it's been a busy fall

Cuddling with your new kitten just takes up a lot of time, guys!

i'll be watching you

I just came across my favorite picture from Turkey and I hadn't posted it yet, so here it is, a picture of my two favorite things:

This photo actually sums up my feelings on the cat situation in Turkey: always watching, never welcome.

i can never win

A couple weekends ago we chaperoned a Halloween-themed stake dance and dressed up with our friends as LOLcats:

I actually spent a lot of time coming up with stupid phrases for our captions and we all got a good laugh out of how funny they were. Or so we thought, because it turns out LOLcats jumped the shark in 2007 when I was busy making my own captioned LOLcats with our cat Lucille because no one knew who we were at the stake dance. Some cute teenagers came up to us and said, "Excuse me, we've been trying to figure out what you are dressed up as, but it looks like it's supposed to be funny." (This actually happened three or four times.) Sigh. Also, I think that a few of the teenagers didn't know we were chaperones because our ward's chaperones were the only ones busting a move on the dance floor, so that made for some funny/awkward moments during the slow dances. Which makes me think, we should just host our own ward dances because I was having a good, sweaty time.

ANYWAY.

So after that, I told Robbie that we HAD to dress up as something recognizable so Robbie came up with this idea for our friends' Halloween party and NO ONE KNEW WHO WE WERE:

Anyone? Please don't say a butcher and a cow. For the sake of my degree in American studies, and my useless class on American folklore. You can't see my all-blue ensemble (HINT) or cowbell in the picture so maybe that doesn't help. I guess nothing can beat the year we dressed up as Elliot and Michael from E.T....though no one knew who we were then either?

Happy Halloween!

(And thanks for your messages, etc. during the storm. We emerged unscathed!)

when you have to be in the office on a beautiful saturday, i highly recommend the kitten cam

It couldn't hurt.

there was a dog at work last week

Last week the director of our office was dog-sitting for someone who works in the accessibility office at the Smithsonian. Steeler (the dog) used to be the service dog for someone in the office until he retired, but everyone in the office liked him so much that someone else in the office adopted him. And even though he has retired, he still comes to the office every day and continues to wear his service vest. This kills me. Steeler is like 11 years old, and he still gets dressed up for work! He is super obedient and gentle and will lay down on you if you are sitting on the floor and lick your knees if you are wearing a skirt (not that I know this from experience). He also has other special skills, like using his museum voice. Seriously—if you ask him to use his museum voice, he will bark very, very softly.

He tired of doing tricks very quickly though, and mostly spent the day sleeping next to or under my coworker Meg's desk:

Steeler left yesterday morning and it was a sad way to start the week. Now I am trying to figure out how we can make a good case for having an office dog.

an island in the sun

Ko Phi Phi—sigh.

This part of the trip is what I was looking forward to the most in our trip planning. Ko Phi Phi is the name of a group of islands off Thailand's Andaman coast. We stayed in the village Ton Sai on Phi Phi Don, which is Party City USA. Well, more like Party City Anywhere But The USA, because we were probably the only Americans there (lots of Swedes, Germans... the usual world travelers [AMERICANS NEED TO GET OUT MORE]). Apparently, during the rebuilding efforts after the 2004 earthquake/tsunami, lots of unregulated hotels, restaurants, and other touristy places have popped up on the island so it's a bit crazy in the peak travel season. We were a little nervous because our hotel booking on the more peaceful Long Beach was mysteriously canceled the night before we took our ferry to the island, but we ended up getting a nice, quiet hotel a little inland in Ton Sai and all was well.

Highlights of this segment included spending the day at Long Beach and concluding our sunbathing session with a Thai massage on the beach, THE BEST PAD THAI that I have ever had (at a restaurant called Papaya—for like two bucks!), mangy cats galore (except for the fat, clean ones at Papaya—they must be happy because they get to sleep in the fridge), and general laziness. Since we were still pretty jet-lagged at this point, we'd wake up at 5 am, watch whatever movies were on TV (there were like eight channels—two dedicated to American movies, and the rest dedicated to soccer), have a huge leisurely breakfast at the hotel, and then spend the rest of the day at the beach. Pretty much my ideal day.

Oh, another highlight that truly wasn't meant to be one—fire dancing is apparently a big thing on Thailand's islands? And when you hear that, is your mental image of traditional dancing you might see at the Polynesian Cultural Center? Or is it of a guy dancing to "Smooth Criminal" and lighting a spectator's cigarette with his spinning balls of flames? (Guess which one we saw.)

Obsessed

The weather was so nice this Friday. I pretended it wasn't February, and that it would last. (It didn't. It snowed last night.) Julie and I biked over to Lincoln Park on Friday evening and enjoyed the fading sunlight and the babies and the dogs. If you are interested in having a baby or getting a dog, Lincoln Park is the place to be. We saw so many cute kids and awesome dogs that it made my heart hurt, and I'm not really a dog person. There were little groups of tiny dogs all playing with each other, and then a group of big dogs playing with each other. Really funny.

My personal favorite and current obsession are Weimaraners. There were a couple of them at the park and they are so pretty and tall. So we went home and laughed over YouTube videos of William Wegman's dogs.

Maybe one day (when I have a house and a yard and lots of free time) I'll have a Weimaraner. But they are needy and potentially not cat-friendly and that is kind of a deal-breaker for me. I'll just watch videos of them for the time being.

A weekend of firsts

-First time I hit a squirrel while riding my bike. I KNOW. It was terrifying. I didn't really see the aftermath because all I saw was a flash of brown and feel something bounce off my front wheel. I still have nightmares about it.

-First time eating a half smoke AND chili cheese fries from Ben's Chili Bowl and not getting sick. In fact, I felt pretty good at the end.

-First time spending all day at museums. Seriously. 10-5. I guess I've done that in a work situation but I'd rather not be a visitor for that long.

-First time at the Crime and Punishment Museum, aka Creepy Disneyland, aka I STILL HAVE NIGHTMARES ABOUT IT. What I saw cannot be unseen. Photos of axe-murder victims and John Wayne Gacy's clown art? No thanks.

-First time rearranging our bedroom (in this house, at least). The feng shui is so much better now.


All in all, quite a success. Except for the creepy museum and the squirrel incident. How was your weekend?

Young professional kitteh is not amused.

This has pretty much been my face at work for the past week. I am ready for the weekend.

(image via)

Happy Presidents' Day

Appropriate. The forecast for today says "snow," and this is the President's dog.

(via)

Cosmo

I was sorting through some pictures that I scanned when I was at my parents' house a few months ago. Here is our cat Cosmo, who I liked to wrap up and pretend that he was a baby. I can't believe how cooperative he was (most of the time). He's now been gone more years than we actually had him but I still tear up a little thinking about him. Also, I have a framed picture of him as a kitten on my dresser. Don't judge me.

The age of aquarium

Aquarium of the Pacific on the sunny Saturday before we left California. Aquariums are cool. But stinky.

When cats sit like humans

Sometimes I consider unsubscribing from Best Week Ever just because I don't need to know the lifestyles of the rich and famous, or the poor and not so famous. But then I find gems like this and I'm like, keep it coming, VH1.

(This was such a Karl post. I miss you, man.)

Still Considering Cats?

Okay, okay. I should NOT be blogging right now. I have three looming deadlines and I have been busy at work for the past couple of days (but only one day left, and then a NEW job on Monday... it's a long story, we'll talk later) and all I've been doing lately is reading about this lady and this lady and I think Robbie and I looked at each other this evening for the first time in a while (okay exaggeration but I just feel guilty being on the computer when we are both home at the same time) but he's not here right now so I need to share this with you.

Breathe.

Okay. So, if you made it past that run-on sentence, Robbie just got an email from a guy we bought stuff from on Craigslist. And he had cats, and we were like "oh, we love cats, we want to get one some day," and I think I can safely say that he won't find my blog so here is part of the email he sent:

Hi again,

I know this is really random... but when we were chatting during the table and chair set sale, you guys had mentioned that you were thinking about getting cats. If you still are thinking about it, please read the rest of this email. If this is too weird, then sorry to bother you.

If you chose to read on,

I am moving in the very near future and... my two cats whom you guys briefly met/saw are not moving with me. I've been trying to find a good home for them, but without much success (most of my friends already have cats and/or dogs). I know it's a longshot, but I recall you two talking about possibly adopting. You guys seemed both friendly and responsible, and I wouldn't be worried about the cats being cared for in your home.

My cats, Cloak and Dagger, are about 2.5 years old, neutered, and brothers. They're old enough that they eat regular cat food, exclusively use the litter box, and don't get into everything in sight. They're young enough that they're still full of energy and very playful. They're in excellent health and are current on all their vaccinations (I'm taking them to the vet later this week or next for this year's shots). I will mention that they are NOT declawed.

As I said, you guys seemed like you'd provide a caring home, so if you were to take them in, I would include all the toys and food and such (including my "litter robot", which makes dealing with litter SO much easier) that I have.

So that's my pitch... Sorry this is completely out of nowhere. I'm sure this is contrary to craigslist etiquette, but I'm exploring all options for the cats now.

A big part of me feels bad for this (awkward) guy, because I know what it is like to try and find a good home for your furry friends (I miss you Lucille Bluth), but I also like to revisit this email from time to time to imagine calling "Cloak! Dagger!" to a couple of cats or to try and imagine what a "litter robot" looks like or how it works.

That's all for now. Unless you are wanting a couple of cats. I can recommend a guy.

Impressed

Have I mentioned that it has been raining almost non-stop since Monday? I really enjoy the rain, but rain in Paris is so darn cold.

Anyway, the rain has put a damper on a lot of this week's plans, but we still got some stuff done: visited the Louvre again, hung out with our friends Chris and Brittney, and ate a lot of ice cream. (I don't mess around.) Sunday was free museum day (it happens the first Sunday of every month, which is a great coincidence with it being Fast Sunday as well [not]) and we went to the musée d'Orsay. It houses a lot of famous impressionist works, and even though we only got to see one floor of paintings, we liked what we saw. Here are the highlights.

The museum was converted from a train station.

The name of the artist escapes me, but I really liked this depiction of Christ.

Van Gogh.

Monet.

Renoir.

Degas.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I love Degas' ballerinas.

Another picture of women doing hair. Interesting.

Our goal for our next visit is to find all of the pictures of cats accompanying people at the dinner table. There were more than just these two.

The end.

Must love dogs

I got really lucky when I met Robbie because he is as much of an animal lover as I am. Okay, so he doesn't have a sidebar dedicated to LOLcat jokes, but he does love them. And as I briefly mentioned before, Paris has made us want a dog So Bad. It's going to be a while before we get one because 1) we don't have the time, 2) we don't have the money, and 3) we don't have the space. But mark my words. We will get our dog. (And, of course, our cat.)

My problem is that I would like to rescue a dog because 1) duh and 2) probably fewer health problems. (Kate can probably verify this, but it seems logical to me since a rescued dog probably isn't inbred a million times?) But if I rescue a dog, I probably won't get my dream dog: the French bulldog.


Thanks to a sighting of a beautiful and well-behaved Frenchie sitting in the doorway of our favorite patisserie waiting for its owner to finish her purchase, I am addicted to the idea of owning a bulldog. I need this dog. This dog is high maintenance. Apparently it gets hot really quickly and usually delivers pups via C-section. (Thank you, Wikipedia. Hours of mindless entertainment can be devoted to looking up dog breeds.)

BUT LOOK AT THAT SMILE!!!

Come away with me, Lucille, in my merry Oldsmobile

Lately I have been thinking a lot about me and Mel's dear kitteh, Lucille Bluth. Lucille was awesome because even cat-haters liked her. She was also very well-behaved and loved taking showers.

Remember when she was just a baby?


And then she grew up?


I miss her.


Now she is living in Seattle with my friend Megan. Bless you Megan, for giving her a home and all of her needed shots.