Double D Kitty

I realized tonight just how blind I am. I was taking a shower without my contacts in and had left the bathroom door partially open. (don't worry....this is a G-rated story). Through the steamy glass I could see my black cat "Minuit" (Midnight in French) sitting outside the shower waiting for me, as he sometimes does. So I began talking to him (as I sometimes do). This went on throughout my shower. Eventually I shut off the water and stepped out ----to discover that the black cat I was talking to for the last 15 minutes was actually my black bra which I had dropped on my way into the shower. So my very thought-provoking talk with my cat was wasted on lingerie. But as it turns out--- my bra is a very good listener. I guess I just needed to get something off my chest~ (and no need for concern.....you only need to worry if the next time you see me I have a black cat strapped to my breasts)

in a steamy room, I somewhat resemble a black bra....now if only this warm spot would quit moving around.

It's just another day for you and me in paradise....

You may be wondering: Why would anyone go to the Auschwitz Nazi death camp while on vacation? Vacation should be fun, relaxing, and joyful---right? I agree. However, I also feel that it is important while on vacation in a foreign country to get to know the people, the history, and the culture. So, while I was on vacation in the beautiful town of Krakow, Poland, I took a side trip to visit Auschwitz---the largest of Nazi Germany's concentration and extermination camps.
I have read books about the Holocaust, seen movies, and have even been to the former concentration camps in Dachau Germany and Mauthausen Austria and have visited other places related to the Holocaust such as Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam, the beaches, cemeteries and museums in Normandy and the Jewish quarter and cemetery in Prague, Czech Republic. All of these places stir something inside me ... a feeling that seems strange yet familiar, like it was there all the time, just below the surface, waiting to rise up and boil in the pit of my stomach. And when it hits your head you become heavy and nausea grips you tightly as you fight to keep it down. In these places you become claustrophobic and even afraid. At Auschwitz I felt all of this tenfold. Auschwitz was the Nazi's largest extermination camp. At least 1.1 million people were killed at Auschwitz. The trip to Auschwitz was one I will never forget. By coincidence, the day I went to Auschwitz happened to be the 20 year anniversary of the first free election in Poland. Suffice it to say there was much to celebrate this day, after years of Nazi and then Communist rule. This ongoing celebration was a stark contrast to what awaited me at Auschwitz. I knew it would be grim, but I was not prepared for the horror that I would experience. I use the word "experience", because that is exactly what it is. You do not simply visit and "see" Auschwitz. You smell it, you taste it, you hear it screaming, and you definitely feel it. I doubt that you can fully take in what I am about to describe....but try to imagine some of things the Nazis left behind--a room filled with 80,000 shoes---mens', womens', childrens', and babies' shoes; Shoes of the dead--the murdered. Try to envision a room full of hair--two tons of hair; hair still braided, hair with decayed ribbons tied at the ends. Now try to imagine that this hair was used to make fabric; fabric for Nazi uniforms. If you are feeling somewhat nauseous right now, try to imagine standing in that room with the hair in front of you, and a sample of fabric laying there next to it. Try to imagine that a quarter of a million children were murdered there. Right there. In the very place that you are standing. Try to imagine that a doctor came to this place and did medical experiments on other humans, especially children who were twins.
I understand that there are people who claim that the Holocaust is not real, that it did not happen, that it was fabricated. While at Auschwitz I thought about this. And I wanted to believe them. I desperately wanted to believe that none of it was real, that none of it happened. I read somewhere that humans are the only species that kill each other in war-like situations. This is not entirely true. War (systematic extermination of another group of the same species) has been observed in chimpanzees and ringtailed lemurs. I would like to think that we are much more evolved than chimpanzees and lemurs. But it seems that in this respect we are not.
At the end our visit, our Polish guide stated that Auschwitz has been made into a museum and preserved so that visitors (over one million a year) will learn about what happened there and never forget---so that we don't ever allow this to happen again. I reminded her that it has happened again---that genocide is occurring at this very moment in Africa. And yet somehow, we go about our lives, giving it barely a thought most days. Ironically the term genocide was coined in 1943 by the Jewish-Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin who combined the Greek word "genos" (race or tribe) with the Latin word "cide" (to kill).
I should add that the trip to Auschwitz began with a bus ride. The song on the Polish radio station played "Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins. I found myself singing along, recognizing the poignant significance of the lyrics---And I wondered if anyone else on that busload of people was thinking how fitting the song was for a bus trip to Auschwitz~
She calls out to the man on the street
sir, can you help me?
Its cold and Ive nowhere to sleep,
Is there somewhere you can tell me?
He walks on, doesnt look back
He pretends he cant hear her
Starts to whistle as he crosses the street
Seems embarrassed to be there
Oh think twice, its another day for
You and me in paradise
Oh think twice, its just another day for you,
You and me in paradise
She calls out to the man on the street
He can see shes been crying
Shes got blisters on the soles of her feet
Cant walk but shes trying
Oh think twice, its another day for
You and me in paradise
Oh think twice, its just another day for you,
You and me in paradise
Oh lord, is there nothing more anybody can do
Oh lord, there must be something you can say
You can tell from the lines on her face
You can see that shes been there
Probably been moved on from every place
cos she didnt fit in there
Oh think twice, its another day for
You and me in paradise
Oh think twice, its just another day for you,
You and me in paradise

Letter to David, from David's dog (via me)

Dear David:
Get me out of this damn sweater!
1. as you can see by my expression .....i am not amused. in the future try to be more in tune to my body language.
2. could you have PICKED an uglier garment????!!
3. do i look i need a sweater....perhaps you haven't heard of it....its' called FUR!
Thank you
Lucy

Poland

I am back from Poland~ wow! Nazis, Communists, and then .....McDonalds. You've come a long way baby. Na zdrowie!

When I snap my fingers, you will.....

I recently had my second hypnosis show in Brussels. It was my best show so far with FANTASTIC volunteers! Here are the highlights (names have been changed to protect the innocent):
*I have everyone grab the sides of their chairs........and now--"Your hands are stuck to the chair!" Then I ask them all to switch seats. Craig and Rick tried to move by taking their chairs with them.
*"You have now lost the ability to sit down!" Then I instruct them to have a seat.....and the fun begins.
*"Each time I say the word 'hand', you will feel as though someone has pinched your ass....." Then I ask the audience to give them a HAND, and then I ask to shake their HAND, etc.
*"I have a tray of delicious, sweet, juicy oranges (actually lemons). And you are so thirsty and these oranges are going to taste so sweet and good, you are going to love them! When I say the word 'pizza'---you will realize that you are actually eating lemons not oranges." They then begin grabbing lemon pieces off the tray and gobbling them up.....til I say "pizza"............then they spit out what they are eating. (Craig asked for a napkin so he could wipe off his tongue)
*"Every time I say the word 'hot' you will become warmer and warmer....when I say the word 'cold' you will become colder and colder".......Rick took off his shirt, then when I said "cold" he tried to put it back on but Janet wanted to put it on and grabbed it. And they began a tug of war with the shirt. When Rick finally got his shirt away from Janet, he put it on ....backwards. And wore it like that the rest of the night. In the meantime Kathy and Craig were huddled together for warmth.
*"You now have some very sticky candy in your mouth. It is very gooey and sticky and it is stuck all over your teeth and the roof of your mouth. It will be very difficult to talk, but you will want to answer my questions." (their efforts to talk were hilarious!)
*"Now you smell a very disgusting smell. It is someone in the audience. You need to go out and figure out who it is.....don't worry--they don't mind if you get close and sniff them."
*"There are hundred dollar bills all over the floor....you get to keep whatever you can scoop up....you will want to stuff them in your pants, shirt, etc." They begin running around grabbing up imaginary bills. (I had to stop this part of the show when Craig and Kathy began fighting over the "money")
*You have lost your belly button. Go out in the audience and look around for it.....ask the audience some questions ---maybe they can help you find it. Rick to audience members: "Have you seen my belly button? It's this color (points to his skin on his arm). I really need to find it---my mother gave it to me." Kathy: "Hey---I know you two people have my belly button! I was sitting in this chair earlier, right here where you are sitting, and I had it then!"
*"When you hear the music medley, you will dance in whatever style music is being played. You are in a dance contest so you will want to use your very best dance moves." I then play a series of music.....disco, ballet, country, Irish riverdance, heavy metal.....(the ballet was the best when Craig began twirling and then leaping through the air)
*I have them take off their shoes and I place them in a large pile in the middle of the room. "Your shoes are now phones. When you hear the phone ringing you will run to the phones and try to find the one that is ringing. You have an important call so you need to find the right phone. (ringing sound begins) They all run from shoe to shoe picking them up and saying "hello", til the ringing stops.....then they have their "important call". (Kathy had a job interview and Craig was talking to his Commander)
*"You are in a band and you are about to play to thousands of screaming fans!" I then hand out a blow up guitar, wooden spoons for drum sticks, sunglasses and wigs. When the music starts---they play!
Thank you to my wonderful volunteers~ without you there would be no show!