The right call

On June 30, 2008, I made one of the best decisions of my life--to adopt a sweet, eager-to-purr tabby cat named Sylvia.  Ten years later, I'm looking back on her first day and realizing that Sylvia's adjustment to her new home fell into four phases:

Phase one: Sitting behind the clothes rack.

Phase two: Hiding under the sofa.

Phase three: Sitting on my lap while staring me in the face. (To her credit, Sylvia progressed from phase two to phase three in record time.)

Phase four: Claiming the sofa and the remotes.

Within an hour and a half, Sylvia had settled into her new home.  Sometimes, you find out quickly that your instincts are the right ones.  I still think both of us made the right call a decade ago.

"My cat toy! Mine!"

Sometimes, when you've captured a cat toy, you might feel compelled to cry out in exultation:

2015: Nemo baring his fangs upon claiming a cat toy as his.

Always ready for a close-up II

You can be having the time of your life while batting a cat toy around, but when someone's trying to take your photo, it's time to turn serious:

December 2005: Rosie, ready for her close-up, as usual.

"I know it's called a Cat Dancer, but..."

"...shouldn't the human put the toy between my paws?  I think I'm indicating clearly how I want this to go."  I'm approximating what Rosie seemed to be thinking during a play session in late 2010:

A linguistic irritant LVII

Actually, the term, "creature comforts," is more amusing than annoying to me; it makes me picture a family of iguanas in lounge chairs, sipping exotic beverages.

Have an alternate pair of shoes on hand...

...in case one of your cats decides to claim your shoes for himself:

Summer 2005: Sammy commandeers a pair of shoes.

A linguistic irritant LVI

It irritates me whenever anyone retorts, "What part of (such-and-such) did you not understand?"  This retort shows up far too often in comments sections of online articles.  Whenever I read it, I think, "Way to be a human being...How is it that no one has pummeled you with a shovel?"

Watchcat protocol XVII

Even when feeling sleepy, a watchcat must maintain a facial expression that says, "I've got my eye on you:"

2012: Rosie on stairwell watchcat duty.

Cat and bird detente III

Perhaps it's easier for a cat and a bird to reach detente when they root for the same baseball team:

2013: Sylvia, extending the good tail of friendship to Fredbird.

Not quite camouflaged

Apparently, Sammy thought he might surprise us by leaping up unexpectedly and grabbing the Cat Dancer toy.  His camouflage fell a tad short, however:

June 2006: Sammy attempts to hide behind the fan.

When your cat makes this face...

...it's best to give in and give her a drink of kitchen faucet water:

June 2018: Sylvia, looking stern as she communicates telepathically about her thirst for water.

The show must go on.

Even when your courtroom is under construction, you can still hear cases on top of a recycling bag without compromising the dignity of your profession:

That was Judge Rosie's view in the Summer of 2006.

Always ready for a close-up

I've written in other posts about Rosie's knack for knowing where the camera was and when it was on.  Sometimes, she thought it helped her close-up to open her eyes as wide as possible:

October 2005: Rosie, playing to the camera, as usual.

Anticipating the cat toy

Although cat toys are fun to play with, there's something to be said for the anticipation of them, as well:

July 2008: Nemo gets ready to grab a cat toy.

Cat, proxy cat, and sea lion detente II

A cat, his doppelganger, and a sea lion might not always see things eye to eye.  They can, however, agree to share the same space and at least attempt to find common ground:

Failing that, at least they can all play with the kick toy, as Nemo, proxy Nemo, and the sea lion presumably did in 2014.

Truth in advertising? XX

I remember a commercial from the '80s claiming that one soda was better than another because "they proved it in a taste test."

That settles that, then.  It's good to have the definitive word on a matter of opinion.

An obvious hint

Sometimes, cats will spell things out for you, so you don't have to guess what they want:

2016: Sylvia, obviously wanting a drink from the kitchen faucet.

Cat and bird detente II

More proof from Summer 2015 that cats and birds aren't always enemies:

Clearly, Sylvia made peace with her bird friends.

A linguistic irritant LV

It irritates me whenever someone says, "Gotcha!"  Even when it's warranted, there's something childish and vindictive about the expression that makes me think, "Shush!"  Why not just say, "I think this speaks for itself," or "I think this proves my point?"

A linguistic irritant LIV

I've never cared for the expression, "Let this be a lesson to you."  Saying, "The lesson here is..." or simply "Learn from this," gets the point across without sounding like a finger-wagging schoolmarm.

Fit for a portrait

In a previous post, I wrote about Rosie the cat's penchant for posing.  Although her brother, Sammy, didn't usually pose for pictures, there were occasional exceptions.  Here's one example from 2005:

Cat, proxy cat, and sea lion detente

Sometimes, you might disagree with your doppelganger and your pet sea lion.  Nevertheless, you might still be able to coexist peacefully:

2014: Nemo, proxy Nemo, and the sea lion retreat to their separate corners.

Watchcat protocol XVI

For residents' security, poltergeist watchcats are sometimes stationed in areas you wouldn't expect:

2004: Poltergeist watchcat Sammy.

Cat and bird detente

Cats and birds typically have adversarial relationships--but not always:

Summer 2015: Nemo, hearing a robin's point of view with an open mind.

Summer 2015: Sylvia, snuggling up with a cardinal.

Watchcat protocol XV

It's permissible to call in a substitute watchcat when you're trying to catch the dot from a laser pointer.  After all, it's just so captivating, and it's in a cat's nature to want to capture the dot.  Rosie and Sammy realized this in May 2008:

A linguistic irritant LIII

The word is obviously.  Not "obvi," as you sometimes hear from young sitcom characters.  If you're pressed for time and need to shorten the word, why not just say, "yes" instead?

A linguistic irritant LII

It irks me slightly whenever someone prefaces a famous quotation with, "I believe it was Mark Twain who said..."  If you know who said it, there's no reason to say, "I believe it was..."  Instead, just say, "As Mark Twain said..."

"The injustice of it all!"

2011: Sammy eats his food, while Rosie looks on, as if to say, "Can you believe him, eating all the food like this?  Granted, I finished all the food in my bowl, which you won't see in the photograph, but still..."

Hydrate first. Then, hear your cases.

Judge Sylvia wasn't in the best of moods before hearing cases one day in May 2016:

After having a long drink of water from the kitchen faucet, however, she was ready to hear cases.  I suppose that makes sense.  After all, some humans don't function well without coffee.  Similarly, some cats don't function well as judges without their water.

A linguistic irritant LI

I never got into saying that anything is "to die for."  I wonder why anyone else did.  No food, book, or concert experience is "to die for," regardless of how excellent it is.  Why not just say it's great or superb?