The premiere issue of Tales of the Talisman is now on sale at Project Pulp. This gorgeous glossy issue includes 2 of my poems "Medusa in LA" and "Passing Through". :)

Boy's been hanging with Buffy quite a bit. A strange but endearing relationship. :)

While watching Buffy this evening, Buf leapt up onto the couch and cuddled against me for the whole duration of the episode. It was very sweet and her Dad was quite amazed.

Just 2 minutes ago, the two were lounging in the corridor when I called Boy. I was so surprised to see him get up, walk by to the computer table and let me pick him up and sit him on my lap for a few minutes before he decided to wrangle himself out of my embrace and lie on the floor by my feet instead. :D

It's been his favourite spot for a long time, despite it being rather hazardous. He has had his tail run over by my chair several times when I get up in a hurry. I do remember to keep an eye out for him these days. He does blend into the carpet...

my cat annie - delightful videos of a very interesting cat.

(Source: Working with the Cat Welfare Society)

I woke up yesterday morning to Kaku's gentle mrrow mrrow. Got up, petted her for a really long time and then opened the bedroom door to let the bedlam in.

The kids really appreciated me being home, I could tell. Boy was constantly following me everywhere and the Three Naughties sat with me all afternoon and evening as I watched Buffy reruns.

Tux chatted with me while I picked him up ("mrow ow", he said) and Sam animatedly sang out a mrreeeow mreeow while sitting on the stairs past midnight.

Boy howled some but quietened down instantly when I called his name and blinked at him. I think after being away, all of them are worried I'll leave again. I reassured them and carried them all.

They've all settled down to sleep now, except for me Cheese Taster-filled tummied human mother person.

For most of my life, I had been haunted by an old movie I watched as a child. The story was about a woman with special powers, the sea, and a giant turtle bigger than a ship.

One of my life's goals was to swim with turtles, in their domain the sea. I achieved that last week. It reminded me of the source of that inspiration.

Remembering just the actress's name, I searched IMDB for Connie Selleca. And there it was... right at the bottom of her credits list was The Bermuda Depths (1978). Here's a review.

Confident I'd have that DVD in my hands in the next month or so, I searched Google... only to find, along with many disappointed and similar haunted souls that it hasn't been released!

There are a couple of VHS versions on Ebay but I am still mulling. Dang...

... at my DeviantArt site.

Last week I spent most of my time underwater, exploring what would seem to be another world, another dimension, as physicist Michio Kaku saw it as a child.

I spent hours swimming with turtles, met eyes with a baby shark, communicated with a squid, and saw a baby manta ray. It was truly out of this world.

On Saturday morning, I returned home to find that astronomers have discovered a 10th planet 97 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun.

While reading Phil Plait's brilliant Bad Astronomy Blog just a few minutes ago and staring at the picture of the Moon, I suddenly felt a wanderlust to visit another planet again.

The reality check that kicked in before about the actual dangers of space travel and our technological unreadiness to actually explore it faded somewhat and I began to dream about it again.

I conquered my fear of wide-open spaces during this trip to Perhentian and have won back the explorer in me. It is most likely I will never step foot in space during my lifetime, but in my mind's eye, I will, many times, my whole life.

My Mom dropped her phone while trying to reply my SMS this morning while buying fish at the wet market. It went a little haywire. Of course I felt duty-bound to buy her a new one.

We spent about an hour scouring the latest deals, declining a pretty Samsung clamshell model when we heard the electronics may cause the screen to blackout after a year or so.

Finally we spotted a sweet Nokia 6610i, which is the same one my Dad has. The sales chappie explained the inner workings of the phone to my Mom who was suitably impressed by his good service.

By virtue of the good product itself and pleasant service, we bought the phone at $128 (Mom's contract was only a year old so it was a $100 top-up). Dad was relieved when the shopping was finally over. :D

I bought my first scuba gear today from Lucky Plaza.

Tusa TM-8000Q Imprex Hyperdry Mask $69
Unidive fresh air snorkel $32

Although I've gotten my Open Water three years ago, I feel as excited as I was then going for my first dive trip.

It is my life's dream to see turtles swimming alongside with. :D

An Important Scuba Link: Maintaining your Mask

Last night's storm melted their Dad's heart and he got up to let them all in after Sam and Tuxie howled like the sky had fallen down. Poor Kaku darted in first and later, he told me that the sound did sound very thunderous in the kitchen.

Boy was locked in the bedroom with us and come morning, he leapt onto the bed and walked to my face to say hi. Rather exhausted, I grunted, petted him, and slept some more. He waited at the foot of the bed till I stirred again.

I've been a little concerned. He had thrown up (in the consistency and appearance of his wet food) twice over the weekend and when we got home again today, spotted another small blob with cockroach wings embedded when I examined closely. We'll be watching him closely from now.

Nevertheless, come breakfast, for some arcane reason, Kaku always runs under our bed, leaving half her food untouched. I brought the plate to her and shut the kitchen door so Boy and her could eat in peace.

Slowly, I heard cat biscuits clanking against a metal dish and as I peered under, she looked back and continued eating. She is actually a really slow eater. I waited for her to finish - some ten minutes - then let the rest out.

She is sporadically affectionate. On Sunday she let me pet her for some time and even mrrowed at me. I realised her mouth isn't very visible at all. That combined with her large eyes is probably what makes her so adorable although elusive.

Her godmother Weileng once said she resembles her mother the most of all the kittens in terms of looks and stature. Now, she is still the most dear and petite. The true baby of the family.

Their Dad commented tonight over dinner how much Tuxie was so similar to his mother (human one). Both of us love Cheese Tasters! He'd apparently torn into yet another bag and chewed up half my stash! I have been warned by the snack food police that snack foods should not be left within reach of greedy tuxedo cats but I had forgotten.

We did a small experiment when we got home. I waved the bag at him (just as I did on Saturday and he'd sped away guiltily) and spoke in a sweet voice, "Come Tuxie, food for you." He sniffed the bag and I sighed in disappointment. It was the tone of voice, really. Not so much the recognition of the Marks and Spencer's plastic bag out of which he'd stolen many sticks of Cheese Tasters. I growled then and he sped away.

After that we decided to shower the smellier cats: Tux and Sam. Tux allowed me to carry him but started to struggle once we neared the bathroom. Sam watched curiously as I lathered Tux with cat shampoo and never noticed me grabbing the scruff of his neck while his Dad grabbed him by the scruff of his and carried him into the shower. Both my younger boys have had their bath and now smell like fresh flowers. :D