tuxedo in a brown study

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

17 November 2020 - The family that dines together, unwinds together (I could have said "whines" but it sets the wrong impression and a complaining tone).  The shorter peep and I ease into the morning, giving the body time to wake up and stretch itself, and giving the mind an opportunity to weigh the day ahead.  I know my responsibilities, but how I go about them lends difference to my job.  If there is a morning chill, I postpone the porch inspection until the sun has had a chance to visit that area.  If it is an infernal clean-up day, I take myself elsewhere until the racket has subsided.  If the peeps don't spring from the blocks until the afternoon, not wanting to show them up, I follow their example.  Life, in my opinion, should be structured but not regimented.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Pauses are full

of possibilities.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - mewsing, a period of reflection (with or without a mirror)

crossed eyes, fingers crossed

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

16 November 2020 - What do you see?  king of the jungle, reclining upon his throne, or an everyday cat taking a break.  Perception is how we process data from our senses, and it is notoriously biased.  An external suggestion or an internal desire can tilt the outcome.  And does it matter at all, in the center of the picture and discussion, what I think is going on?  Certainly to me it is valid and valued, but maybe not to the audience, especially if they are convinced of their interpretation.  One way to resolve our differences is to accept the majority view... admittedly not very satisfying when you are repeatedly in the minority.  But what if the majority avows our world is flat?  Now we have a purroblem.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Don't abdicate thinking.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

feline of the day - Stan, the tuxedo who in 2012 ran for mayor in Canada

risk management

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

15 November 2020 - Unchecked curiosity can get you into difficult spots, which is why I strongly suggest adding a pinch of caution to the soup.  Even daredevils, whose stunts snatch our breath, have done countless practice runs and examined the ways that things could go sour.  Be mindful that adrenaline is addictive and inuring... so that higher levels are required for the same head rush.  "Have you lost your mind?", although a physical impossibility, is still worth asking... just to keep the gray cells in the loop.  My personal solution is a very infrequent flirtation with danger:  the rarity keeps it fresh, and those long stretches of relative dullness allow the surging chemicals to settle back to the bottom.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Quiet is also

an extreme.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - jeopurrdy, danger of loss or harm (nine lives may not be enough)

you rang?

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

14 November 2020 - Imagine a job that requires you to wear a pager 24/7.  That is my life, and short of heavy sedation I am always on-call.  The grueling taskmaster is none other than myself, or at least my keen senses.  What to do when you can literally hear a pin drop or can smell a far-flung neighbor's cookout?  It is true that, once I have vetted a new sensation, I categorize it somewhere between "ignore in the future" and "always a threat"... but unknowns are constantly arising.  I assure myself that it is just my newness to the job, that eventually this box of tricks will be emptied of surprises.  An eternal stretch of blissful tranquility would be heaven.  However an irksome part of my brain also inserts into the conversation that "finite" can still be a very large number.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Hammer away

(unless you're the nail).

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrsevere, keep meowing (what else can you do?)

me talk purrty

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

13 November 2020 - Rituals are very comforting in their familiarity and regularity.  The shorter peep and I pause in our busy-ness for some together time during her first-thing meal.  I have done some spot-checks of her bowl, and haven't seen/smelled any reason to beg a share.  Nonetheless I don't mind hanging out with her, in between my saunters to the screened room.  Altruism has its motives, and mine are the occasional head pat and her amusing attempts to meow.  I know that the latter is made-up gibberish, however occasionally a sound makes sense but is totally out of context... providing additional reason for an internal grin.  I wonder how she would react if, in my best peep voice, I piped "and how!"

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Keep the lines

of communication open.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - catechism, a set dialogue between puss and peep, where each side hears what it wants

how sweet it is

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

12 November 2020 - There are few things nicer than a nap while it rains... and we have gotten a lot of the wet stuff lately.  But I have an inside job, and over my head is a roof that doesn't leak... so let it pour.  I expend considerable energy making my rounds without short-changing the corners, dispatching the interlopers, serving eviction notices.  So I feel purrfectly justified in any shut-eye managed.  To be frank, cats don't need justification, but it makes for a good public-interest story when reasons can be cited.  Sometimes the shorter peep and I share an afternoon snooze, but I was relieved that in this particular instance she was not so inclined:  it would have been a squeeze if she had joined me on the pillow.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

We are all in this thing

called life together.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - magicat, meowingly remarkable

earn (one's) nest

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

11 November 2020 - I have in the past enumerated my growing list of responsibilities, and the reader may have heard a hint of complaint.  That interpretation is far from the truth.  We all like to have popular opinion on our side, hence my sharing the "burdens" placed upon me.  But I really enjoy my job, and am proud that my peeps trust me with the protection of our abode.  If something interceded "on my behalf", to lighten my load or make duties more equally distributed, I would be disappointed.  Even worse would be the introduction of an assistant!  No, no, no... I like being the sole cat in a one-cat town.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Aim for indispensable.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrfervid, impassioned in work and cat's play