ManCat Monday: We're melting ...

Oh, goodness ... It is so HOT here! We feel like we're on the surface of the sun an' we're all melty! Take a look at Charmee!



"It's furry hard to be a ManCat when you're meltin' ... It's too darn hot!"

Saturday Photo Hunt #66: Unique/Funny Sign

Unique/Funny Signs!

The Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt theme for this week is UNIQUE/FUNNY SIGNS.

Well, I couldn't find anything in the "unique/funny sign" area of Mom's cache of photos on our computer.  Sigh.  So, I decided to post this photo instead.  As you can see ... there IS a sign in the photo.  It's just neither "unique" nor "funny" ...

I do like the Canada goose, though!  This photo was taken last month up at Lake Cuyamaca.  Grandma an' Grandad took the photo on their way out to the Anza Borrego Desert State Park where they were gonna look at the "belly flowers" ... Yep, they're actually called "belly flowers" early in the springtime.  Why?  'Cuz you've gotta get down on your belly to see them.

Friday Memes: Friday's Feast an' Friday Fill-ins

Friday Fill-In #69

1. When I fell in love _I got hurt really badly, so now I’m guarded, jaded, and unwilling to trust anyone else that fully again_! 

2. _Spring should be_ when the flowers bloom and it heats up outside!

3. Oh no! The internet connection is down, _I guess that I’ll just restart my computer and hope for the best_.

4. _I have absolutely no idea what_ is the craziest tv show ever.  I don't watch "reality" tv or anything that's really bizarre.  

5. Cheese and _fresh corn tortillas with pico de gallo_ make a great meal!

6. _I love to swing on my lawn swing in_ a garden (especially if it's mine and the rosemary is especially fragrant.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _sleeping_, tomorrow my plans include _maybe going to a movie_ and Sunday, I want to _be rid of this stinking ear infection. I’m tired of being dizzy_!

Feast One Hundred & Eighty Eight

April 25th, 2008 

Appetizer
Name something you would categorize as weird.

People who pierce parts other than ears if it isn’t a cultural thing. Poking holes in yourself and dangling things from those holes is just odd.  Oh, and people who have bunches and bunches of kids who they cannot afford strikes me as weird ... and kind of mean, too.

Soup
What color was the last piece of food you ate?

BRIGHT YELLOW! It was a delicious spear of fresh pineapple. Yummo!  In fact, it was so good that I had two more pieces!!!

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy being alone?

TEN ... I am perfectly happy being alone. There are times when I want to be around friends and/or family, but I’m okay with being by myself.  I'm so "okay" with being alone that I decline dates ...

Main Course
Fill in the blank: I will _________ vote for ___________ in _______.

DaisyMae Maus and the Feline Americans are voting for Cheysuli in the 2008 Presidential Election ... 

I will be voting for whomever wins the democratic party’s nomination in the 2008 Presidential Race. In a perfect world, it would be Clinton/Obama ... and we could get our troops out of the middle east AND re-energize our economy.

Dessert
Describe your sleeping habits.

Totally dark with black-out draperies. Ceiling fan at “medium”. Oscillating fan at “medium”. Two Simply Sleep tablets. Alarm set for 6:00 AM. Nordstrom sleep shirt. Buckwheat husk pillow in a satin pillow case. Six hundred thread-count sheets. One to five felines snoozing in various parts of the bed. 

My next door neighbors run a 24-hour day care and are starting cars/slamming doors at all hours. The fans and sleep tabs are for self-preservation. 

BTW: I sleep fitfully during the night ... I sleep far better during the day.  Maybe I'm part vampire?

Happy Birthday, Punkin!

Feline American Pumpkin had his birthday yesterday ...



Concatulations, Punky!


Pssst! In case you were wonderin' ... He's (shhhh...) seven ...

More info ...

In thirty days, Mom is chaperoning an overnighter to the HOUSE OF MOUSE ... Disneyland.  She goes just about efurry year with her school's senior class.  This year's event is on Thursday, May 22.

THIS year, she's bringin' our Great-uncle Jerry (of Seattle) along as her chaperone partner (two responsible adults have to ride each bus an' get the kids through the bag/body search at the entrance).  Mom ordered a first-class round-trip plane ticket for him ... he's never flown first-class an' he's never been to the HOUSE OF MOUSE ... in his entire life.  If you remember, he turned the big SIX-OH last month, so this trip is an extra-special one.

We don't get to go on the trip, but we do get to spend some time with our uncle.  We've never met him, but we did smell him on Mom's luggage when she visited more than eighteen months ago for our great-great-cousin's 90th birthday party in August of 2006.

Our uncle has a kitty named Nimrod.  He doesn't get to come an' visit us.  Sigh.

So, to wrap it up ... we're not goin' to the HOUSE OF MOUSE.  We can't give any of those mousies the bitey.  There's not luggage to stow away inside.  We're more than just a little bit bummed 'cuz we can't say, "We're goin' to DISNEYLAND!"

Wordless Wednesday: Thirty more days

Tabbies on Toozday: We won!! Whoot, whoot!

We participated in the auction that Beau was holdin' to help with Mom Laura's expenses after the fire in their apartment building an' with Moki's medical expenses.  

We bid on the "adult" squillions ... an' we really wanted a ginger one that looked like Feline American Pumpkin.

Guess what?!?  We had the winning bid on squillion #1!  Yay!  We're so 'xcited 'bout FINALLY gettin' a squillion like Victor Tabbycat an' Bonnie Underfoot's.  

Hmm ... What are we gonna name our ginger squillion?  Snicklefritz?  Cuppycake?  Cheddar Cheez?

I suppose we had better wait to see if we have a boy squillion or a girlie ... It'd be nice to have another girlie besides ME.

Animal Attraction (dot) Com

Hey Efurryone in the Cat Blogosphere (an' woofies, an' buns, an' ratties, too!):

Mom got this email today.

It's from Best Friends Animal Society an' it's an invitation to join the pet community at Animal Attraction.  We begged an' begged ... so Mom signed us up.  All five of us are on the same page.

If YOU join, would you please send us a message so that we can be your "friends" at Animal Attraction?  

Right now, we have two friends:  Dan an' his woofie, Buddy.  They're the official welcoming committee, so they HAVE to be our furriends.  We're kinda lonely ...

ManCat (an' MIDNIGHT) Monday: Cocoa Puff ... Action Hero?

Just in case there's anymore danger in the Cat Blogosphere, ManCat Cocoa Puff volunteers to save the day an' keep us all from harm.

For a ManCat, it's all in a day's work  ...  Right, doods?

Saturday Photo Hunt #65: THIRTEEN

THIRTEEN!

The Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt theme for this week is THIRTEEN.

Here's a photograph of Feline American Lucky Charmz.

And what, if anything, does Charmee have to do with "THIRTEEN," you ask?

Charmee is Mom's "Lucky" THIRTEENTH cat.

13.  Lucky Charmz

12.  Pumpkin

11.  Sparky Fuzzypants

10.  Cocoa Puff

9.  Huckleberry Finn (Rainbow Bridge)

8.  ME ... DaisyMae Maus

7.  Dolly Pop (Rainbow Bridge)

6.  Fudge Ripple (Rainbow Bridge)

5.  Toby (Rainbow Bridge)

4.  Percy (Rainbow Bridge)

3.  Cookie Monster (Rainbow Bridge)

2.  Lacey Bunns (Rainbow Bridge)

1.  MeeMaw (Rainbow Bridge)

Friday Memes: Friday's Feast an' Friday Fill-ins

Feast One Hundred & Eighty Seven

April 18th, 2008 

Appetizer
Name a color you find soothing.

I really like the color lavender, but turquoise and sage are equally nice when I need to relax.

Soup
Using 20 or less words, describe your first driving experience.

Stick shift. 

Sharp curve. 

Bounced curb. 

Stalled. 

Rolled down embankment. 

Dad panicked. 

Illegal aliens pushed Datsun back to street.

Salad
What material is your favorite item of clothing made out of?

It's an evergreen suede jacket from Coldwater Creek. Gorgeous. Great leather smell and, surprisingly, it goes with just about everything that I own.

Main Course
Who is a great singer or musician who, if they were to come to your town for a concert, you would spend the night outside waiting for tickets to see?

There aren’t any people like that for me anymore. Tickets have gotten so out-of-control price-wise (and iTunes is so cheap and accessable) that I’d rather listen “on vinyl” than pay to see someone live. Besides, most of today’s “artists” lip-synch much of their shows anyway.


Dessert
What is the most frequent letter of the alphabet in your whole name (first, middle, maiden, last, etc.)?

The most frequently occurring letter ... in other words, the “mode” of my name ... is the letter “E”. I have four of them.

APRIL 18, 2008

Friday Fill In #68

1. The last time I lost my temper I _called the custodian. It was this last Monday ... the first day of the fourth quarter ... and my classroom door would not unlock  so that I could get in____!

2. _Ninth grade girls who think that “pretty” allows them to behave like shrews_ are what I'm fed up with! (These young ladies don't get "pretty is as pretty does" ...).

3. The next book I'd like to read is _the new Harlan Coben thriller that came out this week, but hasn’t arrived from Amazon.com yet_.

4. _May 21 ... when my uncle arrives ..._ is what I'm looking forward to.

5. If you can't get rid of the skeleton[s] in your closet, _donate them to a high school science class_!

6. The best thing I got in the mail recently was _a bunch of checks from Hallmark to spend on retirement cards ... yay!_.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _a marathon of “Cold Case” episodes that have been on my DVR since January_, tomorrow my plans include _an eight-hour Language Arts conference (with a unit of continuing ed. credit_ and Sunday, I want to _spend those Hallmark checks_!

Thursday Thirteen ... minus two

Mom's friend Lana sent this interesting perspective on the roles of 'beans an' the art of grilling.

Since Mom does so furry little cooking of any form (includin' "nuking"), we REALLY don't think that she has any right to complain 'bout how boy 'beans operate grills.

However, since she's the one with the thumbs an' Fancy Feast Elegant Medleys stinky goodness is a CANNED delight, we're not gonna tick her off by throwin' her "lack o'cookin' skills" in her face.

Nope ... That wouldn't be prudent.

So ... here it is:  

The Thursday Thirteen (minus two) 

of the roles of boy an' girl 'beans 

when "grilling" is concerned.

As spring weather improves and barbeque units are rolled out of garages all over North America, this is a good time to review these few simple BBQ Rules ...

BBQ RULES 

When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:

Routine...
(1) The woman buys the food.

(2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.

(3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill - drink in hand.

Here comes the important part:
(4) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

More routine...
(5) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.

(6) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is burning. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another drink while he deals with the situation.

Important again:
(7) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

More routine...
(8) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings them to the table.

(9) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes. 

And most important of all:
(10) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.

(11) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed 'her night off.' And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women.

An experienced barbeque jockey commented: "Hey! Turning meat and drinking beer is harder than it looks."

Wordless Wednesday: Thanks, Mom!

CAT REALM 1st Anniversary PAR-TAY!

Karl from The Cat Realm gave us this award AN' an invitation to the superrific FIRST anniversary party he's hostin' TODAY!  

Stop by Karl's bloggie 'cuz there's some delicious food (who knew so many tasty treats could be made from lizards?!?) an' drinks.

Karl also said to remind efurryone that NOMSS friends are invited, too!

Yay!  It's time to PAR-TAY!

Oh, an' don't forget that your 'beans hafta mail their U.S. taxes today if they haven't done so already ...

ManCat Monday: Comfy with Cocoa Puff

It's ManCat Monday again an' I couldn't be happier after that harrowing weekend! WOW!

Here's Feline American Cocoa Puff posin' on the bed for his ManCat Monday feature. His best girlfriend ... Mom ... indulged him (and the rest of us) during her month-long vacation from day-hunting. She brushed an' patted an' napped with an' fed Temptations to us with great regularity. 

But now she's gone back to her job an' we're at home.   Sigh ...

It's also been eleventy-squillion degrees here for the weekend an' we've got the air conditioner humming to keep us at a pleasantly cool 74 degrees.  Ahhhh ....

Puffy enjoyed spending all of that extra time with Mom, so he agreed to wear the (ahem) "bunny ears" ...

Thank God ...

The purrs an' purrayers of the Cat Blogosphere (an' efurryone else who was concerned) were answered. In case you weren't aware, Lilly Lu, Mu Shue Pooh, an' Iris were found an' are alive.

We're so relieved ...

Sunday Quiz

I found this quiz at Millie's an' decided to take it just to distract myself from the worrying 'bout Mu Shue, Lilly Lu, an' Iris.

I could've predicted the results ... duh.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West   Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The South
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Purrs an' Purrayers for the Framingham Four!!

Lilly Lu and Iris (with Mu Shue an' Mom Laura)

Saturday Photo Hunt #64: TWIST(ED)

TWIST(ED)!

The Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt theme for this week is TWIST(ED).

Such a wide-open theme.  So many interpretations ... 

We're gonna go with one of our favorite snacks:  Red Vines licorice.

Feline American Lucky Charmz is a furry adventuresome eater:  One might even call him TWISTED.  

If you recall, Grandma was eatin' yummy, TWISTED Red Vines an' Charmee (lover of gummy bears/worms/sharks/fruit) wanted to "participate" ... 

Grandma held out a 'Vine expecting Charmee to give it a sniff an' dismiss it with a shake of his paw.  

Nope.  Charmee licked the 'Vine a coupla times an' then ... PUT THE BITEY ON IT!  

Who woulda thunk it?!?  

A cat eatin' licorice is pretty TWISTED.

Friday Memes: Friday's Feast an' Friday Fill-ins

FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2008

Friday Fill-In #67

1. I love springtime in _San Diego (it lasts 365 days a year)_!

2. _WAFFLES_ are foods I love to eat for breakfast.

3. It seems I'm always searching for _something fun and creative to do in my small amounts of spare time_

4. _Watching junk on television (bless the DVR)_ is a great way to end the day.

5. I think I _ate too much at lunch. I have a tummy ache_!

6. _FUN_ is what I've been craving lately. (Or maybe I just want a doughnut).

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _watching the Thursday shows that I taped_, tomorrow my plans include _going out to lunch with my mom_ and Sunday, I want to _rest ... it’s the last day of my thirty-day spring break ... I know: Life is hard_!

Friday's Feast 187a

Apr 10, '08 

The Chef over at Friday's Feast has decided to take the day off.  She has invited folks to come up with their own Feast this week.  Here's a menu from Stone Girl.

Appetizer
What is your favorite vacation spot in the United States?
I LOVE travelling up Highway 1 and/or 101 ... The scenery is gorgeous. The air is so clear and clean. The campgrounds have such amazing views. The only flaw is that the speed limit along most of the Highway 1 is about thirty mph.

Soup
If someone else (friend, co-worker, family) brings up a religious or political topic, how likely are you to join the conversation, on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = not likely, 10=very likely).

It depends on the seriousness of the political/religious topic. I typically prefer to keep my views to myself. I guess that I’d be about a 3.

Salad
What song do you listen to when you feel very sad?
“I Want to Know What Love Is” by Foreigner. It reminds me of a very sad time in my life ... but it also reminds me of how I got through it, too.

Main Course
Someone you really admire is coming over for a home-cooked dinner.  What do you serve him/her?

Ah ... Do I want to impress this person or do I just want to keep him/her from getting indigestion from my less-than-terrific cooking?

I suppose that I’d make apricot/lemon baked chicken with white rice and asparagus spears (with sea salt). I’d serve iced tea (as I don’t drink) and I’d make pudding parfaits for dessert.

Dessert
If the only form of transportation left in the world is by animal (horse, mule, camel, etc), where would you live?

Seattle. I could walk just about anywhere I wanted to go. My second choice would be Julian, California. It’s small and I could ride a horse around everywhere.

FINALLY ... Tagged for the Book Meme

Our friend Moe at Team Tabby tagged us for the book meme. We were wondering how long it was gonna take for us to FINALLY get tagged for this meme. Mom is a "good friend of Amazon.com" an' a Reading teacher to boot, so she has a ton of books waiting for her.

Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book.2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and post a comment to Team Tabby once you have posted it.

The books Mom's reading right now is called "The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers" by Lilian Jackson Braun.  She's read ALL of the books in this series and ... while formulaic ... they are very enjoyable books.

"Hold on! Do you realize this barn is in deep freeze five months of the year? But I'm sure the K Fund would buy it for the forthcoming music center: They could have concerts called the Hartman Series featuring talent from both counties!"

It seems to me that nearly efurryone has been tagged for this meme, so I'm gonna hafta find some kitties an' woofies who might not have ...

1.  Benjamin Fuzz an' Lucy Furr

2.  Zoey, the Furballs, and Cha-Ching

3.  Rocky the Guttercat

4.  Maya an' Kena

5.  Weeny & Daisy

Today, Orange is the new PINK!

Feline American Pumpkin is so committed to the ASPCA's "Go Orange for Animals" campaign that he's vowed to "go orange" EFURRYDAY!

Wordy Wednesday: VIVACIOUS

Thanks to Maggy an' Zoey from Zoolatry for including me in their Wordy Wednesday post!

Here is my portion of their grand project:

According to Merriam/Webster ...

vi·va·cious 

Pronunciation:  \və-ˈvā-shəs also vī-\

Function: adjective

Etymology: Latin vivac-, vivax long-lived, vigorous, high-spirited, from vivere to live

Date: circa 1645

: lively in temper, conduct, or spirit : sprightly

synonyms see lively

— vi·va·cious·ly adverb

— vi·va·cious·ness noun

Tuxie Tummy Toesday Toozday ... again

Mom has an ancient Sony Cybershot that she uses at school. She brought it home to use while the other one was "in the shop" ... and she discovered something about the focus settings ... apparently, one can change the focus pretty easily (Mom's always been a point-and-shoot kinda gal). 

Anyway, she was fiddling with the camera an' managed to take some pretty good photos of me.  I came out nice an' clear (not the usual grainy or blurry shots).

Here they are for Tuxie Tummy and Toesday ...

I put in this toes an' tummy shot especially for my special ManCat ... Jake.  Meeowwww?!?  

Check out my fuzzy white tummy -- pretty tempting, huh?  It's furry soft an' silky.  

Oh, an' all of my pawpads are matching black leather.  

Uhhh ... Turn off the lights already, Mom!  I'm sleepy!  Being a supermodel is hard work an' I'm exhausted.

ManCat Monday: The Yarny Boys

It's a fact: Secure ManCats love to play with yarn! But the really secure ones will WEAR it, too!

I'm in a FRATERNITY/SORORITY!

Cecil the Cougar an' Moki have created a feline fraternity/sorority called Phi Theta Gatos.  The dues go to the Save Moki Fund.  If you're interested, click on this link an' find out all about it.

I am one of the first members an' here is my pledge badge ... I hope that there's not too much hazing in this frat 'cuz I'm a geezer-ette.

Gosh, a feline fraternity/sorority is gonna be so much fun!  I can't wait for the first mixer!  

Toga!  Toga!  Toga!

Award Sunday: This Blog is absolutely PAWESOME -- The Inaugural FIVE

I have enjoyed participating in the blogosphere since July 2006 an' I figure that it's time to acknowledge some particularly "pawesome" bloggies with an award of my very own creation ...

It's a great honor to present the "This Blog is absolutely PAWESOME" award to the inaugural FIVE --

1. Boy, the Genius Cat: Boy has a distinctive voice and has handled the arrival of "That Thing" with the aplomb of a true genius.

2. Lucky and Roxy the Devil Dog: These two intrepid pugs jumped into blogging with all eight feet and the blogosphere is all the better for their participation.  And pugs ROCK!

3. Grr, Midnight & Cocoa (with Rascal and Riley): An endearing blog became a fantastic blog as the "fluffy black threesome" opened their hearts and home to two abandoned infants.

4. Daisy the Curly Cat with Pixie: Daisy's bloggie has some of the best photography around! You can't beat her creativity or her feeling for her audience. Daisy transcends genre and species -- Efurryone loves her and she makes cat blogging worthy of CNN coverage, too!

5. Meezertails: Miles and Sammy Meezer recently welcomed Bill the Gingersnap to their world of HAM(!) and the Meezer 500.  Their daily adventures are hilarious ... and where else would we have learned about WHAPPING?

The entire blogosphere has my blessing to freely pass this award along to other bloggers who YOU deem to have shown particular "pawesome-ness" over the years!

Saturday Photo Hunt #63: Glass

GLASS!

The Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt theme for this week is GLASS.

Hmmm ... Very many things in my house are made of glass or feature "glass" in some way, shape or form.  "Heart of Glass" by Blondie was one of Mom's first 45-inch singles when she was in junior high.

Mom's friend, Marisol, gave her a special glass called a "rocks" glass from the M&Ms World store in Las Vegas (Mom has it on her make-up table:  It holds lip glosses.

We showed a special stained glass kitty made by Mom's cousin in a previous Photo Hunters' post.

Our giant-sized cat televisions are made of double-paned glass ... an' our tropical fish habitat is glass, too.

Mom even has glass bottles that hold her smells ... She has a bunch of them an' some are furry delicate.

What to show?  What to show?  Oh ... we know.  

Since the GradNite trip with our Uncle Jer is in about seven more weeks, how about a photo of Mom's glass Eeyore?  Yeah ... That sounds good.

Mom's good friend Debbie G. bought the Eeyore for Mom when she went to Disneyland with her nephew.  Eeyore sits with Mom's bottles of smells.  He gets dusty, but cleans up nice 'cuz he's made of a special kind of glass called "crystal" ... 

Although he's pretty "in person," he doesn't photograph furry well.

Wordless Wednesday: Outta the bag?!?

Is this a colossal April Fool?!? We HOPE not ...

Miles an' Sammy Meezer (with gingersnap Bill) broke this news on their bloggie yesterday, but it's such BIG NEWS that we had to feature this blogosphere tidbit ourselves: 

 Kukka-Maria's BACK!

It could just be a mondo publicity stunt to make her fans the victims of a massive April Fool's Day prank, but ... here at DaisyMae Maus and the Feline Americans ... we'd like to think positively (kinda like we're PAWSITIVE that this is a hoax).

Stop by Kukka's bloggie an' say "hey" to her husband, Brach-Lee ... Read for yourself an' stand by for the second coming of the Empress Kukka-Maria ... or the total melt-down of Miles Meezer.

Lucky Charmz has already shaved his tummy exposing his "I HEART Kukka" tattoo ... We told him to wait-an'-see, but he wasn't listenin' ... Little brothers.

Charmee has always wanted to be a member of the famed Tomcat Stable.  His devotion to the Empress is displayed across his tightly toned abs.  Here's a close-up of his body art ... 

Making the "telephone" gesture with his right front paw, Lucky Charmz pleads: "Kukka, sweetie ... Call me?"

DMM and the Feline Americans