den of...

Originally uploaded by madabandon.

My place is a den of cuteness these days. Patsy and Ham are adorable together. Patsy has always been quite social, and now she has someone to play with. This means she no longer tortures me by knocking things off of shelves to get my attention.

I've been ridiculously busy although I had foolishly thought that things would really slow down this week. On Tuesday I hosted a venerable pianist/songwriter/arranger/producer from New Orleans. This man is really a living legend in American music. He played and talked to a huge crowd of students, who were wild in their applause. It was really cool but since it all came together very last-minute I had a tremendous amount of running around, phone-calling, getting calls, etc. And today another legendary musician will come to one of my jazz classes. It is musical celebrity week for me, I guess.

cats

sister and brother
Originally uploaded by madabandon.

It is nice to see how Patsy and Hammy get along. I am so happy that Patsy has a friend to play with. Now when I go away with Mabel I won't have to worry about her being all alone. And believe me, I worry about stuff like that. I get sad thinking of her by herself, waiting for me to come home. Because she doesn't eat when I leave her; if going for one day, I will fill her bowl with food, and it is full when I return. Once I have greeted her, she runs off to eat.

in the bowl

in the bowl
Originally uploaded by madabandon.

This is one of Hammy's favorite places to hang out. Mabel doesn't mind that he sleeps in her food dish. She doesn't like the expensive Wellness dry dog food I bought her anyway. Last night, making lychee tea, one dropped to the floor and Mabel at it, peel and all, and it made her a little sick in the digestive tract. She seems fine now. Soon she will join me and Y on a jaunt to Pennyslvania to visit my sister and her brood.

Patsy and Ham

Patsy and Ham
Originally uploaded by madabandon.

They are getting along wonderfully. Patsy acts motherly toward Hammy. She cleans him and herds him around. She is also teaching him how to play nice. She gets a little pissy because Hammy gets so much attention. But Patsy, always a lady, never loses her dignity. Hammy, on the other hand, is not at all dignified. He is silly and curious. He wanders freely around the apartment now. He is fully litter-trained and has yet to have an accident. And he loves to eat. And eat and eat and eat.

personal space

hammy 3
Originally uploaded by madabandon.

Today after swimming I was getting dressed. My locker was in the far left corner of the three-sided bank of lockers. I sat at my stool. I still had to put on my shirt and my shoes. A tall very sweaty 50-ish man came into the bank of lockers. He had thinning wettish hair pulled back into a tiny ponytail, above which loomed the bald pate of his head. He reeked of sweat. There was a stool next to me with an old towel on it. "Is this yours" he grunted at me. I shook my head. He glared at me and took the towel and dropped it on the ground. Then he sat on the stool about four inches from my left side, stifling me with his b.o. He was the perfect example of a certain type of 50-ish man, straight, with compromised hygiene and no sense of other people's space. I very quickly threw my shirt on and my shoes and got out of there fast.

three portraits

good news

Hammy is getting bigger and stronger by the hour. He is super cute. A parking sign, perched high on a heavy steel pole, got knocked over by the wind last night, narrowly missing my car but seriously messing up the truck parked behind me. Good luck for me, though I feel bad for the owner of the truck. I got one of those free credit reports. I have a perfect credit score. I am a good risk.

resting

Originally uploaded by madabandon.

Ham

hammy 2
Originally uploaded by madabandon.

This is Ham. He is about eight weeks old. He came from Pennsylvania, from a farm near York. He is very cute and sweet, and he looks very much like Patsy did when she was a kitten. I saw Gino too, at the vet's, and gave him a treat and a scratch. So far Hammy is getting along very well with everyone. He loves to eat and talk, and he has a very loud voice for someone so tiny.

blue green

blue green
Originally uploaded by madabandon.

This is the color of tranquility.

Finally I am done with a very very busy semester in which I had to juggle too many projects. Well, yesterday wrapped it up and now I can relax, write my student evaluations with no distractions, and plan for a nice summer. I feel relieved and tired but good, because I accomplished a lot this year. It was one of my most productive years in recent memory, at least since the mid-90s. Wow.

understanding

And in those times, the ones I mentioned in my last post, I was still unaware of the world as a place where something like this travesty could be allowed to happen. In this country rich people grow richer on the backs of others and avoid paying taxes so that the have-nots more often than not descend into lives of hardship and grief.

song

I am fixated on this song called "Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane. I downloaded it from iTunes and I must have listened to it one hundred times or more yesterday and I am listening to it now. It is an almost perfectly conceived and executed anthem. And it brings out some powerful nostalgic yearning in me, memories of high school, hanging out at the lake with my friends, sun shining, no worries, life being simpler, my world so much smaller but so much more understandable.

cracked

cracked
Originally uploaded by madabandon.

Maybe I've cracked and the last post was ample evidence.

But I don't think so.

This morning while I was walking to school I heard someone come running up behind me. It was the mother of a student, an artist herself, a fine one; and she had come over just to thank me, not for anything specific, but for what I was giving to her kids. She is, like many of the parents, a very smart and accomplished person, and I was grateful for her words. For some reason, as I continued on my way, my eyes were filled with tears.

So maybe I have cracked.

hallmark card

Lace and chicken feathers,
taken as one,
together forever.

simplicity

orchids
Originally uploaded by madabandon.

I have a beautiful orchid that was given to me by the cast of the play last week. This is not it; I have not yet photographed it. This is another beautiful orchid that was a birthday gift a few years back.

I take photographs so that I can remember things. Beautiful things, sad things, funny things. When I look at Gino's picture, I feel sad. I don't know if animals' memories are like that. I hope Gino does not remember the bad things that happened to him. I hope he remembers his time here, because he seemed so happy (when Mabel was in the other room); he purred so much when I petted and brushed him, and when I fed him too. I am still so sad that I had to bring him back. I can't bear the thought of him penned up in a cage at the vet's. Please please please let someone who appreciates his scarred beauty and dignity adopt him and give him a home where he can play, sleep, eat, and be safe.

empty seat

empty seats
Originally uploaded by madabandon.

I am very sad to say that Gino has gone back to the vet. After a long discussion she determined that he probably had bad experiences with dogs, and given his age, was unlikely to change. It was a very difficult decision. I fall for animals quickly, and Gino had endeared himself to me with his roguish charm. But his aggression toward Mabel was alarming, and Mabel herself had begun to look nervous. I took him back after giving him some salmon, a brushing, and a thorough ear-scratching which had him purring and rolling around. Still, I almost cried as I left him. I just hope that someone really nice will adopt him. He would be fine as an only cat, or in a household with other cats. He was not at all aggressive toward Patsy, although she and he had not yet had a tête-a-téte. If you read this, and you know of someone who is looking for a cat and doesn't mind an adult who is a little street-wise, please contact me.

what to do?

Well, after three days, I am in a dilemma about Gino. He is no fan of Mabel, and he has attacked her multiple times. It is not in defense, because she keeps a polite distance. But I have gotten caught between the two of them and have the scratches to show it. Mabel seems nervous, and it is breaking my heart. Gino is older than I thought he was, based on the appearance of his teeth. I am not sure if he will come around. The vet gave me a large cage to keep him in, hoping that by being around Mabel but not able to get to her, he would become used to her. No sooner had I set the thing up when he just jumped right out of it. I don't want to traumatize Mabel. After all, she was here first. So Gino is back in the bathroom. Stay tuned. The vet told me I can bring him back; I think he might need to be an only cat, or at least in a household without a dog.

Of course I am tortured about this, because he is a real sweetie and full of purring and affection with me.

what goes up...

sleepyhead patsy
Originally uploaded by madabandon.

Well, what goes up must come down. Last week I wrote about my heightened energy and productivity. Well, as it always does, my hypomania has given way to exhaustion. I feel ill; my whole body hurts, my throat, my eyes. My legs ache like I ran a marathon. Friday evening was the last show of the play. I needed a weekend of doing nothing, but yesterday I had to go to Pennsylvania to celebrate my father's and stepmother's birthdays. Dinner was late, the food was too heavy, and driving back there was a horrendous storm, with thick fog and driving rain, which completely took it out of me. Today, near comatose, I watched two movies from Netflix: "Shortbus" and "Casino Royale." I liked the former a lot and found the latter entertaining but not nearly as artful and clever as the old James Bond films.

Gino is sleeping on the bed. He is still wary of Mabel, and Patsy is still wary of Gino, but I predict a peaceable kingdom will come soon. He is very sweet. My big project is to get him to use the litterbox; he has had a few accidents. He pees in it, but he seems confused about everything else that one is to do in a litterbox. I keep my fingers crossed. He is noticeably more relaxed. I have been cleaning him, brushing him, and he's looking good. His leg still has a long way to go, but I think that here, in a much less stressful environment than he was in, he will heal nicely. He acts a lot like my Tuna. I find it inspiring, how a cat can go through such trauma and still be trusting of people. I will keep my readers posted on his progress.

Gino

gino
Originally uploaded by madabandon.

This is Gino. I took him home yesterday. My vet had called. She knew I was planning on getting another cat this spring. Gino was found with a rope tied around his leg. He was badly injured, but he has recovered quite well. He still has some bad abrasions on his leg from the rope, but they are healing beautifully. He is scared of Mabel and there has been some flying fur, but when I am not home Gino stays in the bathroom where he has been cozily set up with food and all his necessities. He is very sweet and gentle, and he loves to sit next to me. Patsy seems quite curious, not scared, and I predict they will all be good friends in time.

We think Gino is about a year-and-a-half, but it is hard to tell. He is a big boy, and he wears the scars of a difficult childhood. I am glad I found him. I don't think he would be easy to place. He is not a cute kitten, and his scars won't win him any beauty prizes. Right now he is sleeping at my feet. When awake he is quite talkative.

Mabel post-bath

bathtime mabel
Originally uploaded by madabandon.