Week 13: Famous Last Words

Because Petco just isn't getting the message.

Let me be clear: this is not okay.

First, animals are not good holiday gifts unless there has been extensive discussion with all members of the family first.  I was taking to Jeannie, the lady who runs Heartland Rabbit Rescue, and she says that the holidays are some of the worst days for rabbits.  People are constantly calling the rescue.

There are people who want to travel and would prefer to board their rabbits at Heartland, instead of at a vet where they'll be subjected to the constant barking of dogs.  And she's learned over the years that many of these people don't come back for their rabbits.

Second, those critter starter kits are TOO SMALL.  Imagine being locked up in a bathroom stall for hours on end.  Not a fun thought, is it?

Rabbits need room to run and play.  Especially when they’re still young, they need a lot of time outside of their cages.  We use large dog crates for our rabbits – they’re easy to clean and provide the rabbits enough room to stand up on their hind legs.

On the subject of cages: rabbits should never be outside!  This fosters a disconnect between the rabbit and you (or your family).  They are extremely social animals who, while not necessarily fond of being picked up, do love being around you.  Rabbits will sit with you – maybe not on your lap (all the time) – but by your feet or on the couch.

This is a habit called “gazing” – and it’s actually a way rabbits bond with each other (and you!).

I cover a lot of this in my bunny primer.

The point is – this ad is a Horrible Ad.  Don't do this.  Don't let other people do this.  Give your kid/friend’s kid/niece/nephew/whatever a picture of a bunny instead.  Or a Star Wars toy – I hear those are popular this year.

End rant.

Extra Reading Diary: Czech Folktales

I found a lot of similarities between the first half of this unit and some of the others.  I’m kinda mad at myself because I can’t remember the exact names of the folktales I’m thinking of.

I know that The Three Roses is similar to the original telling of the The Beauty and the Beast – a merchant seeks shelter during the night in a seemingly abandoned castle.  He then wanders into the garden and finds a rose bush and picks a rose for his youngest daughter. 

That’s when the beast comes out and tells him that since he picked the rose, the merchant was going to die.  The merchant successfully begged for his life and the beast told him that whoever greeted him first upon the merchant’s return home had to be brought back to the castle to live with the beast.

Granted, the merchant’s daughter never had to cut the beast’s head off.  Twice.

Also, the last line of this story is just pure awesome.  I like it because it invokes a sense that the narrator isn’t of this realm.  It makes this all seem like something that has happened on different plane of existence – say in a world where magic exists and it’s totally plausible to cut someone’s head off twice, after nursing them for three hours for three days, before they turn into a prince you get married to.

And now I wonder what this narrator sees in our world and if he wants to go back?  Maybe he's playing some hockey:

Tomáš Hertl

Storytelling for Week 13: Sing Me A Healing Song

Author's Note

Another week, another storytelling with hockey players!  This story takes Väinämöinen from the Kalevala unit and will feature Olli Määttä, #3 for the Pittsburgh Penguins, as Väinämöinen hanging out in the modern day.  I wrote a mini-primer on Olli which will probably be helpful in order to understand some of the things he does and the voice I give him.  Pictures of the cast will be at the end.

I was writing this during last night's game, when this happened... it's just insane how many bad things have happened to this kid.

Anyway, here's a picture of him when things were still good :'(

Olli Maatta

-z-

Väinämöinen’s not saying that he’s bored with being alive – he’s just saying that he’s running out of things to do.

Then he stumbles on a new game from across the ocean – a game called hockey.

-

He shortens his name to Väin and plays in Finland for years and years, learning the game and figuring out which position suited him best.

And when he finally settles on one, he changes his name to Olli and sings a song about youth – watching in the mirror as the lines of age smooth away.  Then he plays his way back up the leagues, and pretends to be surprised when he’s taken in the first round of the NHL draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

-

“I think I like it here,” Olli tells his manager, a young African American with just the barest touches of magic around her eyes in sparks of red; she probably didn’t even know she had it.

Her name is Katrina and her eyes flick up to him from her phone for just the barest moment, a quirk to her lips letting him know she didn’t quite believe him.  “I’m glad,” she says, returning to her phone, her thumb flicking and swiping the screen quickly.  “The Penguins have a good contract ready for you to sign – just let them know when you’re ready.”

Olli looks over to her, smile wide on his face, when he says, “I am ready.”

-

He loves his teammates and he's accepted almost immediately.

And when Jussi – a fellow Finn – joins the team, Olli can barely contain his excitement.  That excitement doubles when he finally gets to meet him and Jussi says, “Oh, you have magic!”

Olli laughs, sees the way Jussi’s own magic dances around his head and his hands – little teal ribbons sliding between his fingers.  Jussi’s magic is diluted to Olli’s eyes, but he know it’s still strong for the modern world.  It gives him just a little more endurance during a game, just a little extra speed when he needs it.

“So do you,” Olli says.

-

Sometimes, Olli and Jussi sing the old ballads to the locker room.  Olli doesn’t even flinch when Jussi starts the Väinämöinen ballads – a name he feels he hasn’t heard in decades.  (A part of him wonders if young Joukahainen was still around, he ever grew into his magic.)

And sometimes, when the team is tired and they’re deep into the season, when all those little bumps and bruises have accumulated and they’re all just sore and hurt down to their bones – Olli sings a healing song. 

He closes his eyes against slumped shoulders and tight faces, and sings – soft and slow, his voice deepening with his comfort in his native tongue.  He wraps his magic into each of the words, tying in the names of his teammates.

(No one talks once he starts singing, he’s been here long enough that they’ve all just taken to just listening, even if they’re not sure what he says or why they feel lighter after he’s stopped.)

And when he opens his eyes – the room always seems just a little bit brighter.

-z-

End.

"Katrina" by Zoë Kravitz

Jussi Jokinen; unfortunately, he doesn't play for the Pens
any more, he now plays for the Panthers.

Reading Diary B: Kalevala

I enjoyed hearing about Joukahainen attempting to get revenge on Väinämöinen.  A quick google search has lead me to the discovery of the Finnhorse - the only native horsebreed to Finland.  With the description of Väinämöinen's horse as "straw colored" - I came up with this guy:

Finnhorse stallion, Ukkosen Poika

Okay, switching gears. This is going to act as my primer-slash-author's note for this week's storytelling.  So, let me tell y'all about a sweet little Finnish boy named Olli Määttä.

Olli

Normally it takes a lot to stir any sort of maternal instinct in me, but sometimes I look at this 6'2" blond puppy and I just want to wrap him in a blanket and make him some hot chocolate.  Even as he's bowling people over... (Olli's #3, the guy with the puck)

At just 19 years old during 2013-14 season, Olli immediately broke into the NHL (something more typical of forwards; it's harder for young defensemen to break in early just because the game is so much faster than at the lower levels - so you need a much higher hockey IQ/more sophisticated hockey sense).  

During the 2014 Winter Olympic break, Olli got a bronze medal playing with the likes of Teemu Selänne, a.k.a. The Finnish Flash - who was participating in his last Olympics. Selänne's career had lasted from 1989-2014 (longer than Olli's even been alive) and he still holds a number of records.  The greatest part of the whole thing?  Selanne gushing about Olli <3

Olli and Teemu

The 2014-15 season - Olli is now 20 - was less kind.  In October, a preseason medical checkup found a cancerous tumor in his thyroid.  So remember that picture from Reading Diary A?

My son.

That scar at the base of his throat is from the surgery to remove the cancer.  He goes on to talk about how the hardest part of having cancer isn't having cancer - it was having to tell his parents, his siblings, and his teammates.

[Olli Cancer Presser]

Later in the year, he once again went under the knife.  This time for a shoulder injury that took Olli out for the rest of the season.  Oh, and then he got mumps during a League wide outbreak.

You Can't Make This Up.

But, Olli has persevered.  He's made it back and the 21-year-old is continuing to play at a high level.

Possibly, through magic...

Reading Diary A: Kalevala

I love the singing bards-slash-wizards of Finland.

I've gone through a few of the Kalevala stories in my own time so this is a nice refresher course for me.  I'm pretty sure I've read the first story of this unit before - that familiarity helped me to get through the flowery language (the audio helped, too).

I think I like it so much because of the sound of the Finnish language is just so beautiful - I wish I was able to learn it.  But my mind can't quite work around languages, haha.

The power of words - that if you put enough faith and strength in them, you can make them become real - is fascinating to me.  I wish that it was something that more people believed.

Because there are words that I have said, words that have been said to me, that still cut deep.  Words that kinda sneak up on you when you're not paying much attention and you just cringe and try to shake them out of your head.

Another thing I love is the repeated "so-and-so did this once, then twice, and then again a third time."  I know I've used this formula in my own writing, and I must have picked it up from reading these stories.  I love the way it just flows!

When I write, I always try to pay attention to the cadence of the words in a sentence.  It's probably why I overuse dashs in my sentences - much to the chagrin of a lot of my professors.

For this week's storytelling, I'm probably going to be using one of my favorite Finnish hockey players: Olli Maatta.  (More about that scar at his neck in the next post - which may just serve as a Olli primer so I don't have to do an extended author's note...)

Olli Maatta

Week 12: Famous Last Word - House Rabbit Primer 4/4

(Week 9: The Basics, I)

(Week 10: The Basics, II)

(Week 11: The Hazards)

A Primer to the Domestic House Rabbit: My Best Success Story and the Whole Point of Doing a Four Week Long Rabbit Primer

1. Cadbury, the Church Rabbit
2. What has been done: the "Make Mine Chocolate" campaign and the house rabbit memes
3. What needs to be done: education, education, education

Cadbury, the Church Rabbit

Early 2001.  While I was living down in Jacksonville, Florida, I remember my sister and I playing outside of church when we saw a rabbit down the street.  We told our mom about it and she passed it off as just us mistaking a wild rabbit for a domestic one.

Sure enough though, next week, our pastor came up to my mom and said, "There's a rabbit at the front of the church.  If we catch him, will you take him?"

He knew that we already had rabbits and that we would take care of him.  My mom agreed and not five minutes later, over half the congregation was outside trying to herd this one rabbit towards the corner of the fence.

There's something to be said about watching a grown man try to reach for a rabbit and then quickly back off when that rabbit charges back.

You see, we weren't sure how long Cadbury was out running around that neighborhood (which was always filled with stray dogs and cats, so it's amazing he hadn't been killed).  What we were sure of was that he was out there long enough for him to get mean.

This rabbit would get spittin' mad just by you walking by his cage; we used to call him Caddy Baddy.  Even after his neuter, he was still aggressive.

I've always worked well with the hard case rabbits - and that all started here.  I found that if I just sat with him, he would calm down (I didn't know about gazing - a rabbit's way of bonding, where they just sit and look at each other (or at you) - at the time; frankly, I was sort of just winging it).

I didn't try to hold him and kiss him, I simply sat there.  Occasionally, I would reach over and scratch his head  - carefully (I let him see my hand, but I didn't put it near his mouth).  When rabbits try to bite something coming in from above, they have to tip their heads back, which can be awkward for them, so they also try to circle around.  So the goal was to start scratching his forehead before he started in on circling.

Caddy, for all his fury, couldn't fight against a good head scratch.

But I didn't push it.  This is important.  You can't push yourself on a rabbit.  This is true for all critters with a bad past - you have to take things at their pace, not yours.  Rushing through a healing process can be just as damaging.

Anyway, after five/six seconds head of scratches, then I'd lean back and go back to my book or drawing or whatever.  And he'd go back to glaring or turning away from me - giving me the butt - as he pointedly groomed himself and ignored my presence.

I repeated these sessions about two or three times a day, every day.

It wasn't long before he stopped trying to bite my hand, and not much longer after that he stopped growling at everyone who walked by.  His ears didn't go flat anymore when he saw me coming to feed him (I was the only one at this point who could reach into his cage to grab his food bowl).

He still had moments where he would revert back to his old self, but as weeks turned to months and our sessions continued - those moments became fewer and farther between.

And as the months turned to years, Caddy and I became inseparable.  We would take naps together and spent countless afternoons watching TV together as we shared an apple or banana or carrot.  It even got to the point where I could use him as a pillow!

Caddy passed away in my arms in 2006.  He was one of the best rabbits I've ever had the pleasure of living with.

Cadbury, 2005

What has been done: the "Make Mine Chocolate" campaign and the house rabbit memes

The MMC campaign began in 2002 at a Columbus, Ohio rabbit shelter.  It partners with various organizations to spread awareness about the plight of Easter rabbits.

Their Facebook page offers many different types of promotional material that can be printed off and distributed within businesses (or anywhere, really).

One of the many types of posters available for download

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Sadie Lovington Nibblesworth's Home for Wayward Rabbits and Tea Parlor who are the creators of these fabulous memes:

What needs to be done: education, education, education

So, what is the point of all of this?  It's simple: education! Spreading the word!

A few years back, Subaru released a commercial that showed a woman and young child releasing a domestic rabbit into the woods where it was "adopted" by a wild rabbit.  The ad was almost immediately pulled after the backlash by bunny activists and you can't even find it online.

The commercial helped to perpetuate the myth that domestic rabbits are fully capable of taking care of themselves in "the wild."  I know several rabbits who would disagree with this...

Stella disagrees with certain people's life choices.

Sidebar:

It's not just the domestic house rabbit that is misunderstood - wild rabbits are too.  If you see a nest of baby wild rabbits - leave it alone! 

Also be aware that it is illegal in the state of Oklahoma to have a wild rabbit in your possession.  If you find one that is injured, you need to immediately take it to Wildcare.  I know there are a lot of well-intentioned people out there, but a lot of the times they do more harm than good.

Leave the babies alone.

One of my main goals for this primer - is that, even if you only glance at it, that you retain something that can influence you to speak up if you hear someone talk about getting a rabbit. Whether it's one of those funny memes or the bloody picture of a torn open hand.

And as always, remember: adopt, don't shop.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!

Bye!

Tech Tip: Sidebar Box

For this tech tip I added some text underneath the weather gadget.  It never ceases to amaze me how many people forget about the extraordinary weather that happens here.  Especiaduring the spring!

There is no excuse to not take five minutes to watch a weather forecast.  I watch Mike Morgan because I trust him far more than David Payne - News 9 has horrible looking radar.  KFOR's is much more sophisticated - you can actually watch a tornado move from street to street.

My mom and I watched as the Moore tornado from when it first formed all the way until it roped out on KFOR.  Why people still sent their children to school, I'll never understand.  Mike Morgan had been warning people for a week that there was going to be strong tornadic activity.  And I'm going to stop there, because that's a rant for another time.

Moral of the story: pay attention to the weather.