Thursday, September 29, 2011

Upcoming Posts on the 5 Senses

Shortly I will be posting a few separate posts on each of my five senses and how they work a little differently than yours may. I will also detail how these are possible affected by AS or heightened because of it. People say that if you loose your vision then all of the other senses become heightened. I have my vision but I feel that every sense I have is above normal. Hopefully by the end of the posts you will see why.

Red Sox Collapse


Last night was one of the most dumb-ass evenings in the history of Boston sports. The Red Sox lost not only their own game, but a shot at a wildcard birth. The Yankees and Rays played contraceptives in that effort. I watched the whole thing go down and I'm still stunned. In a way it was the polar opposite of 2004.
The blame game on this one could rage on for months but I don't think firing Francona will solve it. Under him the Red Sox have had the second highest winning percentage, most playoff games won and most world series titles; all of which are across MLB. It was simply put, a team wide choke. That's all I have to say about that.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

My Cat Crosby




Since I was young I've had either a dog, a cat or both. When I was around 15 we were living on Salem street and both of our cats had died. I'm not sure but it may have been a fisher cat (our neighbor down the street came out to his cat being slashed up by one a year before). However Ginger and Gilligan went I do not know for sure but I was left without a cat. A couple of months went by before my mom decided to do something about it.
I came home from school one day and my mom asked me to get the mail. As I walked up to the box I heard a pawing and whining noise that was the all to familiar sound of a kitten. Quickly opening the box I found a kitten. The little ball of fur was brown black and gray with a tiger pattern. I was smitten at once with the little guy. I was listening to a lot of CSNY at that time and decided after a couple days to name him Crosby.
As far a what type of cat he is, he was adopted from a shelter, so we can't say for sure although he has the markings, size and features of a Maine Coon. He likes to be outside a lot.
For a while there I kept him in my room, as is standard with most kittens, before letting him explore the house. Each day I came home from school I would run upstairs and play with him. Soon he began to go outside and explore the wild expanse of our yard and surrounding woods. When we moved about a year later there was no problem with him adjusting to a new area. There were still woods for him to play in and other animals to try and eat.
He was always good at killing things. He would drop mice off near the side door or leave a present to be found somewhere, but always outside. One time I went to turn the gas on in my workshop and I found a large headless squirrel behind the tank. Another time, more recently it was an absolute down pour as I arrived home. I saw him out by the side door and he was crouched over something. Normally I would never see him outside in the rain unless he was under a car or the little stone seat he uses for shelter on occasion. This time Crosby was eating a mouse full tilt like there was no tomorrow. I had never seen him do that, what with the rain in all. On the other hand he has been at times hunted.
Crosby cam back on day and it was evident by the blood soak that something either had him or tried to slash his throat. I couldn't see the actual wound but it healed fine all the same. He still has a little bump where it was. Although not from an animal Crosby did have some sort of infection on his ear that made it fill with blood and bob like a balloon whenever he moved it. The vet said that we could do surgery or just sort of cut it and then stick it up. We chose the latter and after it had healed his ear was shrunken to about a third of its original size. This probably happened nine years ago. Other than the ear, Crosby looks fine.
As far as cleanliness Crosby takes great pride in his appearance. He cleans his coat for hours on the couch or outside. Anytime he gets wet I dry him off with a towel and he loves that, or a nice brushing once in a while. He has a thick coat and can sometimes have a problem with hairballs.
As far as cats go they come trained, almost. They use a little box at a young age and there isn't much mess with them as a puppy would be. There are, however, ways that they can train you. Crosby figured out a long time ago that if he is to scratch at the screen he will be let in. He has ruined a lot of screens over the years., much to moms chagrin. He generally goes in or out ten times a day. He can be indecisive on whether he wants to be in or out and it can get annoying. Often he will come in, eat for two minutes and then ask to go out again. During the summer months he will stay out for a very long time, sometimes not coming back all day. I thought I lost him a couple times during the summer only to have him come waltzing back as if he didn't care. Whenever the dogs go out he will, too, and sort of mill around while they do their business. He will then come in again with them because he knows that treats are given out at that time. He'll jump up onto the counter and sit pertly waiting for me to give him a treat. Sometimes I give him cat nip, but he can be a mean drunk in terms of swatting at the dogs or anyone who's within range.
On evenings he is left inside, Crosby will, the following morning, walk upstairs and then scratch my door until I attend to him. Sometimes I give him a drink from the bathroom sink, which he is adept at using. He is surely one alarm clock that has no snooze button and he often waked me up at 5am.
For a cat over 10 years old ( I think he's around 11) he does well. He may have slowed down a little but he still has plenty of pep in his step. He naps more nowadays but he still kills on a regular basis. He is the oldest cat I've had and no other could replace him. I'll probably shed a couple tears when he does pass on but hopefully that won't be for a while.

That's all I have for now, I'll add some more on him soon in case I forget anything.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Looking back at 9/11

As you all know the 10th anniversary or 9/11 was Sunday. I chose to write this post on a Tuesday, even though its not the proper date it is the day of the week that it happened.
The whole thing was unexpected and was something no one could prepare for. I was sitting in Ms. Smiths' English class and things were typical of any day at school. Kids were doing their work or listening to the teacher talk and some went out to the bathroom. There was only one hall pass to do so and we'd eagerly await our own turn to roam the halls for a while, I mean go to the bathroom. It was either Phil Perkins or Chris Vining who came back in from the hall and he said something to the effect of "All the other classes have their TV on". This struck all of us as odd. We switched ours on and we saw a building in flames. I'm not sure if we knew what was happening at the moment, it was all a blur. We may have seen the second plane hit, but its all hazy so I'll have to ask someone else in class. Either way, everyone was silent. We didn't know what to think as all the reports were coming in about other hijacked planes. I think that everything after that was a blur, even to me. Each class from that time on all students did was watch the TV. There could have been a school announcement made, I don't know. The next day we did the same thing and jut watched TV in most classes and had discussion about what went on.
This whole set of events was our generations JFK. It didn't seem possible that it could happen. We had seen war footage and bombings on TV in other countries but when it hit home it made me go numb. I was awestruck that it had taken place. This Sunday I was watching footage of the planes hitting the towers and it took me right back to that day. I asked myself countless times 'did that really happen" then and now, expecting the outcome to change somehow. It did happen but part of me is almost afraid to let it register. I don't get sad about it, I just pissed that something so bad could happen on US soil.
That is all I have for now. If anything comes up about this topic I'll let you know.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Why I'm Awkward (Or at least think I am)

There is never one reason why. If I have learned one thing in life then it would be that everything is affected by everything else and nothing is an isolated incident. There is, of course, more than one reason that I am awkward.
I always tend to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, well, embarrassing to myself or someone else that is. It's like I don't even think it through before, all of a sudden, boom! it's out there. My brain has a mind of its out and it likes to prove that fact to me and anyone else in earshot. I always worry that there may be more than one of us in there. Trust me when I say that it feels great. I am better now at keeping that idiot under wraps.
I feel like I get looks from people everywhere I go. I feel like they're out to get me for some reason. Cops? Let's not even go there. I just feel like everyone knows all about me without even talking to me first, like there is just a clear spot in front of my brain that they can read everything that is going on as if it were a digital marquee at a theater. Anything they think they know is probably false, unless I've told them prior. I think its my lack of eye contact that enables them to be judgmental sort of the mindset of 'If you've met one then you've met them all'. This goes without saying that less know about me than those that truly do and the people that do know understand, as well as they can anyway.
I don't like how I can never seem to quite know what others are talking about without having to think it over first and by that time I have missed the point. This doesn't happen as often as it used to but every now and again I find myself lost in conversation.
It should be noted that the only true sports I find myself able to do are baseball and golf. The first one I excelled in, I even played in college. It was pitching, not hitting. As for golf, I can still hit it 275 yards after not being on a course for years. As for dancing, well, have you ever seen a cow being poked by a cattle prod? Just know that its a very unnatural motion. I run OK, until I get tired and begin to look like Carlton Banks dancing.
I could be described as awkward if you get to know me long enough. To most people though, I'm just a figment of their imagination, something they thought they saw until I somehow vanished, never to be seen again. Some wonder where I could had come from while others wonder where I could have gone.
My friends know me well enough that I'm not going to change and even if I could, they like me the way I am. I keep things loose and light and allow them to laugh, even for a short time, before getting back to their own problems. It goes both ways, as I can see their problems as something to both laugh at and learn from. We help one another through, that is just what friends do.
I have realized that I'm only awkward because I think I am so. In a way everyone is to everyone else, sort of like what I said by everything being interconnected in some odd way that you probably never thought of before. When the mind has time enough to think things over it can come to some interesting conclusions; and I reckon that's where the notion of me being awkward came from. Whether it was your brain, mine, or a combination of the two that came up with that answer remains to be discovered.
Questions or Comments? Let me know.