Pocket Puma on the mend

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AS YOU KNOW, the semi-official beast of Dissent is Sunny the Cat, aka Sunny Girl, Sunny Bear, Weasel, and the Pocket Puma.

Sunny is marvelously stunted; she’s less than six pounds of semi-feral cat. Nevertheless, for seventeen years—that’s right—she’s been absurdly healthy.

Now, she’s ill. I had to take her to the vet, which I hate to do, cuz these visits always take something out of her. To a creature like Sunny, a visit to the vet is much like Bushian rendition.

She had to stay at the Hanoi Hilton for two days. They stuck her with an I.V. and who knows what else.

When I sprung her, I learned that, probably, she’s got a kidney infection, not kidney failure.

Probably.

Predictably, the visit weirded her out bigtime. She was pretty confused and upset. But, by this morning, she was almost back to her usual weaselly self, and I let her out to dart around like she does. She loves to be out in the wild.

Here are some pics of her morning adventure.

And, oh, Sunny says "hey."

Something way cool this way comes + Let's maximize gayness

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SOMETHING way cool seems to be happening with Irvine’s “Great Park.”

According to an article in Thursday’s OC Register, two subprojects have been provisionally approved, and they're humdingers:

…The Great Park Board unanimously decided Thursday to make a nearly 3-mile-long wildlife corridor and Agua Chinon, a stream currently covered by runways at the former El Toro Marine base, the next major elements of the Great Park....

"We're creating something here that in future years will be looked at with awe," said Michael Pinto, vice chairman of the Great Park Board and founder and president of the Laguna Canyon Foundation.

The wildlife corridor will provide a vital link for animals between the Cleveland National Forest and the Coastal Hills Preserve, Pinto said....

...Ken Smith's design team will now get to work on construction-level drawings for the Agua Chinon project, which involves uncovering one of the natural streams that is now diverted under the El Toro base in clay pipes, concrete culverts and tunnels….

…Even though Agua Chinon must become a flood control channel, designers want it to look like a natural stream. Plans call for trails and bridges along the stream and possibly kiosks educating park visitors about the stream's restoration.

…The initial project will connect the corridor to the Cleveland National Forest, but not the southern coastal open space…Great Park Engineer Pat Fuscoe said the corridor will still function without the southern portion. He said animals will be able to travel under train tracks to find a small wetlands area.

…Corridor construction will begin this summer and is expected to take two years…Nine people came to Thursday's meeting to praise the corridor plans–some calling it an "act of courage."…But some environmentalists prodded the board to continue supporting the corridor by both completing its southern end and by adding a more diverse and rich array of plants and trees.

—I know, I know. It would be much better if they stopped building homes—home construction is an important part of the Great Park's grand plan—and encouraging people to move out here. Yep.

There are too many people, I say. People are fucking everything up.

Let's get small. Let's punctuate the Earth, not overwhelm it.

I'm doing my part. These days, I'm advocating homosexuality. I don't happen to play for that team, but I do see the advantages, growthwise. If we maximize gayness, we will help address the "humanity as a cancer" problem, and we'll do it in a very, well, humane way.

You know, maximizing gayness is just letting left-handed kids be left-handed. It's nice. Plus it's good to the future.

It's a win-win.