It’s 3:40 a.m. and I’m trying to work up a movie review. The boys are pooped and crashed in their spots on the computer desk: Tito in the basket above and Maz in the doggie bed to the side.
I want to play. Play with me.
Miss Jenny still wants to play and is getting bratty about it. She’s carrying this balled up piece of paper, dropping it in Maz’ bed and steps on him to get a reaction. No dice.
She jumps up to Tito’s lair, almost knocking the desk lamp clipped to the side. I can hear Tito sigh, but he doesn’t budge. Down she comes again, picking up her toy once more.
I keeled it.
She bats it into the space between the TV table and the wall and lunges after it, wedging her front end down there while back-pedaling with her rear.
She farts. Oh God she farted.
She comes up victorious with paper in mouth, I guess. I can’t really tell, my eyes watering and the fumes affecting my inner ear: the image and sound on the TV seem out of sync, because sound travels at a different speed after she ‘alters’ the atmosphere. I put my hands down on the desk to steady myself, Jeez… We need to change her diet progressively, but soon. Much depends on this.
We try to slip out to catch the sunrise, but sometimes we leave much earlier. The very early morning hours are usually calm, beautiful and full of wildlife. Late last year we went to the Legion of Honor to take pics and watch for wildlife. While we didn’t get any photos of wildlife, we did get a few of the museum.
Legion of HonorGuardian lionLegion courtyard by LastechRodin’s The Thinker by LastechArch over the entrance by Lastech
Here are some happy cows for you to enjoy. This video was shot by Compassion in World Farming. I’m not a vegetarian (almost, but not quite), but I feel that all livestock should be raised in this manner, rather than in factory farms.
In addition to happy cows, we have some happy cats wearing hats. They belong to YouTube user Shironekoshiro.
A happy post just wouldn’t be the same without a Maru LOL picture.
All four of our kittoons here have needed a bit of socializing right from the start. It might seem that Maz Whang didn’t, but his universe was turned upside down when we adopted him, as he’d grown up a full year with Sphynx siblings, and a couple other cats and dog.
To be wrenched from his home was traumatic, and the poor beastie gacked and crapped all over himself in the cat carrier on the way to his new digs.
No camera! No camera!
We had to stop, clean him up and comfort him as best we could before driving on.
Sphynxes are social, but on their own terms, which aren’t always easy to decipher. They really are driven by the two related needs of warmth and sustenance, with much playtime in between.
Just like you test the warmth of a baby bottle prior to feeding, you have to ensure your hands are warm enough before petting Maz or he’ll recoil and dart away in shock and horror. I call this “ghosting” because that’s what his reaction makes me think of. We’ve said he’s been very good for Tito (and vice versa), drawing Tito out of his ‘goth’ period following Boober’s passing.
Strangers at first
Finally, Tito was able to chase and play to his heart’s content with the streaker, losing excess weight in the process, and bonding with, well, an alien. Even Miss Jenny finds Mazuzu irresistible: both want to nom on Maz, who’ll leap straight up a couple feet in the air and maybe growl if a tooth racks his spine. Mmmmh. Baby back ribs…
Love happens
Given Tito and Jenny’s “affection” for shoes, I suspect they enjoy Maz’ gym locker smell when it’s time to give him a bath. That’s usually a signal for us to drag him into the tub, but then they love the new cat smell just as much and are all over him again.
Affection? They have it. Tito tricks us into feeding him and leaves the food for Maz, knowing the alien always needs more. Smart Tito…
Maz grooms both Tito and Jenny when he beds down with either in the basket atop the computer desk, later gacking hairballs and meowing his discontent, but what can you do..? Jenny also grooms both, focusing on Maz’ ears in particular, an unexpected boon for us since Maz and Q-tips don’t mix well.
The mutual grooming society in action
One of the biggest changes is something Maz started and Jenny continues: helping Tito find his voice. Because he never was very vocal at all, this watchful little thing which grew into a big cat. He now trills and coos and meows, although always in the higher pitch of a kitten. And it may be early yet to tell, but I think Jenny’s going to be the same. They both will always sound like kittens.
Tito and Jenny
This may sound like a sign of arrested development but I prefer to think of it as a display of happiness, along with Tito’s joy at being picked up and carried from room to room for a few minutes, purring and discovering a new perspective on his world with wide eyes, rubbing his chin on our cheek as we do so. And Jenny’s happiness at going to sleep hugging my hand to her head, like a pillow.
Our two little feral rescues no longer have to survive on mean streets, they only have to romp and warm each other and their “cousin” from outer space.
It’s love
Love is in the air and scarcely displaced by Maz and Jenny’s farts. It’s all good.
It’s Wednesday and the week is winding down. Maz Whang was off singing tra-la-la-la in the other room. I wish I had a recording of it, as it was funny. Oh well. Here is a bit of humor and happiness to make your day go by a bit a quicker.
Simon’s Cat always makes me laugh. Gentlemanly Tito is guilty of this trick. It’s one of the few evil things that he does.
As for the happiness part, the dachshunds have it. They just look so happy that it makes me smile.
Following “we are what we are“, let’s have a look at another two family films from 2010, of a different sensibility than say, the Disney type…
After receiving accolades from critics everywhere for his peculiar style of crime drama, Takeshi “Beat” Kitano returns to a more conventional and commercial narrative with “outrage“.
And this isn’t a bad thing: his humor is still apparent although he seems more distant than usual towards his characters.
I met Lastech almost ten years ago. We married 8 years ago today. I have to be completely honest and say that life hasn’t always been easy, but being married has not been difficult at all. There are harder things in life than being married to your best friend.
Together we have adopted 4 kitties. We lost a sweet one to cancer, but we still have three.
The Boober, who we miss dearlyOur other furkids. From left to right: Miss Nightshade Jenny, Tito, and Kitsune aka Maz Whang?
In addition, we have managed to go exploring in the mountains, beaches, and parks of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Big Basin Redwoods in the Santa Cruz MountainsTennessee Cove in Marin CountyStow Lake in Golden Gate Park
Throughout all that, one of our biggest accomplishments occurred in 2008. Together, we quit smoking. Even that wasn’t enough to make us get cranky with each other. I have many words I could use to describe my life with Lastech and boring isn’t one of them.
In other words…
And now for an absurd and almost annoying anniversary song by the Flintstones.
I have a thing for feral cats, and Rudha-an has one for kittens. Feral kittens, therefore, are our favorites. We’ll never know exactly where they came from, what they went through, why they are so scared of shoes, think of nothing but murder, and yet are so hungry for affection.
Each one has a story but they’ll never tell even if they could, we just wonder as they teach us to live in the moment.
This week, here are some of my favorite photos of our pointy eared people, followed by a clip of very funny story telling. About a sloth. Enjoy.
Maz and Jenny in a tender momentTito MagnificoMazuzu: art deco or fascist icon?The Queen of Cool
And now, enjoy this very funny sloth story from Kristen Bell on the “Ellen” show.
