This story was posted to the AP on New Year's Eve:

Apparently, the cat was paying attention when his owner tried to show him how to dial 911.

A Columbus, Ohio man was unable to call for help when he fell out of his wheelchair Thursday. But he says his cat did it for him.

Officers say the cat, named Tommy, was lying by a telephone on the living room floor when they arrived at the man's home Thursday. They had received a 911 call from the apartment, but no one was on the phone. The cat's owner, Gary Roshiesen, says Tommy must have hit the right buttons to alert authorities.

He says he had tried to teach Tommy to dial 911, using a speed-dial button. But he wasn't sure if the cat ever picked up the training.

I have always believed cats are smarter than most people understand. My cat, Ruth, is extremely smart. She is also extremely independent, which is, I think, the main reason people think cats are not as smart as dogs. When you have a smart dog, he is usually also eager to be obedient. Cats are smart enough to know they have the upper hand.

Ruth is a polydactyl: she has six toes on each foot. And she uses them to her advantage, like we use our opposable thumbs; she can pick up things, grab things, and generally use her paws like we use hands. I often quip that she is the next step in Cat Evolution. One peculiar habit is the way she drinks water: instead of lapping it like a normal cat, she cups her paw, dips it into the water, then proceeds to lap the water out of her cupped paw. She especially likes to do this with water that I'm drinking out of a glass (unfortunately). And just the other day, she started to drink my tea out of my teacup! I have never heard of a cat drinking tea. I like to think it's because she sees me drinking tea every morning, and just wants to share with me.

Bubbles, our male Himalayan, idolizes Ruth. He tries to do the paw-drinking thing, but he doesn't have the toes or paw size for it to work properly. Ezri, my brother's (annoying) Maine coon cat, is a thorn in Ruth's side. They fight every day, many times a day. They just can't get along. Ezri's been with us a year now, and they still fight. Guess it's a girl thing. But Bubbles is "friends" with both of them. Sometimes he goes in to where Ruth is sleeping, sniffs at her and even pokes her with his paw to make sure she's sleeping, and then sneaks out to play with Ezri. Ruth has caught him a couple of times, and she was NOT pleased.

One more cat story: My uncle Tony had a cat named Walter for about 28 years. Walter weighed around 23 pounds, and his belly dragged on the floor. He was so attached to my uncle, that when Tony would leave for work, Walter would go into the bathroom, stick his head in the water in the toilet, and meow underwater. o.O

Problems with Blogger

I have been having a terrible time logging into Blogger/Blogspot recently... so while I'll try to update here, I can't guarantee. But I will be definitely updating on MySpace, so if this blog seems dead, head over to my MySpace blog for updates. Apologies.

College Board

I ordered my SAT scores from the college board today. College Board is such a monopoly, and they take full advantage of that by charging ridiculous fees for score reporting. Since my scores are more than a year old (actually they're 5 years old), there's an extra $17 fee for getting it out of the "archives". Like that's really a lot of work for them. In total, I think I had to pay $61 for rush reporting. I chose rush because I don't want to wait up to 6 weeks for the darn scores. My application's taking far longer than I thought anyway. Now I just have to get the two letters of recommendation, resize a pic to send with the app, fill out the basic application form (trouble downloading it on my computer, I'll have to see if my sister can print it out for me), and scrounge for the application fee of $75.

It's a balmy 41 degrees outside, so warm that I went out without a coat. Beautiful! Though we're supposed to get a snowstorm on Sunday. Blah.

BK=Bacteria King/Chemwords

Thursday afternoon, I was grocery shopping with my mom at Wal-Mart. I was starving, so hungry I was getting dizzy, and I had a headache. So we went next door to Burger King and I got an Angus Steak Burger Value Meal. I chowed down on the way to the other grocery store, and I felt a little better. But about 4 hours later, I got terrible cramps, acute pain in my belly, nausea, and the headache got worse. Food poisoning. Darn fast food. My cousin, who used to work at that particular Burger King, says they often don't reset the ovens for the thicker burgers like the Angus Steak Burger, so they don't get done all the way, creating a breeding ground for bacteria as they sit on the warmer. Yum.
For about the sixth time, I went into Wal-Mart with two self-addressed, stamped envelopes for the two people who have agreed to write my recommendations for school, and yet again, neither one of them was working. I'm going to try again on Monday. I also sent an email to the College Board to try to find out how much it will be to get all my SAT scores-- regular as well as the two subject tests-- sent. They're in the "archives" because they're so old, and I know it'll be more expensive, I just don't remember how much, and I need to know if they charge extra to send the subject tests. Slowly but surely, my application for SGU is coming together.
In random Chemistry/Math/Science News, Dr. Mark Nandor, professor of math at the Wellington School in Columbus, Ohio has put together a webpage all about English words that can be formed using the symbols from the periodic table of the elements. Not only does he have a list of more than 26,000 words, he also presents interesting facts about words that can be created thus, and chemical word "squares", like this one:
In C U Se
W Ar N Er
Ra B Bi Es
P O Nd S
Each row and each column forms a word, all made up of chemical symbols. Most files are available for download in .pdf or .doc form... some are very large.
Why is this cool? Well, it combines three of my favorite subjects: math, chemistry and English. And, like Bill Nye says, "Science Rules!"

Eats, Shoots and Leaves

In keeping with one of my resolutions, I finally finished reading "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss. I think this book was written especially for me! I have always been a "stickler" for grammar, spelling and punctuation, much to the dismay of my schoolmates and even the occasional teacher who dared to misspell a word on the chalkboard. I have even corrected signs at Wal-Mart: "For Safety Sake" changed to "For Safety’s Sake" with a handy black Sharpie. I can even point you to a permanent inspection sign over a fire extinguisher where I added a much-needed apostrophe.

In Lynne Truss’s own words:
"For any true stickler, you see, the sight of the plural word "Book’s" with an apostrophe in it will trigger a ghastly emotional process similar to the stages of bereavement, though greatly accelerated. First there is shock. Within seconds, shock gives way to disbelief, disbelief to pain, and pain to anger. Finally (and this is where the analogy breaks down), anger gives way to a righteous urge to perpetrate an act of criminal damage with the aid of a permanent marker."

I keep a permanent marker in my purse at all times.

Throughout the book, Ms. Truss touches upon the accepted uses for multiple forms of punctuation, as well as their grotesque misuses. She often quotes noted writers, such as George Bernard Shaw, Gertrude Stein, James Thurber, and Mark Twain, and has a seemingly unending supply of colourful, humourous anecdotes and quotes to illustrate her points (no pun intended).

In another passage, Truss writes what could be a dust-jacket summary for a grammarian’s mystery book:
"Yes, you can see the bullet points here, here and here, sir; there are multiple back-slashes, of course. And that’s a forward slash. I would have to call this a frenzied attack. Did anyone hear the interrobang?"
"Oh, yes. Woman next door was temporarily deafened by it. What’s this?"
"Ah. You don’t see many of these anymore. It’s an emoticon. Hold your head this way and it appears to be winking."
"Good God! You mean - ?"
"That’s the mouth."
"You mean - ?"
"That’s the nose."
"Good grief. Then it’s -?"
"Oh, yes, sir. There’s no doubt about it, sir. The punctuation murderer has struck again."

It was a truly delightful read, and I recommend it to anyone who has ever winced at a poorly punctuated passage. :-)

Resolutions

Well, I don't normally do New Year's Resolutions, but I thought I'd take a stab at it.
1. Pray more/read Bible more
2. Lose some weight by June-- 20lbs sounds good, but anything is alright
3. Finish reading the 4 books I'm reading before I crack open a new one
There. That's about all I can commit to right now.

A Joke Today

Is Hell exothermic or endothermic?
The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington engineering mid term.
The answer was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, which is why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.
Bonus Question:
Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?
Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law, (gas cools off when it expands and heats up when it is compressed) or some variant.
One student, however, wrote the following:
"First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate they are leaving.
I think that we can safely assume that once a soul arrives in Hell, it will not leave.
Therefore, no souls are leaving.
As to how many souls are entering Hell, lets look at the different religions that exist in the world today.
Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell.
Since there are more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.
With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.
Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand as souls are added.
This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. Of course, if Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?
If we accept the postulate given to me by Ms. Teresa Banyan during my Freshman year, "...that it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you.", and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then, #2 cannot be true; thus, I am sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze."
The student received the only "A" given.

More Idiosynchracies

Ten more odd things about me:
1. I collect Ettiquette books.
2. I hate the color "melon".
3. I whistle by inhaling, not exhaling.
4. I love to put paprika and peas in my macaroni and cheese.
5. I very rarely spike a fever, even when I'm quite ill.
6. I've never gotten along well with anyone named "Blake" or "Larkin".
7. I usually wake up with a song in my head.
8. I've never had a birthday party.
9. My middle name is hyphenated: Rita-Lynne
10. I can usually control my dreams.

This is My Creed

My uncle Charles was an amazing man. He had a remarkable gift for music, and was constantly composing and arranging. He was a magnificent writer and had a masterful command of the English language. He had a phenomenal business sense– ever since he was a small boy his goal in life was to make one million dollars; over the years he made that mark more than seven times. He was a lifelong learner and a wonderful teacher. I can only hope and pray to come close to being the success he was. I may never have met the man, but I am touched by his legacy.
Here is a poem he wrote for his sons a few years back:
This is My Creed by Charles MaCurdy
This is my creed: to do some good,
To bear my ills without complaining
To press on as a brave man should
For honors that are worth the gaining
To seek no profits where I may,
By winning them, bring grief to others
To do some service day by day
In helping on my toiling brothers

This is my creed: To close my eyes
To little faults of those around me
To strive to be when each dies
Somewhat better than the morning found me
To ask for no unearned applause
To cross no river until I reach it
To see the merit of the cause
Before I follow those who preach it

This is my creed: To try to shun
The sloughs in which the foolish wallow
To lead where I may be the one
Whom weaker men should choose to follow
To keep my standards always high
To find my task and always do it
This is my creed– I wish that I could
learn to shape my action to it