Blogfest 2009

I love watching classic movies from the past.  I have a great DVD collection.  Breakfast at Tiffanys, Imitation of Life, Mahoghany starring Diana Ross, Cooley High.  I’ve also recently gotten interested in scrapbooking.  I haven’t done my first one yet, but I think it’s totally cool.  So wish me luck!

TNR doesn’t really qualify as a hobby. Nor do the words “passion” or “calling” seem right. Let’s just say it’s something I do. TNR stands for Trap Neuter Return, and it’s proven to be the only humane and effective solution to the feral cat overpopulation crisis that exists worldwide. Surely you’ve seen one of these feral (or free-roaming, or “stray”) cats—the kind of cat that stares you down but will not permit you to pet or even approach him. Figures on the feral population are sketchy (ferals being too busy starving to fill out census forms), but one conservative estimate puts the number at ten million in the continental United States alone.

I first became involved in TNR when a feline family—a mama and four itty-bitty baby kittens—moved into my backyard. I thought I’d befriend the bunch and find homes for them. In a word: ha! It became apparent that these itty-bitty babies were miniature Freddy Kreugers with double the slice-and-dice ability. That’s when I learned about TNR. The process involves Trapping the cat (there is tuna involved), having him Neutered (ending the cycle of ceaseless reproduction) and Releasing him back to his natural habitat (i.e., my backyard).

Here’s the catch: There’s a letter missing letter from TNR. It’s C—for Care, since once you accomplish the T, the N, and the R, the fun has just begun. That’s right, you’re now duty bound to take care of the cat(s) for as long as you both shall live. It’s kind of like having pets who don’t particularly care for you. Did I say fun?

Actually, it is. Sort of. And funny (cats! who needs Cartoon Network?). And rewarding. Since I know that by TNR-ing just a few, I’ve kept many, many unwanted felines from being born and dropping dead after brief, difficult lives. (Cause of death? Death by SUV, death by slavering pit bull, death by hypothermia…)

My experiences in TNR were so extraordinary I was compelled to write a whole nonfiction book about it called An Unlikely Cat Lady: Feral Adventures in the Backyard Jungle. But I’m not taking advantage of Blogfest ’09 to pimp that book (it’s Swoon I’m pimping now, so prepare to swoon, y’all!). I do, however, take every opportunity to nag people about neutering their cats (and other friends with fur…tropical fish I’m not worried about) so that their pets don’t accidentally become pregnant. Animals are the only ones entitled to the “it just happened!” excuse.

To learn more about helping feral felines, plug Trap Neuter Return into your search engine of choice. I’d blog more about it, but I’ve got cats to feed…

I adore music and metaphysics. I’ve been an avid music lover since I was a kid. I have enjoyed learning about astrology and psychic phenomena since I was a teenager. And I love to dance. I can definitely dance it out when necessary.

I wish I could say I have cool hobbies like skydiving and snowboarding.  Or spelunking or trapeze.  I’m sorry to tell you, I’m just not that active a girl.  I mean, I like to swim.  Or rather, I like to splash around in the pool and then lay out and read magazines and drink soda.  I really like those things.  I’m just not an extreme sport kind of person.  I like to watch basketball (college hoops, specifically), but I don’t like to play basketball.  I also like to bake cookies—lest you think I’m the most boring person in the world, I will add that I like trying out new cookie recipes.  I’m obsessed with finding the BEST recipe—as in, the BEST chocolate chip cookie, the BEST macaroni and cheese, the BEST brownie.  Other hobbies include: collecting pretty stationery, collecting Hollywood Legends stamps (for example: Audrey Hepburn, Judy Garland), going to heartwarming plays, watching really good TV, reading trashy magazines like Us Weekly but also sprinkling in more literary fare like The Atlantic.  Also: being on the Internet all day, creating playlists for every occasion (Good Morning music, Sleepytime music, Happy Subway music, etc) buying new lipsticks, singing Karaoke—currently on rotation: Our Song by Taylor Swift, The Leader of the Pack by The Shangri-Las.  There!  Now you know everything there is to know about me.

Well, I got Rock Band for the Wii for my birthday, so lately I’ve been doing a lot of singing. And a little guitar playing. Yeah, I’ve secretly wanted to be a rock star pretty much my whole life, so thank you Rock Band!! Other than that, my free time is spent watching movies courtesy of Netflix, playing word games on Facebook, reading amazing books while simultaneously trying not to be depressed about just how amazing those books are, and running through my neighborhood with my dog.