This survey reminds me of Slam Books we used to make in high school...Dash sent it to me, and I'm sending it on.  Thanx, Dash!

My 100 Truths!

1. real name -That's the hardest question anyone can ask me...I was born Joan Catherine, adopted and changed to Catherine Joan, then married and got a really long last name, so I legally shortened it to Cathy and Texas added my maiden name as my middle name when I switched my driver's license from New York.  As a teen I was called Chesha, for Chesha Cat; my Mom and a room mate often called me Catriona, and online, I usually use that or the short name of Cat as a pen name.  Since they are all "real" names, take your pick.

2. last name - Now?  Castellana.

3. single or taken - Married.

4. zodiac sign - Taurus.

5. male or female - Female

6. elementary - I changed elementary schools too many times to remember them all.  Began Kindergarten in Waterloo, New York and finished elementary school at good ole #43 in Rochester.

7. middle - Monroe

8. high school - Rochester Education Alternatives (REA), School Without Walls (SWW), GED

9. eye color - Blue

10. hair color - Blonde with way too many white hairs.

11. long or short - (hair?) Longish.

15. are you a health freak - Sure, unless it interferes with my natural laziness and love of pastries.

16.Height- 5'5''

17. do you have a crush on someone - I've tended to get crushes on characters in shows or movies since I was a little girl.  I watch way too much TV!

18. do you like yourself?  Yes.  Why can't everyone be like me?

19. piercings - Ears, two holes in each.

20. tattoos: I don't have any part of my body that I want to call that much attention to at this point in my life!

21. righty or lefty - Righty

FIRSTS :

22. first surgery -Caesarian.

23. first piercing - ears

24. first best friend - Karen Mateyk, 2nd Grade.

25. first award - Most Improved Bowler.

26. first sport - Kick ball.

27. first pet - German Shepherd named Dutchess.

28. first vacation - Camping and shooting the rapids in Zoor Valley.

30. first crush - A boy in 2nd grade, but I don't remember his name.

CURRENTLY:

49. eating - Cantaloupe.

52. i'm about to - Eat some eggs.

53. listening to - My son's chat while he cooks me eggs.

55. waiting for - Myself, to finish this and then get ready for work.

57. wearing - Nightgown.

FUTURE :

58. kids? - The ones still at home should be finishing school in a few years...

59. want to get married? - I liked it so much, I did it twice.  The second time has been a keeper - 20 years (mostly) together.

60. careers in mind? - I sure don't expect to be a taxi driver for the rest of my life.  Someday I'll find time to write the bestsellers I've been writing mentally for the past 20 years.  I planned to be a movie producer back in high school, who knows.  I'm looking forward to having an empty nest and finding out exactly what I can do with the rest of my life!

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX? :

This section seems beyond me now that I'm old, saggy, and baggy and have stopped looking!  But I'll try to remember...

68. lips or eyes? - Eyes first, then lips.

69. hugs or kisses? - Both: one thing generally leads to another...

70. shorter or taller - Taller, but I did date someone shorter than me for a while.  It bothered other people more than it did me.

71. tan skinned or light - Both, but not at once!  My ex-husband had vitiligo and when he tanned, he had big white spots like a cow.

72. romantic or spontaneous - They can't be together? No fun...

73. dark or light hair - Both, but maybe not at the same time. My husband hates his grey hair so much, he shaves the sides of his head!

74. built muscular or normal - Healthy -- and at least as strong as I am.

75. hook-up or relationship - The first, then the second is the way I generally used to work it.  I was always better at serial monogamy than at dating.

76. similar to you or different - Similar sense of humor is essential, but different is always interesting to try, at least for a while.

77. trouble maker or hesitant - Trouble makers can make trouble, but also save situations; being hesitant can avoid trouble, but also allow trouble to continue unabated.  Thinking first, but capable of taking strong actions is my ideal.

HAVE YOU EVER :

78. Kissed a stranger - Yes, I was drunk and feeling like Xena Warrior Princess.

79. drank bubbles - In pink champagne on my 18th birthday (it was legal back then).

80. lost glasses/contacts - My favorite glasses fell into fast moving water while I was hiking, swept away forever in an instant.

81. ran away from home - Yup.  Hitch-hiked to California with my boyfriend at 16.  My parents drove all the way from New York to bring me home after the Farmersville police detained me as a minor without supervision.

82. broken any bones - Toes!  Ouch!

83. climb up a tree - I used to love to climb trees!  My favorite thing to do, after swinging on the playground swings or riding my bike.

84. broken someone's heart - I hope not permanently, but yeah, I have.  I also learned that what goes around, comes around.

85. been arrested - See #81, but I was only 16, and was never formally charged with anything.

86. turned someone down - More often than I said yes!

87. cried when someone died - Even when I didn't really know them.

88. ever climbed a mountain - All three of the highest mountains in the Adirondacks, carrying a full pack, believe it or not!

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

89. yourself - Yes, but I am learning to accept my limitations as I age.

90. miracles – Yes, but I also believe that hard work makes more miracles happen than waiting around wishing.

91. love at first sight – Yes, but it takes work to keep love going after the hormones wear off.

93. Santa Claus - And the Tooth Fairy too!

94. Sex on the first date - Ladies don't tell!

95. kissing on the first date - See #94.

96. angels - See #93.  Seriously, I've lived through not just one, but two rollover accidents -- the last one where my head was literally dragged on the pavement through the broken window while the car was skidding to a stop upside down -- without sustaining any life-threatening injuries.  Angels must really believe in me, never mind if I believe in them!

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY :

97. Is there one or more people you want to be with right now? - I live almost 2000 miles away from my extended family, and I miss them all terribly, especially my Mom.

99. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time? - Isn't that called dating?  Sure...juggling is hard though. 

100. Ever been cheated on? - Yes, by my first serious boyfriend and then later by my first husband (at least those are the only two I know of.  I've been fighting to repress those ugly demons, Jealousy and Paranoia, right on thru to today.  It's hard to remember that being cheated on doesn't mean you've failed, it's a failure on the part of the cheater.  But I've also learned that cheating doesn't need to mean the end of a relationship; it can also be a learning lesson that leads to growth and a stronger relationship, but only if both parties want it and are honest with each other and with themselves.

Now that I've spilled my guts about some mighty personal stuff on a whim, you all can too...pass this on to someone else.

I've started my day, like it or not.  Extemporaneous writing without that first cup of coffee, now that's a challenge!  I'm trying to muster a good attitude despite noticing it's Wednesday the 13th.  Do I have triskaidekaphobia?  Today I do!

The two younger kids have each sent me a "Stupid Test" -- yes, they might think all tests are stupid, but this test is designed to tell how stupid you are.  I fooled them!  I sent the test back without doing it and asked them to tell me if I was stupid if I didn't get how to do the test!  (I have overheard people say about me, "That one isn't all there." That doesn't mean I'm stupid -- it means I got caught in the midst of astral projecting.)

There is a certain benefit to being stupid.  Not "getting it" means you don't have to bother yourself with a lot of stuff you can't do much about anyway.  Like when that car ran the red light and t-boned me.  Or like when the stove damper stuck and I got covered with soot:

Thanks to my watchful angel(s), I've managed to squeak through so far.  The soot washed off, and I can't even remember many events that seemed catastrophic at the time.  So I will continue to play The Fool, stepping off on my journey without noticing that I may be stepping off into an abyss. 

Thanks in advance to all the "angels" in my life!  I promise to do my part by trying not to tempt Fate, or thumb my nose at Death, and will certainly refrain from p*ssing on electric fences.  Please continue saving my @ss, and I promise I will eventually figure out what I'm supposed to do with all these extra days I've been enjoying.

Until then, I'm going to get up and take that next step.

September 4, 2006  -- While filming an undersea documentary for Animal Planet on the Batt Reef, off North Queensland, Australia, Steve Irwin died in a freak accident when a sting-ray stung him in the chest. Irwin was snorkelling in shallow water above the ray, itself some 8 feet long and a yard across, when the animal unexpectedly reared its spine and struck Irwin near the heart. Irwin had enough time to pull the barb from his chest, but died immediately thereafter. Stings from this animal are rarely fatal unless they puncture the heart or stomach. -- text courtesy NNDB

He was picked by 104 players out of 55,448 from a total of 18,784 celebrities likely to die this year at Rotten.com's Dead Pool.

Irwin was a hero to many Australians and people around the world for his enthusiasm and devotion to the protection and study of animals.  Most people interviewed about his death, though clearly distressed and saddened, haven't been surprised, since his entire life seemed to be devoted to taking incredible risks.  Even his father stated that his son had died doing what he loved.

Like any popular figure, Irwin had his share of detractors.  In 2004, he made headlines when he held his then-infant son Bob in one arm while dangling a dead chicken as a snack offering to a huge crocodile. 

Irwin said in later interviews that he had no regrets, and felt his son was never in any danger.  He had an extraordinary sense of humor and parodied himself on the Conan O'Brien show by wrestling a blow-up crocodile in a kiddie pool.

Comedy Central's controversial cartoon, South Park, sent him up in a parody that is now, after his death, a little too close for comfort to watch.

Irwin's death by giant bull ray sting was a terrible, freak accident, even though the creatures are among the world's deadliest.  They are usually docile creatures, and many tour guides offer opportunities to swim with them in waters where they are plentiful.  My daughter and son-in-law swam with stingrays when they visited Grand Cayman Island and still treasure the experience. 

I'd like to share my condolences to his wife, Terri, and his two children, Robert and Bindi.  I can only imagine the pain they feel, but I can only hope that they can find solace in knowing that their loved one has become loved by many the world over and will live forever on screen.  I've shared many hours together with my children enjoying The Crocodile Hunter on Animal Planet, and the movie, Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course.  His devotion to sharing knowledge and joyful exploration of habitats all over the world will always be personally inspirational to us. 

"Crikey!," I say, we will always remember and miss this hero of wildlife. 

See this article with pictures and videos at 2nd Sight Magazine.

Robert and Stephen Spahalski, twin brothers raised together in childhood but separated by decades with one isolated in prison, may be excellent study subjects to determine why people develop the tendencies that make them murderers.

Robert Bruce Spahalski, 51, has been accused of murdering four people, three women and one man, over a period of 15 years, the first in 1990. Four charges of 2nd degree murder have been entered against him: for the 1990 killing of Moraine Armstrong in Rochester, NY; the 1991 killing of Adrian Berger in Rochester and the killing of Charles Grande in Webster, NY; and the 2005 killing of Vivian Irizarry, 54, in Rochester.

Originally from Elmira, NY, Spahalski has an extensive criminal record going back to the 1971 arson fire he set at school in Elmira, and had worked in Rochester as a male escort and street prostitute. Those who knew him say he had a long-term drug habit and was HIV-positive.

On November 4, 2005, while his girlfriend of 10 years, Christine Gonzalez, was at work, Spahalski was smoking crack cocaine with friend and next-door-neighbor, Vivian Irizarry. As Irizarry used a knife to open the last bag of crack, Spahalski allegedly told homicide investigators, "all of a sudden I saw her as a demon. I freaked out." He saw her as a hideous monster and beat her over the head. When he began coming down from his drug high, he claims he saw her convulsing and then strangled her to death to end her suffering. He then went on a crack binge for the rest of the weekend.

Afterward, he turned himself in to the Rochester Police Department, told them where they could find Irizarrys body. He then confessed in writing to the murder of Irizarry, and the murder of Charles Grande, after police interrogated him at great length.

He later told journalists that he feared being labeled as a serial killer if they learned he confessed to murdering more than two people. His attorney, Joseph S. Damelio, has entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, and "drug-induced psychosis" may also be used in his defense.

Although he told police he had placed her body on a bed, Irizarry's body was found, unclothed except for a sock, in the basement of the Spencer Street address he shared with Gonzalez. Spahalski told police that he took off her clothes to wash them because she had soiled herself while she was convulsing.

Spahalski confessed that he hit Charles Grande in the head several times with a hammer in Grande's home in October 1991 because Grande refused to pay him $20 for sex. Spahalski claimed he turned the thermostat up all the way, hoping that the heat would cause the body to become too decomposed to yield evidence to police. However, before anyone learned of Grande's death, Spahalski was pulled over in a traffic stop by a Rochester Police officer. Driving Grande's 1980 Plymouth Volare, Spahalski presented Grande's driver's license and claimed he was Grande to the officer.

After Grande's body was discovered, Spahalski was arrested and charged with criminal impersonation, but the prosecution failed to make the charges stick. He was acquitted in August 1992, and the records were sealed. The prosecution has asked Monroe County Judge Patricia Marks to have court records relating to these charges unsealed so those witnesses can be called in the present case.

The strangulation death of Moraine Armstrong, 24, had remained unsolved until Spahalski's confession. On New Year's Eve 1990, her naked body was found by police in her apartment at 509 Lake Avenue, with an electrical cord still wrapped around her neck. Spahalski lived right across the street at that time.

Adrian Berger's death in July 1991 had not been labeled a homicide because police had never been able to determine a cause of death. Her body, found inside her Emerson Street home, was too decomposed due to heat and time. Her thermostat had also been turned all the way up. Berger, a prostitute and drug user, is believed to have known Spahalski, though police have not revealed any evidence linking Spahalski to her death except his confession.

Police had long suspected Spahalski of murdering Grande, but had never been able to obtain sufficient evidence to charge him. Their suspicions and questioning of Spahalski led then Assistant Public Defender, Richard Marchese, to send both Webster and Rochester police a letter in 1991 warning them to refrain from any more questioning of his client about homicides without his attorney being present.

Spahalski's present counsel hopes to use that letter to have his confession thrown out as involuntary. Prosecutors argue that investigators in 2005 didn't know that the then 14-year-old letter existed, and that the letter was no longer valid, even if they had, because Marchese no longer represents Spahalski and he has a new attorney.

The Lake Avenue/Lyell Avenue areas where the three female victims lived and plied their trade has had 30 or more similar unsolved homicides, and was the same area where serial killer Arthur Shawcross picked up many of his 11 victims. John White was suspected by Rochester Police of having committed as many as 5 murders, but died of a heart attack before he could be charged or tried.

Victoria Jobson, 30, disappeared from her apartment at 512 Lake Avenue. Her naked body was found, stabbed to death, in a field off Lyell Avenue in December 1990.

In 1991, Damita Gibson, 21, was found strangled and stabbed to death behind a building on nearby Jay Street. Gibson's mother identified Spahalski as a man who she saw with her daughter before she disappeared.

Also in 1991, someone killed Cassandra Carlton, 26, and two months later, Katrina Myers, 25. Both of their bodies were found on or near railroad tracks by Ferrano Street, near Lyell Avenue. Both women were found unclothed and strangled, as was Vivian Irizarry.

Hortence Greatheart was found strangled to death in her apartment at 345 Lake Avenue in January 2003. The heat in her apartment had been turned up to the maximum. Spahalski, Greatheart's neighbor, lived intermittently in the same apartment building at 345 Lake Avenue from the early 1990s until he and Gonzalez were evicted for the last time in the summer of 2005.

Stephen Spahalski, Robert's twin brother, has been serving time in Attica prison in New York state. He was just denied release this spring because he wouldn't participate in a "violence replacement program" prison officials wanted him to complete. In 1971, at 16 years-of-age, Stephen Spahalski claimed he stabbed Ronald Ripley, 48, to death because he made sexual advances toward him. Although Robert had been the original suspect, Stephen pleaded guilty to manslaughter for killing the Elmira Heights store owner and was released after serving about eight years. Within a year, he was convicted of robbery and kidnapping, but was released again in 1999. He was back in Attica within months on a parole violation.

Interviewed by a Rochester newspaper in December 2005 about his brother's arrest as a possible serial killer, Spahalski said, "I thought I was the only murderer in the family." Stephen another interviewer, "I don't know what made him do that."

I had a rollover accident when I was broadsided by a car running a light July 30th. Although as the car rolled and slid to a stop, my head was sticking out the window and literally dragging on the pavement, I am miraculously well. My passengers had only scratches. The driver of the other car -- and her 10-day-old baby -- was also relatively unscathed.

Does it sound like someone was watching over us? Would you believe me if I tell you this is my second rollover accident in one lifetime, and the first one (in 1985) had a similar miraculous outcome?

Thank you, thank you, all Gods and Goddesses and all the Powers that be! I feel as though I have one enormous karmic debt to pay for this -- and also that the third strike might not be so lucky, so I'd better not try it again!  I'm so very thankful for the gift of my life! No matter how bad things seem, I know it can definitely be worse!

One of the things I like best about Kinsey Milhone is that she hates to exercise, but runs and works out anyway.  She doesn't have a very glamorous life, but it's good enough for her, and I like that.  She's the kind of heroine whose attributes seem attainable.  I would be like that, I tell myself, if I never married and had a dozen kids who never clean up after themselves!  So I think Kinsey Milhone is a lot like me, if I was a different person.

Ms. Milhone is a fictional private detective created by Sue Grafton, who has cornered the alphabet as a creative device for book titles.  I'm not very on top of things, and this is a book from the library, so I have no idea how long Q is for Quarry has been out.  Everyone else who enjoys detective mysteries probably has read it for all I know.  But I'd like to weigh in on it anyway.

I haven't finished it yet, so I have no idea how it ends up, but I'm really enjoying the ride so far.  In this one, we get to know more about Kinsey's family heritage than either she or we have ever known, which is cool.  It throws Kinsey completely off-kilter when a case she's working on re-introduces her to the family estate and to long-lost relatives she doesn't want to deal with.  They immediately begin to badger her with unwanted intimacy and to thrust family photo albums at her, and she has to deal with unresolved family problems from before her own birth.

The routine of her life has already been completely thrown out of whack by the marriage of her landlord's brother to the crazy Hungarian lady who runs the local restaurant that has been the place Kinsey gets the only healthy food she eats -- marriage has changed everything, and now all she offers are entrees featuring various repulsive-sounding organ meats.  And the two old guys who brought Kinsey into the case add more banter and page-turning qualities by having numerous health crises.

I'm interested to find out whether she's finally able to solve the cold case of the unidentified corpse, and whether it involves her own family more than by being owners of the scene of the body dump. I also want to know what happens to the background characters. Grafton is very good at making you care about the characters she crafts because of their vulnerabilities.  I suspect she's the kind of person who would make a great friend with broad shoulders and quiet wisdom when you have a problem and no one else to talk to.

These past few weeks have been hairy to say the least.  I am thankful that, no matter how bad things might have been, I and those I love have been spared from how they could have been much worse.  But we have been hit hard by a recent car accident, no pun intended.

I am a taxi driver by profession.  I was waiting at an intersection to turn onto the expressway when another car came along and rear-ended me. 

Unlike an ordinary fender-bender, taxi drivers have to follow special protocol in order to protect themselves and to ensure the taxi is in proper order before it's returned to service.  I had to wait over an hour for the police to come and write a report so I could prove the accident wasn't my fault.  If it had been, I could have been fined or even lost my license. And, you can't just drive the vehicle anyway, even if it might be perfectly driveable for ordinary purposes.  If there is a ding or scratch larger than 9 inches, the taxi has to be pulled out of service.  Additionally, the rules forced a 24 hour suspension from work on me because I was in an accident, whether it was my fault or not.

Zack, who leases me the cab, had one car available as a loaner, and I was grateful for it.  Unfortunately, the battery died the first night it was driven and the car barely made it back to the shop. 

Zack didn't waste any time and put in a new battery the next day, but that night the loaner car began overheating; the fan needs to be replaced.  Like an old horse that's been ridden until it drops, it's now sitting out in my driveway, useless. Zack's shop is closed during the weekend, so that's that.

This entire week has been a loss for me -- and I expected to finally be busy enough this week to actually get caught up on my bills!  There were several big business events scheduled, generating a lot of taxi activity through this weekend, unlike the weeks before.  It has been very slow since the 4th of July, since most travellers arriving at the airport, my principle sphere of operation, were picked up by friends or family. 

The pickings have been very lean, and now this!  We expect some ebb and flow in the taxi business -- but being out of work this single week has really put a hurting on me.

Compounding the anxiety and frustration is the fact that the insurance adjuster has talked to their driver and to my boss, but hasn't returned any of my phone calls.  I was driving the car that was hit by their insured.  I'm the victim here, for crying out loud!

This too shall pass, I know.  I'm using the unexpected free time to do things that have needed doing when I've been working, so that's all good.  And the full moon phase is passing, so maybe the accompanying chaos and lunacy that have been breaking like waves all around me will also pass.  But the Dog Days appear to be here to stay for now.  It's near 100 degrees out there.

At least I'm not broke down on the highway with no air conditioning.  It could be worse!

-- Cat

My son, Ian, told me I should have a MySpace page, so I am. I've never kept a blog before. This should be interesting.  I like to write and am a rather good typist, so if I find the time to write something regularly, I will.

Cyberspace is a funny sort of place. You might post to a blog as if you were writing in your diary, spill your guts, expose all your deepest darkest secrets, since you are sitting all alone at the keyboard in the "Real World." But in cyber-reality, a multitude might be reading over your shoulder. Anyone with internet access can read what you write. Once that realization dawns on you, you must struggle with the awesome power of your potential 15 minutes of fame versus the prudent need to keep at least some part of your life confidential. After all, you might not care if everyone in the world knows you don't wear underwear, but your children (or parents) might care very much thank you!

So I will ponder this and other deep subjects until my next post...

-- The Real Chesha Cat