so frustrating hearing about (dog) breed-specific legislation - THEY DON'T WORK! (feel free to ask for links to resources if ur interested in the topic). i broke my pen lid whilst writing notes on it.

science is amazing. just read about this last night: when exposed to high but not lethal concentrations of hydrogen sulphide (rotten egg gas), mice can go into a 'hibernation-like' stage, where the body temperature drops and metabolic processes slow down to minimise oxygen use. a paleontologist, Peter Ward, said that it's a mammalian adaptation to exposures to hydrogen sulphide in the past earth's history. it's not yet demonstrated to be succesful in people or larger mammals, but if it is, that would mean significantly reducing the risk for ischaemic damage to body tissues during trauma or procedures done under general anaesthesia! if only..

anyhoo, article talking about it here: what a year! website

*also, i added an Etsy widget on the sidebar on the right showing my favourite items from etsy sellers, but for some reason it doesn't want to show up in Chrome (it works in Firefox).

- kodaline - all i want
- cover by kina grannis & kate mcgill

hah, take THAT, stupid doctor who won't listen to me and insisted that my eczema was ringworm just because i said i owned rabbits (who did NOT have ringworm, thank you very much). NOW I HAVE PRESCRIPTION ANTIFUNGAL CREAM THAT I CAN USE ON BISCOTTI MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. ok.

spent the day giving free vet checks at the Paws in the Park event :) i miss companion animal medicine so much!

i can't believe it took me this long to finally YouTube a Potter Puppet Pal clip... but XD!

opinion: declining tv viewership

recently there's been a lot of mention about online piracy / downloads of tv episodes affecting tv viewership, and that this is part of the reason for tv networks 'fast-tracking' shows from overseas - so viewers get to see their shows at the same time as the rest of the world and aren't left behind.

personally, i just think that we're filling up our days with so many tasks so that u can't justify replacing doing more important tasks with meeting a tv network's schedule.. if i had the time, i would rather sit on the comfy couch and watch free tv on a large good quality screen rather than on a chair wasting bandwidth downloading a clip with sometimes questionable quality from a random internet page that risks giving the cp viruses.

if i miss a tv show's episode & there weren't any online versions then i would just rent it wen i had time to. it's not speed/currency that's the issue, it's timing & personal convenience.

Craig David reminds me of my Video Hits-watching days... also a Jennifer Hudson song that i've only recently heard..

cat behaviour question - sudden biting, seemingly no trigger

so far i haven't been able to explain this well to other people / heard of cat owners encountering the same thing, but i'll try and describe it again in this post...

as an introduction, Biscotti (my cat) is not an agressive cat, she's very much a "flight" response type of cat in the "fight/flight" dichotomy when animals are stressed/scared. 

anyhoo. sometimes when i'm with her (eg. sitting next to her, her on my lap, patting her, or not patting her - basically not any one particular scenario) i can feel like her personality or mood "flips", and she suddenly looks at me with non-blinking eyes, pauses and seem to be concentrating on biting me. now, i have to explain that when she's doing this, her ears and tail are in normal position (not like when cats are in a fight), and her bites are not quick and penetrating, it's more of a gnaw...freeze/pause... gnaw... freeze/pause. So basically when it happens i just feel really weird and uncomfortable, cos it's not like i can feel her being angry and scared, it's just a zombie-like/action that doesn't seem to have a clear motivation. (it's hard to explain an 'intuition' / a feeling...)

and usually when i say no and point my finger sternly towards her nose she backs away/flattens her ears/looks away, but when she's in this "mode" she doesn't show any fear and just remains put in her spot with the same stance and still maintaining eye contact with me. and another thing that scared me when i first noticed this behaviour was that she'll even start to raise her body up and move in sudden movements towards me - like trying to dominate the situation (but her ears are normal! i can't tell what she's thinking!). as her owner, this is very uncharacteristic - she is NEVER bite-y. and though she's a really flighty cat, it's never when it's just me around her. 

and similar to how it started, she also snaps out of this unusual behaviour without any obvious environmental triggers either... and just resumes to being her normal, relaxed self.

so yeah, i'm just wondering if anybody knows any other information regarding this weird behaviour? it just suddenly happens seemingly without any trigger. and it happens quite infrequently - probably 3-4 times in the last 1-2 years. 

cool! i would so get this, if only it had more space around the dates to write on.

Stitch the Stars calendar by Heather Lins (via Amelia Presents)