Mosaic Life

Cat in the box

If you ever check out my flickr account, I’m sure you’ve noticed the plethora of cat pictures that have besieged the pages. I know, it’s excessive. But I love my little kitty, and I paid for the account, so there. Plus, I look at countless pictures of barely formed, pink little infants, so humor me here. This is the closest thing to offspring that I’ll have for a while.

Now to talk about my cat some more!

He’s rambunctious. That pretty much sums up his personality. He loves to bite and pounce. But our vet said that we shouldn’t allow him to do that, because Clawdius will think it’s okay when he gets older. And having a grown cat doing that sort of thing is bad. Unless you want a guard cat. Of course, I would find that amusing, as long as the cat only attacked outsiders and robbers and such. Which is not the case presently.

But you should see how cute he is when he bites! His ears go back and he hugs you with his front claws while kicking with his back claws. And that look he gets when he’s about to pounce. Such cuteness!

He got his first taste of human food the other night. We had friends over, and we left some spinach crab dip on the coffee table. When we walked back into the living room, he was gobbling up the dip - even after removing him, he licked his face thoroughly, savoring the forbidden taste just a while longer.

But we don’t deny him treats. We buy him these salmon-flavored treats that drive him crazy. We refer to them as “kitty crack,” but we’ll probably have to stop that. We wouldn’t want the neighbors to overhear us saying “You want some crack, kitty? Want some crack?”

Okay, I suppose that’s enough cat talk. For now.

Killing Germs Like Nobody’s Business

Wanna know my useless skill that will never really get me anywhere in life but I can say with full confidence that I am better at this than you? Dr. Mario on the Nintendo. I played this game constantly in the fifth grade, back when I had no life and I had to invite friends on Monday to have a sleepover at my house on Friday or else it didn’t give their parents enough time to thoroughly think through the consequences of their kid being out of their hair for a night, the freedom, it might be too much for them to handle.

So anyway. I’ve successfully beaten two other self-proclaimed Dr. Mario experts and countless (okay, like, 7) amateurs. Once the pills started falling and the germs started dramatically dying, they had no idea what hit them.

If the situation ever arises that the world will be destroyed unless someone makes it to level 25 on Dr. Mario, I’m the person to call. Just thought you’d like to know that for future reference.

From Atlanta to the Sea

This morning as I left my apartment (which is hard when I have an exceptionally cute cat [now with more ounces!] and an apartment that I actually like) I was confronted with the smell of smoke. It was the first time I felt sort of like I was in California again. Is it common for Georgia to have fires like this? Because Georgia already has its share of natural disasters, and it seems unfair to have more.

Speaking of California, some friends from there are coming to Atlanta in late June. Since we’re relatively new to Atlanta, I’m trying to think of some things for us to do when they get here. Maybe visit Zoo Atlanta? The aquarium? Stone Mountain (a geological formation with heroes of the confederacy carved right into the side)? I guess we’ll figure it out. Feel free to comment with suggestions.

More books where that came from

Woo, it’s another Monday! We had a very productive weekend moving into our new apartment. My dad came to Atlanta around lunchtime on Friday and Project Moving Out of the Crappy Apartment commenced. Brandon, Dad, Kyle, and Jason proceeded to lug bookcases, furniture (old and new), and a ton of books - wait, two tons - up the stairs to our third story apartment. That picture on the right? That’s maybe half of the books.

But I don’t mean to complain about the books. It’s Brandon’s thing to collect books, and I can tell by his classmates’ awe when beholding his collection that he’s got a good selection going on. So I don’t begrudge his plethora of books, especially since I didn’t have to hoist the majority of them up three flights of stairs.

Anyway, I love the new apartment. Brandon has his own office, we finally have a dining area (with a new table and chairs!) and room to move around without bumping into one another, a luxury that we’ve done without for the last 9 months.

I’ll post more pictures on flickr once we’ve finished putting things away and have settled in a bit more.

Clawdius the Monster Cat

Brandon and I sat in the empty living room of our new apartment last night and watched Clawdius gallop about, doing sideways hops and pouncing our hands or feet, whatever was closest to his fangs and talons. Our little gray monster has two settings: hyper as if he’d just injested a few hits of speed, or sound asleep. And we just watched him, laughing when he ran into the glass on the french doors that lead to Brandon’s office (his new favorite place), scolding him when he tried to bite the cord on the cell phone charger, and watching in amusement as he got a running start and leapt into one of the plastic tubs we’d recently unloaded.

I finally have a kitty. And I totally recommend it.

We get our new apartment today!

Finally, the day we’ve been waiting for since mid-August of last year. The day we can begin moving out of our apartment! Did I mention that the apartment we’ve been living in is less than 500 square feet in size? And that it sucks? Because I meant to mention that. There were good things about the apartment. Three good things. One, close proximity to Emory and my work. Two, the water pressure in the shower was awesome. Three, we lived close to a lovely forest. And that’s it.

You know how we were thinking about buying a place? After considering the advice of those older and wiser, with the housing market being the way that it is, we decided to wait and see where Brandon will go for his doctorate before we buy something, since we could end up moving in two years.

Our new apartment will be much more spacious, with an office for Brandon and his computer and his books. What more does he need? My computer will probably be set up in the bedroom - we still haven’t worked out the details on that one. But you can bet that we’ll be lazy enough to instant message each other a room away.

The new apartment will only be a little further from my work - it won’t increase the commute more than five minutes. Brandon will be able to walk to Emory’s Clairmont campus and take the shuttle to class. Good fun!

We’ll have a fireplace for the first time, which we will probably use twice a year with our weather, but still, it’s a fireplace. Yay. Our apartment is on the third floor, which will make it easier for us to thwart advancing enemy efforts. You know, like if they’re trying to climb the side of the apartment building. We can also leave the windows open without worrying about burglars, or pirates. We’ll get exercise climbing up and down the stairs. And we’ll have vaulted ceilings.

Did I mention that we’ll have a washer/dryer in our actual apartment, like we used to before we moved? And a dishwasher, imagine!

Living in a crappy apartment sure makes you appreciate modern conveniences. Yay, we’re moving!

Green Sludge and Tortilla Chips

So last night we went to this fiesta of sorts at a friend’s house to celebrate the end of the semester. We were bringing guacamole. Were bringing it. That’s a hint that this story is about to get interesting. That is, if you consider a story about how it came about that we brought green sludge to the get-together interesting.

The guacamole was perfect, it was. We bought all the ingredients the night before. We had the seasoning, the 5 avocados, the garlic, the lime, the tomatoes. It was ready an hour before time to leave, but I wanted things to be perfect, so I put the bowl of yummy guacamole into the freezer so it would be chilled in time. Things shifted around, I opened the freezer, and the bowl fell to the floor, emptying its contents onto the rug and shattering for good measure. I reacted appropriately by doing some serious freaking out. When Brandon heard me freaking out in the kitchen, he ran to my side, thinking that the cat had died or something. He tried to console me by saying “it’s only guacamole!” to which I replied, “exactly!”

After I’d finished getting way too upset to justify, we went to the store and bought pre-made guacamole. We brought it home and gazed upon the goop with disappointment. This was not guacamole. This was… sludge. Have you ever seen You Can’t Do That on Television? It looked just like the slime. But we brought it anyway, after adding seasonings, tomato, and onions.

And people actually ate the dip. I guess the seasonings made it eligible for eating. But seriously, that doomed guacamole? It would have been soo good. And that’s why I had to share this with you. You are welcome.

P.S. Here’s a picture so you’ll understand why it wasn’t salvageable.

1.4 lbs of Cuteness

Introducing our new little kitty, Clawdius Catullus. Though the name may sound a little uppity, Clawdius excels in keeping it real.

His likes: shoelaces, pouncing on us while we lie asleep at night, and climbing up Brandon’s pant leg.

Dislikes: sleeping at night, getting his claws trimmed so that he can’t climb the furniture or Brandon, and baths.

Awesome Idea

If you’re a 17-year-old guy, you should totally tell people that you’re the baby on the cover of the Nevermind album by Nirvana. Because. You know. Who’s going to know you’re lying?

Meme fun with music

Alright, an interesting meme. It’s great because I don’t even have to think up something! Just follow the rules. Baah. (That was a sheep noise, btw.)

1. Open your music library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc).
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool.

Keep in mind that this is coming from an iPod nano with 455 songs. And some of those songs belong to Brandon - I consider it a compromise. Even if I do skip his songs.

Opening Credits: “Island in the sun,” Weezer.

That’s a good start. All upbeat and stuff. And, as I’ve mentioned before, I love me some Weezer. I know, it’s probably not the coolest thing to like such a mainstream band, but believe me, I can embarrass myself far more than this with some of the songs I’ll listen to.

Waking Up: “Forever Young,” Alphaville.

Yeah, like I was saying? This is off the Napoleon Dynamite soundtrack. Wait, should it embarrass me more to admit we have that? No matter.

Personally, I think this is more of a prom song (cuz in Napoleon Dynamite, it is) but eh, I guess it could be appropriate waking up music. You know, because it encourages eternal youth. And with proper beauty sleep, you have a fighting chance at not looking like you’re 80 when you’re 80. You’ll maybe look 75. So you’ll be forever younger than your actually age. Just go with it.

By the way, I’m so not a morning person. Therefore, I’d either need a very gentle song or one that will jolt me awake. Not this song. This song would make me want to hide from the 80s.

Falling in Love: “Bittersweet Symphony,” The Verve.

Love the way this song starts. You do too. The violins? A perfect song for waking up. Did you hear me, iPod? It’s for waking up! Despite the fact that he says “Well I’ve never prayed but tonight I’m on my knees.” Tell me you wouldn’t want to wake up to this song. You can’t. Because I won’t hear it. La la la la la, not listening.

As for a falling in love song? Eh, it’s not heavy metal. So it’s not the worst song for falling in love. It does have a dreamy quality to it. So I’ll accept it.

First Love Song: “Orange Crush,” REM.

Well alright. It has the word “crush” in the title. Crush, love, etc. He’s got his spine, he’s got his orange crush. And that, along with love, is really all you need. Plus, I named the first mix CD I made for Brandon “orange crush.” Oddly enough, it didn’t have this song on it. Heh.

Breaking Up: “Marching Bands of Manhattan,” Death Cab for Cutie.

It’s no “Love Hurts,” that’s for sure. I’d say this is more of a love song. He’s all like, “if I could open my mouth wide enough for a marching band to march out, they would make your name sing, and bend through alleys and bounce off other buildings.” Sweet, right? And a bit weird.

But you could turn it around, and be like, well he couldn’t do cool stuff like that, so maybe he lost her love because she has completely unrealistic expectations and demands strange displays of affection. Oh hold up! Then there are the lyrics, “sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole…” Yeah, that’s sad stuff - worthy of breakup drama.

But for me, this song isn’t emo enough for breakup music. I think Dashboard would be more suitable.

Prom: “Juicebox,” The Strokes.

C’mon iPod. Work with me here. This song is good for a car chase. Not an awkward teenage function in which you get dressed up and wear a small bouquet on your wrist.

Well… Let’s see what we can do with the lyrics: “waiting for some action, waiting for some action.” That describes a lot of guys on their prom nights.

Mental Breakdown: “Volunteers,” Jefferson Airplane.

Hehe. Start the revolution. You know how I said Brandon has some songs on my iPod? This is kind of one of those. Except it’s from Forrest Gump, and that’s the one soundtrack with oldies that I’ll actually listen to. Although I do feel that “Break on through” would have been a more appropriate mental breakdown song from Forrest Gump.

Flashback: “The New Pollution,” Beck.

Ah, this does bring back memories. My friend Ivy originally had this album, and I think I traded Cake’s Fashion Nugget for it. It was a pretty even trade. Anyway, I remember listening to it while we poured through Delia’s and Seventeen, calling and ordering free catalogs that we didn’t really want or need, we were just bored and living in a small town. What else is there to do once Walmart and the graveyard are closed? You tell me.

Aside: Dang this is a long meme! Onward.

Getting Back Together: “Honest Mistake,” The Bravery.

Ahahaha. Awesome. Although, it might have been funnier under Birth of a Child. That’s a mistake we haven’t made yet, though.

Wedding: “When you were young,” The Killers.

Hehe. “He doesn’t look a thing like Jesus, but he talks like a gentleman, like you imagined when you were young.” What little girl doesn’t plan out her wedding (besides me)? And what little girl doesn’t picture her future husband looking a lot like Jesus? More than you’ll ever know.

Birth of a Child: “Don’t Panic,” Coldplay.

Good advice. Don’t panic. We live in a beautiful world, yeah we do, yeah we do.

Final Battle: “Hey Jude,” The Beatles.

One of Brandon’s song, though I do like a lot of Beatles’ songs. This song is a great song for the final battle, because it’s about the battle for love.

And any time you feel the pain, hey, Jude, refrain
Don’t carry the world upon your shoulders
Well don’t you know that its a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder.

It’s a battle against pride for Jude. He’s got to go get that woman he loves. He’s got to make it better. Na na na nanana, nananana, hey Jude.

Death Scene: “Why You’d Want to Live Here,” Death Cab for Cutie.

A song about Los Angeles. The smog, the crime, the beautiful people. Perfect place for a death scene.

Funeral Song: “A Movie Script Ending,” Death Cab for Cutie.

Not bad, but it would have been a better ending credits song. “And the patrons are leaving, leaving.”

Ending Credits: “Oh My,” Mellowdrone.

Ah, a good upbeat song to leave on. “Oh my what a wonderful day.” When I first heard this song, I tried to look up the lyrics, and that zippity doo da song kept coming up. I actually ended up getting this song from a Paste magazine compilation. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, ending credits. Good song for that.

Hooray, I’m done! This is like the longest blog ever! Now go forth and do likewise.

Note: Huh. I realized after I’d finished that I’d skipped First Day of School and Driving. Which shifts most of the options down two. So you see, my iPod wasn’t being stupid. Twas I that was stupid. Ah well. I’ll be sure not to make that mistake on the next atrociously long meme in which I participate. Heh.