Have fun.  Be good.

hugs and kisses,
k

There are two main reasons I’ve begun my quest for the ultimate non-clay kitty litter.

1. Normal clay litter is strip-mined, and this is very bad for the environment.
2. Clay litter has been implicated as a cause of lung cancer in humans and cats. I can’t determine if it’s true or not (it’s not on snopes), but I figure – better safe than sorry.

Here is what I’ve found thus far on my adventure:

• Feline Pine, non-scoopable: I bought this on accident. I thought I was getting the scoopable kind, but I erroneously grabbed the bag next to it that was not scoopable. This was sort of a disaster. First of all, Kisa refused to enter the litter box. I tried to encourage her to enter with love and such, but she gave me the cat glare of death. As such, I followed the directions on the bag which suggested covering the little wood nubs with clay litter. Quince thought the Feline Pine was a toy, so she would dig them out from beneath the clay litter and bat them around the house. Scooping was not possible. I don’t know how to deal with non-scoopable litter. It seems icky and labor-intensive, so I have never gone down that route. I tried to scoop that non-scoopable litter. And, boy, that didn’t work. I ended up throwing away a lot of unused litter.
• Feline Pine, scoopable: I followed the non-scoopable Feline Pine with the scoopable kind. Generally speaking, I found it to be better than the non-scoopable version. It does clump very well. However, I don’t think it’s up to snuff. First of all, it’s stinky. The litter itself isn’t stinky, but my cats are, and the litter does nothing to help with that. Secondly, the litter is basically sawdust. In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with this fact. The problem is that it sticks to everything, and now there is sawdust all over my apartment. This will not do.
• World’s Best Cat Litter: I’ve tried this corn-based litter before, and I’m going to try it again. It closely resembles litter in terms of texture, so the kitties shouldn’t notice a difference. From what I remember, it clumps rather well. The problem I experienced in the past was that it attracted fruit flies. I’m a bit more diligent now about litterbox cleaning now that I have two pooping machines. I’ve read some reviews on Only Natural Pet, and it appears some people have had problems with odor, and that it requires daily cleaning (I’m partial to every other day). One bonus: it’s from the Midwest. We’ll see how it goes.
• Swheat Scoop: If World’s Best doesn’t work out, I’ll try this. Seems pretty similar to World’s Best, only it’s wheat-based. The reviews don’t mention anything about poor odor control.

Just thought I’d share in case any of you are looking for some clay litter alternatives as well. Wish me luck!

Despite the fact that I feel so strongly about this semi-arbitrary setting of aspirations, I do have goals. This weekend, Mary and I created a list of things we want to accomplish and helped each other to create simple steps to get us going in the right direction. I tend to keep my goals in my head, and try to work on them as often as possible. But in doing this, some goals slip by the wayside while others are gloriously accomplished. Writing them down and talking about them helped me to identify small steps toward accomplishing the goals that are more difficult for me. So, here’s my list:

• Complete the Chicago Marathon: This one was Mary’s idea. I am still not entirely convinced it’s not crazy, but I’m going to do it with her. Some possible impediments to my successful completion include the fact that I am a terrible distance runner and am prone to injury. However, I’m going to follow Hal Higdon’s marathon training plan for beginners starting in June. I’m also going to see a nutritionist to ensure I’m getting the proper amount of nutrition to achieve this goal as well as to ensure I’m taking the proper supplements.
• Complete one sprint triathlon and one olympic triathlon this season:  I think this one should be pretty easy to accomplish.  I’ve got the beginning of my season planned out, with the MS150 in April and the Danskin triathlon in Austin on June 8.  In August, I’ll be battling the heat and doing an olympic triathlon, which will give me a full two months before the marathon in October.  There will be other, smaller events in my schedule as well, but these are my main events of the season, and I’m feeling pretty excited and confident about them.
• Lose Weight: I’m relatively fit – I work out 5-6 days a week and eat pretty well most of the time. I wouldn’t even say that I’m overweight, per se. But as an athlete who’s trying to improve my performance, I would like to lose what I view as excess weight. It’s a common complaint among most endurance athletes – any fat at all is seen as a burden. I won’t push it that far, but I will say I’d like to lose 5 or so pounds.  I’ve already been working toward this – working out 5-6 days a week, eliminating refined carbs from my diet, eating whole grains only, etc.  I’ve also started trying to be more conscious of my portions, which I think will contribute greatly.
• Start Mindfulness Practice: This is something that’s been on my radar for a while.  At times in the past, I’ve been pretty good about going to group meditation on the weekends.  But inevitably something comes up and I can’t go.  These days I have athletic events throughout the weekend.  I’ve never been able to create a mindfulness practice for myself at home.  We decided it would be appropriate for me to start with 10 minutes a day, 3 days a week (most likely after I’ve put the kitten to bed).  I’m going to start simple – just counting my breaths.  I think these two steps are simple enough that I can achieve this.
• Ride Bike to Work:  I’ve been wanting to do this forever.  I live only a mile and a half from my office.  It should be easy.  But there are always reasons not to: the horrendous Houston traffic, too hot, too cold, client meetings, I need to finish fixing my rear cog on my bike, etc.  The idea of riding to work in my work clothes isn’t too appealing, either.  We decided that it would be a good idea to start riding my bike on Fridays, since I get to wear jeans to work that day and I never have meetings.  I’m also going to go out to the hardware store this weekend to purchase some JB Weld and fix my cog once and for all.
• Cook: I’m terrible about cooking dinner.  First, let’s talk about what I’m doing well.  I’ve managed to stop buying lunch during the week and start taking my own, which was a big accomplishment.  But I simply can’t find the time to cook in the evenings.  I get out of work after 6, at which point I go and work out, sometimes for several hours.  By the time I get home, I’m tired and hungry and I nuke something.  I decided my ideal cooking schedule would be Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, since I have late workouts every Monday and Thursday and like to go out to eat on Saturdays.  I’m going to start with a goal of cooking a real meal once per week.  I’ll plan a menu on the weekend and do any prep work I can.

I think these small steps will provide a strong foundation in the pursuit of my goals.  I do have some other, smaller, in progress goals, but I think I’ll wait for another day to talk about those.

Anyone care to share any of your current goals?

I’ll be the first to admit that I know almost nothing about the world of rap. But I have noticed that the last few rappers I’ve come to love have been from Chi-town. This, of course, makes me happy, as I love to support my Midwestern roots. Here are a few of my favorites these days:

• Lupe Fiasco – He’s smooth, intelligent, creative, and he’s got a great flow. With songs about skateboarding, benevolent robots, and songs about the world of rap that seem to break the mold, I find I’m always pleasantly surprised. His raps are more lyrical than any other I’ve heard.
• Kanye West – He sure is one cocky son-of-a-b. I don’t love all of his songs. But the ones I do, I think he really nails. I really enjoy his collaborations with Jay-Z. He’s got a scathing wit and some nice beats that make his songs fun to listen to. Some of my favorites: Diamonds from Sierra Leone (remix feat. Jay-Z), Gold Digger, Gone, Stronger, Flashing Lights, Jesus Walks, All Falls Down.
• Common – I haven’t listened to his work much. He came up on my Pandora and I liked the song, so I checked him out. His sound seems to be a bit more classic and less playful than Kanye or Lupe, but infused with some of that same wit that makes Kanye so enjoyable.

Possibly my favorite right now in this realm of music is edIT (not a Chicagoan – he’s LA based). Technically electronic, not hip-hop, this dude is effing awesome. He describes his music as the hip-hop of the future. His solo songs sound like hip-hop without words, and he does collaborations with artists like the Grouch (my inaugural edIT song – Artsy remix).

“You ain’t artsier than me. You just a trendy lesbian dreadlock thespian…”

I’ve been completely incapacitated since Wednesday afternoon. I actually got sick on Tuesday night, but decided it would be a short-lived thing, so I went into work regardless. After leaving the office early, I glued my bum to the couch and have only gotten up to go to bed. I’ve watched 7 movies in the last two days, a lot of television, and have only been able to keep my eyes focused long enough to read a marginal amount of one book. My apartment is in shambles. The cats don’t understand why I won’t play with them and have resorted to playing with plastic forks they stole from my chinese takeout bag. And I am so very tired of laying on the couch.

And I’ve been thinking. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a free service that came to clean your apartment while you were sick? And prepare meals for you. And body massage.

But I’ve learned my lesson. Next year I’m getting a flu shot. For now, I’m going to resume my semi-conscious TV watching.

As my return so conveniently coincided with the beginning of the new year, I thought I would do a post on my year in review – to catch you up, my dear readers, on the oh-so interesting occurrences and hilarity that are my life.

My First MS 150
I didn’t think it could be done – sitting on my bum (technically my ischial tuberosity) for two straight days and propelling myself with my own muscles for 150 miles. However, with the aid of moderate training, a knee brace, road crews and some good company, it was like a piece of cake. Mary and I pushed each other – trying to best each other’s top speed, playing word association games, peeing on our shoes (okay, I’m the only one who did that – but it was an accident!). There were a couple snafus – like the time I fell on a hill and caused the guy right behind me to fall (he was rather miffed). But in all, we had a pretty darn good time.

Pepper
Pepper, our dog of 16 years, passed away in April. Pepper was the cutest, stockiest little dog you could ever come across. Oh, but she was more than her good looks. She was brilliant. She could converse with you without saying anything. She would share your joys and your pains, and always empathized with your deepest feelings. If you asked her anything in your calmest voice, she knew exactly what you were saying and would do it. She had a penchant for popcorn and green tea. She loved her Booda bone, walks around the circle, sleeping on the deck, being the first to say good morning to you, and car rides (but not the rumble strips). She always tried to protect us from vacuums, thunder and fireworks. And she loved to sit with her bum against yours. She was perfection in dog form. If there is an afterlife, I am fully confident that she is blissful in hers. If there is reincarnation, I am fully confident that she will return as a being that is blessed. Either way, I know that she will forever be loved.

My Best Friend’s Wedding
No, silly, I’m not talking about the movie. My best friend got married in May! Never have I cried at a wedding before. And yet at Hayl’s wedding, I was driven to tears. Perhaps I had an excessive amount of estrogen at the time. But it was a beautiful wedding. Though I have known and liked her previous romantic interests, I have never felt that they were the right one for her. She deserves nothing less than to be as happy as she is with T. I wish them many congratulations and all my love.

Tri
I completed my first triathlon in October! I had been training off and on for a triathlon for a couple of years, and this year I decided would be the year that I would actually do one. My parents flew down, and my grandpa drove over from New Mexico for the occasion. As you might expect, I had a couple airhead maneuvers in order to imbue the event with my own Kate flair. The first thing they tell you when you sign up for a triathlon is, “Get there early.” My heat didn’t enter the water until after 8 am, so I thought it would be appropriate to arrive a little after 7. This would give me over an hour to set up my transition area and prepare for my swim. As we turn down the road so Mary can drop me off, we discover a road block – they closed the road! So Mary drops me off and I proceed to walk a mile to the transition area, lugging my heavy bag and bike pump. Unbeknownst to me, as I am lugging my gear, they are in the process of closing the transition area. When I arrive and frantically try to set up my area in 30 seconds, I discover I forgot my biking shoes! So I stand there, being written on by race people, trying to get a hold of Mary to beg her to get my shoes for me.

As I wait for my swim wave, I strike up a conversation with several others who are waiting. Despite my fears about being a newbie, triathletes are an amazingly friendly bunch! I proceed to enter the warm water with the rest of my wave, and find it surprisingly easy, if not a bit disorienting, to complete my first open water swim. It ends up being my best event. I ran up to my bike to dry off and bike away (Mary kindly brought my shoes for me), when I discover I don’t have my inhaler. As I’ve already ridden the route before and almost passed out from an asthma attack, I’m slightly concerned. But I paced my self, and finished without a hitch (though a bit tired). I put on my running shoes and start to run, valiantly waving to my spectators as I pass. When I’m sure they can no longer see me, I sigh in relief and start walking. The guy running next to me does the same, and we chat with each other for a while as we walk next to each other. I complete the running leg of the event in that fashion – running past the spectators, walking when there are none. In all, I had a blast. But I’ll be sure to double or triple check my equipment bag next time.

Kitten
There’s a new addition to my family! She’s a little goober of a kitten named Quince. A few months ago, my neighbor informed me there was a sad kitten stuck under our apartment building. I went with her and helped to get her out from under the building. The poor thing was starving to death. At 4 weeks old she weighed a meager 12 ounces! So I kept her in my bathroom, bottle feeding her and taking her to the vet regularly. She has since turned into a hellion of a kitten, terrorizing me and her sister Kisa. But she is adorable, so I keep her – if nothing else, for the entertainment value. She alternates between spastic – kicking herself in the head, doing somersaults, climbing my leg – and sweet – curling up on my lap and sucking on my shirt. Such a goober…

The End of the Year
I ended the year in relaxation among fresh snow. I went home (Wisconsin) for 10 days and spent the time relaxing with my parents, watching the snow fall, doing crosswords and playing board games. My two-year old second cousin chased me around for hours on xmas – I was the scary monster’s victim. New year’s eve consisted of a small group of friends in Houston, good wine, good food and board games. It was a great way to ring in the new year.

I hope yours were equally fun and satisfying. Love and hugs and mushy stuff to you all, my fellow space travelers.

My weekend? Absolutely wonderful.

The plan for saturday: whisk Mary away. Following a delicious Kraftsmen lunch and watching Heather going crazy with salad (it looked delicious), we hopped in Zippy. Pick a direction, Mary. Northeast. Fabulous. Toward Nacogdoches we go.

We took 45 out to Willis and hung a right. We chose roads as we went. Our first stop: a giant Bison. After a few photo ops with our big black man, I began climbing his bum. Mary also stuck her head in his bum. Luckily, he was rather clean. Our next stop: a large smoking gun. It was actually a barbeque pit in the shape of a gun (the flue was the barrel!). Very exciting. We chatted with the owner and her buddy Joe for a bit before heading on our way.

We made our way into Cold Spring where, what did we find? A market on the courthouse square – divine! </rhyme> We found a store called Crazy Ranch Designs, and were so excited to find another store by the same name of the one where Heather works (We later found out it actually is the same store. Even crazier!). We stopped in a homeopathy store where we found a woman who looked like she took her fashion cues from Wilma Flintstone. Brenda.

Brenda had her hair in the exact style of Wilma's. Oh, the stories Brenda can tell! Story number one: Tom Delay. Brenda was driving back from Oklahoma when she hopped on a turnpike. It was brand new. It seemed as though not a single tire had touched the pavement. Brenda was driving along, and began to feel parched. She decided to stop at the next town she found. That next town was a "brand spanking new" development. "I mean, brand spanking new." There was something a little weird about this town. It was entirely pastel. But that wasn't was weird. The town was unused. Brand new and unused. Deserted. Brenda was unable to buy the soda she so longed for. So she hopped back in her car and drove back. Brenda is apparently associated with a political organization. As soon as she returned to the lovely town of Cold Spring, she phoned the group and informed them of the town. "Something's not right. I want you to investigate this town." Well, investigate they did. And they found that the town was a product of kickbacks Tom Delay had gotten from tribes in the area. Soon after Brenda's tip unearthed the kickbacks, he was indicted. Brenda was solely responsible for the indictment. I believe it, too. You should have seen the cape she was wearing. A baby blue wonder crocheted, most likely, by her own hand.

Brenda also told us another story about the catfish at the bottom of Lake Livingston. Well, as most of you know, Hurricane Rita tore through the area a little earlier this year. Apparently they were worried people might be caught at the bottom of the lake. A scuba party was released to search for said missing people. The scuba team started popping up left and right with tales of giant catfish. Fish so big their mouths are larger than humans. They just open their mouths and the fish swim in. Which is a good thing, because they're so large they can't even move. SO big, in fact, that you can't even catch them. You have to hang them in trees and shoot them. You know, because they have so much blubber.

"You aren't planning on going to any bars, are you?" Because, you know, they'll kill you and feed you to the catfish.

From Cold Spring we found a dirt road on which to head north. We certainly weren't in Texas anymore. Certainly not the Texas I knew. It was at this point that I realized that Texas is not as fully responsible for my unhappiness here as I had thought. Sure, partially responsible. Possibly even largely responsible. But it's not fully to blame. And that's a good thing to know.

We made our way through Onalaska and Point Blank to Groveton, where there was a mighty cute little jail. We made our way up to the jail and were joking with the guys sitting in front and smoking. "Um, excuse me, I noticed there's a sign there saying 'No Loitering,' And you're loitering…" Mary said something about one of the guys wearing orange pants. It turns out, he was actually in jail there. Crazy. We chatted a bit, and he told us that Bonnie once broke Clyde out of the jail. Neat.

From the jail, we went down the road and stopped at a gas station, where we met Kasi (sp?). The three of us talked about meditation and the sprawling home Kasi wants to build in Sugarland that he wants me to design. I'm not so sure about it. I'm not so sure I could bring myself to design what it is he wants. Regardless, it was an interesting conversation.

We ate a little pineapple pizza dinner in Palestine before turning around and heading back to Houston. We stopped at a going away party for Reiko, and got to see all my archi friends. It was a lot of fun.

Sunday morning, Mary missed her softball game due to an alarm problem (falling back asleep) and I missed temple, but we ended up going to brunch at Lindsey and Angel's. It was pretty great. Lots of sitting on the porch and chatting. And tiny kittens. Mew!

We then went to get tea and food with the other Mary at the fabulous new tea house (Fabulous to see you again, Mary! Twice in two months! Outstanding!). Following that: a costume extravaganza at Heather's store. I almost tried on a beautiful corset, but, alas, there was no fastening agent. Another time, perhaps…

The book: The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. I know there are a lot of people out there who rave and rave about this book. I am not one of those people. I strongly disliked the first 500 pages of the book. I did enjoy the last 60 pages, but I have a feeling it may be because I was so close to the end and I couldn’t wait to finish it. I kept waiting to find the good part that everyone raves about. Perhaps I have a faulty copy of the book. But that good part was not in my book. As Glen said, “It’s basically a book about nothing.” 560 pages of nothing. Yeah, yeah, emotional turmoil, blah blah. I don’t think there was anything entirely profound about the emotions explored or the way they were explored in the book. Definitely not what I expected from the acclaim plastered all over the book’s cover. I was promised that I would laugh and I would cry. That I would question things. I am prone to doing all of these things. And yet this book led me to do none of them.

V for Vendetta: Oh, Natalie Portman… Your eyes. Your beautifully emotive eyes. Yes, they’re wonderful. I’m sure you know you’re wonderful, as you’re both beautiful and intelligent, and talented on top of it all. I am not one to gush for celebrities. And yet I cannot help but love you. Oh, sure, love is a strong word in this instance. Especially after I questioned said love after Closer. And perhaps I am lacking slightly in devotion, as I have not seen any of the new Star Wars movies in which you have acted. But I dare say it tonight. Love.

The movie is truly wonderful. A delightful mix of quotes from some of the literary world’s best and most profound with violence in pursuit of a higher ideal, a Truth. Pretty wonderful timing given our government’s recent proclivity for boundless power and mental images of 1984 that are springing to mind all too frequently. There are some visually stunning moments. And several moments at the end in which I felt like weeping from an upsurge in idealism, compassion, drive, and ultimately overwhelming faith in the general populace and their underlying Good.

Altogether, a pretty wonderful weekend.

On another note, I ran into one of my exes and her new puppy this evening. This is not unusual. What is unusual, however, is the fact that a mere hour or so before seeing her, I had a strange inclination that she had gotten a puppy. This inclination in and of itself is weird, as I rarely see her and when we dated we talked about adopting a cat. Nevertheless, for some reason my puppy sense was active. And accurate.

I now plan to hone my puppy sense and explore my long e finale in therapy. Until then, however, I think I’ll take of my skin beautifying mask and continue with other girly pre-bed routines.

Update: I just thought of a couple that don’t fit this profile (the long e). So apparently the first part of this post is a lie. But most (nearly 80%) have had a long e.

(And no, despite the fact that these generalities imply that I have a large number on my dating list, it’s not true.)