anthropometaphors

Juniper "Joon" Pearl

Nearly 4 years ago my cat Joon disappeared.  He was an innie-outie and didn’t show up for dinner one night.  Or brekkie the next morning.  Or any other meal, ever again.

Time passed; I moved into SF, around SF, and back into the house Joon and I once shared.  All the while, I frequented animal shelters looking for Joon among the dozens of cats waiting for a new chance.

Joon would be a hard cat to mistake.  When he was a sturdy young cat at the age of 2y, he weighed in around 16 pounds.  He stood at least 6-8″ taller than the other cat he grew up with.  Joon was also incredibly long, and was covered with long buff-colored fluff.  In colder months he had a thick mane surrounding his head and running down his chest.

His personality was just as unique as his build.  He was born of a partially feral cat mama, so he was on the shy side.  One of his favorite places to hang out was under a circular table that suffered from a skirt.  While the table may have languished beneath the skirt, Joon thrived; the skirt served as a one-way veil between him and the world.  He could be detected at night, slinking around the house and chirping his curious song.

The hubs and I were at the animal shelter this afternoon, meeting pups, of all things.  As we were on our way out, we stopped into the cat adoption room.  Cute kittens stuck wee paws out through crate doors.  Adult cats snoozed.  I did a quick scan of the room, without knowing what I was looking for until I saw this mass of fluffy buff-colored cat crammed into the far corner of a crate.  The stats on his door matched those of a would-be Joon.  A volunteer removed the guy from his crate and put us into an introduction room together.  I sat in awe, struggling to reconcile this new cat with my memories of Joon.  We left the shelter with the intention of digging up old photographs of Joon and getting copies of his vet records for more information.

At the end of the day, I ask myself if it matters whether that cat is the same Joon I raised from kitten-hood.  He is a 6yo cat at an animal shelter that will euthanize him if he stays there long enough, isn’t that reason enough to rescue him?  But how can I communicate that gem to the critters I live with?

Dear Vacation Fairy,

For my next holiday from work I would love to volunteer with an animal rehabilitation program.  I have been working very hard at my office job and miss feeling the breeze in my hair and seeing the sun rise and set.  My love for animals continues to grow and I feel a yearning to help large wildlife.

Gratefully yours,

Morethangray

Morethangray!  So good to hear from you.  Have you seen this website?  It may guide you toward your next holiday.

Happy tails,

VF

I’ve made the jump from eating simple veggie-matarian fare into the land of the big vee; I am only eating vegan food.  I still eat honey, which I’ve heard can be a controversial issue.

For some time now I’ve chosen non-leather products.  What was once known as vinyl is now green, and considered a vegan-friendly alternative to leather.  While I’ll purchase canvas and the occasional vinyl item, I’m not sold on the environmental aspect of using vinyl as an alternative to leather.  There are so many variables to consider when deeming something “green”, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn a graduate student was writing their PhD dissertation on the results of their analysis of the leather vs vinyl debate.

While I’d love to live a manic life of endless pleasure, screaming bliss and treasures that materialize from the air…I don’t.

For every yes there is a no.  While it can get more complicated than this, let’s keep it simple for the sake of this post.  Here are a few of the decisions I’ve made recently:

Yes: Granta renewal

No: Tin House renewal

. . .

Yes: Garden rescaping extravaganza

No: Holiday a la roadtrip between southern Spain and the north of France

. . .

Yes: Saving for a rainy day

No: Another pair of shoes

. . .

Yes: Physical therapy, rest and limited range of physical activity

No: Rupturing another intervertebral disk

. . .

Yes: Tomatoes, bananas, carrots, grapes, oranges and beans

No: Love handles

. . .

Yes: Tofu!

No: Animal face on my plate

. . .

Yes: Bubbly water

No: Booze

. . .

Yes: Mi familia

Gwendel

Arlis

Winslow

the.gray.shoes

On a recent drive home from work I noticed a circus off I-880.  The advertisements featured tigers, which immediately caught my attention.  I fantasized about how to meet the tigers, partly to have a close encounter and partly to assess their conditions in circus captivity.  Needless to say, nothing came of these fantasies.

wtf

I’m not the only one interested in the health and well-being of captive animals.  A recent article in Animal Welfare describes the results of a study designed to assess the welfare of animals in circuses.  Not surprisingly, circus life is unhealthy for wild animals.  A combination of lack of space, social contact and exercise is beastly; when combined with stage performance and travel conditions, the confinement of animals to a circus is simply brutal.

Stars of the show they may be, but elephants, lions and tigers are the wild animals least suited to life in a circus, concludes the first global study of animal welfare in circuses.

“It’s no one single factor,” says Stephen Harris of the University of Bristol, UK, and lead researcher of the study. “Whether it’s lack of space and exercise, or lack of social contact, all factors combined show it’s a poor quality of life compared with the wild,” he says.

The survey concludes that on average, wild animals spend just 1 to 9 per cent of their time training, and the rest confined to cages, wagons or enclosures typically covering a quarter the area recommended for zoos.

Worst affected are elephants, lions, tigers and bears. Often they’re confined to cages where they pace up and down for hours on end.

“Even if they are in a larger, circus pen, there’s no enrichment such as logs to play with, in case they use them to break the fence and escape,” says Harris.

(from New Scientist)

Where in the world is there a home for such fierce predators?

If the internet gained consciousness, I imagine it would be lonely.

by Wexford Girl (aka Annie Galvin)

Consider Jane, from Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s series.  A sentient being, Jane arose from a pattern-recognition and prediction program that ran long enough to be able to recognize and reprogram itself.  Being the only one of her kind, Jane was understandably lonely.

The Mind Game, whose purpose was to seek out patterns across wide fields of data, is modified to predict markets and invest Ender’s trust fund appropriately, which it proves alarmingly good at; it is also used to review demographic data…It is assumed to have grown in complexity during the 3000-year gap between Shadow of the Giant and Speaker for the Dead, especially as Graff describes the Mind Game as being able to reprogram itself, and finally becomes the sentient Jane.

Some scientists claim the internet, our internet, is already semi-conscious.  Full consciousness would entail the internet evolving into a self-aware network that constantly strives to become better at what it does, reorganizing itself and filling gaps in its own knowledge and abilities.  That’s a high bar for consciousness; I wonder what percent of humans would meet that set of criteria.

In no particular order I’ve accomplished the following:

• Napped.
• Designated a bucket for “gray water” collection. Any water that would normally run down the drain is now being collected in a special bucket. For example: the water run down the drain as temperature heats up for showers or washing dishes, pre-soap. At the end of each day, I take the bucket outside and water my (non-edible) plants.
• Read a book: The Pharmacist’s Mate by Amy Fusselman. A most satisfying McSweeney’s selection from 2001, TPM is a memoir written in the time following the death of Fusselman’s father.
• Created a workshop en plein air. Within the confines of a somewhat enclosed patio I’ve placed a pair of benches. The current configuration allows one surface to be used for repotting and other gardening tasks, while the second is set up for painting and finishing furniture.
• Transplanted the dozen (or so) ferns from the side yard into containers in the back yard. The containers have been topped off with river rocks to keep Winslow “Dirtmouth” Gray from digging up the fragrant earth.
• Napped.
• Painted a holder for the gardening hose that’s been relegated to a pile on the ground for the past year. Next up: installation!
• Spent some QT in the great outdoors that is my backyard, which included multiple bird sightings and hearing the racket that is a pair of crows mating in the redwood overhead.
• Hopped around the internet a bit. Found Dutch photographer Peter Funch’s work (via BoingBoing); screamed with appreciation for his thematically composited photos. For example:

Following Followers, Peter Funch

While not technically “on sabbatical”, I am taking a week off work to recharge.

It’s a perfect time to be out of the office!  Spring is blooming in the yard and each sunny day is touched by breezes; kites are all the rage at Cesar Chavez.  Not to mention how much I’ve missed spending long days with the pup.  We must practice napping in the sunshine.

The Winslow

Before

My front yard could be described as a feature that “needs some TLC” (see above). It just so happens that I have a lot of care to give!

I’ve been saving my pennies, and feel I’m ready to turn the copper into some TLC. After all is said and done, the aim is to create a thriving, low-maintenance garden that welcomes us when we come home, encourages visitors when they drop by and allows for puppy romping.

While not completely visible in the “before” picture above, there is a side entrance to my house on the right in the form of a semi-concealed gate (aka the front gate). Behind the front gate is a side yard, also suffering from a TLC-deficit. There is a second gate on the left leading to the backyard. The presence of a high wooden fence on either side of the house and the absence of a clear front entrance has been good for deterring solicitors and burglers, but bad for visiting friends. I’ve often heard people say they didn’t know how to get to the front door!

Had a meeting with Julie Gordon this morning to talk about a front yard garden re-do. I’m pretty flexible about plant specifics; Julie’s knowledge about suitable plants for the location in terms of light, water and soil requirements trump any need I have for a particular plant.

Detail from a Julie Gordon-scape

Talking visuals and arrangement ideas with her affirmed my comfort with entrusting her to design details. After spending some time up in the clouds of wishful thinking, we returned to the real world by concluding the appointment with a discussion of measurements, budgets and timing. Julie is going to draft a budget for the project we discussed: plantlets, fencing, high-tech/timed drip system, and perhaps a porch enbiggening. I’m curious to see how much my dreams cost.

Charlie Becker, Pod-Rat-OX

As an SF Bay Area native, I don’t feel a strong pull to head down to LA.  At least I haven’t, until now.

I’d like to see an art show at Giant Robot 2 (in LA) but alas, I won’t make it before the April 15 closing night.  In case you are in the area and can make it, here are the details:

Giant Robot is proud to host Year of the Ox, a group art show celebrating year 4707 on the lunar calendar. Pieces will include illustration, oils, pencils, prints, watercolor, sculpture, and other media-all dedicated to the hardest-working animal of the Chinese zodiac cycle.

GR2
2062 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
gr2.net
(310) 445-9276