A Chatterbox Gives Voice

I'm being considered for a sales position with this company: http://www.dynavox.com/. I suppose it would be ironic if I accepted a sales position for them - those of you who know me know I'm a complete chatty Cathy. How very befitting it might be if I gave voice to those children who didn't have one. Then again, their parents may very well end up suing me ("It wasn't supposed to work THAT well; she won't shut up!"). But in all seriousness, it looks like a really cool company and product line, but as far as the job goes, I'll see after the phone interview tomorrow, I suppose. I've learned the hard way to be skeptical about sales.


At any rate, take a moment to click on that website to see some really cool new ways that special needs people are being given to communicate more independently (or at all).

Happy Birthday to Me

Well, it's my 31st birthday today and I'm glad to say there's not much excitement to this particular age. To make sure I started this year right, Milo was kind enough to help me start my new year by waking me with a brisk face licking. Thank you, Milo.

Bryon and I don't have much planned for today - it's Father's Day and the crowds at anything fun will be overwhelming. We might try to go bowling in Studio City depending on how crowded it is. But we are going out to dinner to one of my favorite restaurants, La Frite on Ventura. It's a tiny little French cafe; you'd barely notice the place on the street, but they make the best baked brie I've ever had, and their carrot cake is unbelievable.

Kinda wish I were home in Chicago today...my birthday falls on Father's Day every so often and it's been a while since I saw my dad for FD. What can I say - I miss the old man. I was thinking of trying to come home but the plane fare was just too much. I also feel like I need to get out of LA for a few days since I lost my job - my office was at home so it's really hard to to just forget about. I've been applying and job searching like a maniac but so far the only jobs I'm being offered are for financial sales positions - no thanks and yawn. I might be able to sell an educational resource (and even those skills are apparently questionable) but there's no way I'll make it as an life insurance enthusiast!

Happy Father's Day to any dads I've got out there...you know who you are ;)

The Loquacious Milo & Sophie

Meet my two cats Milo (orange tabby, 3 yrs) and Sophie (tabico, 4 yrs). Don't let this image of seemingly cozy cameraderie fool you - this is merely a lucky photo op milli-second while they were playing. Mind you, Milo's version of "playing" seems to involve simply attacking Sophie, establishing that he's in charge by pinning her down, and then literally rubbing her face in his behind. Despite the fact that he's the younger and more recent addition to the family, she allows this and merely offers a continuous low-growl, sing-song whine as protest.

As my sister put it during her last visit, both of my cats just have a lot to say and neither has any qualms about saying any of it. You go, kitties; I understand completely. In fact, due to both of them being so verbose, I'm convinced that despite all evolutionary proclamations, they are related to me on some deeply genetic level. Anyway, Sophie is squat and sedentary but is one of the most amazing (and fastest) bug-trappers I've ever seen. This is probably due to her unfortunate feral beginnings, when catching bugs meant staying alive for her. She doesn't make many swats, but when she does, she swats to kill and does so! She usually acts needy but also has a quiet strength about her sometimes that surprises me.

Back in grade school it seemed like there was always a really mean redheaded bully who messed with everybody for no good reason but couldn't take what he dished. For those of you who have seen it, think of the bully in "A Christmas Story".(*Author's Note: Those of you redheads out there, please don't be offended by this reference. If you read any Tom Robbins you will quickly learn that it's quite possible redheads contain special, supernatural powers. Here's a link to distract you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_hair#Mythological_traditions).

OK, back to the mean redheaded bully - that sums up Milo. He's the biggest mama's boy you ever saw and more afraid of the outdoors and our outer hallway than even timid Sophie is. But he bullies her like no one's business. If she settles down on a cat-scratcher box, he will come tackle her and uproot her. If she's lying on the bed, he'll jump up and literally edge her off the bed. If she's playing with a toy (even if we have duplicates of it) he has to steal it away from her. He whines like a toddler when he wakes up from a nap, and he announces his awakening with a cranky and lengthy meow as if to say, "I'm awake, pay attention to me!" He'll keep doing this until you acknowledge his presence by saying hello to him. In short, and pardon my French, he's a bit of an asshole.

But they're both hilarious and I've been told by a few people that my cats act more like dogs than some dogs do. I figure this is good since we're only allowed two pets in our building and we ("we" meaning my fiance Bryon and I) are both craving a dog. So far the cats don't respond well to the leash but at least we've taught them to speak!

Writer's Block Bulldozing

Welcome to my blog! I really never thought I would do this, but my stepmom just started one and inspired me to do the same. I'm a writer who doesn't write, and it's time to plow through the massive writer's block that's been lodged in me since I stopped writing in early high school. When I was a kid I used to write so much that my various parents had to struggle to get me off the computer, and now I can't even seem to keep a personal journal for myself. So I'm starting this blog in hopes of reminding myself that I can do this :).