C. (Comment, never msg).’s Comments (group member since Jan 30, 2014)

C. (Comment, never msg).’s comments from the Gentle SPECTRUMS group.

Having a conversation or line of comment means much more. Thank you for weighing in. Innocent Boston joggers were victims only about two years ago so you have seen and felt terrorism fairly close to your town. Our city was the murder capital of Canada. I hope they have lost that standing.

As for the short speeches of each of our leaders greeting one another so warmly and comedically; they are really worth reading so I hope folks do! Especially non-Canadian friends who could probably do with a little information and insight to Canada. They are a fast, yet informative read.

Anybody would get a lot out of any of these books. Ah yes, our favourite: cat leading us to food or door but not wanting food or the outside. If we aren't paying attention to their silent telepathic request; this is their only way to lead us somewhere they know we always follow.... despite on these occasions, needing something else. It's why just learning their language comes in handy!

It is worth knowing that JUSTIN TRUDEAU, his Mom MARGERET TRUDEAU, wife, and children visited Barack and Michelle Obama's family last week. I had heard Barack and our former conservative goverment leader weren't close. We finally ousted Stephen Harper after a 9-year reign (Canada places no limit on re-election). It still surprised me to hear that last week's visit represented the first time a Canadian leader has been invited for a state supper, in twenty years! Here is a great article giving the text of each leader's very funny and heart-lifting address!

Dial-up internet users cannot watch or download video with ease, so I am grateful this site offered the text of these wonderful toasts. My favourite moments are when Barack says "We're going to have fun but not too much, because the Prime Minister used to be a bouncer"! And Justin Trudeau's defense of Justin Bieber, saying "The kid has had a great year. Only a Canadian could make a song called "Sorry" into a hit! Don't know Canadian politics? Now's your chance: with this easy to absorb, entertaining moment. http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottaw...

* I extend regret, condolences, and outrage at the injuries and deaths in Belgium today! Terrorism has to stop. The mature-thinking, strong-hearted world will not stand for it.

It was a good day, especially given that I didn't go anywhere to do anything. I had a couple of e-mails I was anticipating with positive answers I hoped. A book I really want is on sale at Amazon.ca. If a second one I want most goes on sale too, I'll get them new instead of used. Excitement for me! :)

I didn't take pictures of the kitties because you don't know how long they stay still in a group so I just enjoyed a cute moment. I put St. Patrick's day hats on four of them, having four hats. They were loose and fell so that they hung at each kitty's chest. When sitting tall they looked so cute and dignified with green caps at their breasts! Had a nice phone call with Mom. A day of special little moments. When Ron got home we had Irish cookies together and ice cream coated in Irish cream liquor.

The landscape is beautiful. It suddenly snowed March 16 and has a heavily frosted look everywhere. I did take photographs of our property like this! I am glad you participate in St. Patrick's day too. Living near Boston, wow: you sure would! Am I stuck thinking of "Cheers" or are they really famous for having many English-style pubs?

As the creator of Celtic Coasts and someone who has Patricks in the family: I must wish all of you HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! I wear green on this day, play Celtic music, and exchange a card or gift with my Mom. Dad enjoys treats too even though he is not Irish. This year we gave them the gift of.... potatoes! We have a lot on hand from last year; it only happens to be thematic. :)

Today is a lucky day for Irish so let's use it well!

That's what I've been saying for three e-mails and several months. :) Just look and then it's like you're giving me Christmas time anew! Then if you ever get to your list, you bet I would be thrilled to see what's in it. I was hoping you'd trust me and get cracking. LOL. Do you use Fantastic Fiction to see if titles belong to series, etc? We expect some titles to be unfamiliar until we look them up, decide if they're interesting. That's the site I use for fiction.

Regarding reading groups: when I say "groups", I don't mean a chat group like this one unless I specify, I promise. This one happens to be an extra arm to my blog's reading challenge; some people just conduct the challenge over here instead of commenting there. However lest anyone else wonder: when I say "group", it is as a synonym to "challenges"; because challenges certainly are reading groups. At least the way I invite conversation and activities is! :)

That being straightened out, the three books I described above would fit both the "animal" category of the group "Gentle Spectrums" and "Ethereal" too. They are non-fictional, very real concepts but so is much of the wonder in our world non-fictional, isn't it? :) They fit that less-visible, less-known category in which we would find spirituality, telepathy, and our non-physical senses. For animal people, the information we find in them feels like an answered prayer. It is even more important for non-animal people to see what's inside these books. They are highly worth reading because they change the way we look at the world after we do.

If folks should be interested in books that give testimony to our animals' sentience, here are some that changed my life. Like "Goldilocks": there is a small, medium and large introduction, depending on level of skittishness! LOL! If the equality of life would be new to you, the first introduces lightly. There is a medium and thorough book. "Animal communication" is dear to my heart. It proves animals speak, not just body language. "Telepathy / intuition" is why cats aren't sitting together meowing. They vocalize for people, after they see that we missed their first language: intuition! We do receive it, without knowing a name for it. It is a muscle born in all of us we can exercise. Many times, we know what our pets want or need and were pushed to attend to something for them. It is awesome to experience personally.

Easy introduction, lol! "Kinship With All Life" J. ALLEN BOONE (1954)
Medium information - "Your Psychic Pet" RICHARD WEBSTER (2002)
All in- "Straight From The Horse's Mouth" AMELIA KINKADE (2005).

Here is a touching personal blurb explaining why Richard wrote his book. http://www.richardwebster.co.nz/Home/...

Erin, your e-mail is answered. Same nutshell I've explained since the previous two: there is no need for a post office trip. A Canadian Amazon certificate (.ca) to cover just the postage is good enough for me! :) If I happen to need anything on your list when you get around to it, great. Let's see if I can earn any help from what's on mine. Besides, it would suck to hold my list this long, to reach an anti-climax where you don't want anything off of it. Hahaha! I share with a couple of other friends willing to trade via book orders, or personally-mailed books. With your job as it sounds, it must be reassuring to know you needn't be troubled with a post office.

To anyone else who might enjoy exchanging lists of books we don't need by e-mail: AlyshaeB@hotmail.com. As my reading challenge group participants know: I love gifting, giving them away, awarding, and trading my boxfuls! Yours truly, Carolyn.

I was glad "Night Of One-Hundred Rabbits" was a fluke, out shortly after 1970. Barb did botch the end of "The Dead Sea Cipher" in a cowardly way but the journey was fantastic. At least when I gave the awful adventure in México one star, I explained very specifically whence it derives. I didn't whine like so many coments I read, that the 1970 novel is "different than a usual mystery goes". That's a talent! People who don't like anyone colouring outside lines and ignoring moulds, are where our society goes wrong in most cases. She does make that commentary via the unsatisfying ending to her novel but I wish she had let the wonderful rammifications play out.

I just finished the standalone "The Dead Sea Cipher", 1970 and you have to ignore the one-star complaint feedback some people left, because I loved it! If only she hadn't botched the end, I was gearing up to give it four stars at least. In the last three pages, a very stupid and unsatisfying ending! Otherwise a wonderful adventure, never boring, through famous Biblical archaeological sites. An author who could clearly tell us what they were, while weaving a mysterious chase around it.

I think snakes and spiders would want to run away. Nice place to live if you have that phobia; places where yours actually bite! I allow spiders to live in our house because their webs catch mosquitoes, when it's mosquito season. If I see them, I carefully scoot them across the floor so they don't get stepped on. Clearly someone used to no insects being dangerous where we live! Black bears would also prefer to run away. We once beheld a gorgeous, large Mother with three cubs! She started into our east field with them but as soon as she heard our enthusiastic voices at the window, she veered them into the woods.

:) It really is special to walk down a snow trail, to empty our compost pail across the field or something. Then turn around, because I left the backdoor ajar, and call: "Kitties! Kitties"! Noses peek around and quickly trot after me. I love it. I miss Love doing that with us but his white sister and all the rest of the family still follows after me in a parade. Like you see there. Today was +18C! All of our property's trails have melted into wide patches of grass and pussywillows are already visible.

Actually anything mystical at all; even those animal communication books I recommended in the vegetarian discussion "Ms. Nose In A Book" wanted me to invite. There's nothing fictional about that but much of the magic in our world and universe is very real. :) Oh, other than the thrill of meeting you and your cat of course; don't get me started on what's to see in Florida!

The ocean. Lighthouses. Whales. Dolphins. Sunken treasure. Seashells. Disney World!!!! NASA!!!! I'm torn about "Sea World" type places. I oppose with every breath, taking animals away from their wild. How awful is that. But if they are injured or orphaned wildlife helped there, perhaps in-house temporarily.... I'd love to see those acquatic faces up close. Oh! Used book stores! Mine can't keep up with what I need from my list.

By that statement: unfortunately it still isn't understand. It **definitely** has to be you and maybe I'll fly over there and shake you. LOL. "ETHEREAL" IS ABOUT ANYTHING REMOTELY PARANORMAL, SPIRITUAL, OR MAGICAL. "Blends" or "right ones" is a misnomer. This group **is** the spiritual, magical, paranormal. NOTHING excluded. Fiction, non-fiction, young, old; the whole special trait of this group is that it is the very first one to include all possibilities. Please say you understand by now or I'll need to go and lie down. ;>

Thank you for your well wishes! I would love a record at the blog page, to keep and read again. If you visit, I have been eager to hear reactions to the kitty photographs I share, especially the one from which my blog's banner originates. :)

Kristianne mentioned make-up. There are countless ways to dissolve unethical practices, separate from food. What we buy is a vote, a message to suppliers about what is in demand. Ron & I look for a rabbit logo on shampoo and conditioner, or the words "Not tested on animals". If that guarantee isn't there, then sadly they do. We will not buy those. You can search "animal testing companies" on-line and print it. Take it to the store to avoid those companies. Not accepting real fur or leather is plain. Let us know when you have found animal-testing company lists to print for your office or home.

Whether or not Vixxie is your first dog, what a wonderful feeling to look at them and get that clarity and confirmation: they are alive and understand us! Since my twenty-one year old who ascended in 2003, I have seven kitty sons and daughters with me together; one unfortunately gone from instant heart failure a year ago. I have our other six and there is no aloneness; indeed these are real lives who communicate and with whom I exchange joy. I knew a long time ago they understand everything I say and saw the comprehension in their eyes. I have always spoken to animals and recall one of my Grandmas doing so, in full sentences. It was making the food connection to cows etc, that took time. I'm satisfied at vegetarian level because I am not eating a corpse or voting with my purchase at the grocery story, that I request any creature's demise. I tell you, I cannot stand walking past lobster and crab tanks. For anyone who doesn't know: "vegan" means no animal products; "vegetarian" declines to eat the animal themself. However I know dairy factories aren't always kind and aren't always alike so that is a worthy consideration. However the first decision has to be what we are willing to eat. Mom has always found margarine less expensive. What I did try that steps further than vegetarianism, is soy milk. Now dairy milk tastes off to me. So the only thing left that separates these nouns is that I am not picky about cheese or ice cream that I consume anywhere. If this is as far as I ever go, I have made a tremendous difference to animals and my conscious. The message truly is that it does not have to be "all or nothing" when we're wondering how to help. But you can buy non-dairy cheese and ice cream too if you are in a city; which we are no longer.

Kristianne said something I resonate with: that why we turn to vegetarianism/veganism makes a large difference. People who do it because they no longer consider animals edible are least like to turn back, of course. Who wants someone's body on their plate? People who try it out for nutrition reasons might revert, because there isn't an ethical issue you have changed your mind about. One of my neighbours has a hunter boyfriend! A topic I step carefully away from because as I said, animals are as good as people to me and no matter what laws and the world approves; I see it as hunting people. Anyway he watched "Forks Over Knives" or similarly titles; one of many resources that describes what crap the North American food industry sells our people. They were vegan about three years and I have heard they stopped, because they found it too expensive. He does not know animals have souls. He ticked me off by disbelieving animals understand what we say: something I know more about than anything! Unfortunately my neighour does what he does. It would be nice if she stayed vegan.

What we eat is so fundamental, it is easy to revert to how we did it before, if it our viewpoint on what constitutes food doesn't change along with our menu. If we do, it's easy. I have one brother who thinks I'm a beatnik and a neighbour made a "vegetarian" crack. Otherwise people are supportive and polite. Kudos for going it alone and your husband eating only fish! I am accepting that Ron fishes, an excursion he enjoys. It's the closest thing to hunting I could bear and he knows we are able to be a couple because he is not into any other form. Like your man, he tried the veggie beef and other meatless meat tcoming into our home and found preferred it to formely live meat! He read food industry literature (even though he grew up on a family livestock farm) and couldn't bear cruelty to calves. When I used to occasionally choose veal at a restaurant thousands of years ago, I didn't know it meant baby cow! Even then, I never touched it again upon that knowledge. Ron decided on his own and I couldn't have been more pleased. When people come over, we say nothing and offer a great variety of food. After they tell us how much they love it, we explain it meatless meat. It is very easy to buy if you look. Jews need meatless food in various occasions. :) Thank you for sharing!

By 2007 I had joined "MySpace". At first to follow my youngest brother who had moved, then to find animal groups who might patronize the greeting card company I launched in 2006. I learned rescuers are out-of-pocket! Instead of customers of my creations, I received information and education. This is always the key to banishing erroneous impressions. I discovered "my one barrier" from an angle I hadn't expected. It dawned on me that if eating animals meant blocking out what is done to them and if I would never do those things myself nor could ever tolerate watching: there was something wrong with that. I stepped outside the habit of my upbringing and asked: who does something they need to block out?

I stopped eating the remaining animals: chickens and turkies. An unbelievable sign, endorsement appeared three days later! I worked downtown, near our cities busiest intersection; an infamous one. It is a place of pavement, not of wildlife other than house sparrows and pigeons. All of a sudden there were turkey sightings downtown! One in the tree, outside the building where I worked! She stayed three days, I photgraphed her. She became a card in my collection, with a verse dedicated to her. Most importantly: I got to see a turkey up close, eye to eye. Observe for myself how intelligent and unexpectedly beautiful she was; colourful actually in the light. I have also learned that turkies are deeply bonded to their families and have specific cries to locate each other if chicks lose sight of their parents and siblings. For the first time in my life, I was able to look her in the eye as an equal; knowing I did not eat her kind.

People and restaurants lack the education to serve the abundance of alternatives they could but I never looked back. It is up to us to educate, request options befitting 2016. I believe it is a faux-pas to assume someone eats (formerly) live meat, as much as it is rude to presume a couple is traditionally married. If you are hosting a fundraising barbeque, PLEASE INCLUDE VEGETARIAN HOTDOGS / HAMBURGERS and advertise that you are doing so! Do not presume no one wants them. Most vegetarians (or other people with diet needs that veggie meat accommodates) are unaccustomed to speaking up. We usually accept a bag of chips with a sigh. If vegetarian alternatives are not offered at a wedding social or fundraiser you attend, please say you would like them to include it next time. That stops anyone from declaring ever again: "no one has ever asked before". Whenever anyone says such a thing, I reply: "Now someone has. See you next time". If anyone asks why, my easy quip goes like this: "If it has a soul, I don't put it in a bowl"! I have always considered animals equals in life worth. Now my plate matches my heart and I have never been more glad to make a change. This is a short version of my story. I hope you like it and that it is beneficial. I am happy to clarify or elaborate based on questions and conversation that now emerges. :)

The easiest way to tell my story is that despite being raised in a meat-consuming family, I have always loved animals with all of my heart. Same for many of us. There are some who farm, hunt, or chefs accustomed to dressing down an animal but not I. Most animal lovers could do no harm but simply grew up eating meat. We block out of our minds whence it comes. Remember that film "City Slickers", where Jack Palance tells Billy Crystal that everyone has "one thing" that is the key to our happiness if we discern what it is? I have found as an animal lover that there was one thing stopping me from approaching food the way my heart embraces animals: "What else am I supposed to eat"? I was never a salad fan. I was a city girl in a hardiness zone 3 Canadian climate. We can only grow food summer and autumn and did you know that in winter, there are absolutely no insects?

Grocery stores were a way of life for too many of us. Store lettuce and other produce has no flavour. I used to think people who ordered salad were hippies. How do you get excited about that? The error? Vegetarianism is not about eating salad! It solely SWITCHES the source of ONE FOOD GROUP. Any recipe that has meat, can be replaced by veggie meat; available at grocery stores. Tacos, pasta, soup, hotdogs, hamburgers; there are even meatless chicken nuggets. See at the store for yourself and taste for yourself. The funny and impressive thing is: I didn't know that when I began sparing animals, starting with fellow mammals! I just could no longer regard them as edible. I didn't know what else I would eat. The answer is: nearly all the same things as usual!

In 2003 my twenty-one year old cat passed away of natural causes. (I'm not even a practitioner of 'euthanasia'!) So long was our close family relationship, that she had been both a sister and a daughter to me. She was more bonded with us, communicative, sentient, and intelligent than I have time to describe. When she died by my side one night I had quite a spiritual experience and it changed me. She undeniably has feelings, intelligence, and a soul. Why consider other animals a product? Oddly it was the second or third season of "Survivor" that taught me it doesn't have to be all or nothing.

I'm not a fan but watched one show because the radio station where I worked held a live game of "Survivor" in my city. A woman refused to eat a cow's brain. When offered a worm, she exclaimed: "I can do that! It isn't a mammal"! Perhaps others remember this show. That made a difference for me. There was still plenty to eat at anyone's house or restaurant and I spared mammals for three years. [To be continued, especially with evidence people are reading this story].