Monday, September 8, 2003

In the summer of 1984, I left my internship at Sohio Petroleum for a boondoggle. I got on a plane and flew to Miami, where I met my brother Ken, who came up from Panama. Together we flew down to St Lucia, arriving after dark. My first impression getting off the plane was that I was slapped in the face with a hot wet wash rag. It's a strange feeling to a temperate boy. The next hour was a blur, winding across the island in a cab. I was traveling through a strange country, surrounded by strange critters, chirping loudly through the windows. This journey ended at a small resort on the west end of the island. This is where we would spend the next two weeks, diving and counting fish. We checked into the Presidential Suite, a large hexagonal room near the top of the resort with screened windows that looked out over the darkened resort, jungle, and beach. As I was trying to get settled in, Ken grabbed his walkman and pulled the headphones over my ears and said "Listen to this:" Good Evening, this is your Captain, We are about to attempt a crash landing. Please extinguish all cigarettes, Place your tray tables in their upright, locked position. Your Captain says put your head on your knees... So, I was introduced to Laurie Anderson on the strangest night of my life. Somehow it seemed fitting. Lying there, sweating on the sheets, bugs screaming outside, a slight breeze from the ceiling fan, and bizarre sounds and lyrics through the walkman. 11:18:57 PM     Comment []

Group Warns American Pets Are Overweight (AP). AP - The old wives' tale holds that people start to look like their pets. Turns out it's the other way around: America's pets are starting to look like Americans [~] overweight. [Yahoo! News - Science] jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj Sorry, that's what I usually type This kind of crap is disturbing. I'm a small cat who enjoys life. So I've been 10 pounds most of my life and in the last year I slowed down a bit and gained some weight. I got up to 12 pounds, so what. My buddy Tom has gained at least 5 pounds in the same time, may be more. But now my dish is half empty every day. I have to start reminding everyone that I need to be fed a full two hours before supper time. I don't know what they would do if I didn't remind them. And still after running back and forth hundreds of times and meowing, my dish is half empty. All the while, I don't see Tom cutting back on the portions. If anything, he is eating more than when I let him live with me. I would say something about it, but I like to lie on his ample belly in the mornings. Anyway, I have lost a couple of pounds and am back to my fighting weight, but the whole concept of overweight pets seems terribly unfair. Why do we have to diet, when our buddies don't. 3:53:43 PM     Comment []