*Magnify*
    March     ►
SMTWTFS
     
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Archive RSS
SPONSORED LINKS
Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/books/item_id/2104234-Cat-Tales-Miscellany-and-Mischief
Rated: E · Book · Personal · #2104234
A journal for 30DBC and other feline musings.
"This...is my lab. And THIS...is my LABORATORY!"

Seriously, though. This blog is gonna be where I throw paint at the wall just to see what sticks, and sometimes just to throw paint at the wall because it's friggin' relaxing to throw crap.

Welcome aboard, and please keep arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times.

"In case of emergency, the exits are here-here-here-here-here-here-here... ANYWHERE!"

P.S. If you recognize one or both of the above quotes...you are automatically my new best friend.

*CoffeeV*AlyCatAuthor*Wind*
Previous ... -1- 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... Next
July 30, 2017 at 11:40am
July 30, 2017 at 11:40am
#916379
July 30 Prompt: This week, US President Donald Trump encouraged police to use more aggression with people they arrest; many police departments are speaking out against this rhetoric. How much force is really necessary when arresting the average criminal?

Honestly, I don't know enough about this to really give a solid opinion either way. I don't know the context in which it was said. Perhaps because of the really bad media on police, most police departments have been "loosening up" or being less aggressive, because they're afraid of getting bad media. Perhaps the President said what he said in an effort to encourage police not to back down, but to use as much force as necessary to bring criminals to justice.

As far as how much force is necessary when arresting the "average" criminal, it's hard to say. Criminals are as diverse as the day is long. A shoplifter shouldn't be treated like a mass murderer--the crime should be taken into account, as well as how dangerous/armed the criminal is believed or known to be. Excess force is always wrong. Sometimes, the lines are blurred, especially if an officer has reason to believe his/her life or their fellow officers's lives are in danger.

I recently watched an episode of "Blue Bloods" where this was the case. A female officer had an inconsistency in a report. She had tackled an armed man to the ground and had to remember the location of a cell phone the man had on his person, I believe. What she reported was not where the cell phone actually was, and she was severely punished for this. However, the person in charge of punishing the officer was taken by the police chief to a practice where she had to go into several different potentially dangerous situations and remember intricate details about the color of the criminal's shirt, whether or not they had a gun, etc. She failed that test miserably, and the chief had proved his point. When adrenaline is coursing through your veins, and you believe your life is in danger in some way, it is VERY difficult to focus on the little details. What matters is that the criminal is brought to justice, and that as many lives are saved as possible.

All this is to say that I don't believe excess force should be used in any situation, but the lines can be blurred, especially in the line of work police officers find themselves in daily. Their job is to protect citizens, and I believe in the good will and integrity of most police officers out there. Not that there aren't bad apples, but in most cases, the police are just trying to do their job and protect their own and their officer's lives. An abundance of caution is always warranted--and caution doesn't have to include an itchy trigger finger. Just being aware of the situation, being prepared for the worst, and having an ultimate goal to bring everyone, criminal and officer, to the end of the day in one piece should be enough.


*CoffeeV*AlyCatAuthor*Wind*
July 29, 2017 at 2:06pm
July 29, 2017 at 2:06pm
#916337
July 29 30DBC Prompt: Come up with a 10-step (minimum) process for a simple household chore.

Ahaha. I imagine this isn't so hard to do once you have kids. I once heard a mom I used to babysit for instructing her 11-year-old son while cleaning his room: "Now pick up that piece of candy. Now put that sock in the hamper. Now put that other sock in the hamper. Now pick up that Lego. Now put it with the other Legos." As sad as it was, I had to laugh. *Laugh*

Hmmmm. Let's see. A simple household chore. Like dusting? I could probably do that.

1. Go to the supply closet.
2. Locate the dusting wand.
3. Pick up the dusting wand.
4. Locate the Swiffer Duster refills.
5. Open the box of refills.
6. Take out one (1) refill.
7. Fluff out the refill.
8. Slide the refill onto the dusting wand.
9. Remember it goes the other way and turn it around.
10. Locate dusty furniture (that's anything with DUST on it).
11. Run the fluffy part of the duster over the dusty surface.
12. Do NOT knock over the knick-knacks while doing so.
13. Well done. You dusted an object.


*CoffeeV*AlyCatAuthor*Wind*
July 28, 2017 at 1:48pm
July 28, 2017 at 1:48pm
#916284
July 28 30DBC Prompt: On this day in 1973, Lee Majors and Farrah Fawcett were married. Who is your favorite (past or present) celebrity couple?

I honestly don't follow enough celebrities to know who is or has been married to whom. The one couple I like hearing about are the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Kate and Prince William. They are so classy, and their children are adorable. Not only that, the Duchess is not afraid to get down on her children's level, even in public, and be a mother (like in this picture  ).

*CoffeeV*AlyCatAuthor*Wind*
July 28, 2017 at 1:41pm
July 28, 2017 at 1:41pm
#916283
July 27 30DBC Prompt: Would you want the ability to read people's minds? Why or why not?

To me, a person's mind is their sanctuary from the world. I would not feel comfortable invading that privacy, not for any reason. Sure, there might be times it would come in handy, but overall, I would not have a good enough reason to use it. I wouldn't want people prying into my thoughts, so I feel the need to respect their boundaries as well.

Besides, these are dark, dark days, and I might go mad from the garbage abundant in people's minds nowadays.


*CoffeeV*AlyCatAuthor*Wind*
July 26, 2017 at 2:33pm
July 26, 2017 at 2:33pm
#916194
July 26 30DBC Prompt: Tell us about one major change in you or something different about you between now and this time last year.

Well, one major thing that's different is that... I'm expecting! This time last year, we were just settling into a new apartment after having to move because of flooding issues. I was busily unpacking, setting up my office, and establishing a work routine. Hubby was working as a pizza delivery driver. We had been married a little less than 3 months.

This year, we're still unpacking and rearranging furniture, but because we're transforming our second bedroom/office into a nursery. Hubby is getting ready to quit his job as a delivery driver this week so he can focus on getting his classroom in order and going to pre-school meetings and professional developments. And I'm working around a quite large bump, trying to survive the July heat and get ready for this baby.

Some things that haven't changed:

-I'm STILL struggling to establish a routine (and all that's gonna be uprooted anyway once baby gets here)
-We're still in the same apartment
-Hubby still hates delivering pizzas *Laugh*


*CoffeeV*AlyCatAuthor*Wind*
July 26, 2017 at 2:26pm
July 26, 2017 at 2:26pm
#916193
July 25 30DBC Prompt: Tell us about a store or restaurant you refuse to go to because of poor service.

Well, I've not really had a bad enough experience at a store or restaurant to refuse to go there, thankfully. However, my husband had a horrible time with an online service, and we won't use it again. He tried to book a hotel room through Hotels.com so he and his mom would have someplace to sleep after the rehearsal dinner the night before our wedding. He found a room he wanted, booked it through the website, and paid for the room. All very simple.

However, he had a feeling he should check a few nights before the wedding, just to make sure the hotel confirmed his stay. Sure enough, the hotel had received NOTHING from Hotels.com and had already booked the room he wanted for that night. After several frustrating phone calls, the hotel let him book a room, but he had to pay AGAIN. And when he went back to Hotels.com for a refund (because THEY had been the ones to drop the ball on communicating with the hotel), they refused to give him one and kept giving him the run-around.

He eventually cut his losses, because dealing with them on the phone was becoming more trouble than the refund was worth, and we had other things to get done before the wedding and honeymoon. We will always book through the hotel itself and not through a third-party site--it's not worth it to us to pay twice for the same room.


*CoffeeV*AlyCatAuthor*Wind*
July 24, 2017 at 12:22pm
July 24, 2017 at 12:22pm
#916050
July 24 30DBC Prompt: Actress Ruth Buzzi, born on this day in 1936, once said "Life has all sorts of hills and valleys, and sometimes you don't end up doing what you had your heart set out on, but sometimes that's even better!" When has something like this happened to you?

I remember clearly when this happened to me in a major way. I went into college thinking I wanted to major in business and open a bookshop/cafe. Nothing wrong with that goal, mind you, and life has a funny way of coming full circle, so I'm not closed off to the idea. But a trusted professor gave me some advice that changed the whole course of my college career."Many businesses prefer to hire English majors rather than business majors, and that's because English majors know how to communicate well. Business skills can be taught. Effective communication is a rare gift that few choose to cultivate."

His comment opened up a tentative world of possibilities in my mind. Could I really pursue the degree and the classes I loved taking--and skip the ones that bored me to tears? Could I really go to class with all my book-loving, writerly, literary friends as a valid path to a fulfilling career? It just didn't seem possible.

But sure enough, I changed my major shortly after that conversation, and also decided to throw in a minor--Music/Vocal Performance. Together, those two programs made my college experience EXACTLY what I had always hoped it would be and more. I got to go to Fantasy Lit in the afternoon and run off to Concert Chorus practice right afterward. I got to keep spinning in color guard, knowing my assignments were to keep my Creative Writing journal updated with new thoughts, brainstorms, ideas, poems, and to work on a short story for next class...in short, stuff I LOVED doing.

I also ended up working as a Writing Consultant for the University, which provided me a lot of good experience honing my grammar and composition skills (so that I could then help the tutees that came to me for help). And when I wasn't helping a student, I could be working on my book, doing homework, writing in my journal...

My college career was so blissful, looking back. I was stressed and busy, and on a side note, the lightest I've ever been in my life weight-wise. I didn't have a car to worry about. I walked everywhere, lived close to campus with one of my best friends, survived on coffee and cereal (and raw milk from my godmother, for a while), and had an amazing landlady who preferred to see me buy groceries and pay half the rent rather than go without.

God was so good to me in that time of my life, and that time led to this time--a more mature version of myself, still struggling to come to terms with what it means to be a work-at-home mom AND be a writer and a wife and an adult in this crazy world. And He is still so good to me. I have a loving husband who is my best friend, and who's getting ready to embark on a new journey of his own--setting up a kindergarten classroom. So now I'm officially married to a kindergarten teacher. *Laugh* I am able to work from home.

My pregnancy has been going textbook-smooth so far (hopefully it continues!). We have an apartment that's just the right size, and rent didn't go up as much as we feared, so we were able to stay for another lease term. We just bought a deep freezer to start storing freezer meals for after baby is born. We are able to purchase groceries, put gas in the car, and go to Mass every Sunday. Family and friends help support us when we need help (for instance, purchasing items for the new classroom, or throwing a shower for the new baby).

Through all the turmoil of my college years (leaving one relationship and one faith for a new faith...and a new relationship as a bonus, figuring my life out, dealing with my mom and her significant other's backlash and criticism, coming into my own and standing on my own two feet), it's good to say that things are better than I'd ever imagined they'd be.

*CoffeeV*AlyCatAuthor*Wind*
July 23, 2017 at 12:35pm
July 23, 2017 at 12:35pm
#915987
July 23 30DBC Prompt: Recently, the popular and long-running British television show Doctor Who announced that a woman would be taking over the main character's role for the first time in its history, and naturally men are upset about this decision (this particular article doesn't come right out and say it, but there are some pretty vile and vulgar responses out there...trust me *Wink*). When are men gonna finally understand that everything isn't about them, and that they have to share things and realize women are just as capable as they are...especially when it comes to acting?

Well...this prompt didn't leave any biases out, did it? *Wink*

Personally, I don't see why everything has to come down to a sexist argument. Sure, a woman actor is just as capable of playing "The Doctor" as a male actor. But it's understandably new and different from the decades of male actors who have gone before, and die-hard fans of the series have mixed feelings, I'm sure. Nobody should be saying things that are cruel and vicious, I give you that. But why does any criticism of a woman actor have to be interpreted as, "Well, it's just because she's a woman, isn't it?" And then the feminazis feminists take their chance to thoroughly scold anyone who would DARE leverage even a well-deserved criticism or question about the popularity or the future of such a change in actors.

I'm not saying this is what's going on here. I had no idea this was even happening, to be honest. But I have a feeling that even fans who would shrink from doing anything labeled as "sexist" have their ponderings and their mixed feelings about a woman actor taking over such an iconically male role--not because a woman isn't capable of doing the job, but just because it is a MAJOR change.

Plus, there's always been criticism each time a new Doctor comes onto the show. It's only natural--people get used to one actor, and then another comes with their own style and interpretation. Some hate him/her, some love him/her, but it all has a learning curve to it. Then people settle down to the new Doctor, and the cycle starts over.

Humans hate change, and I really think that, at its most innocent and common sense level, that is where the pushback is coming from. Not from a place of sexism. Perhaps some pigs out there are running their mouths and saying awful things, but I think they are the minority in this case, and should be ignored, because all they're doing is spewing a lot of hot air.


*CoffeeV*AlyCatAuthor*Wind*
July 22, 2017 at 2:22pm
July 22, 2017 at 2:22pm
#915944
July 22 30DBC Prompt: This is the cover of your next book. What's the title, who are the main characters, and what's it about? Don't forget to give us a little inside-back-jacket blurb of the author!

Hmmm…this is a bit difficult to pin down. I’m gonna call it “EDEN”. It’s a sci-fi novel about a man launched into space with just himself and a biosphere with a mysterious 4-letter acronym, EDEN, for a name. On the inside are barren fields with a few select plants growing. He has to figure out how to feed himself. On the outside, the biosphere is clear, so he can see himself zipping past asteroids and sailing through the stars. Through a process of trial and error, he begins to figure things out. But little does he know he’s being watched…

This is totally not my normal cup of tea that I’d be writing about, but here goes a blurb anyway. *Laugh*

Aly Clark has been a writer for as long as she can remember. She enjoys writing fantasy and sci-fi from the comfort of her central KY home. She and her husband are expecting a bundle of joy in late 2017.

Sheesh, I sound so boring. LOL. That’s my life, though.



*CoffeeV*AlyCatAuthor*Wind*
July 21, 2017 at 3:18pm
July 21, 2017 at 3:18pm
#915896
July 21 30DBC Prompt: On this day in 2007, the seventh book of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released. Ok guys...let's hear all about your Potter fandom *Laugh*. And if for some reason you're like me and never got into the series, tell us why.

My goodness, I feel OLD. Has it really been that long since the last book came out?

Okay, so, mine's kind of a complicated relationship with this series. As a second grader, it was one of the first fantasy books I ever fell in love with. My second grade teacher read it to us every day during class, and as I got older, I continued to read the series. My family definitely encouraged my desire to devour every book in the series, so yes, I was one of those kids waiting in line for the midnight release of the third and fourth and fifth books. I had Gryffindor flags all over my room and my mom took us to see all the movies when they came out, and bought them on DVD as soon as it was possible.

But something weird happened in middle and high school. The sixth book failed to engage me like the rest of the series had up to that point. And the seventh...I have to confess I never read it, but I did see the film. I really don't know what happened. I have to say that the character Severus Snape really was the main reason why I watched the final film at all. His complicated backstory and redemption arc really had me engaged--in my humble opinion, he's one of the most interesting characters in the entire series, and he's always fascinated me.

Currently, I have my reasons for putting the series aside completely. I won't revisit it, and I currently don't own any of the copies that were bought for me during childhood (I'm pretty sure my mom is hoarding them all, which is fine with me). Though the Harry Potter series was a huge part of my childhood literacy, it was merely a gateway to all the other wonderful fantasy books out there that are so often overlooked or hiding in the fandom's ridiculously large shadow.

Here's a short list of books I fell in love with in middle and high school that completely blew me away, that I never would have given a chance if it weren't for my early exposure to fantasy through Harry Potter:

-The Hollow Kingdom Series by Clare B. Dunkle
-The Belgariad by David Eddings
-The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
-A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
-Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix

So yeah. While I and the series are "divorced", I have it to thank for opening my eyes to the wonderful world of fantasy fiction, which I am now privileged to be an author in. I'm in the know enough about the fandom to understand much of what goes on, but as for opinions, houses, pairings, who should have done what...I really don't give a crap. *Laugh*


*CoffeeV*AlyCatAuthor*Wind*

88 Entries · *Magnify*
Page of 9 · 10 per page   < >
Previous ... -1- 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... Next

© Copyright 2022 AlyCatAuthor HAPPY 4th! (UN: catchafire92 at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
AlyCatAuthor HAPPY 4th! has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.

Log in to Leave Feedback
Username:
Password: <Show>
Not a Member?
Signup right now, for free!
All accounts include:
*Bullet* FREE Email @Writing.Com!
*Bullet* FREE Portfolio Services!
Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/books/item_id/2104234-Cat-Tales-Miscellany-and-Mischief