Long time, no see

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I wanted to, but my person and TGWWGA didn't do anything interesting in, like, forever. Srsly! All my person did was sit at her desk and work. I did get to sleep on some of her students' essays which is exciting for me but probably not exciting for you all to read about. I'm not sure what TGWWGA did because I didn't really pay attention but it probably involved more of his dorky hobbies or something.

Anyway, since my person has finally gotten done with school, lots of stuff has been happening. Like her getting another job (with essays to sleep on!), her friend coming to visit, and everyone going sightseeing. I know, I know. They've been here for a year and they're finally exploring. *rolls eyes* At least you don't have to live with them.

There should be lots of updates with pictures and stuff soon. I think Spanky is even going to talk about news that's important to cats. Sounds pretty boring to me, but maybe if he tells you guys he won't tell me.

Joshua Tree

My feline companions and I originally wrote this article for publication in an online newsletter. The plan was to wait until it had been published there before posting it here as there is some overlap in the readership. Unfortunatly, the publication date of the article is now uncertain so we have decided to post it here.

Joshua Tree National Park

Spanky: As it is my understanding that our previous article about a national park was well received by our readers, my fellow felines and I have decided to write another installment.

Edmund: What did he say?

Dante: He said that people liked our article.

Edmund: They did?!? Yay! *frolics*

Spanky: Ahem. As I was saying, for this article we’ve decided to write about a park near our new home. I am, of course, referring to Joshua Tree National Park located in Southern California.

Edmund: Except there weren’t any trees there! Why is it called Joshua Tree National Park if there aren’t any trees?

Spanky: Excellent question, my young friend. Allow me to explain. The Joshua Tree is a giant member of the lily family more commonly known as a yucca. As you can see from the picture, it resembles a kind of spindly cactus. Mormon settlers named the tree after the prophet Joshua because its limbs seem to reach upward in prayer.

Edmund: So, not a tree?

Dante: Nope. More like a spiky plant thing.

Spanky: The park contains portions of two deserts—the Sonoran and the Mojave—as well as The Little San Bernardino Mountains.

Dante: Only humans would think it was a good idea to go walk around some place with no water and that’s covered with plants that grow their own weapons.

Spanky: As we’ve discussed before, such trips hold much educational value.

Dante: Right. Value.

Spanky: Moving on. The park also contains numerous rock outcroppings that appear to have been piled up by absent-minded giants.

Edmund: There are giants in Southern California?!

Spanky: No, my dear boy. I was speaking metaphorically.

Dante: He doesn’t know what a metaphor is.

Edmund: Is it cat food?

Spanky: No, it’s not cat food. It’s just a…. never mind what it is. There aren’t any giants in Southern California or anywhere else.

Edmund: Yay! *frolics*

Spanky: The rock formations were created by the weathering of large deposits of metamorphic rock, granite and gneiss (pronounced “nice”) to be precise. This process is still ongoing as water works it way into minute fractures in the outcroppings slowly eroding its surroundings.

Edmund: You’re sure they’re not giants’ toys?

Spanky: Completely certain.

Dante: If you are not crazy enough to want to go walk around in a desert, here is a link to the park’s website.

Spanky: How considerate of you, Dante.

Dante: Whatever.

Spanky: Humph! When I was a kitten, I was expected to thank people when they complimented me.

Edmund: Guys! She said she won’t let us do this again if you two fight!

Spanky: Very well, then. I hope everyone has enjoyed learning about Joshua Tree National Park. We look forward to presenting for you all again.

The Return of the Dorky King

I know I blog about my people's dorkiness a lot, but that's because they keep doing dorky stuff! This is a picture of Edmund with TGWWGA's World of Warcraft character as an action figure. Apparently my person's family bought this for him as a gift! Why?!?! Does he really need to be anymore dorky? *sighs* Anyway, he was ridiculously excited about it. It's kind of cool. I guess. In a totally-still-dorky way.

My person isn't any better. Remember how relieved I was when she dropped that speculative fiction class? Well, now she's gone and enrolled in an actual science-fiction class. This is not an improvement. Not only is she reading SF novels, she's reading what other people have written about SF and going to optional lectures at school about SF. I don't know which is worse: the SF part or the optional school part. This is worse when they stayed inside and watched Battlestar Galactica. It's like all of her dork hobbies are feeding off each other or something.

I think I'm going to go take a nice long nap. Maybe things will be better when I wake up.

I Am All Worn Out

Oh wow! It's been awhile since I posted We've been super-busy the last few weeks. First, Mommy had to finish her classes for the quarter. There were books and papers everywhere! My favorite thing to do is sleep on student essays. Mommy is trying to teach me to sleep on only the good essays to make her grading go faster. But if it goes faster, what will I sleep on?

While I was helping Mommy hold down her books, the Monster's dad came to visit us. Two monsters! At the same time! O.o I hid under the bed. The only time I got to eat any dinner was when they all went out. Lucky for me, they went to lots of different places. I think they told Spanky about what they did but I'm not sure because I was back underneath the bed. The Monster's Dad tried to get me to come out so he could scratch my ears, but I was too smart to fall for that. Sneaky Monster's Dad....

After the Monster's Dad left, I spent lots of time following Mommy around and frolicking. Then her new quarter started and another, more different Monster came to stay with us. Dante checked him out and said that the new Monster is thinking about coming to school here and needed a place to stay while he looked at Mommy's school. Since this was only a temporary Monster, I decided I should be brave and go investigate him. First, I stood in the doorway (so I could run away quickly). Then, I stood next to the door. Then, I ran back and stood in the doorway again. Then, I hid behind Mommy. Then I stood under the desk. I had almost reached the new Monster when I remembered that Monsters are tricky! So I ran and hid under the bed. But I was still a very brave kitty!

Also, we have ants. I think they're fun to watch but Mommy does seem to be having as much fun as me. :/

O Happy Day!

The Monster won't be home everyday anymore because he got a job! I have been frolicking all over the house since I heard the news. Now it will just me and Mommy and Dante (and Spanky) here during the day. Except for when Mommy has to go to school than it will just be us kitties.... :(

But no Monster! :D

Mommy says that the Monster is going to be working with people who have special needs. I didn't know they needed Monsters for that type of thing. What do you think he does? Maybe he scares away other monsters? He got the job offer a few days ago but he had to pass a TB test and a background test for it to be official. I'm not sure what those tests do but they must not test for monsterness because he passed.

Mommy is almost done with her quarter and then the Monster's dad is going to visit us. Monsters have dads?!?!

Sigh

I was hoping that my person had gotten a little less dorky cause she told me that she had decided not to take the sci-fi class and take a class about a writer named James Joyce. I wasn't sure that was much of an improvement but apparently the book she's reading for it was inspired by a really awesome party. So awesome, it woke the dead! I'm hoping that if she reads about parties, she'll finally let me throw one.

I think it's going to take more than a book about a party to help her, though. She and TGWWGA have spent every Friday night glued to the television watching Battlestar Galactica. That's right. They are staying in on a Friday night to watch a show that has spaceships AND robots. *rolls eyes* As if that wasn't bad enough, TGWWGA is getting dorkier too! I didn't think that was even possible but he spent all of Valentine's Day weekend at some sort of gaming convention. There are apparently lots of humans who like to spend their time making armies out of little plastic figures so that they can go "fight" other people's plastic armies. When TGWWGA won all his games, do you know what they did? They didn't tell him to get a life or a less dorky hobby. Oh no. They rewarded him! They gave him a certificate that said he was the best general and they gave him prizes! Gagh! What is wrong with these people?!?!

There's just no hope for them, is there?

Happy Birthday to Me!

February 10th was my birthday! I am now 4 years old! That makes me a big kitty! Mommy says it was also the Monster's birthday so I had to share my cake with him. I didn't know Monster's ate cake....

I got a new toy for my birthday and Dante and I had lots of fun playing with it on the stairs. We tried to get Mommy to play with us but she said something about not tripping people at the top of the stairs. The Monster is also getting a toy from Mommy and the Two Nice Ladies Who Scratch My Ears. I asked Spanky what kind of toy and he said it was a model of the Monster's World of Warcraft character. When I asked Spanky what a "World of Warcraft" was he just rolled his eyes and said it was "the time sink of the gods."

Cake and toys! Next the Monster will want some of my food! O.o

Do you think I could play with the Monster's toy when he's not looking?