happy furry warm soft

There are two little ferrets sleeping in the bedroom now :-)  No pictures yet because I don't want to freak them out with the flash as they are settling in, but I'll be taking some as soon as the time seems right.  Perhaps there will be video if it cools down enough this evening for them to leave the bedroom.  Little Sisiutl is into everything and a very good climber.  She took one look at the cage and walked right upside the outside of it.  Luckily she can also lower herself back down.  The boy, whose name I think will be Ianto*, is affectionate and strong enough to break out of the cage :-/  The only reason I caged them last night is because he likes to slip between the slats of the futon frame to sleep under the bed, and I am worried that one of us might roll over while he is doing that and squish him.  Apparently we need a new bed, as I don't think there's any way to prevent him from doing this.  Ikea is completely our new best friend.  Anyway they are both sweethearts, generally well behaved and seem to be settling in well.  Ianto was a bit freaked out when we got home last night, but we gave him some time to check things out.  Once he started eating kibble we figured everything was ok :-)

It's funny, you can tell neither one of them is used to hardwood floors as they are slipping around a bit.  They're getting the hang of walking on a hard surface, though, and once their muscle tone is improved they'll have no problem.  (they aren't weak or infirm or anything, they're just less strong than I'm used to, but I'm sure that will change quickly.)

*not really for the Torchwood character, I've just always liked the name and I somewhat tend to give my ferrets Gaelic-related names, plus it just seems to suit him, understated but strong.  I was trying to think of other monster/supernatural being names to match Sisiutl, but none of them really seemed to fit, and I don't think he's fierce enough to be a Iorek. 

belated thanks to atalanta...

...for recommending Santogold some time back--her album just became available at emusic.com, I remembered you mentioning her, I downloaded it, and loved it!  A couple of the songs definitely have that M.I.A. sound (especially Creator, which is currently in some beer commercial) but really the album is very diverse.  Influences I hear strongly would be Siouxsie, the Clash, a bit of Daniel Ash type guitar work, Depeche Mode, some singer-songwriter a la Michelle Shocked or Tracy Chapman, plenty of reggae and other world influences, a little splash of industrial in a hip hop kind of way.  It's quite the mishmash but it all works.  (she also reminds me a bit of amadea  vocally speaking)  I definitely recommend her album!

In unrelated news, I ordered a royal blue holo on purple metallic meleya dress from L. Rose. It will be glorious!

I tell myself it's hotter in Egyptian studios

Dance class tonight in Central Square's Green Street Studio was a sauna even with the AC running, but it's still early enough in the season that it felt kind of good.  The fact that there's a gentle breeze now (84 degrees at 9:45pm!) makes it bearable.  I was able to do a lot of work up on the balls of my feet today and made an interesting discovery:  while my left ankle has been strengthened through my physical therapy exercises, my right ankle has actually weakened somewhat through not being exercised enough.  So my body felt imbalanced in a completely backwards way (weak and wobbly on the right as opposed to the left), which was pretty discombobulating.  Guess I'd better start doing some of my pt stuff on the right side to bring that ankle up to snuff.  I was happy to see that I can spin a cane pretty steadily with my left hand, nearly as well as my right.  Funny what practice will do.

I think ferret boy's name will be Ianto; I called him from a few feet away and asked if that was his name, and he came running.  Of course, he's so friendly I could have been reciting the Yellow Pages and he'd still have come running, but I'll take what I got.  Yesterday night he fell asleep while I was holding him and we got to cuddle for a while.  Today Sisiutl dozed off on my lap.  I'm glad that they already feel safe with me.  Appetites are good, and they seem to be handling the transition well.  I think they are a bit bored in the bedroom now, but with this heat it's not safe for them to come out.  Though maybe it's best for them to feel really secure in the bedroom before coming out into the rest of the house.  I want to see them exploring all the nifty ferret stuff around the house.  We got them a 25 foot tunnel!

Man, that beer went fast.  Guess I should eat dinner sometime soon.

Viva la Diva Pageant?

Although it's not on their website, according to Za-Beth the Regent is selling tickets already for the Viva la Diva Pageant in August, and if you spend a little extra ($25 instead of $20), you can have a reserved seat up the front, what they are calling preferred.  Would anybody be interested in getting reserved preferred seats with me?  It's Saturday, August 30, doors at 7pm, show starts at 7:30 (ha).