Calla's Sixty-Third Post

I am writing this sentence to remind you: I don't edit this stuff. I just ramble. It's not cause I'm dumb. Its cause blogs aren't homework. They're a place to rant. I ranted A LOT below this. Consider yourself warned.

So, ignorant people ANNOY me. We were talking about Opportunity NYC in class today, ya know the Conditional Cash Transfer program currently in it's pilot stages in New York City, and my goodness me are there social conservatives at my school!! Now, Opportunity NYC has a lot a lot of problems. It can be criticized from both the left and the right, and I will criticize it from the left momentarily, but I did not expect to hear all these people criticizing it from the right in my "Making a Difference" class. Why these people went to The New School is pretty much beyond me. And why they were let in is also beyond me. But, Tabby said you have to let diverse people into a school and what not, right? And I understand the merits of diversity in institutions; I do. Especially if it is an undergraduate institution. But I think when someone is in a graduate program at the NEW SCHOOL should be somewhat more progressive. (seriously, if you don't believe me, look it up.) I mean, the stupid class I was in "Making a Difference: Global, Organizational and Individual Perspective on Social Change" was conceived as a college-wide REQUIRED class so we could all be indoctrinated on how important a progressive ideology is. (The creators of the class, of course, won't admit this. But sit in on one class and you will know it is true.) So, my point is: why are all these students with adverse ideologies accepted into a school with a mission to, and I quote FROM the New School's website, " prepare and inspire its 9,400 undergraduate and graduate students to bring actual, positive change to the world." Private Universities ARE nonprofits. They exist to serve a specific purpose. The New School's purpose is clearly stated. It seems like Mission Drift to let all these social conservatives into the University.

Well, perhaps I might maybe explain what happened. So, Opportunity NYC is SUPPOSEDLY based on Mexico's Oportunidades (formerly Progresa). These are programs which offer money, not subsidies or vouchers–– actual money, to those living in poverty as long as the program participants fulfill given obligations. Well, I'm not going to get into the merits of Oportunidades, because the program is highly successful; I mean 1 in every 4 Mexicans benefiting from it highly successful. Also, from the 2 book chapters and 3 articles I read about it, I don't see anything wrong with it. Seriously, it's not controversial. No one in my class even talked about it. Opportunity NYC is the controversial one.

I first saw mention of Opportunity NYC when CNN did it's whole "Black in America" thing and those 4th graders were getting paid to do well on tests. So, the program requires parents to stay employed, school-aged kids to go to school and DO WELL in it, + the normal things like go to the doctors regularly, go to Parent-Teacher conferences etc. Probably, if you have the least bit critical mind, you are seeing a problem with this program, because right or left, there ARE PROBLEMS. Well, I sit here, and I think about how horrendous it is that we are putting blame on children for not doing well in school instead of on the failing school systems, and how the worst possible thing a person could do is raise the stakes even MORE when it comes to tests. (I think there might be a post about this somewhere, but I don't know.) Basically, high stakes testing is a total joke already. The tests are written with an unintended bias towards white middle-class students. The tests don't prove that children can learn, but that they can memorize. The culture they create in classrooms–– one of route memorization, the banking system, irrelevant subject matter, stressful work environment, isolated subjects, lack of creativity, and no critical thinking skills–– is both detrimental and dehumanizing. Furthermore, it has been shown through studies done by Friere and the likes, that tests don't actually test aptitude. Your SAT scores don't actually reflect how well you will do in college. Oh, and the requiring parents to keep a job to get paid, that is counterintuitive. If a parent loses his/her job through no fault of his/her own and can't find another one because of a job shortage like the one we are currently experiencing, well, the last thing that individual needs is the Opportunity NYC money to stop flowing. Am I right? So, this is what I thought we would find objectionable in Mayor Bloomberg's plan. That and I thought perhaps some well-meaning individuals would find it condescending to imply poor people need extra motivation to do the right thing while middle class or wealthy people don't. (I don't think that is at all what is implied by the program, but ya know, overly-sensitive, liberal, straight, white, males who are always trying to overcompensate for their undue privilege by acting offended for everyone else's sake probably would say that.) But, much to my shock and gag-reflex people were all:

I think it's wrong to pay people for what they should be doing anyway.

Parents are supposed to be invested in their children's life without getting paid.

I understand Mayor Bloomberg is trying to force all these parents to be good parents, but you can't make people do what's right.

I don't personally understand the culture of poor people not taking care of their kids properly because I'm white and from a farm and have always had opportunities and a steady career, but since that's the way it is, I think it's good that this program is in place to inspire people to care for their children someway. (I KID YOU NOT THAT IS A SUMMARY OF WHAT SOMEONE SAID. . . he was a white male, but I'm not sure if he's straight.)

I think it skews people's values. People need to value education for what it is, not because it pays. What are these kids gonna do when they graduate and aren't getting paid to go to college, are they going to go?

Since in poor communities education isn't valued properly, I think it works to put a monetary value on it, so individuals can tell what it's worth.

Alright, two of those weren't even criticisms, they were praises of the program but for DISGUISTING reasons. THESE PEOPLE ARE MORONS. Here is what I gathered their opinions are: poor people don't care about their kids, we must pay poor people to do the 'proper' thing, poor people don't understand the value of education. Alright bitches, I bet all of them can understand the value of education better than you can because you probably took it for granted your whole life where these parents, who are struggling to pay bills, pay the rent, keep their kids out of trouble, WISH they could have what you have so that life WOULDN'T be so hard. Not to generalize because I'm sure some people in my class are from low income families and communities, but, my gods, these people in class blabbing about how poor people don't know the value of education most likely don't understand the value of it themselves because they've never had to struggle without one. Furthermore, how DARE they accuse parents of not wanting what's best for their children because they don't have time to go to a frakken PTA meeting. I mean really, if you are a single parent working multiple jobs and you have the choice between going to work to make money so your electricity doesn't get cut off or going to a Parent-Teacher conference, well, I guess that's up to you what you would do. But I'm damn sure gonna make sure my babies have electricity and running water and a safe place to come home to before I'm gonna sit down and chat with their teachers. My babies can tell me themselves how they're doing in school, and we won't end up in transitional housing or a homeless shelter, thank-you-very-much! But, if you pay me $25 for that hour of my time, hell ya! That's more than I'd be making at work anyway, and yes I'd gladly be MORE involved in my child's life if I had the means to do so. . . And, maybe I already WAS making every effort and going to these meetings, but at the cost of less nutritional meals 'cause all I could afford after missing that hour of work was HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP filled food. Oh and now we all have diabetes.

OK, you get my point. These people are not ok with me. I don't know outa what world they fell, but they need to go back. . . NOW. And Tabby and I were talking about how probably they are not Republican. Probably they do not consider themselves conservative. Maybe they consider themselves fiscally or socially liberal. BUT they are, in part, social conservatives. You saw all that "pull yourselves up by your bootstraps" bullshit, did you not? Somehow, because these parents don't have time to go to conferences, don't have the resources to make annual doctor's appointments, they are bad parents? They don't CARE about their kids? bullshit. You know its bullshit. We aren't necessarily talking about abusive crack-head parents, and even if we were I bet I could make a case for them caring about their kids anyway. We are talking about people who grew up in the ghetto, and who are raising their kids in the ghetto, who have no hope of getting out of the ghetto because that's where their moms were raised too. We are talking about multi-generational poverty brought on by unfortunate and despicable social problems and failed policy solutions. Living in poverty does not make you a bad parent. It makes you damn busy. PLUS, a lot of these parents probably already WERE doing these things. It's not like Bloomberg targeted people who weren't doing these things. He targeted poverty-stricken families who may or may not have been doing these things, but why should that matter? Why NOT redistribute the wealth in their favor? They are working harder than all those damn morons in the financial sector who make millions and billions.

BTW, my parents DID have the means and time to take me to the doctor's and dentist and they still didn't. I have been to the dentist 3 times in my life and once was after I had already graduated high school. This has nothing to do with not caring. It has to do with certain a level of organization that many people lack. So yes, I understand most children are covered by health insurance, but if people don't have basic organizational skills, and why would they necessarily have ever gained these skills if they themselves did not have the opportunity to finish school and balance college and a job at the same time (Most people who do finish school and finish college still come out lacking in the organizational department), why should they be expected to remember to make a doctor's appointment when they are worried about how they're gonna get their next meal? THEN, how should they find the time to get their child to it? I am so rambly. I am repeating myself a lot, I know. It just really really bothered me.

Love,
Calla and her Kitties. (MEOW)


(I need to take more pictures)

Calla's Sixty-Second Post

Do you know what H2O is? No, I am not talking about water. I am talking about this Australian TV show I saw the other day (being yesterday) that is so funny, I laughed like a ghost band! OK, the show itself isn't funny. The concept is hilarious, and thus the theme song is funny like a ghost band. SO, these three teenagers turn into mermaids anytime they get wet! HAHAHAHAHAHA. I don't GET IT. I don't get it AT ALL!!!! They are already made of 70% water, and what? they don't sweat or cry or even BREATHE on themselves. NO SENSE. It is so funny. This is what wikipedia said, and we all know wikipedia has quite a way with words (trying to be all serious about non-serious subjects so that I just crack the frak up!) Ok, this is what it said, "The show's premise revolves around three teenage girls facing everyday teen problems with an added twist: they're mermaids with powers over water." HAHAHAHA. Can you believe that? Oh, too great for words! Really, too too great.

The bad news, the show is filmed at SEA WORLD! EWWWW. Now, here's the thing with sea world. . . I've been an animal lover my whole entire life. So, when I was little I loved to go to the zoo and to Sea World (the one that used to be in Cleveland, which was right near where I used to live.) This is because I did not realize how evil Sea World is. They train animals, we all know that entails beatings and starvation. The animals live in areas too small to engage in their natural, God-given behaviors (ie: use sonar in the case of dolphins). They live in CHLORINE, which is horrendous for their health. Well, also, I'm not sure the Australian Sea World is connected to the U.S. chain, but nonetheless, it is a marine park with abused animals. This is sad to me. It hurts my heart a bit (as all animal abuse does.) I'm kind of a bad person, in that, I feel pretty vindicated (I don't know if that's the right word. I don't think it makes sense. I guess I feel vindication on the animal's behalf. ? .) any time a trainer of a wild animal (ie: someone who abuses God's creation at a circus or a marine park) gets attacked, mauled, or even killed. I'm not kidding. I'm a bad person. I think, "well, you shouldn't've been fucking around with wild animals asshole!" Firstly, it was just a mean thing to do. Secondly, it was just a dumb thing to do. Even house cats can rip holes in your flesh if(when) they want to. Why do you think a lion, whom you are pissing off by shoving a metal rod done his throat, won't one day snap and do the same!? And, probably, you deserved it, because you shoved a metal rod done an innocent animal's throat.

K, so that was the animal rant of the day. Today, for the animals, I wrote Trader Joe's about offering more vegan options. Probably that won't actually do anything. But I also resent the e-mail to the humane certified people because the one I sent yesterday got sent back to me because I typed the e-mail address wrong. So, that mighta been good. Perhaps I will make these people think more about these issues. And if they already consider them strongly, I will be better informed when I am recommending the products which are certified humane to other people.

So, know what else I want to mention? Short Bus. Man, I am one harsh movie critic. What is with all these so-called sex positive messages that turn out to be NOT sex positive!? Just a question. So, Short Bus was a'ight. It was not nearly as good as Hedwig (and how could it be if it wasn't a musical, right?), but it didn't completely suck upon first viewing. Some of the characters were quirky in a non-annoying way, their lives interwove in a believable fashion, all of the actors were good at acting, the ending wasn't so corny, though it was predictable, that you wanted to puke or anything horrible like that. So, it wasn't bad. It was just another hum-drum movie that I probably wouldn't watch ever again, but it didn't bother me on any level. It was only upon further contemplation that the movie got to me.

So, John Cameron Mitchel (if that's at all how you spell any of his names) started off wanting to make a sex-positive movie with real sex. That was seriously the goal. Something about how all the real sex in movies coming out of Europe represents something bad, and sex is something good. His movie, however, wasn't about sex. It was about human connection. And sex was used as a metaphor. So, he is still not positing a positive message about sex, rather he is positing a positive message about human connection. Additionally, in this world, where sex is equivalent to connection, there is no place for the asexual individual. I think I have talked about asexuality before on this blog in regards to the Kinsey Institute adding a 7 to Kinsey's 0-6 scale. (This is dumb. There should be two scales one for homo-hetero and one for a-hyper, if you are a 0 on the a-hyper one, you don't need to fit on the homo-hetero scale. However, people who are like a 1 [mostly asexual] still deserve another number.) Anyway, I think my point is about marginalizing a whole group of people who are currently misunderstood. I am not myself asexual, but I cannot STAND how people don't acknowledge that asexuality exists! In the world of Short Bus, they cannot exist, for if they did, they would have no way of connecting to other people.

Next: what is with the story of the woman not being able to cum!? This has been done so many other times. And it has been done WELL. (see: coming soon. Haha. It's brilliant) So, there is nothing inherently wrong with the story. But John Cameron Mitchel, as a gay male, does not know how to pull this one off. Additionally, to make the entire movie hinge on this one fact, which I admit is an important one in the life of the character, to the point where the FINAL moment is of her cumming, and then only show it for a split second! Like show the gasp and the "about to scream" and then cut to New York City's lights coming back on (Yeah, apparently her orgasm was so great it fixed the blackout) is just cheap. It is still as though, though this is the most important part of the film, the climax if you will (pun attended, hahaha!), you still cannot show it in all it's glory even though we've seen multiple males ejaculate. ANNOYING. Also, to equate it with the power coming back on makes it something special, as opposed to something a woman has every right to experience everyday the same way a man does.

And maybe I am reading too much into the woman cumming thing. And I think perhaps I don't even understand completely what I didn't like about it, but there was something that didn't sit right. If you are a womanist, a feminist, a sex-positive individual, a woman's rights activist, whatever, and you have seen this movie, perhaps you can share your opinion with me.

The other thing I didn't like was how it was such a male dominated cast. This is to be expected of a white, liberal, gay, male I suppose. (If you need me to explain that statement, chances are you wouldn't understand what I mean even after the explanation.) But it still bothered me. I am one of those annoying people who is always keeping score. (i.e.: whose name was shown first in the credits when the male and female lead had the exact same amount of screen time and shared equally in the role of protagonist?) I can't help it. I feel like the majority of people in this country like to assume and pretend that sexism is over, that women have equal rights, and equal treatment. This is not the case. And it is DEFINITELY not the case that women have equal representation in government jobs or high-end corporate positions. Forgive me for wanting to see them represented equally in Indy-Flicks.

Also, what is with the whole idea that this movie is not supposed to turn you on because it is not porn!? Now, it didn't really turn me on, that's most likely because I am probably only a 1 or 2 on the whole asexual to hypersexual scale that I invented. But, I can't see how it is not supposed to turn other people on. There is mad sex right in your face. And why is John Cameron Mitchel all opposed to porn in the first place!? You can't objectify all of these people's bodies for "art" and then say it's a crime against humanity that people are objectifying their bodies for the sake of sex and sex alone. (I did a whole post on this once. Go find it if you care.) If this was designed to be sex-positive, he should be happy to be showing sex for the sake of sex. (That should be a new movement, right? Sex for Sex's sake like Art for Art's sake, only we must be on a closer guard against venereal disease in this new movement I am proposing.) Am I wrong? Should he be showing sex for art's sake instead? Is that sex positive, or just art positive?

So, other than that, it WAS your run-of-the-mill Indy-Flick. Some "deep" movie with grand symbolic gestures that actually seem kind up shallow and useless when one puts on his/her analytical reasoning hat. Except it has real sex; this is how it is different. So, if you can't stomach that for one reason or another, don't see it. Otherwise, probably still don't see it 'cause you could spend that hour and a half or whatever watching actually meaningful things like Battlestar Galactica, Mad Men, My So-Called Life, or Wonderfalls. (Yes, these are all TV shows, not movies. But it stands that they are all better than most movies.)

OK.

That's all for now. I still don't have new kitty pictures, so I think I'll put up this bat picture from Halloween. See, 'cause I told you all about this bat, but I don't think I ever pasted up an image. And if I already have, forgive me for the re-run.




Love, Calla and her kitties.

Calla's Sixty-First Post

Hi. It's Calla. (As it ALMOST always is.) Tabby is writing a blog post. I'm going to write one also! But I don't think I have any kitty cat pictures. This is bad news bears. I will make do somehow. He is writing in his ethical journal, which he must keep for school. He is always confused about what to write in it. So, I am always trying to help him. He seems to think my ideas are always silly-face!!

For example, about a week and a day ago, (no, exactly a week and a day ago.) we ate at Sacred Chow in the West Village near Washington Square Park with Tabby's parents after Church. Now, my food (vegan blueberry French Toast, which turned out to be more like a huge chunk of blueberry bread that happened to be warm and a little bit fried.) came out super-de-duperdy LATE. And the waitress said, "I'm sorry. This is way too late. I'm going to take it off the bill." Now, we came home and Tabby was all "Ahh, I've only written two ethical journal entries so far and I'm supposed to've written 4!" (btw, he is on his third as of present.) So, as I am an extremely helpful girlfriend/fiancé/life-partner/whatever-I-am-considered-after-living-with-him-for-over-two-years, and I am also oh-so-good at noticing how almost every action we make involves an ethical decision, I said "Oh, write about how that waitress took my food off the bill." He thought this was dumb, and not an ethical decision. But it was. That was not her food. It belonged to the restaurant. By taking it off the bill, she essentially stole it. However, by making a customer wait an exorbitant amount a time for her food, the waitress was ethically inclined to right this wrong. She chose to do so by offering me a free meal. . . that, in reality, wasn't hers to offer. This is an ethical decision. Tabby thought it was dumb. So here was a list of other things about which I told him to write. (None of which he did.)

1. Buying things in sweatshops - to support a poor family's livelihood, or to boycott the abuse to which family members are subjected?

2. Eating at restaurants that serve meat - to order vegan food, thus showing the manager there is a market for it, or to spend your money supporting restaurants that do not spend money to support cruel practices?

3. A related note: Tom's of Maine was bought by Colgate and The Body Shop by L'Oreal: Do you buy from them since they've signed pledges to continue their ethical practices? Are you indirectly supporting animal testing, or are you showing the parent companies that cruelty free products sell better than that other crap they produce?

4. Donating to cancer/aids research - obviously these products are tested on animals. Many people would argue it is ethical to do so. They value the lives of humans above the lives of animals. However, with documented cases of the gov. testing phase 1 and phase 2 drugs on FOSTER CHILDREN, one cannot be sure that there money is only going to animal tests (which I oppose anyway.)

5. Organic vs. local? - Organic local food is ideal, but when you can buy local food that is not grown organically, or food shipped from across the country or globe that is, which do you choose?

6. When you give money to church or a homeless outreach, or nearly any nonprofit that is not associated with animal welfare, that money is probably going to some items (food and cleaning supplies for SURE) that are in opposition to your own morals.

7. Is it better to buy non-vegan food from a company that is dedicated to promoting healthful and sustainable diets, or vegan food from a company that processes all sorts of crap, but happens to have made something that is vegan? Probably it is best to avoid BOTH of these situations, honestly. [This was not a suggestion I gave to Tabby. I just thought of it now. Well, no, I had a conversation with Tabby about it one time in a grocery store, but re-thought about it now.]

Um, I don't know if I suggested other things. Maybe I did. It was over a week ago, so I don't remember. But regardless, he did not like any of my suggestions. HOWEVER, now he is writing about vegetarianism and Christianity, specifically is it pertains to Bartian theology. So clearly, he cannot escape the animal rights activism! :) I love what I created in him. hehehe. He had said how he didn't want all his posts to be about animal welfare, but I think they will be. Once you are this deep into something, you cannot pretend like it does not consume all of your moral opinions. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. I know there are other pressing issues, such as racism, homophobia, sexism, genocides, etc. And I do not think people should ignore these. And I, myself, stand up against these and often offer financial support to groups attempting to rectify these wrongs. However, my heart, and thus my time, is spent on animals. When a society has gotten to a point where sentient beings are treated as commodities, stripped of basic care, subject to hostile abuse simply because they are less evolved. . . Well, that attitude and culture taints the rest of society's assumptions and values. It is not OK to say "oh it's only a horse, who cares if it is abused?" That is one of GOD'S CREATURES. One should not treat it as though it were an OBJECT of PLEASURE created for MANKIND. Um, no. And to view the world through such a lens is DANGEROUS and TROUBLE (with a capital T that rhymes with P that stands for Pool. haha. No. The Music Man has nothing to do with this. . . at all. But it's pretty good, right?)

Alright, so that was one of my animal rants for the week. It is almost like I have a quota for those things, huh? And it's ridiculous, because I'm pretty sure they are kind of repetitive.

BUT, for lent I decided I need to do something for the animals EVERY DAY. Seeing as I should be doing more than whining about injustice every day anyway, I'm hoping this conviction sticks long past Lent. Well, I didn't think of this until Saturday night, unfortunately. And so I missed two days! But Wed. I went to a Farm Sanctuary Activist Meeting. Saturday I protested Foi Gras again at two different restaurants. And one of them is looking good. The other guy (Fork and Knife) is pretty much going out of business at this point, [Yet another ethical decision.] which is pretty sad, but also his own fault. Sign the pledge, and the protests will stop, you'll get more customers, less ducks will suffer. Everyone wins. Sunday I delivered literature about Farm Sanctuary to S'Nice. BUT I also left some at my church. Now, I am a fairly anti-social human being, as we have discussed in prior posts. So, though I have been attending St. Luke's for approximately an ENTIRE YEAR, I don't talk to anyone and I don't get involved. Well, I said in the morning, to Tabby I said, "Do you think I can leave some of these at Church?" And he said "I don't know." And then we got to church and all that was out on the table and bulletin board were church related items. So I thought, no. No point in asking. It will just be embarrassing. Well, I noticed in the announcements they had started a new "community' bulletin board that posted items unrelated to church in which people could get involved. And I had to get courage to ask about leaving some Farm Sanctuary lit. So, as a side note, I've been feeling so super guilty for not doing more in the realm of animal rights lately. God has given me this passion. It has been indwelt since I was four. . . or perhaps earlier. But four, the age I went vegetarian without the prompting of an adult or a group of peers, is a clear indication of such passion at work. My 6th grade persuasive essay against animal testing is another. Clearly, this is something that has been with me since a young age. God has also BLESSED me with both creativity and intellect. I have both the brains and the visionary-drive to really amount to something. Unfortunately, I was also given an unnatural anti-social tendency and an uncanny ability to get embarrassed at the drop of a hat! So, these character-flaws (if flaws are what they are) prevent me from using my gifts to their fullest. And lately, that has been plaguing at my soul. OK, well, I had to get courage. And this was a rather distracting revelation. I thought about what I would say all service. I was pretty glad Mother Mary was not giving the sermon, 'cause I had been weird and friended her on Facebook. I was already embarrassed about that fact, and didn't want to draw attention to myself by asking her strange questions. So, Mother Caroline was giving the sermon, and I, for some reason, am less comfortable around her than around Mary or Hugh, so it was still going to be strange asking her about the Farm Sanctuary Lit. Well, in her sermon, she briefly mentioned how saints and Christ and such were friends of the animals. Biblically speaking, a friend of the animals is someone who is Godly. So, I figured that was good. Even though it wasn't the POINT of the sermon, I figured she couldn't possibly say "no" after mentioning that fact. So, after service, I held up the line to leave to ask her about the Farm Sanctuary Lit. And she said, "Well, we can't post every worthy cause, but I don't see why we can't pin one up and leave a few." YAY! So, I only gave her a few. Like 7 probably or 8. I didn't want to overwhelm her or seem unappreciative or pushy. But, if she is pinning on up, even if the Lit. disappears, people will see the flyer and can still visit the website. So, I did that for the animals. And it was hard and SO EMBARRASSING. But I did it. And, unfortunately, it did not relieve me and make me feel like it would be easy to interact with people if it was for the animals. I think, instead, this will be a life-long struggle because of my weirdness. Like Moses, thinking he can't talk in front of people.

So, anyway, today I wrote Obama for the animals. I thanked him for cutting subsidies to factory farms, and encouraged him to give subsidies to farms with "humane" and environmentally friendly practices. I suggested he look at the farms certified by the nonprofit Humane Farm Animal Care. (I don't think any animal should be slaughtered, but raising animals humanely BEFORE you brutally, and with no regard for their feelings, take their lives away is a step in the proper direction.) So, if you like eating carcass, but are feeling either guilty or disgusted about the way that carcass was treated when s/he was a living, breathing being, check out this website. www.certifiedhumane.com/

This is now going to be unrelated to animal rights, at least this little part: I HAD A SNOW DAY TODAY! It is the only one I had during my undergraduate career. And snow days are a BEAUTIFUL thing. It is so so so so so so cold and SNOWY outside. I had to go out to buy my kitty cats food. But instead of going to the pet food store to which I like to go because it is a small business, I went to whole foods because it was closer. If I have to support a Big Box store, I guess Whole Foods is the way to go, right? But other than that trip, I have been INSIDE. I drank co-co, and it was yummy. I pretty much ENTIRELY wasted the day. Like it is nearly 11:00 p.m. and I didn't do anything productive. This is probably bad. But oh well.

SO, my sister has been a vegetarian since, like, I dunno, 2 months? It is good good good of her. She is having trouble giving up eggs, so I told her about the humanley raised people. And, actually, I don't know, for sure, what would be wrong with eating eggs from chickens humanley raised? Perhaps something to do with male chicks that hatch? I don't know if the nonprofit looks at that. I think I'll write to them asking about male chicks on layer-hen farms and veal calves on dairy-farms. Yeah, I have to go do that. But it was wonderful chatting with you. BYE.

Love,
Calla and her kitties. (NO PICTURE!?) I will find a picture of SOMETHING to put here. . . hmmm. . .



This is a GORGEOUS butterfly friend from the Ren. fair this summer. Can you believe people kill bugs instead of capturing them and letting them out the window? (Probably, 'cause probably you do that.) It makes me sad to go in the laundry room in the basement because there is fly tape hanging from the ceiling with dead bugs on it. :( IF YOU LIVE IN THE SUBURBS OR COUNTRY NEAR BATS, NEVER USE FLY PAPER. The wonderful batfriends get stuck in it. :( This makes me want to cry because bats are my most favorite animals. (Yes, I play favorites, but I treat them all with respect and love.)

Calla's Fifty-Fourth Post

"46 as sung by David Bowie (not really)"
by: Tabby with assistance of Calla who wrote a line or two and played the scribe

*ahem*

I've got an empathy virus
and I can't go out in the sun
My cover is blown, blown, blown!
You work at the cover factory (counterfeit cover)

In the desert the poor in spirit
(You hate the desert)
Your ribonucleics don't define you,
but your love do

I've got an empathy virus
tell me something clever

You're tone deaf
Your birthday's at a karaoke bar
Damien's there, studying bats in Deli
(Bleeding virus)

I've got an empathy virus
camel car crash
The judgment is my judgment was obscured
empathy's gone

You are veiled in the desert
My cover is blown, blown, blown

Love, the gang



P.S. That song was inspired by that stupid movie, get it?

Calla's Thirty-Sixth Post

My bat friends finally came yesterday! So, I don't know if you knew about my bat friends Luna and Nocturne. They are earrings that I got from the Ren. Fair. (Do you like that I never even attempt to spell that word?) Well, there was an unfortunate incident not all too long ago. (Christmas Eve it was) Going through airport security, I lost Luna!! I just lost her. I was so so sad that I almost cried. So, poor Nocturne was oh-so-lonely since bats are social social creatures. So, I had to find some new bat friends to order on line. I, of course, could not find twins of Luna and Nocturne, but I did find a lot of different styles of bat friend earrings. So, I ordered a pair on Christmas and the FINALLY came yesterday! I was excited! Want to know what their names are? They are Midnight and Vampyra.

My one cat is too too fat. Last time he went to the vet he weighed over 18 pounds!!! Now, you must understand he is a Maine Coon mix. This means he is BIG. So, he is not like EXTREMELY obese. But, the vet said he is supposed to weigh around 15 lbs. Well, she said to make him exercise. But he won't!! He is over 13 years old. So, he is not so playful. The vet said get a laser pointer or a "cat dancer." Well, he looks at my hand with the laser pointer and doesn't even notice the red dot. He does not like the cat dancer. He is scared of it. (The little crazy one LOVES the cat dancer.) So, basically, the point is, he is still fat.

Now, we could discuss the food situation. Between the two of them, the big kitty and the 7 lb 5 oz kitty, I feed them 1/2 can of soft food and 1/3 + 1/2 cup of hard food everyday. The hard food is the "healthy weight and aging" formula of Pet Promise. So, I don't see exactly what I can do. That is not a lot of food. It is about 75% of the recommended feeding guide on the packaging. Should I really cut the feeding down even more?

Well, now the moral of the story is Fuffers needs to return to the vet in about two months for his annual check up. So, I bought a scale to find out if he is just as fat as last year. . . AND HE IS FATTER. He is 19.2 lbs! That is getting to the point where he is almost 25% overweight! Well, he is kind of a cat nip fiend. He gets vicious and crazy when it is around. It is pretty scary––especially for Mama Kitty. But desperate times call for desperate measures, as the saying goes. So I bought a cat nip mouse and made him chase it. . . which he would only do for about 3 minutes. . . But we are gonna try this out! I will keep you updated.

IT IS SOOOOO COLD.
You think the only people who would want to be outside
are like polar bears and the penguin friends,
but I am out here too.
And I'm SOOOOOO COLD!
Yes, it's SOOOOOO cold!
You think the only people who would play around outside
are like Santa Clause and his merry elves,
yet I am outside too.
And I'm SOOOOOO COLD!
Yes, it's SOOOOOO cold!

I forget the third verse. I made that song up on the way to school one day last semester. If I ever meet you in person I will sing it for you. It just seems so apt today to share the song with you because it is 15 degrees Fahrenheit, and with the windchill it is -1 degrees Fahrenheit outside. I was outside. . . and yes, it is SOOOOOOO COLD!

So, GALACTICA TONIGHT!! WOO -HOO!! I will tell you soon all about it!

Love,
Calla and her kitties.

Calla's Twenty-Fourth Post

You all need to adopt a turkey. http://www.adoptaturkey.org/aat/adopt/adopt.html

OK, listen. It is very very sad that 45 million turkeys are killed every year for Thanksgiving. And it is not only sad, it is mean!! I don't know what you all know or don't know about industry factory farming. . . and unfortunately I am not in the right mood to go into details right now.

So, let me summarize: Factoring Farming (1) pollutes the environment, (2) pollutes surrounding communities, (3) abuses animals, (4) is unsafe for the workers, (5) etc.

Sometime I will go into details. But right now I am just in a sad sad mood. . . not an informative mood. I am so sad about the TURKEYS! I think that maybe I will cry on Thanksgiving if there is a turkey in front of me. I sponsored one. I wanted to sponsor Faye because she was the cutest. . . but then I felt guilty for playing favorites and I clicked the "I have no preference" button. But this did not make me feel good in anyway. It just made me be so sad about all the other turkeys.

It hurts my heart that I will probably never live to see the day when animals are treated with respect. ANIMALS FEEL AND THINK. Pigs are intelligent enough to play basic video games, ya know. Know what hurts my heart the most? Testing things on primates. That's like testing things on three year olds. I don't understand. I can't understand. Why are people so mean!?!

I am not mean to my kitties. My kitties eat meat. Some people say you should feed cats and dogs vegan diets. This makes sense to me with dogs. Dogs, like humans, are natural omnivores. . . this means dogs and people can both get all the nutrients we need without eating animals or animal products. Kitty-Meows are carnivores; so I just don't feel right jeopardizing their health. . . But I do what I consider to be the next best thing: I feed them Pet Promise brand, which does not use industry factory farm meat. I can't say for sure that family farms aren't mean to their chickens though. . . But there's a much greater chance they aren't and also it is better to support family farms than to support industry factory farms.

But, as I was saying, I am not mean to my kitties. And if I had a place to keep bat-friends I would not be mean to them either. (I do not have a place to keep bats though, so I can't because that would be mean.) So, my kitties and I love each other and are sweet to each other and here is a picture of us. Tabby is part of the family also, but he was behind the camera.

Love,
Calla and the kitties


This is not such a cute picture of ME, but it illustrates our love, so I am putting up anyway. My kitties are cute in it.

Reconsider your Thanksgiving plans! I will post in greater details before Thanksgiving in an attempt to convince you.

Calla's Twentieth Post

This is just really quick to say that inside the Bobst Library (which is the NYU library next to the park they stole) there is a lot of wasted space. I don't go to NYU but I went to their library and said, "wow, what a lot of wasted space they could build a wildlife reserve in here." So that is what I think they should do. It would be for small animals that can utilize vertical space because that is where so much of the wasted space is. So, it could be for spider-monkeys or batfriends. I think that they should do that because there is not enough space for the furry animal friends.

Also, I have a monster egg on my face. When the egg hatches the little monster will crawl all over my face and lay more eggs in my nose because they reproduce asexually or something somehow.

I told you this would be just really quick and it was because now it is over.

Love,
Calla.
My fluffernutter peanut butter boy is snoring!!!!!! I don't know where Mama is.

GUEST CAT I This is Fluffy Wuffy Queen Moggy. She lives with Tabby's parents.

Calla's Fourteenth Post

There Are Bats In The Lobby!!!!

Seriously. . . Because our superintendent is crazy nuts and he decorates for every holiday the lobby has batfriends!!! They are fake. (Which is good because it is mean to keep bats indoors) but one is a skeleton bat and one is not. The one that is not is furry!! And I pet it when I walked by. It is hanging from the ceiling and I smiled up at it and said "Bat Friend!" :) and then I reached up and pet it even though it is only pretend. It is also giant. Real bats are not big, but this bat was big. It is cute like a furry friend even though it is supposed to be scary. I do not think bats are scary though. I think they are cute cute adorable lovefaces!! OH I LOVE THE BATS.

Some people are mean to bats. This makes me so so sad. LUCKILY, there is an organization called Bat Sanctuary that helps save the bat friends. Go to batworld.org and read the stories at "adopt a bat." They are so so sad but then it makes you so so happy when you read that the bats are ok now. . . Except they also have a "in memory" page where people were so mean to bats that they could not even be saved!!! :( :( :( oh it is so so sad. Bats are so cute and furry and they fly all around! I love them.

I am weird though people say because people say bats are rats and they say rats are gross. Why are rats gross though? I think everything deserves respect, if not love. I understand if a rat is in your house that you might be scared it will spread diseases and you will want to kill her/him. . . but I wouldn't want to kill him/her. I would want to set a humane trap. And also, bats are not known for diseases. . . They are only known for being sweet and nice. DO NOT KILL BATS. They are gentle and sweet and I wish I could have one, but I can't because it's not nice to them to put them in cages. They will have to cling to the wires of the cages and it will cut their feet and hurt their feet so so much! Also, bats like to live with a whole lot of other bats. . . So I would need to own like twenty and I would need to have a GIANT bat cage (bigger than the ones at the Bronx Zoo that make me sad because the bats have hardly any room at all!) that looks like a bat natural habitat instead of a cage and I would need to know how to take care of them well. That is why Bat Sanctuary is so nice. That is what it's like. It's like a giant place for them to live with each other and be happy. I like bats. I especially like big brown bats. They are cute and furry!!

Calla's Eighth Post

This is my fairy friend!! I made her in the game second life. I wanted to make a person and so Tabby downloaded second life for me and he named her Calla Waffle. I said, "Calla Waffleface!?" in complete disbelief, "Her name is Calla Waffleface!? WAFFLEface?" That is how I said it. . . with the emphasis on 'Waffle' since 'face' isn't part of her name. That is not her name though. That is only what Tabby named her. He named her that before I even made her. . . and wow, did I make her super super cute. Really her name is Princessface. NO, that's also not her name, but she does look like a fairy princess because she is so so beautiful. But REALLY, all fairies are this pretty. That is why I wish I was a fairyfacefriend. Her real name is Caprica like Caprica Six. But my Caprica friend wasn't integral to the cylon plot of nuking the twelve human home worlds. My Caprica likes humans. (Though she is shy around them.) She goes by Rica so as not to be confused with the fictional Caprica Six. She thinks that would be a bad association, because, like I said, Rica likes human people and Caprica Six tried to kill them all. (Though really Caprica Six likes human people now, and even was in love with psycho-face Baltar for so long.)

Anyway, Rica lives with all the other woodland fairies. She is kind of an outcast though, because she is shy around fairy people. Her best friends are a bat named Luna and a dragon named August. They all like to fly around together because Rica can fly even though she doesn't have wings. They like to fly over mountain ranges the best, and they like to fly at night because Luna flies better at night. They have one human friend. He is a spy for the human queen. Rica thinks she might be in love with him, which makes her even more shy than she already is!! But wow, is her facey adorable!? (It is. . . I made her face so so so cute. I'm good at doing that.)

Probably sometime I will have a story to tell you about Rica. But right now, I really don't! She will do a survey though (like we are 12 again!!) so that you can get to know her. Here is it.

Name :	Caprica
Nick Name :	Rica
* Birthdate :	January 6, 1989
* Birthplace:	The woodlands
Current Location:	Luna's cave
Eye Color:	dark brown
Hair Color:	red
Weight:	??
Height:	??
Any Tattoos:	Only where August bit me for luck.
Boyfriend/Girlfriend:	none
Vehicle:	none
Overused Phrase:	I'll race you to the moon
FAVORITES
* Food:	blackberries
Pub/Disc/Restaurant:	The Owl's Stump
Candy:	Licorice
* Number:	32
* Color:	green
Animal:	bat/dragon
Drink:	rose water
Body Part on Opposite sex:	finger tips
Perfume:	Saturnalia
TV Show:	I don't have a TV
Music Album:	Anything with a harp
Movie:	I've never seen one
Actor/Actress:	??
This or That
* Pepsi or Coke:	Rose water
McDonalds or BurgerKing:	I don't eat processed foods
Chocolate or Vanilla	cacao seeds FOR SURE. hmmm. . .
Hot Chocolate or Coffee:	coffee beans
Kiss or Hug:	cuddles
Dog or Cat:	dragons and bats
Rap or Punk:	neither
* Summer or Winter:	winter
Scary Movies or Funny Movies:	I've never seen one
* Love or Money:	LOVE
YOUR...
* Bedtime:	When the sun rises
* Most Missed Memory:	The time that Vallen squeezed my hand
* Best physical feature:	my ears
First Thought Waking Up:	Vallen
Ambition:	forge community b/w woodland creatures and humans
Best Friends:	Luna and August
Weakness:	I'm shy
Fears:	rejection
Longest relationship:	. . .
HAVE YOU...
* Cheated Your Partner:	I've never had a partner
* Ever been beaten up:	no
* Ever beaten someone up:	no
Ever Shoplifted:	no
Ever Skinny Dipped:	Fairies don't think of it as skinny dipping! It's called swimming.
Ever Kissed Opposite sex:	no
Been Dumped Lately:	no
IN A GUY/GIRL
* Favorite Eye Color:	DARK brown
* Favorite Hair Color:	Black
Short or Long:	long
Height:	my height
Style:	?
* Looks or Personality:	Both
Hot or Cute	Cute
Muscular or Really Skinny:	Skinny
RANDOMS
What country do you want to Visit:	Lyonesse
How do you want to Die:	I don't want to.
Been to the Mall Lately:	never
Get along with your Parents:	not recently
* Health Freak:	By human standards, yes. By fairy standards, not at all
Do you think your Attractive:	only on Sundays
* Believe in Yourself:	What does that mean?
Want to go to College:	no
Do you Smoke:	no
Do you Drink:	Only Lilac wine
Shower Daily:	no
* Been in Love:	. . .
Do you Sing:	daily
Want to get Married:	perhaps
Do you want Children:	maybe
Age you wanna lose your Virginity:	. . .
Hate anyone: of course not!

That is her survey. I hope you feel you've gotten to know her a little better.

Here is another picture of her instead of of my kitty meows.

Love, Calla and her kitties