KJames

So he was a feral kitten...difficult, but not impossible. Cats domesticated themselves, we just provided additional training to speed up and enhance the process...give it time and effort, he may end up being your best cat yet.

Happy belated B'day, both of you!

Looks like a take-off on the basic idea behind Disney's 1971 movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

Was the cat born of a litter in your mom's house, or did she--possibly--get it from someone else when it was too early to separate it from its mother?

Yes, I've known for some time that sweet potatoes come in all those colors....Hawaii's produce markets are quite educational...who ever thought of a purple sweet potato? They're yummy....just like the regular ones here in the continental United States. Generally, my family refers to the longish dark orange potato with the bright orange insides as 'Yams' to distinguish from sweet potatoes, as they don't require sugar to taste sweet by themselves...although it is irresistable to add with lots of butter... One of the other little genetic tricks of late is what is known as the 'Yukon Gold' potato--it tastes buttery, without adding butter! They genetically engineered this potato for taste!

James, James, my dear beast....one thing about cats is that they are sociable creatures--yes, sociable. Growing up in a litter of cats presents them with housemates while maturing. What your mother has in this little gray ball of fluff is an, as yet, unsocialized kit. It needs to be held, petted, played with, and trained. (YES, CATS CAN BE TRAINED!) Cats cannot grow up around older folks, they have to be played with, and if you don't declaw them it can seem rough at times. I have had my current cat, an only survivor of his litter (more later) for 16 1/2 years this week (a commitment gift), he's a siamese mix, or burmese possibly--it would explain his heavier build--with tabby, the mother was a calico. We got him at weaning at 6 weeks, and he wasn't exposed to other animals for several months, just me and Rob (mainly me). Here's the socialization: The litter had milk fever, including momma, 9 cats died there, plus an additional 5 in the house of the person we got him from. I medicated him three times a day and fed him liver paste through a syringe 5 times a day for 3 weeks until he got his strength back. Now, he follows me around like a puppydog, yowls when he doesn't know if we're home, and rolls on the floor like a kitten when he knows we are. We had another cat who was a door darter and managed to get out, probably caught by animal control and given a new home (hopefully). Prior to these two, my mom and I had a cat for 6 years before he was eaten by coyotes, then another one for 18--she ended up being mom's cat and got old enough to be put down a couple years ago because of recurring CHF. My last pair of cats were of the same mother, and were with me for 10 years before we gave them away in 1978--we moved to a place that didn't allow pets. Long and short: You can't expect your cat to know what you expect of it if you aren't willing to work with it, play with it and teach it. (Now do you see why people refer to their pets as, "Their kids"?)

And, since it's now yesterday's tomorrow, which is now today, Happy Belated Birthday, Dragonfire! They're right, though, it's awfully quiet without you poking your flaming nose around...

But, then again, New Jersey IS higher class people, they watched the corruption of New York, and Chicago, and perfected upon it to the point that the corruption in 'Jersey makes anywhere else look like a day in Church.

I always enjoyed ELO's Concerto for a Rainy Day from their Greatest Hits album, it was the "A" side of album #2 (side 3 of 4, yeah-the whole side-a rock concerto in four movements).

I got past the error stage when I had to take typing in High School...the speed went up accordingly too...to all of 29wpm......it's gone up only because I kept at it. Welcome to the club...there are days that my fingers seem to keep tripping over each other, and I'll have a whole sentence of words with transposed letters. Now I wonder why that might be...

Older than dirt, for those who want to argue based on experience; Younger than Springtime, as the old saying goes, for battling it out with your female friends; and eternally 29...just in case you run into Jack Benny, Phyllis Diller, or Cher somewhere. Happy birthday, Neph'!

I'm more the typewriting kind of guy...if I hit my stride I can pass, slightly, 60wpm...so if I have a burst of thought I have no problem getting it all down.

Happy Birthday, bud!

I haven't, ever, sent Rob flowers...because I never know what's going to trip one of his allergies... But I like Gladioluses and Carnations.

For a man: Wedding=End of Life. Funeral=End of Existence. For a Woman: Wedding=Possibility of Alimony, or Kids. Funeral=The Husband Won.

I speak English as a first language, and had a semester of French in Junior High School, then a year of Spanish in High School (it was a requirement to graduate)...needless to say I was better off before both classes, I've forgotten more than I learned there... But, I can still stumble through reading either, even if I am not able to speak in them. I am lucky, though, Rob can read and speak German fluently enough to get by very well (his aunt only spoke German and Hungarian), and he also knows enough Hebrew to get along fairly well in Israel, as we did in 1992...and his Spanish is much better than mine ever was (he learned his from their housekeeper while he was a kid).

I don't sub anything for butter, the recipes never turn out the same...same with sugar.

I find it so ironic that more cancer research results are coming out of HIV research, and the HIV researchers are still having to beg for money to continue the research toward more pure HIV research.

Both of you have just pointed out what I said to someone else (either earlier in this thread or another, similar thread): Age is, truly, just a number--if you get along with the person you find yourself infatuated with, go for it--you will alway regret missed opportunities and wallow in "what if?"s. Louisiana Writer: I thought my first and I would also be together forever, but hadn't learned of some of his 'personality' quirks. Even the best laid plans of man are swept away as dust on the whim of capricious gods.

Linxe, Benji, would you like me to try and make contact for rooms once we know how many people we can expect and what type of accommodations we're going to need, and where? I don't deal with 'reservations', I deal with 'Industry Sales'.

Excuse me, I need to go take some organ lessons...I hear the company that produced Guiding Light is selling theirs after stopping production...

Losing isn't easy in a world where not losing at anything is the norm... Good luck!

And she stayed warm, to boot!

Chase, Chase, Chase...when will you ever learn, never tell a gossip girl ANYTHING, even if it's just a mundane fact such as you fart in the shower!?!?

Happy Birthday, Paya! Hope yours is as much fun as you can handle and then some! Don't forget to eat some cake and ice cream!