The Cat Fight is Over

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Well, after a long month of staying indoors, [URL=http://www.alitaylor.com/?p=31]Marceau[/url] has ventured outside. Perhaps he made a resolution, or perhaps it was because I spent last night scrubbing the back door of my apartment (and the floor board and the areas surrounding the deck) to rid our back porch of the smell of [URL=http://www.alitaylor.com/?p=127]the foreign kitty[/url] who moved there.

(S)he was a cute little cat, but (s)he intimidated the heck out of Marceau and so he stayed inside day after day, traumatized with the smell of that kitty near his home.

Last week we took off to his Grandma and Grandpa’s house (aka: my parent’s) for Christmas and he relaxed in their resort-like home for a few days, enjoying romps outside on the resort’s large grounds (this is all in comparison to our humble little apartment and side yard). I think he remembered how much he loves the outdoors, because when we got home the other night, he peeked outside immediately and even poked a paw out past the doorway. But the smell of that cat lingered, and he remained inside even though it seems that the actual cat has been adopted somewhere or found another yard to invade. (S)he has disappeared…

Now, instead of another kitty smell, the back porch has the clean smell of Clorox and Marceau is now sitting outside, enjoying the last rain of 2005! Yippee!

First day out Enjoying the rain

Bring on 2006!

A Long Drive in Photographs

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It’s 354 miles from my parent’s house in Lockeford, California to my home in Santa Monica. Two days after Christmas I got in my car and made the long drive home.

It’s a lot of the same, over and over, along the I-5 freeway (which become simply ‘The 5′ once you hit LA County). If I’d been a passenger, I could have taken many more and much more interesting photos, but here are the pictures I managed to snap along the way, while still remaining to be a safe, solo driver…

The first temptation was to go the ‘wrong way’ and end up in my favorite city:
Difficult Choice

Then, Read more

What’s in that Stars?

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After helping a friend of mine move this evening, we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant and chit chatted about this and that.

I found that our conversation kept returning to that of our astrological signs. We were 2 Geminis, 1 Capricorn and 1 Aries ~ and it was SO interesting because we all certainly were being just exactly what might be expected of each sign.

I love talking about astrological signs and contemplating what kind of real significance any of it has. I think it has a lot of significance. My dad, however, doesn’t think much of it at all.

If there is no significance, then why are Cancer men all so similar? And why does it seem that many Capricorn women are a little sneaky? And that I love Libras of either sex and that I really like Saggittarius men (although I’ve never dated one).

It can’t simply be coincidental.

I think my astrological chart is so telling…

I’m a Gemini:

You have a quick, bright and agile mind, but an extremely short attention span. You love the external, kaleidoscopic aspects of life, but you tend to avoid (and even fear) deep, close emotional involvements. As such, you seem to enjoy travel and sightseeing and generally being “on-the-go.” You get quite listless when things around you become static and dull, but your excitement returns whenever you are stimulated by a new idea. Chatty, inquisitive and quite playful, you enjoy practical jokes and games in general. Your moods change quickly and often — you are very restless and constantly in motion. You are known for your versatility and adaptability. Your vivaciousness enlivens any social gathering.

with Virgo moon:

You tend to be serious-minded but cheerful for the most part. You need tasks that engage both your mind and your hands. A careful worker, you enjoy making things. You are neat and orderly, and are very concerned with good health habits. Fastidious to the extreme, you cannot tolerate messes and will immediately clean them up. Reserved, shy, and very self-critical, you tend to be very hard on yourself. You usually will go out of your way to be helpful and useful to others. Practical, reliable, efficient and conservative, at times you are a bit of a prude. You are known to lead a simple, uncomplicated, frugal, methodical and unemotional lifestyle. You are devoted and caring to those you love.

and my Rising sign is in Taurus:

Calm and deliberate, you hate to move quickly or act hastily. Very practical, every effort must count or you can’t be bothered. Patient, persistent and steady, but very stubborn — you can’t be pushed or pressured into anything. You seem outwardly self-assured because you tend to repress your inner tension and turmoil. You exude an earthy warmth, friendliness and charm. You demand comfortable surroundings and appreciate the good life. Be careful of a tendency to be overly self-indulgent. At times, you are lazy and difficult to motivate. Overcoming inertia is a problem for you and, because you are not by nature a self-starter, it is often necessary for you to receive stimuli from others in order to get moving.

And if you know anything about me at all, you’d know that this really hits close to my nature…wouldn’t you say?

Blog Boredom

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I suppose it’s my own insecurity talking, but I think my blog is boring. Perhaps this is because I read [URL=http://sunshine.dubtribe.com]my brother’s blog[/url] everyday and it’s filled with fun stuff to look at, interesting posts, colorful pictures and music bytes. I love his blog!

Then, I get inspired to write something fabulous and I sit down and stare at the empty space and stare at the empty space and stare at the empty space.

Perhaps I censor myself too much. Perhaps I just don’t have the patience to learn more about posting cool things. Perhaps I’m fearful of being judged for what I write about. (Am I too simple and uninteresting?)

This brings me to a common misconception I have about myself. I often worry that I am not interesting and so I censor myself ~ which always winds up…you guessed it…making me uninteresting. Ha! That’s the irony.

My brother said that he found, when he first started blogging, he spent a lot of time reading other people’s blogs and the blogs he liked best were the ones which had something new everyday. I enjoy his because I, too, can count on there being a new post everyday…so I am giving myself a challenge. Starting today I am going to do my darndest to post something new everyday and see if it will catch on and become effortless.

But! This challenges you, my handful of loyal, quiet blog readers, to reply to my ideas and sometimes very personal thoughts. Honesty. I appreciate it in my brother’s blog and I am going to try to write with the same abandon and truth…

So, here goes! My next post will a photo recap of my journey from yesterday.

You’ll get the picture…

Inspiration…

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It can come from anywhere ~ I simply have to keep my eyes open and my ears listening! I love being inspired by people I know (which happens often, because I know some pretty amazing people) and I love it when I can be inspired by random things…such as a song, or a fashion accessory, or someone’s expression.

There is inspiration everywhere, it’s finding a way to use it creatively that takes some work. I’m working on it right now.

And when I find a way to use it, I’ll invite you to come watch!

keep looking »