Phineas is sick :(

Our little foster kitten Phineas was sick when we got him - eye problems and his whiskers had fallen out and littler than his brothers and lethargic. We treated him with antibiotics and eye drops and his eye got a little better, but it is not all the way better and the situation is not looking good. He needs to see an cat ophthalmologist but even the diagnostics seem to be amazingly expensive and the shelter we foster Phineas through is running low on money. The doctor said that the worst case scenario is that he might have to have his eye removed, and it is questionable whether or not he can actually even see out of it, or if he will be able to in the future. Poor little guy. I was thinking about what to do about it, but it seems difficult to have a fundraiser or people donate money for ONE kitten, while lots of people go without essential healthcare. But he is just one of the sweetest cats ever. Ever. Say a little prayer for him…

By Popular Demand: Kittens

A loyal reader requested more pictures of our little foster kittens, so here they are. If you are in the Greater Boston area and want two very sweet kittens, we have six for you to choose from… They were all found on the streets in Boston and our shelter is currently quite overun with late-summer kittens thus the reason we have so many. And just the right timing, too, as school and work starts for both W. and I. But duty calls. They said that the little guys would have to be put back out on the street if we couldn’t take them because so many of the foster homes are full…. Now for introductions…..

(Note that when this blog was imported from Blogger to WordPress the picture captions and pictures didn’t/don’t line up correctly and I’m not sure how to fix it. Sorry about that.)

This is Olivia - Long haired and very very sweet.

These are the three brothers - Phineas, Emerson (as in Ralph Waldo Emerson), and Theo. Theo is also the one looking up at the camera. Phineas is by far the smallest and might be a little sick. He’ll go to the vet this week to find out why most of his whiskers have fallen out and why he is more tired than the others.

This is Emerson and Phineas hanging out on some nice freshly folded pants. Right before I took this, Emerson was cleaning Phineas like a good big brother.

This is Edgar - Olivia’s brother - sleeping next to his litter box after a long day of playing. They have a sister named Quinn, but she is not a fan of pictures. More to come soon after she relaxes a little bit.

Loving those curves?

Okay. This is Scarlett Johansson. An actress. I saw a headline today that said:

Despite Media’s Efforts to Crush Her Confidence, Scarlett Still Likes Her Curvy Body

The first line of the blurb reads, “After having spent the last few years being plopped on magazine covers with headlines like, “Look Great at ANY Size!” Scarlett Johansson still loves her curves.”

Not knowing exactly what she looked like, I assumed she was a bigger actress. Clearly (see photo) she is not “bigger.” I mean, okay, she has curves, but she has probably size 6 curves. This is the person whom the media portrays as big(ish)? I just hate it that when you look like Ms. J. here, this somehow equals curvy which used to mean slightly rounder. Or just rounder, period. This is still skinny to me. Not sickly skinny, but still pretty darn small. The articles that quote Johansson as “loving her curves” essentially are saying, “Wow, that is so great that she has the confidence to still like her body the way it is,” as if it should somehow look different in order to be really worthy of self-confidence. Someone this size should not be “plopped on magazine covers that say ‘Look great at any size!’” Wow, you can even look great if you are a size 6. Now I feel much better. How ’bout you all?

Goddess save us.

Meet Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is him. He moved in with us yesterday with his brothers Theo and Finnius who are both black too. But Emerson, as we call him, is the biggest and scaredest and tries to be the most ferocious. More pictures to come. They were found as strays in Newton. The woman who we got them from portrayed them as wild monsters and we were afraid they were going to be bad biters, but they aren’t at all. Emerson scratches, but Finnius mostly shivers and looks scared and his two bigger brothers cuddle him and protect him. We got a little light that gives off heat and put it over a little kitten bed - that’s where they slept last night. Finnius may already have a potential home, but Theo and Emerson will go as a pair if you are thinking of adopting two beautiful black kittens. They will probably be ready in a few weeks. Finnius needs to to go the doctor - he has no eye whiskers and it looks like his face whiskers have fallen out and are growing back in. And one eye is not looking good. We hope he will be just fine, but not clear at this point….

Prepare Jesus is Coming

We saw this driving the other day. What is interesting is that this person had to go out and get these letters and write this out themselves. This was not premade. Imagine that to do list. 1) Pick kids up from school. 2) Clean kitchen 3) Get stick-on letters to put on car to warn world of the coming end times. I always wonder if people like this really think that this will help convert people or if this is just a way to announce who they are.

Max and Harriet, the two sweetest kittens ever

We are Max and Harriet - brother and sister and we are looking for a permanent home together. Our foster parents say that we are the two sweetest foster kittens they have every had and really they would like to keep us but just don’t have enough room for us, but they want us to go to a very loving and nice home. We were originally with a not-very-nice family that called the shelter and gave us to the shelter. Boy, we were glad to get out of that house! If you come over, we can tell you the sad story. Now we are about 14 weeks old and very playful and we love to cuddle. We will be available for adoption on July 10. We are getting fixed and getting all our shots and tests on July 6. Did we mention that our foster parents adore us? They espeically like it because we cuddle them and do lots of cute things when we play and we are so friendly. If you think you can give us lots of love and a safe, long-term home, and you will take us together (we can’t be seperated! we are best friends), please email our foster mom. Our spay/neuter, tests and shots are included in the adoption fee which is $100 each ($200 for both of us). Even though it might seem like a lot, it is much less than the cost if we were to have all our tests and checkups and spay/neuter at the regular price at a vet. Please email our foster mom and her a little bit about yourself and she will be in touch about a time for you to visit us. Looking forward to hearing from you. From: Max and Harriet

Below: Harriet after a long day of playing, Harriet and Max playing and jumping the air, and the brother and sister resting together.

Greetings from General Assembly 2006

Greeings to my lovely internship congregation, FUUSM, and all other readers. I’m going to try to keep this updated particularly for our church and for any First Parish Cambridge readers, whom I am honored to represent here as a delegate. All is well here, although big groups stress me a little. I’m trying to remember to be Buddha-like, take deep breaths and remember that this is FUN not stressful. But so many people… so many things going on. And, my biggest annoyance, the internet in my hotel room COSTS. Free internet should be mandatory.

I loved the banner parade especially the music. We sang a few songs and I was reminded of a certain music director’s statement about UUs being God’ frozen people. I wanted to lift my hands and dance around or at least sway to some of the music (I mean, there was a Jazz band) but stayed semi-frozen myself so as not to look like a weirdo. I feel like we need to bring in some Baptists or Pentecostals to train us on how to truly WORSHIP - God, or the divine, or humanity, or the earth or something because our “worship” doesn’t seem very heartfelt (although I KNOW that it is). I just miss and love so much feeling the music and feeling the spirit. But not to complain. It was a WONDERFUL ceremony. At least three times the people talking said something and I just couldn’t help but say amen (quietly) and shake my head. Much of what was said was stuff I could really relate to and say “Yes! This is my home! These are my people!” although I had a very sad feeling too that so many people were missing. People who don’t yet feel welcome or connected to our tradition. Like the woman from St. Louis whom I spoke with on the train. She was so friendly and kind to me. Just chatting away and happy to answer any of my questions about the area. But would she feel comfortable here? Not yet. And I want to make a faith that would make her feel comfortable.

I went to the opening ceremony (that’s where the pictures are from) and spent an hour at the UFETA booth where I’m selling my mom’s stoles to help raise $ for UFETA (and for my mom - UFETA gets a % of the profits). As a delegate, my time is pretty cramped so there will not be long updates (I know - you must be crushed).

Okay, off to meetings. I’m sorry but I don’t have time to spellcheck this so if there are mistakes, my apologies.

Oh, one more thing. I love it in one of the reports that gives the demographics for people who work for the UUA, there are varies ethnicities listed and male, female, and other. I just love it that I have a denomination that lists other right next to male and female with no need for explanation.

And they all said…………. Amen.

Look at those stoles. Beautiful. Yay Mom!

Thank you Reese Witherspoon

I know it is a sad day when this picture of Reese Witherspoon makes me happy (ignore the bottom one - I couldn’t detach them). She looks, well, not starved or sickly which seems to be so rare these days for famous women. I hope bodies like this come back into style or even maybe bodies like the painting below. I hate to think of all the girls and women who think they are big or too big or not little enough because they aren’t a size 1. Yay for Venus and Reese.

The Most Beautiful Stoles Ever… (made by my mom)

After making me a stole for my Christmas present, my mom decided to venture into the stole making business. Personally, I think she has a calling as a UU liturgical garment maker. These beauties will be on sale at the UFETA book for $250 each during GA. You can come by and buy them (some of the proceeds benefit UFETA) or just look at them and wish that your mom could make you these sorts of stoles. I am half-tempted to encourage you to not buy them, then I can wear them and they can be sample pieces. She also makes custom stoles and cheap easy beautiful yet simple stoles for those on a lower budget, like, um, seminarians. Enjoy!

Water Communion Stole
(or everyday beautiful stole with water of life theme…)

Butterfly Stole (Butterflies stand up a little bit although you can’t see it from this picture. Detailed pictures to come for you fiber artists out there who like that sort of thing.)

George and Blake - kitten brothers for adoption

This post is back posted so that I can advertise our foster kittens. Please ignore if you aren’t kitten adopting :)

Hi. Our names are Blake and George and we are putting outselves up for adoption. We are brothers. Our foster family is very nice, but it is crowded here with other kittens and we need to find a permanent home. We’ve got to go to a home TOGETHER because we are best friends.

We like to chase balls, jump on things, and sneak up on our sisters. I’m the most outgoing (that’s why I’m writing this) and me and Blake both love to cuddle and play. We also like to be rubbed under the chin and sleep on soft blankets.

We need to go where we are indoor-only cats. We were found at a construction site under rt. 93 and living outside as kittens was really hard on us and we don’t want to face that again. When our foster parents got us we were covered with thick dirt and grime. We like it best inside where it is clean and there is no rain. We were found only a few days after the big rain storms and were wet and cold and hungry. We also need to go to a home where we will never be declawed- ouch! We are FIV/Feline Leukemia negative, and we’ve all been fixed and had our shots. If you want two new kittens to your home, we would be good candidates. We are litter trained. You would need to keep us for our whole lives, take us for yearly vet check-ups, please promise you won’t ever give us away, and won’t declaw us or let outside and especially if you really like to play and cuddle, please email our foster mom. We are fostered through Second Chance Shelter in Jamaica Plain and in order to adopt us you’ll have to fill out an application. And there is a $100 fee for each of us that covers our shots, medical care, and getting fixed. We know it seems high, but doctors prices are expensive these days! If you would like to visit us, we’re in Somerville, MA and our foster mom will set up an apt. for you to see us. We’re so excited to meet some new people and maybe find a home! My foster mom’s email is elizabeth199@gmail.com. Thank you very much.
Sincerely, George the kitten
p.s. Below are some pictures me and my brother.

George rests on the feather bed.

Blake hangs out in the bathtup

George discovers catnip.

The brothers take a nap together.