echodrift

Midna Uses the Buddy System

If you are a girl or have ever been around a lot of girls (which pretty much means everyone) you know that girls tend to go to the restroom in groups. Maybe we are unconsciously using the buddy system or maybe we’re following some herd mentality. There are several very legitimate reasons, though. What if the lock is broken on the stall? Someone needs to be there to hold it for you. No place to put your purse? A friend is there to hold it for you! And if you happen to need something you’re not carrying on you, well, they can bail you out. Whatever the reason, if one girl goes, one ore more girls go with her. It’s just how it is.

Somehow my cat knows this. Lately whenever I make a trip to the little girl’s room she follows me. Often as not she decides that she needs to go too and visits the litter box. It still cracks me up when I see her following me in there. Of course, Michael will yell “See!! Girls always have to go in groups.” I think he’s just jealous because when he even goes near the bathroom she runs away. I think that’s because he was the last one to give her a bath.

My Computer: Part II

Michael’s friend called a few days ago to let us know that the computer had arrived and he expected to get the processor in soon. However, the were a few things mentioned at the beginning of the phone call that made me worried when I overheard it. I hadn’t been super excited about shipping my computer off so I wasn’t really happy to hear some “Oh noes” and “What happened.” Turns out that the case got smashed in where my power supply sits. I’ve been assured that nothing other than the case was damaged. I think I’ll remain skeptical until I have it sitting here and powered on at my own desk.

I haven’t received any updates since then so I really don’t know when it will be back on its way. I really hope that it’s soon because I’m trying to work on some new designs/themes and it’s a bit of a challenge with a smaller screen.

Kitten News

We decided to name the little boy kitten Poe after the ghosts that appear in the Zelda series. Since Midna also comes from Zelda it seems very fitting. He’s also gray and his actions remind me of the boos in Mario. You know, the ones that become transparent when you look at them. All around Poe seems very fitting. Besides, Michael had said it was up to me to name him and that’s what I pick.

They seem to be doing very well. Midna still likes going everywhere. As soon as a door is opened within her hearing she comes running to see what’s going on. I think she’s also picking up on the sound of car keys. We’ll need to be careful with that one. They’re both doing well with using the litter box though Poe can’t seem to keep his feet clean. Poor guy has had a bath a day or more, even. Hopefully it’s just because he’s young. I hope to get them to the vet soon to arrange for them to be spayed and neutered when the time comes. I certainly don’t want to be giving away any kittens!

New Family Members

Michael and I both grew up with cats. When I was in second grade we got a kitten from one of our elementary school teachers and promptly named him ‘Figaro.’ I think we had just seen Pinocchio and wanted him to be like the little cat in the movie. We had him until I was a sophomore in college; he was about 13 at the time. Michael had Fred. He’s told me that got this cat not long after he was born so as long as he can remember, Fred was there. He lived to be about 19.

Both of us have wanted pets for a long time. Whenever it’d come up we’d be like “Aww, I want one but can we do it now?” Early this week I told Michael that I thought we should get one. (He usually pushed a little harder than I did when the subject would come up.) He immediately agreed so we decided that we would go to the animal shelter on Saturday (yesterday) to get a kitten. He had mentioned that maybe we would get two so that they would have a playmate. I kinda ho-hummed the idea because I wasn’t so sure about that.

Saturday came and it was off to the shelter. Their adopting hours for Saturdays were posted as 10 AM to 1 PM so we made sure to leave in plenty of time which was a good thing; this shelter was way out in the seemingly middle of nowhere and took us half an hour to drive to. When we got there, however, we were informed that the shelter was closed that day because of a yard sale that was being done for the benefit of the shelter. While they knew that some puppies had been taken they didn’t know if any kittens had been. Both of us were really disappointed. So we drove to the next town over to see if we could find this yard sale. We did; they had only taken puppies.

Then Michael said that he knew of a pet store not far from where we were. Now, when I think of pet stores I usually think that they have purebred animals and hardly ever have any cats. Then again, I haven’t been to many pet stores and most certainly none like this one. Let’s just say it wasn’t the cleanest place ever but they did have kittens.

We noticed this one when we first walked in. He (we’re pretty sure this one is a boy) was sitting there looking so adorable that we picked him out almost immediately. He’s pretty laid back for the most part. When I gave him his flea bath he took it rather well and really didn’t scratch me up too bad. He loves to climb up on shoulders though and just sit there. Or just sit on the backs of our chairs while we’re sitting in them. We haven’t picked out a name for him just yet.

Remember that I said I was the one who was reluctant to get two? Well… that changed. Michael had said he liked the little black kitten that was in a different cage. He won me over with his argument that they would need a playmate. He’s already named this one Midna (from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess). Boy is she a handful. She did not like her bath one bit; I have more than a few scratches from her. She’s been running around everywhere and playing with everything. Especially hands and cords. Just a minute ago she was in my lap but I had to put her down because every time I moved the mouse she’d grab at it. She also likes to jump. So far this morning she has climbed my pants and up my back as well as jumping from the floor to climb up the back of my chair on several occasions.

Now for one of the best parts: they’re already litter trained. At least, for the most part. When I woke up this morning one of them had left a little mess in the bathroom floor (we’ve decided to keep them there at night, at least for a little while) but other than that no accidents.

I’m sure this isn’t the last of the kittens that I’ll be posting. Now excuse me while I disentangle Midna from my arm and foot; she really does think that they are her playthings.

A Bit of Nostalgia

So much has changed since I last had an active blog (website… thing). What do I remember most about before I left? Vexels and celebrity layouts were all the rage. (I still can’t believe that the term vexel has actually become an accepted term.) Anyone who had visitor content on their page had stuff like “Domain Name Ideas” or “Free celebrity PSDs.” Let’s not forget tutorials. About pages contained extensive lists of likes and dislikes with items like “nice people, celebrity so-and-so, band such-and-such” falling under the ‘like’ category and “thieves, mean people, etc” falling under the ‘dislike’ category.

CSS and valid coding were far from the focus of most personal sites. External stylesheets? What are those? Heck, some people still flaunted the fact that they did everything with tables. Sites were still designed to “look best in IE6.”

How could I forget the portfolio sites? Everyone thought that they’d be able to strike it rich by throwing up a ‘design portfolio’ and offering custom layouts for $10 a pop. Copyright was hardly an issue when it came to the images that they used in their layouts. I guess I could also toss in the myriad of ‘hosting companies’ that people started off of their reseller accounts.

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