Wednesday, December 31, 2008

On Husbands and Retirement: What Must Be Done for the Wife to Keep Her Sanity

I was curious as to what life would be like after my husband retired. No. That statement is not true. I was scared as hell as to what life would be like. Recently, Brit Hume of Fox News retired. When asked what be planned to do he said, "The 3 G's. God, granddaughters and golf." He will continue to appear occasionally as a special analyst. In an article in the WSJ a few years ago, they interviewed several top executives and top athletes who had recently retired about how they had planned for their retirements. Nolan Ryan, that great strike out pitcher, had planned for retirement by investing in ranches, banks and getting involved in farm teams for major league baseball. But, he said that nothing had prepared him for the first spring training after his retirement. He said he missed more than anything the camaraderie of the team locker room and the thrill of a new season.     Read more...

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Thoughts on Egypt and Traveling to Egypt

I have always wanted to go to Egypt because I have always been fascinated with Pharaohs and Cleopatra. So, I talked my husband into going this past Oct. Thank God we went before this current outbreak with Hamas and Israel (Update...1/28/14...and the result of The Arab Spring).  When we first arrived in Cairo, our "administrator", the guy who handled the logistics for the trip, asked us if we were going to vote for Obama. As the trip progressed, we learned that the Egyptians don't hate Americans. They simply hate our Israeli policy. Well, they also despise Bush. That was evident on our final day when we picked up an English Egyptian newspaper and there were two editorials bashing Bush. One called him Hitler like and the other a baby killer. There was no "fair and balanced" to these editorials. I have several opinions about Egypt (surprise surprise). The first opinion: Cairo is an awfully crowded, filthy, traffic insanity that can not be tolerated for more than a couple of days. Read more...

Monday, December 29, 2008

On Movies and Books: Strangers on a Train and Brad Pitt Movies

I just finished Patricia Highsmith's psychological thriller, Strangers on a Train. Highsmith is the author of The Talented Mr. Ripley. It was recommended by a feature writer of the WSJ. Plus, Alfred Hitchcock thought it good enough to make into a movie. Two men meet on a train..sounds like a joke...but it is very serious. One wants his father killed and the other is in a nasty marriage and wants a divorce. You see, if the murders are committed and they are motiveless, then no one gets arrested, see? Well, it's a great study in how one can manipulate another's mind to distort reality and create dementia. Let's just say I'm not talking to anyone on a train, a plane or at Six Flags...Strangers on a Train  Read more...

My First Post: Why I Decided to Write a Blog

Welcome to my "Satisfying My Curiousity" blog. Why call it that? Well, I originally heard this phrase from one of the best comic actors/skit artists in the world, one John Cleese. He had retired from movies and was asked what he intended to do with his time. He said, and this isn't a direct quote, I'm going to travel the world and "satisfy my curiousity". Now, I'm not curious about everything. Like how many fragments of light reflect off a prism (if there is such a thing). I have a curiousity as to the kinds of worlds authors can create with mere words and their meaning behind it all. I have a curiousity as to how or why my cats will one minute enjoy mutual grooming and the next, pounce on each other. I have a curiousity as to what it's like to live in other cultures or at a minimum, experience those cultures. I have a curiousity as to why one year one of my orchids will bloom profusely and the next year, take a nap. I have a curiousity as to whether I can cook food that I have never prepared before and serve it at a dinner party so people will love it. I also have a curiousity as to whether my dear husband can actually break 80 with his swing. And finally, whether I can break 80 with my swing.

So, here goes my ramblings on traveling, books, food, orchids, and my cats. My cats. When my husband and I married 21 years ago, he had a beautiful one year old Maine Coon named Frisky . We married and we thought, well, maybe frisky also needs to get married. So, we got a shelter kitty, a gorgeous tuxedo female and named her Maggie, from Cat on A Hot Tin Roof. We had Frisky for 15 years until he developed kidney disease. We were on our way to Africa and I didn't have a clue what to do to take care of him. I hired a wonderful Vet Technician to come over and care for him. But, I had to learn how to give him subcutaneous fluids. This was not fun. But, we made it through and Frisky lived until the age of 20. Now, if you've ever had to put an animal to sleep, mu God, it is one of the hardest things you will ever do in your life. We decided to be with him when the vet put him "down. I got a beautiful blanket to hold him. It was awful. One minute he is lying in your arms and trusting you and the next, they are gone. I cried for weeks. That day also happened to coincide with the 1st anniversary of my father's death and to the week, the death of my husband's first wife. That left precious Maggie, herslef 18 eyars old. After about a year, my husband began talking about getting another cat. I discussed this with our vet, and she recommended we get two kittens. If we were to get one, it would harrass Maggie to play and Maggie just didn't have it in her. The vet also recommended getting siblings. So, we did research and found a local Maine Coon breeder. We ended up getting two brothers. Their registered names are Kokopelli Rallicat and Botticelli Rallicat. But they are affectionally known and Koko and Bocce (pronounced Boch-ee). Or Kokopop, Koko-lo-mo-po, the popster, popmeister and fat ass and occasionally Oprah (that's right. I have the right to say it!). You see, at the age of 4, Koko weighs 25 pounds. Now, that is one big ass cat. But if you're familiar with the bred, that size is not abnormal. Bocce is affectionally called Bocceboy, Bochman, the Bochmeister. Even though Bocce is not as big as his brother (he weighs 16 pounds), he holds his own in rather rambunctious play times that leaves tumble weeds of hair on our once carpeted, now hardwood floors. Maggie, when introduced to "the boys", she immediately let them know who was boss. She was like a boxer with a mean right and left hook. The vet was right. "The boys" played by themselves and left her alone. Also at the age of 20, Maggie succumbed to old age and kidney failure. This time we couldn't watch. We kissed her goodbye and cried all the way home and then some. You see, it was a milestone for us as a married couple. We had gotten Maggie when we married and then we celebrated our 20th anniversary, and then she died. Bocce and Koko became the light of our lives until 3 1/2 years and I'm at the local pet emporium. I see two little girls carrying around a beautiful white seal point siamese mix. She had the most beautiful blue eyes. Awwwwwww. I rushed home to tell my husband about her. That was 5pm. By 9pm she was ours. We named her Bella Bleu, for her beautiful eyes. She and her mother and siblings were abandoned. So, Bella is a rescue kitty. But with every rescue kitty, there can be problems. And with Bella, there were a few. Within a few days, she had deveopled a serious sneeze and ear scratching. I immediately took her to the vet and she was diagnosed with ear mites, upper respiratory inffection, tape worms and intestinal parasites. That meant keeping her isolated from "the boys" so they wouldn't get any of this stuff. When we were finally able to try to introduce her to Koko and Bocce, she ran right up to Koko and he paid her no mind. Bocce, on the other hand, took 2 months to warm up to her. He wanted to make sure she knew who was the big dude in the household. Now we have a 5 pound kitten attacking her "brothers" that weigh 150 to 400 times more than she does. You can see pictures of them on this blog. So, that is the saga of our family with our cats. And did I mention I'm allergic to cats.......