KITTIES!

Now with MOAR PICSHURS. Taken with photobooth on the computer. (Please ignore me in these pictures, as I look positively HEINOUS in them.)

The kitty known, for now, only as "boy kitty":





He was squirming away from the computer at this point:



"Girl kitty":





They're as adorable and crazy and needy as ever. Love them.

More pictures to come, I'm sure! (Oh, and new blog title! It was my senior quote, heh.)

Oh, health.

Oh, my health.

What a piece of crap my body is.

I had a seizure at work the other day, which was awful, of course, although that's kind of only the start of all this business. My blood pressure was absurdly low when they first took it: 90/45, although it went up again soon after. Was in the hospital for about 4 hours (bloodwork and so forth) and got a CT since I haven't had one in 4 years and the clinic I'm going to in July is asking for as up-to-date information as possible. They didn't find anything (of course) except for a seemingly completely random UTI, for which I am now on antibiotics. Antibiotics that make me so nauseated that almost any movement leaves me nearly vomiting up my lunch.

I had a doctor's appointment today just so that my doctor could order and schedule another MRI, but while my mom and I were there, we got a lot of other stuff taken care of. Had a neurological workup, which was fine (of course) and discovered that I have inflammation in the wall of my chest, which is accounting for the chest pain I've been having the past few months. They also found a heart murmur. (Awesome.) Did an EKG, which was normal, but put me on a 24-hour heart monitor, currently hooked up to my chest.

If only I had House. HE WOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE THE CONNECTIONS. And on top of all this, the ol' piece-of-crap knee has been killing me the past few days.

Still, though, I am handling this with my usual brand of stoicism and self-deprecating humor because, y'know, I'm just used to this crap by now. It's just the way it goes with me.

The kittens are fantastic, albeit unbelievably needy. My mom and I still can't decide what to name them - right now they're going by "boy kitty" and "girl kitty," and/or whatever name we feel like calling them that moment. But yeah, the kittens and I get a whole lot of quality time together. It's awesome.

Well, I finished up the week, and my mom and I have been bouncing around a fair amount these last couple of days (for us, anyway.) Yesterday I left work early - I was supposed to be working from 8:30-4, but I was feeling really queasy and achy and generally weird, so I left at noon instead - and went home and slept till 4. We went to go and get a mattress, which took far longer and ended up being far more complicated than it needed to be. Today I got a haircut (thrilling, I know.) Nothing dramatic - I'm still trying to grow it out, but it had reached an awkward mullet-y length that needed to be remedied IMMEDIATELY. I never should have cut it so damned short in the first place, but it was a spur-of-the-moment thing - much like the red hair last year, although that worked out much better.

I also discovered, when trying on a fabulous retro yellow dress with black polka dots in this bizarre middle-of-nowhere vintage-y boutique run by a straight, heavily pierced & tattooed guy with a PASSION FOR FASHION, that I have an awkwardly long waist. I knew it before, but it continues to be an annoyance. I'm not a particularly tall person, just very long-limbed.

Yeah, I know all of this is terribly exciting. So I'm going to put up some pictures of pretty ladies, because that's how I roll.

Natalie Portman, a perennial favorite:



Natalia Vodianova. I once read someone describe her as "poetry in pictures":



Lauren Bacall, back in the day:



Linda Evangelista, who I believe is in the dictionary under "fierce," no?



Promoting unreasonable standards of beauty? Sure, why not!

Nonetheless, it's fun and I just love looking at pretty. Pretty people, pretty clothes, pretty anything. I'm feeling particularly shallow today, I think. Maybe I'll do an entry with mens next time, although I find women more aesthetically interesting.

At work, taking surveys...

Stole this one from Bella's blog.

ABOUT YOU:
001. Real name – CASSANDRA.
002. Nickname(s)-- Cassie, casserole, Cassie-cat...others, probably
004. Male or female -- I'm a grrrrrl.
005. Elementary – Uh, Little Falls.
006. Middle School -- HCS!
007. High School -- HCS!
008. Hair color -- very dark brown
009. Short or long -- Um, it's short. I want it to be longer, though.
010. Loud or Quiet -- Quiet, most of the time.
011. Sweats or Jeans -- Jeans!
012. Phone or Camera -- Both?
013. Health freak – Kind of. Does being a hypochondriac count?
014. Drink or Smoke? – only occasionally, and no.
015. Do you have a crush on someone? - HAHAHA always.
016. Eat or Drink -- Both, I guess.
017. Piercing -- None. :(
018. Tattoos – Also none.

HAVE YOU EVER:
019. Been in an airplane -- Yes
020. Been in a relationship -- ...Sort of
021. Been in a car accident -- No
022. Been in a fist fight -- ...Sort of

FIRSTS:
023. First piercing -- Earlobes
024. First best friend – Um...my brother, I guess.
025. First award – I have no idea.
026. First crush – Frankie Allman. Kindergarten.
028. First big vacation – Prince Edward Island at five, I guess? That's the first one I remember, anyway.

LASTS:
029. Last person you talked to -- Denise.
030. Last person you texted -- Lisa
031. Last person you watched a movie with – My mamma
032. Last food you ate – Triscuits
033. Last movie you watched – Gimme Shelter, the Rolling Stones documentary
034. Last song you listened to – No idea.
035. Last thing you bought – Er...apple juice?
036. Last person you hugged – My mamma

FAVES:
037. Food – Enh.
038. Drinks – Apple juice, coke
039. Clothing – Lots and lots of things.
040. Flower – Enh, flowers.
042. Colors – Black, red, deep blue, purple
043. Movies – Pulp Fiction! Also, Annie Hall, Donnie Darko, lots and lots of others.
044. Subjects – English, American Studies (my majors!), art history

In 2008, I...:
046. [x] celebrated Halloween
047. [x] had your heart broken
048. [x] went over the minutes/texts on your cell phone
049. [x] someone questioned your sexual orientation
050. [x} came out of the closet
051. [ ] gotten pregnant
052. [ ] had an abortion
053. [x] done something you've regretted
054. [x] broke a promise
055. [x] hid a secret
056. [x] pretended to be happy
057. [x] met someone who changed your life )
058. [x] pretended to be sick
059. [x] left the country
060. [x] tried something you normally wouldn't try and liked it
061. [x] cried over the silliest thing
062. [ ] ran a mile
063. [ ] went to the beach with your friend(s)
064. [x] got into an argument with your friends
065. [x] hated someone
066. [x] stayed single the whole year

CURRENTLY:
067. Eating – Nothing
068. Drinking – Nothing
069. I'm about to – Enh.
070. Listening to -- Nothing
071. Plans for today – Eats, finish work, maybe chat with Jenny over her lunch break?
072. Waiting for -- 4:00 so I can leave this freezing cold office.

YOUR FUTURE:
073. Want kids? -- Maaaaaybe.
074. Want to get married? – Enh. If it happens, it happens.
075. Careers in mind – Writer, artist, curator, archivist, fashion merchandising, music or film reviewer...anything in music, art, fashion, literature, or film, basically.

WHICH IS BETTER WITH A GIRL/GUY:
076. Lips or eyes -- Both.
077. Shorter or taller?-- Taller, or same height.
078. Romantic or spontaneous -- Don't those two usually go together pretty well?
079. Nice stomach or nice arms -- Well both, hopefully.
080. Sensitive or loud -- Both.
081. Hook-up or relationship -- Both.
082. Trouble-maker or hesitant – Both. (Boy, I sure do demand a lot.)

HAVE YOU EVER:
083. Lost glasses/contacts -- Yes.
084. Snuck out of your house -- Um...maybe.
085. Held a gun/knife for self defense -- No. Well, sort of, but not really necessarily, more because I am crazy.
086. Killed somebody -- Noooo.
087. Broken someone's heart -- I hope not.
088. Been arrested -- No. Almost.
089. Cried when someone died -- Yes.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
090. Yourself -- Sometimes
091. Miracles -- Not really
092. Love at first sight -- Enh. Not really.
093. Heaven – Don't think so.
094. Santa Clause -- Um, no.
095. Sex on the first date -- No. Not that I particularly care if other people do it.
096. Kiss on the first date -- Sure, why not.

TRUTHFULLY:
097. Is there one person you want to be with right now? -- Always.
098. Are you seriously happy with where you are in life? – Not particularly. It's not bad, though.

I HAZ KITTENS!!

KITTENS!

I also got home on Saturday, but more importantly: KITTENS!

Someone who works with my mom had them borned at her house, and needs to get rid of them. Five of them were brought into work today (I spent quite some time playing with them), and we went home with two - a brother and sister.

My cat Abbey is pretty pissed, as I knew she would be...she's VERY territorial and I'm sure is not taking at all kindly to this addition. But she'll deal. My mom and I figured that the two of them can entertain each other and so I can still devote time to her. They are so.freaking.cute.

So now I'm trying to figure out what to name them. Here's what we've come up with so far:
Bonnie and Clyde
Quentin or Benjy and Caddy (Allison's suggestion)
Sid and Nancy
Kurt and Courtney
Audrey and Mickey
Mabel and Malcolm

I also like Dante, Edgar, or Chase for the boy, and Lulu, Veronica, and especially Mabel for the girl. The boy is smarter and more alert than his sister, who is much more quiet and chill.

But I don't know. Any suggestions?

Well, I am very nearly done. Had my English Literary Tradition final paper due Monday, did my Modern American Writing final paper for Tuesday, History of Rock take home final for Wednesday, took my Modern American Writing final last evening, and took my English Lit final this evening. Now I just have my American Studies final to take tomorrow morning.

*Huffs and puffs*

Yeah, it's been a Week. Caffeine is not a suitable substitute for sleep, and my right arm is in terrible cramping pain because of the ridiculous amount of time I have spent typing and writing this week. But, yeah. Finals week. Finals week just always sucks; it's the rule. After finishing the final tomorrow I just want to crawl into a nice warm dark hole somewhere, sleep for a week, and never analyze anything ever again.

We'll see how that works out.

I'm really looking forward to going home, although I'll miss Smith and Northampton. Home is just so incredibly goddamned boring, and I can't drive which makes it even worse, and I'll be seeing so many doctors over the course of the summer...which is, of course, completely necessary, but that doesn't make it any more pleasant. I have no doubt that I'll be hospitalized while they do freaky shit to my brain at some point this summer.

Stay tuned for THAT. (Especially you, Jenny! The things I put myself through to help your RESEARCH! ;) )

And I'll miss my friends, obviously - especially Lisa, especially given that she's going to Prague next semester. Ugh. And Hannah won't be here, and Leah might not be here either...not that there won't still be awesome friends kicking around, just that there are people I'll really miss next fall.

But I'll be home very soon. Packing up with my mommy tomorrow, leaving on Saturday. There will be lots of resting, and lots of reading, and a part-time Colgate job. Not exciting, but what I need.