I haven't written anythin in here for a while, expcet the dribble that I wrote presumably right before I passed out last night. I haven't checked to see if anyone had posted anything. I was pleasantly surprised to see Jenny's post and was, like her, was inspired to write.
I'm kind of manic-despressive when it comes to music. One day hooked on Ryan Adams, the next to Kanye West, the next I listen to 10 different albums in 4 or five different media. Paul Simon on vinyl, the Dodos in the car, the Uglysuit or Sigur Ros or Panda Bear before I fall asleep. So I've recently gotten back into Thom Yorke's solo album which Luke and I listened to obsessively for the entire winter in Munich. It was playing on itunes and when the album ended, it went to the next one, which also starts with a T, TV on the Radio. This was an album that didn't take much time to recognize that it was good. I listened to it a few times and moved on to the other 68 downloads on emusic. So the album started playing and about halfway through it, I stop writing my letter and crank it up. I get it now. I always recognized that it was good, but now it's grabbed me Music is tricky like that.
In my letter to Leah, I told her about Mog and as I was writing, I gained clarity on why it feels so good to have gotten that cat. Other than how incredibly cute he is. I was playing with him one day, covering up his eyes when he was trying to walk which just made him move his head, where I moved my hand to block her view. It was cute. (it was). And I said to him, man we're going to have a lot of fun together over the years. Over the years...The car payments I'm making are over the next three years. Cats live to be like 15. If that cat lives 15 years, I'll be almost 40 when it dies. All of the cats my parents had were probably born when they were my age. Well, maybe a little older. I don't really talk to anyone I knew 10 years ago, I don't even know if I own anything older than that (except my MC Hammer pants). I guess what I'm saying is it felt permanent. I guess I feel more settled. Like this isn't all going to end next May when I leave for camp or go back to Munich, or move to a different city. I don't know what's going to happen next summer, but for now I'm tucking in to an established life here, one that might last for 15 years. Life in Roanoke, Mog, Gypsy, Brett, slave to debt.
In other news,
Both humans and cats have identical regions in the brain responsible for emotion. A cat's brain is more similar to a man's brain than that of a dog. A cat has more bones than a human; humans have 206, but the cat has 230 (some cites list 245 bones, and state that bones may fuse together as the cat ages). Cats have 30 vertebrae (humans have 33 vertebrae during early development; 26 after the sacral and coccygeal regions fuse). The cat's clavicle, or collarbone, does not connect with other bones but is buried in the muscles of the shoulder region. This lack of a functioning collarbone allows them to fit through any opening the size of their head. The cat has 500 skeletal muscles (humans have 650). Cats have 32 muscles that control the outer ear (compared to human's 6 muscles each). A cat can rotate its ears independently 180 degrees, and can turn in the direction of sound 10 times faster than those of the best watchdog. Cats' hearing is much more sensitive than humans and dogs. Cats' hearing stops at 65 khz (kilohertz); humans' hearing stops at 20 khz. A cat sees about 6 times better than a human at night, and needs 1/6 the amount of of light that a human does - it has a layer of extra reflecting cells which absorb light. Recent studies have shown that cats can see blue and green. There is disagreement as to whether they can see red. A cat's field of vision is about 185 degrees. Blue-eyed, pure white cats are frequently deaf. It may take as long as 2 weeks for a kitten to be able to hear well. Their eyes usually open between 7 and 10 days, but sometimes it happens in as little as 2 days. A cat has approximately 60 to 80 million olfactory cells (a human has between 5 and 20 million). Cats have a special scent organ located in the roof of their mouth, called the Jacobson's organ. It analyzes smells - and is the reason why you will sometimes see your cat "sneer" (called the flehmen response or flehming) when they encounter a strong odor. A cat has a total of 24 whiskers, 4 rows of whiskers on each side. The upper two rows can move independently of the bottom two rows. A cat uses its whiskers for measuring distances. Cats have 30 teeth (12 incisors, 10 premolars, 4 canines, and 4 molars), while dogs have 42. Kittens have baby teeth, which are replaced by permanent teeth around the age of 7 months. A cat's jaw has only up and down motion; it does not have any lateral, side to side motion, like dogs and humans. For this reason, don't rely on feeding dry food as a dental care program - cats need to have their teeth cleaned by a vet. When a cat drinks, its tongue - which has tiny barbs on it - scoops the liquid up backwards. Cats purr at the same frequency as an idling diesel engine, about 26 cycles per second. Domestic cats purr both when inhaling and when exhaling.
The cat's front paw has 5 toes, but the back paws have 4. Some cats are born with as many as 7 front toes and extra back toes (polydactl). Cats step with both left legs, then both right legs when they walk or run. Cats walk on their toes. A domestic cat can sprint at about 31 miles per hour. The heaviest cat on record weighed 46 lbs. A kitten will typically weigh about 3 ounces at birth. The typical male housecat will weigh between 7 and 9 pounds, slightly less for female housecats. Cats take between 20-40 breaths per minute. Normal body temperature for a cat is 102 degrees F. A cat's normal pulse is 140-240 beats per minute, with an average of 195. Cat's urine glows under a black light. Cats lose almost as much fluid in the saliva while grooming themselves as they do through urination. Almost 10% of a cat's bones are in its tail, and the tail is used to maintain balance. The domestic cat is the only species able to hold its tail vertically while walking. You can also learn about your cat's present state of mind by observing the posture of his tail. If a cat is frightened, the hair stands up fairly evenly all over the body; when the cat threatens or is ready to attack, the hair stands up only in a narrow band along the spine and tail.
