The two bride figurines (the brunette representing me and the blonde Lady Lucia) were gifts from our friend "Ms. H" who hosted our wedding in her Park Slope, Brooklyn home, along with her husband, "Rev. M," who also officiated our marriage ceremony. Behind the brides you see our chocola… Read full post »

  Gracie, at 13 weeks, now fills approximately 3/4 of a shoe box.

She likes my weights but still hasn't quite figured out what they are for, in human terms. She thinks this dumbell is a comfy pillow. The white thing on the dumbell is a scrap of tissue… Read full post »

First, the list of names that I have called the cats in my life (in addition to the "official" names I've given them.)

These are in chronological order, starting with the cats who have already crossed the bridge:

Squeak: aka "Squeaker," "Sweet Squeak" and "Squeaklet."

Woodgie: aka "Green-eyed Girl,"… Read full post »

We adopted Gracie to be an "apprentice" to Alice, after her sweet sister, Trixie's sudden death from heart failure. It has been my constant prayer (and Lady Lucia's) that Alice and Gracie would make friends quickly. 'Though not yet snuggling or doing mutually grooming, the two are playing and eating… Read full post »

Gracie next to my laptop

  It's getting harder and harder to write blog posts or much of anything else with this adorable kitten on the premises. Gracie has been with us for a week now and, having settled in, is increasingly demanding of attention. When answering emails from… Read full post »

Our very first picture of Gracie

  This is Gracie. She's 9 weeks and four days old. We went to the ASPCA last Tuesday to find a kitten, so that Alice would finally have an "apprentice." We chose Gracie because, when we held her, she purred in our arms (Lady… Read full post »

Alice is on my lap. I pet her between sentences. Every so often, I lean over and kiss her sweet, silky head. She's spoiled. I am, too. This is self-employment. I sit at my home computer, petting my adorable cat. Of course, most of the time I'm not blogging. Instead, I'm… Read full post »

My second youngest cousin, "Em," is 21 years old. She was deeply in love with her long-time boyfriend "Dan," who was the same age. Dan died yesterday. I don't know the details. Some sort of accident. Emily doesn't live near me and I don't see her often so I learned this… Read full post »

Here's what's blue.

My Ring Finger, with Sapphire Engagement Ring and Simple Band

These are the rings ( a plain silver band and a silver ring with a sapphire plus two tiny side diamonds) that I've been wearing (most of the time) since Lady Lucia and I had our Holy Union… Read full post »

This is one of those times when there's so much catch-up that I don't know where to begin. There is no beginning. Just a mess of now.

Lady Lucia and I have (sadly) not yet found a Siamese kitten to adopt. We continue to search rescue groups' web sites and craigslist… Read full post »

It's been exactly a week since our beautiful, wonderful little Trixie made her transition to what my old friend, "Madame X," called, "another address." We talk about her and miss her every day but at least the constant bouts of tears (which lasted, for both of us, about 48 hours) have… Read full post »

This will be a short post because I'm still reeling with shock and grief. You've all read my many posts (and seen many pictures) of our beloved Siamese sisters, Alice and Trixie. Lady Lucia and I awoke this morning to find Trixie's lifeless body. She had apparently died in her sleep… Read full post »

This afternoon, during my lunch break, I got my first ever flu shot. I'd avoided them in the past for a few reasons. I was uninsured. Needle-phobic. Not in a high-risk group. Right now, though, there is flu-related panic in New York and all the big public officials (Governor Cuomo; Mayor… Read full post »

Hello Y'all. I tried blogging on Our salon for a while but it didn't work well for me and I was getting harassed by a jerk, so I decided to come back to OS (which had been frustrating me too much during the last few months) and see whether it was… Read full post »

Sometimes I feel strange having a blog named for a mega-famous performing artist (albeit one whose fame was at its height 100 years ago) while no longer being "in the biz" myself. When I started my first blog, I was in my last semester of seminary but was also still really… Read full post »

A friend of mine posted an "Open Call" of sorts on FaceBook, asking people to enumerate their "most geeky" injuries. She was referring to injuries that happened while people were working with computers and other tech geeky items. I didn't have any of those sorts of injuries to share, but her… Read full post »

A house on our block

The house pictured above is on our block, in Dyker Heights (youse can see why I call it "suburban Brooklyn;" though we live in an aprtment building, it's mostly single family houses like this one). The tree knocked some tiles off the roof of this… Read full post »

Hello. Just checking in to let y'all know that Lady Lucia and I are alive, well and even still have power (obviously!)

The subways and buses are still shut down and many businesses closed. My jury service was canceled because courts were closed. I'll be receiving a new summons for… Read full post »

Just in case anyone is still reading OS...this is to say that Lady Lucia and I are safely snug in our Brooklyn apartment, as Hurricane Sandy approaches. We stocked up on food, put batteries into our many flashlights, filled our water bottles and...that's all we can do. This neighborhood is not… Read full post »

Hi, y'all. I just realized that it had been over two weeks since my last post. Things have been pretty dull and depressing lately (nothing tragic; just the usual dead-end, woefully underpaid day job and life in an inconvenient, boring neighborhood.) I've also been depressed because Fall means that Wi… Read full post »

HELP WANTED

I needed a job. Desperately. The sign said, "Help Wanted," so I walked in."What kind of help do you need?" I asked the cashier.

"Are you desperate?" she asked me."Yes," I replied.

"Okay then..." She vaulted over the counter, grabbed me; kissed me hard...

"Thanks for helping. Here's a… Read full post »

Alice

Trixie

Both Cats Now Self-Cleaning!

Alice and Trixie were actually born on Staten Island but we don't talk about that (much). There are too many Republicans on Staten Island (even more than the unfortunate number who make Dyker Heights and Bay Rid… Read full post »

Cat In an Empty Philadelphia Storefront: A Marvellous Mystery

 For the last few weeks, I've been using my cool new phone camera to take pictures of my many "working" feline friends. All but two of them are employed by Brooklyn businesses (the two non-Brooklynite felines were encountered… Read full post »

I have another photo blog in the works but am still trying to get all the pictures for it (some of my subjects being elusive). Just so y'all won't think I fell off the edge of the earth ('though it sometimes feels that way to me) I'll write about what little… Read full post »

It's Labor Day and I went to work, as did Lady Lucia, because we work in social services and don't automatically get holidays off. (She is paid much better than I but, in many ways, her job is also even more of a pain-in-the-tush than mine). Anyway...I went to work and… Read full post »