funk-shun

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

18 January 2021 - Rituals are satisfying in their familiarity, and because they meet some fundamental need, we continue to practice them.  The shorter peep and I start our mornings together:  very little is said but much is understood.  We refuel our bodies, adjust ourselves to the day ahead, and acknowledge the other's role in making that happen.  Mondays are, for the general public, a difficult transition between family and work, personal and public.  Even for those largely exempt from the 9-to-5 existence, the pattern is recognized and impacts perception.  The first day of the week is seen as a beginning:  one for starting a project, for doubling down on effort, for making inroads into the chaos.  Perhaps I will need another bowl of kibble?

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

All progress

involves a start.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrform, to accomplish something (which certainly deserves a head pat)

a tail of one kitty

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

17 January 2021 - I am the first in line for a magic-carpet ride to the tropics... yeah, yeah, "in my dreams".  At least there has been sunshine to brighten my spirits (where is my genie?  perhaps I should take up the bottle).  But that is enough feline fretting.  I am fed and occasionally warm, which gives that unsatisfying statistical measure of above-average.  Without need of pen and pencil my peeps can assess my well-being by noticing my tail.  Curled up, whether at my paws or over my back, indicates contentment... being without a thumb I use this for my OK-signal.  If it drags the floor I am in stealth (or get-me-outta-here) mode.  And if a cat is beyond mad, the tail is cracking about like a whip:  beware!

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Don't sit on your feelings.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - expurressive, effectively conveying one's thoughts across a language barrier

don't goad there

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

16 January 2021 - We haven't been formally introduced, but my squatty buddy and I have a natural camaraderie.  We both work in the security sector, and know the pay is low and the respect even lower.  But we have pride in doing a good job and a necessary one.  My task may be somewhat more rewarding, as I am guarding my peeps, but you would really need depth of character to protect those you didn't especially like.  It is a topic one wraps in brown paper, and sets aside for another day.  But thankfully, for many reasons, that is not my situation.  The other thing I admire about my fellow sentry is that he is not a gabber.  Have you ever been stuck next to a moronic motor-mouth?  With my keen hearing and sharp wits I just wanna swat 'em.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Some things just

shouldn't be said.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrtrol, to walk the beat and safeguard against interlopers <hiss>

an inexact science

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

15 January 2021 - I am a sweet-natured creature... just ask my peeps.  Even so I am equipped with razor claws and pointed teeth, the result of evolution's millennia.  My ancestors' survival depended on their effective defense (and offense), and occasionally I channel this wilder side...  and I must admit it is great fun to don my panther avatar.  It gets the heart pounding, and the endorphins flowing.  A toy on a long string, I have found, is a good way to minimize scratching my buddies, but accidents do happen (the shorter peep has shown me the red slashes on her fingers).  But when I am taken by this bloody madness, my vision narrows and my sympathies retreat... which makes it difficult to quickly intervene when that high-pitched internal voice says, "wrong target".

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Sometimes one can

only apologize.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrilous, not without risk (but worth it)

I wonder as I wander

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

14 January 2021 - If inhospitable weather or pandemic concerns have you sequestered inside, and your clothes seem to be shrinking in size, don't head to the pantry.  Walking is an excellent form of exercise, and adding stairs to your route ups the aerobic benefits.  Even if your abode doesn't offer the ideal circuit, you can still map a route that involves each room.  As long as you don't exit an outer door, the right-paw rule will guarantee an exhaustive peregrination that returns you to the starting point.  Perhaps your impetus is emptying wastebaskets or opening blinds or searching for the remote, but something "useful" can get you off the sofa and moving.  And just maybe, when you get back to the kitchen you will have forgotten what you came to get.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Even a pointless task

can serve a purrpose.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - meownder, to purrceed along a winding course (it's my job)

a royal pang

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

13 January 2021 - I could claim this spot as my throne, but why limit myself to just one?  During certain times of the day, the sun pours through a roof portal and makes it a hot seat... and it is my job to notice these things.  Of course a cover of clouds can spoil the effect, and today appears to be one of those where heat must be sought elsewhere.  I was out in the screened area briefly yesterday, at my request, and am very glad to have four walls and a roof to call my own.  I am now doubting the veracity of my memories:  in my (current) lifetime we have had fry-an-egg-on-the-sidewalk hot days, correct?  Paved walkways are scarce out in the country, so I don't mind raw... but I do miss being singed.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Creative thoughts can occur

while seated.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - meowgul, an important cat (purrdon the redundancy)

family planning

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

12 January 2021 - You know what they say, "... but you can't choose your family."  It goes without saying that I am not blood-related to my two peeps, and I certainly didn't have any choice in the matter of my adoption.  But things have worked out well, and I am not agitating for change.  These days the composition of a family unit is whatever the group agrees upon, and why should it be otherwise.  Inheritance of Grandmother's jewels or Gramps' vintage Jaguar can bring out the worst in the offspring, but we cats are not materialistic (well, maybe a bit possessive of our kibble bowl)... and my household isn't Buckingham Palace.  We keep things simple.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

"You can't take it with you"

... so why accumulate?

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrgenitor, the honored ancestor who discovered how to vibrate his larynx muscles