Plain View #76 - August 4, 2007

Bufe

Clerks II

Mulholland Drive

Bridge collapse - funny story

Political take on the above - corporations are the answer

Ron Paul for Pres.

Beatitudes

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You know how sometimes bands re-release an album with the same track listing save for maybe an alternate recording of a song or a bonus b-side, but really, it's just an easy way to cash in? You know all the material already and the new stuff isn't that great. Well, this is the blog version of that. I wrote this in July, and since then, Kelly has pretty much covered everything in it. What follows is only for the sake of completeness, for the reader/collector that must scavenge our work for the minutia not already in his/her collection. Enjoy.

As I write this, it is July 30. You are likely reading this sometime in August, or as I like to call it, Scabies Awareness Month (SAM for short). It has been a while since Kelly or I have written anything. In fact, I can’t remember what our last post was about. I’d look it up, except for the fact that we are currently without internet (Comcastic? – more on this in a later post).

Kelly has been in Omaha visiting her family for the last week. She had the summer off – one perk of working in schools – and with me working, it was a nice time for her to visit The Good Life. I have been working overtime, which I don’t particularly mind because I really like my job and my co-workers. While Kelly was gone I started watching The Sopranos on DVD. Livia Soprano is a riot.

This last week was a rough one for NASA, with the sabotage of the space station component at Kennedy and the drunken astronaut allegations. In the midst of all this I have heard many question the necessity of a national space organization. Let me just say this – we need NASA. By “we” I mean Kelly and I, because ultimately NASA pays for my underwear and upscale SuperCuts hairstyles, among other, less important, things.

Upcoming in the blog queue are updates regarding the following:
How I came to hate Comcast.
Why our apartment complex sucks.
Exciting lifestyle changes (not the kind that require a move to Massachusetts or San Francisco).

Pip, Pipper, Pips, The Pip. That's what we call him. And he, when not trying to kill me, is loads of fun and entertainment. This is way too much Pip loving in one post, but you can just scroll to the photos if you'd like. I have had some Pip requests lately, so I thought I'd be thorough while I'm at it.

Pip is now a year and a half old and is in what I would call his teen years. He has settled down a lot, but still knows how to be a punk and likes to lash out at his parents when he doesn't like their rules.

He is still adjusting to the new house, but probably because we haven't fully moved in yet. So he's on edge half the time, which makes for great laughs, because he's constantly hippity-hopping across the floor with an arched back and frizzed-out fur. The new house has given him a little bit more space and freedom, though. He likes all of the windows with different views. His favorites are the two front windows and the small kitchen window above the sink (I learned not to place anything in those sills when his tail knocked over some candles). He gets taunted--or asked to play?--by the next door neighbor cats, one of which walks up to the porch and sits down under the window. The two stare at each other.

Pip has always been an indoor cat, and with all the traffic on our street, we're not going to make him an outdoor cat any time soon, but he does enjoy when we take him outside on a leash. He likes to chase crickets and roll around on the ground. Since the backyard is huge, he's intimidated by a lot of it, so he tends to creep along the edges for now.

Speaking of crickets, the little man is now a big hunter, although choosy. He prefers crickets, but will also kill spiders. He toys with ants, but doesn't consider them a threat. Beetles don't taste any good, so he doesn't bother with them. Yesterday, we showed him a big roach outside, and he ran the other way. Haha.

Pip can usually be found in the hallway outside our bedroom door when I wake up. He follows me around the bathroom and perches in the office window while I do back exercises. Then he hears Ric's alarm and remembers he's hungry, and runs to find the food supplier and tell him what he thinks of an empty food dish. Then he comes back to the bathroom to watch me put on my makeup, but usually disappears. I always leave the house not quite knowing where he is. When I get home, he's right there at the front door and purring like crazy. In the evenings, he likes to play and nap. I'm trying to wean him off the night-time napping so he won't be awake when we're trying to sleep. His favorite toy is a feather on a string that I wave around on a wand, but he's particular about how it should be waved for maximum entertainment. When I go to take a shower or bath at night, he always follows me around and licks water off the side of the tub. At bedtime he leaves us alone, but usually comes in later on and hops on the bed for some relaxation. Sometimes, around 4 in the morning, he decides to play and I have to kick him out. And that's why he's usually in the hallway when I wake up. And if you can't find Pip ANYwhere around the house, just look up. He's sleeping soundly, sprawled out on top of a bookshelf. As long as he's not on my piano, I don't care.

He is a very opinionated cat, and extremely vocal. It's pretty easy to talk to him, because he responds very intuitively. He makes a "hmph" noise when he's upset, and has a whine that actually sounds like "noooooo". He likes to say hi, and will tell you when he wants something. And if you're outside and he's inside, and he can see you, he gets really upset. If you continue to stay outside, he runs from window to window for different views of you and to make sure you can hear him telling you he'd like to be out there too.

Oh, and forget discipline. He knows when he's not supposed to do certain things, but will do them anyway, even if it means getting sprayed by water or thumped on the nose. To him, the action was worth the punishment. And if you opt for the thumping, you'd best be ready for a paw to strike out at you in defiance.

Here are photos:

In our old apartment, Pip's favorite place to relax was the couch. There are dents at the top of the couch from him lying around up there all the time. I found him in a less-than-comfortable-looking position one day, but he seemed to like it.

Just looking cute.

How is this comfortable?!

The closest he gets to enjoying a bath is a light sprinkle from the faucet. He loves water, but only in tiny, tiny doses. And water in his dish is far less tasty than water from ANY other source.

Upset about all the junk sitting around during the move, refuge was taken on a bookcase laid on its side. In my opinion, this look is telling me "I am not amused."

Pip's love of heights and cool, smooth surfaces naturally results in naps on a bookshelf.

Pip just loves laying around on his back with his legs spread wide. He has absolutely no shame. It cracks me up every time.

On a sick day of mine, I put a sheet over him when he was laying on the bed with me, and we both relaxed for a while. When it was time to wake up, he sleepily reached out to say "good morning," and now I have a favorite picture of Pip.

Haven't done one of these in a while. Thanks to Anthony for sending this in. The animation itself is extremely well done.

Wow.