Hm,mm...
I'm tempted to see if I can live up to Becca's challenge and update with something meaningful every day for a week. This is going to be a really busy week for me...but we'll see.
I was waiting to see if she would reply to my request for topics to discuss...but I guess she never saw it. How about animals?...more specifically pets.
My family has always had multiple pets since I was born. Currently we have three dogs: Patty (mix-mutt), Zeke (black lab),and Little One (lab-mix). We also have two cats: Twinkie (grey with a few white spots) and Pretzel (standard orange striped).
They're all of various ages...Patty and Pretzel being the oldest. Little One is a new aquisition...she's not even a year old yet (not sure of exact age because like most of our pets she was taken in). We've lost several since I've been around. Josh (golden retriever) was the only other dog we had. A couple cats (Smokey and Taffy II). The death of a pet is always worse when you've had them around for so long. Josh had been around me every day since I was born and I loved that dog. The tears I shed for him are probably comparable to the ones I shed for my grandfathers when they passed. I'm not saying I value their lives less than the dog's...but its just a matter of attachment.
Patty is getting close to the end of her life (14 yrs old, her blatter has started to become a problem recently...never a good sign). We wouldn't keep her alive if she was in pain though (my dad had Josh put down because of cancer). I just don't like to think about it...
I think one of the points I'm getting at is that people can become as attached to pets as they do to friends and family. The problem is that pets only live about 1/6 the amount of time (at best) a person does. If you own a pet at any point in your life chances are you'll see that pet die (unless you just happen to be really old at the time).
My mom is a person that will always have pets around. She might not get another big dog like Zeke...but I could see her getting another small dog down the road. No one in our family really cares for the cats anymore. I'm about the only person Twinkie can stand to approach (unless she's hungry) but I can only put up with cats for so long. Our cats are both female and I've learned that they're the worse of the two sexes. Even if we did have a male cat though...they just aren't my thing.
My mom says that "Phillip will never own a pet". She might be right...but I don't know. I know I hate taking care of them. The companionship is often not enough to overcome the hassle of walking, feeding, and cleaning up after them. Not to mention the medical bills that increase as they get hurt and get older. >_< There's still a small part of me that would like to own a bird. I really like birds and it bothers me that they're one of the most frightened animals when it comes to dealing with people. Having a bird that could just fly around the house and sleep in a cage seems a lot easier too. Most of the time a bird doesn't care if you ignore it (they aren't the attention whores that dogs and cats can be).
Although...I think any household with a child needs a dog...so if I ever get around to having kids I'll probably get one. I know Lauren really wants to own a ferret one day. They seem an awful lot like cats though...
Other pets like fish, reptiles, rodents, insects, etc... just don't cut it for me. You don't have to spend as much time caring for them but they also offer almost zero companionship. I wouldn't mind having a fish pond in my backyard some day...but that's about it.
Now other people's animals are another story. Going to someone's house for the first time can be awkward...and pets are often a nice icebreaker. The thing is though...after you've known a person for an extended period of time the novelty kind of wears off. It's pretty rare that you actually like someone else's pet to a great extent (Kikky and Zeke being an exception XP). Most of the time they're more of an annoyance than anything else (esspecially little dogs...fuck you people with little dogs >_> They make me want to punch an infant).
So in the end I guess my selfish side comes through making me look lazy. I'm more concerned with my own life to worry about pets. I haven't had my own animal at school with me for four years now...and I'm none the worse off for it. Maybe one day when I get a house of my own I'll change my mind...for now though I think I'll stick with visiting the old animals when I come home.
I was waiting to see if she would reply to my request for topics to discuss...but I guess she never saw it. How about animals?...more specifically pets.
My family has always had multiple pets since I was born. Currently we have three dogs: Patty (mix-mutt), Zeke (black lab),and Little One (lab-mix). We also have two cats: Twinkie (grey with a few white spots) and Pretzel (standard orange striped).
They're all of various ages...Patty and Pretzel being the oldest. Little One is a new aquisition...she's not even a year old yet (not sure of exact age because like most of our pets she was taken in). We've lost several since I've been around. Josh (golden retriever) was the only other dog we had. A couple cats (Smokey and Taffy II). The death of a pet is always worse when you've had them around for so long. Josh had been around me every day since I was born and I loved that dog. The tears I shed for him are probably comparable to the ones I shed for my grandfathers when they passed. I'm not saying I value their lives less than the dog's...but its just a matter of attachment.
Patty is getting close to the end of her life (14 yrs old, her blatter has started to become a problem recently...never a good sign). We wouldn't keep her alive if she was in pain though (my dad had Josh put down because of cancer). I just don't like to think about it...
I think one of the points I'm getting at is that people can become as attached to pets as they do to friends and family. The problem is that pets only live about 1/6 the amount of time (at best) a person does. If you own a pet at any point in your life chances are you'll see that pet die (unless you just happen to be really old at the time).
My mom is a person that will always have pets around. She might not get another big dog like Zeke...but I could see her getting another small dog down the road. No one in our family really cares for the cats anymore. I'm about the only person Twinkie can stand to approach (unless she's hungry) but I can only put up with cats for so long. Our cats are both female and I've learned that they're the worse of the two sexes. Even if we did have a male cat though...they just aren't my thing.
My mom says that "Phillip will never own a pet". She might be right...but I don't know. I know I hate taking care of them. The companionship is often not enough to overcome the hassle of walking, feeding, and cleaning up after them. Not to mention the medical bills that increase as they get hurt and get older. >_< There's still a small part of me that would like to own a bird. I really like birds and it bothers me that they're one of the most frightened animals when it comes to dealing with people. Having a bird that could just fly around the house and sleep in a cage seems a lot easier too. Most of the time a bird doesn't care if you ignore it (they aren't the attention whores that dogs and cats can be).
Although...I think any household with a child needs a dog...so if I ever get around to having kids I'll probably get one. I know Lauren really wants to own a ferret one day. They seem an awful lot like cats though...
Other pets like fish, reptiles, rodents, insects, etc... just don't cut it for me. You don't have to spend as much time caring for them but they also offer almost zero companionship. I wouldn't mind having a fish pond in my backyard some day...but that's about it.
Now other people's animals are another story. Going to someone's house for the first time can be awkward...and pets are often a nice icebreaker. The thing is though...after you've known a person for an extended period of time the novelty kind of wears off. It's pretty rare that you actually like someone else's pet to a great extent (Kikky and Zeke being an exception XP). Most of the time they're more of an annoyance than anything else (esspecially little dogs...fuck you people with little dogs >_> They make me want to punch an infant).
So in the end I guess my selfish side comes through making me look lazy. I'm more concerned with my own life to worry about pets. I haven't had my own animal at school with me for four years now...and I'm none the worse off for it. Maybe one day when I get a house of my own I'll change my mind...for now though I think I'll stick with visiting the old animals when I come home.