seraphtrevs

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:11:02 GMT

I decided that it's about time to make my monthly "I'm not dead" post. I've been around (and all the Twilight wank has made me incredibly happy), but I haven't felt like writing up journal entries lately because - I've been working on fic! \o/ I finally finished Part One - which is 17,692 words. And there's going to be three parts. D: So no telling when I'll get finished - I'm guessing another four to eight weeks or so - but it's been a ton of fun writing it. I have no idea why I decided to write an epic for my first foray back into fic - it just sort of happened. I'm resisting the temptation to start posting it, because pressure kind of kills my ability to write.

In other news - Penelo's boyfriend moved away. He was a cute little grey-and-white cat who lived in the apartment below us, and he would stare up at Penelo when she sat on the balcony and cry, and then Penelo would also cry, and they were tragic star-crossed lovers. :( He also used to attack us when we came home, only he was declawed so it didn't really hurt. I think he was upset that we wouldn't give him our daughter's hand in marriage.

I'm trying to slough my way through Twilight again, but it's really tough going (although reading "Growing Up Cullen" has made it a lot easier). I'm not sure why I'm putting myself through this. I guess it's because I talk so much shit about it, I figure I ought to know what I'm talking about. Parts of it are so bad they're funny, but most of its just so bad it's bad.

So that's about it for now. Back to writing!

Twilight Trailer spoof

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:34:16 GMT

Here.

Pure genius. :D

ETA: I found these on the Rotten Tomatoes forums

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 20:43:35 GMT

So I was thinking about proposing an hp_cornfield type community for Twilight wank. I know it hasn't exactly overrun f_w yet, but I have a feeling that it's going to be the wank that keeps on giving, à la Harmonians. I personally love talking about how much Twilight sucks, but I'm sure a lot of f_w isn't quite as enthusiastic. On the other hand, like I said, I don't think it's overrunning f_w yet, so I might be jumping the gun.

So what do you guys think?

Wtf, brain?

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:03:02 GMT

I had a dream (nightmare?) that I read Breaking Dawn, and it was a work of genius.

I don't know what happens in my brain sometimes.

ETA: Wait, was lightnote actually banned from unfunnybusiness? Or does he just think that posting on random_lounge instead will save him from inevitable dogpiling?

Quick question

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:11:27 GMT

Are posts on unpleasant things verboten on random_lounge? I mean, I remember the kittenmommy fiasco on fandom_lounge, but I thought that was mainly because killing puppies is not a fandom.

Not that I have a burning desire to see rage-inducing posts there, but just out of curiosity.

COMIC CON

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:08:22 GMT

Hello! So, guess where I was last week?

It was great. My bff 4eva, marenpaisley flew out from Pennsylvania, and she, Brian and I had a blast. Comic Con is such a weird experience, because for most of the year, I sit at the computer or in front of my TV, and sometimes my brother comes over to watch Heroes or Avatar or whatever, but that's about the extent of any IRL fan interaction. And then suddenly - it's everywhere! Fan stuff as far as the eye can see! It's...a little overwhelming, but a lot of fun. Although they're really going to have to think about getting a bigger venue. The last time I went to Comic Con was...two years ago, I think? Anyway, it was still huge, but I got into all the panels I wanted to and I only stood in line for about an hour for the more popular ones. But this was crazy. People started queing up hours ahead of time. For example, we figured that if we got there at 6:30 am for the Heroes panel at 10:30, we'd be fine, but by the time we got there, there were probably about a thousand people ahead of us. People had camped out overnight. O_o And I really wanted to see the Venture Brothers panel, but they held it in one of their lower-capacity rooms, figuring it wouldn't be that much of a draw (which is what I figured, too), but when we got there about an hour beforehand, the line was wrapped around the hallway, out the door, and down the steps. Crazy.

Anyway, besides Heroes, I got to see the panel for Watchmen. It looks amazing - we got to see a lot of new scenes, which was funny because it was the first time that the actors had seen it, too, and they requested that we watch it again because they were so excited. It was very cute. Zack Snyder, the director, is adorable - he thought every question asked was "awesome" or sometimes "super awesome." Awww. The other large panel we saw was for this show that I'd never heard of that's coming out on HBO - TruBlood. It's based on these novels about vampires living among the living after the invention of a synthetic blood that allows them to survive without hunting people. The show looks really cute, and the author endeared herself to me by saying that her vampires could kick the asses of the Twilight vampires. What was amazing about this panel, though, was that we got a door prize that included a backpack, a tee-shirt, a comic book, and the first novel in the series. I guess HBO has some money to throw around.

And now - pictures!

NBC only had this tiny little booth set up, but they had some cool props:

Aaaaand my pics from the panel. They're not terribly good (especially since I kept getting the red hat of the person in front of me in all the shots). I was kind of disappointed that we didn't get to hear a lot from the cast, since they showed the whole first episode (not that I'm complaining!) And the ten minutes they did allot for questions were mostly spent up by people asking things like "What's it like to be so awesome?!" and one guy who just wanted to tell them that he'd camped out all night. I think he wanted a medal for Best Fan or something. He was booed off the mike pretty quickly though.

Tim Kring (I think?)

Ali, Dania, and ZQ and his incredibly dorky hat.

Sendhil (I'm starting to think it's a bad idea to let any of the Heroes boys dress themselves. Well, except Milo - he always looks pretty snazzy.)

Hayden and Milo

Cristine! Who is now a regular! :D She promised that season 3 would be "groovy."

Everybody clapping!

Greg, Pasdar and Dania (I think this was the part where Pasdar told us that season 3 would be "sexy, because it will have Greg in a thong." Oh Pasdar - never change.)

Ali, Sendhil, James and Cristine

Not a particularly good pic, but I like it because it shows Jack and his camcorder (he was filming the whole thing)

And there he is showing Masi the footage. :D

Everybody standing up!

A Bat bike and Lego Batman and Robin

Obligatory Storm Trooper

The replica of the Owl Ship from Watchmen - it was very, very cool.

And I'm going to end with a non-spoilery review of the Season 3 premiere of Heroes. (That is, I don't give away any plot points or specifics about anything - just what I thought. I guess if you're really spoiler-phobic, you'll want to avoid it.)

Okay, good news first. The cast remains as awesome as always. They are all obviously having a ball, which is something that I've always loved about Heroes. ZQ in particular really om-nom-noms the scenery in the best possible way. It's hard not to be excited watching them all. I'm also really interested in the direction they're taking some of the characters - I think it has the potential to be really fun. There were also some really (intentionally) funny moments, and some fantastic lines.

And the bad. Well. They've, um, certainly set up some challenges for themselves. I think that they were responding to criticism that the beginning of season 2 dragged, because they've decided that the best way to start season 3 is with FRENETIC NON-STOP ACTION. And they also shoe-horned in nearly every story line, so the scenes were all literally about five minutes long. It was extremely difficult to keep track of what was going on. Like I said, I am interested in the direction that they're taking some of the characters, but again, it all happened so quickly that I didn't really know what to think. In addition, plot points from previous seasons were either hand-waved or apparently forgotten about. Characters behaved bizarrely (which was intentional with some of them, but I can't really be sure with the rest). The timeline seemed off. On the whole, it didn't make a lot of sense. Some of that was on purpose, of course, since Heroes is such a TO BE CONTINUED... show, but the rest? I don't know. They've got a lot of 'splaining to do, at any rate.

I'm going to reserve judgment until we can see the full two-hour premiere (they just showed us the first hour). I'm hoping that they were just using this ep to set everything up, and then they'll slow down and deal with only a few storylines per episode after that. Otherwise, it's going to be extremely difficult to watch. I don't mean to sound like a downer - I'm definitely excited about this season! But I am a little nervous.

I read a lot

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:51:01 GMT

I found this book meme the other day, and since I've been reading a lot lately, I thought it would be fun to talk about the books I've known and loved. I'm answering these questions with a lot of fiction, but actually I've been reading more non-fiction books than novels, since fic has generally satisfied all my fiction needs. I'd be interested to hear what books are important to you guys and what you're reading now, too, since I recently found out how awesome my local library is and have access to lots of good stuff.

Anyway! Onto the meme!

1. A favorite book!
My favorite book of all time is Lolita. There's so much to it that every time I read it, I discover something new.

2. A book that affected you in your YA years
I'm going to go with Jane Erye. I read it in eighth grade English class and it was one of the first "classic" books I ever read. I've been a reader me whole life, but reading this book for class was the first time I'd really studied a novel. Of course I'd done papers and book reports for school, but studying Jane Erye was the first time I realized that studying novels was something that grown-ups did ,and that they took very seriously. Up until then, I mostly viewed reading as something I did for fun, and when it was for class, doing reports was something that only kids did, like math worksheets. It made me really excited that I could talk about books seriously.

3. A favorite fantasy novel
</i>Sir Apropos of Nothing</i> by Peter David. It's extremely funny. :D

4. A favorite sci fi novel
I'll say Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut. Vonnegut still counts as sci-fi, right?

5. An awesome book (possibly a favorite) you think not many people around you have heard of/read
Throwing the Elephant: Zen and the Art of Managing Up by Stanley Bing. It's hard to describe - it's sort of a parody of a self-help book. Bing takes Buddhist philosophy and applies it to the workplace, telling the story of Sid Arthur (get it?), a man born into a family of rich and powerful business men who eventual achieves business enlightenment. It's hilarious, and the advice is actually pretty good. My favorite piece of advice: Our spirits rebel at what we read, be it newspaper, memo, or e-mail. Inside, we are a riot of feeling. But stop. Look within. Is there not something in there that really doesn't give a shit? Of course there is. In that place, there is silence. There is the Buddha.

6. A book you own more than one copy of
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. When it came out, we bought two copies so that Brian and I could read it at the same time.

7. An author whose every single book you own/will buy
Richard Dawkins. I have all of his books except The Ancestor's Tale, which I've heard is his best so I plan on making that my next purchase.

8. The worst book you've ever read
Twilight, although to be fair, I only read half of it, and I generally always finish books, so that's saying something. It's so deeply terrible in so many ways that I'm almost in awe of it. It's not only bad, but rage-inducing bad. I hate it so much that I've kind of come around to perversely enjoying it, because I'm like that. And I'm pleased to report that the movie looks terrible too.

9. A book you dislike that lots of other people you know like
Ummm, I don't know? My mom enjoys mysteries and I've never really cared for those, and my husband really likes tie-in novels and fantasy authors like Robert Jordan, which I also don't care for.

10. The most difficult book you've ever read
Darwin's Dangerous Idea, by Daniel Dennett. That book nearly ended me. It took me four months to read, which is just ridiculous. It's science AND philosophy, two subjects that I really struggle with. It was totally worth the effort, although I probably only absorbed a fraction of what he was talking about. I've been reading a lot of pop science books, because I've been woefully negligent of my science education and I'd like to change that.

11. Tell me what kind of books your mom reads/read
Like I said earlier, lots and lots of mysteries. But nothing too violent, because that really upsets her. She likes books with quirky characters and clever twists - all murders must be off-screen. I've tried to get into mysteries, but for some reason, they've never really grabbed me.

12. What have you read so far this year?
Oh jeez. A lot. Some of them are rereads. Ummm - okay, The Blind Watchmaker, The Selfish Gene, The God Delusion, A Devil's Chaplain, River Out of Eden (all Dawkins), Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Sex and Science (Mary Roach, an extremely funny science writer), Speak, Memory (Nabokov's autobiography), Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women (Elizabeth Wurtzel, of Prozac Nation fame - she's obnoxious, but the book did have some interesting things to say), Listening to Prozac (by Peter Kramer - a really interesting look about what psychiatric drugs tell us about identity), The Zombie Survival Guide (Max Brooks - I love zombies), The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible (AJ Jacobs - funny but at the same time very respectful with some interesting things to say about religion that I hadn't ever considered before), Everything Bad is Good For You (Steven Johnson - really, REALLY great look at pop culture and why it isn't rotting our brains), The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath - I thought I was going to like this book more than I did. Oh well), The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation (Matt Ridley - really interesting - I love the idea of Game Theory, even though I've accepted the fact that I'll probably never fully Get It. :P), How to Write: Advice and Reflections (Richard Rhodes - absolutely beautiful book that's as much about life as it is about writing)

...I think a few more that I'm forgetting.

13. What are you reading now?
I've recently discovered my local library, and it is the nicest public library I've ever been to. It probably has something to do with the fact that I now live in a college town. The non-fiction section is particularly impressive, since most of the public libraries I've been to had mostly self-help books and the like. So right now I'm working on: The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression (Andrew Soloman - I read this book in 2002 when I was going through a hard patch and it saved my life. I unfortunately leant it to somebody and never got it back, so I'm looking forward to rereading now that I'm at a different stage in my life); a book of H.P. Lovecraft stories (I've always wanted to read him, and I'm finding him a bit difficult! I've read "The Whisperer in Darkness" and "The Call of Cthulhu" so far), Gardening 1-2-3 (research for a Heroes fic I'm writing, although I'm also considering starting to grow some flowers on my patio); Virus Hunters of the CDC (also fic research); and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Hunter S. Thompson - I read this years ago and love it to pieces, so I picked it up for a reread. "We can't stop here - this is bat country!" :D)

14. What are you reading next? (list! list! You know you want to)
Oh jeez, well - I'd like to get a hold of I Am Legend, since I recently saw the Will Smith movie and loved it. I also want to read Dawkin's The Ancestor's Tale, like I mentioned earlier. My dad is reading Oliver Sacks' Musicophilia and I LOVE Oliver Sacks, so I'm itching to get my hands on that. I want to start reading Carl Sagan again - I read some of his stuff in high school and loved it, and I'm on a pop science kick right now (any recs for pop science authors?)

Okay, that took way longer than I thought. :P

Upgrade!

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:32:26 GMT

So I decided to upgrade my accounts. I am still in awe of the fact that I get 500 icons. 500. That's crazy. (Meanwhile, LJ charges $6 extra for 100. Which I gave to them. Because god forbid I don't have 100 ways to express that Sylar is hot and Venture Brothers is funny.) Anyway, so I've spent all day gathering icons and playing with different lay outs. It's been fun!

Also: I have bunny pictures! I went to the Del Mar fair last weekend with my parents, but we only ended up spending an hour there (after spending an hour and a half finding parking), because my mother remembered a dinner date she had with people she dislikes and could not cancel, for some reason. Oh my mom. But I accomplished my main goal, which was to eat a fried Snickers bar. It tasted okay. And I got to see these cute guys, so it wasn't a total waste.

These bunnies were huge. Like, bigger than Penelo huge. And that's pretty damn big.

These bunnies were standard bunny size, and very cute. I had no idea that bunnies came in so many varieties!

This one has the exact same coloring as my childhood cat.

And here's some llamas:

I didn't take a picture of the deep fried snickers bar I ate, but this is what it looks like. I was expecting it to be crunchy on the outside, but it was very soft. The inside didn't taste like a Snickers bar at all - all of the various components of a Snickers bar had melted together in one gooey mess. It was pretty tasty, but not really exciting:

Here's a picture of this sling shot ride they had. They put you in a little pod, cranked up 9000 giant springs, and off you went. They charged $50 for two people for the pleasure. Even if they paid me $50, there is still no way in hell I would do this.

And here's a picture of Penelo looking annoyed, because I haven't posted enough pictures of her:

Someday I will get tired of posting pictures, but today is not that day. :P

I have returned!

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:28:55 GMT

Probably for a while since I'm a little unemployed right now. I've been in stealth lurker mode in various places, so I'm pretty caught up with everything - I've just been too tired to have anything to say. :P

Anyway! I finally have a camera, so I've been sitting around attempting to take pictures of my cat! Which doesn't really count as something to say, but I'm out of practice, so.

Penelo does not like her picture taken, apparently, so I had to chase her around a bit:

Here she is materializing out of hyperspace:

And hiding behind the blinds:

And then I caught her in front of the blinds, but it was dark and I forgot to put the flash on:

Then she finally got tired from all the chasing:

And here she is on the chair looking very proper - I love her little crossed paws and her tail:

And finally, the best pic. It's a little dark though:

I visited my parents over the weekend and got a few pics of their dog Winston, aka the largest pug that has ever existed:

Aaaaaaand that's all I've got. Looking forward to seeing you guys around again. :D

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 03:10:07 GMT

I swear I didn't mean to disappear like that. I'm doing fine - great, actually. My initial disappearance was because I got a night job as a medical clerk at a hospital, which at first I thought would be great since I'm a night person, but those kind of jobs just absolutely devour your day - I'd be too tired to do anything when I got in, then I would sleep into the afternoon, and then it was time for work. And also, it sucked and was hugely stressful.

But then I got a day job at a different hospital in a different city for a significant payraise! And there's much less pressure than at the previous job. Which was great, but since we lived in the middle of fucking nowhere, I had to leave the apartment at 4:30 in the morning and got home around 7:30, so that sucked. But! Then we moved! \o/ So my commute is now twenty minutes, and we live in the same city as the school that I hope to go to to complete my teaching certificate (which, hopefully, I'll be able to start in a year when some of our debts go away), and I live in the same apartment complex as my brother, so everything is going almost suspiciously well. We've been in the new apartment for a few weeks now and there haven't been any major disasters, so hopefully it will stay that way.

So how's everybody?

GODDAMNIT I HATE WORKING SWING SHIFT

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 08:11:16 GMT

What the fuck.

And what Scarah said. It's like we prepared for an earthquake and got a hurricane instead. AND WE CAN'T OUTWALK IT, OMG.

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 00:33:41 GMT

You know how people sometimes reclaim a word, like how feminists reclaimed "bitch?" Is there a way to de-claim a word? Because I'm all for de-claiming "snark."

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 07:13:41 GMT

I added unfunnybusiness. I'm going to regret this, aren't I? D:

Also: I apparently missed n00bish hijinks. :(

Also also: Do you ever go through the mood list, looking for that perfect word to describe the particular mood you're in, and nothing seems to fit, and then you feel a little invalidated? Just me then? Okay.

Ahahahahahahaha

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 13:00:14 GMT

Foreshadowing!

ETA: And is that a Heidipology that's actually for serious in there? I think it is. AWESOME.

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Sat, 26 May 2007 12:41:15 GMT

I love this thread SO MUCH.

Although it kind of disturbs me that the only urban legends I can remember off the top of my head are ones involving children and drugs. D :

ETA: And this thread was funny, and also informing! Good job, fandom_wank! It's been a while!

I'm back!

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Tue, 15 May 2007 15:26:25 GMT

My new computer is very nice. The screen is ENORMOUS, though. It's bigger than my TV! Granted, my TV is the smallest TV I have ever encountered, so that isn't saying much. Windows Vista really sucks though. I hate it. A lot.

So what have you guys been up to? I missed you. : (

Genghis and Patcheye are both adjusting nicely to their new homes, which is a big relief. Patcheye is also getting a name change, but it doesn't bother me as most of the kittens names were just place holders that I didn't put a whole lot of thought into. I was really attached to Genghis though, because tehrin is a genius and that is the most perfect name for him in every way.

The shelter's kitties are mostly over their cold, so the remaining three will be going soon. I thought it was going to be today (D :), but I talked to the shelter ladies, and they informed us that we could give them the kittens for free if we get neutering vouchers from the regular shelter. Otherwise, it's $25 each, (which we could sort of afford, but not really, because - massive debt). In their town, they said I could get up to three vouchers, which would be perfect! Unfortunately, their town is not our town, so they don't know how our local shelter works. My grandparents live somewhere in between their town and our town, so we're not sure what shelter would be in their service area, so if it's theirs, we might be able to go through them if our shelter suxx0rs.

HOWEVER, it may possibly take a long time to get them, which would be really bad because people are waaaaaaaaaaay more likely to adopt kittens, and their already becoming very large. BUT, they said if I get pics to them, they can put them up on their site right now, which would help a little if it's only going to be a week. And this is where the plea for aid comes in. In the computer crash, I lost Photoshop and I can't reinstall it because my brother has the CD. Plus I'm crap at it anyway. I fortunately had the kitten pics in my email inbox and photobucket and various posts. I was wondering if some kind Photoshop proficient soul could crop them and make them as pretty as possible (I mean, not put any froofy things on it, but making them as clear as possible and pretty colored, etc.) I know the pics aren't of very high quality, but I'd like to make them as awesome as possible so people will want to take the babies home! Pretty please?

I only need one of each kitten - Firstie, LP, and Spot are the ones going to the shelter (obviously), so it would be so great if I could get a centered pic of each of them. In case it helps, here is the site where they'll be put up: Petfinder

The pics are here in my previous post. LP is the one furthest right on the first pic, which is one of the clearer ones. Too bad Firstie and Spot weren't looking at the camera. Gah, I forgot how many of them were so blurry. :/ I don't know if there's anything to be done with them. FTF, me.

And here are some more pics, none of which are really good for the kitty personal ads, but I've been meaning to share them with you anyway.

Spot jumping off the bed

Penelo and Genghis

Patcheye in a pocket

Firstie and Spot under the bed

KITTEN FIGHT!

MOAR KITTEN FIGHT!

Another group shot with Spot looking confused.

...did I mention that my mom's favorite was Spot?

Thank you so so so so much to anyone who can help me out - name your price, it shall be yours. (Well, unless of course, it's something with a price - can't help you out there. :( )

I'll be writing kitty personal ads to put up as well, since the nice shelter lady asked for them. She said, "You can just write their basic personalities - I'll spruce them up a bit." AHAHAHAHAHA.

FANTASTIC NEWS!!!

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 02:43:33 GMT

I've found a no-kill shelter in my area for the kittens! : D

Brian and I went to Petsmart today to see if we could put up posters there, and by coincidence, an animal rescue place was there trying to adopt out some animals. They aren't in the phonebook, and apparently my googling skills are really sucky, so it was really lucky that we ran into them! It's The Helping Paws Pet Rescue and Adoption. It sounds so perfect - they had a catalog there with a picture of their facilities, and it's so nice, with all these toys and places for the kitties to climb and play around (our kittens are excellent climbers XD). AND they say that they make all adopters sign a contract that says that if for whatever reason they don't want to have the kittens anymore, they will return them to the animal rescue. And that's if it's two weeks from now or ten years from now! AND they are asking for a donation that's much more reasonable - $50, which we can afford.

AND we found a home already for another one of the kittens! As I said before, we are giving Genghis to my husband's friend Luke, even though I have my reservations about how this is going to work out. But we've told them that if it doesn't work out, then we'd be more than happy to take him back, so at least I know they won't dump him somewhere or take him to a shelter. But my sister has a friend at her work who desperately wants a kitten and has only recently been able to afford one, due to her husband getting a better job. So now Patcheye has a home! My sister says this girl and her husband are really sweet, and she's practically beside herself with joy over the prospect of this kitten.

I am so relieved and happy and excited and OMG MY KITTIES WILL BE SAFE AND LOVED!!!!!

And now I'm crying again. Happy tears though! (Yeesh, I've done more crying in the last three days than I have in the last year!)

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 23:58:18 GMT

I'm going out of my mind here about these kittens. I guess I didn't realize how hard this was going to hit me. I want to get them to good homes so badly, but I'm so scared that I won't be able to do that.

I initially thought that I would give them to the shelter. Before Penelo had them, I had called to make an appointment with the vet to determine if she was pregnant, and in the course of our conversation, the lady at the vet said that kittens at shelters go really quickly and almost never have to be euthanized. But when I called the shelter yesterday, they were way less reassuring. So that's out. I don't think I could live with myself if there was even the most remote possibility that one of them would be put down.

So I called my mom, and she has a friend who volunteers at a no-kill shelter in San Diego. They said they would be more than happy to take them. I was really happy, but then when I was talking to the lady there, she added "...of course, we do ask for a small surrender fee." So I asked what that would be, and she kind of hemmed and hawed because it was really more of a "donation," and therefore up to me, but generally, for adult animals, they ask $200. Of course, they wouldn't ask that much for kittens, but... And at that point I knew that wasn't going to be an option, because we are flat broke right now.

And now I've freaked myself out by reading about horrible things that happen to kittens that are given away through the paper. PETA's site said that only one in five pets given away this way go to good homes, but then again, it's fucking PETA and I find it a little hard to believe that the majority of the population likes to torture pets or that the black market for lab animals is really that booming of a business. I'm going to put an ad in our local paper and on craigslist (thanks for the idea Ariel), and there's this petfinder.com. I'm planning on charging for the kittens and screening thoroughly (taking down driver's licenses, etc.), but I'm just so scared. So I've spent the last two days crying and now my mom and Brian are annoyed with me because they think I'm being hysterical.

So yeah. Any advice would be appreciated.

Epic kitten pics

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 02:06:18 GMT

My mom came up to visit and brought her digital camera, so I've finally got some pics that do my babies justice! My mom absolutely fell in love with Spot, so there's an overabundance of Spot shots. She was very nearly ready to take him home, but, as she put it "I can have a kitten or I can have a husband, but not both."

Firstie

LP

Spot

Spot chasing a tail

Spot looking funny

Spot and LP on the bed

Kitten hugs!

Moar kitten hugs!

Genghis is a tiny kitten

The kittens re-enact "Flowers in the Attic"

Genghis

Kittens say hi!

Kittens in pockets (from left to right - LP, Firstie, and Patcheye)

Moar kittens in pockets (from left to right: Spot and Genghis)

Genghis and Patcheye fight...

...and then they make up! Awwww.

Dinner time!

LP with Patcheye in the background

\
Kittens tumbling on the bed

I've decided that kittens are made out of rubber. They *bounce,* and they are nearly indestructible. Recently, the kittens have found the courage to invade the living room, and they bounce around like rubber balls, scaling every surface they can and then giving both me and Penelo heart attacks by taking nose-dives from the highest point they can climb to. I've stopped worrying about it, since they always pick themselves up a few seconds later and go back to bouncing. They also adore trying to claw each other's eyes out. They get vicious with each other. But nobody seems to really get hurt, so I just let them go at it. Also, I used to be ever-so-gentle when handling them, but now I just grab 'em, especially since they've become quick little buggers.

And some solo shots of Penelo!

I took that last one to show off her tail - she has the longest, fluffiest, prettiest tail I've ever seen!

I love the look in that last one - she's like, "These fucking kids..." XD

So I've only got another two weeks with the kittens. : ( I'm going to be sad to see them go, but honestly, I'll be a little relieved as well. For one thing, I'm really worried about Penelo. The first thing my mom said upon seeing her was "My, Penelo certainly looks…haggard." She cries all the time now. I don't know how much it has to do with her not liking the kittens moving around (her crying certainly gets worse when they're active), how much it has to do with the kittens weaning (they eat a lot on their own, although they still seem to be nursing quite a bit, so I don't know how much less milk they're getting) and how much has to do with hormones. I hope it's all kitten-related and not indicative of another problem. :/ At any rate, the stress of having these kittens around is clearly getting to her.

For another thing, even at six weeks, they're getting too big for one little apartment. The problem I'm having, though, is that even though I don't want to keep them, I'm also super-paranoid about their future homes. If this had all happened a few months from now, I know my uncle would have probably taken at least one, but his cat of eighteen years just died and he's not ready for another yet. Brian's friend and his girlfriend have said they'll take one, but I'm really concerned about that. They just moved in together, and she basically bullied him into agreeing to take this kitten. They already have a dog, who is a super-sweet, but she's banished him to the back yard because he "smells funny," which is a very worrisome attitude to have towards animals. She kind of seems like the type who will love the cute kitten but get bored of the adult cat, you know?

Of course, when I give the rest of them to the shelter, I'm not going to have any say where they go. :/ I just wish I could magically make sure they all went to super-happy, loving homes where they will be safe and loved for all eternity - is that so much to ask?

KITTY PIC SPAM!

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 04:52:27 GMT

Good news! I have pics! I finally finished up the disposal camera I bought today. Instead of getting them developed, I got them on a disk, which I completely didn't realize I could do. (I don't take a lot of pictures, OKAY?)

Bad news! They completely suck! D : Disposal camera + me as photographer = FAIL. I had thought that, if anything, they would come out too dark, but I had the opposite problem - many of them were so light you could barely make out what was going on. In addition, the close-up pics of the kittens are completely out of focus. I have very, very basic photoshop skillz, so I did my best to make them at least somewhat viewable. My mom will be coming up to visit next week, so I'll have better pics then, but I thought I might as well post these.

From left to right: Genghis, Firstie, Patcheye, and LP

Our bedroom has turned into Kitten Land. A few days ago, a few of them started showing interest in canned food. I was on the look out for grown-up poops and got them a little litter box, which I've shown to them. Just in case, I put old sheets and towels all over the bedroom floor. Naturally, when the time came (and I still don't know who pooped first), they elected to poop in the corner of the room which I had *thought* I'd blocked off, but it turns out the little fuckers are expert climbers. *sighs* Any advice on litter training? They haven't really been eating or pooping a whole lot yet, but I don't know how I'm going to teach them. I put the poops I found in the box, put them in about a half an hour after I catch them eating and make their little paws scratch in the litter, but they don't seem to be getting it.

OH HAY THAR!

Speaking of climbing and generally getting into things, the kittens have decided that their favorite piece of furniture is this old rocking recliner we have in the bedroom. My grandparents gave it to us before we had any other furniture, but now it doesn't fit in the living room and we have no place else to put it. The kittens decided that climbing up inside the recliner was the most awesometastic place to hang out, but it terrified me because I've heard stories about kittens getting their necks broken that way. D : I mean, we don't SIT in the armchair, but I'm afraid I'll lean on it while passing by and CRUNCH. So my solution? I've tipped it upside down. The kittens love that, because it's made a little enclave where they can hang out, but it just further adds to the impression that my room has been hit by a tornado.

FOR SPARTAAAAAA!

They're all very developed in their individual personalities now. Even LP is coming out of her shell a bit. And they're all holy terrors. Seriously. They spend all their time distressing their mother and beating the crap out of each other. I was so horrified when they first started fighting, but now I'm kind of like eh. Penelo's starting to chill out a little bit, but she still is prone to fits of crying when their being especially active. She's also looking kind of haggard - she developed a little sore on the side of her mouth that I was worried about, but it cleared up after a few days. Do cats get cold sores?

OH NOES - KITTY CANNIBALISM!

Anyway, here they are individually, in order of birth:

This is Ickle Firstie, who is actually not so Ickle. She is the chubbiest of the kitties, and likes to attempt to suckle on EVERYTHING. She especially likes to go after my toes for some reason. She's also the sweetest kitty; the last few nights, she's clawed her way up the comforter and curled up beside me in bed. ♥ She was also the first kitty that I heard purring, which they started to do about three days ago.

And here's Patcheye the Pirate! I think that she's the prettiest. She's also a whiny bitch. She is VERY vocal, and spends a lot of her time trying to take down Genghis, who is her mortal enemy. She was the first one who showed interest in can food.

And here comes GENGHIS KITTY - THE KING OF THE KITTENS! He is the only one who has ventured into the living room. He is still the boldest. Even though he's pretty cocky, he's still pretty good natured.

This is Spot. He has abnormally big eyes that make him look kind of like an alien. He's definitely gotten braver and still loves to tag along after his brother, although he's the first to hide whenever Brian or I unexpectedly enter the room.

Aaaaaaaaaand finally, LP. She looks very emo here. She's very quiet and a little shy, but she holds her own in the kitten brawls. She and Firstie are very good friends and often snuggle together.

Soooo those are the kitties! : D Hope you liked the pics, shitty as they were.

More FAP fun

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 19:00:55 GMT

Man, I had somehow forgotten how hilarious FAP is.

Hary should have been a cutter.

Flying Hippo: My main disappoint with HPB is the lack of emotion and well... general adolescent / dammit I'm meant to save the world grief and angst. I thought, after Umbridge's quill in OotP Harry was nicely set up to start cutting over Sirius's death. But JKR saw fit for him 'deal well' with the death and now I don't think it will ever happen. I'm a lover of angst and 'self harming / suicidal' Harry stories, but it seems this will never become canon.

...yes, the problem with HBP was lack of emo. Okay.

Kitten update!

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 01:40:36 GMT

The kittens are doing very well. They are moving around so much now, and it's driving Penelo crazy. I'll go into the bedroom and they'll be running off in five different directions and she'll just be sitting there, crying. I told her that they're getting older and that she'll just have to accept the fact that they will naturally want to assert their independence and really, she should extend their curfew, but she's skeptical. : P Seriously though, I have to gather up her kitties for her in order to get her to quiet down - it distresses her a lot when they leave the safety of under-the-bed.

They're all starting to show their personalities a lot more. Genghis Kitty remains the boldest - he's explored all of the bedroom and bathroom and has been venturing ever closer to the living room. Soon, ~~Asia~~ the apartment will be his! He's quick, too - wobbly, but quick. He causes Penelo the most distress because she's always losing him, and he worries me a little too, because I'll be walking to the bathroom or going to the closet and OMG KITTEN UNDER FOOT! Firstie is also pretty bold, but her boldness comes mostly from the desire to find new things to attempt to suckle on/chew, so she's a little less all-over-the-place. Patcheye the Pirate is still the loudest, and she and Genghis don't really get along. I had to break up a pretty vicious kitten brawl the other day - Genghis looked like he was going to rip her face off. D : Spot is still somewhat nervous, but Genghis is his hero and he attempts to follow him around, only he often gets worried and retreats when Genghis goes too far. And I know I'm hopelessly anthropomorphizing them, but this one time when I was playing with them while Penelo was taking a break, Spot started to freak out and hiss at me, so I put him down and he was all shaking and Genghis, I swear to God, put his little arm around Spot and started to lick his face. AWWWWWWWWW! SO CUTE! LP is kind of hard to get a feel for still. She's just kind of there. She and Firstie get along pretty well and cuddle a lot.

I am also attempting to introduce them to solid food. For you experienced kitten-havers, how did you go about doing it? They're almost four weeks old, so I'm thinking it's time. I've been putting Penelo's wet food at the edge of the bed, and the kitties will sniff at it while she eats but have yet to show any real interest in it. I've also been mixing it with warm water so it's kind of liquid-y. Will they naturally start to eat it, or is there something more I need to do?

I'm also back to not having a home for any of them. As you may remember, my neighbors were going to take two, but I'm thinking that's not going to happen now. It was the weirdest thing - we've been having them over for dinner, and everything seemed fine, and then on Saturday, the guy of the couple knocked on our door and told us he'd come to say good-bye, since they'd had a fight so he was moving out. O_o And he said he wasn't going to pay her rent, and she's unemployed, so I don't know what she's doing right now. She hasn't come over and I've been kind of minding my own business about it, but I honestly don't want to give her these cats now, because how on earth will she be able to afford them? I'm guessing her mom's paying her rent since she hasn't moved and the rent was due on the first. I have this sinking suspicion that she'll still want them, because apparently the fight that ended their relationship was over how she took their rent money and used it to go tanning and have her hair done, so she doesn't have the best impulse control and also apparently has no idea that you shouldn't do things you can't afford. That's going to be awkward if that's the case.

Don't ever leave me again, jf! clings

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:35:58 GMT

The kittens have opened their eyes! : D So adorable! I found a site that helped me determine the gender of the kitties, and it looks like the three black kitties (Firstie, Patcheye, and LP, Jr.) are girls and the orange ones (Ghengis and Spot) are boys. They're also starting to move around a bit - they can support their heads and crawl short distances. Also, their personalities are beginning to develop. Firstie is by far the friendliest - she'll crawl onto my lap if I sit by them. XD Genghis is HUGE, and also kind of an asshole - he's always shoving the other kittens out of his way. He also never stops nursing. Seriously. If Penelo didn't take breaks, Genghis would never stop eating. Spot is very timid and still the smallest, but not by much. Patcheye has taken over the title of Most Whiny Kitten from Genghis, since Genghis always has his mouth full and therefore is much quieter than he used to be. She really doesn't like to be petted and is not shy in letting this fact be known. I can't really get a reading on LP yet - she's quiet, but not as a-feared as Spot is.

Penelo and I are fighting about where the kitties should stay - she really wants to keep them under the bed, and I want them under the couch (funny, since initially I thought that would be the worst place for them...) I'm afraid that since they've begun to move around, one will crawl out from under the bed and Brian or I will accidentally step on them when we wake up in the morning and aren't paying attention. D :

Penelo has gained a lot more weight, which is a big relief to me. She also leaves the kittens alone quite a bit now. I feel kind of bad for her, because her nipples look seriously chapped. She's driving me a little crazy right now because she keeps coming up to me and meowing half-heartedly and I can't figure out why. I mean, it's not desperate meows of pain or anything so I'm not too worried, but it's still a little peculiar.

Our neighbors came over for dinner last night, which was fun (but tiring). They love the kittens so much that they've decided to take two! They've decided on Spot and Firstie - I tried to get them to take two girls because that seems like it would make for a more harmonious household, but if they're going to get them fixed right away, I suppose it shouldn't be that big of a deal, right?

KITTENS!

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 01:37:12 GMT

Hi guys - sorry for the wait, but I come bearing kittens! : D

Our story begins on the morning of Nov. 8. Penelo came into the bedroom at 5:30 am, as is her wont, for snuggles time. For reasons mere humans will never understand, Penelo likes to spend the night in the living room, then come into the bedroom when our alarm goes off and snuggle with me for a little bit, and then retreat under the bed for a few hours. Then she wakes me up at around 9:00 with the Hussy Dance, which she performs by holding her tale up straight and kneading the bed while meowing cutely (and persistently) until I get my ass out of bed to feed her.

This morning was different, though. She kept meowing, but in a non-Hussy dance way. She seemed distressed. She kept jumping on and off the bed and butting her head against me. I thought that she was just hungry earlier than usual, so I got up to feed her. Well, she wasn't interested in any food. But she did drink a whoooole lot of water. At this point, I was sure she was going to have her kitties. Brian, of course, was all, "Oh honey, you're just overly anxious! It's too soon for the kitties!" But this is the same man who told me I was crazy for thinking she was pregnant and I was right about that, so neener neener neener.

Anyway, after she quenched her thirst, she started walking around, poking her nose in dark places. I shut off the door to the bedroom because I wanted to keep an eye on her, and I also didn't want her getting under the bed where I couldn't get to her. I hadn't, however, counted on the fact that she'd be able to get under the couch. -_-

We have a small linen closet in our living room, so I cleaned it out and put a bunch of towels in it. My ultimate goal was to eventually have her in the large walk-in closet in our bedroom, but I thought the linen closet would be very attractive since it was so small and dark. She lay in there for a while, then went back to the couch.

I took her out to have a little talk. "Nelos," I said (Brian and I call her 'Nelos, because we are apparently incapable of pronouncing a three-syllable name, and we're also fond of pluralizing things that aren't generally plural, i.e. "feets," "monies," etc. I'm sure it makes people want to punch us in the face sometimes.) ANYWAY. "'Nelos," I said. "Under the couch is not a good place. It is too narrow, and I can't get to you easily if there are problems. So no having the kitties here, 'kay? Let's go look at the linen closet again! : D" I was satisfied that we had reached an understanding. I put a bunch of towels under the couch anyway just in case, but why would she want to have kitties under the couch when there was a nice, cozy linen closet available, right? -_-

So the day went by and nothing happened. She calmed down and stopped pacing, so I thought it must have been a false alarm. Brian came home, we had some wine, watched AI, and then he went to bed. As I was sleeping pill-less and still concerned about Penelo, I stayed up until about 3 or so. I laid down and caught a few z's, but of course woke up with the alarm. Penelo came in as usual, but she was doing the same thing as she did yesterday. Actually, I was a little annoyed because I was so tired, but I sighed and brought her up on the bed with me. And then she did something very strange. She snuggled up veeeeery close to me (usually she just likes me to pet her, not sit on my lap or anything). She laid with her back up against me and started purring and purring. It was really sweet.

We dozed for about a half an hour, and then I felt her tense up. I thought she was just shifting position or something. Then it happened again. And then I felt something wet. I looked down, and this round, brownish red thing was poking out of her. She looked up at me and started purring louder.

I jumped up and proceed to freak out. Brian asked me if I was sure she wasn't pooping or something (man, he's been batting zero concerning this pregnancy). I said "YES -- YES I AM SURE SHE IS NOT POOPING. WE NEED A BOX. NOW. WE NEED IT NOW!" Brian was going to make one over the weekend because I am hopeless at building things, but obviously he wasn't going to have the time to leisurely build a cardboard kitten palace now. So he ran out of the room to grab a box and hastily cut a hole in it and put it in the front linen closet. While this was all going on, she was kind of darting around, not in a panicked way, really - more like a "Okay, I need someplace to have my babies, please leave me alone" kind of way. I eventually grabbed her and placed her gently in the linen closet while enthusiastically praising it as the absolute BEST place to have kittens that I had ever seen. She sat in there for a little while - then darted under the couch. Brian wanted to move her again, but I decided it was a hopeless cause and if that's where she wanted to have her babies, then there wasn't a lot we could do about it.

She meowed a few times, then quieted down. Brian left for work, and I made a huge pot of coffee and tried to relax. It took every fiber of my being to stop myself from bugging her. I told myself I could check on her once every half an hour and that was it (unless she was making noises or something). I called my mom and we squeed together for a little, which helped distract me. Around 7:00, I peaked under the couch and HOLY CRAP THERE WAS A KITTEN! She hadn't made any noise at ALL. It was crazy. So I was happy and freaked out because OMG BABIEZ and ew, she was chowing down on placenta. The kitten looked like a slimy rat, and it was black striped (except for a little patch of orange on its neck), which confirmed my theory of who the father was. Before we adopted Penelo, we saw her hanging around a dark grey striped kitty we have dubbed License Plate Kitty, because every night, he walks along the row of cars parked outside our apartment and rubs his head against each and every license plate, occasionally giving them a little spray. He is the exact sort of cocky asshole who would take advantage of a cute blonde teenage runaway like Penelo.

After making sure the kitten looked okay, I left them alone and worked on chilling out. Things really seemed to be going fine - I had been afraid Penelo was going to be like this cat and have a kitten hanging out of her butt while she freaked out and I don't think I could have handled that. But she was cool as a cucumber. Every time I looked in on her, she kind of gave me a look like, "Dude. Chill." In fact, she looked pretty content, licking her slimy rat baby and purring like a motorboat. I decided to call the first one Ickle Firstie, because…it was born first. Yeah.

Anyway, about an hour later I heard the first kitten start to meow, so I took a look and OMG ANOTHER KITTEN WAS ON ITS WAY! It was incredible to watch. I thought that I would be weirded out watching the birth actually happen, but I strangely wasn't. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was beautiful, but it was…interesting. And it seemed relatively stress free for Penelo. Maybe she was just putting on a brave face for me. : P

After it was out, she just kept licking it and licking it and then, suddenly, she kind of pushed it away and turned back to her other kitten. I reached in and poked at it, but it didn't seem to be moving. I got out a towel and started to rub it gently but firmly, but nothing was happening. I kept it up for about ten minutes, but I eventually realized that it was a lost cause. I called my mom again who was on conference call with my granddad, and he reassured me through my mom that things like this happen and there wasn't a lot you could do about it. I cried a little and wrapped it up, then set it aside. As soon as I got off the phone with my mom, I heard the live kitten start to meow again and sure enough, another kitten was on its way. This one looked very healthy and had no problems once Penelo started licking it. It was black striped with an adorable patch of orange over its eye, so I'm calling it Patch-Eye the Pirate.

I really thought that that might be it. With Penelo being so young and small, I didn't think her litter would be that big. Still, it felt like she had another in her tummy. About an hour later, I heard the kittens start to mew, but then all of a sudden, it became very muffled. I looked under the couch and saw that Penelo had rolled over on her kitties as she started to give birth again. I reached under and kind of shoved Penelo aside because I was afraid the poor kitties were going to be inadvertently smothered. Me touching the kitties made Penelo very concerned, so she kind of butted me away with her head and wrapped herself around her kitties again. Figuring the crisis was over, I went to get up and HOLY SHIT THERE WAS A NEW ORANGE KITTY ON MY RIGHT. Penelo had apparently popped it out and then came over to defend her other kitties from my dumb ass. I picked it up and brought it over to Penelo, placenta and all. Penelo quickly licked the sac off of its face and it immediately started meowing. Loudly. It did NOT want to wait to be cleaned off before eating. So it flailed around and then started chewing on its own placenta. I moved its head away, but it was really determined. Then Penelo started to eat the placenta and it started meowing even louder and I had to kind of hold it back so Penelo wouldn't inadvertently bite it. Naturally, this one is Genghis Kitty (mucho thanks to tehrin for the name!)

After that, I left them alone again, but not ten minutes later, Genghis started wailing again. I peaked under the couch again and saw that it had started scaling Penelo like she was Mt. Everest and was complaining about the nipple-less state of Penelo's spine. I moved it down to her belly and left it alone, but ten minutes later, it started screaming AGAIN, and I saw that it had managed to climb over Penelo again and was attempting to smother itself by burrowing under Penelo's back. Genghis is my absolute favorite. XD

Another hour later, the kitties started mewing, thus heralding the arrival of Kitty #5. This one scared the crap out of me because it was a little smaller and very still when it was born. Fortunately, it came around, though it was a lot less energetic than the others. It was another orange kitten, and I'm still trying to think of a name for this one. Help?

So about twenty minutes later, Penelo gave birth to her last one. It was another black kitty with no orange at all on it, so I dubbed it LP, Jr., for License Plate Kitty, Jr. I could have SWORN that there was another kitty on the way, because Penelo started to move into birthing position, but then she retreated to the darkest part of under the couch and I couldn't see what was going on. Maybe there was some additional afterbirth that she was pushing out or something.

After I got over the euphoria of having all these new kitties, I remembered that I had to deal with the stillborn. I had thought I was okay with it, but apparently, I wasn't, because as soon as I unwrapped it, I started to sob uncontrollably. On the one hand, I felt really silly, because these things happen and it wasn't as if it had suffered and Penelo certainly wasn't upset and hey, five adorable live kitties were suckling contentedly under my couch and what could be happier than that? But on the other hand, I had already committed myself to loving and caring for these kittens before they were born - it felt incongruous to not care about this one, you know? And there was the added problem of me having to somehow get rid of it. I live in an apartment complex, which meant that I couldn't bury it. Which meant, I would have to…throw it away. In the dumpster. And I started to cry even harder because I didn't know if I could do that. I couldn't throw this kitten away like it was a piece of trash. I just couldn't.

So I sat there, sobbing my eyes out and trying to distract myself by thinking of names for the live kitties, and all of a sudden, this evil little voice in my head says, "Well, of course this one is Cedric lol." DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD : GOOD JOB, MY BRAIN! SERA'S INAPPROPRIATE SENSE OF HUMOR STRIKES ONCE AGAIN!

Weirdly enough, though, that horribly inappropriate thought helped me. Now that I had named him, I felt like I wasn't just callously throwing him away. He wasn't just a thing - I'd given him a name. I'm not sure if that makes any sense to anyone else, but it helped me out. So I wrapped him in paper towels (he was so cold) and wrote "RIP CEDRIC" on the outer one, then put him in a paper bag and took him outside. It was a little silly, but it made me feel less horrible. (Aaaaand now I'm crying again. Crap.)

So things have been going pretty well since then. I figured out that the couch is not as heavy as it appears and I can easily lift up the front end to have a peak when I feel like it. We tried moving her into the large walk-in closet in my bedroom once I had cleaned it out, but no dice. I guess we'll try again once the kittens are up and about, but as of right now, it's not like they're going to get into any trouble. Penelo is such a great mommy. The kittens almost never cry, and they are getting all round and plump. But you guys, she is so thin now. I know you probably can't tell from the pictures, but she really, really is. She's eating fine, but I want her to eat MORE. Every time she comes out from under the couch, I follow her around with wet food. I'm sure she finds it very annoying. : P I've managed to chill out a little and actually have gotten some sleep the past two nights, although I kind of feel like there's something more I ought to be doing, even though there isn't. I can't wait until they're older and I can play with them! : D We already have a home for one of them - our neighbors across the way have been wanting a kitty for a while, so that's one down.

So anyone in the Mojave High Desert interested in a kitty?

ETA: I've decided that the fourth kitty is going to be Spot - like Data's cat! : D WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THIS BEFORE?

CAT IN LABOR - PLZ SEND HELP

seraphtrevs@gmail.com — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 14:55:54 GMT

jiefawo;jei;ffeaj PENELO IS HAVING HER KITTIES OMG OMG OMG AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I will update more on this situation soon, but I need some advice ASAP - she just popped out a cute little black kitten, and she's licking it and cleaning it and it's moving around just fine, but - shouldn't the kitten be making noise? Or not? I DON'T KNOW.

ETA: NEVERMIND - IT IS MEOWING NOW AND NURSING. WHY AM I SUCH A SPAZ.

Plz stay tuned - I will be ETA-ing all over the place, I'm sure. It will give me something to do.

ADDITIONAL QUESTION: I have already looked up this info, but out of curiosity, those of you with personal experience - how long between kittens was it for your cat?

ETA2: Well, we have two more kittens, but one didn't make it. I watched Penelo chew the sac, umbilical cord, etc., then lick it for a while, then she suddenly stopped and went back to her other kitten. I pulled it out and it wasn't moving, so I got a towel and rubbed it a lot, but nothing's happening. It doesn't really surprise me too much, since she was on her own for the first few weeks, and I talked to my granddad and he said that even kitties who have the best of care throughout their pregnancy give birth to stillborns.

ETA3: Well, it's 10:00 am and the labor started around 6, so I don't know if there'll be anymore. I felt her tummy and it certainly feels like there's another one in there, but who knows. It's only been an hour since the last one was born, and there was an hour between the onset of labor and the first kittie, then another hour after that for the second. But then the third was born about ten minutes after the second. - I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Thank you for all your support. : )

ETA4: We have another one! : D It's the first one who's the same color as Penelo, and it is the feistiest so far. It tried to nurse on its own placenta. D :

ETA5: Aaaaaand, we have kitten #5 (#4 live)! Another orange one who scared me half to death - I thought we had another stillborn, but it came around and is now nursing! *\o/* This one is really small - I hope it'll be okay.

And I was feeling 'Nelo's belly, and it really feels like there's at least one more in there. O_o They seem to be coming about an hour apart, so I'm thinking we'll know in another hour or hour-and-a-half. Goddamn, with her being young, a first time mom, a former stray, and on the small side, this sure is a lot of kittens. She's as robust as the server!

ETA6: Or it could be twenty minutes later, whichever. In other words, we've got kitten #6! This one's black too.

I'm open to naming suggestions (well, nick-naming, since they will get their real names once they're in a happy home of their own!) So far I've got Ickle Firstie, Spotface, and Ghengis Kitty. (Although, actually, aside from Spotface, I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to tell them apart!)

ETA 7: Well, I could have sworn I saw her start on a seventh, but it appears there are just going to be the five live ones. I felt her belly and it doesn't feel like it's got anything left in it.

She decided to give birth under the couch (despite the fact that I had a severe talk with her about how she could have them ANYWHERE BUT THERE), and she seems determined to stay there. I have made our large walk-in closet a nursery, complete with a comfortable box, but when I tried to move the kittens, Penelo grabbed them and moved them right back to under the couch. *sighs* She's fine there for now, but I'm going to need to move her in there at some point. Any advice?

Also, my grandparents can't come over until Monday due to the fact that my great aunt is having a session of chemotherapy and they need to stay with her, so no kitty pics until then. Sorry guys. : ( (Well, and even if I had a camera at this point, I couldn't take pictures anyway due to the whole under-the-couch thing.)