the BEST news!!

We have kittens!
When we decided to live together, one of the first things Darren asked me was "Can we get kittens?" We planned to get two, and I looked at a lot of listings online of various shelters and adoption agencies in the area. It took a lot of headache-y research and phone calls and visits and waiting, but now they're finally home! In the end we couldn't pick just two...u8i2211111134wwwwwww (<-- that's one of them walking across my keyboard) So here they are!


Rorschach is our tortoise-shell. (Did you know almost all, including Rorschach, tortoise-shells / calicos are female?) She's the biggest of the three and slightly older. In the beginning she was a bit of a bully. She'd hiss and swipe but would run away as soon as the other kitten turned toward her. So I guess a wimpy bully. :-) She's the epitome of Cat - graceful, athletic, sleek, a little standoff-ish. She also seems to be quite bright, and she's very good at standing on her hind legs. When playing she'll just dance around on them or sit back on her haunches, and use her two front paws to bat at whatever toy we're waving in front of her. She was also the most active when she first came home. We joked it was a good thing we got two kittens for Rorschach. If we got too tired, she could play with them. And then when they got too tired, she was good at entertaining herself. She's calmed down quite a bit now; we suspect because of the rainy, gloomy weather.

Momotaro arrived Wednesday, August 23, with Rorschach. A little black and white male with a cold at the moment, he *loves* to be loved. He meows and meows for attention. Sometimes I carry him around on one shoulder while I do stuff around the apartment just to get him to be quiet. I sort of think we should get him one of those baby backpacks to hold him nestled against the stomach. He's the smallest of the bunch, but likes to get rough with the others. He wouldn't take any of Rorschach's crap in the beginning, and now they're good buddies. He's also phenomenally lazy. He'll chase around a toy for a little while, but then he'll settle down on the floor and wait for it to come to him. His style of playing is lying on his back and holding the toy to his chest and face with his front paws. Momotaro is also very trusting. You can turn him in any direction, touch him anywhere, play with his paws and make him "dance," and he just takes it, looking up at you like you're the most wonderful person in the world the whole time.

Serena, our little grey tabby, arrived Thursday, August 24th. When she was found all alone in a subway station, her tail had been stripped of hair and the nerves were dead. The woman from whom we adopted her took Serena to her vet where he amputated the tail. With the stubby tail and her narrow shoulders and high rump and powerful back legs, Serena reminds me very much of a rabbit. She also has a round little belly that loves to be rubbed. She's the most active right now and also eats the most. We suspect she was a feral kitten. When she arrived, terrified, she slinked around with her belly low to the ground and hid in whatever tight, dark spaces she could find. She also takes more interest in the mouse toys than the others and likes to grab things with her mouth. She can also jump three feet in the air and tries to climb everything (including the door frame). She's a little skittish, but once you get a hold of her, she really gets into the petting.

I love these three little guys. It's a lot of fun to watch them interact and discover their individual (and very different) personalities every day. But watching them also makes me miss Tigger a lot. Guess he'll always be my favourite kitty. Is that so bad?

Quick! Before I lose the connection!

We don't have internet in our apartment yet (we've been using very weak stolen wireless), which is one of the reasons I haven't been updating. Lots of people keep asking if I will keep updating, and I guess the answer is: as long as y'all are reading and expecting updates, I will try to keep updating.

Exciteen new developments:

I have a job or two. One as a waitress at Gyu-Kaku, a Japanese yakiniku grill-your-own-food restaurant. They're opening a new restaurant in Midtown East next month and are training a whole new staff at the old location in East Village. The food looks fabulous, and I'm really excited about the job. We'll see if I can pull it off! Once things are up and rolling, I expect every one of my friends and family in the New York area to check it out (and tip well :-P ).

My other job will start in a month or so. I'll be working for some people at the Columbia Medical Science Pavilion. I'm just building a webpage, but hopefully it will result in some good contacts and references and maybe a more exciteen medical/lab-type job in the future.

And yes! I moved into my apartment with Darren. A trip to Ikea, another to Bed, Bath & Beyond, several to local dollar stores and we're pretty much set up. Darren had a massive blister from putting together Ikea furniture the first day. I still need a desk and a vacuum, but I'm feeling pretty comfortable as is.

A not-so-thorough update

In NY. After a crazy flight (most of which was spent sitting on the runway while LaGuardia was shut down), the wedding in Michigan last weekend was good. Arden was the star, an incredibly adorable and good-natured baby. She'd get cranky at times, but on the whole she kept going as long as we did. The day after Brett and I returned to Queens, I went up to Columbia to meet my advisor. An agonizing, frustrating two days. It's not over, but I'm not thinking about it for the moment. Today we're meeting Jodi, Owen, and cousin Jenna for a day at Coney Island. There's a sand-sculpting competition apparently. I signed a lease for my apartment but have not moved in yet. Sorry, Darren. I'm hoping my boxes arrive soon so I can just move everything at once. They still seem to be on the boat though. The last they were heard of was the port in Japan. *sigh* Presents for friends in those boxes too, so I hope they arrive soon.