Long Awaited Bebe Monitor August 18

Yeah, well, it was business as usual for the past few weeks as far as I go. I am only taking 1/2 of a pill a day, and Mama took me to the vet (sad day at the vets for many people - Mama will never take me to the vet at the end of the day again).

The first thing the vet said when she seen me was, "Oh, is she ever cute!" Of course I am! And I am 8.7 pounds! Last time they weighed me I was 8.3 pounds, so all that chicken paid off. I got two more xrays taken and IT WOULD APPEAR THAT I NEVER HAD A TUMOR TO BEGIN WITH. I have white lines showing on my lungs but that is because I have asthma. So all that worry Mama did was for nought, but just served to spoil me better.

Everyone else is doing good around here. Mama is busy with beads and listening to disco and Mars Volta, Mister Mike is boogeying around all happy like, and the rest of the cats are happy.

Note to Grandma: We all really liked the seafood catfood you brought for us, but Mama didn't like the catbox the next day at all. Peeeeee-eeeeew! And only V'lu and Pinky like the Temptations...

Well, I'm going to remind Mama that it IS Catnip Saturday Night!

Headbonks to you all

Bebe

Bebe Monitor July 30

Big day here! Mister Mike noticed a little dog outside in the yard on his way to work...turned out to be named Tigger, and he was reportedly a Pekinese cross, all black and tan and white, kind of like me but more like Sissy in coloring, with a curly tail. He was wearing a city dog tag and had a tattoo, so Mama found out who he was and where he came from and set forth to taking care of him for the day.

We were not amused.

We hid in the kitchen. Mama brought a catbox out to the bathroom for us. Bebe and Sissy stayed on top of the cupboards, while I lounged on the counter, and Pinky and V'lu kept trying to get into the living room to see who was in there. I knew it was a dog so I stayed out of sight.

Mama kept the dog from 10:30am to 7:15pm, when his person came to get him. He didn't bark much and Mama kept him on a leash so he was ok, I guess, but I am NOT encouraging any more canine visits of any length of time.

Contentedly yours,
Ellen

Bebe Monitor July 30

Well. Its been quite a week.

Very hot. Slept on the floor for the most part, and Mama kept wanting us in the air conditioned rooms but we weren't interested - the fans and the noise, you know. Mind, that doesn't stop Pinky or Bebe from sleeping on the bed which is in the room where the cold air comes from.

Bebe is getting very picky and demanding on the food front. She's not eating anything until Mama figures out what it is she wants - which means there is more of the "good stuff" for us, because Mama will give Bebe something and then after Bebe turns up her nose at it, Mama will pull something else out for her and give us what she didn't want. Its working well for all of us but I know Mama is getting a little annoyed. Bebe isn't eating much but then again, none of us are - its too hot.

Mama and Mister Mike found two office chairs in an alley while out and about and brought them home, so MORE CHAIRS! These ones don't have arms but they do spin and are padded and are on wheels. They also bought a toaster oven at Walmart and haven't yet tried it out, but they are thinking it will be better to use than heating up the whole oven and therefore, the whole kitchen. They fuss a lot with the fans and doors with all this heat.

Trying to see what's under the fridge,

Miss V'lu

Bebe Monitor July 23

Sigh. So many pictures of me in this vulnerable state. But you must admit, I was a cute baby!

The weekend passed pretty uneventfully until Sunday. It was hot hot hot, and Mama sat up on the sofa and announced that she was going to cut her hair off and she would need Mister Mike's assistance...he was hesitant, but he cut the back so it was even, and it was all good. Now Mama's hair is really short - she cut out all the dyed stuff so her inner silver could shine through.

Aunt Amy came for lunch and a visit today and Mama played tunes on the computer for Amy. Pinky spent a lot of time cuddling with Amy, I visited from time to time, and everyone else got pets and attention.

Mama's a little concerned that I am not eating much today, but nobody else is either, so thhhbpt! I had some chicken, I had some canned food, but I really enjoyed the pasta salad. I still have to have my evening pill and I'll eat some then perhaps. She isn't that concerned though - I'm still bright eyed and moving around - no more than anyone else here, what with the heat. Mama has made a new perch for me - Mike brought some folding tables when he moved in and one is on either side of the tv - and I like the one closest to the kitchen door.

Mama's Reading: Bone Valley by Claire Matturro, a murder mystery thing that is barely holding her interest.

Mama's Listening to: the disco station, as usual.

purrrrrrrzzzzzzZZZZZzzzzzzzZZZZZzzzzzzzz (rinse, repeat)

Bebe

Bebe Monitor July 19

Well, the disco contintues...fortunately, I'm the Pinkster and the girls like to dance amongst themselves - I just cling onto Mister Mike for dear life and pray that the Mama doesn't see me there.

Bebe was starting fights this morning - she didn't want her head washed and she didn't want to wash anybody else's head either. Mama had to spray her a few times to get her to stop being so bitchy. She got weighed today and she's up to 9 whole pounds - that's from all the chicken breast she gets.

Mister Mike wasn't feeling good today so he stayed home from work and they went to see the doctor and he has an inflamed pancreas. He's off work for a few days and is to drink lots of water and NO DAIRY. He's watching a football game right now with the headphones on, and Diana Ross is blaring in the background - I don't understand it, but Mike likes to boogie down to the disco too and knows all the words, just like Mama.

So yeah, further on the disco...Mama rediscovered Limewire this afternoon and has burned two cds, as well as reburned a Mars Volta so there was some respite between the disco today.

Mama's Reading: she went to the library and got a stack of books out, hasn't started anything out of that pile, but is reading a Charlaine Harris book called "A Fool and His Honey". This is an Aurora Teagarden mystery...

Mama's Listening to: MacArthur's Park by Donna Summer. GAWD.

Quietly waiting it out by the front door,

Pinkster

Bebe Monitor July 18

Miss V'lu here, letting you know what's going on.

First, Mama got the okay from the vet to start decreasing the prednisone, as Bebe is doing quite well and is being quite fiesty. Mama will take Bebe in for another xray at the end of the month to see if the tumor has shrunk any. Bebe is eating well and catching flies and playing and sleeping and breathing easily, so that is keeping Mama and Mister Mike happy.

Mama stepped on two of my paws today - first the front one and then while she was trying to sidestep me alltogether, she stepped on a back one. She apologized and I let her pet me after she chased me through the house.

Mama is doing a mountain of laundry today and doing crafts. Later, she is going to make meat sauce or something with hamburger for supper - she's not decided what yet.

Mama's Reading: Finished reading "Age of Consent" by Howard Mittelmark, a cookie cutter horror. That about sums it up.

Mama's Listening to: Rod Stewart, particularly, "Do You Think I'm Sexy" from the late 70's. Freakin' Disco - I hear from Pinky that she never used to loudly flaunt her like for that genre until the mid-90's, and she insists on dancing with us - I mean, there I was, laying on the floor minding my own business and the next thing I know, I'm being twirled around the kitchen. I'm hoping that she goes back to Mars Volta land soon - less chance for random dancing then.

Squinting at you,

V'lu

Bebe Monitor July 16

Yeah yeah, I was really small once upon a time. Name a cat who wasn't.

Still, I am very cute in that picture, and yes, that's the way Mama used to feed me and I'd hold onto the bottle after I'd unwrap my front paws (Mama used to wrap me up tight when she started feeding me because I was so excited and I'd try to claw my own eyes).

Anyway, we're now on Facebook with Mama, only its Catbook and Mama spent some time this morning getting all our pages together and then linking us as friends.

Yesterday was very exciting. Mama and Mister Mike went to his place and cleared it out and cleaned it all and gave back the keys. There was lots of stuff to smell! Then they went out again and came back from Dollar Giant with two mousey toys and a cat-sized blanket for us! I claimed the blanket. V'lu is partial to the red mouse that has a top-of-the-door attachment, while Sissy prefers the white mouse on the pink stick, but we've all played with everything, and its good.

After supper, Mama and Mister Mike went for a walk in the park that is behind the Neil Balkwill center and they swung on the swings and walked barefoot and stuff. They came back with all sorts of smells on them again!!

I am feeling much better - I'm playing hard, running hard, eating lots and breathing easy. Mama's waiting for the vet to call back so she can discuss the Prednisone, she'd like to cut it to half a pill 3 times a day.

Meeting Mama on the kitchen counter,

Bebe

Bebe Monitor July 14

Miss Ellen Cherry Charles here...

Today Mama and Mister Mike started cleaning the house in a frenzy - a hot day to be scrubbing floors and cleaning out cupboards and closets, but there you go. They were done with the tedium in about 2 hours, but the smell of vinegar lasted much longer...Mama said that vinegar and soap was the safest thing to clean with because we NEVER wait until a floor or cupboard is dry before we go stomping in to investigate.

Bebe was all frisky and running around this morning - and had her claws out so Mama didn't play with her much. I ran around too - it was fun! I also got my claws stuck in the front screen and spilled myself off the bench in the process. Bebe and Pinky were sleeping on the bed in the "69" position (I don't know WHAT that means but Mama and Mister Mike both giggled about it). It got really hot and so we all lazed around for many many hours. Now it is time for Bebe's pill and last feeding of the day (I tried to get in on her chicken breast earlier but Mama firmly said NO).

Mama's Reading: halfway through the "riding the bus with my sister" and http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/

Mama's Listening to: Franz Ferdinand, "Franz Ferdinand" ... the cd from 3 years ago. Yeah, come and dance with me Michael...

a blonde paw High Five,

Ellen

Bebe Monitor Friday the 13th

Yeah, so Mama and Mister Mike are making "Dahn dahn DAHN daaaaahn" noises about to day, I don't know what that means, but Mama said it was because it was Friday the 13th. Means nothing to me.

Anyway Bebe is getting so much better - yesterday she divebombed me and Pinky and got a snootful of catnip going - we all tried to stay out of her way. Meanwhile, she's eating chicken breast and a small amount of cat food and she's spoiled rotten and how come I don't get chicken breasts? Mama said if she wasn't on such a tight budget we'd ALL be eating chicken breasts, but Bebe is sick, so.

Mama's all happy to hear the hardcore purring that Bebe is capable of. Mama and Mister Mike lay their hands on her all the time and imagine a cookie crumbling, which would be her tumor, and Mister Mike imagined the Asteroids game too.

Anyway its too early to be all active and its going to be a hot one, so I'll be on the back of the couch snoozing if you want me...

Mama's Reading: riding the bus with my sister by Rachel Simon, for her online book club.

Mama's Listening to: Rod Stewart's "Every Picture tells a Story"

purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Sissy

Bebe Monitor - July 9

Today Mama went to see Melody Jones, and they did some energy work on me! I am not ready to go anywhere yet, in fact, I'm a little confused as to why I feel the way I do. However, it has always felt nice when Mama laid her hands on me (she was doing it right despite her inner doubts) and I know she loves me a lot - I love her a lot!

Melody noticed that I am bossy - I am not! But she wanted to work on my lungs and I wanted her to work on my energy more because it felt so good, but Melody said she would work on my energy after my lungs, so it was okay.

Melody encouraged Mama to continue feeding me chicken breast so wheeeeeee! I didn't think I was getting spoiled either...and I know if Mama could afford to feed us all chicken breast she would.

***NOTE FROM MAMA:

When I got home from seeing Melody, I picked Bebe up and she felt more solid - can't explain that better other than before today, she felt kind of fragile and weak, so I was treating her as such, and today I picked her up and she felt so much more...solid. Also, her purr is back to full tilt - haven't heard her purr like that for over a month.

Thank you Melody...

Bebe Monitor July 9

Well, a lazy weekend had by all. I slept wherever I could and got moved frequently, then Mama put her hair clip on my back leg and giggled a lot when I shook it off - but really, it was the most I moved all weekend.

Bebe is doing well. Mama has almost forgotten how sick she really is, and sometimes it hits her and she gets sad. Still, Bebe is eating (chicken and ham and whatever else, as well as the cat food she won't eat on the counter but will eat when its on the floor for the rest of us), she is playing some (of course, its been quite hot so nobody's been moving much), she is being affectionate and cute.

She also started two fights today and got V'lu and Sissy in trouble. She bothered me too but Mama caught her so I was off the hook. Really, Mama should know me by now...I don't start anything!

About to be kicked off the bed...

Pinky

Bebe Monitor July 6

Well, I'm spoiled ROTTEN. Just the way I like it too.

Mama's been feeding me chicken breast and ham and has offered me cat food but when she's obviously looking, I don't eat it...however, she put a plate of chicken/liver that was in the fridge on the floor for the rest of them and I ate some of it too and she caught me. That's okay, because I don't eat it when she gets it just for me - so I still get the chicken and ham. Thhpppppbt!

Meanwhile, its hotter than Hades around here. The a/c is pumping, the fans are churning on high and still there is only one room that is cool enough for the Mama - the bedroom. Mama says it will cool down in a couple of days - she'll be glad of that too, because she doesn't like the constant HUMMMMM either. Mama was going to go to a movie in the park tonight but it starts in 15 minutes and it is still 30 degrees out there, so she isn't going.

Mama's listening to: the MECHANICAL HUMMMM in the house

Mama's Reading: "Unholy Grail" by D. L. Wilson, which she says is a knock off of "the Da Vinci Code" and it is slow reading - she's too lazy to start a new book but she doesn't recommend this one at all.

I'm so cuuuuute,

Bebe

Bebe Monitor - July 5

Miss V'lu here...givin you the scoop on Bebe.

She's eating like a little pig and she's getting all the treats. I mean, ALL THE TREATS. She refused her canned food, so Mama is feeding her - get this - sliced ham and chicken breast. CHICKEN BREAST I TELLS YA!!! I can't tell you how mad I am at her, I hiss at her even if she's eight feet away, and then I get heck. Apparently she's quite sick but you'd never know it - she's running around, playing with her puppy, jumping up on everything she usually does, and acting the princess all the time.

I am not amused.

Meanwhile, Ellen tried to scale the bookshelves in the red room and scared the bejeebusses out of all of us, including the Mama. Apparently she was on the top shelf because of the nature of the books she knocked down. Mama told her to NEVER EVER EVER DO THAT AGAIN and she gave us all the same warning, but I'm not an "on top" girl so whatever, that rule doesn't apply to me.

Its freakin' hot here - we're all laying around like gutted shrimp, which reminds Mama of her favorite little poem:

Men who live in the tropics

Know what the heat can do

When their dicks hang limp

Like gutted shrimp

And their testicles stick like glue.

I think that covers Mama's reading material and song, coz when she recites the above, she does it with a slight Irish brogue and lilt.

I am the Queen of Everything,

V'lu

Bebe Monitor - July 4

Well, you thought it was gonna be all about the Bebe cat, didn't you? But I'll tell you all about today because I was there too.

Mama was very concerned about Bebe this morning - she was laying around and not chirping or anything and she fought her pill (she never does that) and then she wouldn't eat. Mama watched her like a hawk and only threw a tinfoil ball for me once, I was a little miffed but I got over it. Anyway, Bebe went and made a noise come out of her bum that sounded like the last squeeze of ketchup and then hastily covered it up, but Mama seen that it was indeed the trots. So Mama didn't worry as much about Bebe not eating, she was drinking water, but even Mama doesn't feel too hungry after her bum makes that noise.

Later, Bebe had some chicken breast for lunch - not lots, but some and I didn't get any, not even a sniff, and she played with her Puppy in the kitchen. She is hanging around with Mama a lot so the rest of us are keeping a distance, even followed her onto the sofabed to be close to her...

Last night Mister Mike made us all little bbq burgers - I only had some of the cheese, but I think Bebe had some burger and it had bbq sauce mixed right into it, so maybe that is why she's not feeling so great.

Mama's Listening to: http://www.lynxradionetwork.com and there's something called 70's disco on there that she is enamored with.

Mama's Reading: for her book club, well she tried to read a Clive Cussler, but couldn't make it past 20 pages, so is waiting for "Riding the Bus with my Sister" which she has on hold. Meanwhile, she's reading another Charlaine Harris book - vampire mystery/comedy - which is light and fluffy enough for right now but not on the list of the book club books.

Laying on the back of the couch,
Sissy Hankshaw

Bebe Monitor - July 3

Says Bebe:

Today I am feeling pretty good! Last night I was all feisty and "come on, I'll take ya!" and played with Mama's fingers but I scratched her too much so she stopped playing. Big wimp! But I'd slept a lot of the day because I could finally breathe easily and just welcomed the rest...

I haven't done much as its hot and we're all laying around, but I had beef for breakfast and chicken/beef for lunch! I watched Mama paint from on top of the cupboards, she's painting blue and green and has told me not to get a noseprint on the canvas.

Earlier today I caused a ruckus in the bedroom because I jumped on Pinky and he squawked (big wimp) and that got V'lu's nose out of joint as well as tail floofed up and then my claw got stuck in the bedspread so Mama had to come and help me out there.

After lunch I went and washed Pinky's head and then lay down beside him, but he left coz I got the hiccups. Now I'm gonna go lay around like everyone else here...

BumpLove on your shin,

Bebe

Bebe Monitor - July 2

Well, things have perked up here for The Bebe. Her breathing isn't as labored, and she's eating, and not just treats.

She's been above the cupboards in the kitchen, watching out the window, and keeping tabs on a bug that was too small for her. She comes for pets and lovings, and has sat at the computer here with me - so I can't type - so she is feeling a lot better. She still wants to be behind the bedroom door - not sure if that is a good place to rest or hide, but given that she is moving around and eating, I think its just a cooler place that isn't so noisy (a/c on full blast and every fan on high). She's stopped whapping her tail around so much, which I've noticed that she does when she's not feeling good.

I think tonight is a catnip night :D

xoxo

Mama

A Love Note from the Mama

Dear Bebe;

Mama loves you so very very much...

Please be patient with me while I try to keep you comfortable. I so want to hold you and cuddle you and not let you go and I'm sure that can't be comfortable, what with the xrays showing what they do.

I know I'll have to let you go soon...I'm so sorry we don't have more time together and if I could do anything to stretch the time or lessen the tumor or ease your breathing, I would do it in a heartbeat.

I look around the house and you are EVERYWHERE and I know you will be here in my heart forever but there are the scratch marks on the furniture and the doorjambs and you've always eaten on the cupboard and have always jumped up there when I was in the kitchen and I'll miss your chirp when you jump down and then there's your Duckie and your Puppy and the little white TY kitten that was bigger than you when I met you and I know how YOU LOVE ME BEST TOO, you are so loyal to me - there's always been a swell of pride in my chest knowing that I was the only one you were yourself with...

I really don't know how I'm going to be able to let go of you.

I love you so very very much...

xoxo
Mama

Morning Amusements with Ellen

I'm not much for philosophizing anything, I mean, give me a direct hit on the carpet with a sunbeam and I'm a happy cat. However, Mama likes to challenge herself from time to time first thing in the day, with things like the following quiz - Battleground God. If I could roll my eyes, I would, coz it sounds like a video game, but its a bunch of true/false questions.

http://www.philosophersnet.com/games/god.htm

Mama scored: How did you do compared to other people?
378950 people have completed this activity to date.
You suffered zero direct hits and bit 2 bullets.
This compares with the average player of this activity to date who takes 1.39 hits and bites 1.11 bullets.
45.73% of the people who have completed this activity, like you, took very little damage and were awarded the TPM Medal of Distinction.
7.69% of the people who have completed this activity emerged unscathed with the TPM Medal of Honour

Mama's reading:

nothing right now. Waiting for the rains to stop so she can go to the library...

Mama's listening to:

Pearl Jam. Oodles of it...a friend of hers once burnt 7 of their cds for her last year, she's just starting to listen to them now. Puts one on, lets it play two or three times in a row, then picks another one. She's not picked any "favorite" songs from them like that, either, and is rethinking the way to get to know a cd properly.

Off to the kitchen counter,
Ellen Cherry Charles

Sissy has her say

http://romereborn.virginia.edu which is a virtual tour of someplace called Rome, Mama says that it is from days gone by and I say what do they matter anyways? Play fetch with me now - that matters, but Mama said some of the pictures were stunning and really brought the place to life. There are videos and other things to look at too - Mama just looked at the pictures, what with being on the old computer until the new one comes back, and will snoop the site good'n'proper when her new computer makes its way back home.

Meanwhile, Mama has bronchitis. She's went through 5 boxes of tissues, has very sore ribs from coughing and a dime-sized coldsore on her lip that is quite scary. She's got drugs for all ailments though!

Soon there will be a picture of me on here! Rhonda came and got her camera and will load pics on her computer and email them here. They all agree that I have at least one stunning photo on there, which is good, because I was getting tired of the flash in the eyes.

They are working on the street and there are a lot of big noisy vehicles trundling by. They are also filming down the block...its just noisy. Right now there are no less than 3 vehicles making beeping noises on this street! Trucks going backward...and someone hammering for all their worth too. Mama's not happy but you know us cats - we can sleep (or appear to sleep) through anything.

Mama's Not Reading

Mama's Not Listening to anything

Mama's sleeping a lot and watchin the tv


Attacking your hand when you least expect it,
Sissy

Miss ECC update

Ellen here...

Not much new happening around here.

Mama's sick - has a summer cold - and is using up a lot of kleenex and napping a lot.

She bought us a vibrating cat toy that Sissy chewed the string thingie off so it stopped vibrating easily - that was within the first 10 minutes of it being here.

Mama made us catnip bags - one for each of us. Its fun getting into all of them at once and rolling around a lot!

Mama also started taking us outside on a leash - I'm the only one who hasn't went yet, but she assures me that I'll be okay when I'm outside because I used to go outside before. Her concern is that if there is a fire and she has to chuck us all out a window, that we are familiar with our surroundings. V'lu hadn't felt grass under her feet since she was 6 weeks old! And Sissy and Bebe are too chicken to even leave the steps, but Mama is going to be taking us all out during the summer here, so that we are comfortable with it. Maybe Mama worries too much..? She just thinks that if there is a fire, and she is able to get us all out, that we are comfortable enough and will come to her when she comes looking for us, for she said she will always take care of us. I don't know that she should worry about a fire so much now that it is just Mama and Darren living in the house, but you never know, is what she said.

There are buses going down the street today. Last time buses went down the street was over a year ago, and a dog got hit right outside the house while Mama was having her first cigarette of the day. She is still "unwell" with that day.

Mama is Reading:
About to start Inside Secret Societies - what they don't want you to know. Mama is a sucker for titles like that. She last read "Tuesdays with Morrie" and she's been mulling that over for about a week, going back and rereading passages. It is about how to make peace with yourself before you die, or, if you learn how to die you'll learn how to live. It is a book she'd like to own someday.

Mama is Listening To:
The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Here's to the summers of 77, 78...when disco wasn't cool but the songs got stuck in your head anyway.

Food Poisonink!

Ellen Cherry Charles here...

Mama has had one rough ride of it lately. She had a bbq with a friend and ended up eating "new to her" meat and it was a terrible mistake. Both of them got sick, but Mama ended up in hospital suffering indignities there before dropping her fever and coming home full of new smells (some of them worrisome). She spent the last two days and nights in bed, coming out to sit on the computer for a few minutes at a time.

She confided in me that she can finally trust a fart...

Anyway. The new dresser is great - a new place for me to land on from my perch on wardrobe. Mama hasn't filled it full of stuff yet. I'll be sure to see how much stuff I don't knock over on my way down.

Pinky is losing a front tooth again, but is still able to eat crunchie food. Mama is keeping a close eye on him and he seems to be doing ok, and will be making some gruel for him when he needs it. It was the first thing she noticed when she came home from hospital and asked him why he had the "Elvis sneer" on.

Mama's Reading:
nothing

Mama's Listening to:
nothing

Mama's been in her bed, really. Talking on the phone from time to time. Today she is stronger, she'll actually try turning on the tv for a while...

Headbutts to you,
Ellen

Garage Sale Frenzy

Miss V'lu here, sadly reporting that Mama came home today to find me wearing a DelMonte banana sticker...she ridiculed me to no end, and told me that under no circumstances were WE to play "StickerFun!" without her. Hmmph. I didn't even know it was there until she pointed it out, on my left rump. She said it was unfortunate that I wasn't wearing a price tag instead.

Anyway. Mama's been busy. She has been BEADING and getting ready for a GARAGE SALE. Her entries include some little knick knacky things and her beaded stuff - all marked down, of course, as it is a garage sale. She went to Bev's to set up today and has already spent $15 on herself - she got an Adult dresser and some clay Sun/Moon wall hanging things that are mostly purple. The dresser is a big deal too - her first dresser since when Ellen was a kitten! She'd lived in a place with a walk-in closet and ditched her unmatched set of dressers waaaay back then. It is a nice one too - she brought the drawers home today, five of them - and it has doors on the front to conceal three drawers inside. However, she's placed the drawers so we can't crawl inside them.

Mama's Reading (when she's not playing fun money poker as of late):

"Wild Ducks Flying Backward" - the short writings of Tom Robbins. Oh, so much hilarity! Apparently he's written for magazines and such...so all short essays.

Mama's Listening To:

sigh. Still, the Mars Volta. She's memorizing every note of "Amputechture"

don't you pretend
that I'm not alive
my bones never ache
unless she's nearby
where is your face
in a safe of dead tongues
i can see your reflection
in your totem first born
i suspect
you've been carry a pack of wolves
i regret
not killing you while i had the chance
maybe i will always haunt you
mark the somnolence with truth
better hang your dead palace
that have a living home to lose
in the river ganges god damns my name
don't let these hands
sharpen your eyes
a rasp of tails

---Vicarious Atonement, The Mars Volta

At least she's not singing...her favorite song as of late is:

Away away with fyfe and drum, here we come, full of rum!
A-lookin for kitties to pat on the bum, so early in the morning!

This is accompanied with DANCE. WITH US. There's dirtier stuff that goes along with, I'll tell you one here:

Canadian women, they are the shits, they have no ass, they have no tits!
And they whack you off with a pair of mitts, so early in the morning!

Oh, yes there's more...much more. Websites dedicated to the song, which is a military Canadian "standard" from the WWII days.

http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiNATLANTC;ttNATLANTC.html

http://www.fivetribe.ca/nas.html

I think I've said enough...
V'lu

Pinkster relates

Mama found this site on the net.

http://www.mycathatesyou.com/cats

Let me tell you, I know. I've seen the indignities, have suffered a few of my own. Lately Mama has been "modelling" her jewellry on us - Bebe gets the most of it, being all black and Mama says her fur was made for showcasing her beads. I've not been cornered yet with this atrocity - she tells me that "These are girly things, not for kingly cats such as yourself." Harumph...I would make just as good of a model...however, I am told by the others that wearing Mama's stuff is bothersome, catches in the fur, and she won't let you chew on them, even though they have the right texture for potential crunchiness. Mama assures me she'll be making things that I can wear in the future, and has eyed up my white-as-snow chest for showcasing the darker colored things that don't show up on Bebe. The other girls are tortoiseshell - a motley crew (haha) - and they don't wear things nicely either, unless they are big, clunky and bright.

Mama's Reading:

"Villa Incognito" by Tom Robbins. There is a wonderful passage in there that she intends to copy out and put somewhere which she found amusing and thought-provoking all at the same time, which is what Mr Robbins is very very good at. She got this book at the library, the only one she doesn't own (unless she never finds her copy of Jitterbug Perfume which she might have lent out but she remembers it last being on the nightstand).

Mama's Listening to:

Noises of recess from the playground across the street. Much squealing and yelling and undecipherable words.

Over and Out,
Pinky

Bebe Announces:

First of all, Mama has found a new blog which she is keeping a close eye on. Its http://teho.vox.com/ and there are videos!!! New born kittens!!! The "Teho's" are a cat foster family in the States and had taken in a pregnant mamacat and she had the kittens and its all carefully documented on this site. Mama is very excited and reliving my younger years vicariously thorugh this site...there are videos from April and March which show kittens at the age I was when Mama brought me home, and she figures I was 7 - 10 days old. Yes, I was that wobbly and that small - she said she got me the day my ears popped open but weren't fully up.

I was cute then, I'm cute now. But you can check out the videos anyway to really see how cute I was. Just imagine me there...

Anyway, Mama's beading, of course. Her friend Bev introduced her to a lady in the Golden Mile mall, and her beadwork is on sale there now! She says its commission work, meaning she gave them her stuff without getting any money but she is hopeful that some pieces sell. The lady is interested in her cell phone charms so Mama will be getting more of those on the go after she gets some more crimping beads. Meanwhile, she is beading a lampshade for Bev, which is turning out to be quite the project - she realizes it will take MUCH more time before she gets the trim done, never mind the dangly bits.

Mama's Reading:

Bead Magazines. They are back issues from the library and she's learned a few new tricks already!

Mama's Listening to:

Amputechture by the Mars Volta. She really likes their music and wishes she could own the cds outright instead of borrowing and burning, but there you go.

Mama tried getting some of the Spanish lyrics into English with Babelfish, but it didn't make sense at all, so you'll just have to hum along with her as she hasn't a clue what they are singing about in half their songs.

watching you from the cupboard above the fridge,
Bebe

There were NO witnesses

Mama's first cigarette of the day was interupted by a robin flying into the front window. There is a small circle of feathers still on the window...none of us saw it but Mama told us about it. The impact almost gave Mama a heart attack. We still haven't seen it, although Mama says it is clearly visible on the second step...I guess you don't see what you aren't looking for.

The body is still there, although she's called her brother Nick to come and remove the poor thing, which means she'll be off to church as "payment", much to her dismay. She had planned a day of beading and sleeping, as she was all over town yesterday with Rhonda, shopping, and wore the wrong shoes for that much foot travel, and is all achy and tired physically and just wants the comfort of silence today. Silence isn't a reality at church - there is much singing and clapping hands and a fire-and-brimstone preacher job to sit through, all over loudspeakers which aren't really a necessity in the room.

Mama's Reading: Lots of bead books. She's trying out new things! Today she's learning how to make a beaded square, like a dice. Friday she learned how to make rings.

Mama's internal receiver is tuned into: the Mars Volta, still.

http://www.themarsvolta.com/

She notices that they will be on the Henry Rollins Show (Independent Film Channel) on the 27th, which she's going to have to order up from SaskTel in order to watch it (which isn't hard, as she likes the channel on the whole). She's very excited about this, and has even written it down on the calendar. She's added them as friends on her MySpace even!

If you go to http://www.myspace.com/themarsvolta you can hear L'via L'viaquez, which is half in Spanish and half in English and goes from busy to mellow and back to busy and then mellow. Mama's going to listen to the other songs on the site as she's never heard them before...

She's hearing snippets of trumpets and guitar and drums and the occasional chorus line.

Purring into a sleep in C formation...
Miss Sissy Hankshaw

Mama's got a brand new bed

Miss V'lu reporting to you, LIVE from the living room...

Well yesterday was a wierd day - Mama got up and started cleaning immediately then suckered us all into the red room where we sat for an hour and a half, all none too pleased, but towards the end of our incarceration we heard strangers in the house and different noises. When Mama let us out, we found out we had a new big bed!

There is a boxspring and two mattresses. Its super high off the ground, and Mama put a chair up for Pinky so he could get up there too. We all slept on it at once, it DOES sleep six, but Mama says its no bigger than the old bed.

My cover is blown however, because of this new bed - Mama caught me and Bebe sleeping bum-to-bum on it and I didn't kick Bebe's ass like I usually do. So now Mama thinks we're all okay here...which I guess we are...but still.

Mama's not reading and has no tune in her head today!

This is Miss V'lu signing off now...

Miss V'lu's News

Okay...so Mama has gotten into the spring clean thing, and is busy Freecycling stuff. She told me she wants to get rid of EVERYTHING, so it will be an interesting process. She got rid of a box of stuff from the bedroom and will look at her clothes again, however she weeded them out last year so I'm sure there won't be much now. Her next project is the living room and shelves - some of the things in here are not used and only kept for sentimental reasons and she is, for the first time, weighing out the sentimental things. I think she used to put too much stock on gifts received.

She also tells me we're thinking about moving. I don't think I like moving...the last time, I hid in the wardrobe for two days before investigating. She doesn't think she'll be able to get a big place like this again so it is important for her to get rid of a lot of stuff. In my opinion, she could get rid of some of the other beings around here...but I doubt she'll be doing that, so I'll just keep an eye on what's leaving the house and who's coming to pick it up.

Mama's been beading like crazy lately. She's come up with three more designs for anklets, but I think she's only going to do two of them as the third one took her three hours to finish! It wouldn't be cost-productive, is what she says, although it is very pretty. It was a good thing she made it to fit herself, as there won't be many more like it.

Mama's trying to read around me:

A whack of Asterix books, written by Rene Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. These have been enjoyed by her since she was in highschool, when she first read them. She says its good to revisit them every ten years or so. Anyway, she got out 10 of them from the library and is reading them before bed.

Mama's still singing in her head:

After watching "Festival Express" on Movie Central, a show where the Grateful Dead, the Band, Janis Joplin and a few others travelled by train across Canada in 1970. It is on again Sunday night at 11:15pm, and I bet she'll watch it again!

And when you walk around the world, babe,You said you’d try to look for the end of the road,You might find out later that the road’ll end in Detroit,Honey, the road’ll even end in Kathmandu.You can go all around the worldTrying to find something to do with your life, baby,When you only gotta do one thing well,You only gotta do one thing well to make it in this world, babe.You got a woman waiting for you there,All you ever gotta do is be a good man one time to one womanAnd that’ll be the end of the road, babe,I know you got more tears to share, babe,So come on, come on, come on, come on, come on,And cry, cry baby, cry baby, cry baby.

Cry Baby, Janis Joplin

Snoozing by the cold air register in the hallway...

V'lu

We Are Family! Ev'rybody get up and sing!

I am Pinkster. I am the lone male in this family. Sure, it gets a little trying at times with 4 younger sisters and the Mama - they're always moving around, they don't know the meaning of SEDENTRY, which is as close to a Zen state as can be. I practice it often and am more likely to chase a sunbeam than anything else.

It was suggested today to the Mama that she might consider letting some of us go and live on a farm as it might make it easier for her to find a new home. She was quite upset about it, of course, I mean, two of the girls haven't been outside since they were mere kittens, and I don't think Sissy would want to be outside again (she rarely even pokes her nose at the outdoors when the opportunity arises), and as for myself and Ellen...well, we might do all right having PLAYED outside while living with the Mama, but why should any of us go? Mama put her foot down quite hard on that.

Later, in reflection, she told us we were FAMILY and she would just continue to look for a new home for us all because we are all needed to keep this family whole. There's Sissy, who reminds us all to play harder and purr louder at any given opportunity...there's Bebe, who IS the baby and always will be, no matter what age she is, and therefore brings that "delicateness of life" to the table...there's V'lu, faithful and strong, who warms Mama's feet or legs and gives a constant physical touch for the Mama...there's Ellen, who despite her age acts like she's four, which is a good lesson to all of us really, because without being four in the heart means a loss of play and wonderment...and then there's me - lending dignity and a heartfelt chirp to the day and always welcoming visitors.

Then Mama gave us catnip and we all rang in the new month with a silly grin on our faces!

Mama's Nose is in this book:

Murder in Vegas - New Crime Tales of Gambling and Desperation, edited by Michael Connelly. Mama likes to read anything Vegas, having dealt cards at a casino before, and knows the life from the underbelly and back hallways. The stories are short and to the point and although fictional, one can't say SOME of these things happen on a daily basis in major gambling cities, for they do in smaller cities such as here. Mama needed a short story book anyway - she's been beading a lot lately!

Disco in the Round...

Ev'ryone can see we're together
As we walk on by
(FLY!) and we fly just like birds of a feather
I won't tell no lie
(ALL!) all of the people around us they say
Can they be that close
Just let me state for the record
We're giving love in a family dose

We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up ev'rybody and sing

--- We are Family, Sister Sledge

Off to see how FRESH that catbox really is...
Pinky

Sissy's Spring Fever Blisters

So I race around the house and I race around the house and there's nothing to do and I want to do something and so I kill the toilet paper after dragging it into the tub and I get on top of the kitchen cupboards and I race around there but there isn't much room and so then I divebomb whoever happens to be wandering through the kitchen (woe is me if it's V'lu) and then I chase Bebe and I chase Ellen and I chase Bebe and then I chase Ellen some more and Mama yells, "Slow down dammit!" and I race to the bathroom and check to see if the toilet paper really is dead and then I race to the living room window and then I race into the kitchen where I slide into a solid thump against the fridge.

And then I do it again!!!

Mama plays a new game, she's on level 12 still and its all because of Jacks that she is THERE and not doing dishes or paying attention to us, which is a good thing - I get away with LOTS while she's being hypnotized by the dots and the zen music...click that link over there --->
You know you want to...

Mama's just finished reading: "Cadillac Beach" by Tim Dorsey. She likes Tim Dorsey, actually brings out the gigglesnort within her. This is another "Serge" novel, who is quite the character and gets into and out of all sorts of impossible but somewhat feasible quandaries.

Mama's hearing aide:

I was in the pub last night
A mutual friend of ours said
Hed seen you in the uniform
Yeah the leather belt looks manly
The black boots butch
But oh what a bastard to get off

Promises, promises
They offer real solutions
But hatred has never won for long

You was so open minded
But by someone blinded
And now your sign says closed.

I think we've lost our perception -
I think we've lost sight of the goals we should
Be working for
I think we've lost our reason
We stumble blindly and that vision must be restored!

I wish that there was something
I could do about it
I wish that there was some way
I could try to fight it
Scream and shout it -

But something you said set the house ablaze!

It is called indoctrination
And it happens on all levels
But it has nothing to do with equality
It has nothing to do with democracy
And though it professes to
It has nothing to do with humanity
It is cold, hard and mechanical

"Set the House Ablaze" by the Jam

Gotta runrunrun!
Sissy

Its my Birthday!!!

and its 8 am! Nobody but ME up and around. Mama says she brought me home in 2003 4 years ago, which means I'm like 4 years and a week to ten days old, but this is the day we celebrate. I'm not sure what we'll do, but Mama held me and sang happy birthday and wished me many many more.

Let's see...yesterday I got into the toybox and dug out some catnip treatbags and shared them around and Pinky got his head on two of them and the honeysuckle chip and so then he got all frisky and chased me around. I beat the crap out of one and it broke open under Mama's computer chair but she's just leaving it be for us to deal with.

Gosh, I can't get over how quiet it is this morning! Its spooky...even Sissy is sleeping! I'm on the coffee table, don't tell Mama.

Update on the book sitch: Mama finished reading the Neil Gaiman. She liked it well enough, and will read any others he has, but was a tad disappointed because of how everyone raved about him. She was expecting something on a Tom Robbin's level, but it was not to be. Still, a good read and a good original story line!

Because Jacks planted the seed, Mama's now hearing in her head:

My heart is beating faster, babe,
It's beating like a big bass drum.
You know you got me speeding, child,
Faster than a bullet from a gun.
You're a superstitious woman
An' I got a superstitious mind, an' I don't care.

So take me down slow an' easy,
Make love to me slow an' easy.
I know that hard luck an' trouble
Is coming my way,
So rock me 'til I'm burned to the bone,
Rock me 'til I'm burned to the bone.

---Slow an'Easy, Whitesnake

I AM Pinky

I am the lover of the household.
You'd never know it - I don't look like much of a Romeo, and then again, I'm not that kind of lover...I just love to sit on laps and be hugged and purr and all that other general GOOD cat stuff.
Today has been relatively quiet. Mama opened the door and window because it was so nice, and she kissed me on the ear when I wasn't looking and almost shocked me off my perch on the table. The girls raced around and chattered about sunbeams and cool air ruffling their fur...takes me back to a younger time, really, when I was "outdoors". Mama doesn't let us do "outdoors" anymore, she says there are too many mean people and sickly cats out there for us to be safe. She worries about me a lot out there - and really, I can't help myself, because if someone comes near me, I want to be sociable and give them some cat lovin' just incase they don't get any at home...and Mama says that is a bad thing where we live now. Its okay though...I love up every person who comes in the house and get their undivided attention!

Mama's reading: Her first Neil Gaimen book, Anansi Boys. She's not read enough of it to make an opinion, not that THAT has ever stopped her before. She gave up on the scifi for now...

And Mama's playing this loud and we've all hidden:

He’s got fasting black lungs made of clove splintered shardes
They’re the kind that will talk through a weezing of coughs
And I hear him every night in every pore and every time he just makes me warm
Freeze without an answer free from all the shame must I hide
Cuz I’ll never never sleep alone
Look at how they flock to him from an isle of open sores
He knows that the taste is such, such to die for
And I hear him every night on every street
The scales that do slither
Deliver me from…
Freeze without an answer free from all the shame
Then I’ll hide cuz i’ll never never sleep alone
Oh lord
Said I’m bloodshot for sure pale runs the ghost
Swollen on the shore everynight in every pore
The scales that do slither
Deliver me from…
Freeze without an answer free from all the shame
Then I’ll hide
Cuz I’ll never never sleep alone

--- The Widow, the Mars Volta

I'll be on the bed,
Pinky

Green Ball Wheeeee!!!!

Bebe's Side:

I was just sitting there and Sissy jumped on me and wrestled me to the ground while I was having an asthma attack - I'm wheezing and she's still kicking the crap out of me. Mama was there and shot Sissy with water, so Sissy went and immediately pounced on Ellen as she came down from the wardrobe. Ellen was in better shape than me for that kind of nonsense, but Mama sprayed Sissy again and yelled at her, and that is how the morning started.

Tonight Mama played Green Ball Wheeeeee! with me. I chased the ball into the kitchen and under the tin shelf, but then I had to groom my tail and the ball rolled under the table very very slowly so I half-pounced on it and then left it. Mama mistakenly thought I was interested in the green ball, but I really wasn't, but it was fun watching her throw it down the hallway, then go and get it and throw it into the living room, then go and get it, and then she threw it down the hallway again, and she did this back and forth thing about eight times. She really needs very little encouragement from any of us, all I did was "look interested" and she'd throw it, and V'lu chased it for three lazy leaps and then veered off into the red room...yeah, we played ball with her for a while and then she lost interest.

It was fun while it lasted.

I Sat on Mama's Chest While she was Trying to Read:

Smoke and Shadows by Tanya Huff. A science fiction novel, which, Mama says, scifi sometimes leaves a lot out of the story, like the reader was in the writer's head when he wrote it and all the background stuff is THERE IF YOU CAN READ BETWEEN THE LINES or CHANNEL THE AUTHOR or something. Maybe Mama's approach to scifi needs to be examined, like, if she wanted to, she could make it an interactive event and make stuff up too instead of being there solely to be entertained - maybe make some liner notes on the margins for the next hapless reader, or just assume, as the author did, that the stuff that was left out was unimportant anyway. However, she says the book has some very witty moments and she's started it so she'll bloody well finish it. Unlike the last scifi book she started and discarded after fifty pages, Cartomancy by Michael A. Stackpole. That book had too many plots, locations and wierd names to contend with, so its going back to the library. While on the subject of libraries, its hard to keep up with series of scifi, as most books are just another volume of a set of five (on average) and libraries being libraries, they don't have all of them sitting together at one place at one time. So its pure luck if you can find two or three in sequence of a series so if you see one, you may as well get the others that are there, coz Mama doesn't like unfinished stories.

Sweet Sounds Swirling in Mama's Mind:

The offered me the office, offered me the shop
They said I'd better take anything they'd got
Do you wanna make tea at the BBC?
Do you wanna be, do you really wanna be a cop?

Career opportunities are the ones that never knock
Every job they offer you is to keep you out the dock
Career opportunity, the ones that never knock

I hate the army an' I hate the R.A.F.
I don't wanna go fighting in the tropical heat
I hate the civil service rules
And I won't open letter bombs for you

Bus driver....ambulance man....ticket inspector

They're gonna have to introduce conscription
They're gonna have to take away my prescription
If they wanna get me making toys
If they wanna get me, well, I got no choice

Careers
Careers
Careers

Ain't never gonna knock

---Career Opportunities, The Clash

I'm so cute,
Bebe

Mama lost her voice!

Ellen Cherry Charles reporting to you LIVE from the living room...and Mama has had a cold off and on for a few days and she lost her voice today! So we are running rampant and she can't yell at us - well, she whispers at us, but its not the same, I mean, we don't hardly flinch when she yells at us so you can imagine a whisper and how fast we move then - HA. Anyway, she managed to clean the catbox and did a little drawing and did some crossword puzzles and watched "Finding Nemo" for the first time, which she said was a rather sad movie, all things considered.

Words that are strung along for a long long time that Mama is paying attention to instead of me:

Shopaholic and Sister by Sophie Kinsella...the heroine is a bimbo who tries to make friends with a sister her family had just found - her dad had an affair before he was married. As predictable, the heroine is a "shopoholic" and her sister is as granola as it could get. After beating their heads against the wall for 370 pages, they find a tiny corner of common ground that they both cling to, and happily ever after. This Kinsella woman has a lot of books out - mostly "Shopaholic" as far as I can tell. I sat through one, I doubt I can sit through another, but it was mindless and easy to read, so who knows?

Song on permanent loop in Mama's head:
Girl, before I met you I was F.I.N.E. Fine
but your love made me a prisoner, yeah my heart's been doing time
You spent me up like money, then you hung me out to dry
It was easy to keep all your lies in disguise
'Cause you had me in deep with the devil in your eyes

---What it Takes, Aerosmith

you gotta catch me first!
Ellen

Grandma spoiled me most!!!

Grandma came to visit for two nights (she had cat-aract surgery) and she spoiled us all! Mama says we are now IMPOSSIBLE but its all okay! She only wore her pirate patch at night - like any good pirate would!

Pinky: Grandma held me on her lap daily and I snoozed with her and she fed me treats.

Ellen: Grandma held me on her shoulder and we looked out the window together and she fed me treats.

V'lu: Grandma fed me treats...I wasn't feeling all that well - I slept a lot while she was here, but I'm feeling a bit better now that Mama has started making me breathe in Eucalyptus vapors. (There is something living under the fridge and I can't tell you what it is, but it/they are there).

Bebe: I let Grandma pet me and I only bit her a few times, and she fed me treats and let me play Scrabble.

Sissy: Grandma spoiled me the most! She fed me treats, she played fetch with me, she held me on her lap a few times, and she let me play Scrabble!

Mama's reading: The City Man by Howard Akler, a Canadian author. It is a story about 1934 Toronto pickpockets and the reporter who followed one of the groups around and tried to learn their craft. It is written in black and white, if that makes any sense...but really captures the feeling of the period of which it was written about.

Mama's singing under her breath:

Well I’m not paralyzed
But, I seem to be struck by you
I want to make you move
Because you’re standing still
If your body matches
What your eyes can do
You’ll probably move right through
Me on my way to you

--- Paralyzed, Finger Eleven

Spring Be Here!!!

I am V'lu dammit.

Today was a very nice day. Mama kept the door and windows open and we charged around and got into fights and made a lot of noise and annoyed Mama. Somebody (I'm not naming names) knocked a frying pan off the dish drainer and almost gave Mama a heart attack! Mama put out some bread in the birdfeeders on the front step but so far, no takers. Tomorrow morning, I bet.

I got sprayed three times for "bullying". Mama likes to make it like its a hockey game around here sometimes...but nobody's been put in the penalty box (bathroom) for a long time.

Mama's reading: Andrew Klavan's "Shotgun Alley", which is a little violent and hasn't made much sense yet (and she's one third into it) but she's gonna plug along at it. Its a detective novel of sorts.

Mama's zoning out to the melodic sounds of:

I was an impossible case
No-one ever could reach me
But I think I can see in your face
There's a lot you can teach me
So I wanna know..

What's the name of the game?
Does it mean anything to you?
What's the name of the game?
Can you feel it the way I do?
Tell me please, 'cause I have to know
I'm a bashful child, beginning to grow

--- ABBA, "The Name of the Game"

purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr(inhale)rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr etc
V'lu

Purloined Chicken

Sissy here...I must say that purloined chicken is the best for as long as you can have at it before Mama discovers that you've found it. Today she cooked up three chicken breasts and got sidetracked before putting them in the fridge so we stole two of them and had a quick warm feast before she found out. She then was dismayed, but it was okay because she cut up both pieces of chicken and put them down by the food dishes and we all gorged ourselves on it and I played with some on the kitchen floor but eventually it was all eaten up. It was goooooood.

Later Mama made a roast and while she was eating it we tried to see what was on her plate but she didn't give us any warning - she just started spraying us! I think its because she thought we'd try to steal it right out of her mouth but we wouldn't do that...we'd wait until she was away from her plate first.

Mama's Daily Snoop: http://www.cuteoverload.com/

Mama's Sunday Snoop: http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

The Song in Mama's Head:

Baby, instant soup doesn't really grab me.
Today I need something more sub-sub-sub-substantial.
A can of beans or blackeyed peas, some Nescafe and ice,
A candy bar, a falling star, or a reading of Doctor Seuss

--- REM, "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight"

Hi, Ellen here...

Well, we've had a good week for the most part. It was warm enough to have the door and window open and Pinky even got to go outside for a very short bit! Birds have returned - sparrows are singing and crows are coming by more frequently, as are magpies - both those birds are tied for Mama's affections. It has snowed A LOT and Mama has sprinkled some snow on all of us, to remind us of how nice it is to be inside and warm.

I think Mama's coming down with a cold. She wants to sleep a fair bit and is coughing a little. However, she is getting more and more energy as days go by - likely the result of vitamins, more sleep and better eating habits. She worries about her teeth getting stained by cinnamon and blueberries though and is brushing to no avail.

Mama also made some cd's on the computer for her friends - a collection of her favorite songs on the four Tragically Hip cds that she has. She is listening to it now - she likes to put her own greatest hits together. I don't mind the band as Mama doesn't play it too loud and she sings along and takes turns dancing with us.

Mama has her nose buried in: Faceless by Martina Cole. Note that there are a lot of novels out there in the past few years by UK writers, which is somewhat fun because they use different slang and word usage than that of American writers. This book is about a woman who committed a double homicide and is now out of jail and the troubles that she faces. It isn't a fun girlygirl book but she seems to be enthralled by it and has put everything else aside for the day.

Mama's chairdancing to:

If I die of Vanity, promise me, promise me
That if they bury me some place I don't want to be
That you'll dig me up and transport me
Unceremoniously away from the swollen city breeze, garbage bag trees
Whispers of disease, and acts of enormity
And lower me slowly, sadly, and properly
Get Ry Cooder to sing my eulogy

--- Tragically Hip, "At The Hundredth Meridian"

The Monsters in the House!

Mama was like this some of the day.

She got some groceries, and changed our litter boxes and cleaned the fridge. We were under strict orders to stay out from underfoot.

I think she's taken her "quiet" pills now so we're off the hook.

I'm still keeping a wary eye on her, though.

Mama's Reading: Pete Townshend's Blog http://petetownshend-whohe.blogspot.com/ because blogs are the things to read today - not having to stick to one particular subject for very long is IN today.

Mama's Humming:
I fell in love with the dreams of children
I saw a vision of only happiness
I got some passion from the dreams of children
But woke up sweating from this modern nightmare
And
I was alone - no one was there

--- The Jam, Dig the New Breed

YAAAAAAaaaaaawwwwwwww(squeak!)N
Pinky

Problems?

Sissy here and I'm gonna tell you this: there are problems and there are problems. Mama thinks I'm a problem a lot of the time, she says I'm a thief (!) when I'm simply wanting a better look at things and besides she has a lot of neat things and I live here too so I should be able to look at the neat things but she doesn't like that idea. There's the leg shaver razor plastic cover thing that she took away from me and the countless pens and her cross stitch floss and she's real touchy about anything she wears in her hair and stuff in the little garbage can by the coffee table and stray cigarettes (unlit) and beads? I'm crazy about beads!!!

So when I touch these things (or do other things, like drag my tail across Mama's food when I walk past the coffee table), I end up in the "You Poor Bastard" section of the chart (see left) because Mama doesn't tolerate some things and is less tolerant of other things. Doesn't tolerate means I get yelled at, less tolerant and she sprays me with the water bottle.

Anyway. She likes it when I play with some things like tinfoil balls and the plastic rim thingies from milk jugs and paper balls and any of the other toys that she has bought for us. She plays fetch with me almost daily!

Mama's reading: a book called "Giants of the Frost" by Kim Wilkins. She's been trying to get interested in that book for over a week now. She's still reading "Glamorama" but that's beside the bed - for nighttime reading. She's also reading a lot of blogs - she calls it the "blog merry-go-round" where you click "NEXT BLOG" and go from there.

Mama's singing under her breath:

My dreams are all dead and buried
Sometimes I wish the sun would just explode
When Gawd comes to take me to his kingdom
I'll take all ya sonsabeeches when I go...yeeeeee-aaaaahhhhooooooooo

--- Squidbillies Theme Song

not if I catch ya first!
Sissy

Mama does this to us and thinks its funny

Pinky here.
Yes, Mama does this to us. She calls it "the Move the Cat Game". I don't see what's so funny about moving us around while we are sleeping or whatever. I mean, I'm in the bed and just waking up, and she'll come in and pick me up and put me on the sofa, then move someone else, say, V'lu, who was on the rocking chair, to the bed where I was (in the exact same spot), then move move Ellen to the rocking chair where V'lu was. She giggles a lot when she does this.
I, for one, don't get it.
I'm not sure about the others.

Siiiigh,
Pinky

Hiss'n'Spit from V'lu

Right. Let's get one thing straight - I am the only cat that matters here. Ever. In all actuality, I am the only cat that should be here, in this house, with Mama. I love her best. The others really only pay attention to her when they want something - I just like to spend time. I'm there when she goes to bed and she snuggles me and plays with my back feet and she talks to me and tells me things she'd never tell any of the others. I just wanted to set the record straight. I am the Gatekeeper for Mama too - I go to the door when someone comes over and makes sure no other cat goes out - if Mama insists on the others living here, I will do my best to make sure that everyone is safe the way she likes it.

I think Mama has to get better pictures of us. This one doesn't show the beauty of my grey fur speckled with blonde, doesn't show the ring-around-my-tail, which I take great pride in.

And I just want to say that Mama was typing quietly here and I came out - knowing she was thinking about me - none of the others do that. I just know, see? That Bebe cat is sitting on the computer desk beside Mama, and I hissed at her just to let her know I'm onto her game.

Mama's Reading Adventures: Well, she started reading some Viking book by Bernard Cornwell called "The Last Kingdom". I tried to tell her it would be no good, as she has no stomach for violence and this book is chock full of it. She's interested in the time period but the blood and gore - she don't need it. She started another book called "Glamorama" by Bret Easton Ellis, more up to her speed. He wrote a few books that were made into movies so she figured she could give this one a shot. Its a lot of dropping "names" from the 1990's, she says its like reading back issues of STAR! magazine but is fluffy and amusing so I think she'll actually finish this one.

Song That Mama Keeps Singing:

Oh babe, you got my soul
You got the silver, you got the gold
If that's your love, just leave me blind
I don't care, no, that's no big surprise

"You Got the Silver", The Rolling Stones.

Mrowr?
V'lu

Pinky here...sigh

Well, I was awakened from a 15 hour nap by Mama cursing. She was playing this game again.

I'll be at the food dish if you need me...

yawnstretchblinkblink
Pinky

Bebe Blogging Here!

Hi there...

So this is the kitty porn picture of me, sigh. Mama thinks its cute and it almost breaks her heart every time she sees it, but she says there are others that make her swoon even more but she can't find them right now on her computer. I keep telling her, "I WAS A CHILD IN THAT PICTURE - HOW COULD YOU???" but she says it doesn't matter. Hmmph. Thankfully I'm covering my eyes or else Mama would have to put a black bar across them - which she doesn't know how to do, otherwise I'd lose my anonymity. I'm sitting on the mouse space on the desk and Mama keeps nudging me out of the way, like I'm in the way or something. I'm not.

V'lu is getting better - not quite up to racing around speed thank goodness, but she's started to hiss at me again so I guess she must be coming around. Uncle Alan came and did some Reiki on Sissy and I think that is why she is feeling so much better. There are now FIVE tinfoil balls in plain sight, and I don't know where they came from because when Mama changed the rockers around, she didn't find any under the cat rocker (which Ellen has claimed). I've tried playing with them, I truly have, but I don't find the appeal. I have my Ducky and my Puppy (Mama hid my Puppy one night) and I'm good to go with those. And Pinky is sleeping all the time - I go and pester him sometimes but Mama tells me to stop bothering him. I'll tell you what's bothering me - Pinky splashing the water out of the dish all the time and leaving us his paw linty water to drink out of.

Mama was quite excited to find David Byrne's Journal last night by stumbling around on other people's blogs, so that is what kept her up late last night, drinking in almost every word and reading until her eyes were like sandpaper. She says there is no point in reading about US politics (and everybody writes about that) what with us being Canadian and her lack of political interest in general, so she skipped his perspectives on that, but some wonderful stuff on galleries and his music and music theory had to be read. David Byrne, she tells me, is the voice behind the Talking Heads, one of her favorite bands. He does a good journal with wonderful pictures and links to other pictures - she thinks everyone should snoop at their leisure.

Mama Keeps Singing to Us:

I can see my lifetime piling up

I can see the days turn into nights

I can see the people on the street

Open those windows up

A hundred floors below me

Pilin' those houses up

Pilin' them higher, higher, higher

I can feel them swayin' back and forth

Building it higher, higher

This tower's leaning over

--- Lifetime Piling Up, the Talking Heads

bodyslamrub against your calves,

Bebe

Sissy's Update

Okay! So I was sick and now I'm not but V'lu is still sneezing up a storm and Mama's giving her treats and she's not giving me any but I scrounged up some leftover Bebe food when she wasn't looking so I guess we're even. Mama moved the rocking chairs around so there's a bald space where the big rocker was because she's using the wooden rocker to sit at her computer with and we've all had a sniff and Ellen doesn't think the cat rocker is in that great of a position for proper wrecking purposes but I'm sure she'll figure out something.

Mama started two new books without finishing the book by the journalist so she doesn't even know what she's reading anymore! I don't think she's happy with her recent library finds - she says there wasn't that great of a selection and the aisles were tiny and she could have gotten some Anime books but she didn't and now she's regretting that. She got books on war, of all things - mistakenly, she tells me but I think she didn't read the back covers well enough to know what she was grabbing at.

She says the best books for her right now are ChickLit books - sounds like something fruity to chew on - and that although there is a sense of shame attached to that genre she thinks that those books don't get their due because they are not violent, they are easy to read and a lot of the authors really put some time and effort into researching and such.

I found a gold tinfoil ball! Mama and I played for a bit but then she couldn't find where I put it so it is lost again (I know where it is).

Song lyric going on loop: Smoking just a little too violently, I know that effect I've got, makes a strong case for art... Lionized by the Tragically Hip

TTYL!!!
SissyHankshaw

V'lu looks like Elvis before she sneezes!

Hi, Bebe here, haven't got my picture loaded up yet - its either a baby picture or one that Mama caught me in looking like quite the wanton tramp.
Anyway...yes, V'lu has a cold. She's sneezing around the house as I send this missive. Her lip sneers and her eyebrow goes down and sometimes she does a little bit of a hippyhippyshake thing and then "KAAAATCHOOOO!" I'm wanting to find a suitable portable sneezeguard because between her and Sissy, its like catching the mist off a sailboat - big droplets and spray. Or its like Mama's water bottle that she sprays us with, if it weren't always on the "stream" setting.
But I digress...
Mama did a quick read through a book called "the 100 Best Things I've Sold on eBay" by Lynn Dralle today. Quite amusing tales to be told - the author really loved her grandmother, who got her into the antique business. The way the shop was set up sounds to be a cat's delight - crawl spaces crammed with boxes of things - big things, little things, marbles and keys and glassware - oh, the glassware, and lots of other places to explore - three floors of things plus a basement! So many smells from so many places - I can imagine my head spinning from olfactory overload! Mama was hoping to find something in the book that she might have kicking around the house but there wasn't anything remotely similar. She signed up for an eBay account however - no reasoning as to why, because there is so little that she needs. I'm thinking she might try selling a few things once she gets pictures of them.
She's not selling any of us, she assured us. She told me specifically that money couldn't buy our love. I guess that means its free...both coming and going!

Mama's Reading and Doing: Area Woman Blows Gasket by Patricia Pearson a selection of humorous ponderings by a Canadian journalist. Mama is also being quite strict about keeping us off the coffee table as she's been doodling around with pencils, pens and pencil crayons - hey, it keeps her quiet.

Current song lyric going through Mama's head: from the Tragically Hip's Up to Here...Opiated
"You'd think the snake just dreams of the poison in his head"

mew,
Bebe

introducing and introduction by...Ellen

Hi. I'm Ellen Cherry Charles, one of five cats that live with the Mama. I'm the oldest girl, and I'm sometimes called little Queenie, Girlygirl, and occasionally, @&**$^^#!Ellen. I'm kind of a "piss'n'vinegar" girl - see the chair I'm sitting on? I've wrecked it and it only took me four years. Mama says its because of me and others like me that she will never have new furniture. She's also said that she wouldn't ever have cats if they had opposable thumbs, but then she got Sissy...but more on her later.

Mama likes to read. She'll read practically anything, and from time to time, she reads out loud to us. We don't understand her choices in material - some of it is downright dry, but occasionally she will read to us from "Catnip for the Soul" and we completely understand that book.

Anyway, Mama wants to make this blog nicer, so I'll sign off now.

Headbonks,

Ellen