The Slipcover Incident

I am writing this blog entry with the blurry vision of a slightly concussed person, so bear with me. I will start by revealing that this is my first ever experience with a slipcover.

I have dogs. And cats. Lots of cats. So my sofa count should come as no surprise - I'm on either my sixth or my seventh, but like my vision, it's all a blur. It was finally time for the old couch to give up the ghost. The dogs had eaten most of the stuffing which left the material loose and hanging in tatters. The back and sides of the sofa looked like they were fringed, thanks to the cats completely shredding them while 'doing their nails', which are now nice and sharp. Trust me. I know from firsthand experience. Anyway, as I looked at the sorry state of my home furnishings, I decided that the best way to achieve harmony with my furbabies (given that I'm hopelessly outnumbered) is to try to stop problems, annoyances and damage before they happen. Hey, it sounded like a good plan when I came up with it...

Hence, the slipcover. Now, the specs for said item insisted it would fit sofas from 74 to 96 inches. Mine is 83, so I thought 'cool, that'll work.' I covered the new couch with blankets and sheets while I eagerly awaited the arrival of the cover that would protect my new furniture from my marauding housemates.

Finally, the box showed up on my doorstep. A choir of angels burst into song and I even think I saw an aura of golden light surrounding it. I pulled it inside and ripped it open, desperate to get at my new sofa's savior. Once freed of its packaging, I flipped the cover around several times before I saw the little stickers that read front, back, etc. I followed the labels and soon had my beautiful new furniture covered up. Except that there was this weird puckered section I had to sit on. Out came the instructions from the box - I'm terrible about reading instructions, guides, etc. before I make an attempt to use/install/apply anything new. Plus, who'd have thought you'd need instructions to put a slipcover on? Anyway, according to the instructions, I'm supposed to tuck the elastic strip behind the couch's cushions. Now, the slip cover seemed to fit fine until I attempted to do this. Actually, it still fit, but two broken fingernails and one aching back later, I'd only barely managed to tuck the strip under the top lip of the cushions. No way in hell was I going to be able to get it all the way under them so I left it as it was.

It lasted one day. Not only was it pulled off the back by the dogs' frantic attempts to get out through the window to kill ... I mean lick the mailman, but one had taken her bone onto the couch and drooled everywhere. Good thing I left those little back/front labels on! I put it in the washing machine, more than a little sad at having to wash it after only one day. When it came out of the dryer, it smelled like mountain rain, at least that's what the label on my fabric softener says - frankly, I've been to the mountains and don't remember them smelling like that especially when wet, but I digress. I laid it out and looked for the labels. You know what happens to things that are applied with an adhesive backing in the wash? They move. Now I'm no expert, but though the labels were still on, I'm fairly certain that they no longer accurately marked the back and front of the cover. After a great battle, I had the slipcover in place - more or less. Once again, I tried to tuck the strip behind the cushions. And once again, I failed.

New plan, put the sheet and blanket back on over the slipcover. Sure I had to wash the sheet or blanket or both several times a week, but it beat struggling with the damned slipcover. That worked until the dogs went off in another of their nobody's-allowed-to-walk-on-my-street frenzies. They pulled the sheet and blanket off, leaving my precious cover exposed and vulnerable. They then got muddy paw prints all over everything.

With a heavy heart, I removed the slipcover for washing again. Once clean, I realized that I no longer care to even try to tuck it down. I got it remotely close to appearing to be lined up and covered it with the sheet and blanket again. It may not look great, but it took a whole lot less time than fighting to tuck it. Then I looked down and saw that I had to retie the strips that hold the sides and front and back down. Personally, I no longer cared if it looked nice and neat, but a hanging strip of cloth like that is an invitation for a cat or dog to go to town on it, so I bent over and knotted the strips. And as I stood, I banged my head on the window ledge. Hard. Thus the blurry vision and budding headache.

Remind me again what those furry little monsters do for me? Oh yeah. The news says having pets can lower your blood pressure. Really? because I'm thinking I could have pinned the meter a few minutes ago when I realized that I spent a ton of money on what is now nothing more than a blanket rack. I closed my eyes and repeated my centering mantra: it's a good thing I love them, it's a good thing I love them, it's a good thing I love them ...

My 20 year Love/Hate relationship with Video Games

I am a gamer. Have been for many years. So is my current husband. I am convinced that gamers need to marry other gamers in order to have successful relationships. I am also certain that our Golden Years will find us side-by-side playing the latest games. (I remain convinced that by that time, some Gen X-er will have invented a prosthetic device that will allow us to continue to feed our gaming addiction despite the fact that our hands will have been rendered all but useless from the RSIs we've been collecting through the years from using keyboards, phones, etc.) I role-played in a friend's basement for the better part of fifteen years, and naturally, I play video games at home. I love them. I also hate them. I recall great triumphs as well as absolute misery in my gaming. I've been reflecting on some of those games the past few days.

In the beginning ...

Well, I don't want to date myself, but computers in the home were pretty uncommon when I first started gaming. I recall when I was very young that a Pong game somehow made it into our home. How exciting it was to hit a ball back and forth at a speed that rivaled growing grass. No wait ... I think the grass grew faster than this game played. If I recall correctly, it would speed up with time, but how we ever thought that was challenging and/or entertaining remains a mystery.

Now, we had open campus in high school. That meant we could go to the local stores when we had a free period. That in turn meant pumping quarters into Centipede, Pacman and Galaga machines. If I could have all those quarters back and have invested them in an IRA or something, I'd be a happy (and prepared for retirement) woman. Oh well.

Then came Nintendo. *smiles wistfully* I spent hours helping Mario save a princess, guiding Link through Hyrule, and jumping over barrels in Donkey Kong. Fun.

I believe the next game system we had was Sega. I thought the game that came with it was called Sewer Rat, but I can only find it referenced as Sewer Shark. It looks like the same game because I do recall being called dogmeat. That was an awesome game. I remember getting home and immediately firing up the Sega (and to this day, I can't think of the word without hearing the creepy "Sega" soundbyte that accompanied the warmup). With the next generation of Sega came my Sonic the Hedgehog obsession. It was so bad that I bought a handheld game that played it for my first husband when he was in the hospital. Looking back, that was silly because he only ever played car games like Twisted Metal. What can I say? I was young, stupid and obsessed!

Then I got my first PC. While most of my time on the PC was spent writing programs for school, I was (not surprisingly) immediately drawn to PC gaming. I believe the first game I got was a Laura Bow mystery - The Dagger of Amon Ra to be specific. This was a DOS-based game that loaded from 3.5 inch floppies. Looking at the graphics and play offered by current games, it may seem difficult to understand how anyone found those enjoyable, but I had a lot of fun playing that one.

My next obsession was Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail. I was a huge Monty Python fan so clearly, I had to play this game. Somewhere mid-game, I found the Tetris-like mini game. At that point, I believe I stopped playing the main game and stuck to spending hours piling up falling plague victims trying to make complete lines. The game itself was fun, but the falling victims kept crying out "I'm not dead yet" in such an annoying manner that my first husband (and a couple of the neighbors in our apartment building) alternated between pleading, begging, and threats to get me to shut the game off. I have to admit that they were correct about the sound effects. Even I would get annoyed and at least turn the volume off.

About this time, Spycraft: The Great Game came out. At that time, the only novels I was reading were Cold War spy thrillers, so this game was a no-brainer. However, mid-way through the game, I found the Mahjong mini-game. As with the great Monty Python Tetris incident, I became obsessed with this one. In fact, to this day, I keep a simple Mahjong game on my PC and play at least one game daily although I have no idea how the actual real-life tile game is played.

Phantasmagoria. I can't remember at what point I started playing it, but it was the only game I played until I had finished it. Now that I remember playing it, though, I recall feeling isolated and alone in that world, especially when compared with how it feels to play the MMORPGs of today. Of course, some of the desolation I feel when I think about it might be related to the dark nature of the game. Despite that, I still played the second game, A Puzzle of Flesh, even though it evoked the same dark feelings. The older, more wise version of me can't figure out why. My life was dark enough - although maybe that's what attracted me to it.

At some point during my PC gaming, I had discovered Castle and I loved it. You had to build castles, manage resources and engage in diplomacy with other leaders. I recommended it to a friend whose husband became so obsessed with the game that I took to calling him Napolean (hey, he was short and had obsessive world domination aspirations - I thought it fit, although my friend was less than pleased with the name).

Then there was the great Ripper disappointment. This only slightly rivaled the Great Wooly Mammoth disappointment. I can't recall the channel (probably Discovery), but they spammed every cable channel with advertisements in the late '90s (I think) about unearthing a wooly mammoth. All my friends and I waited for the special with bated breath. It ended up being so bad (and again, I can't recall why, but everyone felt the same way) that we have referred to it as the Great Wooly Mammoth Disappointment ever since. But I digress. Back to Ripper. I received the game as a gift and was enjoying playing it, but one of the play discs had a problem, and I was never able to finish it (very frustrating for someone with OCD). I put the game down in frustration. I did try to purchase another at some point, but I couldn't find a copy back then.

An insurmountable addiction and my descent into madness: Civilization II, III, IV ...

And then came Civilization. This is my longest running addiction, even topping smoking (which I thankfully quit eleven years ago). I had never played the first Civ version, but I was given the second by a 'friend' who was convinced I would enjoy it. Enjoy? I became completely obsessed. Wait, did I say friend? I believe I meant 'addiction enabler.' I've played Civ II, Civ III and am currently still playing Civ IV. I bought Civ V, but I did not find it nearly as enjoyable as Civ IV, which I immediately went back to. I have notebooks detailing my city names, plans for each city, and so on.

Civilization is also a game for which some of the funniest videos have been made. This video makes me laugh because my husband hates going for a cultural victory. He's something of a warmonger when it comes to Civ. Also, anyone who has ever played and had a WTF moment regarding a combat loss will appreciate it: Hitler Plays Civilization IV. The CivAnon videos are very funny, and even though I didn't like Civ V, I can appreciate Edna's enthusiasm. I usually name my leader 'Somebody' so the game will announce 'Somebody has joined the Game' and 'Somebody built the Pyramids.' It's the poor man's cure for low self-esteem.

As much as I loved Civ, though, certain aspects of the game can be maddening. For instance, early in a game when I only had ships that could travel along the coast, I was minding my own business working on my culture because my island nation was too far from other land for my ships to reach. Suddenly, along comes another of the same type of limited travel ship from one of the computer player's civilization. This led to me crying foul (words) at my monitor. I also tend to engage in shouting matches with my PC when a lowly group of archers and spearmen mysteriously defeat my army of marines and infantry. But none of that has ever stopped me from playing, although I confess to having gone back a few turns via my saved games in order to properly decimate the offending nation.

Other games I enjoyed during that time were Getaway, Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid and Loaded. Loaded was probably my favorite of these. I just loved mindlessly blowing away everyone and everything in my path (oops, score one for those who think video games desensitize people to violence). In fact, hubby and I have gone on Bonnie and Clyde style two-person rampages in this one. Fun for the whole family!

The Modern Era of my Gaming Addiction

When my second husband came along, he brought with him his love for RPG PC games. Despite all of my role-playing, it was the first time I'd played the D&D games. He introduced me to Baldur's Gate, Throne of Bhaal, Tales of the Sword Coast, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, etc., and they became my new obsession. (It's okay because I got him back by introducing him to Civ!) Two of my worst gaming moments came during this period of time. The first was when I played hookey from my programming job to play Icewind Dale. It's the only time I ever missed an obligation to instead play a game, and it remains one of my greatest sources of shame. The second came when my husband arrived home from work and asked what was wrong - I may have been throwing things and providing some other visual clues as to my displeasure. "Kobolds," I told him. "The &%*# kobolds keep killing my party and I can't get out of the mine," (or something to that effect). At any rate, my husband/hero logged in to my game and rescued my party from the mine. I should note that this was the last time I had to ask for his help. Unlike him, I finished them all (thank you OCD). I soon surpassed his abilities in playing the RPGs, and I'll never forget the joy during one (I think it was Shadows of Amn) when I was having difficulty defeating a dragon until my Wand of Wonder (better not write about that out of context!) randomly petrified the dragon, and my group was able to saunter past at a leisurely pace. Unfortunately, I never liked Neverwinter Nights II and stopped playing them at that point. I have since bought a compilation that plays on Vista, but it appears that sadly, those games' time is past. It wasn't as much fun as I remember, probably due to my playing more modern MMORPGs.

Occasionally, in my gaming life, I've experienced what I'll call 'disruptions' to my behavior. This was particularly true during this period in my life when the majority of my communication with my husband was accomplished via dialogue from the game. Anyone who had played these games will recognize them: "I'm getting a bit sleepy", "Don't touch me, I'm super important" (not really one you want to use with your partner), "So I kicked him in the head till he was dead" (that one is very difficult to fit into normal conversation), "If none are better", etc.

Then I was introduced to World of Warcraft by 'friends'. "Here," they said like the man with the creepy van offering candy to a child, "Try this." And like a drug-pusher handing out 'samples' of crack, Blizzard provided a 10-day free trial. (I have got to find new friends!) Sadly, as with my prior gaming addictions, I spent far too much time playing this game. However, after a time, I became disenchanted with the overall attitude of the community. As with the Internet as a whole, players find it far too easy to be rude, mean and even cruel to the other faceless (faceless other than that all important avatar, that is) players they meet. Everyone seems to forget that there is another living person sitting at the other end. The limitations on my ignore list size prevented me from enjoying the game and the later expansions seemed to take away from the Azeroth experience for me. The game seemed to be little more than a daily grind, and eventually I just stopped playing. One thing that did always make me laugh as a programmer was the fact that all the kids playing thought the game had been created for them. Little did they know that there is an entire generation of now middle-aged people who were raised on gaming and like to use their skills to create entertainment for themselves and their peers. In fact, I met plenty of players who were quite a bit older than I was. You could usually tell because they were kinder and more helpful than the others. I went back to it once but quickly remembered why I had quit.

Now that I was done with that phase, I again looked for more PC games and found Virtual Villagers. It may seem like a silly and simplistic game compared with others I've played, but I found them quite enjoyable. The worst thing about that game is the incredibly annoying sound bytes you hear when you pick up the characters, especially the children, whose least annoying sound is a laugh that's nearly impossible to recreate (I've tried) and whose worst is the annoying, high-pitched way they say 'hey' when you try to put them to a task. Once I realized I couldn't make them work (somewhat annoying early in the game), I tried to deposit them in shark-infested waters thinking that would provide at least some entertainment. To my disappointment, the adults were able to out-swim the sharks and the children just ended up back on dry land. However, by far the best part was that I could tab back and forth between the game and Word. When I hit a snag in the writing of my books, I checked on my villagers. There was one sad occurrence where I forgot to pause the game (it continues running if you don't) and forgot about the game for a few months. When I logged back on, all that was left of my villagers were a bunch of skeletons and an elderly couple that was nearly dead of starvation. I felt like some kind of mass murderer and stopped playing it for a while, although I've just downloaded another one and started playing it again (unfortunately the graphics get screwed up in Windows 8 if I tab away, which is limiting my play time), as well as the word games I've always loved: Scrabble, Text Twist and Super Letter Linker.

Then I found Plants vs. Zombies. Fun! I love this little game, especially the bowling and whack-a-zombie puzzles. I've just realized that I have yet to install that on my new PC (here's hoping it will work in Windows 8) and will have to start all over again. Darn. :P The best part was that I experienced few life-interrupting effects from this one apart from walking around the house saying, "Brains."

Oh and I can't post this without mentioning Drench, a simple flash game that I just love to play.

I did start playing Guild Wars II, but by that time, I was too involved in writing my own books to spend much time with it. Any time I did logon, I always felt I should be writing instead, which I am ... with the exception of the fact that I am still in the middle of two different Civ IV campaigns. I told you it's my longest running addiction. I just can't seem to stop. Maybe I should go to a CivAnon meeting ...

Pay it Forward - a new letter writing campaign

Bear with me while I share the story that led to my campaign. Many years ago when I was still in college, I was required to take a senior seminar, the only requirement of which was that it had to be outside your major area of study. For me, that meant no math or computer science. I had transferred to the school as a senior and didn't have four years' worth of experience with the faculty or student rumors, so I didn't know anything about the seminars. I selected "The Politics of Revolution" because I thought it sounded interesting. I was to learn later, that most seniors tried to get into classes that were known to be easy or taught by lenient professors, but I didn't know any better.

I took my form to the registrar's office and the clerk shook her head. Apparently, the seminars - which were a graduation requirement - filled up quickly. "Which professor?" she asked. I answered and she said, "Oh, yeah, that one'll be open." Now, that should have been a warning, right? What can I say? I was naive.

There were 30 students on the first day of class. How am I so sure of that number? Because the professor made a point of counting aloud. He handed out a fairly demanding syllabus. 90-110 pages of reading for each class, one 10 page critical analysis of A Brave New World, and a 15-20 page thesis on a guerrilla group. The professor gave two grades per class (one before the break and another after). He made sure every student was asked two questions per class. Papers were due at 5:30 (the start of class). He took off five points for each minute it was late. Additionally, if your paper was only half of the required page count, your grade started at 50.

I am a literal-minded geek, so I loved it. I knew exactly what I had to do to get a good grade. I was kind of tired of students failing the required work and asking if they could write an extra-credit paper to make up points. How is that fair to a student who actually studied and did all of the required work on time?

At any rate, I did the best work of my academic career in that class. I was proud of my thesis, and it won a writing award for being the best senior thesis that semester. The night he handed back the papers, I was leaving the building to go home when I was stopped by other students. I should point out that there were only 14 of the original 30 left by that point, the others having dropped the class weeks before. These students were getting together to write a letter of complaint about the professor. I had received an awesome grade and wanted no part of their rebellion.

I went home but the more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed that they were complaining. So I sat down and wrote a glowing letter to the deans about him and the awesome experience I had in his class. I wrote that his class was a credit to the school and a shining example of quality education. I never knew what happened with that letter (except that the professor is still teaching there), but it opened the experience of writing positive letters to me. And I liked it.

Most people only write letters of complaint. I hate doing that. First of all, everyone has had a bad day at one time or another and not responded well to a difficult situation. That silly letter you write could be held against someone receiving a raise or a promotion. I don't like that kind of karma. Don't get me wrong, there are situations in which it is warranted - if you were cheated of money or services, or someone was cruel or hurtful beyond just having a poor stress response. Generally speaking, however, I avoid complaint letters.

Instead, I write glowing letters of thanks and recommendation. I wrote one to a financial institution after their representative spent hours helping me transfer 401K money around and explaining my options, etc. To my surprise, a few weeks later, I received a call from the representative's supervisor telling me that the employee would be recognized at the company's annual meeting because of my letter. I felt awesome and all I was getting was a thank you! Imagine how good the gentleman who helped me was feeling!

Karmically speaking, I suppose I was paid back when a few years later, a client wrote a letter of thanks to my employer for my help in fixing some long-standing programming problems they had been having. And I was right - it did feel really good to have someone write a nice letter about me.

Anyway, writing letters of thanks has become a thing for me. To date, I've received four or five responses from companies, thanking me for taking the time and noting that the employee would be recognized or have a positive note added to their employment record. And it's much easier these days - for a lot of companies you can submit them on-line. No stamps, envelopes or mail boxes involved! If you want to do something nice for a deserving stranger, I highly recommend this.

Crazy Cat Lady - Life with mulitple pets

Life as a companion to multiple pets can be rewarding. It can also be challenging, expensive and exhausting, especially as they age.

In the beginning I had only one. A year later it was two. My first husband rescued two more at different times and we lived happily with four kitties for years. Then my husband died. At that point the cats became the focus of my home life. Not because I was pathetic, but because they were my family. They were a connection to the man I had lost. They were my reason to get out of bed in the morning. And they carried me through the years of grief until I met my wonderful second husband. In fact, the day he and I set the date to get married, the last of the original four died - the first one we'd gotten, the Siamese that was my fur soul mate. Coincidence? I think not. I think he knew I was settled once again after being widowed and he could finally rest.

At any rate, my new hubby is also an animal lover and together we have a Yours, Mine and Ours situation. What should I have done? Made him get rid of some of his pets? Why would I do that? First of all, I'm an animal lover, so that was never an option. Second, I wasn't about to get rid of any of mine so why should he? Finally, one of the things about him that I found the most attractive was that he was also an animal lover.

Now, I love each and every one of them, but they are all aging now and their care has become more of a burden than I ever imagined - an epileptic dog, a senile 20-year old cat that cries pitifully at walls all day and night, another with chronic colon issues, a cat that gets respiratory infections every three months, a cat that required a $4000 surgery after a urinary tract blockage and is now on a special diet, another cat with terrible gum disease that we are having difficulty managing ... the list goes on.

The reason I am pointing these things out is that there are several situations that I (and probably many, many other multiple pet companions) would like to address:

Yes, they are my family. Telling me to simply get rid of them when the going gets tough is not an option. Don't suggest it. It makes my want to stick a fork in your eye.

No, I don't want to adopt the stray you found. Please understand that I am doing all that I can for the pets I have. It would not be responsible for me to take on another and you trying to guilt me into taking care of your situation is unfair. What about you? You don't have any pets. I'm doing my part, can you say the same?

Don't invite me to your home and then offer me your cat because you just had a baby and you don't want the kitty anymore. You would be surprised how many times this happens and it really pisses me off. Am I supposed to think that you are a great parent when you do that? Quite the contrary, if you can't keep a fifteen-year commitment to a cat, what are you going to do when your kid gets in trouble ... or gets sick or the going gets tough? Parenting is about responsibility, not abandonment. (Note that I am NOT talking about when a child has allergies, just when the parents don't want to be bothered anymore.)

Similarly, that puppy you got when you first got married has grown into a dog (not sure why this surprised you). I really don't want to hear about how you don't want him anymore because he's too much work. That is the same dog that would gladly lay his life down for you, your spouse and your children. In fact, I don't think you're worthy of him ... but he's a dog and he does. In fact, you are his life. If you spent as much time trying to earn that honor as you do complaining about him, you'd see how much he enriches your life.

Don't give me a hard time when I say I need to leave an event to feed my pets/let the dogs out (Yeah, it was me)/give the dog her epilepsy medicine/etc. As I've said, they are my family. Not only is it heartbreaking to see my dog having a seizure, it's potentially dangerous. Last year, she had a cluster episode that she couldn't come out of and required a two-day stay in the ICU. I will not remember your party fondly if I return home to find my furbaby dead.

I am of the firm opinion that the cats are the cause of crazy cat lady syndrome, not the result. You love them so you get a lot (cat lady), realizing too late that they are destroying your sanity (crazy cat lady)! Even though having this many animals is driving me batty, I still love them and will honor the commitment I made to them when I agreed to love them and care for them just as I did for my first husband when he was ill. I will never have this many again, but I will not turn my back on those I have. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to live with myself in the future.

Choosing a Book to Read - Kicking it Old School

I never thought that something as innocuous as writing a book review could cause such dissension. Yet, in these days of anonymous Internet posts, everything seems capable of causing controversy. I don't write reviews anymore. I once reviewed a movie that I didn't like and got down-voted by (I assume) fans of the flick. Seriously? The review stated exactly what my issues with it were. That's what a review should do because negatives for one viewer might be positives for another. Therefore, the review wasn't unhelpful, it just wasn't to their taste. Silly. Down-votes should be reserved for inanely-written blurbs that don't provide any useful information at all. The button does say, 'was this review helpful to you' not 'do you agree with the review'.

But I digress. I am really bothered by all of the contentious discussions out there regarding reviews. Yes, some authors have family and friends write glowing reviews for their book. So what? Do you honestly think that doesn't happen with traditionally published books? But none of that matters anyway because personally, my decision to read or not read a book isn't based on reviews and never has been.

How we did it in the 'Olden Days'

I'd like to say that I'm talking about something that occurred a long time ago in a galaxy far away, but I'm not. You see, in the not too distant past, few people had computers and Internet access. We found books to read the old-fashioned way - we went to the bookstore. We would start by going to the section of our interest: fiction, romance, fantasy, etc. This is actually one thing that bothers me about on-line bookstores because they should be better than the old book stores, but they're not. I put certain keywords in as a search, but rarely find that the results match the query. Usually the first few books do, but it quickly turns into what appears to be a list of books that match the overall genre without regard to the specific keywords. My personal feeling is that it has more to do with sales rank than my search criterion. I find that disappointing. Sometimes I want to find that off the beaten path book that just hasn't been discovered yet.

Anyway, back to the old book store. Once we made it to the section in which we wished to look, we scanned the shelves. I would usually go in alpha or reverse alpha-order. Since you usually only had a view of the spine, it was the title that gave you your first clue - or the author's name, but usually it was the title. You also had a nice analog view of the book's length. If I wasn't in the mood for an epic read, I'd avoid the fat ones, likewise if I was looking for something with more 'meat' in it so to speak, I'd skip the thin ones. Ah, there are days when I long to just browse an image of book spines, in alphabetic order, even when I'm searching for books for my e-reader.

Once you found something that caught your eye, you pulled the book out. Now you got to see the cover. Personally, cover art rarely influenced me one way or the other. After all, the handsome warrior and beautiful princess on the cover most times didn't even match the physical descriptions of the characters in the book. I either liked the cover or didn't, but the only time it influenced my decision was if say it depicted a time period about which I had little interest. For example, if the title hadn't indicated that the book was about World War II, but the cover art did and I didn't want to read about that, I would probably have re-shelved it.

At this point, I would turn the book over and read the description. This was the main deciding factor. If I liked the description, chances are I would buy the book, pending the outcome of the page and a half test. I say page and a half, because that is the minimum I would read before making a decision. If I couldn't get past that, it went back on the shelf. If I did, I'd usually read another couple of pages before deciding if I was interested and the author's style fit my taste.

And that was that. Decision made.

What's that? What about reviews? I didn't have any newspaper or magazine subscriptions, so I rarely read any book reviews. And here's the kicker. Can you guess what the only kind of reviews you would see about the book in the book store were? That's right - the good ones. Funny thing, publishers don't print crappy reviews on the cover or in the front matter of a book. What's even worse is that you would see something like "... the best in its class!" You know what the ellipsis stood for? The missing words. Why was it shortened? Because who would read the book if they saw that it said, "If horrible, gratuitous violence and unimaginative plots was a genre, this book would be the best in its class!" Yes, that's an exaggeration, but it was done. Does this sound familiar? Isn't it what people complain about with book reviews, especially on Amazon - that you see 'bogus' positive reviews?

I'm not saying you should ignore reviews. I like having access to them when I'm book shopping (although I confess that I prefer opinions found on GoodReads and book blogs to those on the on-line book seller sites), but my point is that the most important deciding factor back then is still available: read the first few pages of the book. The on-line booksellers offer that feature for exactly that reason. If you're basing your decision on whether to buy something on some anonymous person's review rather than the work itself, you're doing yourself a disservice. Nobody knows your taste better than you.

The Unusual Personal Ad - Life with Multiple Pets

So ... I had this bizarre dream in which I found this partial personal ad on my computer screen:
MCH seeks M/F HS. Duties include heavy petting, play sessions w&w/o toys, and general needs servicing. Knowledge of proper massage techniques and a proven desire to please required.

OMG! I thought in my sleep. Was I having some crazy erotic dream and if so what the hell do those abbreviations mean??

As my sleep self sat staring at the words on the screen, several cats came in, jumped onto my chair only to leap away in surprise when they realized that I was sitting there (I knew I looked like furniture to them), it hit me. My cats were writing a personal ad. Apparently, I must not be properly attending to all off their ever-increasing demands.

I woke up with a start thinking, "Are they freaking kidding me?" I spend a good portion of my day scooping litter boxes, petting bellies, doling out meds, dishing out foodies, dangling string and other cat toys, and alternately picking up/putting on the floor a kitty who has hit the Pounce treats one too many times to maintain her girlish, feline figure. Alas, it seems I will never be human enough to satisfy all of their insatiable needs. The ten minute ordeal I have to go through to extricate myself from under the blankets and the two dogs and at least four or five kitties who simply must sleep right on my legs means nothing to them. And when I return to the bed, I find the nice warm spot I left is no longer available, as several cats have moved over to absorb my heat.

At any rate, I believe I've managed to decipher their code. Multi-cat household seeks Male/Female human slave. I'm still not sure why it needed to worded as an erotic ad, though. Heavy petting = petting them for hours - way beyond the limits of your endurance. And play sessions with and without toys? Well, sure, we have cat teasers - but that whole without toys thing is code for allowing them free range to scratch you. General needs? That means divvying up several different brands and flavors of cat food so everyone gets a little of each - even though they'll repeatedly switch dishes just to make sure you haven't short-changed them or to eat the best flavor before the others get to it. It also means periodically rearranging the furniture to give them new vantage points from which to view the room. Proper massage techniques? I guess they are tired of having to move their little kitty heads around to ensure that I am scratching the appropriate side of their neck or whatever, even though (I kid you not) I once read the section of a massage techniques book that dealt with cat massage! Then we have a proven desire to please. Silly me. I thought that spending more money on pet food than human food each week meant something. And that being on a first name, you-get-a-discount-for-having-so-many-pets basis with the vet was proof of my caring. And what about filling my house with cat trees, scratching posts (which have done nothing to save my couch, by the way), boxes, mats in front of all the heat vents and baskets by the windows to make for optimal sun bathing?

Sigh. I can't even stay mad at them. Benton, my beautiful seal point Siamese lies next to me as soon as I recline on the sofa or the bed. Simone comes to sleep on my legs and then settles in between hubby and me when I move her so I can roll over. Stuff Kitty always sleeps directly on my left. Always. And Darius sleeps above the pillows, purring like mad if you so much as look at him. Shy Jack will even jump up to receive belly rubs once we are both lying down. Fred curls up in a ball next to us, the other kitties, the dogs ... wherever there's room. The others are in and out throughout the night. I never wake up lonely, that's for sure.

The dream ended with me deleting their little ad because the truth is that I wouldn't give up our relationship for anything.

My Moment of Clarity - Gay Marriage

My New Year's Resolution? More tolerance. About everything. I only see happiness coming of accepting the fact that the vast number of different lifestyles out there don't threaten my way of life, they enrich it. Humans are so very different from one another. It's what makes us so wonderful. If there were no differences between us, life would be pretty boring.

Moments of clarity are wonderful things, usually (in my opinion) brought about by empathy. Nothing brings something home faster than experiencing it yourself. For instance, a legislator who opposes increased funding for a certain medical condition until a beloved member of his or her family is affected, and they then become a huge advocate for researching the disease. That's not hypocrisy, it's personal growth. We're humans. We grow, we're supposed to learn and we've all had moments like this, whether it was about something small, such as not understanding why someone listens to a type of music you dislike until you hear a song from that genre that you really enjoy, or something momentous, such as a prejudice against an ethnic group until you find friendship or love from a member of that group. I can only think the One Million Moms is going to turn into Nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine moms (good thing they don't really have that many members - that's a mouthful) the day one member's child comes home and announces that they're gay. Statistically speaking, it's going to happen.

This is about my moment of clarity regarding gay marriage. Now, for the most part, I was raised without prejudice. My parents didn't care if someone was black, white, gay, straight, poor, rich ... whatever. So when my mother told us that a close family member had announced that he was gay, we shrugged and said, "Okay."

If I am perfectly honest, I don't think I understood what that really meant when I was younger. Once my relative came out, I did start to worry about things that affect the gay community, most especially prejudice, but really didn't give it much thought beyond that. He is a wonderful person, as is his partner, and nobody in the family made any judgments.

A few years later, my first husband passed away. It is very difficult to describe the despair that overtakes you in that situation. My entire life had collapsed. My reason to get out of bed in the morning seemed to have evaporated. Life consisted of going to work and spending my evenings eating a tiny meal while perched at the edge of my coffee table. I didn't read. I didn't watch television. I stopped playing the piano. Nothing seemed to mean anything anymore.

At the time, I was working as a medical assistant and about two months after my husband's passing, I went to work and called in the first patient of the day. It was a woman named Mary who usually came in with her partner, Anne (not their real names). Anne and Mary were an extraordinary couple. They treated each other with more respect than almost any other couple we saw in the office. We knew them by name and they knew ours. We talked about the pets they doted on, the home improvement projects they were working on, and the vacations they took.

On this day, Mary followed me into the exam room, and I noticed that she was alone. "Oh, where's Anne?" I asked. Mary burst into tears, telling me that Anne had passed away suddenly a month earlier. I told Mary that my husband had also passed away. We immediately hugged, sobbing on each other's shoulders. We were two women who had each loved deeply and were now desperately trying to trudge up the downward slope that life had become. Things that had seemed easy before now required an enormous effort. The fact that her partner had been a woman while mine was a man made absolutely no difference. We were simply two people who had loved and lost. My moment of clarity had come, though I wouldn't recognize it for that until years later.

That time came when the hoopla arose surrounding gay marriage. All I could think about was Anne and Mary, two people who were more married to my thinking than most heterosexual couples. The respect with which they treated one another should have been an example for all couples. What Anne had offered Mary from their relationship was comfort, strength, dignity, and most of all, compassion. If that's not the definition of what should exist in a marriage, I don't know what is. After truly giving of themselves to one another, why shouldn't they be granted the protection that marriage offers? As human beings, they only wanted what everyone else does: to protect those they love - with things such as insurance and inheritance rights.

I am very proud that my state has legalized same-sex marriage. Personally, I think that marriage also offers stability in relationships. Isn't that a good thing? Shouldn't society want that for all of its members? It doesn't (nor should it) have any effect on me whether the married couple next door is gay or straight. Quite frankly, it's none of my business.

As a society, we seem to have gone astray. Instead of recognizing the good that comes from two people being in love, too many are concerned only with defining what is acceptable behavior for others. What is the true purpose of marriage? If it is only to procreate, than does that invalidate the marriage rights of those couples who marry but don't have children, whether by choice, inability or tragically through loss? And what of couples who marry after their child-bearing years have passed? To me is seems that trying to define marriage as anything other than a binding relationship between two people for their mutual benefit will lead to all sorts of murky water. As for gay couples adopting children - why not? Would we prefer children to remain in the foster care system than be adopted by a gay couple? As any person who grew up experiencing any kind of abuse will tell you, one or two same-sex loving parents beats an abusive straight couple any day. Same-sex couples are just as capable of providing a loving, secure environment for children as heterosexual couples.

I know not everyone will agree with me. That's okay because I am tolerant of your right to disagree. Just remember that I'm not asking everyone to be in a gay marriage, just to give every couple the opportunity to marry and provide for their significant other.