The Cats Part - Goodbye to a Friend

The Itty Bitty Kitty is no longer with us and the world is smaller place.  Itty Bitty lost his fight against old age and cancer today at the age of 18.

According to my sister, Itty Bitty spoke with the voice of Darth Vader.   In reality, he spoke with a distinctive half-chirping meow.  And a giant purr.  Itty Bitty was not your typical cat.  He loved olives, yogurt, deli ham and a freshly opened box of Cat Chow.  He had a glorious white coat and luxurious neck fur, a long tail and tufted paws. 

Itty Bitty found us when we were living in a ground floor apartment.  We think his previous owner had abandoned him after a move.  My husband heard him calling at the window and let him in the apartment.  Oily and undersized, he walked in like he owned the place and  16 years and two residences later, he was still our cat.   I had tried out several names on the Itty Bitty Kitty.  Molly didn’t work when a vet pointed out Itty Bitty was a boy.  Ellis didn’t work (too stuffy).  So we kept calling him the Itty Bitty Kitty.  And it stuck.  Even as he grew into his frame and eventually weighed fifteen pounds, he was always the Itty Bitty Kitty.

Itty Bitty loved sleeping in a warm sunny spot in our back yard.  Not an outdoor cat, Itty Bitty still spent time in the back yard with us, chewing grass and just hanging out.  He supervised every construction project and house repair, offering advice as needed.

He was a gentle soul and a good friend.   Our lives are richer for having him in them, and we are lucky to have had him so long.  Itty Bitty will be missed beyond words.  And I know, even though I wish he was with me,   he is in a better place, chewing on grass and sleeping in the sun, with an endless supply of Cat Chow.  And olives.

Game One - The 2014 Stanley Cup Playoff Edition

Detroit vs. Boston.  An original six match up.   Wildcard #2 vs. the best team in the East.   Some might think this series was a blow out in the making.  How could Boston, with their amazing goalie and veteran, gritty team not dominate the Red Wings,  a team hampered by injury and playing a slew of recent AHL call ups?

But Boston did not dominate.  Game one was well-matched.  Both goalies stood on their heads, fell on their sides, kicked out their legs, and denied shot after shot after shot.  Both teams played hard, played physical, played to win.  There were mistakes on both sides, but not many.  There were chances on both sides, but to no avail.  Until the best player in hockey took control of a haphazard pass and somehow dragged it from behind while still skating forward to shoot and score the game winner.  And the game's only goal.  1-0 Red Wings.

It is only the first game.    There are potentially seven games in a series and we have only played one game. But what a game it was.  And how much better is it to have won the first game in a series than not.

The Basement Top Hits - The Very Belated 2013 Edition

With apologies.

		Terry Riley – The Tuning Path
		Muse – Madness
		Muse – Survival
		Yoko Ono – Yang Yang
		Kronos Quartet – Anthem of the Great Spirit: Fanfare in the Minimal Kingdom
		Harry Nilsson – Good Old Desk
		The Residents – narration
		Prince Rama – Om Mane Padme Hum
		Daft Punk – Get Lucky (feat. Pharrell Williams)
		Harvey Danger – Flagpole Sitta
		Miles Davis – Move
		Kings of Leon – Red Morning Light
		Karlheinz Stockhausen – Hymnen mit Solisten für elektronische und konkrete Klänge, Regionen III und IV
		Simon & Garfunkel – Cecilia
		The Hollies – Bus Stop

And another new favorite song...

Thank you once again, CBC Radio 2.  Yes,  I have a new favorite song.  Check out Pour a Little Poison by David Ford.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzpgshZ9ajU
  

Fandom - The 2013 NHL Playoff Edition

Not done yet.  Not words you normally use for a team up 3-2 in a 7 game series.  But I feel compelled to say it.  The Detroit Red Wings are not done yet.

Yes, Chicago won tonight 4-1.   They won the President's Cup Trophy, after all.  They are a very good hockey team.  They were at home.  They had the last change.  The Red Wings took a few dumb penalties.  The Blackhawks had lost three straight games coming in to game five tonight.  They were due for a win.

There are two more games in this series.  The Wings need one more victory.  Every night in this series, they have played hard.   They don't quit. They have the best player in hockey on their roster.  Let me repeat, they have the best player in hockey, Pavel Datsyuk, on their roster.  They have an amazing goalie in Jimmy Howard.    Henrik Zetterberg as a captain.  A bunch of kids playing out of their minds.  And a slew of seasoned veterans who know how to get the job done.  The future is so bright.

But for now, there are the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Red Wings are not done yet.  I told myself I would be at peace with this odd season if they made playoffs.  They not only made the playoffs, they made it out of the first round.  And they are up, against the "best team in hockey" this season, in the second.  What a great time to be a Wings fan.  A Detroit fan.

So we come back to Hockeytown on Monday for game six.  Back to our city,  with our fans filling Joe Louis Arena to cheer for our team.

Bring it on, Chicago.  We'll be ready.

Go Wings!

New Favorite Song

Thanks, once again, to CBC Radio 2, I have a new favorite song.  I cannot stop listening to All the Little Lights by Passenger.

Have a listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxOSM9lR9B4

The Bucket List, or, The Things I Never Regret Edition

I keep hearing the phrase "Bucket List" all around me.  I use it myself - particularly with regard to playing hockey or traveling.  I played at Yost.  I played in Canada.  I've been to Maine.

But what is a "Bucket List" really?   A list of things you want to do before you, ahem, die.  Things that are so important or so cool you have to write them down and check them off.  Priorities. 

If I were to make a list with those rules,  it would go like this (not necessarily in order of importance):

Go to Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.
Go to Ireland.
Go to Napa.
Go to Sweden.
Get a degree from the University of Michigan.
Adopt a German Shepherd.


But when you stop and really, really think about it, is  a bucket list more important than a "Things I never regret doing" list.  Like this:

Growing  and cooking as much of my own food as possible.
Spending  time with my family and friends.
Sitting in my chair with my cats.
Going to the Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.
Taking walks or going on a drive with my perennial dining companion.
And, of course, because it is me, moving as much as possible every day until you can't move anymore.

So I am going out to lunch with my parents tomorrow instead of staying home and cleaning my house. Which is part of another type of list - the stuff I "should be doing" list.  Lunch is after, of course, going to the Farmers Market in Ann Arbor.  And after taking a run.  Then I am making dinner, talking a walk with my husband, and watching my favorite hockey team on television.

Sounds like a good day - the kind I won't regret.