chill support

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

4 February 2021 - We cats are cussedly independent... until we need a lap.  And last night, if ever there was one, was a night for seeking out another warm body.  Not normally interested in the flashing colors and blare that seem to engross my peeps, I was willing to turn my back to the big-screen distractions for the sake of togetherness.  And in my toasty, semi-conscious state I could relegate the noise to the background and periodically doze.  Catnapping is the best:  unlike a power snooze, in which you awaken with a fuzzy head, brief sips of sleep recharge body and mind without the wet-wool after-effects.  So I am still not a convert to winter life (shiver the thought), I at least have the means to dodge its cold talons.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

The ideal companion has

both warm hands and warm heart.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - catisthenics, feline maneuvers to achieve bodily needs

be-mine humor

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

3 February 2021 - I have overheard my peeps on several occasions espouse the pluses of a benign dictator.  If the job is still open, I would like to apply.  We cats primarily act in our own best interests, so our behavior would be unsurprising and wouldn't align consistently with any faction of the governed.  It is important to not be seen as the ally of any one voice.  Our strong preference for our own company would keep the inner circle to a minimum: only service staff would gain regular admission into my oval office.  A charge of cronyism would slip from a journalist's vocabulary, and as an orphan without known family I could never be accused of nepotism.  My résumé is quite stellar, even weighing in my understandable bias.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Act on your strengths.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrlitics, the activities associated with the governance of peeps (it makes herding cats seem easy)

don't mind me

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

2 February 2021 - "Look into my eyes.  You will give me treats until I say 'stop'."  Clearly reception is spotty, as an unending stream of seafood savories did not occur.  I will continue trying to break through the interference (I'm sure that it is on her end), perhaps next time trying a different frequency.  Would a subsonic growl get her attention, or maybe a supersonic screech?  I am favoring the latter, because such a sound even raises the hairs on MY neck.  If it fails to achieve the primary objective, it would nonetheless be amusing to see her hair stand off from her head, a bit like the mane on one of my wild relatives.  We cats do have a purrverse sense of humor.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

A laugh a day

keeps the vet at bay.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrdominance, the exertion of control (just think of me as your mew-sic director)

in-oy-vey-tive

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

1 February 2021 - What interrupted my dreams?  Do I hear some thing gargling??  Fears lessen with eyes wide open, so all is good here in my corner office.  Mondays are generally slow out of the blocks, and six of them have their sloth recognized by being federal holidays (and easily another 10% are claimed as "sick" or "purrsonal" days).  I have never been fond of crowds (how easily they are turned into mobs), so I actually enjoy working on Mondays.  I don't need attentive, or even in attendance, employees to manage:  I am full of ideas (my peeps might add other things that I am full of), and ways to realize them.  Every business, to be successful, needs one (and purrhaps only one) big-picture guy (and I am very photogenic).

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Be different:  lead

from behind.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purroneer, a purrson who invents a new hoop for peeps to jump through ("keep'em busy")

you win some....

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

31 January 2021 - I don't believe Kilroy was ever here... or my ol' factory has stopped working, which would be a cat catastrophe and, alas, a symptom of our present time.  But I can detect in the air whatever is being stirred in the kitchen, and it is most assuredly not to my liking.  Who would think that one's appetite is so closely coupled to the sense of smell?  I certainly would not advise eating something that flunked the sniff test, but what if you could smell nothing?  What is and isn't acceptable to the nose is largely determined by one's culture and, to a lesser extent, one's age.  Can you name an enjoyed food that you pushed aside when you were a kit?

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Absence points out

the loss.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - depurrvation, the lack of something that is considered necessary ("oh, give me this wish: Blue Buffalo in my dish")

it's M.A.D.ness

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

30 January 2021 - I was snoozing, pursuing dreams of purry warmth, when this blue-nosed booby attacked.  In my groggy state I first reacted with recoil (you would have too)... but then, with more neurons firing, I assessed my weight advantage and gamely retaliated.  The tussle was very satisfying and all too short-lived, as most battles are when one side is woefully outnumbered.  Once victorious I realized that this aggressor could be the scout for the mottled monolith upstairs.  The thought gave me pause, and then paws, because what better to get back to the major interloper than I am not a pushover and easily trounced its flunkey.  Upon mutual respect it is possible to build a delicate detente of peace... otherwise this house simply isn't big enough for the both of us.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Some conflicts are

difficult to avoid.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - dicatomy, the division between two things represented as opposites, akin to the standoff between cats and dim deeps

alien wary

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

29 January 2021 - It is twenty years beyond Kubrick's 2001, but this mottled monolith materialized yesterday in my space, an odyssey I didn't volunteer for.  I don't want to dwell on how it got here, because it would suggest a lapse of security, but am willing to swallow the rumor that it simply "appeared".  I haven't inspected it thoroughly, mainly because I am still in the observing stage, however to my knowledge it hasn't moved from its spot nor made any threatening gestures or sounds.  My nonchalant peeps meanwhile carry on as if nothing is untoward... the shorter one even patted its head!  I will continue my reconnaissance and report back later.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

A streak of good luck

always ends.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrternatural, beyond what is normal (which is purrty far out there if you're a cat)