Catses

I am going to steal from myself today.  I have this old blog that I completely abandoned when I left California and I went looking for it today and realized...it's not so bad.  There are still usable pieces.  So while I decide (over the next month, because I'm slow like that) what I'm going to do with it, I am going to share some of it with you.  With yous.

I would like to talk to you about cats.  Or "catses" as I like to call them.  Because the only logical thing to follow up a post on being single and being yourself is to announce to the world that you're a crazy cat lady, right?  A couple of years ago I worked with three different people who didn't like cats.  Two of them were actually afraid of cats.  All the people I'd known before who weren't fond of cats were allergic, so it made sense to me that they'd want to stay away.  But afraid of them?  That just defied all logic to me, so I asked them and here is what they then told me and how I felt about it:

 Reason #1: Cats like to attack people. This is the same reasoning I've heard from people who don't like dogs. Or rats. Or, in my case, parrots. I imagine that they've been attacked at some point and that's why they're afraid of them. I may not completely understand, but I'll admit that I flinch whenever I hear the cry of the macaw.  But the only thing that my cats, Ricochet and Frankie, attack is each other and flying insects.  Sometimes the latter are imaginary.

Reason #2: Cats are aloof. Ah, the most common cat stereotype. Yes, I have had cats and met cats that were total snobs and wanted nothing to do with humans...or any other creature, for that matter. But, as with all generalizations, not all cats are like that. Simple fact: Cats have different personalities. This shouldn't be so amazing to people. Years ago, a co-worker of mine met my cats and exclaimed, "Oh my, they have such...personality!" I had never even thought to consider that they wouldn't have personalities.  It just seems so strange to me.  But then, I name all insects Norman, so...yeah.  You may walk into my home thinking cats are aloof, but you'll be coated in cat hair by the time you leave and reeling from the lovemaking session you've just endured from either one, or both, of them.

Reason #3: Cats aren't affectionate.  See above.  Anyone who has met Ricochet knows this is just plain false. Go in search of a Tonkinese and you will discover very quickly just how affectionate cats can be. In fact, my nickname for Ricochet is ManWhore. No one will love you like Ricky, but be careful - he's my friend Matt's boyfriend, not yours.

Reason #4: Cats serve no purpose.  My cats make me happy every day. Sure, they drive me nuts sometimes (like at 1030 every morning, when Frankie has a kitty witching hour and runs in circles around the apartment), but they also crack me up. I would say I have the world's weirdest cats, but I've met my mom's cat, Taser, so I can't win. He and Ricochet have at least one very weird thing in common. They both think they're really sneaky and will try to slither onto your lap when you've knocked them off a couple of times. I mean belly-to-the-ground "I think I'm a snake-I think I'm a snake-I think I'm a snake" sort of slithering. It's really bizarre. And then, once they've made it into your lap, they freeze, as if you won't notice them if they keep very, very still.  Although I find this adorably stupid, Taser has been known to trick my stepfather by wrapping himself around my mom's feet and holding still if my stepdad walks into a room that Taser is not allowed to be in. Evidently he can pass as a pair of big, brown fuzzy slippers. 

Ricochet thinks very little of this anti-cat sentiment, as you can see here:

And Mary's cat, Taser, thinks your computer is for warmth, not for this nonsense.

You might start to think that cats are going to take over the world, the sweet sneaky little things.  But, really, it's already happened.  They just spend so much time napping that it's hard to tell.

Non-Fancy, Non-Girly, Lost Girl

I am pretty damn fascinated by the concept of gender roles.   I knew a woman who told me many times that gender roles were very important to her, in her marriage.  She wanted her husband to take care of the lawn, the cars, killing bugs in the house and general manly stuff.  She wanted to be the only person in the house who did the cooking, cleaning and decorating.  Her husband was actually a pretty good cook, too, so it seemed a shame to me that he wasn't going to make his fabulous Coq au Vin anymore and that she was going to be responsible for all household chores when they both worked full-time.

There is certainly nothing wrong with a couple who happens to fit into those traditional gender roles.  But with this couple, all I could think was how is she going to get it all done, especially since she doesn't really like to clean?  And won't he miss cooking, since obviously it had interested him before?  I mean, does one bother to learn how to make Coq au Vin if one really doesn't care about the culinary arts?  And why did they have to be so separately defined?  Isn't marriage a partnership?  And shouldn't the people in it be comfortable enough with each other to be exactly who and what they are?  If they are, in fact, a very girly girl and a very manly man, then hey - great.  But not everyone is so easily defined one way or the other.

As an unmarried woman, I generally assume that married people must know more than me about marriage (makes sense, right?).  But I always thought this woman's idea was both crazy and sad - because it was forced.  Why would anyone try to fit into that glass slipper that they know does not belong to them?

I have also been told, especially because I'm "still single," that men would like me better if I were a little more girly and made "more of an effort" (which is an implication that I'm not dressing nice enough, wearing enough makeup, etc.).  I am very lucky in my friends that they all know better than to say this (and most of them wouldn't even think it), but you always run across someone (usually a friend of a friend or a great-aunt) who just can't help but try to give you advice.  Single at 36, oh the horror!  Interesting tidbit for you - When I looked up "gender roles" to provide an embedded link, an ad for engagement rings popped up.

What I grew up thinking of as "girly" is just not my scene.  I also equate it with fancy, which is something I've never been.  I have brief moments of girlyness (like when I walk into a LUSH or find really cute underwear) and had a spell of fanciness in my mid-twenties (which included a Kate Spade bag, Via Spiga heels, and not being able to pay rent that month).  But I prefer a good burger and fries or a homecooked meal (which in my mind, always means Italian) with friends (and lots of wine) to being taken out to a fancy restaurant (regardless of how good the food is).  And it isn't about having money or being too cheap, it's about what I find comfortable.  Special occasions with good friends or my family at a fine dining establishment, I can do.  Fancy dates where I'm expected to wear heels and a skirt - no, sir, I cannot.

Most of the time I'm not really conscious of this, but every so often I find myself giving in to that gender-specific idea and thinking, "Oh yeah, I'm not a real girl."  Not in the way Pinocchio's not a real boy - I'm just better suited to muckabout clothes than anything involving a skirt.  I don't look good in pastels and have never been a fan.  I may care somewhat about how I look, but I don't give a whit about trends when I'm shopping for clothes.  At the same time, I find fashion fascinating.  I just prefer it on other people.  I don't wear a lot of makeup, but I own  plenty of it and I do care about taking care of my skin (which is why The Thinnest Skin exists).  What I find so interesting and so baffling is why I would care so much about fitting into a type that it is so obviously not natural for me in the first place?

No matter your level of girly (whether you're a girl or a guy) or manly (whether you're a guy or a girl), you should, in fact, always just be yourself.  Maybe that means that you're going to rock a little black dress and kitten heels.  Maybe you'll look like one hell of a woman in overalls and galoshes.  Or maybe you'll make people stare at how damn good you look in that tailored suit.  All I know is that no one ever seems to be truly happy when they're trying to be something they're really not.  And I'm certainly not going to find the perfect partner in crime for me if I'm masquerading as someone else.

Herbal Update on The Black Thumb

Week 8 for Mint, Rosemary, Basil and Thornless Blackberry (I know that's not an herb, but didn't want to make it feel left out): http://j.mp/IDDbbB.

The National Zoo's Invert House on Lost in DC

Think of this as the teaser trailer to a future feature post about The National Zoo's Invertebrate Exhibit: http://j.mp/Kk9yhr.

Spring Cleanup

Yesterday I didn't post a damn thing on any of the LostGirls sites.  I was a bad, bad, bad girl.  But I did do a few things I've been meaning to do for several weeks now.  Let me start by saying that (I know it's not a good excuse, but) I had a slightly unpleasant, unhappy weekend prior to doing all this.  It's funny how much a slight change, some tidying up and learning a couple new things can turn a crap day into something you actually want to write about.  Whether or not its interesting for your readers....well, here's hoping.


First, I finally got around to coloring my hair (which was dyed a pale strawberry blonde, which faded into dirty blonde and had lots of gray roots showing).  I used this...  (same item, different models and those hair colors do not look the same!).

And got this...

Which dried to look like this...

Suddenly those mismatched models up there make sense.


The second thing I did was a disk cleanup on my laptop.  A friend of mine once deleted a bunch of seemingly unnecessary files from her family's desktop computer.  After she restarted it, she found out that erasing those files had rendered the computer utterly useless.  I like to learn from other people's mistakes once in a while (but not too often).


So when I want to do something technical and have no clue how to not destroy whatever I'm trying to work on, I start with simply going to the item in question's manual, or in this case my computer's Help and Support menu.  I don't do a general online search, because that's just going to confuse my techtarded brain and I will undoubtedly do something that looks complex but should've been simple and have to go buy a new computer.


My computer was running a bit slow and I had already moved a bunch of stuff off to an external hard drive, so I just said, "Hey,Computer...'sup?" And asked it how to make it run faster.  Obviously, if you have an IT person/team or someone you know who can get you up to speed, you should use them instead.  But some of us are not so lucky and I'm all about being independent, as long as it's in a smart way (a dumb way would be insisting I don't need help moving the couch to another room and scratching the hell out of the hardwood floors while putting out my back, not that I'd know about that or anything).  The cleanup was easy, didn't take very long and I read the instructions very carefully.  Understand, that last part is a rarity for me.

But the best thing I did with my day (though it won't sound like it in a moment) was to sit down and research applications that will make using Twitter easier for me.  Since I don't have an assistant to time my tweets, as it were, and organize the folks I follow, I decided that I need some tools.  There are a very many apps/tools/whatnot out there that can help you get a bit more organized with Twitter, Facebook and your blog (it's all saving your time up...so you can spend more time on Pinterest).  Now, were I not a blogger, I would not care about any of this (my mother mocked me today about just that).  But once you're doing something business-y with social media, you have to recognize that you will lose your mind if you do not use whatever tools are at your disposal.  This part of the post is mostly for my blogging buddies, but even if you aren't using social media for a blog or business, these are excellent tools if you're devoting a lot of time to Twitter.

Twitter Feed:  I use this app to have every new post (separate feeds for each site) sent to the LostGirls Facebook page.  I already have the Facebook page setup to link automatically to Twitter (creating a tweet for anything that I share as LostGirls), but Twitter Feed can also auto-post to Facebook for you (your user wall or your page).  This tool means that I won't have to worry about going to all these different programs the moment I finish a post - everything updates automatically for me.

Tweet Deck:  The first program like this that I saw was Postano, but I quickly realized it wasn't the one I wanted, especially since its free service is so limited.  Tweet Deck's freeness is fantastic and they have a mobile app to match (though I haven't had a chance to explore it).  I use this app to look at the lists I made on Twitter (you can add people to lists that you create, see our Blogs We Love list - @LostGirlsDC) in a more organized fashion.  So instead of looking at one list at a time, I can look at 3 to 5 columns of tweets (each column contains a list that I made).  The number of columns you see depends on the size of your monitor, so I probably wouldn't use this on an iPad or Netbook, but on a big ol' external monitor, it's the bees knees.  I now log in to this app instead of Twitter.  I use the Chrome extension of Tweet Deck, but you can download  it here, as well.

Buffer:  I put this last, but it was actually the first app that I signed up for.  Buffer is my lazy tweet system.  This app is actually an incredibly efficient tool for Twitter.  You can record up to 10 items to tweet with the free version and create a timeline so that they will be released into the world at the times of your choosing.  The point with this is to keep up a regular stream of tweets (4 times a day is a nice option, that way you're still out there and you can retweet anything you like on your own schedule) so that you're staying in touch with your followers, without being a slave to Twitter.  This is also great if you want to retweet something you sent out before (seems to be a regular practice on Twitter, to make sure you don't miss anyone based on time of day).  Tweet tweet tweet.

If I write tweet one more time, I'm going to slap myself.

LUSH ReIntro on The Thinnest Skin

I rave maniacally about LUSH again.  But in a different way this time: http://j.mp/JLbLTl

Had To Be Done

Just for TamTam on Crafts for the Uncrafty: http://j.mp/J7BYZn

Good and Bad Surprises at The Black Thumb

A couple of good surprises in the morning, followed by some cat destruction in the afternoon: http://j.mp/J5zdYi.

DC Tools and DC Blogs on Lost in DC

Over at Lost in DC, we're talking tools of the trade for explorers in and out of the DC area, as well as some new blogs worth discovering:  http://j.mp/K7vbBz.

Tweet Monster

This morning:  We now have a Twitter account!  I have no clue what I'm doing, but I will persevere.  To watch the madness, follow us @LostGirlsDC.

An hour later:  Still have no clue what I'm doing, but am starting to like this a little too much.

Later that day:  Right, so a few of us had discussed eventually getting a Twitter account, but we always hesitated because none of us really know how to use it (and we are still in our first month, so no big deal).  I promised myself that I would do lots of research and ask everyone I know who "microblogs" before signing up LostGirls for an account.

But then, while reading one of my favorite blogs, A Thought for Food, I could no longer wait.  I mean, check out that giveaway!  Do I want a 13-cup food processor?  Um...why would I not want that more than anything on earth?  Let's not be silly.  

And now, of course, a monster has been created.  All my fears of turning into someone like Dallas on Suburgatory may not have come true yet, but you see how there is a "yet" in that sentence?!

Will understanding hashtags and trending make me a bad person?  Will I start tweeting things irrelevant to the content on the LostGirls sites?  Will I pause in the middle of conversations with friends and family to tweet something funny I thought of, heard or said?  Will I insist on telling you all that when I figured out how to connect Twitter and Facebook I called a friend and sang my excitement to her voicemail?

Anything is possible now, you guys.

Ode to the White T-Shirt on Uncrafty

It's true, there is finally actual crafting going on at Crafts for the Uncrafty, thanks to Mary.  Gain a new appreciation for the plain white t-shirt here:  http://uncraftydc.blogspot.com/2012/05/ode-to-white-t-shirt.html

Trees of Virginia at Lost in DC

Read Seth's contribution to my education on the trees of Virginia and the history of Shenandoah National Park here:  http://lgindc.blogspot.com/2012/05/trees-of-virginia.html

1,000!

We may have only two followers (thank you!), but we just hit a thousand views.  I have no idea if that means anything, but it sounds great to me.  And no, the picture on this post has nothing to do with it, but who wouldn't want 1,000 recipes from Food Network Magazine (1-year auto-renewal)?!

Plant ID on The Black Thumb

We are attempting to identify a plethora of Virginia plants over at The Black Thumb.  If you have any plant knowledge or are just curious, come on over to:  http://blackthumbdc.blogspot.com/2012/05/plant-identification-day.html