Ligeia, pumpkins, y gatos

high winds and cold weather
doesn't sound like San Diego
but it has been like this the past two days
and i am immensely happy about it!
i finally get to wear a sweater for the 1st time
in about 8 months...

and the weather matches the October Halloweenesque mood
so I've running some of those infamous October errands
like reading Allan Poe's short tales &
getting a cheap, small & rather cute pumpkin for $1.99 at Von's



and i am not sure if to cook it and munch it down
or to carve with a silly face like last year
[halloween 2008]
although it's sad to keep it away from herr Gato
who is rather enamored with it



he's not supposed to climb on this table
but since the arrival of the pumpkin
every time i leave the house and come back
i find him sleeping by it
i moved the pumpkin
and the napping cat followed it
so funny!
my guess is he likes the smell



and on breaks and to break away from
obnoxious everyday issues
i've been reading this classic Allan Poe's tale
Ligeia
I read it many many years ago
I was a teenager, 12, or 14? maybe?
and I read it in Spanish
so it is pretty much a brand new story for me
and the old English style
it really takes you for a few minutes
away from it all, trying to understand and make sense
of all those complicated English sentences and especially
to imagine those scenarios that mister Poe so
delightfully narrated... by the time it all makes sense
you realize the obscurity of the matter handled
here here free eBook a simple & sober .txt file
courtesy of the wonderful Gutenberg Project
and you might as well read the whole compilation
where this story appears, Famous Modern Ghost Stories
selected by Dorothy Scarborough, Ph.D.
Lecturer in English, Columbia University
New York, March, 1921.
yes!! 1921, so old classic tales
really, you should...
enjoy!


Ligeia illustration
~by an author whose name i don't know but who has
a great illustration of Allan Poe's creepy tale in Google images

don't cage the hen that feeds you

little advice on how to make the burden less
on the animals we abuse every day to feed ourselves...
of course i could help more if i were a vegan!
but since i am not, at least i buy eggs from cage-free raised hens

i am claustrophobic myself, so i can only imagine what it's like
to spend one's lifetime inside a cage, let alone
putting tons of eggs for those ugly two-legged, loud-speaking
animals to collect them every morning and engorge on them
boiled, fried, or on muffins and pancakes...

so no posts, bad mood days, ah but a tea advice & more blah

i've been rather moody the last couple of days
called in sick 2 days
migraine (under control)
but still... &
tiredness, bad mood, and general down-lowness
all mostly courtesy of the jerky thievery
landlords & owners of the roach motel
the placed is rented
but they are trying to take advantage of me anyways
returning a misery of all that i gave them

so yeah
blah blah blah
gray gray gray
angry tired & a mess
thank God i remember
there is a whole long life
of mine before and after this sordid
episode
and at the end it will be all a silly post

and sure, i am not taking it
am going to the small courts claims
ah! i will for once test the American legal system
hooray????

so like with many other bad episodes in life
a smudge of grayness among the blue skies
of one's life

yeah, they might take advantage of me
but at least i am me and not them
heh heh

and then i opened one of these
philosophical tea bags


ah sighs!

[and the word you don't read complete
'cause of my dry finger is 'reason']

The Fun Theory

this is cool!
be patient though
& download the video (by pausing it)
before watching it all
... it's that slow :(
worth watching, or not?
i truly hope so
not me, but you
shall be the judge



[via http://www.rolighetsteorin.se/en/]

achieving Nirvana, the furry way

after reading Dr. Jay's from Yoga for Cynics
The Cat Story, i remembered this photo I took
from herr Gato a couple of weeks ago

I was wondering how long it took
Paramhansa Yogananda to become a Yogi
and how much discipline and control one has
to exercise to become a bit relaxed
let alone to be a little enlightened...

and yet herr Gato seems to achieve Nirvana
pretty much every time he naps around...
maybe he's getting all of Paramhansa's knowledge
by osmosis, since he likes to sleep by his book



as i told you before, he loves to nap
around books, funny fat blond cat this herr Gato
everyday i am liking more his literary relaxed style

October 07

today, October 7, is my favorite aunt's birthday
my aunt Margarita
so it's Thom Yorke's b-day too
one of my favorite artists
notice that i didn't say favorite singer
i think he's actually not a great singer
but his conceptual mind
has mesmerized me (& millions)
for years now
his interesting solo album
The Eraser proved what he can do
without Radiohead
as the allmusic.com review says
it's intensely focused and steady...
and visit his website too
TheEraser.Net

here some of his solo & live performances


and sure, a Radiohead song too

these very dark days for me
feeling weak against roaches, sickness
asthma, allergy, and over all
selfish human behaviors
sure i wish i was too
bullet, human & roaches
and broken heart proof too



this is not the 'official' video of the song
but i feel it fits the tune...

Limb by limb and tooth by tooth
Tearing up inside of me.
Everyday, everyhour, wish that I was..
Was bullet proof

Wax me, mould me
Heat the pins and stab them in.
You have turned me into this, just wish that it..
Was bullet proof

So pay me money, and take a shot
Lead fill the hole in me.
I could burst a million bubbles, all surrogate..
& bullet proof (slowdown, slowdown, slowdown)
Bullet proof (slowdown, slowdown, slowdown)

new apartment gone awry

i canceled the lease in the about-to-be-my-home
'cause i found roaches in the fridge...
saw them one night right before moving in
& after having signed the 1-year lease

now i am
dealing with getting back my in-advance month of rent
and deposit
then these are
busy. strange. hectic. confusing
times

yet i am OK hopeful to get
at minimum my deposit back
and some of the month-rent money

and even if i hate courts
somehow i wouldn't mind taking the matter
to the small claims court
i feel strong and would love to face
the guys that were supposed to be my landlords
they were prompt to reply on a weekend
when they wanted my deposit and rent in advance
but they sent the contractor to talk to me
and didn't reply my phone calls when i canceled the deal

tonight, i wrote many e-mails to those landlords
and talk to a jerky one for over 30 mins on the phone
& for a calm smiling mexican, i feel i did pretty well
my broken accent and surely many English mistakes
but i wasn't intimidated at all...
i was fighting for my rights to live roach-free!!!

specially inside a fridge!!

and yes!! they were right
moving sucks!!

promise to reply to the lovely comments
when i am less pissed off

and oh human deals,
here we go

mister Blue Jay

so this is one of the things
i feel i could miss from my old house
although i am already planning
to put a bird feeder at my new place


[click on the photos to enlarge, it's worth, he's a pretty guy]

ahh mister Beautiful Blue Jay here
i looove their mocking sounds
so loud and irreverent
and they are such beautiful elegant guys
of course they take dives at the cats
and people, they are a little too territorial
but wow! their blue feathers are some of the
loveliest shade of blues that nature can produce



and these Californian Jays are actually
Western Scrub Jays
beautiful moody guys

i am an Earth Rooster

so my Chinese Horoscope says that i am an
EARTH ROOSTER
Jan 22, 1909 to Feb 9, 1910
Feb 17, 1969 to Feb 5, 1970

some of the descriptions seem accurate
some others not so much...

Rooster is often seen as the original strong silent type, not unlike the Humphrey Bogart and Greto Garbo prototypes. Most people consider them quite eccentric. Sad to say, relationships with other people are often strained. They are quite moody and can be too outspoken. They are often self-centered, but can be quite brave when the situation calls for it. On the other hand, Rooster People are quite talented and capable. They are always devoted to their work and have a reputation for being the hardest of workers. Rooster People are deep thinkers and are pioneers in spirit. They can experience the greatest of joy in complete solitude. Even though often alone, they rarely experience loneliness. Instead, they enjoy their own company and feel solitude helps them in their quest after knowledge.

Shark-tail Soup and fortune cookies are among the keys to good health.
(probably this is the most accurate part, i do like soup not sure shark-tails though & i love eating/reading fortune cookies, and sure!! i am a loner too, i love being around people, but i usually retrieve by myself at the end of the day, and i do need a fairly amount of time by myself or i start feeling too stressed and tired i must rest from people at least a couple of hours a day, whenever i have had a couple living with me [it lasted only few months] or a roommate, or while growing up with my mom, i can't wait for them to leave the house, so i can truly rest)

The Earth Rooster epitomizes the very essence of one of Robert Browning's most popular poems, "Grow old along with me; the best is yet to be." Despite early adversity and rough times, their philosophical bent has led them to expect and therefore to achieve the good life. They have a very analytical way of looking at problems and they can pierce the most daunting of tasks with utmost efficiency. With saint-like patience, they are consistent in everything they do and always answer to their own counsel, which hasn't failed them yet. As a result, their careers are forever anchored in smooth sailing, and as life passes, they will know peace, abundance, and complete fulfillment. The same goes for their love life. There are difficulties at the very beginning but as time goes by, they understand each other perfectly, and receive "the best" love has to offer.
Famous Rooster people: Suharto, Deborah Kerr, Peter Ustinov, D. H. Lawrence, John Glenn, Emperor Akihito, Yoko Ono, Eudora Welty, Bette Midler

moving...

i am moving!!
same neighborhood, right down the street literaly
still stressful/busy times ahead
more to come soon...

am gonna miss my little yard so much!!!
this new place: no yard, but 1 bedroom
here is a studio

it will feel more 'urban' to live in a 2nd floor
more of an apartment complex than a little cottage
but this place has NO insulation
every winter is coooold, sometime colder than the outside?
and well, that doesn't matter much in Sunny Diego
the problem is the summer...
and the alley full of cars, & the cats
roaming around outside, Gato got another abscess
hospital of Cats for 2 nights... gotta keep them indoors
even if they hate it, but can't keep them indoors
in such a small place, so moving to a 1 bedroom
where they won't have access to my room
still it's gonna be hell for them, and for me
to leave the outdoors and settle in an apartment
yet at least it's triple size of this place
bigger kitchen, 1 bedroom, and much bigger living room
than my whole studio now
still...

ahhh... hope i did the right thing...
wish me luck!!
and of course more bloggy-gossip
and hopefully some pix coming soon

of the yard what i'll miss the most
all the little plants i planted here
and the BIG palm outside my home
which grew from about 5' since 2005
to about 25' now, it's way taller than my house

and to think nobody is going to water them

and i am going to miss the many birds i feed
i won't miss their mess of seeds
but by now, at least 20 mourning doves
4 or 5 blue jays, and about 30 of the little
"common" city birds, those little brown ones
come every day!
plus 2 chubby skunks...
nobody is going to feed them anymore...

but heck, my health demands an extra room

ah sighs
hope i get used to my new place
can't wait to have the keys, so i can really explore
changing Sunday