Blog

Posted on

RBG

This summer, my friend and I went to see a documentary about Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  It was very good and I found it tremendously moving.  The news of her being hospitalized after a fall last week brought her again front-of-mind.  Today’s post is a little-bit less about RBG the documentary and more about RBG the hero for women’s rights.

The older I get, the less that I take for granted the rights that we women have. The fact that the 19th Amendment was only ratified in 1920 is astonishing enough, but I really had no idea how recently so many of the rights that I take for granted were established.  And how much we as women owe to Ruth Bader Ginsburg for securing these rights for us.

The documentary took us through her life, starting with her childhood with a devoted mother who was very invested in her daughter’s education.  Ruth Bader went to Cornell where she met Martin Ginsburg and after she graduated they got married.  She was accepted to law school and it was socially acceptable that she went only because she was already married. She first attended Harvard (with Marty), but completed her degree at Columbia because he had graduated and was hired by a firm in NYC.  RBG graduated first in her class from Columbia.

She was the first woman on both the Harvard and the Columbia Law Review.  In spite of her outstanding credentials, in her words, “Not a law firm in New York would employ me…I struck out on three grounds: I was Jewish, a woman, and a mother.”

These were considered acceptable reasons for denying someone employment in those days.  At least part of the reason that those reasons are no longer acceptable is thanks to her work.  Ironic, no?

RGB became a professor of law at Rutgers in 1963 and co-founded the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union in 1971.  In that capacity, she brought six gender-discrimination cases to the Supreme Court. These cases were strategically selected to systematically establish a framework of anti-gender discrimination legal precedent.  In the seminal case, Reed v. Reed (1971), RBG wrote the plaintiff’s brief. The Supreme Court ruling in that case extended the protections of the 14th Amendment to include women.  Ok, so what?  Ok, so the 14th Amendment was the outcome of the Civil War, yes?  Basically, it says that all citizens are entitled to equal protection under the law, right?  Ok, so UNTIL 1971 THIS PROTECTION WAS UNIFORMLY INTERPRETED BY THE COURTS TO NOT EXTEND TO WOMEN.  Is it just me or is that a big deal?

She was appointed to the Washington DC circuit court in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter. What surprised me when watching the movie was that she wasn’t appointed to Supreme Court until the 1990’s!  She was the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court.  Ever.  In 1993.  Are you kidding!?! No, that is for real.

Not a one-dimensional legal justice crusader, RBG is an interestingly, multi-dimensional woman (aren’t we all?).  Fun facts about her include: her love of opera; that she shared that hobby with her good friend and philosophical opposite, Antonin Scalia; the collection of collars that she wears with her judicial robes, in particular, the Dissent Collar (here is a good image that I found online); and her hard-core workout routine (you too can have a body like RBG!).

I was happy to learn that RBG is back at work.  Should we credit her workout routine?

Posted on

Unsolicited Kitten Advice

I met a nice woman on Nextdoor (the app where you learn just how awful most of the people in your neighborhood are) who was looking for some equipment for the new kitten she is adopting.  So, I messaged her offering her some things and tipping her off about the great pet-stuff selection at Marshalls (seriously, if you are looking for cat scratchers or pet beds, go there!). She was bringing home a little 6-7 week-old kitten from a litter that someone rescued and raised until they were big enough to go to homes.  So nice!

Anabel and Sally, 7 weeks

When she came by, I asked if she would mind if I gave her some unsolicited kitten advice and now, I have new kitten protocol on the brain.  So, I’m sharing my top “do’s and don’ts” on bringing new kittens home with you guys to get it off my mind.

You’re welcome.

*Caveat: I am NOT a new kitten expert and none of my new kitten advice is groundbreaking info.

  • Keep your new kitten in a restricted space. Your new kitten doesn’t need free-range of your house and neither of you are going to be happy about it if you start off that way.  Set up an area with all the things your kitten needs: food, water, litter box, bed, a few toys.  My kittens liked sleeping in their travel crate when they first came home.  Having it out and easy to get to was helpful when they were going to the vet every couple weeks.
  • Play with your kittens in their “room” and when you bring them out into the rest of the house, keep them with you. After Anabel and Sally were pooped out from playing, I would bring them out to cuddle and nap on me while I watched tv (they like watching golf).
  • Hold and touch your kittens a lot. Touch their paws, their tummies, their faces.  Be gentle but persistent.
  • Keep an eye on them when the are using the box. When Anabel and Sally first came home, they couldn’t clean themselves.  So, I would use a wet washcloth and give them the momma cat treatment.  Clean kittens = happy kittens and happy pet parents.
  • You can use a wet washcloth to keep their face and paws clean too (maybe not the same one that you just used to clean their bum). Go ahead and give then a full wipe down, it’s an easy cat-bath.
  • Trim their nails! They will be fussy, but if you start when they are little bitty, they will quickly get used to it. Do it weekly.  You will be so much happier in the long run.
  • People fingers are not toys. Do not play with your kitten using your fingers instead of a toy.  If you do, you are teaching them that you are for pouncing, attacking, and biting.  Pulling a toy mouse around by the tail = good playing.  Teaching your kitten to chase your finger = bad playing.
  • As your kittens grow you can start expanding their “area” slowly. Even after they had free-run of the house, we still put Anabel and Sally in their room when we weren’t home and at night.  Eventually they let us know that the gate we were using wasn’t fooling anyone, but it at least gave me a sense of comfort to think that they were in a controlled area when I wasn’t there to supervise their shenanigans.

I’m very excited for my neighbor and so happy for this poor kitten to have a good home.  I hope that they will have many happy years together!

Anabel and Sally, 6 months

Posted on

Stretching Helps

Here’s the thing, flexibility is relative.  People are just put together differently, and some people are just more flexible than others.  And some of it has nothing to do with muscles.  Tendons and ligaments impact joints’ range of motion.  And some joints, like hips, have a lesser or greater range of motion because of the actual skeletal structure of the joint.

But everyone can benefit from stretching.  Think about it like stretching allows the muscles to support a joint’s optimal range of motion rather than restricting it.  Think about it like everyone can stretch to their optimal capacity but your optimal capacity and mine are not necessarily the same.

For better AND worse, I am naturally very flexible (worse because hypermobility can strain joints).  Being flexible does help make stretching more enjoyable for me.  It’s something that I can feel like I’m “good” at even though it has nothing to do with my goodness.  That being said, I am no where near as flexible as I once was, and some stretches that used to be pleasant are uncomfortable these days.

Back in the day, stretching was an integral part of my day.  Not just the stretching before/during/after dance class, but something that happened during hanging around the house time (while watching TV and especially before going to sleep).  I remember one time either during or just after college when I was visiting my family.  My brother and I were hanging out having a conversation about something and I decided that it was a good time to stretch my back.  Apparently, it is unusual to carry on a conversation with someone while contorted in that way and J was a little surprised.  Well I tell you, if you don’t use it you lose it!  The last time I tried to do that stretch, I couldn’t get close.

While I would love to think that I’ll get back to being able to fold myself in half again, I don’t know that I am up for putting the kind of time in to get there.  And I feel like that is ok for where I am in my life right now.  But I am going to try to start making a point of getting up and getting a quick stretch in here and there throughout my day.  I’ll start with some easy forward folds and see if I can’t work back up to something more interesting.

Remember when instead of saying “forward fold” we would say “touch your toes”?  I’m a fan of this evolution of the nomenclature.  Because “forward fold” allows for so much more variation in the position.

I tend to like to move through a few different styles when I’m doing this stretch.  My favorite variation these days is with bent legs and resting your chest on your thighs.  Then it’s not about hamstrings, but more about your back, neck, and shoulders.  I’ve even gotten Mr. Man to do this sometimes when his back is bothering him.  Because it helps!

Posted on

Deconstructed Chicken Pot Pie

Who doesn’t like chicken pot pie?  I like it enough that I don’t mind making it from scratch.  But, I am not great at winding up with something with the perfect filling-to-crust ratio and at some point, there are just a few too many steps for my liking.  So, I decided to make a “deconstructed” chicken pot pie.  I would make the filling and then make biscuits separately.

I thought about looking for a recipe, but decided to wing it.  Two recipes that I have made before and like are Wolfgang Puck’s Chicken Pot Pie (https://wolfgangpuck.com/recipes/) and Ina Garten’s Seafood Gratin (https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/seafood-gratin-recipe-1953985).  I decided to riff off of both of them for the filling.  For the biscuits, it was mom’s classic biscuit recipe of course.

Here is what I came up with:

Chicken Pot Pie Filling:

  • 2 cups of leeks chopped (about one leek – I got the cleaned, packaged leeks at Trader Joes)
  • 2 cups chopped celery (since the leek was 2 cups, I based the rest of the veggies off of that)
  • 2 cups of chopped carrots
  • 2 chicken breasts, cubed
  • Oil (I used canola, olive oil would work too)
  • White wine (few splashes, maybe ¼ cup?)
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • ¼ cup flour
  • 2 cups milk (I used whole milk this time, you can also use part milk, part chicken broth)
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Herbs de Provence

In a skillet (I used cast iron) heat enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan over medium-ish heat.  Add the leeks, celery, and carrots.  Sauté vegetables until they reduce by approximately half (5 minutes-ish).  Add dash of salt.  Add splash of white wine, continue to cook for a few more minutes.  Once everything looks nicely softened, remove from pan (I just had a mixing bowl on the side to put things in to hang out).

Then throw the cubed chicken in the pan.  Season with salt, pepper, and a dash of herbs de Provence (if you want, I have a thing for thyme these days and like to use it whenever I think I can get away with it).  Once the chicken is cooked, remove from pan (I just stashed it in the same bowl with the veggies).

I had found a zucchini in the refrigerator, so I sliced it up and threw it in the pan to sauté for a few minutes too.  Mushrooms would be good too.  So, if you add any extra veggies, once they’re cooked, remove them to your storage bowl.

Then throw the butter in the pan.  Once it starts to melt, sprinkle in the flour and get your roux going.  This should pick up all the good bits that the sautéed veggies and chicken left in the pan.  Let the flour cook for a few minutes, then add the milk a bit at a time (I did not warm my milk first, which does make the roux seize up, but it will smooth out after it warms up, just keep stirring).  Add some salt and pepper to the sauce (it might have been fun to add some paprika or cayenne here…maybe next time).  Once the sauce is warm and starting to thicken, throw the chicken and veggies back in the pan.  Add fresh peas (1 cup?), stir to combine and let it sit there on low/medium low heat.

Now you can throw the biscuits together.

Mom’s Classic Biscuit Recipe

Preheat oven to 450.

  • 2 cups flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1tsp salt
  • 6 tbsp shortening (I used unsalted butter this time)
  • 2/3 cup milk

Sift dry ingredients together.  Blend in butter or shortening.  Add milk.

Once the dough comes together, turn it out on a floured surface.  Roll it out (I just mashed it out with my hand).  Use a biscuit cutter (or a glass) to cut the biscuits.  Place on baking sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes (they will be pale, but should be slightly golden on top).

 

 

I served the filling in a bowl with the biscuits on a plate on the side.  I had 2 tablespoons of butter from the stick that I used to make the biscuits with, so I whipped up a little batch of honey butter (yum!).

Overall, I think it came out really yummy.  I could have cooked the vegetables more, they were a little crisp, but I liked the fresh crunch with the creamy sauce.  It certainly is a lot more steps than sheet pan dinner, I don’t think that I would like to go through this much bother every week.

Posted on

Neighborhood Art and Walking

There are always so many wonderful activities in our neighborhood. Generally, I neglect to take advantage of any of them. Fortunately, one of my neighbor friends is good at making the most of these opportunities and she invited me along for an open studio tour in our neighborhood the other weekend.

I had no idea how many working artists there are in our neighborhood.  We visited just a few of those closest to us.  Our adventure was also a great chance to get my steps in for the day – bonus!

It was so neat to get to meet these neighbors, be welcomed into their home studios, and learn about their work.

One of the artists we visited is a well-known architect (I recognized his name, but I can’t remember it now of course) who is retired and now makes whimsical found-object art.  Many of his pieces incorporated beer bottle caps.  I told him about the beer bottle caps that I have been collecting for a project that I haven’t started yet. He was genuinely interested and made me promise to come back next year with photos.  So now I have a deadline (which is SO helpful for me).  Don’t worry, I will be blogging about this project once I get around to it.

At another stop the woman told us about how she decided to create “love” themed artwork in order to bring more love into the world. She decided that she would create one piece of “love” themed art every day. I thought that was a very nice idea.  Most of her pieces are fun hand lettering doodles, some more elaborate than others.  It was interesting to see the volume of work she created around just this one idea.  She told us that she found it also served as a mindfulness exercise to remind her to be loving in all her actions daily.  It served as a touchstone for her.

I thought it was very loving when she asked us both what kind of art we make.  Before, I would have muttered some lame excuse that I used to be a dancer, and draw and paint a long time ago, blah, blah, blah.  I have to tell you guys that I had a shiny feeling in my heart when I told her that these days, I was focusing on my writing and that I had started a blog.  It was special for me to be able to have a definite answer about how I’m directing my creative energy.  I still have too many ideas about things that I would like to be creating, but at least now, I have one thing that I have committed to doing regularly.

This woman also had a whole series that she had created on one-inch squares of different kinds of paper.  She said that it was inspired by a time that she didn’t feel like she had time to create art daily.  She decided that she always had at least enough time to create 1” square of art and that some days that would be enough.  When we were leaving, she gave us both a handful of squares and told us that we could also find enough time, energy, and motivation to make 1” of art.  I’m looking forward to designating a week to try it out and will be sure to share the results with you when I do.

I don’t know what the favorite part of this adventure was for me.  The top things that come to mind are:

  • Meeting new neighbors.
  • Looking at different, interesting artwork.
  • Being inspired and encouraged to create my own work.
  • Spending time walking/talking with my neighbor friend.
Posted on

Six -Month-Old Kittens

Anabel and Sally turned six months old yesterday!  I threw a huge party with cake and a bouncy house and pony rides.  Just kidding.  I’m not that crazy…yet.

They were just seven weeks old when I brought them home and now, they are nearly grown up kitties, I can ‘t believe how fast the time has gone.

They were so wobbly when they first came home.  Climbing into the litter box was a big challenge. These days they fly from one end of the house to the other in two or three bounds.

The internet says that a six-month-old kitten will be about half the size/weight of the cat as an adult.  Yikes!  Sally is already huge.  We haven’t been back to the vet since they got fixed, but he is probably close to 10 pounds.  Oh man, we’re in trouble!

They are still growing into their ears (and their paws). Their cat coats are coming in and they just keep getting fluffier every day.  For a while there they had lost their kitten fluff and were starting to look like short haired cats.  With very hairy feet.  However, Anabel is pretty much all fluff these days.  Sally has a beautiful plume for a tail.  He is still sort-of sleek on top, but the fur on his back is getting noticeably longer and I think that once his undercoat comes in, he will be as fluffy as the best of them.

 

I am especially thrilled that they keep getting sweeter as they are growing up.  Sally comes running when I come home from the gym and Anabel will spend hours and hours sitting on Mr. Man’s lap when he gets home from work.

 

 

Happy half-birthday my sweet fluffy loves.

Posted on

Good Morning Habits

I sure hate this whole changing the clocks thing.  I really, really wish that we didn’t do it at all.  But if we’re going to have to “fall back,” I’m going to encourage you to take advantage of this week to put that time to work for you.  If you don’t have an early morning habit and want to start one, this is the week.  Now’s your chance!

Caveat: you will probably wind up wanting to go to bed an hour earlier (aka, your usual bed time before the time change) too.

If you want to try to get up an hour earlier to work out, here is my advice: KEEP IT SIMPLE.  Trust me, you can get out of bed, but you don’t want to have to do a lot of thinking after you do.

First tip: set out your gym clothes before you go to sleep.  Just make a little pile (don’t forget your socks and sneakers) somewhere near your bed.  If you put on your gym clothes as soon as you get out of bed, it’s a deterrent to climbing back into bed.  Also, have your gym bag ready to go – water bottle, headphones, cycling shoes, yoga mat, grippy socks, whatever – you don’t want to be looking for/collecting these things when you’re just waking up.

Next: get out quick.  Brush your teeth, grab your gym bag and get out the door.

Last tip (or actually, this probably should have been the first tip): know what you’re going to do when you get to the gym.  You already know that I’m a fan of group fitness classes.  More reasons why: 1) they happen at set times, so you know when you need to be there; and 2) someone is going to tell you what to do when you get there, so you only have to be awake enough to listen.  Also, you usually have to sign up ahead of time and there is usually some sort of penalty for no-showing, which can be motivating on those days when turning the alarm off and rolling over seems like the better option.

If you aren’t interested in starting an early morning work-out habit but you do want to start meditating or journaling or eating a healthy breakfast or one of the million other things “first thing in the morning” options that you haven’t tried to start doing yet, this is your week.  Pick one.  Try it.  Starting your day by doing something for yourself is a wonderful gift.  Maybe you decide that the best gift you can give yourself is that time in bed,  that’s ok too.

For me, I feel like my “first thing in the morning” list is long enough.  Sure, there are more things that I would like to do like meditate, or drink hot lemon water, or read the news (ok, well maybe this is a good one to keep not doing). But, going back to my main point, it’s better to: KEEP IT SIMPLE.  When something becomes important enough to me, I’ll find time in my day to make it happen.  In the meantime, I’m going to protect the small habit that I’ve established.

Do you already have an early morning routine?  What gets you out of bed?

Posted on

Shopping, Etcetera…

Disclaimer: this is not a paid endorsement

There is something to be said for a no-nonsense clothes shopping experience. I have become an almost exclusively online shopper because I just can’t be bothered to go to a store anymore.  That being said, there is something wonderful about shopping in-person, you get to discover different things, touch the fabrics, and notice the details of things that you would miss online (I recently ordered and then immediately returned a jacket that I was SURE had ¾ sleeves, it didn’t, the model just had really long arms – oops!).

The main things that I am completely over in terms of in-person shopping are 1) digging through racks to try to find your size in something; and 2) standing in line to make a purchase (really, you expect me to WAIT for the privilege of giving you my money?).  It turns out there is a better way…

My friend Liz McCann is one of the most down-to-earth, fancy ladies I know, and she has found a wonderful way to give busy women a convenient, efficient, and personal shopping experience.  Now, it helps if you have a big enough house to be able to turn your formal living and dining rooms into a showroom for a week or so four times a year…hey, I told you that she’s fancy.

shopping at Chez Liz

pretty scalloped piping on black slacks

Liz sells a clothing line called Etcetera.  To be honest, it is a little pricy.  But the clothes are nicely made, and every piece has some beautiful, surprising details.  Each season’s line is organized and coordinated to create various capsule wardrobe options (it is sort-of like Garanimals for grown-ups). When I shop with her, I am usually looking for just one or two pieces special pieces to give my wardrobe a pick-me-up and I always seem to find a treasure.

 

 

 

this embroidered coat would make leggings and a t-shirt acceptable anywhere

Shopping at Liz’s house is fun.  You get the whole showroom to yourself and can try everything if you wanted to.  Liz will get you to try things that you wouldn’t usually consider. And she will be honest when something just doesn’t work. Even though she has limited sizes in the samples, she knows how the line fits and has never steered me wrong when she’s advised me on what size to order (any of the times that she told me that I need a smaller size).

 

 

This is a trouser jean with racing stripes. The windbreaker has this pretty sleeve detail (it’s cuter on, trust me).

The clothes that I’ve bought from Liz are the pieces that I reach for when I needed to look professional, pulled together, and be comfortable.  I am also going on the record to admit that I have machine washed all sorts of things that I’ve gotten from her that said to dry clean and none of them came out any worse for it.

 

 

 

Liz currently has fall/winter in house until November 5.  If you are feeling the need to shop, shoot her a message at emccann1976@gmail.com and I’m sure she’ll fit you in.  You can also ask her to add you to her list and she will let you know when  she has the spring collection in house (February 2019 sometime).

Posted on

Frankenstein 200

Frankenstein is such a fixture of popular culture.  Growing up, I thought that I “got” Frankenstein because I had seen Mel Brook’s Young Frankenstein and The Munsters.  It wasn’t something that I was interested in beyond that.

Then in 2017, San Francisco Ballet premiered a new, full-length story ballet, Frankenstein.  It was a wonderful production and offered a different take on Dr. Frankenstein’s creature than what I was used to seeing.  This creature was cunning and lonely – he was seeking out his creator who had abandoned him. We left the theater that evening with my carrying on and on about how that was “great art!”  The performance was nuanced and interesting and it did a great job of telling the story efficiently. Because every element of the production supported the story; and because it was evocative rather than pedantic (that is one of my pet peeves in story ballets).

When the 2018 season was announced, and Frankenstein was coming back, I was thrilled!  I decided that I wanted to read the actual book before I saw the ballet again and I loved it.  I really loved the depth of the actual source material.  The “daemon” (Mary Shelley’s word) was really kind of a super hero (my analogy) – he was unusually strong and all of that, but he was also exceptionally intelligent.  He didn’t want to be a scary monster, he wanted to be loved by his creator.  He didn’t know how to speak when he was “born” but learned how and educated himself. When the “creature” finally confronts his creator, he is eloquent and thoughtful in expressing his anguish and desires.  Mary Shelly’s daemon is not the Dr. Frankenstein’s monster of popular culture and it’s too bad that this distorted interpretation has become so ubiquitous because the original is so much more interesting.

But friends, it is no coincidence that San Francisco Ballet was producing a brand-new, full-length story ballet based on Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus (the official title).  It just so happens that 2018 is the 200th Anniversary of the book’s publication!  That seemed google worthy and guess what, there are a lot of folks out there making a big deal about it.

Frankenreads is an international celebration organized by the Keats-Shelley Association of America.  They have 628 partner organizations (mostly universities) in 43 countries to hold a series of events and initiatives in honor of the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.  The signature event of the initiative is an international series of readings of the full text of the novel on Halloween 2018 (today!) including one at the Library of Congress.

That’s fun, but I still have to go to the store to buy candy for the trick-or-treaters, so probably will have to skip it.

On Lit Hub, I found out where the Frankenstein of our popular culture originated: In 1823, Richard Brinsley Peake produced a theatrical adaptation called Presumption! or, The Fate of Frankenstein.  Mary Shelley attended the premiere and let’s just say that she wasn’t impressed.  The theatrical adaptation took many liberties that are commonplace today: Peake reimagined the monster as mute and gave Victor the now legendary line, “it lives!” As these amendments were repeated in many subsequent adaptations, they became accepted as “authentic” elements of the Frankenstein story.  I’m really disappointed in you, Richard Brinsley Peake.

Posted on

Ticked Tabbies and You

Mr. Man and I are firm believers that brown tabbies are the best cats (even though brown tabby is a color and not a breed and probably doesn’t really have anything to do with a cat’s “personality”).  And even though our kittens are brown tabbies, their coats are very different from our previous cats.

Every cat that I have had has been a brown tabby.  My childhood cat, Tailer, was a classic tabby with big swirly stripes on his sides.  Our precious Emma was a perfect Mackerel tabby, she had distinct, symmetrical stripes.  Clementine was a mackerel tabby with a Maine Coon style coat (she never got huge like a Maine Coon though).

Sally and Anabel both are not as distinctly striped as our previous cats. They have the classic tabby “M” on their foreheads and are clearly striped on their legs and head. As their coats are starting to come in the stripes on the sides of their bodies are developing, but if you look at them from the back, you don’t really notice their stripes at all.  What you notice more, especially on Anabel is more just salt-and-peppery speckles.

This is my stripey arm

Because Mr. Man and I are obsessed with our sweet kittens we spend a lot of time examining their cuteness and researching various kitten things.  One evening, after an extensive conversation about their markings, I started researching.  It turns out there is something called a “ticked” or agouti tabby.  Ticked tabbies may not have a defined stripe pattern on their body, but each individual hair is striped.  Agouti refers to the gene variation that produces the banded hair pattern.  Our other cats would have a dark hair with a light tip or the other way around, but on Anabel and Sally their hairs have alternating light and dark bands all the way along (I tried to take a picture).  Ah ha!  We have ticked tabbies!  That is much nicer than thinking that we have poorly striped tabbies.

True ticked tabbies’ coats have a sandy appearance and no noticeable stripes at all.  Apparently, this is a common “color” on Abyssinians (which our kittens very clearly aren’t).  I also noticed that the squirrel that startled me when I was on my way to the laundry room earlier has a ticked coat. So apparently this genetic mutation is not exclusive to cats.  Just thought you’d like to know!