Fall Leaves...

Fall, leaves, fall

by Emily Bronte

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;

Lengthen night and shorten day;

Every leaf speaks bliss to me

Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snow

Blossom where the rose should grow;

I shall sing when night’s decay

Ushers in a drearier day.

Love it!

The Castle Lady 

Could You Rephrase That ?

 Try, try again...

 

The Castle Lady

Animal Olympics

      Since the first of this year I've been keeping an eye on and feeding my neighbors cats which are tiger and black tabbies, respectively. They are as typical as cats can be but upon finding some extraordinary abilities in both felines I started thinking about why we don't encourage professional sports for our pets. I know it sounds crazy but hear me out because I believe that we may need a fitness revolution for pets. It's true that cats usually are the least likely to need an exercise regimen but even they could benefit and maybe even lead the way for dogs, hamsters, snakes, mice and even birds given the right circumstances. 

    

Take Po'ele'ele for instance. Tabbies are generally known as almost a run-of-the-mill breed and yet I saw this elegant black cat leap off a table vertically at least five feet to tackle Laulau, the tiger cat, like they were playing football. It was an awesome sight. I checked both cats for injuries but apparently they were fine and I may have ruined a score or something. Po (for short) also likes to eat tremendous amounts of food but I'm certain it's to maintain that great physique. Believe me, I checked for fatness and Po is pretty fit for a cat who does not need a mouse for sustenance.

     

Laulau is just a little love mostly but she has made her physical feats as well. She can make jumping high look like a magic trick. She makes no hesitations and always lands in or on her favorite spots. She has an extraordinary ability to hit a ball strategically to land right in an appropriate spot. She'd make a great shortstop. They both try to play some very strange form of tackle basketball with a tennis ball. I'm sure I've spent more than an hour of time just watching them play this fantastic secret game which beats my snow basketball by a mile. I'm not sure what the move of hugging the ball while trying to scratch the heck out of it with their hind feet signifies but it may be some sort of a high five, look-at-me victory dance maneuver. Whatever it is I highly recommend buying your cat a tennis ball to play with because he/she could become a millionaire and lift us out of this slow economy.

     Po'ele'ele for president ! (ahem!) and Laulau as running mate !

Never stop meowing...er, that is- moving...

The Castle Lady  

How About That Grumpy Cat ?

     One of the most darling Christmas television movies I've ever seen has to be Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever. It premiered back at the beginning of this month on the Lifetime Channel and was shown quite a few times. I don't know about you but I've about had my fill of animated shows for Christmas no matter whether the message is humanist, animist, cubist, Buddhist, nonesuch or just plain old commercial. Charlie Brown keeps buying that same Christmas tree, the Grinch keeps trying to steal Christmas and gets thwarted and every year it's always Rudolph that comes through with his nose oh-so-bright.

     It was time for something new and something real. Grumpy Cat can talk so that gets the Christmas miracle out of the way but beyond the obvious this first movie is a cute romp for Grumpy and her new owner, Crystal (humanity's last hope on a dying planet according to Grumpy). Apparently, Grumpy doesn't have any church affiliation but she sure has a lot of opinions and they're about as honest as any cat can be given the circumstances which keep changing in this adventurous romp. Grumpy's talk is mostly along the lines of what Garfield would say but the viewpoint is definitely feminist. Are you surprised? Cute brunette Aubrey Plaza gets to be the voice of Grumpy and the feminine sound along with dry humor is absolutely refreshing.

     The plot ( and we're given various possible plot twists, one being incredibly short and sweet with Grumpy narrating the versions!) unravels rather slowly but once it gains momentum you really start to enjoy the cat quips from Grumpy which run throughout the two hour long show centering around a pet store in rent arrears and an animal cast of characters. The dastardly robbers aren't nefarious-looking which hooks the teenage viewing factor. If you watch every bit of this show you could wind up being young again. Ahem!

 

     Definitely check it out if it's still running on the Lifetime channel- kick back, drink some egg nog and try to bone up on all the new merchandise surrounding the Grumpy phenomenon. She's definitely irresistible and there may even be an Easter Grumpy special. Can you stand the wait ? I didn't think so. If you can take extreme cuteness, it's worth taking two hours to lounge around stretching, eating and enjoying being happy and not grumpy. Just don't fall asleep or you might miss something. Raowr !

 I wonder if Friskies would let me have Grumpy's BMW X5 since
it's been determined that she has not been properly licensed to own it ?
I can deal with the cat hair-
have dirt devil will travel, I always say !