Tribute to Mu Shue

Our friend Mu Shue Pooh King Cat had to be helped to the Rainbow Bridge yesterday. Our hearts are hurting for his Mama Laura, her new baby twins, Mr. BG and Lilly Lu and Iris. We know how difficult this was for you, but know also that this was your final act of love for Mu Shue, a very precious and special hero kitty. Our purrs and purrayers are with you all, and we hope this poem will bring you some small comfort ....

Close your eyes now, my longtime friend,

and let this time of suffering

come to a peaceful end.

We'll walk together soon, I'm sure,

as winter turns to spring,

when snow gives way to budding leaves

and birds begin to sing.

The gentle breeze shall call your name

along the water's edge.

For what we shared and what you meant

shall never be forgot.

Your friendship spans the years behind,

your memory ahead.

You'll always be there next to me,

companion and good friend.

Tired Toesday

Rocky: I'm resting my tired toes after all that Carnival of the Cats typing last weekend. Have a great Toesday, everyone!

Rocky: Round and round it goes ... where it stops is ... right here! We're all on board to bring you the greatest traveling cat show on the face of the Earth ... ("D-i-z-z-y ... We're so dizzy our heads are spinnin' ... like a whirlpool it never ends .....")

... Carnival of the Cats #227!

* First up, some major attractions! It’s the 2nd Anniversary of Cat Synth and Weekend Cat Blogging – don’t miss the great photo of Luna from the day it all began!

* But wait! There’s more! Today is also Eric and Flynn’s 2nd Blogiversary! Go wish them a happy one … and maybe wake them up ...

* But they're not the only ones taking it easy. Over at The Scratching Post, KT Cat is showing you how to conserve energy at mealtime.

* Not into conserving energy? Then you'll love the video “Simon’s Cat – The Sequel”, now playing at StrangeRanger.

* YAY! At House of the (Mostly) Black Cats, the Hotties’ mommy is home from her road trip! She visited Finny & Buddy & Jasmine while she was gone, and stopped to drool over some Irish Bachelors. Sanjee says, "Maybe we need to take Mommy to get her ray-bees shot in case dat's what's makin her drool."

* Can't humans ever get it right? "FACE!!! Not FEETS!!!" says Blueberry over at Texas Oasis.

* The humans have it right at Mind of Mog ... Meowza is getting some copious spoiling!

* There's some serious scratching post envy going on at the House of Chaos. Zorro has claimed the new scratching post as his and his alone. HISSS! ...

* So you think you can dance? Amber and Phillip are having a hula competition at Cat Yarns. Can you guess the winner … the kitty or the woofie?

* Stop the presses! After hiding in bed for weeks after flying to Britain, Balu at Cosmos actually got up during daylight hours … and even went outside to meet a squirrel!

* More open doors! Arthur, Rosie and Kim are outside hunting mice at My Cats and Funny Stories.

* At Sisu, Tiny and Babe are outside contemplating nature, while their humans contemplate paternalism, maternalism and politics.

* Oh, bother! At Catymology, Aloysius can’t go outside because a strange human is putting up ladders and stomping all over the roof of the house ... is he tearing it down?

* More bother! Since Kismet can’t go outside, he’s declared himself the official TacJammer bug hunter.

* China Cat, also stuck indoors, is enjoying Easy Like Sunday Morning with Robby Rabbit.

* Gemini at Chey's Place finds the outside and live bugs and expending energy totally unneccesary as she lies in the sun contemplating invisible dead bugs.

* At Anniemiz, Miles is sunning, too ... creating a veritable black hole of cuteness that will suck you right in!

* Ruse at Momma Grace & Company is practicing being cute. Hmm ... looks like he’s had LOTS of practice and has cuteness down to perfection!

* Check out Boo the shoe freak at Manx Mnews. This girlcat’s really got ‘sole’!

* And check this out! Tour guide Not the Mama takes Chica & Pumuckl on another tour of Egypt, this time to the Kom-Ombo Temple. But watch out for the crocodile mummies ...

* Uh-oh. The gang at This, That & The Other Thing is on strike. Cubby, Sox & Mouse have made it clear that they don't want to provide blog fodder at their expense so they've come up with some great excuses.

* Don't miss China Cat and Willow taking it easy at Sammawow ... in the same spot, then and now!

* Ho Ho Ho! It's Christmas in July at Willow's Cat Blog!

* Oh, yay, BAGS! Sebastian at Furry Paws shows you just how much he loves bags!

* Fish food! -- It's not just for fish anymore, as Tigger shows you at Pet's Garden Blog ...

* And finally, don't miss the Doodle Pets at Life from a Cat's Perspective!

*****************

Okay, pack up the tents and lick the cotton candy off your paws ...
the Carnival is moving on ...

Don't miss next week's Carnival of the Cats
hosted by
Amar and Luna at CatSynth!

Strikebreaker

Annoying Human Voice: Rocky!! Fracas!! And all the rest of you ... WAKE UP! Your strike is over!!

Rocky: Huh? Wha? mumble mumble grumble ...

VERY Annoying Human Voice:

I SAID, WAKE UP and get back to work! You're hosting

Carnival of the Cats tomorrow, so get with it!!

{{shakes the CEO and squishes his face}}

Rocky: Oh all right already. Sheesh. I'm getting on board, so quiet down!

Rocky: Please submit your posts for Carnival of the Cats #227 (a real strikebreaker) so my crazy human will shut up and leave me alone!

Finally Friday

Rocky: I realize it's politically incorrect to disparage the handicapped, but .... my humans are INSANE!! I can't wait to tell you what they've been doing, (hint: it starts with an "R") but I've been thinking and thinking about it and my brain is simply too full of thunkenness to even go into it right now.

Instead, I've issued a corporate edict from my executive tower on the sun-splashed recliner ..."To all feline staff members: We are on strike!! To protest the humans' insanity, go to the room the humans have never finished remodeling, take up a position in the sun, and ... DO NOTHING!"

Yeah, Fracas, that's the ticket ...

Now, give it your best Finally Friday Do-Nothing Flop ... I think I'll join you in this protest ... C'mon Callie, show your stuff ...

Here we are, and here we stay, until our insane humans are normal again ... oh, wait ... they were never normal. Hmm ... this could be a very lo-o-o-ong strike.

Formerly Feral Friday

Rocky: I've come a long way, baby! I started life as a newborn feral kitty abandoned in the woods, no bigger than a mousie ... and today I'm a Cat Executive Officer!

This is me during my first week as a formerly feral ...

Here I am my second week in my furever Artsy Catsy home, already making CEO rules by staking my claim to my own place on my mom's bed where NO other kitty is allowed to sleep ...

And here I am as a teenager lying on my Grandma Em's lap, where I gave her comfort the whole time she went through cancer treatment ...

I miss my Grandma Em so much. I wish she were here to see me today ...

Purrfect Mancat Monday

Rocky: My mom got the email below today from her daughter Tiffany in Rome, Italy, who is a silly bean like her mom. It's about Fred, who is my mancat counterpart in Rome. It proves beyond all doubt that we Artsy Catsy cats come from a long line of those-who-came-before who know how to train our humans! This is Tiffany as a baby with Tapper who-came-before; Tiffany was well-trained even as a baby bean:

From Tiffany: I was sitting in front of my computer, doing the usual things that we all do in front of our computers: checking email and news, general feckless surfing, etc., when I noticed my Fred Baby sitting on a little bench (that my two babies, Fred and Holly, have taken over) beside me. He was doing his usual thing: purring loudly, and looking at me with an almost drugged-out look of adoration while reaching out towards me with his right leg.

I did my usual thing, which is to kiss him on the head, pat him lightly, affectionately on his back-end, and say silly kitty-mommy things such as, "You my tiny baby? Wud you my tiny? Wud him tiny? Him WUD my tiny baby, yes him WUD!!!! I would wuv him and wuv him, just like that! Like that and like that and like that (pat-pat-pat)!"

Then, I get my face all in his tiny kitty-baby face, and he gives me a big, sloppy-wet face-rub-lovin'! And then, I thought, Does him, my tiny widdle baby ... does him even realize how perfect him IS?? No, him doesn't. Him just, you know, being. Just existing. If only I knew how to exist like that.

So, I told him. I said, "Fred, you, my Fred Baby! You wud so perfect! Do you even realize it, how perfect you wud, my tiniest tiny baby-baby-baby pie kitty-head??" I grabbed his little perfect face and squished it with love, in the way he's used to, exclaiming all my love and amazement at his extraordinary, amazing perfection. He just kept doing his sloe-eyed adoration thing, like nothing happened, sticking his paw out and trying to rub his face on mine, trying to bite my nose, as he loves to do. He doesn't know or care about anyone seeing his total perfect perfection. That's why him purrfect.

These little idols that live in our houses, these tiny, perfect creatures ... it's amazing, isn't it, that we should be so lucky? To have these tiny and furry and warm examples of total and utter perfection, right there before us? I fall at the paws of my kitties in awe ... I love them so very much.

~~ Tiffany

P.S. from Rocky: You can read more about Fred and Holly here.

Sink Sitting Sunday

I've had enough! After my wacko human artists got the air conditioning fixed, they started wrecking my entire house just to get one room painted. They even have paint in the kitchen sink ... so I'm just going to sit in it all day to make them STOP and pay attention to me!

Did I have BBQ on this holiday weekend? NO! Did I get to go outside and watch the noise crackers? NO!! I had to stay inside and watch the human artists turn this ....

... into this ...

They keep telling me, "Look, Rocky, the new colors are Florentine Clay and Mandarin Mousse, all warm and cozy and sunny and happy ..." blah blah blah. And they're still not finished. Now they're putting crown molding on the walls. If the crown is molding, it has no business on the wall! Good grief! Throw it away! That's what I'm saying while I sit in this sink all day.

We're Ba-a-a-ck!

Rocky: Humph. I swear. Human artists are SO high maintenance. Mine have let everything in my house fall apart, thoroughly disrupting my schedule and making me miss all my friends in the Cat Blogosphere! First they let both their cars fall apart. Then they let our air conditioning fall apart until everything went kablooey and they had to borrow thousands of green papers to get it all fixed. There goes my bottom line! ... not to mention Temptations, new toys etc.

Just look at Fracas, Callie and I suffocating in the heat caused by human artist negligence: I would show you pictures of the rest of my staff, but I think they melted.

Anyway, it's SO good to be back with all my friends - I've missed you all! - and now I have to go surf the Cat Blogosphere and catch up on everyone. Oh, and I talked to Lilly Lu this morning, and her Mama Laura is having a C-section (does that mean 'catnip-section?) tomorrow at 11 a.m.! Lilly, Mu Shue and Iris are about to be big sisfurs and brofur to blurpy twins!