Describe a *person* who has positively impacted your life.
She was both mother and father. Even when my father was alive, my mother was my father. Everything good that I’ve learned, I’ve learned from her. It was not a perfect relationship, but she was my best friend, and positively affected my life. My father, for his part, gave me these hands and these eyes, and this technical brain. Don’t get me wrong, he was impactful. Sort of like an asteroid hitting earth. Someone wise once said, “Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.” Mary Oliver.
Thanks for the darkness, dad.
Thanks for the light, Mom.
Mother and Child – an extract from The Three Ages of Woman by Gustav Klimt
The odds are that I do. The Cat Distribution System seems stuck to me like cat hair. I’ve tried turning it off and on a couple of times, but still the cats arrive. Until they fix the system, if you have misplaced your cat, I probably have it.
Have you ever performed on stage or given a speech?
It was always my dream to be a park ranger. Ever since I was a small girl, I imagined myself out in the wilderness, wearing rugged boots and heavy clothing topped off with a nondescript brown hat. Flowers and trees and plants as far as the eye can see. I never knew if I would realize my dream. I worked hard toward it, but life interrupted.
That’s what I told my Acting 101 class as I pretended that I’ve always wanted to be a park ranger. While it’s true that I love plants and trees and the grass beneath my feet, mosquitoes have an unrequited love for me, and I do not like the smell of leaves, nor being cold at night. Sleeping in a tent? I’ll pass, thanks.
My performance earned me a round of applause. They believed me.
What is something others do that sparks your admiration?
It’s not really what others do, it’s who others are, that sparks my admiration. A person can do something, but that doesn’t mean it’s the essence of who they are. If someone consistently does something, without outside provocation, it’s a manifestation of who they are. You can tell a lot by a person if you watch them in the grocery store parking lot. Fully able-bodied people who return grocery carts are Real Ones. What’s that saying? Character is who you are when you think no one is watching? Yeah, that.
Look at daily prompt with the perfect Saturday/Caturday morning question.
My favorite cartoon is not a moving cartoon but a cartoon figure.
It all started when my father brought me home a pencil case with her image on it. He had been traveling again, and found this on his travels. I must’ve been four years old, at a time when the brain is impressionable. We also had cats, so it seems like it was a foregone conclusion that this character would become my favorite, and it extends to present day.
Hello Kitty (original design)
Once, I had a cat named Kitty. During the time of her years in my home, there was a TV commercial that repeatedly stated, “Hello Kitty!” It was a rather annoying commercial, actually. But the cat kept hearing her name and turned her head toward the humans in the home as if to say, “What?! I’m right here! Stop this thing saying hello to me.” She was so annoyed. And it was amusing.
Kitty (four pounds of badassery)
If you haven’t guessed by now, my favorite cartoon is Hello Kitty. For many years, I didn’t know Hello Kitty has a twin sister, nor a pet cat (?!?!). She also has a boyfriend named Dear Daniel, but he’s kind of sketchy. He has that tomcat vibe. You know the type: they only come around when they want to see you. They don’t call, they don’t text, they’re just out here on the streets looking cute talking to all the girls. He has that stray cat strut. Mmm, hmm.
Dear Daniel (See? Sketchy.)
I am an adult. And I am not ashamed to say Hello Kitty can be found throughout my home. She’s in my car, hanging from my rearview mirror. She’s on my floor mats. I have several items of clothing with her face on them. I contemplated a tattoo, but never followed through with it. At least not yet.
Chococat, another Sanrio cat, gets a shout out today because he is a friend of Hello Kitty, it’s Caturday, and he’s cute.
