marching to the beat

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

30 September 2014 - My grasp of time is rudimentary, and my need for the demarcation of its passage is nil.  But my peeps are very different creatures.  Numerous accessories dot the walls and shelves, announcing and chronicling that mysterious 4th dimension.  If you look at pictures of me ten years ago (oops, the slope is slippery) and today, it is undeniable that I live within the jurisdiction of time.  Inside each of my cells is a built-in replicator and expiration date, so what I would like to believe is circumscribed by those facts.  Denial is a recognized and popular means of coping with the unpleasant, hence I am one of the immortals....that is my story and I am sticking to it.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

 Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

The hourglass suggests that the sands of time can be counted.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

character of the day - the ticking crocodile, Capt. Hook's nemesis in Neverland

after midnight

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

 29 September 2014 - Between sundown and sun-up we cats are in our element.  Add to the quiet walk and the made-for-the-night eyesight my matte black coat, and I am a feline stealth bomber.  I do enjoy zipping past the peeps as they grope through the shadows.  It is kittenish behavior, which I should have long outgrown, but I can't resist this bit of showing off.  Besides a domesticated cat really has few opportunities to employ these assets, so try to understand why occasionally I startle you in the darkness.  It's because I can.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

Things are always bumping, but they seem more ominous in the night.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

phrase of the day - "I feel a need for speed", uttered by Maverick in Top Gun

the daily grrrrind

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

28 September 2014 - We should all know our strengths, and mine is definitely not "paperwork".  The shorter peep spends way too much time sorting and tallying.  Through my glazed eyes, it appears that she arranges in a stack, disassembles the pile, and then rearranges.  I would be butting my head (actually, someone else's) against the wall.  So today I am the chief morale office, close at hand should she need a mental break, a friendly face upon which to gaze.  My quiet presence puts her travails into perspective:  life is short, pet the cat.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

All work and no play is a 

form of punishment.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purradigm, an exemplary model of how to conserve energy

humdrumming up business

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

27 September 2014 - I could have saved this demonic-eyed shot for Halloween, but I can probably do better.  What you might not notice, since I am front and center, is the partial word behind my shoulder.  Yes, I pick my spots with forethought.  And the fact that I settled here, and not on the shelf just barely suggested along the left edge, puts the lie to the notion that we cats prefer the highest vantage...sometimes but not always.  The one thing that we aren't is predictable, but then that trait isn't an asset to survival.  Keep your enemies guessing...and your friends too.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

Why be boring when

one can be riveting?

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - mewnotonous, to be average or mundane, a state eschewed by any self-respecting feline

don't mind me

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

26 September 2014 - A guest is one that can't or won't make himself at home, who needs to have the bedcovers turned back and fresh towels delivered daily.  Fortunately for me, I can make my own way, find my own comfortable spot.  I would have to hold my breath quite a while if I were to wait for the peeps to notice and react to my needs.  I take no offense, and the peeps shouldn't get huffy if, in the pursuit of an afternoon nap, I rearrange the pillows to accommodate.  The result is always more agreeable to the body, even if the aesthetic suffers a bit.  I really do think that my presence in the picture is sufficient eye candy.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

A pretty face excuses a 

good many things.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrch, a place where one rests, sometimes precariously

a matter of perspective

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

25 September 2014 - The shorter peep presented me, without any guide lines, these three images.  I have no formal training in art, and very little experience with it, but one of the renditions does appeal to me more than the other two.  There is something very familiar about the subject matter, and, being a pragmatist, I definitely prefer realism.  Does having an opinion make me an art critic?  Hardly...I just like what I like, and don't give the "why" much thought.  When one is focused on survival, contemplation is not a priority.  Even when one is more secure and comfortable with life's lot, self-reflection loses out to noisier, group-based pursuits.  More to the point, I don't have a navel in which to gaze.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

Just because we can draw a line between two points, doesn't make them connected.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

painting of the day - Olympia, by Edouard Manet, that includes a black cat, traditional symbol of prostitution

puss in reboot

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

24 September 2014 - We are all creatures of habit, myself included.  Once the shorter peep and I have breakfasted, we mount  the stairs to the office.  Generally at this hour we are not reporting to work, just warming up the circuits as we check in with the world.  I do not consider myself part of the geekdom, but I do enjoy observing these obsessive behaviors.  Is a local radar image the new Delphic oracle?  Can the day not officially begin without checking on the status of friends?  I confess that my "fascination" with these machines is purely practical:  they are a guaranteed source of heat.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

Habits are a short-circuit of thinking.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrompt, something that fires a synapse, like a blinking cursor or a swatting paw

natural selection

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

23 September 2014 - Fresh air does a body good, but I prefer my fresh air filtered, without mosquitoes and other such blood-suckers.  So a favorite spot of mine is the front porch.  I can spend an entire lazy afternoon out there, with one ear registering the various bird twitters and squirrel rustles.  Occasionally stranger noises are heard, that stir me from my reverie:  such as the infrequent yard visits from deer and the even rarer march through dry leaves of a box turtle.   The peeps and I have wildness far back in our lineage, and immersed in nature we recall that kinship.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

 Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

Domestication can be just a veneer.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - furocious, savage and wild, like "nature, red in tooth and claw"

Trix are for kits

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

22 September 2014 - One of the reasons the shorter peep and I get along so well is that we both need to begin the day with food.  Shamefully, with all the troubles in the world, eating is the first thing that pops into our heads.  Family meal time is where bonds, as well as bones, are strengthened.  For me sustenance consists of a head pat and yogurt, and this routine is repeated as many times as is needed.  Everyone should be so lucky to start the day ego-stroked and belly-stoked:  those two elements are essential for a happy life, and I am a happy cat.  And if I am happy, the entire household purrs with contentment.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

Coincidence is a real thing:  otherwise why would "foo" and "food" share so much?

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

personality of the day - Cat Cora, celebrity chef and co-host of Around the World in 80 Plates

the elegance of gray

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

21 September 2014 -  Early mornings are a lovely part of the day, especially this time of year when summer is loosening its grip.  My preference for calm and quiet is nicely mirrored in twilight.  Not everyone is comfortable with silence, but it takes all types.  Kitchen bustle has yet to commence, and I am free to loll at my sentry post.  The plugged-in age totally misses out on this inner life and the sweetness of contemplation.  We cats, like the scribes of the Dark Ages, will preserve the art for that day when the world ceases to convulse.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

Both the giver and the receiver are damaged by the jack hammer.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

book of the day - The Cat in the Hat, a children's best-seller that transformed school primers and gave us "fun that is funny"

"well, well": a deep subject

Me-ow-my-oh!

Me-usings and Me-emories

20 September 2014 - "Ding, dong bell, Pussy's in the well."...and, lest you unnecessarily worry, the verb should be past-tense.  I don't care to go into details, but I almost floundered in beyond-my-control "circumstances".  But I am back from my dark nadir.  How long I can enjoy this equilibrium is beyond my ken...all the more reason to savor the present, it is a gift after all.  As you can see, I have resumed the training of the shorter peep.  Her frequent disappearances have taxed my patience, but her contrition seems sincere and I am not one to hold a grudge for long.  Our family, as dysfunctional as it may be, is reunited.

methodology of the meow-stro

 

 

 

Today's Catechism 

(for the self-taught)

Forget the fountain of youth:  seek the wellspring of forbearance.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - cataclysm, a turbulent upheaval in which one still manages to land on one's feet