#ireland: shows a little bit of sun / irish lads:

[joshuaballsett]

[rebellect-writes]

[SIZE=1][b]Name:[/b] Jess [b]Age:[/b] My you’re a nosey lot. [b]How did you find us?:[/b] Shhhhh!

[b]Name:[/b] Micah William O'Connor. [b]Nicknames:[/b][LIST] [*] Mickey [*] O’Conner [*] Mick. [*] Oddball. [/LIST][b]Age:[/b] 33 [b]Date of Birth:[/b] 24th of August 1979. [b]Gender:[/b] Male. [b]Sexual Orientation:[/b] Bisexual. [b]Occupation:[/b] Private Investigator.

[b]Animal:[/b] White tiger (Siberian!) [b]Animal Description: [/b] [IMG]http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv90/bloodwillout/app%20pics/tumblr_lzuuzpkdCZ1qls45bo1_500.jpg[/IMG][LIST]Micah is a big cat and comes in at a whopping 475 lbs in weight, and most of that is nearly streamlined muscle. While he may not be the biggest cat around, he has come across bigger, he’d pretty intimidating and given the fact that he’s 10 feet and 8.3 inches tall from nose to tail tip doesn’t make it any easier to become inconspicuous. Did I mention the stunning, thick, pure white coat with black stripes? Micah doesn’t have a cat in hell’s chance of blending in much unless he’s taking a romp in the snow but you can't deny that he's very regal looking in this form. [/LIST][b]Do you have a hybrid/Alpha form?:[/b] [IMG]http://themikal.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/weretiger.jpg[/IMG] (minus the frills of course>.>)[LIST]Yes, Micah does have a hybrid form that’s deadly when it comes to a fight. The kicker is, he hasn’t used this form in over five years and won’t unless forced into it, and if he was, I’m sure he’d welcome it albeit a bit reluctantly at first. In this form, he’s hitting 580lbs of muscle and stands at a large 6'5 feet. He doesn’t appear to have much in the way of human features in this form, a muzzle packed full of fangs, paws for hands and feet with retracting claws, a hide of white and black fur that thins out over his stomach, and of course, the tail to help him keep balance. [/LIST][b]Rank:[/b] Willing to join, but a rogue for now. [b]How long have you been a lycanthrope?:[/b] All his life. [b]Mindset:[/b] Dominant. [b]Power level:[/b] Alpha.

[b]Face Claim:[/b] Alex O’Loughlin [b]Description:[/b] [IMG]http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv90/bloodwillout/app%20pics/alex-oloughlin3.png[/IMG][LIST][i]Height:[/i]  6'2 [i]Weight:[/i] 196lbs [i]Eyes:[/i] Tiger blue; he wears brown contacts to appear more human. [i]Hair:[/i] Ruffled brown. When the sun hits it, he’s got gold tints. [i]Build:[/i] Toned, average. [i]Visible marks:[/i] Oh yes, he’s got a few visible marks but there’s only a few that really stand out. The self designed Celtic knot tattoo on his shoulder was done a long time ago by his sister with a silver needle. He’s also got claw marks from a dominance fight at the small of his back. [i]Style:[/i] Micah’s pretty laid back when it comes to his style of dress actually. He favours long armed shirts and t-shirts, but that doesn’t mean he won’t step out in any short armed shirts, or topless for that matter. As a shifter, he’s comfortable out of clothes as well as in them. Trousers are normally jeans, slacks or combat pants, something he could get dirty if the need called for it. And who doesn’t like a pair of sturdy boots that are good for any occasion? He almost always wears a duster coat and a pair of sunglasses when out in the sun, and as for jewellery, he’s got a ring on a gold chain that he wears sometimes around his neck. [i]Weapons:[/i] Yes, he’s got a gun but he doesn’t take it out of the lock box unless he’s working a job and yes he does have a permit! It’s a SIG P229 with custom silver hollow points. [/LIST][b]Special Skills:[/b][LIST] [*] As a former cop, he knows his way around the system for the most part. [*] He has basic firearms training and does carry concealed. [*] Trained from early on to take females animals into himself. [/LIST][b]Personality:[/b][LIST]As a born white tiger, Micah had it drummed into his head from an early age that he was better than other lycanthropes. That he was somehow purer then them, and yes, that included other strands of the tiger virus. As he was only young, he believed this, just like his parents did and his sisters but as he grew older Micah’s started to believe that he’s not better than other people and if he voiced that opinion around others, I’m sure he’d get a few odd looks for it, more so from other types of tigers. He may have been proud of that mentality as a cub, but he defiantly isn’t now.

Aside from that he’s an ok kind of guy, he can come off a bit secretive and quiet but that’s only because he’s trying to get a read on the people around him. If he’s not being quiet, he’s defiantly a charmer that likes to make people smile, in fact, it kind of makes his day to see people smile a little as it proves that the world isn’t such a total waste of time for any of them. A sweet talker and a bit playful as he may be, but he also knows when to shut his mouth and just listen to people before offering advice that he thinks best even if he knows that other people will not accept it. With this little flaw, he can also come off a little callous and mean hearted, maybe even a little blunt, but he really doesn’t mean it and doesn’t go out of his way to make enemies, he just likes to give people the facts.

Now he doesn’t trust people at his back, but he’ll grudgingly accept it if he has to as long as the other party prove that they aren’t about to put a knife between his shoulders. It’s the same when he opens up to his emotions, Micah’s known love an had it ripped away from him, he’s not about to suffer for a second time unless he’s sure that it’s worth it in the long run. If you know him, then you’ll know that he’d walk through the fires of hell to help you because it’s the type of loyal and protective guy that he is. Oh he may be a bit growly and a bit bossy at times, but he does mean well and his heart is in the right place even with all his issues.

So, we’ve got a dominant weretiger with personal issues and a multitude of other issues do we? Well that’s not surprising. Micah won’t put up with people trying to take away his right of choice or back him into a corner, it tends to make the nice male snarl and show his fangs. You play him for a fool and expect him to come after you, because you can only poke a tiger so many times before he snarls and makes you his meal. Men that abuse women and children, well, expect a call from him sometime soon. There are just some things that aren’t done and that’s one of them.

Does this mean that he’s always pissy and grumpy when confronted with a vampire that can call tigers or a Chang? No! He’ll go out of his way to prove that he isn’t going to cause any trouble as long as they don’t interfere with his life. He doesn’t mind helping, as long as a little is given in return. Unfortunately in the line of work that he’s in, it very rarely happens but one can hope right? [/LIST][b]Likes:[/b][LIST] [*] Mucking around in a garden. He had to give his up on the relocation. [*] Drinking contests! The human's almost always lose. [*] Roaming in both forms. A little exploration never kills anyone. [*] A clean apartment! He can't stand mess. [*] Working alone. He likes to think that’s what he does best. [*] Reading if he isn’t working. [*] Cooking and making sure he eats healthy. [*] Swimming. Why yes, that does include skinny dipping. [*] Sitting in on the occasional mass on a Sunday. [*] Keeping on top of any paperwork that comes his way. [/LIST][b]Dislikes:[/b][LIST] [*] Having his history dragged up when it shouldn't be. [*] Having to run after suspects. [*] Being arrested for misunderstandings. [*] Looking for lost pets. He’s tempted to send them to the pound anyway. [*] People that try to get one up on him. What’s the flipping point? [*] Giving blood to various things. Vampires, blood bank, you name it. [*] Using his gun. [*] Giving people his back that he doesn’t trust. [*] Forgetting to put the trash out. [*] Being backed into a corner. [/LIST][b]Strengths:[/b][LIST] [*] Normal shape shifter attributes. [*] Half form. [*] Doesn't take bullshit from other people. [*] Knows when to shut his mouth. Just. [*] Can look a vampire in the eye only very briefly. [/LIST][b]Weaknesses:[/b][LIST] [*] Point blank refuses to take a female tiger's animal into him. [*] Does try and play by other peoples rules. [*] Can’t resist a Master vampire’s command, or a Chang's distress call. [*] His sisters, Shannon (22) and Kelley (19). [*] Scared of fire. [/LIST][b]History:[/b][LIST]Ireland. The home too many things from humans and lycanthropes, all the way to giants and fairies and all other manner of mystical creatures. Ok, not so much, giants and fairies but the lycanthrope part is more than true. Micah O’Connor was born in August 1979, to the small hidden White clan that called North Belfast home. It was a big thing really in its own right, him being the first born male to John and Marion O’Connor after nearly several years of trying for an heir. It had taken so long because John couldn’t quite grasp the trick of taking his mates beast into himself on the full moon and with the arrival of Micah, came new possibilities for the family, and the clan on a whole. Now you’d have thought that he’d grow up as any normal child, go to school and make friends but he didn’t. His parents paid to have him home schooled by one of the clan teachers, it was great! He felt special, that was until he started to really listen to what was being said.  He was taught that he wouldn’t be able to shift into his tiger from until puberty which wasn’t so bad, but he was also taught that he was better than everyone else because he was pure, born of the White Clan. The impressionable young Irish lad stood no chance against that mental abuse – it wasn’t seen as abuse by anyone, more traditional teachings passed down for generations – and swiftly became a full-fledged cub in the clan.

So he thought he was better than everyone else, it still didn’t stop that troublesome thing called childhood. Micah got into scraps like any other brat his age, and spent a lot of time alone in his room sulking as his parents tried to smooth over other weretiger’s anger. One memorable fight was a former friend that had gotten his animal first, kids being kids, they searched out for the weakest link in their little community, and that unfortunately was Micah even if he was oddly popular. This kid that held a grudge, came after him as a feral tiger that wanted blood, Micah panicked and ran knowing that he couldn’t fight a cat. Playing with his parents when they were in cat form was one thing as they didn’t try to eat him or his baby sister Shannon, but this cat meant business.

Now he was only thirteen at the time, but Micah remembers it well. He didn’t make it to his parents; the cat brought him down from behind and started to claw into him. Friends of his parents came running, including Daniel’s own parents. The new shifter was hauled away but the damage was already done, and as Micah passed out from pain and blood loss, his parents arrived on the scene. When he woke up, he was curled up with his parents and blissfully numb. They’d gone out and got a doctor to take a look at him, another tiger of course, and they’d found out that Micah was more responsive and healing faster. It meant his first shift was due! It was hell on earth when it came. Despite being born with the ability, and knowing in theory what was going to happen, in his state, Micah wasn’t ready for when the change decided to take hold of him. Luckily his parents helped him out as much as they could, and that helped things along. What was even better was that his parents were trying for another kid. They already had Micah, and he looked after Shannon, but they were getting on in age and didn’t want to be running around after pesky tiger cubs for the rest of their life. That was now, unofficially Micah’s job.

It was still his job when they moved across the world, which to him was totally shocking. They relocated to Australia for various reasons after Micah had settled into his tiger form a year later at age fourteen. The main one being that with Micah's transition, the chance that a 'Little Queen' of Ireland calling him when he grew older was more prominent than ever as the Chang had yet another child. Micah's father had been called, even bound by wedlock, and had enraged the Chang of that time, so his parents weren't going to risk anything. They settled in Perth with his mother’s side of the family, and while it was quiet, and Micah full heartedly agreed with his father that it was boring, he couldn’t go against his mothers need to be near kin. They weren’t people that he knew though, and Micah withdrew from the other tigers. Oh yeah, he showed up at the meetings and hunts, the family picnics and the like, but he never made an effort to fit in. The others ate his sisters up, Shannon and wee Kelley, when she came along, lapped up the attention like milk but he didn’t. Cousins were sent on their way, uncles and aunts got a hug and a kiss on the cheek when they tried to get him to be like the other children, and even his parents found themselves on the receiving end of his anger and annoyance. Micah didn’t want to live in Australia, he wanted to go back home to dreary old Ireland.

The whole teenager angst died out though over the next few years and Micah tried to mend some bridges with the tigers in his life, while trying to maintain a life in the world of the humans. He found a few friends in the local streak, a great couple of humans as friends too. Things were great! He’d forget that he’d been a complete prick when they’d first moved, and during the summer after his seventeenth birthday, he met Sophie, another relocated were-tigeress from America of all places. There was a little awkwardness at first of course; the fact that she put him on his backside within four hours of meeting him and had slapped him for saying that she was cute, not withstanding, things did settle down after that and after a few weeks of him being a goof and trying to make her feel welcome. He did know how she was feeling of course, they became friends. He didn’t think that she’d be in the same class with him when he got back to school the following term. Every class, to be exact, every day of the week. It was, well, it wasn’t hell, but he certainly became more of a goof than normal and kitten love was in the air.

By the time he was twenty, he had a steady relationship with Soph. He ran with her on the full moon, they ...well; you get the picture there, all the while they were both learning what life would have in store for them in the Clan as their next step into becoming a full-grown weretiger neared. It was like everything was going right with his life, Ireland was a memory, his sisters and family were happy, he had an idea of what he wanted to do with his future, and Sophie became the only one for him. Even when he came into his powers, he’d been told that the White Clan’s element was metal, so he didn’t know what to expect from that, certainly didn’t expect his father coming to him one evening and telling him that they’d start up the old lessons again. He hadn’t had those since Ireland! And even then, he’d not had that good of a grip on the idea of taking someone else’s animal into himself. Micah didn’t think that his father approved of him and Sophie dating steadily, but since they hadn’t been stupid to take a risk that would’ve lead to pregnancy, no one had really objected.

Somewhere along the line of high school, and well into college, he’d began to think that he was no better than the humans around him. It wasn’t until he was hitting twenty five, married to Sophie and had the prospect of a child looming over his head, along with his career in law enforcement, that Micah realized that there’d been a change in his life. Sophie didn’t seem to get on with other tigers, so his only reasoning pointed to his wife. If she hadn’t come along; maybe he’d have grown into a self righteous prick that deemed himself higher than everything else because tradition dictated that that was the way to be.

Well, either way, the happiness and wonder in his life didn’t last that long. As a year later, a rouge group, mongrels that thought they could go against tradition of all the Clans and infect people willy nilly and kill anything that got in their way led by a Master Vampire with an affinity to their kind, had somehow managed to survive the two days travel from Melbourne with Kiss and RPIT on their tails. They rolled into Perth, the Master leading them taking an offence that the resident Streak had too many unmated females and an apparent weak Chang. The men wanted nothing more to rip the small band apart, but the Chang forbade them from doing any such thing as she tried to buy time for those tracking the rouges. It failed, as the Master set his band on the Clan. Sophie wasn’t supposed to get caught in the cross fire, it was Micah that was to lose his throat since he went straight for the Master vampire, but by the end of the night, his wife’s body was in his lap, tears streaming down his eyes. Oh, the Master vampire had been killed, torn to pieces, the rouges subdued, but it shouldn’t have happened.

Micah’s life went south fast after that; he handed in his badge, sold the house and moved into a small apartment across the other side of Australia, and also cut all but close ties to himself. He hit the bottle hard, trying to find a release of some kind from the pain he was feeling. It was a friend that kicked his ass, that gave Micah another shot at things, to help people like Soph would have wanted because she sure as hell wouldn’t have wanted him sitting on his ass crying into his drink. He didn’t want to go back to the force though, so he did the next big thing, he became a private investigator and signed up as a retainer to the local RPIT squad. He was a monster that could get other monsters to talk, and even though there was supernatural elements on the RPIT team, Micah was still the one that managed to get them the breaks in the cases that they had.

So, he helped people and in a roundabout way damned others if they were found guilty, there was many a time that he’d stood by and watched one or more licensed executioners stake a vampire or shoot a lycanthrope full of silver. Did he feel any sympathy? Maybe a little, but not enough that he wanted to put himself on the line of fire for them. His family didn’t approve of him sniffing around, eventually his parents disowned him and after awhile, the rest of his family too, but that was ok with him, he still made sure to stay in contact with his sisters even if it was an email here, an instant message there, or a card sent care of their schools. The senior O’Connor’s may have killed him in their minds, but the younger generation loved the fact that their ‘dead’ big brother had all kinds of interesting stories and adventures to tell them when their parents weren’t looking.

In retrospect, he probably should have thought about moving to a place that didn’t have a streak and a Chang in residence. One case was all it took for Micah to be a lone tiger, to be drawn into Clan life again. Just one, and his life wasn’t his own anymore but Caroline’s. The Chang preyed on his weakness and need to help people, she set him up, and when she found out that he knew how to take a females beast into himself, the crazy woman was ecstatic. Only problem was that Micah refused point blank to do it, even when she punished him, and set other males against him, Micah still refused to do it. Hell, he was even offered a second chance to just teach another to take in someone’s beast, and again, the refusal only earned him more trouble but for some odd reason Caroline didn’t kill him. She sent him on his way after a few months of the one sided game, making sure that he was to come when she called and he agreed to that full heartedly.

For the last few years, he’s been dancing around her and coming like a good dog when she demanded. It wasn’t until 2009 that she started to call him more and more, a blue tiger attack in her city had poked her interest, and the survivor had even more. Jasper Keller, a man that Micah’s never met in person, passed him on the street once, was Caroline’s new object of interest. She didn’t care that his wife and child had been slaughtered, she wanted him for some reason and Micah was sent off to play fetch. The only problem being that Jasper moved to England before Micah could bring him to Caroline, and when he reported this, he was handed a plane ticket too and told that if he needed any resources or possessions that they’d be sent along after him.

Irritated, he set his goal in mind and moved to England too, hoping that it would be a short trip. Didn’t take him long to track down the blue tiger, to some little hole in the middle of nowhere called Jackford. Boy, doesn’t he have his work cut out for him? [/LIST][/SIZE]

[toppersabroad-blog]

Robyn P.

1. An encounter with ancient history: The Hill of Tara

One of our first stops while visiting the Irish countryside was a rather blustery hill. The grass was a lush green and was damp in some parts. I remember my boots getting quite muddy squishing into it. The wet conditions did not affect my overall happiness during the outing, however. The brisk wind across my face felt wonderful while we had a fair amount of sunlight diffused by the clouds above. I really enjoyed seeing the rolling hills beyond scattered with sheep and small farm houses. The historical context of why we were there was to see the opening of a Stone Age passage-tomb in the side of one of the hills, as well as a grand stone marking where the High Kings of Ireland were known to sit. This small monument was mounted and commemorated in the center of a sloping ring structure constructed out of the shaping of the land.

The feeling I had while there is most memorable to me in how at peace I felt with the world around me. A bit of a backstory, but I had learned a couple of Irish melodies in my excitement for the trip, so it only felt fitting to sing them up on that peaceful hill. A little of one of the songs I sang is as follows.

Come over the hill, my bonny Irish lad.  Come over the hill to your darling.  You’ll choose the rose, love And I will make the vow And I’ll be your true love forever. Red is the Rose that in yonder garden grows.  Fair is the lily of the valley. Clear is the water that flows from the Boyne,  But my love is fairer than any.

--“Red is the Rose” Traditional Irish tune.

Hearing my voice cut through the crisp morning air made it sound even more lovely than I’d ever heard myself before. Singing in that moment helped me truly feel connected to the land that I was gazing at and I still feel the essence of that moment as I think of it now. Everything felt pure and simple like the cool air brushing across my face. I felt that I belonged there in that moment.

2. A textual encounter: The Book of Kells 

When we visited the Book of Kells we were first led through an exhibit detailing the labor that went into such a vast undertaking. It was said that a small gathering of monks, perhaps as little as two, devoted many years of their lives to embellishing the substantial work. The exhibit included information about the materials that the monks would have used to temper the vellum, write, and decorate the pages of which they constructed. I liked how they were able to show some of the more fascinating pages in large-scale upon the walls with descriptions of what the particular embellishments meant.

I didn’t particularly know what the Book of Kells was before going, but the most memorable part of viewing it as well as the exhibit was being able to admire the absolute artistry that went into the words and letters themselves. They all had to have been done with keen precision to come out so beautifully. The calligraphy and type of the master monks was truly from another era, for they made an enormous masterpiece one letter at a time.​ Each page we were able to look at was magnificently detailed. No one page was any less a masterpiece than its counterparts. Being able to learn only a small amount about the Book of Kells gave me an even greater appreciation for the diligence and artistry that the monks possessed before mass-production was even a concept. This work was an incredible undertaking that I will still marvel at, for you cannot notice everything on a single page without giving unvarying attention. So many little things are tucked into the script, letters, and drawings. It’s incredible and I’m still somewhat baffled by it.

3. A technological encounter: The Enigma Machine at the British Library

During our tour of the British Library, we were led around many floors and passageways with the odd display as an “intermediary” between areas. One of these mini-exhibits was a glass display case on a raised platform containing something with a similar form to a typewriter. This black machine was in fact much more than a mere typewriter circa 1940s. It was one of the rare and vital machines the Nazis used to decode their encrypted messages during World War II. It was that rare machine that a man by the name of Alan Turing worked with, and in the process came up with the basic structure of our modern-day computers. It now looks like a mundane black contraption with a double set of keys, but the Enigma Machine gave the entire world quite a bit of trouble for a few years.

Seeing this historical artifact for myself was quite meaningful at the time. I had previously seen a movie dealing with the Enigma Machine and Alan Turing entitled The Imitation Game, but actually standing before it and knowing how much of an impact some small gathering of parts could make upon the world made the story I once learned truly solidify with me. Turing had to examine this machine or one of its brethren and create a computational device to decode it.

Today it seems negligible if someone has a calculator or other device on their person, but when there really was only one ultimate machine in existence, someone actually had to construct something from nothing to battle that. Then years later, it might happen to be in a well-lit exhibit hall in a glass case. It doesn’t need more than a note card saying what it is. Its story lives on in its own right.

4. An encounter with nature: The White Cliffs of Dover

Our time at the cliffs of Dover was in the early afternoon. Due to the landscape, we had to hike down the hill a bit to get to the cliffs. The air was a bit icy on my face but it made it more invigorating to keep exploring. My friend Katie and I went off by ourselves and got to one of the edges to look out and the view was breathtaking. The grass around the small trails was a lush green color and it was a bit muddy, but not too bad to get around in. We were probably 150 feet up and could see the wide expanse of the ocean with some birds gliding by the horizon.

To make the most of our short time there (a little over an hour), Katie and I picked a spot on a higher rise of the cliff edge and sketched for a while. The moss-strewn white rocks weren’t too terrible to sit upon compared to the cold damp of the grass in our vicinity. Sketching was a great way to admire the intricate details of the terrain and really look at what was there rather than the whole picture. I loved how silent the world was besides the rush of wind. It’s a bit odd, but I didn’t smell any salt from the sea, just crisp fresh air. It was wonderful sketching and watching the sun begin to set, turning the scenery to a lovely golden color as our day came to a close.

[filosofablogger]

Good and lovely Monday morning dear friends from around the globe!!!  This is the final Monday in the month of May, and I am stunned … where has the year gone???  I think I must have passed much of it in a haze or daze, as I still think it should be March!  Just the other day a friend posted the number of days ’til Christmas, and my daughter mentioned something about decorating for Hallowe’en!  Nononono, people!  Somebody slow this world down … I need time to go slower so that I can at least remember the days!

I would like to wish my Muslim friends, readers and neighbors Ramadan mubarak. Ramadan began on Friday 26 May and goes until Saturday, 24 June.

And now, let us try to find a bit of humour to start this week off, shall we? So grab your coffee … or, um … whatever … and enjoy a bit of a chuckle …

Burger King fast-food restaurants have many locations worldwide, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and many of the countries in the European Union.  However they do not yet have a restaurant in Belgium.  They are slated to open a Belgium location next month, but there is some controversy here.  Apparently, the head honchos over at Burger King thought it would be cute to launch an advertising campaign with a website asking citizens of Belgium to choose between the Burger ‘King’, and Belgium’s own King Philippe.  Well, that did not go over too big with the Belgium Royal Family!

A visit to the website prompts users to pick one: Belgian King Philippe, or the company’s mascot. If the user picks Philippe, the ad asks “Are you sure? He won’t be the one to cook your fries.” If they pick him again, then the only option offered is “no.”

Is the Burger King drooling down his beard???

A spokesman for the Belgian royal family told the BBC the monarchy does not grant permission for photos to be used for profit, as in the case with Burger King’s marketing venture. “We disapprove of this approach,” royal spokesman Pierre Emmanuel de Bauw said. “Since it is for commercial purposes, we would not have given our authorization.” A mite touchy, aren’t they?

I have found the perfect job for me!  Only problem … it is in Ireland and I am … well, not in Ireland.  But it is a job at which I have plenty of experience.  Just Cats Veterinary Clinic and Cattery has a job opening for a professional “cat cuddler.” The job posting asks for “a crazy cat person who loves cats” with “gentle hands capable of petting and stroking cats for long periods of time.”

Are you a crazy cat person and loves cats?

Does cattitude come naturally to you?

Have you counted kittens before you go asleep?

Do you feed the stray cats in your locality?

Does petting cats make you feel warm and fuzzy?

If you answer yes to some or all of these questions, how about working with cats as a full time job at Just Cats Veterinary Clinic?

I already do this job … I just don’t get paid money for it, but I get paid in purrs and snuggles, so it’s all good!

Now here’s a headline you don’t see often:

Girl, 11, Accuses Teacher Of ‘War Crime’ Under ‘Geneva Conventions’

The girl is 11-year-old Ava Cross of Glasgow, Scotland, and her father, author Mason Cross  , said he wasn’t sure whether to ground her or buy her ice cream when he learned of her response on the feedback form.  The form asked students to list things their teacher could do better, to which young Ava replied:  “Not use collective punishment as it is not fair on the many people who did nothing and under the 1949 Geneva Conventions it is a war crime.”  This girl is obviously getting a good education … at age 11, I don’t think I was quite aware what the Geneva Conventions even were!!!  Dad said the precocious youngster is “11 going on 47.”

Here is a short one, but one of those that make you say ‘awwwwwwww’.  Or at least it made me say that, but then I have a soft, squishy heart when it comes to critters.  An unnamed owner of a home aquarium in Lidingo, Sweden, round one of his fish on the bottom of the tank one morning, apparently injured and unable to swim.  😥

Now, many would just write the fish off and either let it die, or help it along with a toilet flush, but not this man!  He went the extra mile and created a little harness from two twist ties and a floating piece of cork that allows the fish to move around the tank with his fishy friends!  Here is a short video of li’l fishie using his new device!

I guess you have to be Scottish to understand the outrage in this story … I just found it humorous.  Former President Obama traveled to Scotland last week, his first visit there.  While there, he took time for a round of golf on the world-famous course in St Andrews.  At some point, Obama was handed a bottle of the Scottish soda pop Irn Bru, and a photo was snapped.  No biggie, right?  WRONG.  The Scots are livid … well, some of them anyway.

He’s lookin’ mighty good, at least from the backside, right ladies?  

You might wonder why are they so angry. Isn’t Irn Bru an iconic Scottish drink, showing off the best of the wonderful country? Well, they gave him the sugar-free version. And Scots are NOT happy.

On Twitter:

“This is not a drill: Barack Obama has been given some Irn Bru in St Andrews.”

“Who the hell gave Obama sugar-free Irn Bru?!?!”

“What treachery to all that is scottish and holy is this?” 

“Imagine giving Obama diet Irn Bru. Could’ve been worse and handed him that new Xtra stuff that pretends to be sweet still but isn’t.”

Gutted that Obama has been given sugar-free Irn Bru instead of the real stuff #madefromgirders ”

“Someone gave Obama DIET irn bru! That’s not what he came here for lads. The big guy needs full fat.”

“@JamieRoss7 @thecommongreen Is that diet? Somebody wants to make sure he never comes back.”

“Obama has been given Diet Irn Bru. This is a major snub. If he were still President he would be justified in launching a nuclear war”

“@JamieRoss7 wait wait wait…is that sugar free? Arrest that man.”

“@JamieRoss7 @MhairiHunter Diet Irn Bru? Who did it, i demand their immediate arrest!?”

Now who knew that the Scots hated diet soda with such a passion???  At any rate, it is said that just a few minutes later, Obama was spotted drinking a bottle of Lipton tea, so I will leave you to draw your own conclusions.

And I just had to throw in and old ad for Irn Bru I discovered along my travels:

Let us wrap up this Monday morn with a few Irish jokes, shall we?

Paddy and Seamus were walking home from the pub.  Paddy says to Seamus, ‘What a beautiful night, look at the moon.’

Seamus stops and looks at Paddy, ‘You are wrong, that’s not the moon, that’s the sun.’ Both started arguing for a while when they come upon a real drunk walking in the other direction, so they stopped him.

‘Sir, could you please help settle our argument?

Tell us what that thing is up in the sky that’s shining. Is it the moon or the sun?’  The drunk looked at the sky and then looked at them, and said,

‘Sorry, I don’t live around here.’

A pregnant Irish woman from Dublin gets in a car accident and falls into a deep coma. Asleep for nearly 6 months, when she wakes up she sees that she is no longer pregnant and frantically asks the doctor about her baby.

The doctor replies, ‘Ma’ am you had twins! a boy and a girl. Your brother from Cork came in and named them.’

The woman thinks to herself, ‘Oh No, not my brother… he’s an idiot!’ She asks the doctor, ‘Well, what’s the girl’s name?’ Denise.’

‘Wow, that’s not a bad name, I like it! What’s the boy’s name?’

‘Denephew.’

A man flops down on a subway seat next to a priest. The man’s tie is stained, his face is smeared with red lipstick, and a half-empty bottle of gin is sticking out of his torn coat pocket. He opens a newspaper and begins reading.

After a few minutes the guy turns to the priest and asks, ‘Say, Father, what causes arthritis?’ Loose living; cheap, wicked woman; too much alcohol; and contempt for your fellow man,’ ‘answers the priest.  ‘I’ll be damned,’ the drunk mutters, returning to his paper.

The priest, thinking about what he said, nudges the man and apologises. ‘ I’m very sorry. I didn’t mean to be so harsh. How long have you had arthritis?’

‘Oh, I don’t have it, Father. But it says here that the Pope does.’

And so, my friends, it is time to … OH WAIT!!!  Today is Memorial Day in the U.S., so my local friends will NOT have to put on ties and death trap high heels to go to work today!  However, sadly my dear readers on the other side of the pond … you DO have to go to work today.  Whether you are preparing a family cookout or going to work today, I hope your day at least started out with a smile.  Whatever you do, keep safe and remember to share that smile … hugs and love to you all!

Bon Lundi Matin, Amis!!! Good and lovely Monday morning dear friends from around the globe!!!  This is the final Monday in the month of May, and I am stunned ...