Surprise, Dismay, + Miss Kitty

What do we think about this ceasefire? Do we take it as sincere, since both sides took every opportunity they could right up until the last second, to kill as many people as they could? Oh, and also, I guess they are still allowed to shoot back if someone shoots at them. I'm sure that definition of ceasefire is in the newer version of the dictionary--my hopelessly outdated edition defines it as "suspension of hostile activities." One of the best things I've heard is that Hezbollah is going to rebuild Lebanon, with the help of their major funder, Iran. Groovy.

Oh, and this quote, which could probably come out of the mouth of anyone on the receiving end of a "war on terror:"

"... what right does Bush have to make us live like this? ... By what right did he bomb us? ... Bush says he likes democracy and human rights; where is democracy now?” Before, he said, he hated Israel a little, but “now I truly hate it and want to cancel its existence.”

That's from the NY Times by the way.

In an interesting twist, I am now reading the 9/11 Commission Report. It was at Half Price Books, my favorite bookstore when the library is just not convenient, for $1. Information I could have lived my whole life without knowing, but now I know and must tell you: before crashing near Shanksville, PA, United 93 was turned upside down by the terrorist pilot. Hideous. Anyway, one of the things the book sets out to do is to describe the conditions that led to such intense hatred of the United States that would spur an attack. Conditions that have definitely been improved by our gesture of goodwill toward the Muslim world, the war on terror that was supposed to be in Afghanistan, but accidentally fell into another country.

I am a little surprised and somewhat dismayed to hear that Kate Hudson and Chris Robinson are splitting up. I sort of thought they'd do a dippy Goldie and Kurt thing for their rest of their lives. Is there a nanny lurking around that we don't know about yet? The age difference? The reps aren't saying a thing. What's the word out there?

And finally I would like to pay homage to my little chronically ill kitty. Post stroke and on so many medications she begins to resemble an old Jewish man in Boca, life has not been easy for MK. But since she is a cat with a walnut-sized brain, she still tries to do things like walk on the edge of the full bathtub, which she did this morning, and then of course fell in. This was after having a big post- stroke moment last night where she tries to walk but falls over a whole lot. She does not appear to be in any pain--she just falls over. Make no mistake, this won't stop her from attacking you for your dinner. She is just as likely to fall face first into your plate but either way, she'll get to it.

Mysteriously as those symptoms appear, they go away. The last time she went to the vet for said mysterious inability to walk, the vet noted she was very social and liked dog food. Did I need to pay $300 to figure that out? I lump it all under post stroke syndrome. In people, this can also manifest as forgetfulness or crankiness. Here's how it manifests in MK: One day, Honey and I come home. MK is lying on the floor on her side in the living room. Slightly odd, as she usually comes to the door to greet us. We walk over; she doesn't move but instead makes a slight kitty grimace and expels a large turd on the floor. Moments later, she seems fine, and can't figure out why we're hovering around her and not obediently dispensing Greenies as we've been taught.