a wink is as good as a nod to a blind cat

ok, so.....long-time with no blogs.....there is plenty to blog about, but most of what is going on in my humble existence is embargoed information, either with regards to work, or family, or some form of denial on my part......that said, i have concluded that the cat's pitiable decline is fair game, so to speak.....the cat's eyes started out looking bloodshot, with dilated pupils and an eerie appearance.....the child most likely to be concerned about pet health insisted that she be taken to the vet and all manner of treatment be afforded her.....alas, the cat is at least 14 years old, scraggly and scrawny.....and while emotions may nudge at lifesaving heroics, reality suggests that making her safe and comfortable in her decline is the kindest thing we can do....and so we pick her up and bring her back in the house when she wanders, and nudge her in the general directon of the door when she runs straight into the wall....this has happened more than once, and it is painful to watch......she sometimes misses the plant shelf in the guest room where she takes her meals, or just barely gets her paws hooked on the edge and has to drag herself the rest of the way up.....our poor precious......

reflections on handedness....

ok, so.....the nytimes had an article on handedness this week...one that i have read more than once in hopes of finding clarity.....here is a curious quote....The percentage of left-handers in the population seems to be relatively constant, at 10 percent. And this goes back to studies of cave paintings, looking at which hands hunters are using to hold their spears, and to archaeological analyses of ancient artifacts. So though there has been prejudice against left-handers, and though there may be some developmental risks, said Dr. Geschwind, “there clearly must be advantages as well. The reason why it maintains that way, nobody knows what it is.”

clear advantages to be in the bottom 10% of the population? hmmmm.....i am at a loss for what those advantages might be.....

for the record, i write (poorly) with my left hand, eat with my left hand, and as i sit typing my coffee is at my left hand......if it were the evening, my wine glass would be at my right....i use regular scissors, bat and hold a racket with my right hand......i type with 2 fingers...mostly...sometimes 4 but only if i make an effort and concentrate on the task....i wear my watch on my right wrist....a sure giveaway of handedness......it is a struggle to actually put on a watch, as my left hand is less agile with small tasks....

in my current work day i must 'sign out' at lunch on a board that can only be reached comfortably by a right-hander.....and so i have made it a point of pride to write 'walking' or 'rotary' or 'lunch' in vaguely recognizable block letters with my right hand......and i am in awe that i hold the marker as awkwardly with that hand as i hold any writing implement in my left hand.....could it be that i have no handedness at all? or is my state of ambidextrousness the product of a scrambled brain?

i mentioned at the start that i often reread passages for clarity.....reread entire books numerous times in hopes of gleaning a few extra insights.....could i simply have a learning disability relating to reading that has been overcome by sheer will and persistence? I have rarely read the printed word in novel form since i discovered how to click an order and download a novel to my iphone.....i find a level of satisfaction with the spoken word that i can never recall achieving with rereading the written word.....does this have anything to do with a brain muddled by handedness?

having had my say on personal handedness issues, where do i go from here?.....nowhere different than before my 'rant'.....i suppose...though it will be interesting to see how senility will express itself in terms of handedness....will i simply forget how to hold a pen with my left hand and start using the right hand? will i forget how to use my left hand for fork-ready foods and stop eating altogether?.....or could the advantange of left-handedness be the ability to roll with the punches of senility in a way unknwon to the righties?....hopefully these revelations are years away....and i wil have plenty of time to muddle through with my muddled brain in the meantime....