Booby (Newby/Boo-Boo): A Little Miracle

A deaf, declawed cat was dumped, showed up at a guy named Rich's house; a woman named Victoria posted about him; a month later, he was neutered and became a holiday miracle. He's a good boy. Is he really a miracle? That's debatable, but I picked up that cat without knowing where he'd be homed, figuring if I do the right thing, things will work out okay. Little did I know, my mom would fall in love with him. (As much as that fact isn't a surprise to anyone who knows her, I totally hadn't planned on her winding up taking him in. My grandmother, who lives with my mom, was totally understanding re: a declawed, deaf cat doesn't belong outdoors. I really thought his stay at their house would be temporary.) Here are some pictures.

Nice email from a former colleague

(Names are changed for her privacy; she and I shared an office. We didn't always get agree about everything, but there was always mutual respect.)

Sarah,

When I arrived at the office yesterday morning, (our supervisor) told me that you had been let go.

My immediate reaction was an unrelenting sadness – sad because of the position that you are now in – sad because I had lost my (not always) silent partner.

Professionally and personally you have nurtured me in countless ways:

In areas that I was unfamiliar with I always knew that I could turn around and ask your advice – whether it would be how to find some important information on the Internet – the meaning or correct use of a word – the correct approach to answering a “[first name of publisher] question”.

I am a healthier, more productive and kinder person for having known you. Because of you [her acupuncturist/my East Asian medicine mentor and sensei] and [her flute teacher, with whom I connected her] are a part of my life – because of you I learned how to be kind to my cat. I am a better person in so many ways for having known you and I sincerely appreciate and will always be grateful for your influence on me.

I am here – if I can help – just ask.

Luv

[her name]

So I emailed her back, thanking her for her note and asking her how I might word some of what I did for her, professionally, on my resume. She replied:

Don’t limit yourself to just Software research.

What I found amazing about you – and I counted on -- was your ability to find anything on the Web – to input the most precise search query which would return only the most relevant sites.

Please use me as a reference since I am the head of the web department at [where I worked].

from an email I wrote to a fellow blogger about guys and stuff.

(jcontent)

If I'm actually in shul, I daven (as long as I'm there, might as well, you know?). The only dude I'd ever looked for in the men's section before was my dad.

But there I was at this wedding, and there were all these men (and after quickly determining who probably had a wedding ring on or was under 18/over 50 and ignoring them, there were still some guys left over. Huzzah! Probably-single men in nice suits ready to rip it up like folks at orthodox weddings do.

It made me realize it will be impossible to marry anyone, or at least I'll have to send an acclimation guide [along w/audio disc of od yishama and other tunes people should know at weddings] to my non-Jewish, music-loving friends to prepare them for that sort of experience, along with the invitation, if/whenever I do wind up getting married.

I'm thinking a bonfire wedding at Harriman on L'ag B'Omer in 2010 (it falls on a Sunday, then). Oh, wait, I'd need to meet someone first. lol Someone that I like and who likes me.

I think you hit the nail on the head the other day when you wrote something like having a blog means running into cool people -- yes -- marriageable, not so much.

I don't even know what hashkafically means (I have since learned what it means), but I think it's agreeing about whether or not to cover hair/wear skirts/etc., based on context. That stuff's pretty important.

On another level, and maybe it comes from being a few years older (and that I'm willing to be w/someone and wind up being more observant, not less observant [and I feel like a jerk writing people off for putting "not at all" in the slot about keeping kosher, but I'd really like to be with someone who cares to some degree about that, and (I'm adding returns so it's easier to read. I know how to form a paragraph.)

I'm not going to feel bad for wanting to be with someone who understands that not eating milchigs and fleishigs together isn't about being some sort of penguin droid with no brain [which is not to say by any means that all who dress like penguins are brainless droids -- far from it], it's about being compassionate -- and

I wouldn't want to be with yanky who sits and learns all day if he doesn't understand that I don't eat cheeseburgers anymore 'cause I want what I eat to remind me to be compassionate and to reflect compassion as a conscious choice,

not to rack up points on some tzivos hashem mitzvah mission like when I was a kid, or because some dude with a beard in the sky played telephone with moshe a million years ago), or to get me a good place in olam haba

(I'm the one who's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to. -R'Hendrix)

but I also write people off who don't write cat in the pets they like, so I guess I'm really, really shallow]. (kidding -- I have cats. I don't want to be with someone who can't hang with cats. I don't feel bad about that, either. If I met someone [not online] who was super-allergic to cats and he and I fell in love, I'd consider finding them homes. Online, though, it's easy to be picky, I suppose.)

Yeah, it's time for me to get a blog of my own. lol
Good. Maybe it'll help me meet somebody.
Gotta fix my front brake first, tonight.
Priorities! :) Camp rides.

3/18/08, 8:38 PM
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Post-script: Brake pads have been changed, but the actual brake needs adjusting. -4/16/08