The author struggles with illness while trying to meet deadlines, emphasizing the challenges of self-employment.
Recent bad weather added stress, but the author appreciates being able to work from home safely.
Despite her health, the author commits to fulfilling blogging responsibilities and updates readers on upcoming projects.
The author announces a book signing at the Denison Library Book Fest and promotes her upcoming comedy show, ‘Lend Me a Soprano.’
The author encourages reader engagement through comments and subscriptions, highlighting her expertise in pet behavior.
Working Despite Coughs & Crud
Meeting deadlines, from the boss or your own inner task matter, can add to the stress level especially when under the weather with illness. For the past week, I’ve battled the “crud” with congestion, fever, coughing, aches and more. Apparently, everything from the flu, pneumonia, colds and any combination thereof have afflicted many of my friends here in North Texas. I sure hope you dodged the bug!
To complicate matters, Mother Nature threw a tantrum last weekend and delivered 6 inches of sleet and ice, topped with snow. It looks gorgeous. And I’m very grateful both my husband and I could continue our work from the snug, warm safety of our home without venturing onto impossible/impassable roads.
When you work for someone or a company, there’s always a bit of “wiggle room” built in, and you can call the Boss to say you’re just not able to attend to business and need a sick day. But that doesn’t happen when you work for yourself. It reminds me of that commercial playing these days, where the parent tries to tell the toddler, “I need a sick day…”
When you work for yourself, that just ain’t happening.
So those of us who are self-employed limp along and do our best to fulfill commitments. I don’t remember the last time that I forgot to post a blog on time. When I speak too long, it triggers a coughing fit. Gallons of hot tea (with honey) seem to help but there’ve been a couple of days I wanted to unscrew my head to get rid of the yuck and the painful breathing/choking/coughing trifecta.
I’m a bit better today. And I promise, you can’t catch my “bug” by reading the blog, it’s not that kind of virus, LOL! I did want to update y’all on my must-do-projects I worked on despite the brain-fuzz-icity.
Book Signing Appearance
I’ll have a table (and lots of BOOKS TO PAW-TOGRAPH) next Saturday February 7th at the Denison Library Book Fest. Y’all come! Oh, and just FYU you may not immediately recognize me because I’ll still wear part of my costume (A 1934 wig I’ve named “Lucy”) from the evening’s performance. Read on!
LEND ME A SOPRANO
Next weekend we open for a three-weekend run of a side-splitting comedy LEND ME A SOPRANO. Because of the ice storm, I had lots of unexpected time to concentrate on the script. But because nobody could get out on the ice, we lost a whole week’s rehearsal time. Last night, we rehearsed via ZOOM and continue to pray the ice melts enough we can gather for onstage rehearsals again to play catch-up.
Hey, the show must go on! Our cast is brilliant, so I’ve no doubt we’ll rise to the occasion and hope y’all come out to enjoy the laughs we all need–and deserve during these times. Here are the details:
I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter.
Stay up to date with the latest book giveaways and appearances related to my September Day pet-centric THRILLERS WITH BITE! Amy Shojai, CABC is a certified cat & dog behavior consultant, a consultant to the pet industry, and the award-winning author of 35+ pet-centric books and Thrillers with Bite! Oh, and she loves bling!
It’s one of my favorite times of year. My book DOG LIFE includes fun Halloween and dog myths and superstitions. These are fun spooky stories to shiver over, but loving dogs and dispelling myth-teries should happen all year long.
Take a look at how many of these spooky dog stories from around the world sound familiar even today. Of course, you want to keep all your pets safe over Halloween. But it’s sure fun to read about ghosties and goblins, especially of the canine kind. More of these fascinating tales can be found in my book DOG LIFE: Celebrating the History, Culture & Love of the Dog.
Here’s a bit more of the interior–and yes, that song is from our show STRAYS, THE MUSICAL. *S*
Dogs As Gods
Some very early religions worshipped both the wolf and the dog. They appeared in creation fables or as fantastical creatures with supernatural powers. In South America, early people believed that human life was first released from the underworld by a dog scratching up at the earth from below.
Religions of several ancient cultures held that the passage between this world and the next was guarded by a huge dog. The Icelandic goddess of the dead is Garm, the Dog of Hel. Anyone who fed the needy while on earth will find bread in their hand with which to bribe Garm for safe passage.
The sacred book of the Persians (the Avesta) tells of a rainbow bridge guarded by a yellow-eared dog whose bark drives out the fiend from the souls of the good. Wow, ever hear of a Rainbow Bridge? *s*
The dog has also acted as a spiritual guide. At one time in Greenland, children who died were buried with the head of a dog. Dogs were a trustworthy guide into the next world.
To the early people of Mexico, the dog was the symbol of the “fire from heaven” (lightning) that upon striking the ground opens the way to hell. A pet dog was killed when its owner died, and its body was placed beside the body of its master so that the dead person could safely reach the other side.
Good Luck & Bad Luck Dogs
Cerberus, a three-headed dog of Hades, fawned on those who entered and devoured those who tried to escape. Cerberus (in the picture above being wrestled by the hero Hercules) had the head of a lion, wolf, and dog, with a mane of writhing snakes, a dragon’s tail, and a Mastiff’s body.
Hindu folklore holds that a dog walking between pupil and teacher nullifies the day’s lessons. To hear barking dogs predicts depressing news. And the baying of a dog foretells a death.
But if a black dog follows you home, good luck is sure to come after. And to dream of a black dog or to see the likeness of a dog in the fire are both signs that a friend is near!
Dreaming of dogs means a variety of things. Dreaming of traveling alone with a dog following you signifies steadfast friends and successful undertakings.
And dreaming of a friendly white dog is an omen of early marriage for a woman. And a dream of swimming dogs predicts happiness and fortune.
To dream that a dog snuggles up to you indicates great gain and constant friendships, and a dream of owning a fine dog indicates future wealth.
A favorite dog legend…
Shawnee Legend: Our Grandmother and her dog live close to the Land Of The Dead, where she weaves a basket. When the basket is finished, the world will end.
But each night while Our Grandmother sleeps, her little dog unravels the day’s work…and buys us a little more time.
I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter.
Stay up to date with the latest book giveaways and appearances related to my September Day pet-centric THRILLERS WITH BITE! Amy Shojai, CABC is a certified cat & dog behavior consultant, a consultant to the pet industry, and the award-winning author of 35+ pet-centric books and Thrillers with Bite! Oh, and she loves bling!
It’s one of my favorite times of year. My book CAT LIFE includes fun Halloween and black cat myths. These are fun spooky stories to shiver over, but loving cats and dispelling kitty myth-teries should happen all year long.
An early color mutation of wild cats was the solid black color–and also was apparently associated with cats being “friendlier.”
Take a look and keep a tally of just how many of these spooky cat tails—and tales—from around the world sound familiar even today. Of course, you want to keep all your pets safe over Halloween. But it’s sure fun to read about ghosties and goblins, especially of the feline kind. More of these fascinating cat tales can be found in my newest book CAT LIFE: Celebrating the History, Culture & Love of the Cat.
NOTE: Due to the #$%^! pandemic, shipping of physical books come with delays so order NOW for holiday gift-giving. Shoot me an email if you’d like me to send you a paw-tograph to insert into a special gift. *s* In fact, the hardcover version is on sale here.
Here’s a bit more of the interior–and yes, that first voice singing is MOI… from our show STRAYS, THE MUSICAL. *S*
Egyptians loved and revered all animals, and considered many to be emissaries of gods. The large wild cats including leopards and lions represented virility and power, but the common housecat came to be worshiped as a god of pleasure and happiness. Called alternately Bast, Bastet and Pasht, this human-shaped goddess (with a cat head) rose to prominence in the ancient city of Bubastis, and her temple cats (much like the one sleeping in your lap) were considered emissaries of the goddess.
The name “Bast” can be translated as “the tearer” or “the render” which referred to the goddess’s nightly battle with the sun’s mortal enemy, the Serpent of Darkness. Bast was symbolized by the moon—which waxed and waned like the cat’s eye—and each day when the battle was won, the sun rose again.
Egypt’s cats were protected and cherished by the priests, and each whisker-twitch and tail-dance was carefully interpreted as messages from the goddess. Because they were so sacred, other countries took advantage of the fact. The Persian King Cambyses II had his soldiers use kitties as shields, and because the Egyptians refused to risk hurting a sacred cat, they offered no resistance and the battle was lost.
Cats Revered Around The World
Buddhist, Burmese and Siamese cultures had similar beliefs as the ancient Babylonians that cats served as sacred vessels for human souls to attain paradise. When a holy person died, the cat hosted the spirit for as long as the cat lived, and then carried the human soul into Paradise when the cat died. Wow, maybe that’s why my Siamese wannabe Seren-dipity has such a high-and-mighty c’attitude.
Cats in Japan were greatly honored and in AD 600 served as guards to precious manuscripts housed in pagodas. They believed a cat crossing the path was good luck. Cats were valued so highly in the 10th century that common folks weren’t allowed to keep cats. Only noble families were granted that privilege.
In early Ireland, a cat-headed god was worshipped during the 1st century AD. Black cats crossing your path was considered good luck during the Middle Ages in Britain, and a black cat was also supposed to be able to cure epilepsy. Scandinavia also celebrated animals in religion. Freya, the Viking goddess of love and beauty, rode in a chariot drawn by “the most affectionate of all domestic animals, the cat.”
Cats As Demons
The gods and angels of earlier religions become the demons of later ones. So since cats had been celebrated by early civilizations, they became the scapegoats of ‘modern’ religions.
A Medieval legend recounts that the Devil tried to copy God and create man, but only managed to produce a sorry, skinless animal—the cat. St. Peter felt sorry for the pitiful creature, though, and generously gave it a fur coat—its one and only valuable possession.
Hebrew folklore prompted the legend that cats steal an infant’s breath. The story may have stemmed from tales of Adam’s hated first wife, the vampire Lilith. She assumed the form of a gigantic ebony cat called El Broosha, and newborns were her favorite prey.
Cats became associated with witchcraft and the devil during the Middle Ages in Europe and suffered greatly. Tales of feline familiars were common. In Europe and early America, black cats became linked to the devil and evil and were feared, because black was the color of the night and darkness—hence the devil.
Black cats deserve to come out of the shadows and into our laps!
Why Cats Get Blamed?
Because of the cat’s unique sensory capabilities, feline behavior foibles have given cats a bad reputation. Cats were thought to influence the weather, especially storms at sea. Today we know that felines can detect changes in barometric pressure, silent earth tremors that announce future earthquakes, or yowling just before a loved one dies.
Superstitious people found it easy to blame the cat as a cause of disasters, rather than celebrate kitty’s unique detection skills at predicting such things. But that doesn’t make the cat’s mysterious abilities any less extraordinary.
Today, some cat haters continue to point fingers particularly at feral cats. It’s up to responsible cat parents to take proper care of their feline family members (including community cats!).
I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter.
Stay up to date with the latest book giveaways and appearances related to my September Day pet-centric THRILLERS WITH BITE! Amy Shojai, CABC is a certified cat & dog behavior consultant, a consultant to the pet industry, and the award-winning author of 35+ pet-centric books and Thrillers with Bite! Oh, and she loves bling!
The book also won a special award. The Dr. Jim Richards Cornell Feline Health Center Veterinary Issues Award Winner,Sponsored by Cornell University’s Feline Health Center. It’s presented to the highestquality entry on the topic of technological advances, research, new medical developments, or innovations in feline veterinary medicine. Qualifying entries include single newspaper, magazine, or newsletter articles; columns or series of articles (print or online); blogs, a website, single books, or radio/television broadcasts. The award consists of $500 and a commemorative award.
This Cornell award is named for someone very special to the CWA and to me personally. Dr. Jim Richards was always available to me (and many other writers) whenever we had need of an expert quote or explanation of feline issues. He gave so much of himself, and was one of the inspirations for creating CWA, and Jim even gave the keynote banquet address some years ago at an awards banquet. At the time, he presented what was then called simply the Cornell Feline Health Center Award.
And then, Jim tragically died in a motorcycle accident. We presented him posthumously with the Shojai Mentor Award, because he did mentor so many of us. So this past weekend, to have my book honored with an award presented in his name…well, I’m rarely speechless but this nearly did it. 🙂
I have LOTS more to write about the happenings at the 22nd Annual CWA Conference events…but that will have to come later. With about 30 pounds (no joke!) in swag from CWA, BlogPaws and wonderful vendors, my Magical-Dawg, Seren-Kitty and Karma-Kat are in for a wonderful treat! Stay tuned.
I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest book giveaways and appearances related to my September Day pet-centric THRILLERS WITH BITE!
Amy Shojai, CABC is a certified cat & dog behavior consultant, a consultant to the pet industry, and the award-winning author of 35+ pet-centric books and Thrillers with Bite! Oh, and she loves bling!
WOW! That’s all I can say at the moment. My blog FAKING IT: about scammers hurting legit service and emotional support animal services, has been nominated for a BlogPaws NOSE-TO-NOSE AWARD.
I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest book give aways and appearances related to my September Day pet-centric THRILLERS WITH BITE!
