a gathering of larks

Me-ow-my-oh!<

Me-usings and Me-emories

30 September 2013 - Some days are especially wonderful to be alive:  one feels strong and sure and appreciated, and life could not conceivably be better.  Those are the moments one desires to tuck away, for later, when the view and viewpoint have soured.  These good-to-be-me thunder claps are most remarkable when contrasted with the more mundane majority of life spent in a dazed blur.  Yes, hold the catsup, I wish to relish.

methodology of the meow-ster

Catvice 

(for the self-absorbed)

Dancing is joy in motion.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

place of the day - Kattegat, the Scandinavian word for "cat's throat", one of the connecting straits between the Baltic and North Seas

it's curtains for you

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

29 September 2013 - One can learn a great deal by eavesdropping, and as long as one isn't discovered, what is the harm?  Information is power, and sometimes my peeps fail to keep me in the loop.  They don't want me to worry?  Stress is the result of knowing something is up, but not knowing what exactly.  So for my health, and for their own good, I resort to innocent spying.  This particular incident confirmed that things were being stowed in a cardboard box, and these "things" didn't include anything of mine...so that is a relief.  But what are they up to?  Is it time to stow summer clothes?  I don't think that could be the case as I am still shedding hair.  Well, I shall have to continue this fact-gathering until answers are nailed down.  These peeps cause me such worry.

methodology of the meow-ster

Catvice 

(for the self-absorbed)

An ear to the ground can gather dirt.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - catalapsy, the desire of a feline to curl up in a peep's lap while that peep is attempting to read the paper or type at the keyboard

dies irae

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

28 September 2013 -  Not much escapes me.  If it moves, I am interested; three seconds of lifelessness and my gaze glazes over.  Do you see that chameleon on the ledge?  It knows very little, but evidently grasps that there is a pane of glass between it and me.  Otherwise it would be peering out from beneath my thunderbolt paw.  I think that it enjoys taunting me.  I will take my revenge upon its family to the seventh generation.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

 Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

Smile, but keep a watchful eye.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

feline of the day - Taki, Raymond Chandler's black Persian, to whom the writer always read his first drafts

few are chosen

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

27 September 2013 - We "live" in an age of superheroes, perhaps because the everyday variety is no match for present-day challenges.  The very word originated at the close of WWI, and the first larger-than-life creation, Superman, appeared during the Great Depression.  It takes no great mental stretch to figure out why, in times of uncertainty and threat, we might fantasize such a figure.  Often these persons lead double lives, their uber identities hidden behind concealing costumes and inhabiting secret lairs.  "Who is that masked man?"  "Who is that caped avenger?"  Although some more recent superheroes work in teams, there is still a strong presence of the brooding loner.  My peeps don't suspect a thing.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

 Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

Magic is what we don't understand.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

feline of the day - Spot, Data's orange tabby in The Next Generation

look into my eyes

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

26 September 2013 - My peeps work entirely too much.  The taller of the two, when he is awake and in the house, can typically be found here, staring intently at that glowing surface, sometimes talking to it.  I have investigated that area thoroughly, and none of my senses can pick up anything remotely interesting or useful.  But not wanting to be standoffish, I often join them here.  One might say that I am trying to lead by example; however that would require my being noticed...and that only happens if I lie down on the keyboard...which is uncomfortable.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

 Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

Work that feels like

play is the goal.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

feline of the day - Foss, Edward Lear's cat and the subject of many of Lear's drawings

missing persons

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

25 September 2013 -  My peeps and I occasionaly indulge in hide-and-seek fun.  It requires very little of me, other than finding a quiet place to relax.  Once they realize that my whereabouts is unknown, they begin the game:  first, I hear them bleating my name, but not wishing to spoil their adventure, I remain put, with my eyes half-open.  Next comes the actual seeking.  Their movements about the house, as they check all the prior hide-and-seek spots, can easily be heard.  There is no attempt at stealth.  But why should I be at any of these places?  Smarter if they conjured up new spots, thought like a cat, if that is humanly possible, and returned to the old haunts when all else failed.  Sometimes, when the game has gone overly long, I rally their flagging spirits with a tiny meow.  They take such joy in discovering me.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

 Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

Life requires very little.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

feline of the day - Catarina, Edgar Allen Poe's pet that sat on his shoulder as he wrote, and inspired "The Black Cat"

getting a life

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

24 September 2013 -  The world is a fascinating place, especially so this time of year.  Seasonal change brings flocks of migrating beeps to our yard, many of which peer into the windows.  "No, I don't want to come outside and play."  I am content to sit and watch and imagine.  How far have they travelled?  Where will they be tomorrow?  I know the answers when the questions are posed to me:  my world is circumscribed and vast, bounded by property lines and limitless.  I am content gazing out upon the landscape, waiting for the sumac to redden.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

 Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

Being ready is different

from being alert.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

book of the day - The Whispering Muse, Icelandic author Sjon revisits the retrieval of the Golden Fleece

a car and two goats

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

23 September 2013 - I am easily entertained and quickly bored.  This particular spot often yields a few minutes of amusement:  things dart in and out through the gap, daring me to pounce...so I play along.  The game keeps my reflexes sharp and my eyesight keen.  Those times when I have dragged the squirmy thing out, it immediately went lifeless...which is absolutely a snoozer.  What is back there?  At least it's not a 3-door problem.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

 Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

Everyone should have a favorite toy.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

character of the day - Miss Kitty, (AKA Amanda Blake) Gunsmoke saloon-keeper for nineteen years

out and about

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

22 September 2013 - What is normal everyday for one person is exotic to another.  The perspective is determined not by the place but by the perceiver.  Where does the beheld fall on the spectrum from familiar to alien?  Had I not travelled widely in the northern temperate zone, I might still hold that palm trees and dracaenas are ho-hum flora.  But even had I not ventured beyond central Florida, I could have inferred diversity.  Just look at the variety found among us:  from snow white to ebony, stripes to solids, calicoes to brindles, we are an eclectic, and if I may say so, fascinating breed.  I have never encountered a purple cat, but I don't disallow the possibility (and I'd rather see than be one).

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

To be widely read and broadly travelled are worthwhile goals.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

place of the day - Kitty Hawk, a town on North Carolina's Outer Banks, chosen by the Wright brothers for its wind and sand

oysters on the half-shell

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

21 September 2013 -  Being a tuxedo cat in a gray world suits me well, don't you think?  There is nothing monotonous about this color scheme, and anyone who thinks otherwise has little imagination.  The eye when given a restricted palette can better perceive nuance.  Busy splashes of bold colors are exciting (don't take this sentiment as a request for a red bowtie), but over-stimulate the rods and cones.  How better to soothe body and mind than with cool-to-the-touch silver and understated onyx.  It's what I'll be wearing this season.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

 Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

Pearls of wisdom make a lovely statement around the neck.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

 

Catty Corner

word of the day - chatoyancy, or cat's eye effect, is an optical reflectance seen in certain gemstones, arising either from the fibrous structure or from fibrous inclusions or cavities within the stone

if you can't take the heat

Me-ow-my-oh

Me-usings and Me-emories

 

20 September 2013 - Is it just me, or can you sense a change in the air?  I am completely over summer, and the accompanying fleas and shed hair.  Although winter's chill is not the high point of my year, I do love autumn and would gladly request six months of it...Bastet, are you listening?  Give me crisp, sharp-edged air any day.  Smells are borne on humidity's droplets, but I bet my nose can still discern sour milk at fifty paces in a less saturated atmosphere.  Okay, Mother Nature, the glove has been thrown down...your move.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

 Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

A cold shoulder would feel

good about now.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

person of the day - Katagiri Katsumoto, 16th-century Japanese warlord of an ancient samurai clan, immortalized in a very popular modern Kabuki play

continuing ed

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

19 September 2013 - We are an inquisitive breed.  I have become adept at opening cabinet doors, because one should know what lies on the other side.  How else does one learn, if not by sticking one's head into things and behind things and under things?  Being told an answer is not nearly so memorable as discovering the answer, for often in the discovery comes an adventure.  You are no doubt familiar with the proverb, "curiosity killed the cat," that forewarns all nosy bodies.  However, there is a less heard rejoinder to that statement:  "but satisfaction brought it back."  I'm banking on reincarnation.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

"Why?" isn't just for kids.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

quote of the day - "A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way." ~ Mark Twain

heart throbs

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

18 September 2013 -  How we cats manage to purr is, amazingly, still an open question.  The ambiguity is largely due to the fact that we don't have a unique anatomical feature that is clearly responsible for the sound.  The current thinking is that we alternately dilate and constrict the glottis, causing air vibrations during inhalation and exhalation at an astonishing rate of 20 to 30 per second.  Fortunately for us, we don't need to know how (or why) since it is hard-wired in from birth.  I am particularly fond of the effect achieved in the shower.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

Finding one's voice implies that

it was first taken away.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

opera of the day - Toscat, an early Puccini draft about an alley cat that nightly vocalizes atop the parapets