Wet Cat Lunch
Posted by miri On 4 January, 2006
This is how my lunch hour went today: left work and drove home. Made sandwich and got a soda. Went into computer room and catch up on email and forum posts. Hear a noise in the kitchen: Mishka must be scooting the dishes around in the sink. I go in there and he’s half in the sink – just looking at me. I grab him, turn on the water and get him good and wet. He jumps down and runs away. I go back to the computer room. About 10 minutes later, I hear him rummaging in the sink again. I go back in there. Again, he just looks at me as I approach. I grab him, turn the water on, turn the sprayer on and soak him from head to toe. Can you guess what noise I heard about 20 minutes later? And what noise I’ve been hearing ever since I got home from work tonight?
Happy New Year
Posted by miri On 1 January, 2006
Another year bites the dust. How did I celebrate? Setting up a new stereo and listening to CDs. Woohoo!
Random link of the day: Cute series of photos of very a determined snail.
Spot the kittie!
Posted by miri On 30 December, 2005
I had my house cleaned today – a little luxury to help me start off the year right. The lady who cleaned piled all the pillows on my bed. Even the pillows that I’d meant to throw out ages ago because they don’t go with the newish bedspread. This seems to have upset Freya’s day as she often sleeps at the top of my unmade bed. She had a bit of a problem finding a place to curl up.
37th Street Christmas Lights
Posted by miri On 30 December, 2005
For years, the lights on 37th Street in Austin have been legendary. I’ve visited many times. I heard on the news last night that the fellow who started them is moving out of town and that this would be his last Christmas on 37th Street. So, I paid them a last visit.
Baby Hippo Love
Posted by miri On 28 December, 2005
A picture and story that might rival the baby panda for cuteness. Might.
As soon as he was placed in his enclosure, the orphaned youngster immediately ran to the giant tortoise also housed in that space. The tortoise, named Mzee (Swahili for “old man”) and estimated to be between 100 and 130 years old, was not immediately taken with the brash newcomer — he turned and hissed, forcing the hippo to back away. Yet Owen persisted in following the tortoise around the park (and even into a pool), and within days the pair had forged a friendship, eating and sleeping together. Owen has even been seen to lick the tortoise, whom he regards as his new mother. (Wildlife workers speculated that Owen may have been attracted to Mzee as a parental figure because the tortoise’s shape and color are similar to those of an adult hippopotamus.)
Oh, who am I kidding. Tai Shan and his little tub is the cutest ever. He even looks darn cute (and quite sure of said cuteness) when mom is grooming him.
CNN Year in Review
Posted by miri On 26 December, 2005
This little gem has now produced one of my favorite CNN caption/crawl quotes ever:
Some analysts say it’s been a rough year for Pres. Bush.
Ya think? Do you have to be an “analyst” to figure that out?
Happy Stinky Christmas
Posted by miri On 25 December, 2005
So, it’s Christmas eve, I’ve come back from opening presents at my mom’s, I just finished the ridiculously difficult puzzle my aunt gave me for Christmas, and I’m relaxing, watching TiVo and eating Christmas cookies. What’s that smell? Oh my god; that smells awful. Mishka! Get your tail out of the candle! Yep. Smart kittie that he is, he’d managed to set himself on fire and not even realize it. I had to grab his tail out of the fire and smother the flames. (Okay, so “flames” is a bit dramatic – it was more like smothering the smoking fur.) My whole house smells of burnt cat fur (a truly lovely holiday scent) and he’s leaving little charred pieces of hair everywhere he goes. *sigh*
Tai Shan goes outside
Posted by miri On 23 December, 2005
Eeeee! I love the first bit. Mom goes strolling by – ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump. And then comes junior – plinkity, plinkity, plinkity – with a wonderful little bounce in his step
Baby Penguin Is Stolen From Zoo
Posted by miri On 20 December, 2005
Just how sick do you have to be to want to nab a baby penguin from a zoo?
Zoo manager Kath Bright said the bird, who was taken from a compound where he lived with his parents and four other penguins, would probably die of malnutrition if not urgently returned.
“Toga is very, very vulnerable. The penguin is still being fed by his parents and we don’t believe it could survive more than five days,” she told The Associated Press.
A Christmas New York
Posted by miri On 18 December, 2005
I just got back from yet another trip to NY to watch yet another finale of The Amazing Race. I also spent some time wondering around Central Park and going to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.