Not Heidi
Not Heidi's JournalI think my cat is dying.
Charley Girl is 21 years old. In January this year, she went blind. She seemed insane for a day or two, but once she learned to navigate her way around the room (she's always lived in our bedroom), she improved. Until a couple of weeks ago, she'd made our bed her own, until she took to her old enclosed bed* in the closet. We don't see her very much anymore. Except when we feed her, she stays in the closet.
Shortly after she went blind, she began to lose weight. She now looks like an abandoned stray who can't find any food or any friend or any home. She is so thin. To pet her is to feel her ribs. The space behind her ribs is all sunken in. We can feel the bumps of her spine. She does eat, not quite as much as I'd want, but she drinks enough water.
My wife and I have been discussing whether it's time to take that trip to the vet. We don't want Charley Girl to suffer anymore.
Have you had a similar experience with your cat? Can you offer any advice from experience? None of my friends or Kathy's have had similar experience - at least not in the last several years.
We are desperate to know what to do.
* It has a bed, four walls, a roof, and a small hole to get in by.
I happened across a Trump paraphernalia stand the other day.
Last Saturday, I met some friends at a restaurant in Los Alamitos (Orange Co., CA). On the sidewalk, maybe 30-40 yards from the restaurant, was a table crammed with Trump crap. Hats, t-shirts, pins, buttons, flags and more. A lot of cars honked as they passed. One of my friends and I walked over to look at what was on offer.
Some were downright offensive; the worst was a button reading "JOE AND THE HO GOTTA GO." 
The Ho?!* There was another: "FUCK BIDEN and fuck you for voting for him."
The best, though, was one of the flags. It was a large standard "TRUMP" flag, background white, lettering blue. The slogan below "TRUMP" was "NO MORE BULLSHIT." Oh, delicious irony.
*Probably a holdover from the Clinton campaign.
I happened across a Trump paraphernalia stand the other day.
Last Saturday, I met some friends at a restaurant in Los Alamitos (Orange Co., CA). On the sidewalk, maybe 30-40 yards from the restaurant, was a table crammed with Trump crap. Hats, t-shirts, pins, buttons, flags and more. A lot of cars honked as they passed. One of my friends and I walked over to look at what was on offer.
Some was downright offensive; the worst was a button reading "JOE AND THE HO GOTTA GO." The Ho?!* There was another: "FUCK BIDEN and fuck you for voting for him." That one wasn't as offensive as the first.
The best, though, was one of the flags. It was a large standard "TRUMP" flag, background white, lettering blue. The slogan below "TRUMP" was "NO MORE BULLSHIT." Oh, delicious irony.
*Probably a holdover from the Clinton campaign.
Symbolism in movies - are you curious?
What started me thinking about this is that I'm watching Michael Clayton. I wonder what the three horses on the hill represent. There's at least one other scene that I find curious in the same way.
Do you ever wonder about symbolism in movies? Tell us about it.
No, I haven't been drinking. 
A friend I met last year in "the program" is now hospitalized
I hate it that that's become necessary. But she was honest with the program psychiatrist, and told him she'd been cutting.
I don't really know how to encourage her. I've been hospitalized myself, two months in 1986 and a week in 2019, and I remember precious little. This makes me mad. (I'm sure not knowing how to encourage her is due to having had ECT in April-August '23. It wiped out most of my memory.)
I probably can't take her anything, but I'm going to take her a Monster anyway, and maybe a Snickers.
Have you any advice for how to support my friend on my visit tonight? Thank you.
("The Program," or more frequently, just "Program," is at a mental hospital in Orange County, CA. It consists of four group sessions in about five hours [and lunch - hospital food. Yum.]. Patients are supported by a case manager (all certified psychologists, all of whom lead the groups) and a psychiatrist - and admin staff, who rarely get any glory. I attended last year from August to December. It was quite beneficial.)
If you have any ideas as to how I can support my friend on my visit tonight, I'd be very grateful. Thanks.
I need some jokes, please.
I need jokes - clean jokes, please - to send to my friend in jail. I've sent him two jokes so far, and he's said that they made him laugh. He needs to laugh.
Please post your best jokes. Short or long - doesn't matter.
Thanks!
I heard from my friend who is in jail
About a week ago, I sent Frank (not his real name) my first letter as he languishes in jail. I heard back from him yesterday. He dictated a Facebook message to his husband by phone (I think that's how he must've done it). I thought I wouldn't hear from him until he got out, so I am thrilled.
I was concerned that he might not be safe, but he reports that he is. I told him a joke that he appreciated.* He asked how my foot is (recent surgery), which I didn't expect. He's always thinking about others.
I miss Frank very much. I hadn't seen him for a couple of years (he lives in No. Cal.). He visited us at our house on his way to jail - completely unexpected (but my sister knew), and I'm so glad he did.
He writes that he's working on a letter for me, but not to expect it for some time. His sentence is for less than a year.
I've known Frank since we were kids. I met him when my sister and his became best friends as freshmen in high school. He is my oldest friend. We haven't always kept in touch, but that ends now. I love Frank and wonder how I could not keep in touch with him.
*I have another joke lined up for him in the letter I'm writing now. Please offer your opinions - or maybe a better joke:
A string is walking down the street and sees a bar up ahead. He decides to go in and have a beer. Inside, he hops up onto a bar stool and asks the barkeep for a beer. The barkeep sneers at him and says, "You g.d. string! We don't serve your kind. Get out!" Stung but used to this, the string hops off the bar stool and leaves. Outside he continues on his way.
He sees another string walking his way, a friend he hasn't seen for a while. They greet each other, then the second string says, "Hey, there's a bar up ahead. Let's go have a beer." The first string says, "I just left there. The barkeep said they don't serve 'our kind.'" The second string says, "Oh, yeah? Watch this." He jumps up high and ties himself up. Then he pulls at his ends until he looks all shaggy. The first string gets it and follows suit. Then the second string says to his friend, "Let's go." They enter the bar and hop up onto bar stools. The barkeep comes over and stares at the strings. Somewhat nonplussed, he says to the second string with a sneer, "Aren't you string?" The second string says, "Frayed knot."
Just a few daunting little tasks.
(First: I'm very, very grateful for my insurance. Believe me, I know how lucky I am.)
Here are 16 tasks, most rather wearisome. With the fact that the next three weeks looks like this, the whole thing is wearisome.
With a few exceptions, like getting my sister to SNA and home again, going to see the Angels vs the Padres, and getting my car smogged, it's mostly part of the run up to shoulder surgery three weeks from tomorrow.
I am looking forward to a few things, and to getting this surgery - and the long recovery - over with!
I'm also glad that they're replacing the *right* shoulder, as I'm left-handed.
Have (has?) any of you had a joint replaced? Isn't it fun?! 🙄
The Interpreter (2005)
Sydney Pollack's last film.
Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn
I didn't know what to expect, but it was Sydney Pollock who sold me. I don't watch many thrillers; this is the first one since The Silence of the Lambs that had me literally holding my breath.
Silvia Broome is a dual citizen of fictional Matobo (in Southern Africa) and the United States. She works at the United Nations, translating the Matoban language of Ku to English.
The president of Matobo was once revered but is now a tyrant whose rule has devolved into ethnic cleansing. At the UN, Silvia happens to overhear a portion of a whispered conversation indicating that the president will be assassinated when he addresses the UN General Assembly.
The US Secret Service is assigned to protect Silvia. Sean Penn and Catherine Keener lead the detail.
I'm going to stop there, because 1. I don't want to give away anything and 2. I don't know how to write a decent plot summary. But I can recommend this film. It is really good.
The film contains gun violence and lethal explosives.
Why "[unalive]" ?
I'm browsing Bored Panda, and I've just seen [unalive] - rather than "kill" - in a third article.
For context, this last one is in a thread about things we humans are scared to death of but which aren't quite as lethal as we believe. Sharks, vaccines, bees, quicksand, slightly-out-of-date food, those little silica packets marked "DO NOT EAT," etc.
In describing a few of these items, the author chooses to write [unalive] (brackets included) as the verb rather than "kill." It's not used to replace the adjective, dead; it's always used as the verb "to kill."
[Unalive]? What the hell? Did this become a thing while I wasn't watching?
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Unrelated: This reminds me of a scene in Band of Brothers. Some American soldiers encounter a German soldier who's trying to surrender. His hands are up and he's yelling frantically, "NO MAKE DEAD! NO MAKE DEAD!" It was a mildly funny scene.
Profile Information
Name: K.J. HeidebrechtGender: Female
Hometown: Huntington Beach, CA
Home country: United States
Current location: Fountain Valley, CA
Member since: Wed Jun 19, 2019, 03:15 PM
Number of posts: 1,387
