Limbless Cats

I always thought it was bizarre how when cats finally settled down and got comfortable, they appear to no longer have limbs.




…and if you ever wondered what they look like from underneath when doing that:

27 Things You May Not Know About Me

I'm here to give you a little bit more insight on me and who I am. Even those who know me may not know some of these facts. So here are 25 things you may or may not know about me.

1. I have a bad habit of opening documents on my computer for random tid-bits I want to keep and then not closing them for months. I just keep adding things to them and then have no idea what to call them when I finally do close them.
2. Redheads creep me out. They always seem like they’re up to some dirty trick. Ironically, one of my best friends is a redhead. I know that he is always up to mischief.
3. I have a big soft spot for cats. Any time I see a cat that doesn’t appear to have a home, I always want to take it to mine and keep it. I will be a crazy, old cat lady. I’m just hoping to have a crazy , old cat man with me.
4. Apparently I remind people of Krysta from fern gully.

5. I have a thing for pirate themed things. In fact, someday, I hope to have sort of a pirate themed house with treasure chests, model ships, and anchor pictures all around.
6. I would like to legally change my name to “Bee,” someday. I have to say “Brittany” when introducing myself on the phones at work each day and the name just seems so strange coming out of my mouth. My family is the only one who calls me that.

     7. 1. I really enjoy blogging. It gives me time to discover some things about myself in my writing and gives me a chance to learn when I want to write about things in the world.

     8. My favorite color is orange, but I look terrible in it, so I never wear it.

     9. I'm not a big fan of holidays. Something bad always happens around the holidays.

     10. I don't like eating cow. Not hamburger. Not steak. People always ask me, "Are you a vegetarian?" Thing is, I don't really like vegetables either. 
     11. "It doesn't make a bit of difference if you start what you can't finish. Every story has an ending after all." I start a lot of things I never finish. Also, I love Motion City Soundtrack. Two for one deal, folks.
     12. I'm not really "awesome" at anything, I'm just above average at a lot of things.
     13. I once rode a mechanical bull. I have pictures of it on a disposable camera somewhere. It was a lot of fun.
     14. I'm terrified of drowning. This is the last way I would want to die.
     15. I can't stand to look the same for so long. I always want to change my hair, make-up, style. I like trying to be someone new everyday. I feel like it gives me the opportunity to be as many people as I please.
     16. I have no eye for detail. This is why I know I will never take up art as a profession.    
     17. My mother is 19 years, 11 months older than me and I am 19 years, 11 months older than my baby sister.
     18. My favorite flower is the tiger lily.
     19. People used to think I used legitimate photoshop on a lot of my pictures, truth is, I have no idea how to use photoshop. I just have make well of my resources (Picasa, Paint, and Photobucket).
     20. I used to be completely wrapped up in Jesus and religion. When my Aunt died, I fell away from it because I couldn't believe Jesus would take her from me. In the seven years since then, I've kept adding more and more reasons to my list as to why I should never believe, again.
     21. If I had delivered Baby Cay, He would be one year old today.

     22. My role model as a child was my Aunt Gina. She lived with me for a few years. She was 7 years older than me and I always thought of her more as an older sister. I wanted to be just like her.
     23. I love mix-CD's, because when I pull them out of my CD case after years of being untouched, it brings back a world of memories that I can almost touch.
     24. I once smoked weed in Illinois with three friends and a modern day hippie I had just met in the walls of a fallen church in the middle of a bunch of corn fields at night. (You'll have to tune back in for the full story on that one.)
      25. I once had a pet rat named Herbert. I got him when I felt I had no one else in the world to depend on. He was my best friend and I took him everywhere.
      26.Most of my favorite things are in October. My birthday. Halloween. Autumn. Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 
      27.I love making things. I crochet. I love making bracelets, painting pictures, making models. Anything, really.

You Learn Something New Everyday: Women with Cats May Have Higher Suicide Risk

What's a phrase you say a lot?

Do you want to know mine?

"You learn something new everyday." 

When someone says "Oh, I didn't know that," or "That's definitely new information to me," my response is always "You learn something new every day." 

You want to know what I learned today? Well, if you don't, quit reading this now. If you do, it's this:

Women with Cats May Have Higher Suicide Risk

First, I saw this picture.  Then I had to ask myself, "Wait, I wonder if this is actually true."

Turns out, it's very true. Well, sort of. They did a study and came up with some interesting conclusions. If you'd like to read the full article, it's here, or if you'd just like the abridged version, just keep reading.

So Basically, there is a parasite in cat poo. It is called the Toxoplasma Gondii Parasite. We're just going to call it TG for short. TG is not in all feline fecal matter, only in cats that ingested an infected prey.

It wasn't necessarily proven that there is a correlation, but the studies did show some pretty undeniable results. 

They find out if a mother if infected with TG by testing her baby for the antibodies to protect against it at birth. Babies don't typically produce antibodies to the parasite until three months after their birth, thus newborns with antibodies suggest their mom's were already infected by the parasite.

After this, they did a study on which mother's already had a previous history of mental illness that may contribute to the suicidal thoughts and calculated this into their equation.

What the researchers did find is an increase in suicide risk for women that corresponded with the level of parasite antibodies found in the children's blood test. Their research suggest this causes women to be one a half times more likely to attempt or commit suicide compared to those who were not infected.

More than 500 of the 46,000 women in the study attempted suicide, which is still a relatively small risk, but it is still there.

The fact that is even scarier: one out of every three people in the world are thought to be infected with this parasite.

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So, readers, you learned something new today. Unless you already knew this, which in that case, you probably learned something else new today. Maybe you just want to prove me wrong and you didn't learn anything new, today. In any case, keep this in mind. You have all sorts of experiences each day. You meet new people, learn new things. Embrace it.