A blog about New York City, my books, and my cats. Mostly.
I can’t believe I haven’t tested myself before now, but I just did four runs, although it doesn’t really count. I didn’t do the first one right, but I’m too lazy to do another one. Oh hell. Maybe I should. Okay, I’m going to. But right now I’m exactly at chance, no ESP, except one run (of 25 trials) I got 9 which is very good, way above chance, but not when you take all the runs together.
Okay, the last run brought my score down, so no ESP. Alas.
Because it’s nice and chilly I think I might take a long walk and bring my camera to take pictures of whatever I come across. Or maybe I will watch tv all day. Or read? Oh wait, I have to start working on the new choir pieces, some of which are very hard (I’m looking at you Leonard Bernstein).
I took this picture of a barricade someone put up so you couldn’t get from one roof to the other. I guess they were having break-ins, but it makes me nervous. I like how on my roof it’s very easy to hop from one building to another.
It’s my Plan B for escaping my building if it’s ever on fire, or zombies have invaded.
I just read this on the Best Friends website. WARNING: It’s upsetting.
“Michael Vick may have paid his legal debt to society, but how does one begin to assess his heart and his mind when he has done little more than say what he needs to say to get his job back.
“When we brought the Vick dogs to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in January of 2008, they arrived in various states of trauma. While we’ve had many positive, groundbreaking experiences with the dogs, some have yet to recover, and some may never recover from the abuse and neglect they suffered in Vick’s care.
“To our knowledge, neither the NFL nor Michael Vick or his handlers has called to ask how the dogs are doing. These very real, living victims of the story are nowhere to be found in the ongoing debate about Mr. Vick’s image makeover.
“Vick’s handlers shopped him around to various national animal organizations, including Best Friends Animal Society, while he was still in prison. We were interested, but prior to involving him in our work and providing him with a presumed endorsement from Best Friends, we first wanted to see him actually demonstrate his remorse by undertaking unheralded volunteer work. Perhaps it would be spending six months to a year doing helpful chores at some animal shelter; or it could be visiting community centers to talk to kids without fanfare or any expectation of personal gain …
“Let’s set the dog fighting aside for a moment. Michael Vick personally drowned, electrocuted with jumper cables and body slammed dogs to death. He could have paid a vet to put the dogs down with a lethal injection. After all, he did pay someone to meticulously remove the teeth, roots and all, of Georgia, one of the Best Friends Vick dogs, so that she could be bred without endangering her male partner.
“But, no, he preferred to kill them up close and personal. One can only imagine the scene as Vick and his cronies attacked those poor dogs with vengeful glee. Would someone who expressed that level of aggression and violence against another person, even without a death involved, ever be considered for immediate re-admission to professional sports?”
The Chinese edition of Waiting for My Cats to Die is out (Beijing Hongwenguan Publishing & Planning Co., Ltd). Except it says Tiajin Education Press on the book. Well, I love the cover. It made me want to have pictures of me and my cats so I tried to get some below. Only got me and Finney so far.
Here he was doing that kneading things that cats do. I’m always afraid that people across the street will look in my window and think my cat is doing inappropriate things to me!
We’re about to kiss! Okay, I definitely do inappropriate things with my cats. (Kidding.)
