Miss Laura

I thought I'd publish kind of a fun picture for this chilly Friday morning.

A co-worker sent me a photo this morning from an HIV prevention workshop. One of our other co-workers was in a skit about sexual pressure and safer sex with a high school student. Miss Laura (from the Queens of Comedy - she's in purple in the photo) was the MC, and also the keynote speaker. She was HILARIOUS! She told her life story...about being married to a pimp, and leaving him to go to typing classes, taking a theater class...and ending up in the Queens of Comedy!

She was incredibly down to Earth, and took several pictures with us. I'm on the left, then T, Miss Laura, and C (who lives in San Fransisco now).

My favorite quote from the day, and one that's really gross, but has stuck with me is this: Speaking to young women, she said, "You are no mans slop jar". If you don't know what that means, I shall not be the one to break it down for you.

I Get Super Creeped Out When Jesse Jackson Makes Sense

I feel a little guilty that I used a mug shot of Jesse Jackson, instead of the respectable black and white one of him leaning on his hand and wearing a suit...but anyone that has a mug is fair game to have it posted.

I really don't have too much to say about this, but I saw Jackson on Montel this morning (that Montel is seriously trying to clean up his act...no more paternity tests, he seems to be taking on some REAL issues...Maurie Povich will have to keep on with the trash now...*sad*). The topic was education and religious diversity in the US.

They were addressing our horrific schools (in general) and the perceptions of Muslims in America. I was very impressed with his open-minded views on Muslims, and I appreciated that he isn't scared to speak out against Bush.

Although honestly, he could have been spewing forth facist bullshit and all I would have taken away was that he spoke out against Bush...

I've met Jackson a couple times. One of them was in college, where he tried to get a couple of us to give the Rainbow Coalition money (hello? College students). The second was down at the medium security jail in St. Louis. We were doing a push for testing incarcerated men and women, so he got tested to encourage them to do so as well.

I mean, he's fine, but sometimes I feel like what he's saying is just to stir things up. I would love to see some new African American leaders that aren't so sensationalized.

Nova Update

For all of you who think we're insane (and we are) for taking in a little ragamuffin of a street cat...take a look at these photos. How in the world could we not keep this little guy!

He's been eating like a monster, and went from .13 pounds last Thursday, to 1.148 yesterday (Wednesday). The Humane Society tested him for Feline Leukemia and FIV (Feline HIV). He was negative for both. We were getting pretty nervous, because if he had Leukemia, he'd have to be put down...who'd have though we'd get this attached after only a week (but then again...look at that little face)?

So, The Boyfriend, Nova, and I went over to my friend L's last night. Conveniently, she happens to be fostering a PAINFULLY adorable litter of kittens, along with their mother. We put a little vanilla on the mother, her kittens, and Nova's foreheads (so they'd all smell alike), and let him loose.

He instantly went into "play" mode. The little kittens, who were almost exactly his size, welcomed him immediately - and they began exploring L's basement. Within 15 minutes, Nova was in a pile with all the other little ones, nursing with the mother. L said that when she went to bed, Nova was in a basket, all curled up with the five others.

We're so excited for him. Kittens that don't grow up with litters and are weaned too early usually have behavioral problems. He'll stay over at L's house until the litter leaves, then come back home to us. :)

Nova Burns Brightly

The Boyfriend and I are OUT OF OUR MINDS!

So last night, I'm minding my own business, leaving the house to go for a walk...and my neighbor calls me over to look at something. A tiny (TINY) black cat is under a concrete porch crying it's little eyes out. I grab it, and suggest I take it to the Humane Society.

The Boyfriend comes home and I show him my catch. He flops onto his back in the grass, rolling around with the little creature.

"We could keep it," says The Boyfriend.

"Or, we could take it to the Humane Society and some family with little kids will adopt him," I respond.

One trip to PetsSmart, and three hours later and the cat is ours. You see, once you name an animal, it's never leaving your house (except for occasional visits to the vet).

Nova: A star that suddenly becomes much brighter.

We throught Nova was a girl, and Nova was a name felt right to both of us. Plus, Luna, the old lady, is all white and named for the moon...Nova is all black and named for a star.

I snuggled our little star in a blanket inside our cat carrier and off to work we went. I took breaks for bottle feedings (I was fully prepared to defend the feedings since I have never in the history of my job taken a smoke break...I'll take feeding breaks while the other folks are downstairs slowly killing themselves). I spoke with a friend taht fosters kittens for the Humane Society, and she mentioned that they would probably put him down, mostly because he's so young and isn't attached to a mother/litter. That finalized our decision.

I wrangled an appointment at the Humane Society for a check-up, it's vital that we don't endanger our existing cats. As it turns out, Nova is a boy. Luckily, the name we chose is delightfully unisex. The vet says for his age (3 1/2 - 4 weeks), and having lived on the streets, he's extremely healthy. He is really young, but if we bottle feed him he may be fine.

So for the next two weeks, Nova needs to stay away from Luna, Jack and Tiger (I'd actually like to see him put on a little weight before we let the wolves loose on him). He's living in a box in the office with a towel and an impossibly soft bear from "A" at work.

The hard part will be socializing him with our other kitties. The vet said to have a well adjusted cat, we have to allow the other cats to teach him to be a cat...which includes introducing him to the "hierarchy" (ie, he's gettin' his little ass kicked). The vet warned against getting involved, explaining that as Nova bites and claws them, they will do it back, until he realizes what's appropriate and what's not...and he'll apply these guidelines to both cats and humans.

Scary. Sad. I guess not as sad as a little black kitten freezing to death under a porch.

More pictures to follow.