I wasn't sure what to expect when I met my SoWal friends. It's one thing to talk from the privacy of home, and quite another to be in one another's faces. What if I wasn't what all of you expected? What if I got overwhelmed by too many people at once and acted like a dork? What if I really DID snort out loud instead of laughing? What if I just didn't like any of you? (As if...)

But this world is full of old friends and distant family. It was good to meet some of them for the very first time. Once again, I came away frustrated that I was a tiny speck of a person, limited by time and space. I can't be here (and I love here, when it's all said and done) and in SoWal at the same time, except by way of the internet.

Kindred Spirits. Bosom Friends. This is why I believe there is more to life than what we see. I throw my arms around you because you're part of my family. I am one of you forever...


"Zooey was in dreamy top form. The announcer had them off on the subject of housing developments, and the little Burke girl said she hated houses that all look alike--meaning a long row of identical 'development' houses. Zooey said they were 'nice.' He said it would be very nice to come home and be in the wrong house. To eat dinner with the wrong people by mistake, sleep in the wrong bed by mistake, and kiss everybody goodbye in the morning thinking they were your own family. He said he even wished everybody in the world looked...

UPDATE: Hoot was found in the shrubbery the night I posted this. He had some sort of bladder infection and was dehydrated, but he was alive. I took him to the vet, and he had to stay for a day, but he's just fine now. We have daily conversations about his health, and he seems to be well. He has been sneezing and coughing all week, but the doctor says it's just allergies from the drought.

Either his nine lives weren't up, or Jesus sent him back. Don't know which...
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I originally posted this blog 9-3-06. It's easier for me to repost it here than to rewrite and shed new tears over Hoot, who disappeared on today (October 10th.)

Loved you, buddy...I'll miss our long talks.

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About the title, from J.D. Salinger: ...In Zen Buddhism a master was once asked what was the most valuable thing in the world, and the master answered that a dead cat was, because no one could put a price on it. (Raise High the Roof Beams, Carpenters)

This is a story about a cat funeral, but it requires a bit of history.

I'm not a dog person. I like other people's dogs for the most part, but I don't keep one at my house primarily because they are too needy. I don't want...

, partly because Peter Gabriel is the junk and partly because the lyrics are romantic and funn.

The book of love is long and boring
No one can lift the damn thing...
...The book of love has music in it
In fact that's where music comes from
Some of it is just transcendental
Some of it is just really dumb