The 12 Days of Christmas - A Cat's Rendition
On the twelfth day of Christmas my human gave to me:
Twelve bags of catnip!
Eleven tarter Pounce treats,
Ten ornaments hanging,
Nine wads of Kleenex,
Eight peacock feathers,
Seven stolen Q-tips,
Six feathered balls,
Five MILK JUG RINGS!
Four munchy house plants,
Three running faucets,
Two fuzzy mousies,
And a hamste-e-er in a plastic ball!!
It can be hard to cover something so complex in under 300 words. I hope I did well.
Langston Hughes
“The Weary Blues” and “Trumpet Player”
Poetry, for many people, provides a way to express feelings that we may find difficult to share or explain to others. When comparing two poems written by Langston Hughes, it becomes easy to visualize the musicians and the pain that they are releasing through the music they play. In “The Weary Blues”, published in 1925, Hughes writes about a piano player who played a “sad raggy tune” that is “Coming from a black man’s soul”. In “Trumpet Player”, published in 1947, Hughes writes about “the negro with the trumpet at his lips” whose music “is honey mixed with liquid fire”. In each poem, the men have a deep emotion that they are expressing through their music. The man in the first poem is tired and sad, and the tune he plays is a “drowsy syncopated tune”, helping to share that feeling with us. In the second poem, the trumpet player’s song sounds sweet like “honey”, but played with such passion that it is perceived as “liquid fire”. Both men are weary, but the man in the first poem seems more tired, more exhausted, because of his memories; whereas, the man in the second poem is weary, but he’s not yet exhausted from the past he remembers, he still has a “smoldering memory” of the past, and shares that heated passion with us. We can also see that “The Weary Blues” was written 22 years before “Trumpet Player”, and still the past that the two men in the poems share still causes pain, frustration and anger, and ultimately a sorrowful acceptance. Langston Hughes may or may not have written these poems to share the pain he felt, but through his writing we are able to connect to the feelings of many African Americans to gain just a smidge of understanding of what their past feels like to them.
Thanks to keylogging and various other "steal people's information and hack into their fun and take their money" antics, my husband and I canceled our warcraft accounts. I'm a little angry at the loss of a game I love, but I do like not spending lots of time on it now. Besides, I could use the extra time to study.
It's the day my kids have been waiting for; well, me too I suppose. Costumes are ready to be put on after school, and candy is ready to be passed out. I've rented An American Haunting, and Slither for my spookfest tonight. I can't wait! No really, I don't think I can, lol.
MSNBC.com
fact file
DANGEROUS PLACESA list of the most and least dangerous cities overall, as compiled by Morgan Quitno Press, which bases the rankings on FBI figures released in June.
1. St. Louis
2. Detroit
3. Flint, Mich.
4. Compton, Calif.
5. Camden, N.J.6. Birmingham, Ala.
7. Cleveland
8. Oakland, Calif.
9. Youngstown, Ohio
10. Gary, Ind.11. Richmond, Calif.
12. Baltimore
13. Memphis, Tenn.
14. Trenton, N.J.
15. Richmond, Va.16. Kansas City, Mo.
17. Atlanta
18. Cincinnati
19. Washington
20. North Charleston, S.C.21. Reading, Pa.
22. Newark, N.J.
23. Little Rock, Ark.
24. San Bernardino, Calif.
25. Orlando, Fla.Source: Morgan Quitno Press, AP
Updated: 7:05 p.m. ET Oct. 29, 2006
© 2006 MSNBC.comURL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15475741/
From my e-mail newsletter from ASPCA:
NO SCAREDY CATS (OR DOGS!) THIS HALLOWEEN: TOP 10 SAFETY TIPS
Attention, pet parents! The ASPCA would like to call your attention to some common-sense cautions that’ll keep your pets safe and stress-free this time of year:- No tricks, no treats: That bowlful of candy is for trick-or-treaters, not for Scruffy and Fluffy. Chocolate in all forms can be very dangerous for dogs and cats, and tin foil and cellophane candy wrappers can be hazardous if swallowed.
- Dress-up can be a big mess-up for some pets. Please don’t put your dog or cat in costume unless you know he or she loves it (yup, some pets are real hams!). For companion animals who prefer wearing their “birthday suits,” however, wearing a costume can cause undue stress.
- Popular Halloween plants such as pumpkins and decorative corn are considered to be relatively nontoxic, yet they can produce gastrointestinal upset should pets ingest them. Intestinal blockage could even occur if large pieces are consumed.
For our complete list of Halloween safety tips, visit ASPCA.org. And please remember, if you suspect that your pet has ingested a potentially dangerous substance—around Halloween or any time of year—please call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.
P.S. If you haven’t already done so, check out our Halloween eCards. They’re boo-ti-ful, if we do say so ourselves.
Braces are on, and she looks really cute with them. She chose blue and green bands, so she'll be covered for St. Patricks Day and for Earth Day. I'm so proud of her, she's been in a lot of pain and she is finally used to the braces. Now if CJ would just wear her headgear like she's supposed to, she'll have her braces off this year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
