Thank you for your comforting thoughts.

I was horrified to hear what happened to Ollie. It's sad that people can do things like that. I cried and cried and cried, and J- and W- put their arms around me and comforted me. There was nothing I could have done to prevent it or to call him back, and there was nothing I could do to prevent that from happening to other animals in the future.

When the initial shock passed, I found myself faced with a decision: I could either let this close me up and discourage me from caring so much that I could get this hurt, or I could defy that and keep myself open. I realized that–at least for me–the only way to fight the darkness within the world and within ourselves is to blaze even brighter with light. The only way to deal with random acts of sickness is with kindness. The only way to deal with hate is to love more fiercely. The only way to face death is to live.

Ollie was a good cat, and I'm glad I had that time with him. You can read about the time my dad rescued this poor drenched little kitten off the street and our daring cat rescue when Ollie decided to go and get lost on the roof. It was more than just the adventures, though. Ollie taught me a lot about the kindness of my parents, Kathy, and the other people at home. That's what I treasure most about him: that a rather dusty orange cat with an endless appetite for food, the most piteous kitten-like meow (really quite out of place on a tomcat), and a penchant for getting stuck (in the same place! sweet but not very smart - that meow certainly helped persuade us to keep rescuing him), could teach me more about people and love.

I am sad that people can do such things to a cat, but I will not let that eclipse the goodness of other people or the happy stories Ollie was part of. I'm happy I got to know Ollie.

(And I am trying very hard not to run off and adopt another stray cat.)

UPDATE: My mom said that Ollie might have been in an accident; no one knows. But it's beautiful that a stray and fearful kitten could find in our house something to call home.

She very obligingly posed for me the last time I was in the Philippines. I miss my cat.

I miss them. I rarely talk about the cats during my webcam chats with my family because there's not much I can do. W- has asthma, so no kitties ever. =( So I content myself by watching cat videos on Cute Overload. It's nice not dealing with kitty litter, but it's not the same as feeling something purr as it nestles in your lap.

Here is my cat:

Scottish Folds have nothing on my cat. =)

I miss her. But I'm still glad I had a chance to rescue her from inside the walls, and I'm still glad that I woke up at odd hours to feed her, and I'm still glad that I got tremendously attached to her. And I really appreciate how my family's still taking care of my cat even if she tears up all the furniture...

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Random Emacs symbol: modula-2-mode - Command: This is a mode intended to support program development in Modula-2.

Neko is missing you so much that it wanted to cuddle up even with me. I was having lunch yesterday when she approached me, then jumped (ever so gently) on my lap. I put my hands up, but later decided to touch her. she just accepted that. then that was a little too much for me, so I stopped stroking her back, and she decided that was enough - she jumped out of my lap - again without scratching me. hmmmm... Neko and I are making progress.

there's hope for Neko yet. =). there's hope for me, too. =)

Awwww... Upon hearing that this is my fourth day with adobo in one form or another:

you better learn to cook something other than adobo. You can cook tapa. just get a thin slice of beef. marinate it in vinegar (white), soy sauce and garlic. cook the beef in the marinade, and when when almost done (before the marinade dries up completely), take out the marinade. fry the beef briefly, then put back the marinade, with onion slices , (round), cook just very, very briefly and that's it. The sauce is yummy, and can flavor your rice. You don't need a lot of vinegar and soy sauce, just enough to make the beef tender. Make sure the cut of the beef is across the grain. Here, you can buy beef slices really for "bistek" (which is Filipino for beef steak).=)

I love my mom. =)

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I made two cats: Scaredy-cat and Catnap. I formed Scaredy-cat by pinching out a shape As for Catnap, well... I just smoothed away stuff that didn't look like a cat. It wasn't perfect, but it looked somewhat recognizable. I like clay more than I like pencil. I have a hard time sketching the shape of a cat in pencil, but I remember what a cat feels like.

I also made a coil pot, a surfer, and a weird eye bowl.

Maybe I'll keep Scaredy-cat and Catnap. We'll check next week when the pieces are a bit drier. I'll bring a camera next time so that you can see them. =)

猫は捕らえたネズミを引き裂き始めた。 The cat began to tear at the mouse it caught.

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- More tanaga. Waah, poor cats. 2005.03.19

On Technorati: tanaga, poetry, cat, tagalog, filipino

Siopao

pusang aking inangkin
hinagkan nang malambing,
siniopao at kinain?!
iba sana hinain!

Buhayin ang Tanaga!

On Technorati: poetry, tagalog, filipino, tanaga, cat

I panicked and called the cavalry. "Dad! Dad! Ollie's stuck on the roof! Help!"

He told me to get Kathy, so I tore through downstairs looking for my sister. "Our cat! Ollie! Roof! I heard him from the garden!"

She grabbed a flashlight and headed to the garden, and we meowed to determine where Ollie was. Kathy headed up to the roofdeck while I meowed to reassure the stuck cat that help was on the way. Then I grabbed another flashlight and followed her.

Kathy carefully climbed onto the roof and made her way to the edge. She swung the flashlight and gasped when she saw Ollie trapped on the lower side. "Ollie! Sacha, call Papa!"

I ran downstairs and told my dad that Kathy found Ollie on the roof and we needed his help. He put on his pants and went upstairs. I grabbed a bowl of food from the planterbox and passed it to him so that he could give it to Kathy.

Kathy spent a few minutes coaxing Ollie out from the space under the water tower. After wheedling and holding her hand out to pet the poor hungry cat produced no results, she got the bowl of food from my dad ("This is dog food!" "I got it from the cats' planterbox!"), crouched beside the water tower... and rattled the bowl.

Two cat ears perked up.

She held the bowl out and quickly took her fingers out of the way as the starving cat attacked the food. After a number of bites, she grabbed Ollie and walked back to the ladder. She couldn't climb up with the cat in her arms and she was worried he'd bolt if she put him down, so I stepped onto my roof (very carefully as I was wearing slippers) and walked to the edge, taking the cat from her and making reassuring noises as we all went back inside.

Ollie headed straight for the planterbox and the bowl of food there. We didn't see much of him; we just heard this steady crunching.

Another daring cat rescue!

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