Somehow related to shoes

If not just by this picture.

This one is a splash of sandy blond against a black canvas and she wears it so well. I am so fond of my tortie even if the majority is not. Sakura gets a lot of hate just because she’s an unpopular shade and pattern. And when I say hate I don’t actually mean hate hate. People just overlook her or think she's scary. I haven't a clue as to why. She's as cute as a button and doesn't hiss or snarl at people. In fact, she'd be the first to greet you if you came over and she will win you over.

We’ve been feeling drugged by the saturnine weather lately. It cloaks us with a sleepy, sluggish, wet atmosphere. Rainfall by the crock-load. The sun coming out only through a sliver parting of the gray clouds. The cats' health always seems to be somewhat affected by the weather. Whenever it gets like this they tend to be on the down low, choosing to spend the day snoozing indoors.

Kecik had a bad case of diarrhea a few weeks ago that lasted for quite a long while. It got pretty severe when she started excreting a nasty smelling liquid instead of something solid. She lost a significant amount of weight. After giving her only 2 pills of her medication I let her off to heal on her own and thankfully she has recovered.

Kecik channeling Queen Sheba.

I didn’t complete her medication because the first round of pills that I obtained from the clinic had a powdery texture and were too big and too bitter for us to administer to her. The moment it touched her tongue she spat it out like we just fed her a dung beetle. Even when the vet gave her the meds at the clinic she started hypersalivating for a good minute or two. I went back to get something else. This time these pills were much smaller and had a shiny coating which I knew would go down more easily. I went home and gave her one. All was fine until 10 minutes later she started foaming at the mouth and spitting all over the house leaving a trail of clear white bubbly saliva in her path. I put her in a cage to observe. She was hypersalivating just as she did at the clinic but this time it was worse and it didn’t look like she was anywhere near done. Freaking out, I thought she had somehow overdosed on the medication although I only gave her one pill as instructed. So I phoned the clinic and told the vet. She assured me that it was a normal reaction to the meds because it’s uber bitter in taste and even though she swallowed it with ease it must of left a rising aftertaste. Also, apparently, all diarrhea medication had that same side effect. I don’t know how accurate this information is but it came from a vet I didn't quite have full trust in. Anyhow, I was given reassurance that the salivating would subside in less than an hour and not to worry unless she starts vomiting. I kept her in the cage, periodically wiping the saliva off her mouth. Luckily, it passed and Kecik was back to her usual self.

She no longer appears lethargic and is back to tumbling around with her kids. Although she was actually playing around with them even when she had pooping problems. Yes, she still plays with them even though they’re about her own size now. They particularly love the game of chase and would run about the entire house bumping into whatever that’s in the way if not leap over them. Like the couch. Don’t be surprised if you’re lying there minding your own business and suddenly you see a cat in midair above you. They would jump right across you, one after the other like you’re the obstacle in an agility race. Today they knocked over my mom’s vase on the stairs, cracking it in two. It’s funny how they only stop to breathe once there's an accident. A moment of silence follows the crash and everyone looks at everyone else before bolting and then quietly waiting a distance away from the crime scene. Anticipating the scolding that was sure to come. I like it how they then sit there blinking in innocence.

It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve ruin property out of the sake of good fun. We’ve had two phone chargers bitten in two and the cable of my headphones has teeth marks all over it. Our couch has been mercilessly scratched until a gaping hole materialized. I had my beloved bracelet dented when Peekaboo wrestle my arm and tried to pull it off with his teeth. That’s just the inanimate objects. Our skin has never been safe from their claws. It might cause you horror to know that they’ve scratched our faces some. I’ve had the experience with Pat and Peekaboo. My kid brother has gotten it from Peekaboo and Mama Ayeow (though this is entirely his own fault and not exactly uncalled for as he likes to bother them when they do not want to be bothered). My sister Afah has also seen her face injured and today, my mom received one to the side of her nose just centimeters away from her eyes also on account of Peekaboo. All to the face. Fortunately, all injuries where only superficial and were in no way severe. No one has been scarred for life. You just need to be careful when the cats are agitated and tetchy. But in Peekaboo’s case, you just have to be on your guard because he doesn’t mean to cause you harm, he’s just playful like that and doesn’t really know the extent of damage he can do to us with his claws. To him, biting and scratching is simply an act of play.

EXHIBIT NO. 1: Syafiq's nose.

This one is from Peekaboo because when P.Boo said “I AM NOT YOUR PERSONAL RUBBER DUCKY” – he meant it. Should we say lesson learned here? Unfortunately no, this brother of mine doesn’t really listen.

EXHIBIT 2: Afah's cheek.

This Picasso inspired piece happened on one bright drowsy morning. Now this here I believe was an accident because Angie was the culprit and on normal days Angie does not do any hating. She LOVES people. Seriously. Sometimes Angie likes to sleep with us (it’s an on and off thing) and she also likes to give people massages. Usually not to the face. I think on that morning she somehow mistook Afah’s face for a sore muscle.

You might not want to dangle anything to entice the cats right in front of your own face either. Needless to say that’s like calling a nyah a whore. OUT LOUD. And you KNOW when you do that you’re going to get your face punched in and if you think you’re safe in a car and you try to talk trash from a crack in the window, remember this: Nyahs wear stilettos and stilettos can break windows and possibly your skull too.

From me and the catty kids

2010's Message – I must warn you it might be a tad bit long. But only just a little.

I am a struggling, aspiring vegetarian and I'm miserable at it but the keyword here that I must reiterate is ASPIRING. Say it with me now, ASSS-Pie-Ring. Now that I've managed to make you swear sin say it with me, I feel like we know each other as close as a tapeworm would know the intestines it has hooked itself to and we can now have a slumber party and share deep and dark secrets, hopes and aspirations. Also, New Year’s resolutions.

I habitually do not make New Year’s resolutions because it's just one of those things people do just because it's the New Year and doesn't amount to much of anything once the year is over. But I suppose this aspiration of mine could also become my New Year’s resolution just because. My aspiration as I was saying is to become a vegetarian. I’m still treading on the inchoate stages of making the transition which I fear may take a long long long time at the chagrin of the farm animals. Oh wait, I should clarify because the term vegetarian may not be apt. I want to become a pescetarian. Because I do not want to quit on the offerings of the sea. I embrace the sea and its underwater life forms for the magnificent beauty of what it is. The sea always ALWAYS reminds me of the greatness of God. It's so mind-blowingly gorgeous in its complexity and mysterious in its best kept secrets yet to be discovered. I’m not particularly in love with the vast selection of seafood for I do not eat a lot of sea life such as shellfish and squid, but I do favor fish and prawns and consistently include them both in my everyday meals.

Currently I eat meat and have been doing so since I was weaned off milk (or so I assume as I’ve never asked my mother and lets just accept that as a solid fact because I'm too lazy to ask her but not too lazy to add this totally unnecessary sentence).But I set limits for myself on how much and what kind I consume. There are some animals that I naturally do not eat such as rabbits, camels, goats and ligers because I'm well known to be a picky eater. And then there are the animals that I consciously have made the decision to stop eating entirely. (Maybe I should add the word TRY somewhere in that sentence). Like turkey which was/is particularly difficult for me to refrain from as I LOVE the taste of turkey. I only started eating turkey fairly recently in the last 3-4 years and only on occasions at that. But as good as they are, I don't want to eat them anymore because they’re intelligent, tetchy, head-bobbing poultry. NOT to say that chickens aren't but it is a lot easier to quit eating something less accessible.

Sadly, I admit I may be somewhat of a specist. Favoring one species over another when it comes to having them on my plate. Like just knowing of the ongoing suffering is NOT enough for me to just STOP contributing to the demand of meat in the food industry and trust me, I feel the guilt. I FEEL THE GUILT. So much so that I sometimes feel like a useless hypocrite. Especially when I see actual livestock being transported in lorries on the road or see those agricultural shows on how they farm these animals for the satisfaction of our tummies.

I eat VERY LITTLE red meat. Reasons being:

A) I don't like having their faces flashing through my head (in this case I'm speaking of cows)

And

B) I don't even prefer the taste.

I eat a lot of chicken and a lot of fish. But most of the time I don't eat at all because I'm anorexic. Or at least I've been told (and some of those naysayers are so CONVINCED that anything I say to debunk their claims goes unnoticed because for some reason they're under the impression that skinny people lie and will willingly hand you the authority to speak for us).

In truth, I don't think it is WRONG to eat meat and I do not think those who stuff their faces with it should be burned at the stake to a tender crisp (or medium rare, depending on what you feel like having). Everyone has a right to choose for themselves what they want to eat especially since God gave us those animals for us to benefit from. It is the METHOD of farming and producing the meat for the masses that bothers me to no end and affects me greatly because A LOT OF SUFFERING is endured by those animals just to feed the human population. That is what gets to me. That is what eats away at my soul. The suffering and the cruelty these animals are subjected to before they reach our dinner table. The conditions they are kept in are substandard and not to mention unsanitary. Cramped dirty cages, no space to even stretch their legs, insufficient basic facilities such as water and ventilation, exposure to diseases and malnourishment. Injected with hormones and other various enhancers so they'd be plump and juicy mutant chickens. Living a brief tormented life. And then there's the method in which these animals are culled. Have you ever seen the crude merciless inhumane act that it is? Google it. I dare you. Factory culling...that's hell right there. If you ask me it's only fit as punishment for hardcore criminals or that former scumbag boyfriend of yours who eloped with your bff. AND maybe Miley Cyrus cause she is effin annoying -but that's just a personal statement/preference. You’re free to think of other ways to have her STOP SINGING.

ANYWAY,

I believe in the halal way of putting an animal to rest for us to eat. It's merciful and its quick if done correctly by syariah requirements. You can read more about it here. But no factory is going to employ that many people to attend to the merciful killing of each and every individual animal because it doesn’t engender maximum productivity and garner up higher profits as cold killing machines are able to do. The chickens are hung upside down by metal hooks on a conveyor belt railing. Moving towards the slitting instrument. They are lined up side by side with their fellow unfortunate comrades in death. What unsettles me immensely is the stunning process in which they immerse the chickens in a tank of extremely frigid water with electric current running through it so they would lose consciousness and become paralyze and are then supposedly unable to feel pain. This is merely to sedate them so they'd be easier to kill with the blade that’s next in line. Many issues arise from this disturbingly fucked up method because:-

a) Some chickens are unaffected by the low electrical currents and thus are NOT STUNNED or temporarily stunned -meaning they regain consciousness after a few seconds and are then aware enough to be highly distraught from being plunged into water head first which obviously causes stress levels to spike up the wazoo and hence causes more unnecessary pain to the chickens before they are slaughtered.

b) Some chickens are underweight and sickly, smaller in size from the others but put to slaughter anyway and when they are stunned, they immediately die from the stunning process in which renders them haram because it is already dead before they hit the blade.

c) There are many other halal haram issues in regards to the stunning method that you could further read here.

AND DONT GET ME STARTED ON THE STUNNING METHOD THEY USE ON CATTLES AND OTHER FOUR LEGGED FARM ANIMALS. Because this makes me CRY ENDLESSLY and when I've dehydrated myself from it, I continue by crying on the inside and when I’m knocked out by that, I cry in my sleep and have vicious nightmares. I really urge you to read this article (same link as above link). I hope it gives you insight, awareness and a better understanding as to how you get your meat and you can make your own assessment on the matter. Hopefully, for the betterment of our lives and utmostly, for the sake of the defenseless animals.

I would feel much better if I knew the animals I were to eat at least had a good life before giving it up for my sake. I know they would appreciate that of us as well. But that's not going to bring in a lucrative income for those running the meat plants and slaughter houses which contribute to the economy. The more people eat meat, the higher the demand and the more animals they'll subject to suffering to meet the growing needs of the consumers. Prompting them to keep and slaughter more animals per day than their original capacity causing more cramping because of lack of space. Hence, more and more animals are subjected to cruelty and suffering.

There needs to be a reform in the farming of animals. Go back to the days in which the animals had room to roam about just like in the kampungs. They ate real food. Not enhanced synthetic substitutes. They knew life and could enjoy it in the time that they had. They were allowed to grow up first. If they could largely produce meat this way I wouldn't object. I support free range farming. When I first read about all this, I was fast to tell my mother and ask her where she bought her meat. I'm relieved to hear that the beef she buys is not from a slaughter house like I've described above. She says the beef she gets is slaughtered by hand without the use of stunning. However, she doesn’t know the origins of the chickens. I highly suspect that they were all subjected to stunning. One of these days I'm going to go with her to the wet market and ask for myself. Also, I'm going to try to find an alternative place to purchase meat. A place that does not practice stunning. I’ve already banned the purchase of meat-based processed food in my house like hotdogs and nuggets (especially AYAMAS and 5 STAR). Ultimately though, I intend to achieve my desire and goal to becoming a pescetarian and I hope with the help of God and my steadfast love for animals I will beat my primal urges for meat.

So for 2010, my message (as per title, sorry it took THIS long to get to this part) is to go kill an apple instead or something else without a face to protest against the inhumane methods of mass producing meat. Here's to the further effort and struggle to become a vegetarian for the sake of those farmed animals and the reduction of animal suffering.

I end this lengthy piece with an excerpt from the Are We Eating Halal Meat article by Gany Auyeskhanov

“We are obliged to eat meat of a healthy grass-fed animal slaughtered by a professional Muslim who does it as an act of worship to the Creator; we know this is Halal. We are not against scientific progress but cautious with profit-driven science which is often destructive. If the non-muslim animal welfare organizations and industrialists want stunning, thoracic sticking, machine slaughter, animal protein feed, hormone injections, good luck to them. But when they want to sell us their meat products – it’s their job to convince us beyond any doubt that their state-of-art technologies are Halal and Tayyeb. And the most convincing way to know the truth about stunning is to hang its advocates upside down and immerse their heads in the bath with low electric current, same as they do for chickens. We will know the truth after they gain consciousness.”

Here's Peekaboo who is well known for being a cute heartbreaker. Have you the heart to EAT HIM?