  That's most of us.

Most folks consider middle-age to be some indistinct number of years older than they are and they think sluts are people who've slept with more people than they have according to some obscure algorithm they've justified in their heads.

A co-worker once told me she was starting to get worried because she could no longer count the number of men she'd been with on one hand.  I refused to tell her how many I'd been with because I could tell from the look on her face and her tone of voice that she would judge my double-digit number negatively.  But compared to my friends that are well into triple digits, I'm a prude.

So does that mean that 5 is virtuous but 6 puts you on a slippery slope?  When I reach 8 that's kind of a lot, but when you reach 8 that really isn't all that many?  9 you're fine, but 10 is just too much?  99?  Well, ok, but 100 puts you in Madonna territory.  And is that bad?

The people I admire most are the ones that are super comfortable in their own skin, know themselves well, and proudly label themselves sluts; and they take away anyone else's power to hurt them.

I truly think that God doesn't count how many.  She knows, but is more concerned with how we treat ourselves and our partners.

If you think God is adding demerits as your list gets longer, then the opposite must also be true. I imagine that when I get to the Pearly Gates St. Peter is going to scowl down at me and say, “We sent you all these nice guys to bring joy to your life and you ran away from most of them.  Downstairs!”

Thought for the day:

Do not start to think of us as less than
     because we fail to live up to your expectations of more than.

We are.  Love us for that or get out of our way.

MCC: It Gets Better

Kitten Family Photo

Sweet Pea, 3rd cat from the left, went to his new home yesterday afternoon and Steve took Bubba, far left, this morning.  Jeff wanted a picture of all the kids before they scattered to the four corners of the earth San Diego.  We're giving Katie extra treats, but she still seems kind of depressed.  I suggested taking her to visit them all in a couple weeks.

Test Photos

How much are the kittens in the window?

They've grown SO MUCH!  They seem to get bigger by the hour.  They got their first shot and a clean bill of health from the vet this morning.  They still nurse a little but the vet said this is the perfect time for them to go to their new homes.  All of them are spoken for unless someone backs out at the last minute. Or you can try to sweet talk someone out of theirs.

Guy Tunes

SDGMC, I did not know how you could do a show as fun as your ABBA show last summer, but you out did yourselves.  We had so much fun watching it.  Thank you Dan & Peter for the extra ticket.  Paul & Ellen, always a treat to see you guys. 

Kryptonite

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Bubba: “Don’t You Mess with My Shoestring”!

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Seattle

Friday the 15th I boarded Alaska Airlines to Seattle to see Keith and Glen.  Keith and I were roommates for 2 years until he fled the relentless sun of San Diego to return to the lush green of Puget Sound. 

Friday evening we boarded the ferry to Bremerton to meet Jessica and Larry for drinks.  Jessica and I have known each other since Junior High Regional Band Concerts where we played French Horn.  We both ended up at the University of Illinois in the Marching Illini.  Jessica is a rare friend who can make 26 years seem like yesterday.

Saturday we went to the Fish Market and the fresh produce stands where we got fresh nectarines so juicy we had to be hosed off afterwards, and fresh blueberries for pancakes Sunday morning.  Then up the Space Needle just as the sun came out to give us spectacular views.  Sunday we drove around to different neighborhoods and parks, my favorite being the troll under the bridge on Troll St.  I was actually happy to see the clouds and have some rain after a heat wave at home.

Kitty Chaos

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