The Cat Curse and Other Things

Got our power back. 

My household - Bob and I - have a cute pet superstition.  I don't take it seriously, but I wonder about Bob.  It's called the Cat Curse.  The idea is that if we displease our cat / do not feed her appropriate offerings, something bad will happen to us.  This thing started the day I broke my arm back in December of 2009.  That day, I got up for work and ate my breakfast before Bob fed the cat.  After falling down steps at work and spending some hours in the hospital and coming home with a splint, Bob said "I know why this happened.  You ate before the cat!" - We laughed about it and thus the idea of the Cat Curse was born. 

The cat is the first one in our house that gets fed.  I think I've eaten before her a few times since then without ill effects, but, yeah, when the Cat Curse is mentioned, I'm all "Yeah! Feed Welsper!"

Last week, we were joking about the Cat Curse while on the go between doctors appointments for me.  To kill some time, we stopped at a place called H-Mart. If you're in the Eastern US, you may have heard of them - they're a grocery chain that specializes in Asian foods.  I like to get funky Japanese and Korean snacks from them.  I needed lunch, so I picked up some sushi and ate it in the car on the way to my latter appointment.  Bob and I joked about how, at home, the cat's sushi-sense was tingling.  Usually, when I get the stuff, I nip off a little bit of the raw fish to share with her because, you know, she's a cat and... fish.  (Our cat is a real fish-eater, too, *insists* on fish cat food).  I'll give her a little sushi-fish and she'll automatically pur to rattle the windows, so I knew I was comitting a real sin by eating sushi without her. 

Two days later, the power goes off.  Cat Curse! 

I cuddled one of the cats at our barn (most of them are less evil.. there's one that loves to kill baby bunnies and likes to wound me when I pet him or brush him the wrong way, but most are nice) and beseeched her to lift the Cat Curse.  Our power was on the next day. 

Okay, so the only thing I expect to come of this is a story or two for my fiction collection.  I already have a couple of stories in my head involving people revereing cats and offering their cats things in order to procure blessings and to stave off Cat Curses.  I'm even thinking about creating a culture whose religion involves a chief god who employs cats as his messengers - the people think of them not unlike real world monotheism thinks of angels, except they are angels who will curse you if they don't get their daily fish. 

Speaking of cats, I'm rather amused by television buy-now offers on television.  I'm watching Travel Channel here and I saw a commercial for "Lift n' Sift" litter box liners.  "Why bother with messy traditional litter scooping?!" - and the shot is of a woman just *struggling* to clean a little litter box - flinging litter all over the floor!  I just started laughting - like, how incompenent can you be?  It wasn't normal mess, it was just this poor, helpless woman flinging litter everywhere!  I'm pretty sure that TVTropes calls this "Too Incompetent to Operate a Blanket" - (named for the Snuggie commericals).  Such commercials amuse me, perhaps because I can stand back and laught at people who think insulting my intelligence can sell me anything.

This is probably why insulting me and implying that I'm stupid has never been able to get me to change any political or philosophical view I've ever had.  Oh, I've changed a lot - am in constant flux, but it never comes from anyone trying to sell me anything by implying that I'm stupid for not being them.  At worst, such people get my anger (and my HORNS) and at best, I'm laughing at them - like I laugh at stupid commercials.

The last thing... I've been having a lot of people AIM me lately that I've been rejecting because I do not know them.  If any of my readers here are among them, please post a reply here or email me (shadsieblue@yahoo.com ) to let me know if you want to AIM with me.  You see, I'm a little paranoid and don't open myself up well to random real-time conversations with strangers.  I keep AIM because I have good friends that I've made in my fandoms.  In fact, all my current AIM friends are from the fandom I was in years ago and kept for various personal reasons.  As for new friends, I like to ease into things.  I've been having convos with someone who met me on one of the blogs/was a fan of my stories, but they emailed me first.  I'm especially paranoid right now because the last time I allowed a stranger AIM access to me (assuming they were a friend on another name), I said "Hello" and they immediately launched into asking me dating-stats.  *Urgh.*  No, I do not want to chatsex with anyone.  I am in a happy heterosexual relationship and am generally asexual.  The idea of anything "extramarital" or porny in any way absolutely disgusts me and will draw my ire and/or laughter in the same way as a person on a comercial who does not know how to operate a litter box.

My AIM name, for those who do wish to have an intelligent conversation with me is Shadsie Saverem - if you're wondering about that last name, it's a fandom-geek thing.  One of my favorite things in the world is the anime/manga "Trigun."  I haven't been an active fandom-er in it for a long time, but I still like it and keep the old name out of laziness.  It's after a character that is seldom seen in the series, but very important - Rem Saverem - a woman who loved love and peace and died bravely.  If you know me me pretty well (or just read my stories) you'll know why I'm attracted to such a character.   In any case, if you do buzz me, I'm probably only on AIM because I'm geeking with one of my longtime friends and don't expect a reply unless you email me or I happen to recognize your name from these blogs or somewhere. 

And if you ask me my dating-stats, you're ignored/gone. Forever. And you'll possibly even get me to ask my cat to give you a Cat Curse.  Tuna for Welsper.