Anthropomorphize/Naked Cats

The word anthropomorphize may sound like it means-to transform into another animal, but it's actually the opposite. We don't realize it but everyday we anthropomorphize, whether you have a pet or not. The easter bunny is a notorious example. The word anthropomorphize is a verb that means to ascribe human features to something. When you talk about a thing or animal as if it were human, you're anthropomorphizing it. 

So why do we do it? According to Rick Nauert from Pysch Central News, An entity is more likely to be anthropomorphized if it appears to have many traits similar to those of humans (for example, through humanlike movements or physical features such as a face). Which is why we tend to anthropomorphize our pets. By giving animals emotions and personalities we make sense of emotions and relationships in our lives, without even realizing we are doing it. Some people do it out of loneliness. They cannot or will not connect with other people, so they end up creating relationships with their pets, like imaginary friends. Thus, the crazy cat lady is formed.

Winston and Ferguson Courtesy of Hollywood.com

It's not that your dog doesn't have emotions, he does, just not in the way you think. Pets feel excited, jealous, lonely, depressed. But they are not actually beyoncé's sister who loves pancakes. Their emotions are much simpler than we make them out to be. But this post isn't supposed to get you to stop anthropomorphizing your pet, it's actually supposed to inspire you to continue giving pet human emotions. I believe that anthropomorphizing is like therapy. It creates a stronger relationship with your pet, helps you understand different emotions, and combats loneliness. I'm not crazy but on days that I'm alone in the house, I bring my fish Joey to the coffee table and Doug onto the sofa, then as I watch television I make comments to them. 

In conclusion, anthropomorphizing is a good thing. It's fun and we should never stop doing it. Without it we wouldn't have pet instagram accounts and pet blogs. I hope that fifty years from now we still we continue to be closer friends with our pets, then some people that we know.

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Since these topics are both topics that I don't want to write a ton about, I decided to split the blog post in half to give me the opportunity to write about two short topics. The second topic I want to touch on is naked cats. 

I have always thought that hairless cats were the ugliest creatures ever. They were all wrinkly and looked like little ferocious people. Until last year. When I was scrolling the web like any normal teenager. When I came across one of the well-known hairless cats. 

My first thought was "ew", but then I looked more deeply into the eyes of the cat. I realized at that moment, that the hairless cats were most likely miss-judged. They suddenly didn't appear ugly or out of the place in the world, because I understood. They looked different from other cats, but maybe they were funny and sweet. So I looked more deeply into them. 

What a found was surprising. Hairless cats are actually a rare breed called the Sphynx. They don't actually get too cold and they have very low amounts of health problems. They are also sweet and friendly. For something so ugly, they are great cats. And they shed no hair, which works for anyone who is allergic to cats. Someday I plan to get a Sphynx and name it Voldemort or Smeagol, and we will live happily ever after. 

It's a Love/Hate Relationship

I introduce to you the mom of Doug, the devil, and one of the funniest people I know. If you ask any one of my friends what they think about Kirsten's sister,  you could get a variety of answers. From "she hates me with a burning passion" to "Kendall and I are closer than anything".  This year she convinced my parents into getting her a puppy. Because Kendall is just the most responsible person in the world.

Courtesy of my phone

Kendall and I visiting Park City: Courtesy of Colleen Keblish

Here's a brief history of some of the ridiculous things Kendall has done to me:

When Kendall was around six years old and I was eight, we went to the neighbors house to pick peppers with our best friend Adam. Trying so hard to be cool, I said that I loved peppers. I then picked up what I thought was a bell pepper and took a nice big bite out of it. It was not a bell pepper. I screamed and rolled on the ground and covered my eye. Kendall and Adam laughed their heads off. I yelled at them to stop and Kendall told me I had anger management problems and as a red head constantly being told that I had anger problems, I threw the pepper at her. To my surprise, it hit Kendall directly in the eyeball. She cried and cried her whole way home, where she had to rinse her eye in the shower and I got in trouble for being so mean. 

When Kendall was seven years old and I was nine, I stole something from her room. I can't remember exactly what it was but I it was probably some sort of toy. I was soon caught by seven year old Kendall, who then screamed and cried saying that I had to give it back. And as a nine year old girl, I refused to give it back. Instead of logically, telling on me she threatened to pee on my floor. Thinking that Kendall was bluffing I folded my arms and refused again. But she wasn't bluffing. She squatted down and peed right there on my bedroom floor. I stood speechless. And then without even asking for her possession back she left the room and said "next time it will be poo". 

When I was twelve and Kendall was ten, we sat doing homework in the kitchen. We got in an argument and I began to give her the silent treatment. A few minutes later, she asked me how to spell February. And as an annoyed older sister, I obviously continued to give her the silent treatment. She whined and screamed for me to tell her. Then she picked up an orange from the counter top and threw it at me. 

A couple months after the "orange incident" we went outside to practice lacrosse together. As a very unorganized family we had lost every last lacrosse ball. But instead of giving up and going inside, we tried to find something to use instead like a tennis ball. Kendall called it improvising. First, while I was actually looking for a ball she picked a light-bulb sized rock in her stick and threw it at me. Luckily, she missed and I scolded her. But as usual, it didn't get through to her. I told her I didn't want to play anymore so she picked up another orange, this time rotten from the back of our pick up truck, and threw it at me. 

Recently, we were playing legos. I know, right a fourteen year-old playing legos, but it does happen. Not really caring very much I didn't jump to pick pieces out of the lego box. Unlike Kendall and her friend. When I did sit down to play, I picked up a bunch of random legos put them together in the shape of a square and told them that I had made my house already. Then laughing they took a lego plane and crashed it into my house. I have to admit it was pretty funny, so I was laughing, too. But Kendall kept bragging about all the pieces she was finding. So jokingly, I tried to grab her stuff. But she fought me back and dug a lego into my wrist. When I told her she cut me and that I was bleeding, she said "good". She then said that I "sucked at playing legos and that I was annoying" I then called her a mean word and left the room. Listening in on her and her friend's conversation, she said that I started it. Great, because I totally wrecked my own lego house.

Usually, Kendall and I get along really well. We have nicknames for each other, chill out together, and she admits that she'll miss me when I go off to college. But based on this information, would you let Kendall own a dog. Neither would I. And I wonder why Doug is so weird. 

To Lose a Best Friend

To have a best friend means a lot. Helen Keller once said, "Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light". Everyone talks about what it's like to have a best friend. That they will always be there for you. They say that best friends are the only people that really understand you. That a best friend would die for you. And they will. I have several best friends that I know that would, figuratively speaking, die for me. As I would for them.

Recently, I found that you actually don't realize what you have until it's gone. I could very well be talking about friends and moving on from a friend, as I have experienced this first hand. And while this hurts, I find that you usually move on from a friend for a reason. But losing a best friend is very different, losing a best friend is like losing a piece of yourself.

I knew that my horse Sarge was going to be put down for a long time. It was something that I knew would happen. I put off the fact that he would be gone, for months. I didn't cry, I didn't think about it. I didn't want to have to deal with that pain for longer that I had to. In the very end, he could barely walk or chew. At nine o'clock on Monday night, I was sitting in my bed reading a book when I realized that tomorrow was his last day. I realized that I had just spent his last sunset with him.

I walked to the kitchen and reached for some carrots, apples, honey, oatmeal, and some salt (Horses love salt). I then cut the carrots and the apples and mixed them with the honey and oatmeal in a big plastic bowl. With a wooden spoon I stirred it all together and added a sprinkle of salt. And then I sat and cried.

You can't change the past, I knew that. But at that moment, I wished that I could go back to when Sarge was still healthy and happy. I wish I could go back in time and spend a whole day with him. I wish I could've gone back and ridden him through the field and braid his mane. I wish I would've done better. Everyone does. I think everyone has a point in there life where they look back and they wish they would've have done things differently. And that can wreck a person but it can also make a person better.

So from then on I vowed to try to cherish everything and everyone. People need to start cherishing what they have while they still have it. Because one day everything will be gone and all that will be left, is memories. Cherish your friends, and try your best to keep them from slipping from your grasp. Hold everything you have close to you and don't let it go, because someday it might not be there anymore.

Many of you may have seen me at school on Tuesday. Many of you may have thought to yourself "Why does she look like that? What is she wearing?". And to those of you who judge anyone by what they look like then you should stop and ask yourself if you really know them. I didn't choose to go to school with watery red eyes, a stuffy nose and a big sweater. I needed to, because that morning I woke up extra early and I walked outside with my plastic bowl.

What hurt most about that morning, was that he looked the same as he always had. He licked as much as he could out of my bowl. And through the darkness I braided his mane and looked into his eyes for the last time. I kissed his face and whispered goodbye. And under the rising sun at 6:30 in the morning, I saw my best friend for the very last time. And walking away, was one of the hardest things I've ever done.

When I moved here five years ago, and I met you, I didn't know you would mean this much to me. Goodbye Sarge, I love you. And I hope there's carrots up there for you in heaven.

Rest in Peace, buddy