Collie's Bestiary

As you may know from one of my previous postings, in 2011 I had my 50th birthday. I was trying to think of something special to do in order to more fully celebrate that lovely life marker, but couldn't come up with anything that felt quite right. Then I heard a woman talking in a [...]

I've been effectively running at a frantic pace for the past three or four months, in order to keep up with all the things happening in my life. Several things went by the wayside as I tried to be sure I completed all the reading, thinking, and writing required for my doctoral program. Keeping up [...]

Today is my 50th birthday. Lying in bed this morning, listening with pleasure to the lovely silvery sound of the falling rain, I found myself pondering an alarming dream from last night, where I had to save the life of a feral kitten from a thoughtlessly cruel acquaintance — a kitten I unwittingly handed over [...]

It is 11 September 2011, the ten year anniversary of the tragedy of 9/11. Many people have spoken and created many moving eulogies to those who died on that day. I've also heard of interviews with survivors, including one man who was among the only four who survived despite being above the 100th floor of [...]

I had an interesting bit of cognitive dissonance the other day, upon hearing about Slutwalks. For those who haven't yet heard of them, earlier in 2011 a male cop in Toronto was apparently giving an anti-rape class to a bunch of women. During the class he mentioned one way to avoid being raped was to [...]

Sunday morning as I head to classes I pass many homeless sleeping in doorways. One of them is sitting up and blearily looking around. Next to him sits a small cat in a red harness, looking alert, well-fed, and calm. I grin at the cute kitty, and the man — in his wheezing, cracked voice [...]

Something I'd forgotten over the years: cities are NOISY! I sleep here in the hotel with earplugs on, but I can still faintly hear the roaring of engines, screaming and yelping of sirens, occasional yells and swearing and shouting, the constant low-level hum-throb of traffic… if I wake up around 4 in the morning it's [...]

I'm in San Francisco, the City by the Bay, for the Women's Spirituality Intensive Week — which actually goes from Saturday to the following Sunday thereafter. It's going to be an 11 night stay, including all the extra retreats, welcome dinners, and caucus demonstrations. The actual classwork is indeed extremely intense, and my brain is [...]

Alas, it gets worse. The narrator rambles on in the same demagogic vein about the "mutant albino" crocodiles, ending with a close-up shot of one of the small white reptiles staring bemusedly back at us from where it floats in the water, behind glass. Herzog continues with his inflammatory nonsense, wondering aloud: "When" the albinos [...]

Closer in to the camera crew on the walkway we see swells of stone that half-shelter the pregnant mare's niche. Painted on one is a herd of sturdy bison warily watching an even closer bulge of rock covered with a pride of lions. Interestingly, most of the animals painted are at side view, but there [...]