Geez the weeks are passing fast, I can't believe it's Friday again... at least I'm on time with this one...

1. What was the last TV show you watched? The Primetime interview with the Dixie Chicks... and part of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Friends and Will & Grace were fun, I watched a lot more TV than usual tonight.

2. What was the last thing you complained about and what was the problem? Probably about all the idiot rednecks protesting the Dixie Chicks, the whole right wing hate machine in general.

3. Who was the last person you complimented and what did you say? Probably the lady who runs the Box Store for being so helpful.

4. What was the last thing you threw away? Just emptied the cat box and took the bag out to the garage.

5. What was the last website (besides this one) that you visited? EBay.

Two entries postdated by a few hours because the date is relevant and I was too busy earlier this evening to post them in a timely manner.

Tonight was mine and Sparky's 13th anniversary! We had one of the nicest nights out we've had in ages, he took me to my favorite seafood restaurant, Christie's, and we ate over $50 bucks worth of seafood. Soup, salad, dessert and all, I was pleasantly comatose for hours afterwards. I had shrimp chowder, broiled shrimp, scallops and oysters and a stuffed crab, even a piece of key lime pie which barely fit but sounded too good to pass up. I know my allergies will suffer tomorrow, but it was well worth it.

Maybe next year I'll have the lobster, I haven't had lobster in years! When I was growing up my birthday dinner every year was lobster at a famous old Houston restaurant, Sonny Look's, and we'd celebrate my birthday, my brother's and my dad's on New Year's Eve because they were so close together. So, for many years my birthday involved a cake with sparklers on it and a guy in a suit of armor riding a horse through the restaurant's parking lot (long story, you had to be there). Lucky me, my parents appreciated fine food and still do, I went to a lot of steak houses as a kid. My parents celebrated their 55th anniversary earlier this month at the same restaurant.

Sparky's snoring, the cat is dozing so I'm off to bed now...

The High Priestess of Soul, the great Nina Simone, died today at the age of 70. She is one of the few performers I really wish I'd been able to see in person, on vinyl alone she took your breath away. If you've never heard her before, here are some great places to start:

The Essential Nina Simone
Nina Simone & Piano
Wild is the Wind/High Priestess
Volume 17 - Verve Masters, Nina Simone
The Very Best of Nina Simone 1967-1972
and the longest version of See-Line Woman youíve ever heard is on Verve Remixed

More Nina Simone Websites:
The Nina Simone Web
Nina Simone Biography & Disography & Lyrics

1. Who is your favorite celebrity? Thatís hard, as a rule I really dislike the whole celebrity thing. Probably Oprah.

2. Who is your least favorite? Probably anyone associated with reality TV, Monica Lewinsky and Anna Nicole Smith come to mind. I wouldnít mind meeting Ozzy and Sharon, though ;-)

3. Have you ever met or seen any celebrities in real life? Iíve met a few, my husbandís met a ton of fan-type celebrities because heís been to lots of conventions. Iíve seen some local celebrities around town... Marvin Zindler came to my elementary school and Iíve seen him at restaurants we go to, we saw Mama Ninfa at the Westheimer restaurant, Ron Stone at a local community theater, Dr. Red Duke on an elevator. We saw Jimmy Dean at a New Orleans cafe late one night. Iíve met Anne Rice several times, ran into several famous people at her fan club parties (Joey Ramone, and a few I donít remeber the names of). My husband usually ends up recognizing people, I donít really notice them.

4. Would you want to be famous? Why or why not? No, I donít like to be the center of attention. Now, rich... yes!

5. If you had to trade places with a celebrity for a day, who would you choose and why? I donít think Iíd want to, honestly.

1. What was the first band you saw in concert? Not counting the rodeo concerts at the Astrodome (where from a distance I saw such greats as Donny Osmond, David Cassidy and Sonny & Cher), the first serious concert I saw was Alice Cooper (late, like in 1990). I never went to concerts growing up, I detest crowds and have super sensitive ears. Alice was worth the humming, though!
ADDENDUM: OK, I did see a real concert, up close and personal with my parents in the early 70's. We saw Sammy Davis Jr. here in a small arena venue (in the round yet!) and he knocked me and my cynical little brother out! My brother even got to shake hands with him when he was leaving the stage. That would technically count as my first "real" concert.

2. Who is your favorite artist/band now? I love music way too much to claim favorites. Lately the artists getting heavy rotation in my car/home/Mac are Tori Amos, David Bowie, Poe, Tatu, Avril Lavigne and assorted jazz.

3. What's your favorite song? Way too many... as a child probably Gordon Lightfootís ìIf I Could Read Your Mindî.

4. If you could play any instrument, what would it be? I tried guitar, sucked at it, I always thought Iíd be good at the drums but never got the chance. I wish Iíd learned piano, itís probably mya favorite instrument to listen to.

5. If you could meet any musical icon (past or present), who would it be and why? For fun - Alice Cooper! There are many other people Iíd love to meet, Bowie, McCartney... but I think Alice would be the most fun and Iíd have the most to talk about with :-)

A belated Friday Five, I missed the last two so here's the one for 4/4 at least:

1. How many houses/apartments have you lived in throughout your life? Iíve lived in 12 different places! 7 houses, 2 duplexes, and 3 apartments. All of them but my parents house were in my name also. I used to move around a lot, I also worked for a company where I got discounts on really nice apartments, but when I got two dogs I had to have back yards from 1986 on.

2. Which was your favorite and why? Favorite apartment was one that backed up to Buffalo Bayou. The apartment itself wasnít that special, but the grounds were beautiful. Favorite house would have to be the one we own now, itís mine and my husbandís first non-rental.

3. Do you find moving house more exciting or stressful? Why? Itís both. I used to sort of look forward to moving, but after the last move my husband has declared weíre never moving again. It took two trips with a giant professional moving trailer and two movers over twelve hours to finish, they wanted to extend it to the next day it was so bad. Together we have so much stuff itís insane. And we have things the way we like them now :-)

4. What's more important, location or price? Actually, the house itself. When we were looking to buy we found lots of houses in good neighborhoods in our price range, but we wanted it all, personality, space and a nice neighborhood. We actually spent a little more than weíd decided on but it was worth it.

5. What features does your dream house have (pool, spa bath, big yard, etc.)? Uggh, no pools... Ideally? Iíd love to have a house in the middle of a huge piece of land where I canít see or hear my neighbors. Iíd like it to have lots of storage, two big fancy bathrooms, a huge master suite, multiple fireplaces, a big shaded raised porch and a 3 car garage.

Omigosh, the last few weeks have been so hectic I havenít posted anything :-( Just before the war began we adopted two kitties (see entry below) and the first week was an odd mixture of happiness, chaos, depression, no sleep, and frazzled nerves. Sparky decided that neither cat liked him (he believed it was because they had been ìraised by lesbiansî), and he got very depressed and defensive because every time he walked in a room they ran away from him. He didnít have a clue as to how his defensiveness could possibly freak out a kitten, especially having recently gone through the loss of our dog who just doted on him. During the day both cats would sleep with me, and they did tend to avoid him when I was awake. So after a week of him being depressed and me being almost psychotically happy but also very nervous (Iíve never had a kitten let alone two really hyper & curious ones at once) we decided it would be best to give the big black male back to his foster mother and just have one. Also weíll be getting another dog sometime this year. The female cat, Phoebe, a Burmese mix, bonded with me instantly from first meeting, and while the male was sweet enough, he was rather distant and uninterested in what anyone else in the house was up to so we didnít think it would be particularly traumatic for either cat since it had only been a week and both had come from foster homes with multiple kitties.

Sooo... to make a long harrowing story as short as possible, we called the foster mother and arranged to meet her to give the other cat back. Stupidly we also decided that Sparky would be the one to put him back in his carrier while I kept Phoebe in another room so as not to upset her. Well, it came time to leave and I took Phoebe in the bedroom and Sparky went and picked up Salem and put him back in his carrier, he immediately leaped back out and began tearing through the house. And the race was on...

My husband temporarily lost his mind and decided to chase the poor cat through the house several times until he got him cornered in one of the bedrooms, tried to grab him again at which point the cat bit the living crap out of his hand. Did I mention that this is an 11 pound cat that hasnít been declawed? So Sparkyís screaming, the cat is hissing, and still he keeps after the poor thing. It had become a matter of principle now, I think. It all happened so fast I didnít have time to intervene until heíd been bit and scratched several more times. Iíve gotta say, if heíd been chasing me through the house and swearing Iíd probably have bit him also. But together we got the cat back in his carrier and while Sparky was standing over the sink trying to stop the bleeding I gave him a Vicodin and a Xanax and drove to Stafford to return the cat to itís foster mother. The cardboard carrier was covered in blood, so I explained to the poor lady what had happened. She called later in the evening to see how Sparky was doing and when I asked her how the cat was, she said ìOh, heís fine, heís sitting in my lap purringî. So maybe his theory about the cats preferring women has some validity, I dunno. Iím just glad the cat wasnít traumatized by the whole thing.

When I got back, I was afraid my poor little baby Phoebe had been traumatized by all the racket, but she came right out and sniffed around for awhile and seemed quite pleased when she realized Salem was gone. From what Iíve read, Burmese cats tend to be more oriented towards people than other cats and sheís quite happy to be the queen of the house. Feeling guilty over the whole bizarre incident, I ran around the house dusting and lint rollering everything, then washed all the bed linens including the comforter. I was so tired by that evening, when it finally came time to go to bed I have no memory of what happened after that. From the evidence I reconstructed, apparently I took all my bedtime meds (including my Ambien which usually takes about an hour to kick in on me) and then ran water in the shower and got in long enough to get my hair wet, dried off and lay down on top of the sheets with wet hair and passed out from exhaustion & Ambien. I remember waking up after the sun had risen, and realizing a) I was naked, b) I was laying on the foot of the bed, and c) my hair had air dried, which is never a good thing for me. Phoebe was laying right next to me when I woke up. I got up and walked into the bathroom and found the lamp still on, and the bathmat and tub were all wet.

So, that was the saga of the cats. I donít want any more drama for awhile. Phoebe, Sparky and I are happily co-existing. Sheís gotten used to him, even though sheís still a spazz and runs through the house like crazy at times. Heís decided she does like him, sheís just nuts, itís nothing personal. After much debate instead of declawing her to protect his precious furniture from even the chance of something happening to it I put little pink nail caps on her instead and theyíve been working quite well. Theyíre also very cute (pics to come!). Sheís very gentle about using her claws and she really doesnít need them, but they make him feel more secure.

Until last night I havenít slept worth a damn for about the last three weeks. Iíve been dreaming of cats almost every night it seems, I did the same thing when my dogs were puppies. My first dog, Wolf, half German Sheperd and half Lab, was the most active, overly intelligent puppy youíve ever seen. He jumped out of a huge TV box the first couple of nights we had him home (at like 6 weeks!) and even with a baby gate he was a challenge to keep in. I worried for years about my dogs, but especially Wolf. The few times his mate Tala got out of the yard, she walked around to the front door and scratched to be let in. Wolf on the other hand would dash right out into the middle of a busy street. The worst time was when I lived on a main street in a small central Texas town and was trying to walk my motorcycle in through the chain-link gate and he zipped right past me into traffic. So there I am, in a leather jacket and full face helmet, trying to catch a dog in morning traffic while the idiots driving past arenít even slowing down. I remember actually being so pissed I kicked a couple of the cars as they whizzed by.

Sparky says I have my Wolfie back now in the form of Phoebe and I really think heís right. Iím obsessed with her safety, happiness and health. Sheís my constant companion, she follows me from room to room, chirping at me constantly (which I love, BTW), and sheís a very sweet but very odd cat. Sheíll wake up out of a dead sleep and run into the kitchen to beg for ice when she hears anyone in the freezer, she jump into my bathtub when the waterís running and tries to attack it... Her online profile on Petfinder said ìand most of all she likes to playî and that she does :-)