Mancat Monday

Chairman Mao sez: Nope, you can't fold this towel, Momma. It's mine.

Antigravity Sunday

So my sister Dorydoo's thinkin' real hard, gettin' ready to test her antigravity device.

Brainball's takin' a bath...

And Marilyn's sittin' on a scratchie pad thinkin' about her mancat Mick.

All of a sudden, we hear some kinda noise from Dorydoo. It's a squeak then a whooshie noise. We Ballicai are used to the squeakin' -- Dorydoo doesn't meow, she squeaks -- but the whooshie? What was that? I ask.

C'mon, Brainball! I sez. Let's go see!

But Dorydoo's sittin' on the floor, fussin'. Confound it, she sez. My antigravity device didn't do a thing. Look at me. I'm nowhere near the moon.

But then we hear another squeakie-whooshie. Huh? sez Brainball. Where's Dorydoo going?

Oh, my goodness! sez Marilyn. Dorydoo is levitating!

And sure 'nuff, Dorydoo got up pretty high. Am I on the moon yet? she sez. Am I? Huh?

Well, it ain't exactly the moon, but her antigravity device got her as far as the stereo receiver near the ceiling, which is lots closer to the moon than the floor is. Yay, Dorydoo! If she keeps workin' on this antigravity thingie, she might achieve her dream of bein' the first kitty on the moon.

Dorydoo sez: One small step for a Ballicus, one giant step for Kittykind!

Floofy (and Other Stuff) Friday

Here's my big sister Brainball, lookin' out the window beside Daddy's computer. Isn't she a floofmonster! She's also a great Alpha cat and fearless leader, makin' sure no monsters are comin' up the driveway to eat us.




And here's my sister, Dorydoo, gettin' ready to take a nap. She's smilin' 'cause she thinks she's figured out how to make her antigravity device so she can be the first Ballicus on the moon.




Here's Marilyn MonREOW saying hi to Mickey Mantle, her handsome mancat (Mick is Jeter's bruther). She told me to post this quote for him:

"Ama me fideliter! Fidem meam noto: De corde totaliter, et ex mente tota. Sum presentialiter, absens in remota."

She sez that's Latin for "Love me faithfully! See how I am faithful: With all my heart, and all my soul. I am with you, though I am far away."


Jeezum crow, I'm glad she spelled out that Latin stuff for me.



Anyways, here's me, MaoMao, snoozin' on the kitchen windowsill. Yeah, I have to jump up on the counter to get there, but Momma doesn't mind. The only time Momma doesn't let me on the counter is when she's cookin'. Dagnabbit...

Loveydovey Girlcat Wednesday

Since my buddy Jeter Harris had Whitemancat Wednesday about his brother Mickey Mantle, I thought I'd have a Loveydovey Girlcat Wednesday about my sister, Marilyn MonREOW.

As lots of youkitties know, Mickey and Marilyn are head over heels for each other. I think they make a great couple, don't you? Here's the picture Marilyn wanted me to post for Mickey today. She calls it it her Come Hither Look. I don't know exactly what that means, but anyhow.

And if you biggify the picture, you can get a better looksee.


Here's some things you might not know about Marilyn MonREOW:

1. Well, duh, I'm sure you've guessed this one -- she was named after Marilyn Monroe.


I kinda see a resemblance, don't you? Except I don't think the bean Marilyn had one blue eye and one gold eye...

2. Marilyn showed up at Momma and Daddy's as a stray kitty outta the blue, just last year. They were taken with her sweetness and her beauty, and after they made sure she didn't have no other beans anywheres else, they brought her in and made her a housekitty.

3. Marilyn's a superduper lapcat. Momma calls her a lap fungus. She cuddles with Momma and Daddy a lot, especially with Momma 'cause Momma's a writer and spends lots of time sittin' in front of the 'puter. So Marilyn sees what Momma likes to read and write, and because of that, she's gotten really into poetry and booky stuff.

4. Marilyn's a kissyface. She loves to kissy, kissy, kissy. Beans, anyway. She mostly keeps her distance from Brainball and Dorydoo, but she likes me pretty good and we two play chase, and sometimes we even play pawsies under the doors. And I know she'd kiss Mickey Mantle. She swoons at the very idea.

5. Marilyn's half-deaf, on her blue-eyed side. That means she startles kind of easy, but other than that she isn't a high-strung kitty at all. She's laid back and easygoing.

6. Continued from #5 -- Marilyn doesn' t have a shy bone in her body, and when beans come over to visit Momma and Daddy, she's the first of us Ballicai to check 'em out. Usually she winds up rubbin' all over 'em, purrin' like a chainsaw, and wanting to cuddle in their laps.

7. Momma keeps a picture up of her and Marilyn on her writing bloggie, in the "About Me" section.

8. Marilyn loves bras. She loves to rub all over 'em and play with 'em and wrestle with 'em, and sometimes she rabbit-kicks 'em.

9. Marilyn loves all kinds of food, but she especially loves stinky goodness. Because she's half-deaf, she either doesn't talk much at all or she talks really, really LOUD. For Marilyn, there ain't no in-between. And when Momma breaks out the stinky goodness, Marilyn really, really gets to talkin'! Of course, I do, too. .. I'm a Meezer, and I talk all the time. And Dorydoo starts squeakin' (she don't meow, she squeaks), and Brainball sometimes says stuff, too. When it's Stinky Goodness Time, Momma calls us the Ballicus Tabernacle Choir.

10. Marilyn's kinda petite and curvy at the same time -- she's small-framed, has itty bitty paws, and weighs 10 pounds. She has medium-length hair -- not short hair like me and Dorydoo and not long hair like Brainball, but in-between. She loves to be brushed, which is good 'cause she sheds a LOT. And her fur's really silky. Momma calls her a Powderpuff Cottonball Cat.

11. Marilyn's an incredible jumper. She and Dorydoo are both what Momma calls Arboreal Kitties. Dorydoo's the best jumper, but Marilyn's darned close, and she can get anyplace she wants to go, like way up on top of the stereo receiver or on top of the fridge.

12. When Marilyn ain't cuddlin' in laps, she likes to snooze on soft squishy places. She especially likes clean laundry, the body pillow on the bed, or Momma's fuzzy yellow jellybean thingie she keeps in her chair.

Even if Marilyn is really, really girly, she's a superduper sister, and I'm right proud of her.

Are My Sisters Pod Kitties?

So I'm the only kitty runnin' around the house 'cause Brainball, Dorydoo, and Marilyn are nappin' on the bed, either in or around the clean laundry. And they're all sleepin' pretty much the same way!

See, here's Brainball and Dorydoo in the same position.



And here's Marilyn, sleepin' much the same way except her tongue's stickin' out.



So I start worryin' that maybe these aren't my sisters at all. Ever seen that movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, where pod people take over the world, pod people who all act the same? Well, I got to thinkin', maybe these aren't really my sisters. Maybe they're Pod Kitties.

Here I am, MaoMao, sniffin' Brainball to see whether or not she's a Pod Kitty.



And here I am sniffin' Marilyn to see whether she's a Pod Kitty.



I'm not gonna sniff Dorydoo because if she ain't a Pod Kitty, I don't want her to swat me. She doesn't like me very much.



Okay, I don't think my sisters are Pod Kitties, but I'm outta the bedroom now. I'm not takin' any chances 'til they wake up and I can see that they're normal.

Thinking Blogger Award

Wowie, my superduper friend Jeter (and maybe fyooture bruther-in-law) has awarded me the Thinking Blogger Award:


I'm excited, touched and humbled all at the same time -- aw, shucks, that was so nice, Jeter! Thankie so much. We Ballicai are happy and proud. And tell Mick that Marilyn is purring extra-loud.

So now we've gotta give the award to five blogs that make us think. That's gonna be hard 'cause everykitty we've met on the bloggiesphere has such a nice blog.

Here are the rules for the Thinking Blogger award:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think

2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme

3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

Okeydokey, here's the bloggies we're gonna give the Thinking Blogger Award to:

1. Phoebe and Monica, who blog over at Pablo Fan Club. Whee, they're such bee-yootiful girlkitties. They make me think in lots of ways 'cause when I see their pictures I think about how I could look at 'em all day. Hubba hubba. And they're furry, furry intelligent, too.

2. Everykitty and Megan over at Bad Kitty Cats. They have a great blog, and one of the Bad Kitty Cats, TeaCup, could be my twin. He's sick right now, so everybodies please go over to the Bad Kitty Cat bloggie and let him know you're purrin' for him.

3. Faz the Cat. I like Faz. She's a coolcat, furry purr-etty and furry adventurous. We Ballicai like lookin' at the pictures on her bloggie -- she has pictures of pretty places and funny things like duckies and horsies and critters we've never seen.

4. Grr, Midnight & Cocoa. They're great kitties, lots of fun, and they post cool pictures on their bloggie.

5. Zippy, Sadie and Speedy who blog at Kattonic Cats. They're warm and funny, and their posts make us think and make us smile.

And here's pictures of all us Ballicai lookin', well, thoughtful, and Marilyn MonREOW has a message after her picture for her special mancat, Mickey Mantle, who is Jeter's big bruther.

Chairman Mao: I'm thinkin' about stinky goodness, turkey flavor.

Brainball, our big Alpha Cat and Fearless Leader, who's thinkin' about when next to patrol our perimeter.

Dorydoo, my dances-on-air sister, who's workin' on inventing an anti-gravity machine

Marilyn MonREOW, who's thinkin' about, who else, Mickey Mantle, and writes to him here:

My dearest Mickey,

My dreams are all of you, and every waking moment, your handsome image is first and foremost in my mind. My heart is with yours, my darling. Here is a poem by Emily Dickinson which speaks to what I feel:

My river runs to thee.
Blue sea, wilt thou welcome me?
My river awaits reply.
Oh! sea, look graciously.

I'll fetch thee brooks
from spotted nooks.
Say, sea,
Take me!

Ever-so-purringly,

Your loving Marilyn

.
.

(Chairman Mao sez: hehehehe, I can hear my buddy Jeter sayin' "Duhr.")

The Ballicai Share Their Favorite Poems

Brainball's Favorite Poem: "The Old Issue" by Rudyard Kipling

Long-forgotten bondage, dwarfing heart and brain -—

All our fathers died to loose he shall bind again.

Here is naught at venture, random nor untrue -—
Swings the wheel full-circle, brims the cup anew.

Here is naught unproven, here is nothing hid:
Step for step and word for word —- so the old Kings did!

Step by step, and word by word: who is ruled may read.
Suffer not the old Kings: for we know the breed -—

All the right they promise -— all the wrong they bring.
Stewards of the Judgment, suffer not this King!

=-=

Dorydoo's Favorite Poem: "High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds, – and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless falls of air...
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, nor eer eagle flew –
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high, untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

=-=

Chairman Mao's Favorite Poem: from "Tale of the Man of Lawe" by Geoffrey Chaucer

Let take a cat, and foster him well with milk,

And tender flesh and make his couch of silk,
And let him see a mouse go by the wall,
Anon he waveth milk and flesh and all,
And every dainty that is in that house,
Such appetite he hath to eat a mouse.

=-=

Marilyn MonREOW's favorite poem (which she's reciting to her special mancat, Mickey Mantle): "If thou must love me" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love's sake only. Do not say
"I love her for her smile her look her way
Of speaking gently, for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and Certes brought
A sense of ease on such a day"
For these things in themselves, Beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee, and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheek dry,
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou may'st love on, through love's eternity.

Mancat Monday

Here I am, Chairman Mao, for Mancat Monday!



Singin' along with "Mannish Boy" by Muddy Waters:

I'm a man
I spell mmm, aaa child, nnn
That represents man
No B, O child, Y
That means mannish boy
I'm a man
I'm a full grown man
I'm a man
I'm a natural born lovers man
I'm a man
I'm a rollin' stone
I'm a man
I'm a hoochie coochie man.

I don't even know what "hoochie coochie man" means, but anyways.

And Marilyn MonREOW wanted me to post this picture for her mancat, Mickey Mantle. See, Mick, she's winkin' atchya!



I'm doin' some editing to add: Mickey gave Marilyn a rose yesterday. Whatta great fella.

Fuzzy Paws

Chairman Mao here. As you can see, Momma forgot to say "Stinky Goodness Turkey Flavor" when she took my picture.



Anyway, my big sister Brainball has the fuzziest paws I've ever seen on a kitty. Here's a picture, so you can see 'em too. Lookit all that floof between her toesies!



Dorydoo wanted to show off her paw, too. Hers is little, slim, and sleek. And purr-etty except for when she swats at me with it.



The only paws Marilyn MonREOW's thinkin' about are Mickey Mantle's. Here she is, blowin' him a kissie ("Mickey! Mickey! Wherefore art thou, Mickey?").



And all of us Ballicai keep purrin' and purrin' for Lilly Lu.

Pet Food Recall Expanded

Seems the pet food recall just keeps getting bigger and bigger and worser and worser. Momma posted a list of linkies on her writing bloggie, and I thought I'd copy 'em over here for y'all to use:

Itchmo. Lotsa news. You can sign up for email alerts here.

Pet Food Tracker. Another place for lotsa news.

Pet Connection. Yet another real helpful place.

A Master List of All Recalled Pet Food. This is the best, most current list Momma found.

FDA's Pet Food Recall Page. They've got a list of recalled food, too, and they tell you how to report a complaint.

The Pet Food List. This is a list of pet food not currently on recall.

And this big ol' awful mess might impact the food supply for human beans, too.

Marilyn MonREOW's Present from Mickey Mantle

My special friend, the handsome Mickey Mantle (Jeter Harris's brother), got me a present. Let's see what it is...



Oh, my stars and goodness gracious, I'm so excited that I'm beside myself.

Look at this gown... it's purr-fect! Exactly what I had in mind. When I saunter down the catwalk in this, I'm going to sparkle all over! I love to sparkle.



I can't wait to try it on! Thank you so much, my darling dear! You make me sparkle most of all. *purring and blowing kisses to Mickey*

Marilyn MonREOW's Photo Shoot

Hello everyone, and *blowing kisses* to my special friend Mickey Mantle. It's me, Marilyn MonREOW, blogging today. I'm happy to say that I was well-coiffed for my photo shoot. Here I am, posing on the window perch.



I sure hope Mickey likes my pictures *blush*.



Here's my favorite picture. Don't you think I'd look nice in a red, sparkly gown?



And here's a closeup *purrrrrr*. I think this is my best side, don't you?

Ballicus Glamour Shots

Momma's got her a new digital camera with a good zoom, and she got some great close-up pictures of us Ballicai today. She called 'em our Glamour Shots. Here's me, Chairman Mao. Mr. Blue Eyes, Momma calls me. She didn't even have to say Stinky Goodness, Turkey Flavor to get me to keep my eyes open.




And here's Marilyn MonREOW. I'd warrant she's thinkin' about Mickey Mantle. And if you look to the right of the picture, you can see one of Momma's feet: Momma took this picture of Marilyn while Marilyn was snugglin' in her lap.




Here's my big fuzzy sister Brainball, lookin', well, like a Brainball -- a fuzzball with eyes. She's layin' by Momma's bag of cough drops and a bunch of cable Daddy had out. Whatta floofmonster!




And here's Dorydoo, sittin' on the recliner, deciding where she's gonna jump next. Dorydoo always looks like that, real intense-like. She's always thinking and planning somethin'. She'd make a great rocket-building kitty or a Leonardo Da Ballicus.




And here's me and Brainball takin' a nap on the window perch together -- I found out that the best pillow in the world is her big, floofy belly.