Cattitude

Cattitude: Boxed Set Photographs by Kim Levin and Written By Christine Montaquila
2007
Weight: 2.5 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donation

       

Meet Heather!  Heather is living outdoors but would love to be an indoor kitty.  She never leaves my stoop these days and frequently begs to come in.  I am allergic to cats, but I got her vaccinations, testing, and deworming taken care of.  She is also spayed.  She is incredibly sweet and will stand up on her hind legs to get a pet from you.  She is a svelte little girl with beautiful markings.  She is FREE to a good home, and I may be willing to transport her depending on where you live.

                   

This is Crumpet.  She is one of my favorite cats of all time.  She has been at PAWS for two years, and she desperately needs a home.  If you are someone I know well and trust I would be willing to pay her adoption fee and transport her to you.  If I do not know you, I am afraid you will have to go through the regular channels.  She is totally worth it.  She is a smart, serious girl that is very independent but still craves chin scratches and ear ruffles.  She gets along with other cats.

The General is the kitten I have fostered since he was 5 days old.  he is probably around 6 weeks now.  He was bottle fed and is very loved.  He will be available at PAWS Atlanta once he is neutered. 

Cringe

Cringe: Teenage Diaries, Journals, Notes, Letters, Poems, and Abandoned Rock Operas
Ed Sarah Brown
2008
Weight: 1.4 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donating

So much fun!  I loved reading Cringe.  It was hilarious.  I really appreciated the adult responses to the teenage love, angst, excitement.  Some of the authors had me laughing quite loudly, while all alone in my bedroom. 

I could, of course, and unfortunately, relate.  I wrote out wills and testaments.  I wrote love letters and fan letters trying to proclaim how not weird I was being to Gillian Anderson.  Things like, "I just really love you.  Not in a creepy way.  But I have to meet you.  Not to be weird."  So so scary.  SO glad Gillian probably never had to read them, but I feel bad for whoever did.  Or not.  I think I want THAT job.  I could read and respond to fan mail.  Totes!  Imagine the stories you could tell at the bar.

I also quoted Ani Difranco ALL. THE. TIME.  And turned in bizarre, worrisome, self-important bullshit to my teachers.  These pictures all show parts of an autobiography I wrote for class in high school.  Note the psychology appointments, the make-up down my eyes, the huge pants, hair colors, the walls of my bedroom, and the sad/absurd pictures of me dressed for a friend's funeral and me crying over breaking up with my "spiritual affinity."  Who thinks these are good picture taking times?  Who?

 

 

I, of course, am the hunched over girl in the Nine Inch Nails shirt.  I was not at all obsessed with the girl on the left...

Thank God for nice, patient teachers that do not write notes to students that say "Get over yourself!  You have hardly lived yet!"  I thought this teacher was MEAN but, after this note, and a few good book suggestions, I secretly loved her.  I am sure I showed her my appreciation by staring at her like I am looking at the camera in the picture with my dad, stepmother, and brother above.



 

A Good Man is Hard to Find

A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories  by Flannery O'Connor
1983
Weight: 8 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating

 

This book sits in the pit of my stomach, where I hold my guilt, my shame, my anger, my embarrassment, my frustration, my violence, my pain, and my disgrace.  It feels just as heavy.  I am in awe of O'Connor for delivering a cruel story each time and each time in a different way.  Every time I read her work I stay on the verge of being caught of guard.  I hold my breath in my throat because, in actuality, I guess I always know the characters are terrible and the end will not be good.  To expect O'Connor to save you from your terror or disgust, like other writers, is truly foolish.  And yet...

She is unabashed. The stories expose racism and classism in all of its nastiness.  Might I add, she is excellent at titling her stories.  All of this is to say that I am impressed but also feeling physically ill after finishing this collection of short stories.
 

Durable Goods

Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg
1994
Weight: 8.8 oz
Method of Disposal: Giving to Tracy

I was smitten with the first half of this book.  I loved the 12 year old girl and, though we were very different at that age and living in entirely different circumstances, I felt I could relate or remember so much through Berg's descriptions.  Katie is an inquisitive little girl with a slightly older best friend who believes herself to be the walking source guide on womanhood and femininity.  Her dad is an abusive military man that keeps her and her older sister moving about the country.  Their mother is dead after having suffered illness.  Berg really captures the agony of pre-teen-dom.  I am so impressed.

The last half is heartbreaking.  It is still good, but it did not have the same magic the first part had.  I do believe I have found a book I recommend.  It is a quick read, and you will care about the main characters.
 

Angus

Angus by Charles Siebert
2001
Weight:5.6 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating

 

It would seem, yet again, that I am one of the very few readers of this book that did not enjoy it.  I thought it was tedious and not convincing.  I did not feel like I was in the head of a Jack Russell Terrier, though I could tell the owner had done their research and/or knew the breed.  The only part I got into was the very end when the owner is describing the death of Angus.  I got a little emotional but only because I always do when dogs struggle.

Aside from all that, the dog rescue side of me wanted to scream, "If he does not come back when you call, then put him on a God Damn leash when he goes out!"  Amongst other things.