Category Archives: life stuff

romeo & juliet

27 Friday Jul 2007

Posted by in films, life stuff, love

≈ 10 Comments

romeo-juliet.jpg

A serious blast from my past . . .

It was well over 40º yesterday evening and so Nog & I went out for our usual summer *emergency cold beer & air-conditioning session*, stopping off at Fnac on our way to Bodeguita Romero just to see if there was anything we particularly needed…

And dog my cats, I spotted a DVD of Zeffirelli’s 1968 classic Romeo & Juliet, which I don’t think I’ve seen in at least 20 years. And Nog had never seen it. And it was just 6 euros! So what the heck.

Anyhow, just finished watching it, with me in a flood of tears. And curiously, although Nog knew the basic storyline he was fuzzy on the details, so that twist at the end came as a bit of a surprise for him. And luckily he didn’t mind me practically reciting the whole film while we watched it.

But talk about bringing back memories. I remember going to see it at the cinema in Winnipeg when I was 11 or 12 and I stayed on to watch it three times in a row. Boy did I catch hell when I finally got home. Also saw it many times after that and bought the LP (gorgeous music by Nino Rota). And more than anything in the world (at that time) I wanted to be Olivia Hussey. And part of me still does, I think. Wow, we think we actually grow up but we can get so suddenly jolted back to long ago feelings.

What does this for you?

feline harbinger of death…

26 Thursday Jul 2007

Posted by in animals & pets, life stuff, weird

≈ 9 Comments

oscar3.jpg

US cat ‘predicts patient deaths’

A US cat with an apparent ability to sense when a nursing home’s residents are about to die is baffling doctors.

Oscar has a habit of curling up next to patients at the home in Providence, Rhode Island, in their final hours.

The two-year-old cat has been correct in 25 cases so far and staff now alert the families of residents when he sits down next to their ailing loved one.

The case is the subject of a study in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

First seen over at Mudhook’s … you can also read about a typical day in the life of Oscar the cat on her blog.

I don’t actually find this surprising as my dearly departed Lua , usually the most undemonstrative of cats (quite franky, a total bitch on four paws), always knew if I was sick and would follow me around the house, ‘taking care’ of me … mostly by never letting me out of her sight and purring all over me whenever I sat down or took a nap.

It makes sense that some animals can sense death much better than humans.

my family and other animals

26 Thursday Jul 2007

Posted by in animals & pets, life stuff

≈ 4 Comments

pets.jpg

In fact, my lovely cats are my family.

Over on h2g2 there have been a few conversation threads started lately about pet owners and their responsibilities, as a shocking number of people seem to think that de-clawing, cropping of tails & ears, specialized breeding, etc are quite okay practices. Others think that even keeping an animal ‘in captivity’ (as in pets that don’t have access to the great outdoors) constitutes cruelty to animals.

I’ve taken these questions from this h2g2 Guide Entry and thought it might be interesting to discuss them here.

  • Do you have a pet? Do you consider yourself to be a good owner?
  • Should children be able to buy pets without their parents being present?
  • Should parents be made ultimately responsible for the welfare of animals owned by their children?
  • How can we define what is cruel treatment of domestic animals and what is not?
  • Should animal charities have the power to actively prevent bad treatment rather then having to wait until cruelty has taken place?
  • Should the keeping of exotic pets have a licensing system?
  • Is keeping dogs and cats in cities, where they might not get enough stimulation, cruel?
  • Is cruelty to pets a matter for legislation or personal conscience?

What’s your opinion?

Are there any other questions you’d like to add?

obesity is contagious?

26 Thursday Jul 2007

Posted by in health & happiness, life stuff

≈ 12 Comments

beryl-cook.jpg

Obesity ‘contagious’, experts say

Having a friend, sibling or spouse who is overweight raises a person’s risk of being obese too, US researchers say.

They said data on more than 12,000 people suggested the risk was increased by 57% if a friend was obese, by 40% if a sibling was and 37% if a spouse was.

What do you think? I reckon if this were the case then either Nog would be grossly overweight or I’d be real skinny. I also think that Harvard Medical School should find better ways of spending its research money.

10 ways to improve your life

23 Monday Jul 2007

Posted by in friends, health & happiness, life stuff, musings, philosophy

≈ 6 Comments

I found the following Lifehack.org article on Lori’s blog the other day and thought it was worth reprinting here, if only as an easy-access reminder for myself. But I also thought most people would relate to it – there are at least a couple habits here that feel very true for me. I wasn’t sure whether to post this here or on nothing ventured …
in the end I posted it on both because, although it may get more response here initially, it’s more likely to stay at the top of the page at the other place (for easy reference).

Many of our problems come from within our own minds. They aren’t caused by events, bad luck, or other people. We cause them through our own poor mental habits. Here are 10 habits you should set aside right away to free yourself from the many problems each one will be causing you.

Continue reading →