Clumsy Cat
Mood:  caffeinated

I don't know how cats have a reputation for being graceful.  I've seen a lot of cats in my day and yes, many of them can do some very cool things like walk on top of a fence or balance on top of a chair.  I think they stop being graceful when they become obese.

These past few days have been pretty awkward for Nina.  First she jumpedup on the kitchen table and I shooed her off.  She jumped up onto the windowsill which I had been using as a shelf and sent my PocketPC and a bunch of CD's crashing to the ground.  There was a lot of noise.

Then yesterday she somehow managed to figure out how to turn my computer off.  She was laying on my desk as usual, and I got up to go out.  When I returned she was laying across my keyboard.  I thought that was very cute.  And then a few minutes later I saw my computer rebooting.  What the hell did she do?  Did she somehow manage to push ctrl-alt-delete?

We are not setting new standards for gracefulness here. 

Bad Weather Day
Mood:  caffeinated
Today is a bad weather day in NYC.  Many businesses have closed or delayed opennings or business casual dress for the weather. Here at Sarrel Group we have a delayed openning and then business casual dress.  Sonja, who usually gets up at 8am with me and migrates onto her pillow on my desk to spend the day, is still sleeping on Grandma's chair.   Both Nina and Sonja appear to be wearing business casual.  They're certainly not dressed up.

Hillary Clinton Takes Stand Against Cats
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: The Giants Victory Parade

Hillary Clinton showed her true colors this morning.  I was shocked as she took a firm stand against cat petting.

I was laying in bed petting Nina and Sonja and the phone rang.  The voice on the other side said, "Hello, this is Hillary Clinton."  I said, "Hello, Hillary.  My name is Matt and I'd love to talk but I'm petting my cats."

And she went right on talking.  Could she have taken a clearer stance against cat petting. 

Apparently she wants me to vote.  I don't know.  I stopped listening once it became clear she was against cat petting.

Sonja was pissed off!   I had used the Sonja petting hand to pick up the phone.  She says that because of that call she is definitely voting Obama.

Cuddly Sonja
Mood:  a-ok

This morning, I woke up and there were no cats in my room.  It was a baffling situation.  Almost every day, Nina is on my bed and Sonja is on Grandma's chair which I keep next to the bed because she likes to sleep on it.

I walked out into the kitchen and they were both sleeping on their pizza boxes.  I petted them and siad, "who wants to cuddle with Daddy?" and walked back to bed.

Seconds later, Sonja jumped up on my bed and started rubbing against me.  I petted her and she purred.  Many years ago, when she was but a kitten, she was so skittish that I couldn't really pet her.  And now she comes to me and purrs.  It's been a lovely turnaround.   

Republican Vs. Democrats
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: Placido Domingo

Nina, Sonja and I were watching the New Hampshire primary results last night, hanging on the announcer's every word.  This is the greatest popularity contest in the world.  No issue is important enough to be addressed, no lie to small to tell.  No name too sullied than to be voted for simply out of recognition.

Nina and Sonja think that I'm way too jaded.  I think it's because I keep quoting Homer Simpson - "When are people going to learn?  Democracy doesn't work."

So Nina said to Sonja, " It looks like these Demo-cats are the ones to vote for, although I do like the Republi-can-of-foods."

Sonja said, "No, the Demo-cats are losers and the Republi-can-of-foods are idiots."

Nina said, "It's not that simple.  The Republi-cans-of-food want to protect everything they have, and the Demo-cats want to give away what they don't have."

I said, "Girls, stop making sense of this.  They are one and the same.  it's just a big show to make the American public think they have a say."

And then Nina, in her infinite wisdom, said, "If they are one and the same then it doesn't matter who wins.  Canned food will be plentiful for all!" 

Daddy Returns Home
Mood:  cool
Now Playing: Yo La Tengo

I went to Cancun for 9 days with Tina and we had a load of fun.  She and I think that it's a shame that we have to vacation without our pets.  It's like a vacation is great and all, but wouldn't it be better with more cuddling?

I cam home last night and Nina and Sonja wanted petting really badly.  They followed me around and rubbed up against me.  Then I got in bed and they were walking all over me and meowing.  Nina woke me up a few times during the night just to pet her.  This always happens.

This morning I was treated to double cat petting, a rare situation where Nina and Sonja allow me to pet both of them at the same time.  It's such a treat!  They were both laying next to me on the bed and purring.  I love it when that happens.

Nina's been a little oppressive today.  She rubs up against me all the time, jumps on my lap, and then walks all over my desk.  It's annoying, but I still love her. 

We're Going to Cancu!
Mood:  energetic

It's the final moments before we leave on our trip to Cancun.  As usual, Tina is late.  I don't understand why women can't do anything on time.  Is it genetic disorganization, or genetic disregard for the value of other people's time?  I have long believed that the woman who could use a clock properly could rule the world.

 Anyway, I digress.  I'm using the extra 15 minutes going on 20 to pet Nina and Sonja.  They know I'm going away.  They've seen the suitcase.  I fed them.  But now we're just having cuddle time.  I love these two little girls.  I'm petting and petting them.  Sonja's so happy she may fall over.  Nina looks a little upset.

Lately the two of them have been coming to me in bed in the morning.  Both of them at the same time.  That's a lot of cat petting.  I have a 1 snooze policy where I force myself to stop petting after the snooze alarm goes off.  I love it when I can pet them both at the same time.

Also, I got a Simpsons trivia game for xmas.  I already found a question that was wrong.  Sarah says that makes me comic book guy.  I also got Simpsons' pajamas, a Simpsons' pen that says "d'oh",and the Simpsons' movie (on the small screen) on blu-ray.  It's the year of the Simpson. 

Herding Cats
Mood:  chillin'

This morning I was herding Nina.  She jumped up on my desk and I tried to influence her to get on her pillow.  I didn't want to pick her up and put her there, nor did I want to force her or yell at her.  So I was gently prodding her and saying, "Get on your pillow."  She finally did.

And then it occured to me.  I can herd cats.  I am a magic man.

To give this a little more thought, my whole career has worked thus far because I can herd cats.  I can pull projects from the brink of disaster and they succeed.  I can get developers to work with sales people.  I can, literally, herd cats.

If that's not an accomplishment then I don't know what is. 

Mike Scumabee

Sonja saw this article this morning and called it to my attention:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071208/ap_po/huckabee_aids_5

Apparently in 1992 Mike Huckabee wrote that people who have AIDS should be isolated so they can spread the disease to decent people.  He also wrote that the government shouldn't have to pay to treat people with AIDS (presumably because those evil bastards brought it on themselves) and wealthy celebrities who care should donate money to treatment centers.

Even for 1992, this is a pitiful thing to say.  In 1992 it had already been established that saying someone should go ahead and die because they belong to a high risk group was not a particularly cool thing to say.  Demanding to cut government funding for AIDS treatment programs wasn't cool either.  It had already been demonstrated that HIV doesn't spread through casual contact.  This Huckabee guy is a turd sandwich.  Or is he the giant douche?

Are there any more ultra-right wing morons who would like to be president?

Nina thinks that it is Mike Huckabee who should be isolated. 

The Lying Mr. Bush
Mood:  mischievious

The story broke today about how our beloved leader has been lying to the country again (and again and again and again).  It seems that after all of his carrying on about Iran being a nuclear (or as Georgie says "nuculer") threat, he's known all along that they don't have nuclear capability.

Did someone say weapons of mass destruction?

Could it be that our beloved leader is going to lie and cheat his way into the next war because he and his buddies need to trade more American lives for oil money?  Please, Mr. Bush, do you really think that it is acceptable to turn the blood of American men and women into money?  And stop trying to hide behind this "I'm too stupid to know the difference between right and wrong act."  Or maybe, it isn't an act.  Maybe the reality is that you are so goddamn stupid that you've made your father look smart. 

 OMG, I just figured it out.  Young Georgie is throwing himself on the sword to make his father look better.  How could I not have seen that before?  That's the only thing that could explain how a human being could do such an abysmal job as our nation's leader.  He is doing this on purpose to elevate his father to second worst president ever.

I was thinking that the country has changed so much since I was a kid.  I remember when Reagan said that certain things weren't his fault because he didn't remember being told this or that or even signing this or that.  Now the president looks us in the face and lies outright.

In the immortal words of Homer Simpson, "When will people learn?  Democracy doesn't work?"

I don't know, maybe when Jeb becomes president after Hillary people will realize that it's all a bunch of cat crap.

I'm sorry.  Sonja has corrected me.  If it were cat crap it would be something good.