One of Milo's most amusing traits is the seriousness with which he attacks perceived enemies. He's a playful little creature who seems to have no idea that his legs are short (and therefore comically adorable).
Labels: kitty time is a special time, milo
There's no reasonable excuse for making this video, and I know I should be ashamed of it. And yet I feel the need to share. Here you go.
Lately I've been trying to get Betty to adopt a pet of some sort, a little critter to keep her company. Her beloved cat Cecil had run away earlier this year, and she still gets teary-eyed when she talks about missing him. So a few months ago, we went to the local animal shelter to look for a cat. There were some beautiful polydactyl kittens there, and I encouraged her to look past their "deformities" (her words, not mine) and give them a home. She stroked their foreheads and then burst into tears. "I'm not ready for a new kitty," she said. "I just can't do it."
Even now, she has yet to show interest in bringing a new cat home. "I will when the time is right," she insists. I don't push the issue, although I worry about her enduring a winter — the first without her husband — alone in a cold house. In an attempt to make her feel less alone, I e-mail the videos to her. She liked this one. "Thanks for sending & making my Monday start with laughter," she wrote in an e-mail this morning. So while it might be silly to make M&M videos, maybe there is a reasonable excuse behind them. Or at least a justification.
Lately I've been trying to get Betty to adopt a pet of some sort, a little critter to keep her company. Her beloved cat Cecil had run away earlier this year, and she still gets teary-eyed when she talks about missing him. So a few months ago, we went to the local animal shelter to look for a cat. There were some beautiful polydactyl kittens there, and I encouraged her to look past their "deformities" (her words, not mine) and give them a home. She stroked their foreheads and then burst into tears. "I'm not ready for a new kitty," she said. "I just can't do it."
Even now, she has yet to show interest in bringing a new cat home. "I will when the time is right," she insists. I don't push the issue, although I worry about her enduring a winter — the first without her husband — alone in a cold house. In an attempt to make her feel less alone, I e-mail the videos to her. She liked this one. "Thanks for sending & making my Monday start with laughter," she wrote in an e-mail this morning. So while it might be silly to make M&M videos, maybe there is a reasonable excuse behind them. Or at least a justification.
Labels: betty, kitty time is a special time, milo, minou, video
Uh-oh. French New Wave cat cinema is making a comeback. I know I should be ashamed, but the amount of laughter I get from this ridiculous endeavor is well worth the ten minutes it took to create this.
Labels: humiliating photographs, kitty time is a special time, milo, video
I fell asleep with a struggle, was wide-eyed before dawn, and I have a long walk ahead of me this morning. (That's not a metaphor. It's my first day back at work in almost a month, and if my calculations are correct, it should take me just under 30 minutes to walk to the train stop three blocks away.) The one sign that today might be a good day: Minou let me hold him as we watched the sun rise together. Oh, and it looks like I won't have to use my AK.
Labels: kitty time is a special time, minou
"Enjoy the internet fame," I told Milo. "It fizzles quickly." (Ahem.) He doesn't listen to me, of course, because he's a cat, and cats don't understand much beyond the smell of canned tuna. But I'd like to think that he's been parading around the house with his head held a little higher because he was featured on the flickr blog yesterday. What's endearing about it is that he's pictured alongside Beibei, the Munchkin who first inspired me to adopt Milo. Beibei is the "I made you a cookie but I eated it" cat, and yes, I realize how pathetic it is to namedrop a lolcat.
Although I like snappin' pictures, I'm not a fantastic photographer (though I tend to date shutterbugs, oddly enough). So I know that the people who commented on the Milo photo were doing so because of his inherent short-legged cuteness, not because of any great lighting or composition. It brought me an unexpectedly large amount of happiness to think of Milo making hundreds, even thousands of people smile. I think it's important to always have something small and simple that makes you immediately happy, and for me, it's usually the cats or squirrels. Milo brings me so much joy that it feels unfair to keep it to myself, and now he's spread it around through pixels. That, too, makes me immediately happy.
Although I like snappin' pictures, I'm not a fantastic photographer (though I tend to date shutterbugs, oddly enough). So I know that the people who commented on the Milo photo were doing so because of his inherent short-legged cuteness, not because of any great lighting or composition. It brought me an unexpectedly large amount of happiness to think of Milo making hundreds, even thousands of people smile. I think it's important to always have something small and simple that makes you immediately happy, and for me, it's usually the cats or squirrels. Milo brings me so much joy that it feels unfair to keep it to myself, and now he's spread it around through pixels. That, too, makes me immediately happy.
Labels: kitty time is a special time, milo
A few weeks ago, before he decided to escape from the backyard and join a rough-and-tumble Mission cat gang, Minou had beached himself on my bed. I love this cat. (I'm glad to have him back, limp and all.)
Labels: kitty time is a special time, minou
I'm sure some of you are wondering why I write so much about (and make stupid videos of) my cats. It's because I work a lot. A lot. And so with few exceptions, I pretty much come home after work, eat some boiled cabbage or something like that, pop in a film noir, and promptly fall asleep before the murder even happens on-screen. So that is why I can't regale you with as many interesting stories as I'd like.
So I apologize in advance for another cat post, but goddammit, you know how Miki-chan died of a big heart? I took Milo and Minou to the vet yesterday for their checkups, and it turns out that sweet Minou has an enlarged heart as well. I feel like being angry, but it's futile. I don't know why the most loving ones seem to have the most troublesome hearts.
Labels: kitty time is a special time, minou
I've figured out my problem. (Well, one of them. A big one.)
Because I am scared of trying to write something good and utterly failing at the endeavor, I procrastinate by creating ridiculous things. By default they are indeed ridiculous, which means that they don't have to be very good; all they need to do is make people laugh, even if I'm the only one chuckling.
This latest video (sadly, the third made in the last week) brings me a lot of joy. Even if I do think Jay-Z made his millions off of glamorizing misogyny.
(Yes, I know the audio is off. I am still learning how to make these things.)
Because I am scared of trying to write something good and utterly failing at the endeavor, I procrastinate by creating ridiculous things. By default they are indeed ridiculous, which means that they don't have to be very good; all they need to do is make people laugh, even if I'm the only one chuckling.
This latest video (sadly, the third made in the last week) brings me a lot of joy. Even if I do think Jay-Z made his millions off of glamorizing misogyny.
(Yes, I know the audio is off. I am still learning how to make these things.)
Labels: kitty time is a special time, milo, minou, video
This morning I taught myself how to use iMovie. Turns out it's pretty simple! Who knew? Here is the first project, which shows how far I've fallen. (Also, I know I screwed up the French in the production notes, but it was 7:30am. Cut me some slack.)
So far, the video has managed to either offend, confuse or horrify those who have seen it. (A few people also loved it.) I like to think it's enjoyably bad, but maybe I'm biased.
So far, the video has managed to either offend, confuse or horrify those who have seen it. (A few people also loved it.) I like to think it's enjoyably bad, but maybe I'm biased.
Labels: kitty time is a special time, milo, video
I was deep-cleaning my apartment tonight, when Minou started to do his chirpy meow. (He only does this when he sees something of great interest.) He and Milo were staring at a winged insect. I grabbed the camera, knowing something entertaining would happen. And here you go:
I'm so embarrassed by the junkyard in the apartment, but truly, it is normally not like this! I just picked a bad time to clean like crazy.
I'm so embarrassed by the junkyard in the apartment, but truly, it is normally not like this! I just picked a bad time to clean like crazy.
Labels: kitty time is a special time, milo, video
Videos of Milo and Minou are up at Youtube now.
Labels: kitty time is a special time, milo
That's me. A busy bee. My friend Jen and I are constantly trying to figure out why we're always so tired, and we think it's because our brains don't rest enough. In my case, it's also due to my job, where I am now posting now and then.
Also, the more exciting news is that I have another kitty! Minou has a little brother named Milo. Milo is a munchkin, which means he has short legs. It makes me giddy to think about his tiny little legs, and his meerkat stance, and his little raspy smoker's meow. I am now more of a cat lady than ever before.
Labels: kitty time is a special time, milo
Initially, the plan was to wait a respectable month or so before bringing a new kitty home. I felt it was important to give Mikan proper respects through an appropriate mourning period.
The problem was, I couldn't go home without being miserable. Without my glasses on, I'd think that my gold boots were actually Mikan. Or I'd look up at his old resting spot, and see nothing. And nobody was mrowling hello when I'd open the door. It was a depressing, empty existence. I'd never felt lonely at home, but without Miki, I felt achingly alone.
So I decided to adopt a new kitten. I feel kind of guilty for doing so, and I keep justifying my decision to people. I just didn't want to be lonely anymore, and my love for a new kitty wouldn't change my love for Mikan. I mean, I'll always love and miss Mikan. So I went to a few different animal shelters until I found the right kitty. We spent almost two hours together before I decided we were right for each other. It's a big decision, you know. I'm amazed by people who waltz in, choose a cat at random, and take the little devil home. For me, I have to observe the kitty's every movement and behavior to decide if it's a good match.
Now, I have a good match. He reminds me of Mikan in some ways, but he'll be his own cat. His name is Minou (French for kitty; I am so predictable). He is a fine, tiny little fellow who likes to sleep in the curve between my neck and shoulder. I promise this will be the end of the kittyposts for a while.
The problem was, I couldn't go home without being miserable. Without my glasses on, I'd think that my gold boots were actually Mikan. Or I'd look up at his old resting spot, and see nothing. And nobody was mrowling hello when I'd open the door. It was a depressing, empty existence. I'd never felt lonely at home, but without Miki, I felt achingly alone.
So I decided to adopt a new kitten. I feel kind of guilty for doing so, and I keep justifying my decision to people. I just didn't want to be lonely anymore, and my love for a new kitty wouldn't change my love for Mikan. I mean, I'll always love and miss Mikan. So I went to a few different animal shelters until I found the right kitty. We spent almost two hours together before I decided we were right for each other. It's a big decision, you know. I'm amazed by people who waltz in, choose a cat at random, and take the little devil home. For me, I have to observe the kitty's every movement and behavior to decide if it's a good match.
Now, I have a good match. He reminds me of Mikan in some ways, but he'll be his own cat. His name is Minou (French for kitty; I am so predictable). He is a fine, tiny little fellow who likes to sleep in the curve between my neck and shoulder. I promise this will be the end of the kittyposts for a while.
Labels: kitty time is a special time, minou
Truman has been acting up lately, scratching and biting and generally being a rude kitty. I think it has something to do with bonnet I make him wear. He also wasn't too happy when I tried to shave his fur today. I didn't want to completely shave him, just give him a little less fluff to deal with in this heat. My record-spinning hairdresser Chuck used to do something like that to thin out my hair (I gots tons of hair, and it is fine in both senses of the word). So you'd think it would work with a cat.
Alas, when I flicked the Bic, Truman must have thought that I was attack him, so he proceeded to fight me. The gash on my right thumb now serves as a reminder that next time, I'll have to break out the Flowbee.
Alas, when I flicked the Bic, Truman must have thought that I was attack him, so he proceeded to fight me. The gash on my right thumb now serves as a reminder that next time, I'll have to break out the Flowbee.
Labels: kitty time is a special time
