Trials, Praise, and Miscellania
Well, we've still had some crazy/stressful happenings of late. Nothing too catastrophic, though. Heh, between the birds and the cats alone we've had quite a bit of drama going on... No trouble actually between the various species, though, ironically enough. Our primary problem with them at the moment is that one of our cats decided to go absolutely insane, Sunday night, and still hasn't regained her senses.
Ella and Ro are littermates, they've always been with each other, partners in crime, miserable if they're apart, eating together, sleeping curled up with each other, never had anything more than play fights. And then, out of the blue, Ella decided that she hates Ro. She acts more defensive than aggressive, but every time she catches sight of him she starts hissing and growling and making the most awful noises imagineable. She's perfectly normal otherwise, happy with people, with the dog, eats just fine, comes running to us, and wants to be petted. Perfectly fine, and doesn't seem to be hurt or sick in any way. Except she completely freaks out every time her brother tries to get near her.
Poor Ro is terribly hurt and confused and scared. Seriously, he'll sit a few feet away from her and just cry. It's absolutely pathetic. I've never seen an animal look so much like he was trying to apologize. He's always been a snuggler, but now he's so lonely and miserable, he just clings to people. He'll start purring the second anyone touches him, sits and meows pathetically if he's left alone, and I think he'd happily spend an entire afternoon just sitting on my lap and staring up at my face. He starts getting positively desperate for Strider's attention, too, keeps cuddling up with him, wrestling with his tail, rubbing his face against him, getting all upset if Strider wants to sleep and ignores him... Poor baby. *huggles him*
Anyway, we've tried all kinds of things, including keeping them apart to give her a chance to just chill... The vet thinks it's just a cat thing, and says it sometimes happens without a real logical reason to set it off. Apparently it generally resolves itself eventually... but with cats it sometimes takes months. *sigh*
And, in a change of subject, a bit of news regarding a-certain-magazine-which-drives-me-insane (and no that would not be referring to ROC). They actually got together a sane style guide and sent it out to all the writers and editors. Really. THANK YOU GOD! LOL, seriously, it doesn't address all the issues by a long shot, but if the writers actually pay attention it could cut out some of the work I have to do (especially for some, where I'm correcting the exact same things every single time), and at the very least it'll help keep things more consistent in the editing stage. I have yet to see how well it'll actually work in practice, especially since organisation and consistency around there tends to be pretty crazy most of the time, but even if it just helps a little... this could be good. I'm very happy. Hehe. Oh yes, I am such a geek, when a style guide can make me so happy. I mean seriously, who sits and grins while reading something like that? I actually bounced a little when they included the use the oxford comma as one of their guidelines. We likes the oxford comma, yes we do. *pats it*
Oh! And we just started learning the bo at karate! Basically, it's fighting with a four- or five-foot wooden staff. So. Very. Cool. He! I've been looking forward to it for a while, and I'm just loving it. And I haven't hurt myself yet! Actually, it felt pretty awkward at first, but I was surprised by how quickly I started to get the hang of it, and it just looks so neat. Methinks I'm gonna enjoy this very much. *g* Ah, and also - I've taken up knife-throwing. Ordered a new knife online - very cool, real throwing knife, 'bout 14 inches long, and weighs nearly a pound, which is apparently about ideal size and weight. *bounces* Should be getting here any day now! *sheepish grin* Yeah, I'm kinda starting to quite martial and bloodthirsty, huh? But it's cool... ;D
Anywho - gotta get back to work. Maybe if I keep my fingers moving fast enough they won't go completely numb. It is cooooold here. Very. *runs off to put more wood on the fire*
Ella and Ro are littermates, they've always been with each other, partners in crime, miserable if they're apart, eating together, sleeping curled up with each other, never had anything more than play fights. And then, out of the blue, Ella decided that she hates Ro. She acts more defensive than aggressive, but every time she catches sight of him she starts hissing and growling and making the most awful noises imagineable. She's perfectly normal otherwise, happy with people, with the dog, eats just fine, comes running to us, and wants to be petted. Perfectly fine, and doesn't seem to be hurt or sick in any way. Except she completely freaks out every time her brother tries to get near her.
Poor Ro is terribly hurt and confused and scared. Seriously, he'll sit a few feet away from her and just cry. It's absolutely pathetic. I've never seen an animal look so much like he was trying to apologize. He's always been a snuggler, but now he's so lonely and miserable, he just clings to people. He'll start purring the second anyone touches him, sits and meows pathetically if he's left alone, and I think he'd happily spend an entire afternoon just sitting on my lap and staring up at my face. He starts getting positively desperate for Strider's attention, too, keeps cuddling up with him, wrestling with his tail, rubbing his face against him, getting all upset if Strider wants to sleep and ignores him... Poor baby. *huggles him*
Anyway, we've tried all kinds of things, including keeping them apart to give her a chance to just chill... The vet thinks it's just a cat thing, and says it sometimes happens without a real logical reason to set it off. Apparently it generally resolves itself eventually... but with cats it sometimes takes months. *sigh*
And, in a change of subject, a bit of news regarding a-certain-magazine-which-drives-me-insane (and no that would not be referring to ROC). They actually got together a sane style guide and sent it out to all the writers and editors. Really. THANK YOU GOD! LOL, seriously, it doesn't address all the issues by a long shot, but if the writers actually pay attention it could cut out some of the work I have to do (especially for some, where I'm correcting the exact same things every single time), and at the very least it'll help keep things more consistent in the editing stage. I have yet to see how well it'll actually work in practice, especially since organisation and consistency around there tends to be pretty crazy most of the time, but even if it just helps a little... this could be good. I'm very happy. Hehe. Oh yes, I am such a geek, when a style guide can make me so happy. I mean seriously, who sits and grins while reading something like that? I actually bounced a little when they included the use the oxford comma as one of their guidelines. We likes the oxford comma, yes we do. *pats it*
Oh! And we just started learning the bo at karate! Basically, it's fighting with a four- or five-foot wooden staff. So. Very. Cool. He! I've been looking forward to it for a while, and I'm just loving it. And I haven't hurt myself yet! Actually, it felt pretty awkward at first, but I was surprised by how quickly I started to get the hang of it, and it just looks so neat. Methinks I'm gonna enjoy this very much. *g* Ah, and also - I've taken up knife-throwing. Ordered a new knife online - very cool, real throwing knife, 'bout 14 inches long, and weighs nearly a pound, which is apparently about ideal size and weight. *bounces* Should be getting here any day now! *sheepish grin* Yeah, I'm kinda starting to quite martial and bloodthirsty, huh? But it's cool... ;D
Anywho - gotta get back to work. Maybe if I keep my fingers moving fast enough they won't go completely numb. It is cooooold here. Very. *runs off to put more wood on the fire*