Kitten Tech

Tristan da Cunha

2009-01-15T13:14:00.002-05:00

I've been reading about Tristan da Cunha, a small island off the west coast of Africa and for some reason, I feel really connected to the place. The landscape looks familiar or like a place I would like to visit and see. It would also be really interesting to observe the people; the dynamic of the small community. It's somewhere I would like to visit, but would take a lot of planning to get permission and to actually get there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_da_Cunha

Is recycling worth it?

2008-11-18T13:34:00.001-05:00

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/how_your_house_works/4291566.html?page=1

Oh Canada... how you are moving backwards

2008-11-12T10:55:00.001-05:00

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=a819af3c-1d2b-4d63-8421-1f52ce46a6a8

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=d3ff1593-fb00-43bd-969a-40e216d4b2b4&k=34354

after election readings

2008-11-06T14:08:00.001-05:00

Nation Finally Shitty Enough To Make Social Progress

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/nation_finally_shitty_enough_to

Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/black_man_given_nations

McKinnon Cartoon

2008-11-06T09:19:00.002-05:00

Halifax Herald Editorial:

Creepy...

2008-07-21T12:22:00.003-04:00

Is it just me, or is the idea behind the "Father-Daughter Purity Ball" this article, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1823930,00.html, totally creepy?

Van Kedisi

2008-06-28T09:26:00.002-04:00

For those of you of whom don't already know; I am the proud mother of 2 little girls - my kitties Celeste and Ginger!

The existence of a breed of cat called the Van Kedisi, an all-white version of the Turkish Van (also known as the Turkish Swimming Cat), recently came to my attention.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Kedisi

I have reason to believe that my ridiculous white cat (Celeste) may be descended from this breed. Most notably, she is an all white cat with mismatched eyes. Like the cats described in this article, Celeste has a "lean, long-legged appearance". She is indeed "friendly and intelligent", "howls more than she meows" and I have previously noted that she seems to "take pleasure in breaking things". She is also deaf.

Another article, http://www.discoverturkey.tv/page.php?s=page&pid=836&seo=/Turkish+Van+Cats
also discusses this breed.

Like the cats in the article, Celeste does indeed have massive paws, with 6-7 toes on each foot and right out thumbs on her front paws. She is also an impressive jumper and she is very athletic. They also mention fetching, which is something Celeste has been known to do. As an aside, she used to have a toy that consisted of a stick, a string, and a mouse or something tied to the end of it. When she wanted to play, she would carry the toy in her mouth to you, even from a different room. Buy she would carry it by the fluffy part so that the stick would be dragging behind her. So I suppose the intelligence is a questionable trait.

They describe the cats as "people cats that want to be with people wherever they go" of which "many owners describe them as "dogs in a cat suit" because of their unusual personalities". This is spot on for Celeste. She will almost always be in the same room as you, even though she's not usually in your face. My previous roommate noted that Celeste seemed to follow you from room to room like a spy, but would pretend she wasn't following you, so whenever you looked over at her she would conveniently not be looking at you or doing something else.

Unlike the cats in both articles, she is not a large cat, she is a mere 7lbs. She also doesn't seem to have the same kind of fur as the cats described, her fur is much shorter and much more bristley. On top of that, I don't think she likes water, I've never seen her willingly immerse herself in it.

If I had to make a guess, perhaps she is related to this breed, but she is certainly not an expression of the breed. I don't have a clear picture of her history as I adopted her as a full-grown cat from the local (Halifax) SPCA. I've never understood why anyone would have given her up, but from the article and my own observation, I've suspected she might have been too much to handle for someone else. Particularly if they like to have things in order and have issues with things being broken. I love my cat to death, but I won't lie, she's a handful. I've watched her break glasses and mugs for what appeared to be entertainment.

Coping strategies for someone else with one of these cats:

If you don't want something broken or moved, fill it with rocks. Just make it too heavy to get knocked over
This type of cat will mess up your things of you leave them out. Try living a very minimilaist lifestyle and put away as many things as possible
If you want peace and sleep at night, simply don't leave anything out and around that makes noise (particularly plastic bags on the floor)
Invest in a bedroom door. You and your precious sleep go on one side of the door, your precious cat goes on the other side of the door if he or she wants to make noise at night
Play with your cat. This type of cat sleeps hard, so if you play with him or her during the day, you can wear him or her out.
Get your cat a companion. The cats will play with each other and keep each other company, which is especially good for this very social sort of cat.
Be patient. Yes, it can be very annoying to come home and find all of your things on the floor or in hiataus. Or to watch your cat break one of your favourite mugs for entertainment. But remember all of the love and loyalty that you get in return. Every time I sit down, Celeste is on my lap. Every night she sleeps in my bed with me. When I am sad, she comes over to comfort me. If mugs are more important to you than this unconditional variety of love, don't even try owning this type of cat!

Cheat Sheets Galore

2008-06-27T11:19:00.001-04:00

http://www.ilovejackdaniels.com/cheat-sheets/

Also, for computer scientists: http://www.tug.org/texshowcase/cheat.pdf

Vrtucar

2008-06-18T12:36:00.000-04:00

I am seriously considering signing up for this service:

http://www.vrtucar.com/

It's like, it allows you to have a car, without the responsibility of owning a car. Has anyone heard anything about this company?

Lazy Person’s Guide To Getting Work Done

2008-06-18T12:33:00.001-04:00

We’ve all been in the position, whether it’s at work, in school, where there was just so much work to do, that you had a hard time getting around all of the monotonous and boring tasks that yield little return in enriching your life or providing you with stimulation. Here are a few tips to help you put things off effectively.

Procrastinate
This one should be pretty obvious if you are as lazy as I am. In life, just have the mantra “If it’s important, it will come to me”. For example, if you have a deadline, you can rely on those people affected by your work being done to remind you of your deadline, you don’t really need to sweat it and schedule yourself or any of that fancy stuff. If somebody really needs something, they will let you know. Otherwise, it can’t really be that important, now can it?.

As another example, say you need to clean up around the house, when you walk by stinky kitty litter and can’t stand the smell, it’s time to change it. There are all sorts of subtle and not-so-subtle hints out there that you need to do something other than the junk on your task list. Learn to read these signals so that you can hold off on doing things as long as possible.

Use Downtime To Relax
The general rule of procrastination is that the longer you hold off on doing a task, the faster you will have to complete that task to meet your deadlines. So think about your ability to get shit done as a battery that loses its charge rapidly when you slip into overdrive in order to meet a deadline. To recharge these batteries, you need to spend as much time relaxing as possible. After a long week of work or school, nothing will make you feel better than waking up at noon on Saturday, sitting around in your own filth and catching up on your favouite shows.

In the end, this method is quite effective, because by getting your work done quickly, you both finish all your shit and maximize the amount of time you get to spend on surfing the web and watching TV shows on your computer.

Don’t be an idiot
This guide reinforces methods of being lazy and getting things done, not being lazy and letting your life go to shit. Procrastinating in moderation is key. As a general rule, never procrastinate on anything that will cost you money. Procrastination should never come at a cost; it should in itself be a method of efficiency that saves you from doing the useless shit you don’t really need to do right now. For example, say you have a chip in your windshield of your car. FIX THIS IMMEDIATELY, because the longer you wait, the more money it’s going to cost you later. There are just some things that you need to keep on top of, and being able to identify the difference between these and the things to let slide is the key to not screwing yourself over with your laziness. Hence the title, don’t be an idiot.

I would of included more of the titles from the original article and parodized them, but this is starting to get a bit boring and repetitive and I have some serious Smallville to go watch.

Based on "Busy Person's Guide to Getting Work Done"

Welcome

2008-06-18T12:28:00.000-04:00

Hello, and welcome to my blog!