jonmc’s Neighborhood

• 20:48 @lizypo Pork Tenderloin? One of my favorites! #
• 20:49 Ft. Hood Officer's wife quoted on ABC News: "I wish his name was Smith." #
• 09:33 @lizypo I wondered why you were taking pictures of raw pork.. :-) #
• 15:28 Beatles Box Lesson: The UK version of Help! is one of their best albums unlike the piece of crap they issued in the US. #
• 17:44 Episode 1 'Bored To Death' - never quite got Jason Schwartzman, but Ted Danson is great. #

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• I vote against opening the blinds for Ashton! Mostly because you can't vote against the sun, because it doesn't care either way. #

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• 11:17 RT @huffingtonpost One Term President? New York Review Blog By Garry Wills bit.ly/4A5Atr #

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First thing: If you ever thought to yourself, "Gosh, I have no idea what actually happened with Enron," maybe you should consider seeing a documentary called Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.  I wasn't particularly interested, because it sounds boring and I didn't know a thing about Enron.  I still don't understand what energy trading is, but otherwise I feel pretty solid on the sleazy awfulness that is corporate America, specifically Jeff Skilling and the hundreds of other jerks behind the Enron collapse. There's also a scene with Phillip Glass music and a strip club. It's on Instant Watch if you've got Netflix, and it's better than the trailer:

Second thing:  I saw They Might Be Giants live for the first time this week and it was fucking awesome. Confetti cannons. I think it was so awesome that it was partially responsible for my plunge into total self-pity yesterday, when I felt bad about not being as great as they are, and why don't I write songs instead of novels, and then travel the world singing them to people who are really happy to hear them? And why is everything I do boring and provincial, instead of being about the cow under the sea? The same thing happens to me when I read Neal Stephenson novels. It's terrible.

Third thing: I am addicted to cleaning. I have strong urges to go through my possessions and get rid of juuuuust...a....littttttle....bitttt....more.  It would be great but this is the month to do other things than clean. But my brain just doesn't want to think about other stuff. It wants to get rid of old shoes and shirts and things.  

• 3920. #nanowrimo #rackedwithdespair #whywouldanyoneeverwrite #ihatemycharactersanditsonlydayfour #ishouldgointopoetry #
• 5253. I have recovered somewhat from my temper tantrum/fit of unending despair earlier. God, cloudy days are hard. #nanowrimo #
• Oh, there is going to be abundant sunshine today! Hooray! #

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Just posted -- the Kittysneezes Election Wrapup. Yay, we're back to pop culture topics! http://ping.fm/4ZDqK

Do you like stories about twins?  About Scotland?  Then you might like THE SCOTCH TWINS (1919) by Lucy Fitch Perkins.  It made me clap my hands with excited anticipation many times.  I can't explain why very well... I knew what twists were coming but it was told so well I felt like I was a fly on the wall the whole time.  You know what's coming, but you aren't quite sure that's exactly what IS going to happen.... 

There are other books in the TWINS series, but this great little easy read was an immense delight. 

Here's a sample from the Gutenberg E-text:

"At the very moment when Jock and Tam came flying over the fence and down the hill like a cyclone after the rabbit, Angus was kneeling beside the brook to get a drink. His lips were pursed up and he was bending over almost to the surface of the water, when something dashed past him, and an instant later something else struck him like a thunderbolt from behind, and drove him headforemost into the brook! It wasn't Tam that did it. It was Jock! Of course, it was an accident, but Angus thought he had done it on purpose, and he was probably the most surprised as well as the angriest man in Scotland at that moment. He lifted his head out of the brook and glared at Jock as fiercely as he could with little rills of water pouring from his hair and nose, and trickling in streams down his neck.

"I'll make you smart for this, you young blatherskite," he roared at Jock, who stood before him frozen with horror. "I'll teach you where you belong! You were running after that rabbit, and your dog is yelping down a hole after her this minute!" He was such a funny sight as he knelt there, dripping and scolding, that, scared as he was, Jock could not help laughing. More than ever enraged, Angus made a sudden lunge forward and seized Jock by the ear."

I posted about Flea Treats awhile back, let me update you on my experience.

The best thing I can tell you about the FLEA TREAT method of flea control is that:

1. You have to be PATIENT and CONSISTENT.

2.  It took 4-6 weeks for it to have the desired effect on my cats.  However, they were infested with fleas.  I thought it wasn't working and even called the company to inquire WTF?  I spoke to the owner and he encouraged me to be patient and consistent.  I stuck with it and found it really does work IF you are patient and consistent.  I've had success with 2 indoor/outdoor cats for more than one year on this program of 2 treats a day.

2-1/2.  You MUST give it to your pet EVERY DAY and at the same time of day if you expect it to be effective.

3.  I only have 2 problems with Flea Treats, and they're really only in my head.

3A.  My biggest problem with them is the size.  I feel like I have to cut them in half to make them more bite sized.  It's not like they're so big the cat'd choke on it or anything, but they are hard treats not soft treats and my cats seem to prefer the bite-size it so I do it.  I had a pill cutter from forever ago, but they are only like a buck at the drugstore.

Let me preface number 3B with: You do not have to put it in their food.  You can give it to them as a plain treat, but like I said above they're hard treats not soft.  My cats have only ever eaten soft treats so they are not at all interested, but they eat crunchy food so in the dish it goes and they eat it like any other food morsel.

3B.  My other problem is I have two cats that eat together and I now have to watch them eat and make sure they ate the treats - because if they don't eat their treats and walk away the other cat'll come over and eat out of the other's dish thereby getting the other cat's dose.  If you only have one cat, no problem.

4.  It's more than cost-effective.

5.  Funny thing... my cats KNEW what the Advantage/Frontline package looked like, and when they'd see it they'd [expletive deleted] RUN from me.  I kid you not.

My one cat had his fur burnt off and skin made raw from one of those insecticides.  That's how I discovered FLEA TREATS.  It broke my heart to know I was putting something that evil on my cats, so I searched the internet with terms like natural and chemical-free and found Flea Treats.

Anyway, I literally had to chase them down, hold them down and force it onto them.  I felt like I was honestly physically abusing them.  I am not exaggerating for effect - I felt like I was actually harming them.  And I had physical proof with his fur gone and skin broken open, red and raw.  How could I conscientiously not at least TRY this thing called FLEA TREATS?  I had nothing to lose but the cost of return postage to send the bottle back for a refund.

What would you rather?  A poisonous toxic chemical solution poured on your skin OR a tasty * liver flavored B vitamin treat to eat?

*Ok, I don't  really know if it's tasty, but they eat it so I guess it is.  It's gotta taste better than [company redacted] 's Napalm in the Morning.

• 11:18 The Audacity of Nope: The GOP obstructs the clean energy bill « Climate Progress bit.ly/3wPlvh #

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• Submitted the shark story a 3rd time instead of NaNo'ing. Maybe after TMBG show? It seemed like a better use of my time. Now, a disco nap. #
• Holy crap, They Might Be Giants are awesome. I want to be them. That's probably a little too creepy, but hey, I'm on the internet. #

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