Panther pride here

Yeah cardnials are cool, I love that the female is just as pritty as the male,but in a differnt way. Useally the males are more colorful. How warm does it have to be before I can take Bindi outside with his lesh harness on? Its supposed to get almost 40 degrees this tursday. I'd really like to do it this week so as to show him why he's had to put up with harness training but am worried about the cold. I had the most wonderful playtime with Bindi today I took some feathers and fixed one of my new string feather toys and ran up and down and in my parents upstairs bedroom. It was fun and nothng was damaged.http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...ilies/clap.gif Bindi shot at the feathers and ran and ran his little heart out. I think he was trying to tell me in his own way that I need to spend more time playing with him and less time on dwelling on things I can do nothing about, he useally sleeps at 3 to 4 but today is doing eariler because of our playtime.

Monday is coming soon and I need to stop worrying about my teeth, I might go to a bookstore or maybe to petco/petsmart to pick up some new kitty wipes. I dont have TTI on monday, and see the dentist at around 2.30

Hey Panther, Bindi, and Tom:

Wow, sounds like a fun play session and yeah, I'm sure Bindi would be happy for you to do that 24/7-365! We love those kinds of toys here, too, and I love wearin' 'em out with play...then they get on the bed in a big catpile and what could be better than being in the middle of that? Nothing I can think of!

Well, cats thrive in just about all climates, and even in snow although it's probably not a good idea to let 'em be out in the snow for long as they can get frostbite just like we can. But 40 is fine, I'd think -- let him tell you! He'll let you know when he's had enough, probably, by heading back to the house...but it sounds like a good time to get out a little, sure!

Sounds like a good plan. I'm still waiting to go do errands. Yeah, if you can lose yourself in things you like, you may not have as much attention on the mouth...which could be a good thing? Ya think?

Have a great rest of the day and talk to ya soon I hope!

Thank you. I have an okay day had to put up with an oil change in my dads car/cleaning. I'm never going to be able to legally drive and you know what I tghink thats the luckest thing in the world.http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...laughing02.gif Went to choastal seafoods and picked up some sturgen to try, liked it sort of. Watched a movie and talked on the fourms I went for a couple of nice walks around my neighborhood also.

Hey Panther, Bindi, and Tom:

Hope Tom and Bindi got to sample that seafood -- if so, what'd they think? And if not, WHY NOT?!! lol

I don't drive either. People look at me like I have something wrong with me when I tell them that. I do! I can't see too well! They better be glad I don't drive! I have this spatial thing, too, where depth perception is not like it should be. When I was learning how to drive (yeah, I did) I ran the car into a curb and blew out a tire. That's when they knew pretty well that maybe I should be getting acquainted with public transport, lol! (Seriously, they wanted me to continue with lessons but I'm the one who elected not to. In my family, women don't drive. And we do a lot of other things differently from the mainstream, too. We like it that way, just fine!)

What movie did you see and did you like it?

How are Bindi and Tom doing? All felines are fine here!

I watched The Jungle Book, the real thing not the cartoon, I liked it.

Sadly yesterday was not my cup of tea,I had to go furnature shopping with my dad and his girlfriend, Then we went to walmart and it just got worse from there. I asked my Dad if I could go see the fish and plants. All of the tanks were alge ridden and all had a nasty smell. They had some very crowded tanks with types of fish that grow 14 inches and up Tinfoil barbs,Oscars Pacus, Indradest sharks. The barbs were the worst in terms of overcrowding. I looked in the dwarf frog's tank and saw one dead one belly up on the gravel. A woman was shopping there looking for a dragon fish for her 20 gallon, I told her about good/bad fish and told her to shop elsewhere. The houseplants were no better. All of the tropicals were cold effected and wilted, the big plams were dry and their fronds were drying up and/or dead. The Jades were in very poor quality soil with roots coming out the drainage holes, the soil was so parched that it had retreated from the pot sides too. I will leave out some of the other details of the trip and we will persead with what happened when I got home and then an array of questions.


When I got home, my dads girlfriend told me Bindi is too thin, I told her you are supposed to feal the shoulder blades and ribs of a cat but not see them, she fed him a whiska's pouch and he ate it like he hadnt been fed. We have dry/wet Innova evo solid gold out at all times. I read up on the food I'm feeding and its normal for cats on it to eat lots then go off for a few days the reson why they keep on eating lower quality foods all the time is that they are not getting the proper nuitration so they have to keep eating to survive. ( Read that in a book don't really know for sure) Anyway I questioned myself in what's better for Bindi I worry that he is too thin yet his coat looks great, if a cat were starving his coat wouldnt look good I just think Innova evo makes cats revert to a more primative eating life lots then wait lots then wait which I think is a good and natural thing. My dad and his girldfriend then told me on how vets know more about cat nuirtration then I do and that I really need to change foods, I said no vets are seriously lacking in neuitration ( one of the few areas they are) and that pet foods you really need to be wary of. After the arugement my dads girlfriend did appogize and just told me Bindi is thin that's all, I said thank you and that I respect your opinion. Could you post a weight diagram for cats ttp://www.thecatsite.com/forums/images/smilies/wink.gif and also what you've heard about Innova evo as far as weight goes?

Ps. Tom and Bindi are doing wonderful

Hey Panther, Bindi, and Tom:

Gosh, sounds like you had a bummer of a weekend. Wal-Mart is a terrible corporation, they treat their workers like slaves, don't give them good benefits, pay them low wages, and they force small businesses to close down by undercutting them. I could go on and on. I've never set foot in a Wal-Mart and I don't plan to ever do so; and I've signed petitions against them coming in to communities where they are not wanted, as well as written letters to them about their unfair labor practices. They really are an unscrupulous business, and it's really horrible that they are the world's biggest corporation at this time, going all over the world just like McCrapCo (my name for McDonald's) and Starbucks. YUK! It's too bad that in this time and place a lot of the legislation we activists fought for has been largely overturned or ignored by uncaring and callous people, including these corporations. One really good way we can tell them what we think of them is by voting with our wallets -- NOT SHOPPING THERE. If enough people did that, they'd go out of business.

I don't have any charts or really any information on Bindi's diet -- sorry about that, but I've never used it. But you are right that if his coat is in good condition and he is exhibiting all the signs of good health, he is doing fine. Cats in the wild are all very thin and muscular, if you look at documentaries --obviously you don't want him becoming emaciated, but your gauge is correct.
As for junk food, I've heard all kinds of theories, and agree with the one that says that just like a lot of people, a lot of cats will opt for junk food simply out of habit and/or because they think it tastes better. That doesn't MAKE it better! A lot of people eat junk hamburgers and stuff, gorge on donuts and chocolate, etc., but that doesn't mean that's the best thing for them to do. I have tried this too, and my cats are the same; and I've had the occasional "binge", but basically, we try to eat only healthy food, all of us.

On monday things were better, no TTI and I stayed home. I went out to eat with a pca Kim and I went to the Dentist. My wisdom teeth on the upper jaw are coming in just fine but the ones on the bottom are sideways and will probably never eroupt properly therefore the four teeth are... well useless. I will wait and see if they cause me pain. The denstist wasn't very nice and she had a strange habit of saying numbers to herself while cleaning my gums

I've made up my mind if my job couch calls the pigeons rats with wings again I will speak to him repectfully and say I really dont like that opinion would you keep it to yourself please. Opinions can have a nasty habbit of fighting in your mind for control and I hate it when it says one thing and then another. http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima.../angryfire.gif. I've made up a much better opinion thats I'm trying to implant in my mind, pigeons are messagers of peace and happiness. Having high fuctioning autism means I think in both words and pictures I like the pictures better sometimes http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...laughing02.gif. The birds were overfed today at the bus stop but I still gave them a fair share of cerical, tommarow I'm fixing on buying birdseed. Bindi leaped on someone while I was at work today and caused him a scratch I didnt know about it until Kim told me. I'm going to have to play with him more to get out more engery. I'm also going to sleep better tonight and be rested up for tommarow I didnt sleep very well last night, too many story ideas, hungry ect.

I agree with you about walmart but had no idea about what you had told me.http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...es/bawling.gif

Hey Panther, Bindi and Tom:

Hey, that's (sort of) great news -- but like you say, if two are okay and two aren't, it's only 50% great news. Sorry to hear THAT, but maybe the two that are in question will surprise you pleasantly. Stranger things DO happen, after all! That's strange about the dentist -- I know they can and do measure the gums, and they'll say a number to indicate the measurement; but it doesn't sound like that's what she was doing. Maybe she has the stock market on her mind or something -- who knows? Not the most relaxing way to deal with a patient, but I feel for ya there -- seems like a lot of people bring personal stuff to work with them...

You're so right about pigeons. That's exactly what they are!!! And you're so right about thoughts, too -- my grandmother, who was quite a strong spiritual person, used to say, "Thoughts are things!" because they do have a lot of power to influence us and others. I like to think positive too, and see the good whenever possible...you're doing a good thing for these blameless birds. Thank you!

Yeah, sounds like Bindi was having a "kitten moment" -- I ran The Nine around for almost an hour on Friday, and thought I'd tire 'em out. NOT! Even Nicolas, who's going on 17, was really into it. Those "flyer" toys really do a good job of exercising 'em, though...and they don't hurt US, either...

Yeah, good ol' Wal-Mart. They wanted to come into a local community we used to live near, on the site of a beautiful big nursery that had been in business since the 1940's and was owned by people who got interned during WWII for the "crime" of being Japanese. They were able to resume their business after the war, and it's one of the best nurseries around. We always loved buying plants there and visiting their resident cat, a handsome tuxedo shorthair. We signed a petition, along with lots of other customers, saying we didn't want our beloved nursery replaced with a Wal-Mart. They did back down, thankfully!

Thats good that they backed down. I like nurshies much better. Bindi has been doing really good today I'm, taking him on his first outside adventure with his harless and leash. Hes eating the new diet now as well as the old wet. He loves the natures varity chicken turkey if I cut peaces of it off the frozen cubes and thaw it out, he also likes to eat raw bison meat when I buy fresh hormone free, grain fed bison at lunds. Meat cookers at disciount stores are overrated by the way.http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...laughing02.gif they overcook easily.

I've read a new book touching spirit bear- its really good. I like the adventures Cole goes through and the lessons he learns, I'll tell you more about it later I have to go to my math class.

Hey Panther, Good Bindi man, and Tom:

That's great news that he's eating like he should -- pretty soon, no more complaints on his weight, eh?

Yeah, I'm with you -- if it's a contest between beautiful plants and some nasty big corporation robbing everybody blind, I'll go with the plants every time.

That book sounds great -- can't wait to hear about it! Have you ever seen the movie, "The Bear"? It's amazing...really good message in it, too...

How's Tom cat doing? Let me hear, okay?

Spirit bear was a blast though the beginning is dark. Cole has anger issues and violently attacks another boy after he rats on him for stealing something. He is taken to a juvinile detention center and later must chose between jail or a Native American circle justice trail. He choses circle justice but in the first days of his banishment to an island he is attacked by a mysterious white bear and nearly dies. The bear was attacked first by him however, and doesnt finish the job of killing him. Garvey, an indian perole officer befriends him in the detention center and works with him, he and another indian find him barely alive and with massive injuries he is taken to a Tlingit village hospitcal and saved from death. Later in six months he goes back and Garvey and his friend make him build a new shelter and then abandon him to himself only to visit breifly to let him know how his mother/paul the outside world is doing. He improves and dances animal dances/soaks in a pond and does other indian/pagan rituals. He also learns how to carve and be at peace with himself.http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...lies/smile.gif His mother an alcoholic seeks help and leavers Coles father who had a ugly history of violence and she promises to be a better mom for him when his banishmet is through and he can go home again. I like that he learns more about nature and how to deal wth negative thoughts and anger. It gets better when Paul is invited to the island to help forgive him, http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/images/smilies/clap. He eventually gets over the attack and the two become friends. Oh and he sees the bear throughout the story at times and grows to love and respect it.


Bindi and me went outside today. He was scared at first but then started to sniff the grasses and snow and listion for sounds. He progressed to wondering the yard and eating old plants which I told him NO and moved him away. He also found a dead bird carcass and I stopped him from eating/playing with that. Then I showed him how to come back inside and then how to famlarize himself with our house. We went out again and he wondered through neighbors yards me fiollowing him of course before then sniffing and discovering more things.

Tom is doing good, Tommarow I'm taking him to the vet and I'm going to ask for a 6 pack of flea meds for this coming summer. Though I will probably avoid bring up the fact that Bindi is Leash.Harness trained and goes indoor/outdoor and diet changes. I dont want any mis-infomation

Hey Panther, Bindi and Tom:

Sounds like big adventures you two had today!

Book sounds good. I'm ndn so it sounds really good to me.

Just fyi, you can get really good prices on topical flea meds at Drs. Foster & Smith (http://www.DrsFosterSmith.com ) and get them mailed right to your door. They have lots of great stuff of all kinds for cats!!!

Bye for now, hope to see ya tomorrow -- 'night, Bindi and Tom!

Today was an interesting day, Tom got to see the vet about those lumps and his weight. He is almost 21 lbs! But Tom is so big anyway I think he only has to loose one or two pounds. His 'tumors' are fatty benign growths that will probably never go away unfortneatly. http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima.../angryfire.gif The vet is worried about his teeth but at $300 for a teeth cleaning I had to back down. Thanks for the Dr Foster Smith website. http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...ilies/clap.gif. I will get flea meds from there later on when it warms up. You saved me money.


Today I did courage and I saw a red tailed hawk. The pigeons were rosting some distance away and one was feeding foolishly close to the hawk. My job couch was meaning how hawks eat pigeons and called them Rats with wings again. I waited until he and some others he was talking with settled down about the hawk and then confronted him and told him I really dont want you to say pigeons are rats with wings around me, He said okay, I felt happy and releived. The pigeon didnt get eaten either more of its friends came and I wondered if he/she was being brave for benefit like I was, for a totally differn reason of course. The redtail hawk was beautiful yet smaller then some i've seen I didnt see a red tail either. I think the hawk might be a young one on its own for the first tme, maybe he/she will make a nest this spring and having/father young. I dont mind if hawks eat pigeons thats a part of life and a nesscary one I hate it however when people poison/hurt them we're not suppposed to mess with that sort of thing http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...ilies/wink.gif. I found a way to take away the bad opinion first I listion to music then when I get the tunes in my head and I just aid my own own anti rats with wings words its great. I think music is wonderful, I like Bob Marly,Pink, Jewal, and a couple of songs by Raven,Some call It Magic, and Supernatural. Bindi and me went outside again but he didnt do as much as last time, Had fun wondering around and smelling stuff but he did get scared by a barking noise, neighbors dog.

Hey Panther, Bindi, and BIG Tom:

Wow, Tom IS large and in charge, isn't he? But that's GREAT that they are benign tumors; I mean, if ya gotta have tumors, those are definitely the kind to have, right? Poor guy, though--he doesn't exactly need THAT kind of extra weight to carry around! Good luck on maybe a careful gradual reduction of a bit of weight...just his regular food but a bit less of it, or no free-choice, or maybe some diet food???

Redtails do have "drab" phases, both in the juvenile and in the adult bird, depending on the season and the age of the bird, according to my Audubon bird guide. We have redtails here, too -- I love the raptors, and you're right, it's their nature to take their prey. I saw a redtail take a dove on the wing once. It didn't make me happy, but I knew it was just nature...And yes, humans can and do have the reasoning power to be kind, compassionate, and sensitive to others! Don't we wish we all used it???

Oh, music can be such a positive force, such a healer! I like several of those artists, too, and haven't heard some as I don't really listen to domestic music much at all. But Bob Marley's my #1, he changed my life for the good with his music and his message! His family is carrying on that good tradition, too, but there'll only ever be one King of Reggae, right? Actually I worked for his record company back in the day, with a dear friend who's a radio host, actor, writer, poet, etc. etc. etc. Kind of a Renaissance man. He was good friends with the Marley family. I got to talk to Ms. Rita (Bob's wife) and Mother B (Bob's mom) on the phone! and I went to Jamaica for awhile, to see how things were in his home place. It was so amazing.

What kind of Music do you normally listion to?. What do you mean by "Domestic" music? Just wondering. Today my wisdom tooth came fully through on the right upper hand side. By fully through I mean no gums are covering it, its got alot of growing in to do before it is as fully eroupted as the rest. I tore off the gum on the bus today and as a reward got to taste my blood and I think I swallowed some of the gum.http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...ilies/sick.gif, When I got home I bushed my teeth and used mouthwash really good.http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...laughing02.gif. Toms teeth are looking better and I've managed to help some of his plage off with some wipes the vet gave me. Tommarows friday cannot wait for the weekend going camping http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...ilies/clap.gif

Hey Panther, Bindi, and Tom:

Hey, sounds great that you're going camping -- hope you have a great time and maybe you'll see lots of animals?

I know how that feels (the wisdom tooth issue). Not nice! But at least it's through now and you won't have to go through that again -- with that one, at least...

Good about Tom's teeth -- I'm sure he's thanking you for being so caring and keeping up with his dental health! Even if he doesn't like it when it's happening, it's a good thing.

By "domestic" I mean western (u.s. or english or european) music. I'm multicultural and love international music of many kinds, plus folk music and bluegrass music from here, a little country/western, a little hip-hop, some jazz, but basically don't like rock, pop, rap, metal, anything like those -- most of those seem so hostile, full of anger and violence and negative emotions to me. When I'm listening to music I am trying to be serene, positive, and feel in harmony with life and other living beings, not angry and hostile!!! That four-four drum beat is so militaristic and feels like torture to me, banging away at my head so I can't think of anything good. Oh well, that's me!

Have a wonderful weekend! and best to Tom of the cleaner teeth and Bindi the Brave!

Oh, PS I sent you a forward through email, about raw food and there's a link in there about veterinary medical budgeting that you may be able to use...

Camp was great, the useal smores by the fire, ice fishing, tubing down snowy hills, We got lots of snow now. Some people went hiking in snowshoes I didnt though, went fishing instead and I worked on some my math I brought back from Hubbs. It is a camp for disabled people though and I felt a little unlike most of the campers because my disablies are much more mild, High fuctioning Autism, Hearing loss,vision impairment. Doesnt matter though its whats inside that counts though it does make me worry about my future alot of those people live in group homes, something I want to aviod I've heard bad stories abot some of them and also I really dont want to end up ward of the county (means I will have a spend down. its like having bills for being handicaped, Its a stupid evil thing. Yep, they actually take away from your paycheck if you make more then a curtain amount. People who are ward of the county give up on getting good jobs because you stil make minium wage no matter what you do) I like to if its possible live in an appartment someday. I think I can if I really work hard on it. Most of the campers were really nice and polite I liked their veiws on living life and I wondered more about humanity by thinking about my differences and about what some of the campers said about pets, what I would do if I were President/about pets costing money and being wrongly veiwed as material objects. I liked hanging out with a friend I haven't talked to in awhile, KC. This summer I plan on going fishing with him. We got to visit an animal sanuwary, with chickens, deer, two potbelly pigs, geeze, a wild turkey which I thought was in too small of a cage. I saw two farrets, a dove, and a corn snake, A largemmouth bass lives in a 55 to 75 gallon tank in the nature center too, its much much too big and should in my opinion be realesed into a lake or given to a pubic aquarium. http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima.../angryfire.gif. I had an okay time but I will talk to Gabe about other camping options maybe I can find another camp where the staff arent as strict the food is better and the campers are more like people I can relate to. While ice fishing I saw a northern pike go for the bait but only nuzzle it, a big perch ate it instead though we pulled the bait up too swiftly and lost it, I love their underwater camra You see weeds and fish and tiny water fleas

When I got home things were not all that great Bindi lost his collar and I found it and put it back on home, my dads girlfriend gave the cats friskies again figuring I don't feed them properly http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima.../angryfire.gif I put the rest of it away to donate back to petcotommarow and cleaned up the friskies in the bowl and put my own back in place with fresh Innova evo. I told my dad to let her know Tom is overweight at almost 21 pounds and now has fatty tumors from eating bad food that are sadly never going to get better and that Bindi is my cat and I can feed him whatever I want to. On top of this I messed up the carpet in my dads bedroom upstairs when serarching for my sleeping bag on friday morning. Bindi knocked over a hopuseplant that night and I cleaned up some of the soil little did a realise the mess I would unknownly bring up there.http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...laughing02.gif I got some carpet cleaner for 3 dollers a much cheaper salution then shelling out 200 dollers from my acount to have it professionly done. My dad wants me to do that, I'm trying to find a cheaper salution. It didnt work too well and I'm probably going to have to get it back to the store and buy a better brand. I will vacum it more tonight and have already promised my dad on not going up there anymore after the cleanings done. What was your weekend like?

Hey Panther, Bindi, and Tom:

Sounds like you had a mixed weekend, huh? Good for you for rescuing Bindi and Tom from junk food heaven -- yuk! Sure hope your advice is taken and that there won't be any more Friskies there! It could seriously throw them off better eating patterns.

I'm really disturbed, like you are, by what those people say and think -- what's wrong with them? Where do they get this wrong information? The media is full of testimonials by experts who say caring for cat(s), dog(s) and/or other animals HELPS humans in important ways, from physical health to mental/emotional health to spiritual health. I know my parents believed that from the start. There's a lot of bad miseducation out there; thanks for doing everything you can to show another way! That's how I try to do, too, when I encounter that kind of attitude. I get mad, though, and sometimes I have trouble talking with people like that at all.

My weekend? Well, it's complicated, but basically, a lot of work and stress, which I'm sure you don't exactly need to have put on you, too! Thanks for asking, though, appreciate that.

You know, I really relate to what you're saying about being concerned about life and all. I have a good friend who is legally blind, and she deals with these issues. Another friend in the past was deaf, and same thing. And other people close to me deal with similar issues. I don't really know anyone who isn't full of uncertainty and stress over stuff like that, no matte who they are. But you're obviously extremely intelligent and if there isn't a place for you in society where that is respected and recognized, it is a big problem, I think. You're computer-savvy and you express yourself so well; it shouldn't be that you have to settle for the least. It's hard sometimes promoting yourself, but that may be what you have to do, because your gift may be outside the envelope, so to speak -- but there are so many people now who are freelancing and being entrepeneurs, I know that you have so much potential for something like that, maybe as a writer, a computer programmer, who knows? And those could be within the field of helping animals, because all animal sanctuaries and organizations have to have websites and paperwork and people who are creative writers and stuff. Those are just a few ideas -- I'm sure you probably have a bunch more, right? Don't sell yourself short. You're a really smart guy with a lot of heart. The world needs people like you so badly!

Thank you for those comments I have to admit I ate some junk food too when I got back a bok of cookies.http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...laughing02.gif I think I want to become an art teacher and a fiction writer- write about prehistoric man , people growing up feral in the jungle with a mother leopard and having leopard curses and turning into beautiful cats and having to back into the wild or about a woman living homeless and giving a daughter a brain of a dolphin with magical sea powder given rto her by a dolphin king. Those are the kinds of books I like. A computer programer is a bit much for my tastes humans in my opinion need to get away from mahsenes and back to nature or one day there might be only computer/robot humans without souls and hearts.

Agree with your statement that my abilties are differen't then others but no less good or useful I heard a saying from walt disneys Mulain- A flower that blooms in reverse is the most rare and beautiful of all. I think its true I do have great talents. Art is one of them story telling is another. People who try and grow up too quickly make bad choices or think growing up involves having a girlfriend and smoking, I hate smoking never will do it. I think growing up is way more of a loss then a gain so many things are different for grown ups verces kids.

I think animals are good for people too. I like it when they love you unconditdionally or make you smile or laugh. I was reading a book about the emotions of cats, acording to the writers veiw, cats never feel two feelings against/for one person at the SAME time because there brains are wired so differently due to their socal evolution, also they seem to him to pocess no sense of shame. I wish humans had that. Shame/Guilt arises in humans because we have to feel for others in order to survive. It was fasanating I really liked the book it talked about play, jeluiousy, anger,happyness, ect. in the feline mind. To win the love/trust of a cat means you have to give in unlike a dog who will love you no matter what you have to earn the love/trust of a cat.

What do you do for a job?. I'm 20 and I work as a costianal for neighborhood hopuse in a work program for disabled adults, dont really like what messages they are sending to those young adults. I plan of toughing out this year and trying for a job with animals to do next year while I train for art teaching/fiction writing.