Vote: Does Belle need a friend?

This is Belle with another one of her friends, Cecil. Cecil is a plastic owl. In a former life, he was used as a piggy bank (or more correctly, an owl bank), but these days he enjoys a life of leisure, sitting by the window with Belle and taking in the scenery. Cecil is a perfectly nice owl, but he is not overly ambitious. I get the impression that he would very much be content to spend the rest of his retirement perched on a windowsill, not doing much of anything. "To each his own", that's what Belle always says about Cecil.

Lately Andrea has been saying that Belle should have a friend. And not a plastic owl or a stuffed elephant, but a real honest to goodness kitty friend. This sounds like a good idea, in theory. The problem is that Belle has only ever met a handful of other kitties since we've known her, and none of those meeting have gone very swimmingly. In fact, Belle is typically rather rude around other kitties. She usually ends up hissing at them, and sometimes taking a swipe at them with her little paw. Not very nice, Belle!

Andrea seems to think that eventually Belle would come around to another kitty, at least to the point where she would not hiss at it whenever she saw it. I am not entirely sure if she is correct in this matter, but I would hope that Belle would get tired of hissing eventually.

And then there is the question of whether Belle would actually enjoy another kitties company, after she got used to it. Would they play parcheesi together? Would they cuddle together and provide me with super cute photo ops? Or would Belle still prefer the company of Cecil the plastic owl to that of the new kitty in town? It's a tough call! Loyal audience, what do you think?! Should Belle get a new kitty friend, or is she better off with her owl and elephant?

Chair Shot

Today Belle took a look at her blog and noticed that the number of entries per month has been on the decline ever since her blog was established nearly four months ago. There were 13 entries in March, 12 in April, 10 in May, and 9 in June. Belle says that this trend is "quite disturbing", and that "actions must be taken at once to stem the tide", whatever that means.

And so, Belle has developed a plan to increase the number of entries posted to her blog. She has promised to provide me with a "treat" for each entry that I write. I am not sure what she has in mind for my "treats", since she has refused to tell me. She thinks I will work harder for the treats if she leaves them to my imagination. All I can say is that if my treat involves Friskies, I will not be happy.

In other news, Belle posed on top of our lounging chair for the better part of last week, only taking breaks for food and sleep. Belle knows a good photo-op when she sees it, and she doesn't stop posing until we give in and take a picture of her. In this case, Belle decided that she wanted a photo shoot on our lounging chair, but Andrea and I refused to give in. For day after day we did not take Belle's picture on the chair, but finally, in a moment of weakness, I pulled out my camera and snapped the photo you see here. It is very hard to resist photographing Belle.

Hollywood Calling

Belle wants to let everyone know that she is going to be a movie star. Her first (as yet untitled) movie is currently in production. Andrea is the writer, director, and producer, as well as one of the voice actors. I am going to lend my voice to the production as well. Andrea has assured me that I will be paid "handsomely", but every time I ask her to translate "handsomely" into a dollar amount, she has to go check the laundry.

The plot of the movie centers around Belle being accused of murder (gasp!), obviously a crime that she did not commit. Or did she? It is going to be a suspense thriller type of movie, very dramatic. Belle wanted to star in a romance comedy for her first picture, but we convinced her that a thriller is the way to go.

Belle has made a number of demands now that she is a star. First, she refuses to do any nude scenes, which I think is a reasonable demand. Second, she gets her own trailer for shooting days. And third, she refuses to do any of her own stunts. This means we are going to need to procure a stunt kitty. Hopefully we can find one that doesn't belong to the union -- the stunt cat union is no fun to negotiate with, I can tell you first hand!

You can be rest assured that once Belle's first movie is complete, it will be posted on this very web site, the humble blog that gave Belle her start. Belle also insists that the movie will be available on YouTube and iTunes, for those of you prone to using those technologies.

Don't Fall Off, Belle!

This is a picture of Belle lying on top of the Empire State Building. No, I'm just kidding. It is actually a picture of Belle lying on top of her cat pedestal. As you can see from the photo, the cat pedestal is not quite big enough for Belle -- she can't lie down on it without some part of her body hanging off of the edge, in this case her head.

Despite the size issue, Belle sure does love her cat pedestal. In fact, she thinks that all kitties should have their very own cat pedestal. She feels so strongly about this matter, in fact, that she has started her very own charitable organization called 'Cat Pedestals for the Kitties of America', or the CPKA. She is now accepting donations. Please send your cash, checks and money orders to:
Cat Pedestals for the Kitties of America
c/o Belle Poley-Briggs
121 Kitty Way
Troy, NY 12180

Like all good charities, the CPKA will confer titles to its donors depending on the level of their donation. The titles that Belle has decided upon are as follows:
$25 donation: 'Kitty Acquaintance'
$50 donation: 'Kitty Friend'
$100 donation: 'Kitty Supporter'
$250 donation: 'Kitty Patron'
$500 donation: 'Kitty Benefactor'
$1000 donation: 'Kitty Champion'

I don't know about you folks, but I can't wait to get my 'Kitty Champion' certificate! Belle tells me it will be well worth the thousand bucks.

What do you think? 1 of 100

This is Belle's redo picture for her book jacket. I think she looks authoritative, austere, and slightly condescending. Belle says she was going more for benevolent and approachable, with a dash of rakishness.

Jeff's just happy she doesn't have that booger on her nose anymore.

I think we're all so tired of the professional photographer lights cluttering up the apartment and the grueling 10 hour shoots, that we'll probably go with this pic.

But this is the part where I ask the studio audience their opinion in a new segment called: What do you think?

Do you have any opinion on Belle's expression, choice of angle, or ratio of grey to white fur? (she always says she tries for 50/50 in photos. 'Separate but equal.')

If you do have a comment, please submit it care of: 

Double Dare

PO Box 593819

Hollywood, CA

Stay tuned for the next installment of What do you think? Where we will be discussing Belle's new book title. Hey, anything is better than 9 Lives, The Tail of Kitty. What was she thinking?

The Best $2,000 We Ever Spent

Belle was not a cheap kitty. Despite the fact that she's not one of those "inbreds" (that's what Belle calls purebred kitties) , she was still rather expensive.

First there was the adoption fee. Then there was the spaying operation. And that was supposed to be it. The adoption and spaying fees should have been the only expenses involved.

But just a mere two weeks after Belle came to live with us, she became very sick. So sick that she was in and out of the vet's office all week. She had to be put on an I.V. and stay there for three days straight! And despite what Belle may try to tell you, the vet ain't cheap. Poor little Belle was none too happy about staying over at the vet. She didn't like their food (no shrimp!) and the entertainment was sorely lacking (no bird watching!). Yes sir, she was a miserable little kitty that week, but on the bright side, she did not die.

So what we thought would be a $200 kitty turned out to be a $2,000 kitty. The reason was that Belle had come down with an illness called Panleukopenia (also known as feline distemper) at the animal shelter. It is a nasty illness, Belle can (and will!) tell you that firsthand. Lots of kitties don't survive it, including Belle's brother Sebastian. Belle says she'll tell you all about Sebastian come Veteran's Day (that was his favorite holiday). Sebastian had planned on being a Veteran some day, but he died before he got the chance.

iKitty

This is Belle with her iPod. You might notice that she looks a bit feisty in this picture. She is very protective of her iPod.

Just before the picture was taken, Andrea tried to borrow the iPod from Belle, but Belle wouldn't let her. The last time Andrea borrowed it, she forgot to polish it before giving it back and Belle complained endlessly about the scuff marks that Andrea had failed to remove. If Andrea had returned the iPod with a scratch, I don't even want to think about how mad Belle would have been.

Belle is especially proud of her custom made iPod case, also shown in this photo. It was a Vernal Equinox present from her Aunt Carla (yes, Belle celebrates the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes as well as the Summer and Winter Solstices -- any excuse to get more presents). The iPod case is very warm and protective, and even has a hole in the top so the headphones can be worn when the iPod is inside it's case. What a thoughtful aunt Belle has.

Belle's iPod is filled mostly with that old-timey spiritual music that she is so fond of. Her favorite artists are Jim Nabors and Elvis Presley. She also has some albums by a Christian band whose name I can't remember -- they have a song about how cats didn't evolve from monkeys. I guess its intended to be an anti-evolution song (Belle doesn't believe in evolution, but that's a topic for another post). But what I can't figure out is, who said cats evolved from monkeys in the first place?

Cleaning Is For Kitty

This is a picture of Belle licking one of our window shades. Being as I wasn't the one who took the picture, I can't say for certain why Belle was licking the window shade. I believe she may have been trying to repair the shade. According to Belle, cat saliva is one of the world's strongest adhesives, just below super-glue. And it's cheaper than super-glue too, if you've got access to a willing cat.

Luckily for us, Belle is more than willing to lend a hand (or tongue as it may be) around the house. In fact, she does more than her fair share of housework, a fact that she is only too eager to point out.

To put it bluntly, Belle thinks that Andrea and I are slobs (especially Andrea). If Belle had it her way, we would do laundry twice a week, sweep the floors every day, mop once a week, dust every other day, and clean the refrigerator once a month. Thank goodness Belle doesn't have it her way -- cleaning is hard! Belle would do it herself if she only had opposable thumbs.

Even though Belle is at a disadvantage when it comes to cleaning, she still manages to do her fair share. For instance, if Andrea or I leave some crumbs of food on a plate, Belle is right there to lick the plate clean. And if we spill a bit of tuna fish on the kitchen floor, she will clean it up as quickly as she can. And if Andrea leaves her dirty socks on the apartment floor, Belle will pick them up in her little mouth and deposit them in the nearest trash can. As Belle likes to say, "If you can't put your socks away, then you'll go barefoot."

Belle's Drinking Buddies

This is Belle with some of her friends. I think their names are Krista and Hal. I don't know them very well. Belle has a lot of friends over to the apartment -- it's tough keeping track of all their names.

This picture was taken a couple months back, when Belle threw a party for St. Patrick's Day. She had about 15 friends over, some humans and some kitties. A lot of drinking took place. Belle doesn't like being intoxicated as a rule, but she makes a special exception for St. Patrick's Day because of her Irish heritage. And boy, did she and her friends get smashed this year. This photo was taken seconds before Krista passed out, which was followed by Belle clumsily tumbling off the couch, and then Hal running to the bathroom to throw up. It was not a pleasant evening, I can assure you of that. I haven't seen either Krista or Hal back since.

Usually Belle's parties are much more tame. She mostly has dinner parties, not drinking parties. For her last dinner party she served a pot pie for an entree. The pot pie was filled with Friskies Liver & Chicken Dinner canned cat food. Her human guests liked the dinner until they realized it was filled with cat food, but her cat guests refused to eat the pie crust and would only eat the Friskies filling. It's tough keeping everyone happy. I keep telling her she should make one entree for the cats and another for the humans, but she thinks that would be rude.

After dinner, Belle and her friends usually play a game. They like to play card games, dice games, and board games (especially Parcheesi). Andrea and I can't figure out why they like Parcheesi so much -- it's got to be just about the most boring game ever.

Career Kitty

This is Belle with her favorite paper clip. It's a green paper clip, green being one of Belle's favorite three colors.

Belle's favorite three colors are currently: green, royal teal, and burgundy. She is unable to put the three colors in order, as she simply cannot decide which of them is her favorite. Every now and again Belle will change what her favorite three colors are. Last month her favorite colors were: green, royal teal, and maroon. Then about two weeks ago she decided that she really preferred burgundy to maroon, so she kicked maroon out of her top three. It's tough keeping track of her color preferences. Andrea has just about given up.

So you may be wondering, why does Belle love paper clips so? Well, as you know, Belle is a big fan of office-type work. She loves filing and organizing and answering phones (especially answering phones!). Sometimes she answers the phone even when it doesn't ring. She prides herself on her customer service skills and her team-player attitude. She also keeps a very up-to-date resume on hand, as well as business cards, because as she says "you never know when opportunity will strike". She updates her resume every afternoon, and prints out new business cards bi-weekly. She is very much a career kitty. And don't get her started on 401ks, she will talk your ear off (or meow it off as the case may be).

If there's one thing that gets Belle's goat, it's how her career is limited by species-ism. As Belle puts it, "The lack of Feline MBA programs precludes my consideration for management positions. If only I had an MBA, then I wouldn't have to spend all day napping." Poor kitty...all she wants is an MBA, but the system won't allow it.

Let the Go-Carting Begin!

This is Belle from the waist down.

Despite her rather sizable belly, Belle has been known to zip around the apartment at very fast speeds. In fact, at times she can be nearly impossible to photograph -- her rapid movement causes the photos to come out blurry. This phenomenon may be related to the quality of the camera, or the quality of the photographer (Andrea), or the speediness of the cat, or a combination of all three.

So now Belle wants to give a recap of her Memorial Day parade.

"The parade was glorious, and my go-cart driving was of course the highlight. I put on quite a show for the kiddies (and the kitties). It included figure eights, wheelies, jumps, near-crashes, and a race to the finish with my arch-rival and nemesis go-cart racer (the mayor of Troy, Harry Tutunjian) which I won by a whisker. And I don't mean that figuratively - my whiskers were the first part of me to cross the finish line. The photo at the finish confirmed that my whiskers won the race for me -- if not for them, I would have been runner-up. Thank goodness I didn't listen to Andrea when she suggested I have laser whisker removal surgery.

After the race, I was lavished with gifts and trophies. I am somewhat tired of all the trophies, this being my 35th go-cart racing victory in the last two years. But I accept them because I am a gracious and benevolent kitty. And also because they don't give out the food until after the trophy ceremony, so anything to get it over with, if you get my drift. Now I have to start training for the Flag Day Parade (only ten days away!)."

So there you have it, straight from the cat's mouth. Belle's go-cart training schedule is quite rigorous. I wish she would take some more time off to relax, but that's not her style once go-cart season begins (Memorial Day kicks off the season). I guess I'd better get used to it quick, because she won't give it a rest until Labor Day. She's gotta get those trophies.

Our Little Tiger

Sometimes I think Belle is like a tiger. A cute little tiger that needs to be petted a lot. A white and gray tiger, rather than the typical orange and black. A tiger that fits on my lap.

I think that if Belle were tiger-sized than she would be more ferocious. At her current size, everything is bigger than her, especially humans, so she has to make up for her small stature with extra cuteness. Luckily she has cuteness to spare.

In this photo Belle very much reminds me of a tiger on the prowl, stalking its prey. Of course in this photo, Belle's prey was most likely a 'pebble' (Andrea's and my nickname for Belle's dry cat food pieces). Belle does like her pebbles. That's about all she ever eats as a matter of fact. Pebbles for lunch, pebbles at tea time, and pebbles for dinner (no, she doesn't eat breakfast - she says that "breakfast is a meal for the weak minded", whatever that means). She is our little pebble-eater.

In other news, Belle told me yesterday that I haven't been putting enough time or effort into her blog, and I can't say that she's entirely inaccurate. She has requested that I start waking up at 5AM and devoting two hours each morning (that would be 5AM - 7AM) to working on her blog. I think that those hours a bit excessive. I'm going to try and bargain with her, see if I can talk her down to 6AM-7AM. She can be a tough cat to bargain with.

Belle says that the next post is going to be a recap of her Memorial Day parade adventure, so stay tuned.

Belle's Dream

Belle has been a bit lethargic for the past few days, now that the temperatures are flirting with the 90s. She keeps telling me to install the air conditioner already. Maybe I will get around to it over the long weekend.

Today Belle took a nap on the windowsill and it was adorable. When she woke up, she told me about a very vivid dream that she had.

"In my dream, I wasn't a kitty at all -- I was a human being and it was awful. I had no fur and I had to wear clothes, and I had to get a job instead of just lying around the house taking naps all day. So I got a job selling appliances at Sears and every time I was about to sell a microwave oven, my customers would decide to buy a toaster oven instead. And I didn't get any commission for toaster oven sales at all. The worst part was that after work I realized I had no vehicle, so I had to ride the bus home. As I was getting onto the bus, I got so scared that I woke up from the dream in a cold sweat!"

"Cold sweat?" I asked. "I didn't know cats could sweat."

"Of course we don't sweat. It's just an expression," she replied.

Belle was pretty shaken up by the dream, and I don't blame her one bit. Selling microwave ovens at Sears is bad enough, but having to ride the bus home from work is enough to make anyone want to end it all.

Courtyards and Forgotten Birthdays

Belle chastised me this morning for not updating her blog since last Thursday, a whole week ago. I told her that since nobody reads her blog, it doesn't really matter when I update it. She did not appreciate my explanation.

Belle has been spending quite a bit of time on the walkway outside our apartment as of late, now that the weather is nice. She is a fair weather kitty, and doesn't appreciate puddles very much. Luckily for her, the walkway is mostly sheltered from the elements. She enjoys strolling from one end to the other and back again, inspecting the doors to all the apartments along the way, as well as any objects that may have been left outside, such as plants or barbecue grills. She also loves to peer out over the edge of the walkway, to the courtyard below. Sometimes there are other kitties down in the courtyard, and Belle watches them intently. One time we took Belle down to the courtyard, but she didn't enjoy being down there as much as looking down there. She did, however, very much like the elevator ride.

Andrea and I just remembered that we got Belle on approximately January 15th, 2005. And at the time we got her, she was supposedly eight months old, which would put her birthday in the vicinity of May 15th, 2004. This means that Belle turned three years old earlier this month! Andrea and I did not realize this until just yesterday, which means (gulp) we missed Belle's birthday! I can't believe that Belle didn't remind us. She must've thought we were going to throw her a surprise party or something. What a poor kitty. Now we're going to have to buy her all sorts of treats to make up for it.

Nahoko the Cribbage Queen

This is Belle's best friend, Nahoko. Nahoko is very fluffy, much fluffier than Belle. Nahoko is an aspiring photographer and she likes tea very much, especially with milk and honey.

Belle and Nahoko have been friends since shortly after Belle came to live with us, in early 2005. Nahoko was already living in the apartment building at that time, and she came to our apartment with a welcoming gift for Belle - a wire toy and some catnip. Ever since then, they have been great friends.

Belle and Nahoko used to have tea together every afternoon. They would play a game of cribbage each day with their tea. According to Belle's official records, Nahoko has won 399 games and Belle has won 403, so apparently they are evenly matched. I'm not sure that Nahoko's records would agree with Belle's however.

Belle and Nahoko get along famously, though there was one incident when Nahoko decided to play hide and seek, without informing Belle. Nahoko hid under the bed and Belle, not knowing who or what was under the bed, started hissing and acting generally unpleasant . Nahoko grew frightened and refused to come out from under the bed, even after we removed Belle from the bedroom and shut the door. Belle sat by the door hissing, and reaching her little paws under the door in a threatening manner. After many hours, Belle lost interest, and Nahoko was finally able to exit the bedroom without incident. It was a terrible misunderstanding. Thankfully both parties eventually apologized and today they are as good a pair of friends as you'll ever see.

Nahoko moved to Syracuse almost two years ago, to pursue a graduate degree in photography. Of course Belle was quite sad initially, but after time she got over it. Now they talk on the phone about once a week, and they still play their daily game of cribbage, only now they have to play online. Unfortunately, Belle refuses to use our computers (she will only use Macs), so I have to enter all of the cribbage moves into the computer for Belle. It's sort of a pain.

Belle and Pierpont witness a nuclear meltdown

Today Belle spent a while playing with her pet elephant, Pierpont. Pierpont is technically a stuffed elephant, so he's really more of a toy than a pet, but Belle talks to Pierpont as if he was alive and could think/act just like anybody else -- pretty silly if you ask me.

Belle says that Pierpont is very lazy. Apparently he takes a minimum of five naps per day, and he doesn't like going on walks. Belle says that Pierpont's favorite food is muffins, but only if he can have them with coffee. Otherwise his favorite food is cantaloupe.

Belle and Pierpont spend a lot of time together sitting on the windowsill, looking outside at the birds. Belle talks to Pierpont constantly, saying things like, "That bird looks delicious, doesn't it, Pierpont?" or "Good day for a nap, isn't it, Pierpont?" or "What shall we have for lunch today, Pierpont?". I can never hear Pierpont's replies -- apparently he speaks on a frequency that cats can comprehend but humans cannot.

Today while I was cleaning downstairs, I heard a commotion from the upstairs -- a lot of meowing and such. I ran upstairs to see what was the matter, and was confronted with the image seen here. I didn't know what to make of it -- the light coming through the window was the brightest I had ever seen. I asked Belle, "What's going on?".

"Pierpont says that there's a nuclear meltdown on 4th Street. But I think it's a solar flare," she replied.

"What should we do?" I asked her. "Do we need to find shelter?"

"Pierpont says that it's too late -- we're already doomed to die horrible deaths from the radiation. But I think it's just a solar flare and it will pass."

Just then the incredible bright light disappeared, and the room fell back to it's usual level of daytime brightness.

"See, I told you so, Pierpont," said Belle. "He's always jumping to wild conclusions," she told me.

Belle looked at Pierpont. "Pierpont, there's not even a nuclear power plant in this city. You're such a silly elephant! For that, you get no muffins or cantaloupe for two weeks."

Then Belle jumped down off the window sill and went about her business, leaving poor Pierpont all by his lonesome. He looked sad. Two weeks without muffins will do that to you.

Camper Belle

Now that the excitement of TYKTWD has passed, Belle hasn't known what to do with herself. She's just been moping around the apartment, with barely enough energy to even beg for food anymore. So to cheer her up, I told her that we might go camping next month. Belle does love camping. After I told her about our possible trip, Belle insisted that I get her sleeping bag out of storage so she could "break it in".

Of course I complied, against Andrea's better judgment. I set the sleeping bag out on our apartment floor, and Belle has been spending oodles of time in it ever since. I'm not sure whether Belle really loves camping, or if she just loves her sleeping bag. We used to just make Belle use one of my old sleeping bags, but last year for her birthday she made us buy her a brand new sleeping bag, one that is designed especially for a kitty's needs. I'm not sure what a kitty's sleeping bag needs are, but the thing sure did cost a lot.

When we do go camping, Belle tends to lay on the sleeping bag inside the tent as long as possible, usually until about 10AM at which point the sun makes the tent uncomfortably hot.
At that point Belle will finally go outside, and eat some breakfast. Then she usually likes to take a nap on the picnic table while I do dishes. After the dishes are done, Belle likes to take her morning constitutional, where she inspects the campground for other kitties (usually there aren't too many).

Belle also enjoys a good canoe ride, but she never helps with the paddling. We always make her wear a kitty-sized life vest, not because she can't swim, but because she refuses to. Or at least we're afraid she would refuse to, if the situation came up. Being immersed in water does put her in a foul mood.

Belle's Day at the Office

Andrea took Belle into the office yesterday, and Belle had a splendid time. Apparently the day went very smoothly, with no arguments at all. Belle was very well behaved, according to Andrea. She took a morning nap at her usual time (9:15AM-11:45AM), which gave her plenty of energy for lunch. She then took another afternoon nap from 2PM-4PM. It's probably a good thing that humans do office work instead of cats -- if humans took as many naps as cats, they'd never get anything done.

Belle spent her morning (before the nap) getting her photograph taken for her company badge. These are the photos that I have posted in today's blog entry. Belle made them take 43 photos of her. She wore her pantsuit for the first 20 photos, but then decided that it didn't photograph well, so she did the rest in just her fur. After 43 photos, she still didn't have one that she liked, but the photographer told her she couldn't have any more, and he made her pick one. She chose the photo on the far left.

After she got her badge, Belle used it to enter all the restricted areas. She found a restricted napping room, and that's where she napped (along with some other kitties) until lunch time. Getting a badge is hard work. At lunch time, the kitties gathered in the cafeteria and made tuna sandwiches. Belle was fussy because they only had white bread in the cafeteria, and she prefers wheat.

After lunch Belle did some filing for Andrea. Belle has surprisingly nimble paws, and she can file very quickly. Unfortunately she lacks a thorough understanding of the English alphabet, so she usually just files items in the folder that looks the smallest, so as to keep all folders approximately the same size. It's a nice system, but it does require Andrea to refile everything after Belle leaves. But don't tell Belle that.

Belle took her afternoon nap on Andrea's desk. Actually, she took the nap directly on top of Andrea's keyboard. Of course it was awfully cute, but it did mean that Andrea couldn't type anything for the entire afternoon. Belle likes sleeping on keyboards because rolling around on the keys feels like a massage, or so she claims.

After her afternoon nap, Belle had a meeting with Andrea's boss, sort of a yearly review type of thing. Belle and Andrea's boss get along famously. Unfortunately last year Belle gave Andrea a sub-par review, and Andrea didn't get a raise. Hopefully Andrea did better this year, but I have a feeling Belle may still be mad at Andrea for switching her to light cat food.

And so there you have, TYKTWD is over for another year (thank goodness). Now Belle is looking forward to Memorial Day. Every year she drives her go-cart in the parade.

TYKTWD is here!

Take Your Kitty To Work Day has (finally) arrived! Belle was up at the crack of dawn today, getting herself ready for her day at the office. She gave herself an extra bath (with her tongue of course), and used a special new catnip scented shampoo. She's going to have a great day at the office today, I just know it (if she can stop rolling around on the floor in her state of catnip-induced ecstasy, that is).

Sadly, Andrea never did buy Belle the pencil skirt and scoopneck sweater that Belle had her eye on. Belle had to resort to wearing the same business casual pant suit that she wore last year. Belle does love her pant suit. Sometimes she'll wear it around our apartment, because she says it makes her feel "high powered". She even has little shoulder pads that go inside the jacket, just like Angela Bauer on Who's the Boss. You gotta love shoulderpads.

The apartment is sort of lonely without Belle around. I keep reaching over to the top of the kitty condo, thinking there will a kitty there for me to pet, but there is no kitty to be found. Just an empty penthouse. Things just aren't the same when there's not a soft little creature underfoot, complaining about lack of food. I don't know how people without cats survive -- what a miserable existence they must have.

I hope Belle isn't getting into arguments with any of the other kitties at work. I made her promise to be on her best behavior, and to do whatever Andrea tells her to do. Hopefully Belle will take a mid-morning nap, otherwise I just know that she'll get cranky towards the end of the day and then all bets are off. It could get ugly. I will report back tomorrow with details on Belle's day at the office.

Great Aunt Skittles

Today I'm posting a picture of Belle's dear great aunt Skittles. Skittles lives with my parents, and so doesn't get to see Belle that often, which is probably a good thing, since their relationship is somewhat volatile.

Skittles is very much a lap cat. She likes to visit the living room, scout out the best lap, and then proceed to nap on said lap until the lap disappears, most likely due to a need to use the lavatory by the owner of the lap. Yes sir, Skittles likes nothing better than a good nap on a lap. I wish some kitties (cough, Belle, cough) would learn a thing or two from her.

Belle is what I call 'lap challenged'. She very rarely will lie down on my lap, and when she does, it usually doesn't last that long. With Belle, she decides when the lap session will end, whereas Skittles will be on that lap until an outside force makes her move. On the one hand, its sort of disappointing that Belle doesn't go in for the whole lap thing, but on the other hand, at least I can always go to the bathroom when I want, without having to worry about disturbing the cat.

Belle and Skittles have met on at least one occasion, and things didn't go all that smoothly for them. As I recall, Belle spent most of her visit inside her kitty carrying case, electing not to come out and give great aunt Skittles a hug. Skittles must have thought Belle was very rude. Eventually Skittles did wander over to Belle's cage to take a peek inside, only to be greeted by Belle's nasty hissing. Belle does have a tendency to hiss at any other cat that she sees, even dear relatives like her great aunt Skittles.