I CAN HAS LOLCAT PLZ

It's not in the same league as this, but here's (Sylvie's and) my humble attempt at a meme.

Heat is neat

Back to your regularly scheduled blogging soon, but to hold you over until I get it together and write some actual content, I present you with this:

These blissed out meerkats have their own private heatlamp at the San Diego Zoo.



Do they remind you a certain small brown cat?



I thought so.

In which I explain why I have posted so infrequently of late

Mr. Elinoire and I are leaving for our belated honeymoon in just a few days. We're visiting friends in NYC, France, Switzerland, and then having a few days on our own in Belgium and Paris. I haven't taken a trip this complicated in several years and the logistics have been intense and complicated. (Not horribly so, but quite distracting.) So... not much posting, and for that I apologize.

Today I began packing by placing my suitcase on the table and putting things from my "take me" list into them. Naturally, any open container must be investigated.



Here, Sylvie joins the investigative team while Mirabelle checks to see if I've accidentally stowed any finches or lizards behind the suitcases. Hey, you never know, and wouldn't she feel silly if she'd missed the opportunity?



I'm going to be really embarrassed if I say I have nothing to declare and then it turns out that I'm transporting a cat across an international border. Note to self: make sure both cats are occupied elsewhere ("look girls, a skunk!") when I zipper it shut.

Entry the fifty-fifth: In which Sylvie has strong opinions

Sometimes Sylvie gets to go outside to sniff the world. I'd say "go outside for a walk" or "go outside and look around," but really, what she's doing is sniffing everything she can. See?



The first couple times she went outdoors, she was pretty skittish. That is no longer the case. Now she pulls me all over the place, complains when I pick her up to bring her back in, and then YOWLS AT THE DOOR FOR THE NEXT HOUR.



I'm so excited that Sylvie is embracing the vocal aspect of her Bermese heritage. :-|



We may have to have a moratorium on these little excursions for a while.

Mixed Media with Catfood and Tinsel

Sylvie is an artist. She usually expresses herself via installation pieces such as this.



Exhibited are a number of Sylvie's "sparkle balls" carefully arranged in her dry food bowl. This picture was taken last February, but it's just one in a continuing series. Here is another, dated a few months later. Note the playful arrangement of sparkle balls both in and outside of the food dish.



Sparkle balls (pom poms plus some mylar tinsel) are Sylvie's favorite toys. Period. She plays soccer with them on her own or brings them to us to throw and then she chases them down brings them back. I have woken up several times to find a sparkle ball in the bed or my hand. I'm sure it's very frustrating to Sylvie when I don't get the hint and play with her. You know, because I'm asleep and all. I have no idea why she leaves them in her food dish.

Sometimes she goes through a deconstructionist phase and then we see pieces like this.



Finally, Sylvie's tribute to the Dada movement.

Entry the thirty-third: Snags

On an almost daily basis, Sylvie attempts to perch on the towel bar on the back of the bathroom door. She is rarely successful, but she keeps making the attempt. Maybe it's that variable reinforcement thing. Every once in a great while we get this:



And there is much rejoicing.

Nine times out of ten, however, we get a small brown cat hanging from the towel like a monkey. Admittedly, it's amusing... but this is the unfortunate result:



Snags. Snags in EVERY SINGLE TOWEL we own. My sister's boyfriend stayed with us for one night last month and I had to empty the linen cupboard before I found the last untouched-by-paws-and-claws towel cowering in the back. And Sylvie? Unrepentant. Even when I tell her This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things.

It's like she doesn't understand a word I'm saying. Or perhaps understands one or two of them, but can tell from my tone I'm not conveying any information she would find interesting.