book report and a second project and a break

* Spoke to Mr Animal Behavior Proff and he was very pleased with the results of the poll (check it out, it's insane) as I said I'd like to do a research project on the subject he gave me his office number and said he has a masterant and a doctorant working on cat-related subjects so I might find a home there *squee*

* Finished Churchill's Their Finest Hour in The Second World War series (two down, six to go) and here's my book report:

The hard struggle of England's first few years in the Second World War are nicely depicted by Churchill's usual flowing language and dry humor.
His view of the Battle Over Britain might not be that of the citizen who was there to huddle in the Anderson shelter, but it's a vivid and fascinating description nonetheless.
This book was not as navy-obsessed as the first one, but in this book since Churchill had many reins in his hands, he insisted on bringing every memo, every letter and every note to have ever left his table to the book, which is very distracting and quite tiring, actually.

All in all it's a good book, there's hardly any bombardment of boring small technical details and the excitement of the war's made Churchill's writing juicy and adventurous. Also, it's one leader's point of view and not that of a soldier on the line or a minister of foreign affairs, all perspectives which together can give the whole picture.

It's a goods book, I recommend reading it, but I don't recommend taking every word in it for the complete truth

Am now reading: Stephen King's Nightmares and LOLerscates Dreamscapes which aught to be fun as any other Stephen King book.

* The BF business is over. The way which lead it to be over makes me want to get over it quickly and with as little effect on me as possible. Suffice to say is that experience with communication is acquired during relationships with women (if one has the want in them to learn, which the now-ex-bf had very little of) and only through said experience. Here's another 'requirement' to go on my 'what to look for in a partner' list.

Research stuff

I finished another film which means there's a little less than one film left before I'm done with the 'testing' side of the project. Hoorah!

And speaking of researches, check this poll out which I devised after the latest lecture in Animal Behavior. It might sound boggly and out-worldly but if I get the right results I'm pushing this to the proff who gave us this lecture and see if I can make it into a human-animal relationship research issue thing. Quite nice, eh?

And speaking of pointless researches, here's what Monty Python had to say:

Fluff and mayhem in Kfar Saba

Sam and Scarlett had a mischievous weekend. Scarlett's always the initiator of all the trouble and Sam sort of hangs around at the side, giving us an "I was a good boy" if Scarlett gets caught and sharing Scarlett's spoils if we don't find out. They work in a team; Scarlett's the brain and Sam's the brawn.

Here's the little 'innocent angel' snuggled up in my duvet.

"It's so tough being pretty" and demonic!

Also, I have a question about a stain on Sam's tail, but only after some more fluff pictures!

Here's the second picture from the 'le innocent' set.


Secret hideaway - discovered! Abort! Abort!

Sam's too busy stuffing his face to note the ravaging plot.

A coat cave Scarlett settled into and Sam probably waiting for some kind of a response from us about this


It's really a saber-tooth lioness' cave, see, she dragged her hunt into it


And while I was taking pictures of the lioness, Sam's been frolicking with the camera bag's handle and got himself a little tangled..

"w0t's this, then?"

"Halp! They got me!"


Scarlett: What are you on about?
Sam: I can't get it off ;___;


The struggle continues...


Then I was sorting through some old Rocky Horror Picture Show stuff because Scarlett's discovered the feather scarves there and has been opening the closet to get to its bag. She kept on exploring away as I tried to put some order into things, the little devil.


Then the little monster does the one thing I really don't like her doing, which is climbing the bookshelves by clawing the books on her way up.

This is her "I'm not supposed to do that? Oh my..." face.

And, finally, the fluff wars:








This looks really bad, doesn't it?


The house fauna care very little for the house flora..


And that was the weekend.

The puppy response

Hello, my name is Meirav Rath and I'm an attention whore. You give me attention, I'll be your best pal in the whole wide world.

I'm walking around the university today and run into my project's proff who's very responsive and smiley to my surprise. Enter attention whore. So I explain what I've been doing in the project so far (a.k.a what I did three weeks ago when I was NOT too lazy to sit to work on it...) and he mentioned a different graphics software I can work with. As a suggestion. He does not disapprove of what I already do or has any negative response to my 'reports'. Instead of saying "well, that'd sound like a good idea for ANOTHER RESEARCH" os something on the line of that, I say something on the line of "oh, yeah, that sounds great, I'll start redoing the whole thing with this software, what's its name again? ^_^ *wags puppy tail*". I'm more than halfway through with this project, but by god I'll re-do it ALL OVER AGAIN because my proff was nice to me *headdesk*

Go on, hit me, I deserve it *le sigh*

*is a little stunned*

I'm not dead, I'm just stunned. Kidding.

OMG, look at the review I just got for my first chapter >.<

It's too bad you don't take any anonymous reviews. I ended up creating anaccount purely so that I could review your story! Now I know that sounds weirdand maybe a bit stalkerish, but hear me out. I've read your story two timesthrough now without a single comment. (The first time I was so obssessed withknowing what happened next I didn't want to stop for even 5 minutes to review,I have no excuse for the second time except maybe my horrid laziness.) Ifigure that your story deserves way more than my measly comments, butreviewing is the only thing I can do for you. You really deserve to know justhow highly I thought and still think of your writing, so I vow to coment everychapter of the revised version to make up for my silence. Your storyabsolutely blew me away the first time. I'm not that into AU stories but I wasso impressed with your's that I couldn't stop reading. It actually had a plotand characterization (not to mention some of the greatest animes combined). Ialso fell in love with Alex. Not love like, "Oh please whisk me away and marryme". It's more a sort of love that left me speechless and wanting to know more(bad explanation, maybe obssession's a better word...). Hopefully you includemore of his backstory here. Everytime you mentioned a tidbit of his past Ikept hoping more would follow it. He's such a complex character and I'm veryinterested in learning what makes him tick. With any luck more will berevealed this time. I am very excited to see the revised version. Thebeginning is so different from the other one I wondered if I had clicked theright link for a second! There's definately more description and imagery (APenglish coming through, sorry), but I can tell that you're not trying to rush.You are telling the story for the sake of sharing it, not to rush to an endingand moral. I eagerly await the next chapter!

Oh dear lord, it's too damn bad FictionPress.com is down for two days now because I want to answer this person's review and warship them a little for leaving such an amazing review. Seriosuly, this is the stuff that makes my muse breath, people; the affirmation that I'm not just cackaling madly to the great internet spaces, that I reach someone, that they like what I cackle. It's such an amazingly good feeling, wow!

And, yay! My LOL cat has made it to the front page!!

Sam and Tuli

Sam had the chops today...poor little thing's still a bit woozy from the surgery but he's walking much better and (predictably for this little fella) his appetite is untarnished. We caught him mounting Scarlett this sunday after a long butt-sniffing and decided our little guy's no longer an innocent little kitteh.

We asked our vet for recommendation for a different vet to do Sam and Scarlett because we majorly fell out of trust with our clinic's surgeon after what he did to Clio. The vet who did Sam is an expert in surgeries and brought our baby back with no stitches, good as new (almost, poor baby).

So there, that's about Sam.

As for little Tuli, my soon-to-be-cat (am about to move in with the BF >.<) here are some pictures of the little tike from last weekend.


He's such a pretty little baby, isn't he? With those highlights under his eyes and his lush fur >.<


"I am the cat of this house, heed me, damnit!!"


Tuli ignores BF's sports habit

"How could you possibly find the television more interesting than prosh, elegant moi?"


Trying to eat BF


Zombie kitty wants braaaaiiiiiiinzzz


All shagged up and sleepy


I love this picture; BF and Tuli


Moi and Tuli


Sniffing the cat. It's addictive.


And now for something completely different; the best prank call ever:

Posted!!

The very first chapter is done and published in my original fiction LJ. I have to wait three days until Fictionpress.com let me publish it there as well, but the deed has been done!! For the first chapter, please check out 'my fiction site' link in the links bar ^_^

Hope you like!

Animal Behavior, LJ drama, Book Report and kitty picture bombardment

Animal Behavior: I love this course, not just because its about a subject I know a lot about, but also because it teaches me a lot about stuff I really, really love, with lots of cool animal examples. There's historical background, which is always good and a nice teacher who knows a lot about what he's talking about. He's naming a lot of things I read about and watched on TV and a lot of stuff I notices. Wonderful fun stuff.

LJ drama: Slashers can be stupid, fledgling fangirls can be stupid too, but having been the latter and taken shit from older girls I (hope) I have a slightly less dramatic attitude to drama attempts. The problem starts when I need to make it clear to the other girl that I'm not starting drama, that this is an exchange of opinions, that there's no need to bristle. Ah, well. With university and the BF supplying enough RL for me now, all this internetz nonsense looks so small...

Book Report: Finished Ender's Game....yes....I ate this one in one sitting; which is vary rare for me in books, never mind how much I love books.
It's a great book, not a perfect book, but a great book nonetheless. The plot is captivating, the sci-fi element is not ridiculous and the characters are believable and real. This is more of a psychological book than a sci-fi one.
Scott is a master psychologist but not a master writer; the ending was far too rushed for my taste (though there was closure, thus saving the reader from bitter disappointment and how Scott earns my respect) and one chapter was a little disjointed but the captivation this book inspired on me makes it completely forgivable.
I'm so, so happy the BF got me this wonderful reading experience; submerging into a book is such a pleasant spiritual experience for me <3

Next up: Churchill's The Second World War vol. 2; Their Finest Hour and you just know he'll be raving about the navy until there'll be foam at the corners of his mouth.

And now, some kitty pictures bombardment: this time the theme is 'it's a hard knock life to be a cat.
Seriously, the poor things are really having it tough lately....NOT!

Though they are getting quite old enough to start showing some behaviors...Sam's family jewels are getting dark and big (I'm not a pervert; I'm a biology student and am looking at things in a purely scientific way) and Scarlett's developed a taste to rolling around on surfaces. They're still very third grade about romance but they're getting towards an age where hormones won't ask them what they want.



See how hard it is to be a cat in my house? tssk, we really aught to cut them some slack, those poor little babies.

Sam likes water. He really loves water. He'll sit for hours with his chin in the water, leaning on the water bowl (we joke he's waiting by the water hole for the antelopes and gazelles to arrive...), plods around in the balcony when dad's smoking after it rained and getting his precious mitts muddy. Lately he started investigating the toilet bowl. After he grew big enough to no longer be in danger of drowning, we stopped closing the lid and he started exploring the new 'fountain'. I heard raggies are dog-like, but this is ridiculous! Anyways, here's him by the kitchen faucet.






*Shamelessly showing off teh BF with Scarlett* Scarlett's really taken to my BF as he to her, but it's only because the little fur devil's an attention hog and will come fluff up to him shamelessly. When the BF reaches for Sam the little guy either runs or stays for a pet or two like a good little doggy.


It's a hard knock life, for them


Cats have to always look dignified. Always!. Here's Scarlett looking perfectly dignified in a bag.


"What's funny, lowly human?"


Sleeping little devil princess




Be weary of the godly glow from Sun!cat


Unlike Scarlett, Sam's completely ignorant to the magic of sun beams. Never saw a cat who could resist the sun, but Sam is a remarkable cat. He'd rather spend his time on the bathroom floor, where it's cool. It's pretty cold here lately yet he refuses the treat of the sun, maybe he's just too hot in all that heavy fur. Who knows. Here's Scarlett in a sun beam.


Sam's "come hither" pose


Here's a cat from my university, standing on an original pole from a roman-time temple which is a part of the small archaeological garden bit the university has there. But the cat's more important. I approached the little fluff ball and scratched the base of its tail and it started licking the air and moving his head funny, making passing-by students look at the two of us funny (I was standing on tip-toe and grinning like an idiot)


Scarlett on the printer. Her ears look bigger than they really are in this picture; her ears are actually quite tiny.


And now, Sam interrupting my research project's work and general computer faring by wanting belly rubs. He's really clingy lately, probably because I'm spending a lot of time in university and with the BF and he's missing me (aww, sweet little bunny)


Belly rubs!!


Belleh rubs!


Gimmi belleh rubs or I won't let you type! (and kill you with teh cute)


Thus ends another episode of Sam and Scarlett's horrible, rough life.

Semester so far & Book report

Semester stuff: How's the semester so far? Just fine, I'm waiting for the shit to hit the fan on some of the subjects but things look pretty OK so far. Animal Behavior is damn facinating, Genetics is cool, Biochemistry A and Animal Physiology's boring but tolerable, Experiment Analysis and Microbiology Lab is fine.
Unlike last year's lazing about (from ignorance of what tests are like in uni, not intirely out of laziness) I'm summerizing classes twice a week to stay in touch with the material and, also, there's far less material than last year's semesters.

This semester's favorit lecturers are the Biochemistry A proff and the Experiment Analysis lecturer.
Biochemistry proff is an israeli arab (because, aparently, we don't really treat our arabian citizens in aparthide style...) with an endearing sense of humor and a compassionate heart for the students facing his material's complexity. He knows when to gives a break when we're getting too sleepy and treats student questions with philosophy and respect where other lecturers would snob them out. Another respectable thing in the guy is the fact that when he doesn't know the answer to a student's question he'll just say he doesn't know.
Experiment Analysis is basically a course where we take a subject (the Ligioners' desease' bacteria for my group) and try to slowely patch together a do-able, reasonable experiment. The lecturer starts each class with a problem ("how to find which kind of mutant the ligionella bacteria you recieved in the mail today are") and shoots down our sprouting, green ideas like an expert AA battery ^_^ better him teach us the art of making reasonable research suggestions than our future professors, says I (from bitter experience...). The lecturer has a heavy stutter which he reins into control by focusing (and often slips when he's distracted) but he's still giving the classes with a sweet humorous atmosphere and a lot of brains. Fascinating stuff.

Book report: Finished reading Steve Jones' Almost Like A Whale. Damn wonderful book, honestly. I started reading it a little before the strike ended and was immediately glad for the little treasure box ofchances to refresh last year's ecology and taxonomy material. You'll find everything in Jones' book; ecology, evolution, genetics, microbiology, bacteriology, history, poetry, logic. Jones' style is wonderfully readable and elegantly addictive but most of all, it's simple and informative with a healthy dash of good, sharp humor. With very, very little mindless judgment to anyone (not even the 'monster' of creationism as so many american scientists are rediculously buzzing about) every argument for and against evolution is well represented, dealt with and explained in deep but not boring details. There wasnt a dull moment in this book and it managed to keep my attention without lapsing into petty anecdotes or meaningless detail scattering. A great, highly recommended book alltogether.

Next on my reading list: Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game which beloved boyfriend got me (*squee*)

And now an update: L'Oreal and Unilever decide to remove shark liver oil from their products now if only L'Oreal would completely stop experimenting its products of animals, I'll be its happy consumer.

The two news pieces I promised...

1. I got fired after a small, silly, bitchy tackle with a coworker to a shift who was also themanager of night team, but which was based on a very deep and annoying problem. I have work ethics so I don't talk on the phone while I'm supposed to stay available to answer costumers' calls, and I try to stay by my work station in case I'll miss a call. Said coworker and manager had a habit of having private conversation on her line so that all the calls kept streaming to me and when she wasn't at that she'd talk on one of her own cell phones and not notice calls entering her computer thus ending up getting to me etc. On my last shift the pressure of calls was phenomenal and she chose the wrong time to be bitchy about me needing to answer even more calls (I answered twice her ammount by then) instead of using the relative calm in calls to eat my dinner.
Also, two months ago I covered for their asses by staying to do a double shift until the next morning because the guys who were supposed to replace us stood us up. On the morning after I was praised and promised a big bonus for that act of niceness by two of my bosses but two months later and there's zilch from them.
Screw them, I can find better places and I have better things to do now.

2. SCHOOL'S BACK!! Last friday the lecturers finally signed a reasonable agreement with the ministry of treasury and the strike is over! Aw, man, how I missed my faculty...I even missed the toilet <3 it seems the semesters will be shortened by two weeks and some substance diducted but also we'll be learning 6 days a week and not just 5 as usual. My faclty has yet to give us the year's new time table so I'm still happy and optimistic but there are high chances that I might have to postpone some of my choice labs (invertebrates and variational bugs labs, most likely) to next year when you're supposed to complete all your choice labs and classes.
But most importantly...SCHOOL'S BAAAAAAACK!!