Stacy Horn

It will come as a surprise to no one that Finney didn’t want to do any exercises involving his back legs. Later I remembered that he will happily follow a laser pointer light up a wall, so today I’m going to see how long I can get him to stay up on his hind legs going after a laser light.

It’s been a productive today so far. I just sent off a bunch of chapters to my friend Howard—tomorrow I will start the final two chapters of my book! I still have a bunch of editing to do on all the previous chapters, and only a month do it, and I’m not even sure how I’m going to fix the problems already pointed out, but still. Today I do not suck. Oh God, I just freaked myself out thinking of all I have yet to do. I can’t think about that.

Thinking about … kittens. Here’s a basket, Buddy, and a banjo.

Finnegan got his first low level cold laser treatment yesterday. I worked out a treatment plan that went from $163 each time I bring him in to $42, but the cabs both ways come to $36 or $40 because the vet is in a public transportation dead zone, and yes I know it’s still a lot lower overall, but, well, damnit! Next, I have to start exercising him. I will pause while all the cat owners recover from the spasms of laughter. The three suggested exercises are:

Dancing. In this one you pick up the front legs and force him to audition for So You Think You Can Dance.

Beg to Stand. Then you force the cat to stand up and beg to be one of the final twelve. Treats are involved.

Loving on the Stairs/Couch. It’s not what you think!! “While sitting on the stairs or on the couch, have the cat’s back legs on the floor and lift the front legs up a step or two or up on the couch cushion in front of you and pet them as they stand this way for 30 – 60 seconds.” Or as I put it, this is where you gently tell them they will not be one of the final twelve.

FYI: I also have Finney on glucosamine (brand name Cosequin) and something called Metacam for the pain. Metacam can have nasty side effects so you need to monitor your cat for a while if you decide to try this.

I took this picture on Bleecker Street after the vet. Yes, I put Finney down on the street and made him wait for peace and freedom while I took the shot. Someone is working on a very busy display.

It was a little too much about Lady Gaga for me, but Lady Gaga, when she commented on the dancing, was so gracious and kind, and her comments were good and useful, although it was obvious Caitlynn did not understand what she was trying to tell her. When I think about it, Lady Gaga’s comments were some of the best critiques I’ve heard from a guest judge.

I watched Tadd and Lauren’s routine twice, loved seeing Ivan again who was phenomenal, (I loved seeing all the all-stars, especially Pasha as always, and Ade), and Sasha is still my favorite, with Melanie close behind her.

My friend Kim moves to New Zealand, buys a house with some land and some olive trees, and I get olive oil from New Zealand!! I can’t wait to try it, thank you Kim!! It’s very exciting, like personalized olive oil.

This is my last effective email tip!

The Basics

Keep it short. After you write your email go back and ruthlessly cut. Do they really need that bit of information? I don’t want people to strip it so much that the email sounds like it came from a zombie, but plenty of people manage to convey personality with 140 character-max tweets. Edit.

Use paragraph breaks. There’s nothing more daunting for the email-receiver than one big, unbroken block of text. Break it up!

Identify yourself. If you’re writing someone who doesn’t know you, tell them your name and maybe a line or two about who you are. (I often forget this one myself.)

Say thank you. If someone does help you in some way, say thank you afterwards. It shocks me how few people say thank you to me after I’ve done them a favor. I honestly don’t help people for the “thank you’s” but it does take me aback, I must admit. Maybe because it was so easy to email me and ask they think it’s just as easy for me to do whatever? Oh god, now I’m wondering if I forget to say thank you too. I’ll bet I do. I suck! Who am I to be giving advice … oh wait, this isn’t the Reasons I Hate Myself post.

Tip 3 here.
Tip 2 here.
Tip 1b here.
Tip 1a here.
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Watching the game.

It’s 72 as I type this and I’m in such a good mood just for that. My window is wide open, the fan is blowing a nice cool breeze, and could life get better?? Plus, thanks to my friend Jackie I’ve discovered Fage yogurt. I’ve always hated yogurt, it tastes like sour milk to me, but not this stuff. I love a healthy thing to eat!

And now I have the whole day free to write, write, write. I’m working on a section about a composer named Robert Nathaniel Dett. I’m about to dig into what I got at the library yesterday. Bliss.

I shot this walking into the library. I do not want these guy’s job.