This and That

Pudee's unhappy
So it's up to me
To make her feel better,
Her worries unfetter

Her arm is sore
Perhaps a muscle she tore
Or maybe there's a pinched nerve
That she doesn't deserve

The doctor sounds nice,
Gave her pharmaceutical advice
A pill for the arm, a wash for the ear,
Come back in a week when everything's clear

Pudee came home through the rain and brought back the sun
Listened to the doctor and promised to run
But Pudee likes to eat
Before stroking my feet

So here we sit, Pudee and I,
Cuddling before the keyboard
All warm and dry.

Tomorrow the sun will shine again
The kitty eater will be out
To vacuum up my den

Tomorrow is soon enough to worry
About life's ongoing strains
Today it's great to be loved and furry.

Pet food maker announces major recall - Yahoo! News

Pet food maker announces major recall - Yahoo! News

Now, this is an article that disturbs me as much as other articles might disturb my human. I'll be the first to admit that I like chunks of meat slathered in gravy, and my human knows that. I guess I should be grateful that JJ's delicate gastronomic difficulties have pretty much put such delicacies out of the majority of cans in our cupboard of late. We've been getting a pretty exclusive diet of canned tuna combinations, the taurine-laced chicken coming primarily in the form of admittedly tasty crunchies (dry food). On rare occasions, (such as my birthday), we get fresh shrimp - yum!

Now I ask you, what's one company doing distributing canned goods under 17, count 'em: seventeen different labels? How's a fella to know whether or not he's being fed safe food? If I wanted to take my chances with my diet, I'd follow my mother back to the feral world...

Ah well...

Smoked Out

Smoke smoke everywhere
How's a cat to breathe?
It smells like fire and danger here
How could danger be so near?

What is Pudee thinking of doing
With all that smoky burning
There's good meat, too, going to waste
Steaming and melting and turning to paste

The day is long and, oh, so hot
Wouldn't it be easier to use a pot?
Why must there be all this smoke
That makes a fella want to choke?

We're all locked in
The Gurlz are driving me crazy
With their dashing about
And their whoopsa daisy

The sun has set
The fire's died down
The meat is in
It's quiet all around

That's pork.
It smells so good
Is that for humans
Or is it nekko food?

You stink,
I think
But that's okay
I love you anyway

Achoooooo!

Gender Voting?

Rumor has it there's a woman running for the presidency
Which is fine, since she's already had experience in residency
But some media midget notes that not all women might vote for her
As though any other choice suggests the opposite of a cur
After all, men have historically voted for men
(Not as though there'd been any other kinds of candidates then)
Of course, they thought all Roman Catholics would vote for Kennedy
And feared some sort of religious remedy
For whatever it was that ailed this country then
Something about an oversized police action in some tropical fen
Now, of course, we're wrestling with a post-war stabilizing action
That has outraged yet another nationwide anti-war faction
But it's good to see that life progresses
And all the ills our military redresses
So that the American Way is preserved
And contestants can be mocked as they deserved
On televised game shows and talent hunts
And annual athletic tournament runts
Can strut their stuff with pride and glee
To the everlasting amusement of viewers like me

In Need of Kneading

Pudee's clearly in need of kneading
And I do the best that I can
But it's hard to do a proper job
When nasty chemicals create a ban
Then there's the bit about never being home
That just adds to the daunting challenge
Of doing the job though banished to the fringe
Those muscles are so tight, you see
And the pressure is clearly mounting
All I can do is keep up the lovings
And let my paws do the counting

Eventful Day

The house phone rang
There was some talk
I heard a bang
And found myself being carted down the walk

The engine was warm
The road was short
Banfield smells
And the people ran true to form

I was hauled out of hiding
And into the light
Though I complained
There was no chance for a fair fight

I didn't ask for the anal probe
Nor the bloodletting needle
Whipped out of that robe

Who needs antibiotics
Or vaccine serums
That are administered by/with such painful pricks?

At least the visit was short and quick
And no one tried to measure my - - - -
The car ride back was leisurely and long
But I didn't have to listen to that stupid song

By the time we got back
I was almost okay
Didn't need to hit the sack
Or climb into any hay

The sun was shining
The garage was cool
I got to prowl
And be my own proud fool

There was still time for lovings aplenty you see
Back at the house with my Pudee

Oh, the Noise

Pudee's back and boy, is it noisy!
Whatever happened to quiet, sunny days?
There's banging and hammering that's driving me crazy
And lumber in the courtyard making a dangerous maze
The Gurlz are so restless as they prowl about the garage
Only JJ is sensibly sleeping in the sun.
Though it's not hot enough to form a mirage,
Things are still too upsetting for any real fun.
I can't get a handle on the changes that have been going on
Like Pudee actually getting up at the crack of dawn.
What's up with that, I'd like to know
Tell me please, so I don't stub my toe.

Doggerel's unseemly for a cool cat like me
So I'm just gonna let this sad blog be...

Pudee's Back

Pudee's back is broad and strong
I can hang there all night long

Pudee's back and I'm a purr box again
The house is noisier than I don't know when

Pudee's back is covered with bites
As though there've been some ugly fights

But Pudee's back so nothing can be wrong
I'm glad, because it's been far too long

Chaos in the House

One's back, one's going
How's a fellow to be knowing
Whether up is down or what
I can handle anything but
Losing my Pudee again
Not getting daily lovings now and then
One suitcase up, one suitcase down
And talk of someone going to town
Stay here and be with me
Stay and keep me company
Don't go off into the big grey sky
Telling me you'll see me by and by
What good is that to this lonely cat
If you go and I'm left flat
With only these pesky females and JJ
Who just want to play all day
I tell you now and I tell you true
Till you come home again I'll be blue

Long Lonely Days

The days and nights blend together as we huddle together for warmth. The Little Ones are quite grown now, and tempting to a fellow who once was frisky. I tried mounting one recently, but only to school her about taking my "Passport" outside. Pudee gave me a bit of a cold shoulder until things were satisfactorily explained.

JJ has been both frisky and queasy, missing his human more than all the rest of us put together, I think. I can understand that, as I have had to go through the same thing myself. Still, Pudee has been giving him lots of lovings, if not a lot of savory table scraps. I must say the quality of food has dropped off of late, though I know not why. We all hope things will turn around soon.

Nouna had been behaving so beautifully that Pudee got overly trusting. We had in-and-out privileges for several wonderfully sunny days after the long, cold winter grey. Then, about two days ago, Nouna made a break for it again. As soon as the courtyard door opened, she was out the door, up the trellis, and across the roof. Pudee hadn't even had time to walk away, so of course there was great consternation and a hue and cry went up. The upside of this is that a fresh can of wet food was used in an attempt to lure Nouna back down. Better yet, she declined the food and we got to eat it. The downside is that since she's returned, the skies have turned chilly and grey again, and the door has remained steadfastly shut against any further courtyard visits - for anyone. Now how is that fair?

Still, today is peaceful and quiet for the first time since that wretched Jim Dale started droning on and on nearly a month ago. I am so glad that's over... for now.

Must get back to sleeping - busy busy busy

Not So Hot

I'm not feeling so hot today
Spent most of it in bed
My nose continues to run, you see
And I have a stuffed up head

JJ's under the blanket
With his back cuddled up against mine
I've tried cuddling pudee
But that one's too busy online

What's a fellow to do
When his nose just won't stop running
And his head is pounding so hard
It sounds like somebody gunning?

Guess I'll just have to go back to bed
And hope for a better tomorrow
For today is just too cold
And clearly ripe for sorrow

nee Freedom

What's the point in having humans home
If we're still constrained as to where we can roam?
The bedrooms and hallways are all well enough
But I'm more than ready for some other stuff
Like blue skies and green grass and birds in the air
That mock from high up without a care
This is supposed to be the land of the free
But rules that bind are all I can see
Since when is surveillance the rule of the land,
Restraining wills with an invisible yet iron hand?
I thought McCarthy had long since retired
But now it seems there's an heir that he's sired
Techno lust for cool toys have brought blissless chains
Binding so many with endless refrains

A Day in Nouna's Life

I've been tracking Pudee again today,
From room to room and stove to bay.
We've had a brisk game
And time in the courtyard.
I've finally regained trust,
Though the road has been long and hard.
The sun has been shy
These past couple of weeks;
We've been trapped in this house
With only a few outside peeks.
Now it's almost time for dinner
And the feeder's nowhere in site.
Pudee had better get going
And make things right.

Inside Outside

The sun shone bright
The house was warm
How could I know
Of the coming storm?

The light gleamed bright
On my sun-warmed hide
Clearly it was a perfect day
To spend outside.

When the door opened
I scampered right out
The Gurlz were there too
Charging all about.

It took several moments
Till we noticed the cold
The concrete was freezing
For this I'm too old.

I turned right about
And returned to the house
Where the heater is warm
And I can find my toy mouse.

Jumpin' JJ

Today's the day for jumpin' JJ
Everybody join in the game and play
The Boy's just too easy skittering about
We Gurlz can corner him or shut him out
Mom leads the way with a growl and a swat
Whee! We're having fun, even if JJ's not
Oops! I think we're busted, here comes Pudee
Out of my way, better lickings for you than for me

Not on Fridays

P.U. doesn't usually blog on Fridays, I've noticed, perhaps because lucidity is not a high priority on this particular day of the week. Tonight, however, I'm determined to report that clear skies have not prevented this report from a clearly foggy place.

Dreamgirls is advertising the character of Dena, even though the storyline clearly belongs to Jennifer Hudson's Effie character.

A democratic senator from back home is purported to be advocating the institution of a mandatory draft for men and women, ages 18-26, even though his lifelong political position has been anti-war since the days of Vietnam.

President Bush seeks an extension of the clearly ineffective "No Child Left Behind" program.

Do I have my priorities confused? All I really want is a warm place in which to sleep and tasty wet food twice daily, assuming a steady supply of tasty dry food, of course. Is that so much to ask of life?

Just how befogged am I, really?

Quote of the Day

"We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true."
- Robert Wilensky

And yet we keep trying... or perhaps it's just that the above quoted wit has yet to reassemble all those random words in the correct order...

Just got done with a jigsaw puzzle, and boy, do my paws twinge. The Zillas kept trying to sample the pieces, as though they were sound bites or kibbles.

Popped up on my P.U. as usual, only to find a Zilla down below. I went catfishing with my tail, but this one's not yet claw-trained, so I abandoned P.U. to those pesky paws.

Trying to be appreciative of not living in snow country - but I do love the fog - if only it were here! Instead, the sky is deceptively brillig as the temperature drops and the forecast promises the winds will be picking up momentarily. Oh joy . . .

There are two newly dubbed computer cats stealing my thunder around here these days. They bring rain, too, every time they sneeze. Sure hope they prove to be as bad at sharing their colds as they have been at sharing everything else.

Sour grapes? I don't eat fruit; I'm strictly a carnivore, despite the rice fillers those nasty human cat can producers try to make you think. Oh, my delicate stomach...

Well, enough of this - I still don't see any great works of Shakespeare emerging from my meanderings about this keyboard. Perhaps another time...

Remember: Pause for Paws.
Meow

Full Moon

I'm a fool for a full moon
Of that I'm quite aware
That bright glowing orb in the sky
Washes away my every care
The year is young and so am I
Though the Zillas are younger still
They're not the ones who've leapt over walls
And tasted a fresh rat kill
The Boyz think they are so all that
But face it fellas: I'm the Top Cat.

Nouna

Nearly Full Moon

As the moon refills and the year turns end over end, my feline family and I wish to those of you who occasionally visit our page a new year filled with peace, contentment, satisfaction, fulfillment, and lots and lots of fish.

Max, JJ, Nouna, Comet, and Ajax

Hyber Nation

Hyber Nation
3 December 2006

The weather’s too cold for my paws to tap on these keys
There are too many felines here for my human to please
There’s never enough wet food set out in the plates
To prevent increasingly daily spates
JJ’s been ostracized by the Gurlz or on his own
Whatever the case, now he’s often alone
So how does a fellow who’s becoming skin and bones
Stay warm at night so far from the charging cell phones
The last time I saw him he’d hidden in plain sight
On top of the dryer still quaking with fright
He’s been slapped at and clawed, mounted too
He’s one Abyssinian who’s seriously blue
It’s time for us all to settle down for some deep sleep
While we wait for warmer weather, surely these arguments will keep