Incoherent Scribblings

Who Let the Bears Out?

The bear is Berlin’s emblem, it covers the city insignias, monuments and countless souvenirs. However, apparently the bear no longer wants to be Berlin’s mascot… (article)

Good News

I have two good news items to report:

First of all, I have a job interview next Wednesday. No library job this time, just general office work, but that’s OK. I am just looking for something to give me something to do and some money anyway.

Second of all, I have managed to lose 5 pounds without really even trying. A. and I have been trying to cut our meal portions down and make sure that we go to the gym twice a week, where I do at least 15 minutes of cardio-training and some weight lifting.

Put together, these things make me feel good enough that I am not really even dreading my gynecologist appointment next week all that much…

The Cat in the Mirror

Harley was sitting in her favorite spot this morning and suddenly became very interested in something across the room. I didn’t see a fly or spider, so I wondered what had caught her attention. Before I could investigate, she jumped up and ran over to the TV where she began to intently examine the kitty that was there. She wasn’t seeing cats on TV, as the television was off, but her own reflection.

As she peered into the television and occasionally pawed at the “other kitty,” I started to think about animals, cats, and their “sense of selves.” The “sense of self” has many levels, and the one that I was thinking about was an animal’s ability to recognize him/herself, most frequently, in the mirror. Scientists believe that some animals, like chimps, are capable of self recognition. Yet, most scientists claim that animals like cats and dogs, while capable of feeling primary emotions, don’t have a sense of self recognition. Whether or not I believe that, I am not sure.

Once we had a dog who always growled at herself in the mirror, but by contrast, my cats stopped being interested in the “other kitties” in the mirror long ago. Is it because they recognize themselves, have accepted the “cat” in the mirror as part of our family, or is it just because since the reflected cat is not a threat they find it inconsequential and ignore it? Maybe I am biased and see human qualities in my cats that really aren’t there, but I would like to believe it is because they recognize themselves.

Of course, that brings me back to Harley and the TV. She never gives her reflection a second glance in the full-length mirror in the bedroom, so if she recognizes herself, why did she paw at her TV reflection? It was the first time I have ever noticed her doing that. Was she actually aware that it was her reflection and was just pawing at it to entertain herself? I’d like to think so…

Let the Holidays Begin!

Yes, I know that all over Europe the holidays are actually coming to an end. I read that by midnight last night, Austria had become a parking lot with all of the northern German and Dutch vacationers returning from their Italian holidays.

However, since A. and I don’t have any kids, we try and plan our holidays so that they conflict as little as possible with everyone else’s holidays. We will be going to the Dresden-area for a week at the beginning of October and A. is taking this next week off.

While we have tentative plans to go to the mountains for a day or two, most of this week we will just be hanging around Munich… going to the movies, eating out, and just relaxing. However, if A. starts every day of his vacation like he did today, by asking me repeatedly, “So, now what?” I will be sending him back to work by Tuesday!

Nothing Too Interesting…

So, while I was waiting on a CD to burn this evening, I did a little browsing through the blog-o-sphere. My regular blog-reads have not been updating as regularly as they used to, so I thought I should see if there are some other good blogs out there to read. There are!

Of course, reading these new blogs makes me feel like my blog is dull, boring, and pointless by comparison. How come everyone else has either a.) a much more interesting life than me or b.) a much wittier writing style that makes my life and writing seem so uninspired? Life is so unfair! Boo Hoo!