Owning a Kitten

Owning a kitten can be very fun, but can also, almost literally, be a pain in the ass. I have owned numerous cats throughout the years, each one with a distinct personality. One thing has always remained the same, though, and that is that kittens are easy to raise but are very annoying. These are pictures of my most recent little terror, Rampage. A few months ago, my boyfriend, Josh, left to boot camp. I couldn't keep our 3 1/2 year old cat, Pumpkin, who I've raised since birth, because I don't yet live on my own (Damn being a broke college student!), so we had to give Pumpkin away. It just so happened that Josh got injured and had to return home two months later. A month after Josh returned home, we were talking about getting another kitten because we missed our old cat Pumpkin. We decided to find someone who was getting rid of kittens from a litter, our way to prevent more animals needlessly being put down due to overpopulation. We found a woman nearby and picked up little Rampage. Joyfully, we dropped him off at home and ran off to the store to buy things for him. When we got home, we saw that he had been chewing on everything within reach. So it began! I've dealt with this stage several times before: the kitten. The little ball of terror that never leaves you alone. As a positive side note, to those considering a kitten, litter training is typically VERY easy. Back to my kitten, he's been chewing and eating every thing he has found. Each morning, I get waken up by the pulling of my hair and the claws digging into the back of my neck. When I walk to the another side of the house, Rampage digs his claws into my ankle and I end up dragging him with me. When I sit down, he jumps on my lap and scratches the hell out of my arms and legs. Sometimes, I become to freaked out about the idea of claws and teeth digging into my flesh that I have to take a minute to remember this: he's only 8 inches tall. This is the positive in my review. While most kittens can be complete nightmares, they aren't like that all of the time. Besides what they consider play time, they divide the rest of their day among exploring their surroundings and sleeping. Kittens are very playful by nature, so when they nip at you when you are rubbing their bellies, they aren't really angry, they think you are playing with them (they are angry about that when they get older!). At this stage, it's also to be noted that kittens will attach themselves to you. They usually want to be around you a lot and this will continue into adult hood, just less active. A few quick fixes (varying in price) to the scratching are getting another kitten for them to play with (won't stop all of the scratching but will keep them occupied), getting cat toys (again, just to keep them occupied), getting a cat emory board (it will file down their nails), a nail filer (they sell these in home goods store "as seen on tv", I wouldn't suggest nail clippers), or, as a slightly more pricey but permenant method, have your kitten declawed when old enough (usually about a few months old). The cost for the kitten is fairly cheap, litter running from about $2 to $15 depending on quality and amount, litter box about $5 to $10, cat toys about $1 to $10, and food about $4 to $30, again depending on quality and size. The other costs that come with a kitten is the vet visits. It's important to keep up to date with their shots and registrations, and you should invest in spaying/neutering to prevent pregnancy. Overall, cats are great pets, just be patient. They eventually grow out of the kitten stage and become calmer. Make sure whoever lives in your house can be patient and gentle on the kitten and that your other animals, specifically dogs, are good around cats. Have fun with your new pet!


Britt

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising

By: Joshua

This is a military based game. It focuses on the battlefield lifestyle of a United States Marine. The game uses real Marine tatics and terms, along with weapons currently used by the Marne Corp. The graphics are very good, it has somewhat an old school war haze lighting. Weapon functions and abilities are very similer to the real ones. Bullets drop after a paticular distance and when useing the sniper rifle you are required to elevate the weapon to make further shots. Being in the Marine Corp and learning the terms and weapon use I can say that this game hits the nail on the head. The game is a single player, first person shooter. You can go online and play PvP or Co-Op campaign. The online play is pretty good PvP is challenging and Co-Op makes this game much more complicated and at the same time easier due to the complication of comunicating with the other players and also other players have different styles of playing and easier because the AI are a bit slower to react and not as accurate or intellagent no surprise. So having another real person is a plus when you both are on the same page. All in all I would give the game 9/10 because no game is perfect. I like the realism of the tatics and weapons, the graphics are good for a service based game. To many people play that Army's soldier game and assume this game will be the same, but it is far better than that sad excuse for a game. I recommend this game to anyone looking for a solid realistic military game and to any Marine fanatics out there.

Carnival of Madness Concert

Recently, I went to the Carnival of Madness concert. The price per ticket was about $60. The line up for this concert is 10 Years, Sevendust, Puddle of Mudd, Chevelle, and Shinedown (headliner). I will admit that I have only been to one concert before, the X-mas Ball in 2006 (the line up was Nonpoint, Flyleaf, Three Days Grace, Stonedsour, and Disturbed). In comparison, the CoM had a much better atmosphere and was more comfortable. Anyway, I will start at the beginning of the concert. We arrived to the venue about 15 minutes after the gates opened. I assumed that we would have to wait in a long line. Turns out that there was no line and we just had to get patted down and show our tickets to get in. We then walked into the actual seating area (we got seat tickets since I am way too short to stand on the floor and see anything, so if you would like the "full concert experience" and don't mind the occasional mosh pit, I would suggest a ticket on the floor) and it was barely filled. It was still early but a little shocking. As the time approached the listed start of the concert, the band 10 Years took the stage and performed. As assumed, their voices weren't quite as strong as their recorded music, but still decent quality. As they left the stage, we walked out to the lobby area and got autographs from Chevelle. As they posed for a picture for me, I was stopped and yelled at by security, so a word of advice: while waiting in line for a signing, you can take pictures but you will need to stop as you approach the table to keep the line moving. We went back into the arena to listen to Sevendust, which I am not a big fan of so I didn't know any of their songs. If you are a fan of Sevendust, they did have amazing stage presence, were loud and excited, and entertaining to watch. Puddle of Mudd came up next. They were very loud, jumping around the stage, and the lead singer even had his son come up on stage and play guitar. Towards the end of their performance, we went back out to the lobby and got autographs by 10 Years. We went back in to watch the rest of the concert, Chevelle and Shinedown. Both were amazing, with Shinedown really hitting hard and running through the audience. This was a great concert and I recommend anyone and everyone to buy tickets and enjoy! (The top picture is of Chevelle and their signing, the bottom picture was Puddle of Mudd performing "Blurry" and the audience holding up lighters and cell phones. The video is a clip of 10 Years performing Wasteland.)

Britt

Blog Writing

I thought I'd make the first review about blog writing. This is my second blog, my first blog is at http://www.thedevilwearsscrubs.blogspot.com/, which is about what it's like as a pre-medical student, moving up through medical school (hopefully), and becoming a doctor. The reason why I started that blog was that I wanted it to be a real, in depth view for future students who want to pursue the same field. This leads to my first point about blog writing: it can encourage and inspire others, and if nothing else, entertain people. I think blogs in themselves can encourage others to do things they never thought about doing, like starting their own blog, or in extreme cases, follow a whole life passion based off something they saw on a blog. Aside from what a blog can do for others, it can also benefit the blogger. After a long day, especially particularly difficult days, I like coming home and typing everything on my blog, relieving the stress on my shoulders. In a philosophical sense, writing is a healthy outlet. There are only a few drawbacks to owning a blog. Sometimes it can be difficult to keep up with them and post often. This is a bigger problem for more popular blogs. To combat this for this blog, I am joined by multiple people to help keep this blog active. The other main issue is the comments you may receive. Sometimes they can be very positive, but other times they can be negative and in some cases, personal attacks on you. Keep in mind that there is no way to please everyone. Someone will always disagree with you and may even stoop as low as attacking you, but just let it go, because people will have their opinions about your writing, but what matters is that you are writing about what you are interested in. To combat negative comments, moderate your blog. So overall, there are a few negatives, but the positives of owning a blog far out way them. If you are interested in beginning a blog, I would first suggest a blog here at http://www.blogger.com/. All you need is an email address and you're set! If you aren't a fan of the set up of blogger, there are numerous other blog hosting sites such as http://www.wordpress.com/ and http://www.livejournal.com/. Keep researching these different sites to find your best fit. Happy blogging!

Britt