OT: Punkin

Pumpkin1

Early October 2013 — November 20, 2015

She was not the sweetest of cats. In fact, she was downright feisty and even argumentative. But she was beautiful and interesting and loved, and two years is too short a life. I had expected she would still be with me when I turned 65. It was not to be.

last trip to the vet
when we walk in
she’s already gone

OT: A New Look

Yes, because I’ve got a dozen other things I must be doing instead with deadlines being blown to hell left and right, and because there’s very little new content each week, I’ve been playing with a new theme. Makes sense to me.

The body font is Marcellus, and the headlines are in Cinzel. The background is “Mini Gravel Art on Gray” by Donna Mibus.

I hope you like it. And what little I’m posting. And the archives. By all means, check out the archives.

And now, back on my head.

OT: Getting Personal

So, I haven’t been around much in the past year. Sure, the haiku, the quotes, the tweet-sized fiction and the occasional story have been getting posted. But I haven’t made myself known to my readers in ways that I used to. It’s just been pretty mechanical.

And September was the first month since I started Catsignal that I haven’t had at least one story up for you to read. I don’t know how you felt about that, but it makes me sad. On the other hand, the caliber of stories I’ve been writing has made me sad, too. I just don’t have the energy to put into my writing … or anything else, either.

Years ago, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia syndrome / chronic fatigue syndrome. What that’s meant is that every waking moment I’ve been in pain (and lucky that it’s only my waking moments), and I’ve had less energy to do things than a normal person does.

The fibromyalgia doesn’t actively bother me like it used to; I think I’ve simply become accustomed to a certain level of pain. Sometimes it’s worse, but then it goes back to normal for me. But this past year, the chronic fatigue syndrome has been kicking my ass. I’ve often slept 12 of 24 hours and have been so tired in the time I’ve been awake that I couldn’t focus on anything. Cats have nothing on me for naps. It’s like those last 10 minutes before you go to sleep at night. Think about how you feel then and how productive you are.

I’m not abandoning Catsignal or going on hiatus. As Jonny Geller tells us, “The only thing worse than a deadline for a writer is no deadline.” I still need something to strive for, and I want this place to be active if this problem happens to ease up. I’m working with my doctor on this, but the simple fact is that there is no cure. I keep looking for palliatives but haven’t found any.

I wanted to tell you what the deal with me is and why the site has been so dull (to my eyes, at least). I want to educate more people about FMS/CFS. It’s a real thing that screws up real lives. Like the bride with CFS who was able to attend her wedding but had to skip her reception because she was just too fatigued. It’s not boredom. It’s not laziness. It’s an illness.

Well, anyway, that’s me. How are you doing?

Occupy: And Then They Fight You

Remember the saying: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

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A Timeline of Force Used Against the Occupy Movement

September

1: First day of OWS
4: First arrests using 1845 law banning masks at demonstrations
24: 80 arrests; police use tasers and mace on peaceful crowd; police officer caught on video macing a young woman (he lost 10 vacation days as punishment)

October

1, 2: Police arrest demonstrators on Brooklyn Bridge
8: Police pepper spray protestors in Washington, D.C.
10: Boston police arrest 140 protestors
15: Police across the nation arrest peaceful protestors
25: Oakland, CA, police attack peaceful protestors en masse with teargas, beanbag grenades, rubber bullets; Marine veteran of Iraq War shot in head with rubber bullet, hospitalized in critical condition
29: Denver, CO, police attack Occupy demonstration, fire pellets filled with pepper spray
30: Portland,OR, police arrest two dozen peaceful demonstrators

November

3: Riot police attack peaceful Occupy Oakland protest with teargas, flash-bang grenades; more than 100 arrested, another Iraq War veteran seriously injured by police
14: Police clear out Occupy Oakland protest site, arrest 20 peaceful protestors
15: Beginning at 1 a.m., NYPD officers carry out surprise raid, cordon off OWS site, keep residents of area inside, prevent journalists from observing, arrest more than 70 people. Journalists barred from area even hours later, including CBS helicopter prevented from entering airspace above protest site; NY’s billionaire mayor ignored court order to let OWS protestors back on site; NYPD continued to arrest protestors, journalists; NY mayor says if he has to choose between people’s rights and safety, safety wins. Another judge sides with city to remove protestors. Oakland mayor says attacks on Occupy Movement in 18 cities coordinated. Seattle police use pepper spray on peaceful protestors, including a pregnant woman and a blind woman, make arrests.

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Continue reading “Occupy: And Then They Fight You”

OT: Bad Planning, Bad Government, and the TSA

I would like very much to direct your attention to two posts in particular at meteorologist Mike Smith’s blog. Mr. Smith points to various naked emperors with multi-billion-dollar clothing allowances.

There are real concerns about the American way of life that are not being properly addressed while security theater provides no security, makes puppets of the masses, and enriches parasites. I don’t know about you, of course, but this annoys me (in the same sense – and for some of the same reasons – that the villagers were annoyed by Herr Doktor Frankenstein’s little experiment).

Part 1

Part 2

OT: Labor Day

The official unemployment number came out Friday: 9.1 percent. That’s 14 million Americans without work. Not counted are the underemployed who can’t make ends meet or the people labeled as discouraged workers, more than 200,000 unemployed people who have tried so hard and for so long to find a job that they’ve given up, at least for now. The Congressional Budget Office does not expect the unemployment rate to fall below 8 percent for two more years and says we won’t see 5 percent unemployment until 2017. Further, mass layoffs – when 50 or more workers lose their livelihoods at once – rose 3 percent in August.

Continue reading “OT: Labor Day”