a flawed plan

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

7 February 2021 - Even at my skinniest I could never be mistaken for a chair leg, but sitting very still for a long period of time is usually sufficient to lure in the interlopers.  After many missed days of porch patrol, I feared that the perimeter would be swarming with rabble... but evidently they dislike cold weather as much as I do!  We forget how much like ourselves the enemy is.  Fortunately for me, classification is simple:  if you are not me or my peeps, then you belong elsewhere.  I realize that there is another category, created by my two, that permits certain others into our abode.  I begrudgingly concede the rule exception, knowing that their stay will be very temporary.  Even so, for the few hours the "guests" dally, my senses are trained upon their persons, and I carefully watch their exit through the front portal.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Circumstances are seldom ideal.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - exempurry, serving as a desirable model (well, I try)

purr me

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

6 February 2021 - How much of my life is spent waiting?  It is a tally I really don't want to know, lest I sink further into the doldrums.  And this picture accurately captures that feeling of collapse into an ignored blob at a peep's feet.  It is more difficult now, compared to eight months ago, to convince my cohabiters that I am faint with hunger... but those little morsels aren't called "treats" erroneously.  And maybe I know that I've already eaten my allotment, or maybe I lost count (or maybe I hope that she has lost count), or maybe I refuse to count (the line must be drawn somewhere).  For whatever reason, here I sit, hope battling with despair.  At the very least she could lean over and pat my head.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Most of us should not

be left to our own devices.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrsimism, the unshakable feeling that nothing good is happening in this lifetime (or purrhaps the next)

who goes there?

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

5 February 2021 - If this abode was mine, instead of ours, there would be no closed doors... except perhaps exterior portals, I can see a real need to keep the interlopers out.  The shorter peep and I have a game, good for perhaps thirty seconds of attention-holding, when we are separated by a closed door:  suddenly "something" will appear under the door, wiggle, then retreat... and then reappear at another spot under the door.  As silly as it is, I can't refrain from pouncing, sometimes even sending the thing skittering across the room.  And then the door opens, and she grins at me... so I know that she was having fun as well.  But really, except for these brief moments of amusement, doors are just annoying obstacles.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

"No" is not

an appreciated word.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - handicat, a circumstance that makes success difficult (but not impurrobable)

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")