Napping in the Laundry with MaoMao

MaoMao and I had a nice nap in the fresh laundry. All of us Ballicai are relieved with every day our beloved Alpha Cat Brainball gets better. *smile*



ANNOUNCEMENT: Please go to Sweet Ariel's blog -- she's doing a nice thing for the Cat Blogosphere. In this post, she is asking for a list of kitty couples and is encouraging single kitties to post comments if they are looking for somecat to love.

Love and kisses to my darling Mickeybear! I am so lucky to have you, dear. *purrrrr*

New Snooze Spots

Since I can no longer lounge on the Yamaha (I barfed in it the other day - ACK), I've been scoping the house for new, choice snooze spots. And I thought I'd share with you several of my favorites.

Here I am on the purr pad on the little desk by the door. I love to lie with my head upside down. As my mancat Mickeybear knows (he writes poems about it, *giggle*!), I like to turn my head upside down while lying on my Mom and Dad's laps, too, especially when they're giving me scritches! They're always joking about how amazed they are that I never get cricks in my neck.



And here I am on the dresser in the bedroom. Mom and Dad keep folded there a pile of snuggly, winter clothes especially for me. And by the time winter comes, those clothes will be well-coated with white kitty hair which, as we all know, is highly fashionable! Cat hair of any color is an excellent accessory for beans' clothing, don't you think? When winter comes, Mom and Dad will put something else on the dresser that's cozy and snuggly for me to lie on. We Ballicai have our parents well-trained!



Here's the strangest spot: a piece of packing that came with Dad's computer case. It's the perfect size for me, don't you think? And here I am, looking over my shoulder, blowing a kiss to my darling Mickey!



The packing makes a good podium, too. Here I am, reciting a funny little poem (a highly modified Lento) I wrote for my sweet Mickey:

Lucky girlcat, yes I am
Plucky and besotted!
My mind's awhirl in poesy
My heart's all hot-a-trotted.

Entrance me, dear? You always do.
Dance to where I wait...
Romance you, dear? I'm happy to...
Perchance you'll do a Monty!

=-=

Mickeybear and I will be participating in Silence & Remembrance, hosted by Kashim & Othello, and I will light my candle on Saturday.

Tagged by my brother Ben: The Middle Name Meme!

I was tagged for a fun meme by my sweet, fuzzy brother Ben -- thanks so much for the tag, dear!



Here are the rules:

1. Post the rules before you give the facts.

2. List one fact that is somehow relevant to you and your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.

3. When you are tagged you need to write your post using your middle name and facts about it.

4. At the end of your post, choose one cat to tag for each letter of your middle name. Be sure to let each cat know she/he has been tagged. (It's okay if you don't do this... tag who you want to tag!)

I'll use "MonREOW" for this meme. MonREOW qualifies as my middle name, since Mom and Dad's family name is my last name as well. Okay, here goes...

M = Mom. She and I are snugglebuddies. I love to jump up in her lap, lean back in her arms, and let her scritch my face and my chin and rub my tummy and give me kisses on the head. I kiss her back and purr, and often I put my arms around her and give her kittyhugs.

O = Operatic. Usually, I'm the quietest cat in the Ballicus household. But when Mom breaks out the stinky goodness, I become the loudest, most talkative cat in the house! Mom says I'm singing my Operatic Stinky Goodness Arias.

N = Naps. A girlcat must make beauty rest a high priority! Especially when she has a mancat as handsome and dashing as Mickeybear.

R = Rhymes. I love writing all kinds of poetry and many forms appeal to me, but I find special pleasure in meeting the challenges posed by the various rhyming forms.

E = Ethereal. Mom calls me an "ethereal" kitty, which means -- the way she uses it -- that I'm delicate and refined. Ethereal also means "light and airy", but that doesn't describe me too well -- though I'm an excellent jumper, I'm not light... I'm on the full-figured side *smile*.

O = Odd-eyed. In kitty parlance, I am an "odd-eyed white cat" because I have one gold eye and one blue eye.

W = Whitester. A term coined by my darling Mickey to describe pure white kitties (or doggies, i.e., Titus). I'm proud to be a member of the Pure White Kitty Club (PWKC), the club he administers on Catster!

So, seven letters equals seven kitties to tag. I'll tag...

My darling Mickeybear
My future sister-in-law Ariel
My NOMSS friend Cairo
And my friends Gretchen, Adan, Derby, and Kellie.

Purring for Monty Q.'s Babybean

Please, Sweet Babybean, get better soon! I'm sending a heart full of love and purrs to you and your family.

Thank you, Skeezix, for the use of the lovely graphic.

My NOMSS Friend!

We kitties on the Cat Blogosphere were challenged by our friend Karl to make a new friend who is of a different species! What a delightful challenge -- I love making new friends! So I checked out many wonderful blogs and found myself captivated by Cairo, a beautiful female Boxer doggie. I asked her to be my Not-Of-My-Species Special Friend, and to my delight, she accepted! I'm so happy that I can't stop purring! Doesn't Cairo have a beautiful smile?


Cairo has been blogging since October of 2005, and she's on Dogster! She's about the same age as my sister, Dorydoo -- Cairo will turn three years old this fall. My mom has told me a lot about Tyler, the boxer she grew up with. And when she told me that Cairo looks like Tyler, I thought how lovely it would be to have a boxer friend, too.

Cairo's got many delightful movies on her blog. I especially enjoyed the one of her playing ball and batting it with her nose! I would love to learn to bat a ball with my nose. Then perhaps my darling Mickey Mantle would induct me as an honorary New York Yankee! What do you think, Mickeybear? *smile* And speaking of baseball, Cairo looks adorable in a baseball cap!



She's not only an excellent athlete, she's also brilliant: she has a Ph.D. in Political Science and a Master's in Kinesiology. I'm impressed -- one of these days, I'd like to get my MFA in Creative Cat Writing, emphasis on poetry.

Cairo and I can learn a great deal from each other, and we'll have a lot of fun doing it!

Tagged on Tuesday!

My sweet friend and future sister-in-law Ariel came up with a creative, fun, and inspiring meme, and she tagged me! Thank you so much, dear.



To quote Ariel, "The name of my meme is...Five Things that Changed Your Life." So here are my five, in chronological order:

1. Finding my forever home with Mom and Dad and my kitty siblings, MaoMao, Dorydoo, and Brainball. I showed up at Mom and Dad's back porch as a stray, and they took me in. What a blessing!

2. Connecting, through MaoMao's blog, with the Cat Blogosphere! There are such wonderful kitties on the internet, and I love making friends. And since I'm a poet, I have a great opportunity, through the Cat Blogosphere, to share my poetry.

3. Meeting, again through MaoMao's blog, my darling mancat Mickeybear! We started talking on MaoMao's blog, and our relationship blossomed from there. Mickey is my love, my friend, my muse, a talented poet in his own right, and my Knight in Shining White Fur *purrrrr.*

4. Getting my own blog! I'm afraid I became something of a blog-hog on Mao's blog, so Mom let me have my own. What fun! Mickey was lucky enough to get his own blog, too. Having our own blogs to talk on has helped us grow even closer -- I fall more in love with him every day.

5. Being blessed, because of the Cat Blogosphere, with a wonderful, extended group of kitty family and friends: my mancat Mickey, Oscar my Kitty Daddy, Pounce my Kitty Mom, my sisters Miss Peach and Lucy Furr, my brothers Ben Fuzz and Yoggie, and so many precious friends. No doubt about it, I'm a lucky furry-purry girlcat!

And I'll tag:

Mickeybear
DaisyMae Maus
Pablo
Bounce
Gretchen

Climbing Rhyme for Mickeybear

This poem is a Climbing Rhyme, inspired by classical Burmese poetry. This was a challenging and fun form!

My Mickeybear ~ by Marilyn MonREOW

No mancat can compare
To my Mickeybear; tender
Loving care I supply
As his Kittypie. I
Say, "Aye, my dear"
When he appears. Paw
to ear, pure white,
His eyes bright, my
Love alight, my amour.
All his contours please
Me more every day
In every way. So
I say to him: je t'adore.

Sitting Strangely on Sunday

Mom says I get very creative with my sitting positions. I'd been taking a bath, but then I realized how very nice it felt to have my back paw sticking up in the air. How odd! At any rate, I left it there for a while because it made me happy. It occurs to me, too, that this position might be some odd sitting-species of Full Monty.

A spontaneous etheree:

Paw
White and
Floofy, I
Raise high to wave
Hi to Mickeybear
While sitting quite strangely
On the Yamaha where I
Write poetry which celebrates
The love I hold for my mancat and
Where I dream of snuggling into his fur.

I'm still studying Climbing Rhyme! I'm climbing my way up to a poem, *giggle*.

Relaxing After the Party

My sister Brainball's Gotcha Day Party was wonderful, and I thank everykitty from the bottom of my heart for making it so special for her.

Here's how I looked at the party, wearing the beautiful sparkly red gown that Mickey got me:



And here's how I look now, after the party:



Do you think perhaps I wore a corset under that gown? Hmmm, a girlcat never tells, *wink*!

Mickeybear, darling, you danced divinely, wooed me dearly, and looked deliciously, delectably handsome! *swoon*

One More Day!

Just wanted to say... one more day 'til my sister Brainball's Gotcha Day Party (on MaoMao's blog) -- I'm starting to feel downright festive!

And on August 1, I'll be on MaoMao's blog at Brainball's party -- everykitty is invited, and I hope to see you there! -- but I'll be back here on my own blog the following day *smile*.

And love and whisker-kisses, as always, to my Mickeybear!

Added later: Guess what. In the wee o'dark thirty hours, something very special happened. I have mentioned on this blog before that Brainball and I sometimes have our differences and usually we don't get very close to each other.

Well, today, I was snuggling on Mom's lap while she was working on her novel. Brainball was curled up on Mom's desk. MaoMao was lying at Mom's feet, and Dorydoo was curled up behind Mom, on the purr pad at the window. Yes, Mom was surrounded by Ballicai. It's her favorite way to write.

Anyway, I jumped up on the desk, where Brainball was. In days past, given such a situation of Marilyn-Brainball proximity, I'd keep my distance, and Brainball and I would eye each other like, "Close, but not too close."

But not today.

Today, I crept up close to Brainball and sniffed her ear. She just lay there. And then I gave her ear a gentle kiss. And she didn't mind! She let me kiss her. She approved, and I think I made her as happy as she made me.

I am full of sisterly joy right now! Though it's Brainball's Gotcha Day tomorrow, it is she who gave me a gift *huge smile* and *purrrrr.*

Our loving exchange made Mom so happy that she got leaky-eyed, then she rewarded us with a whole lot of (mmmm!) Temptations!

Tagged by Little Lucy!

What a delight, my new little sister, Lucy Furr, tagged me to do the proverb meme again. If you haven't met her yet, please go say hello -- she's my brother Ben Fuzz's kitten sister, and she's a precious little dear! Every time I see her, I want to cuddle her and groom her *purrrrrrr*.

So here's sweet Lucy's proverb:

BE WARY OF THE TAIL
IT MIGHT BE SWISH
OR COULD BE THRASH.

Isn't that fabulous? Such an intelligent and precocious little girl, already making proverbs at her tender age. And *giggle*, she's talking about big brother Ben's floofy tail!

Here is my proverb for today:



A cat sufficiently relaxed to stick out her tongue when she sleeps is having a very, very good nap.

And my naps are always wonderful, because I dream sweet dreams of my darling Mickeybear!

I also want to thank Ms. Mia for featuring me for Female Feline Friday! Isn't that sweet of her? I was so touched. Ms. Mia made my day *smile*!

And last but never least, I'm inspired to compose yet another proverb which Mickey, my darling mancat, will like:

To eat robustly is catly, but to snort while eating is mancatly! *giggle*

Floofy Tail Friday

Here I am, taking a bath on top of the Yamaha. And I thought my tail looked quite floofy in these pictures. What do you think, my darling Mickeybear?

Snuggling on Wednesday

I was snuggling on Dad's lap, and the expression on my face made Mom say, "SQUEE!" and get out the camera. Moms are funny sometimes, aren't they?



My darling Mickeybear wrote the most adorable Pleiades for me -- go see! *purrrrrrrr*

Twisty Tuesday

I'm studying Sestinas, my darling Mickeybear, but today, lo and behold, out came a funny little Pleiades *smile*!

Twisty ~ by Marilyn MonREOW

Tangled up and
Tied in a bow, I
Treasure my dreams of the
Taste of Mickey's whiskers as I
Turn to my
Tail and
Tidy it up.

My Acting Debut!

Mickeybear wrote me the most precious Rubáiyát -- go see! *purrrr*

I'd like to announce my acting debut! I'm so excited!

I'm playing Butterball, a kitty character in a novel by Bunnygirl, a friend and fellow writer of my mom (yes, Bunnygirl loves bunnies). Go see! You'll see that I was filmed in black and white *giggle*.

Mickeybear, darling, I hope you'll be proud of me *purrrrrr*.

And guess what. Mickey adopted a Virtual Squillion! Her name is MickLyn, and she's a Whitester, like Mickey and me. Isn't that marvelous? Here she is, and I know Mickey would love it if you went to his blog to say hello to her.

Mickeybear, I like to think of MickLyn as our little Whitester daughter *purrrrrrrr*.

Fang Friday

"The Tiger" - by William Blake.

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And What shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? and what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Marilyn: Mom, do I look ferocious?

Mom: Ferocious? Of course not, Dually. You're yawning.

Marilyn: Darn. I was doing my best white tiger imitation. William Blake's poem inspired me.

Mom: Well, if it helps, you look adorable when you yawn.

Marilyn: Hrm. William Blake used the words "fire", "dread", "sinews", and "deadly." I am quite sure he didn't say "adorable." I suppose I must work harder on developing my ferocious side. (...But that will have to wait because I feel like snuggling. *giggle*)

=-=

To my darling Mickeybear -- thank you so much, sweet dear. You are my Cat of the Day every day, too!

Loveydovey Whitesters Sit Alike!

Mickeybear



Marilyn

See what I mean?

A Rubáiyát for Mickeybear

"Flight" by Marilyn MonREOW

In New York dwells Mickeybear
Who fashions poems beyond compare
For me, his Southern Kittypie,
With wit and love and care.

At his rhymes I gently sigh,
With rumbly purrs in warm supply
Rapture buoys me, lifts me up
And then... I start to fly.

Once with him, we two will sup
On ham with sweetmeat syrup
Then to 'nip and tuna juice...
(My dear, that's just a warmup!)

Sharing, after giblet-mousse,
A kiss, my joy profuse!
Next a cuddle on the wall:
I would ne'er refuse.

My heart, this journey did enthrall
Until my curtain-call
Afloat on rapture, paw-in-paw:
With Mickeybear, my all.

Curled now on the Yamaha,
I'm pleased with my chutzpah
My mancat danced me through the air
And by his love, I'm awed.

=-=

I thought about working "stinky goodness" into the poem, but then I decided "giblet-mousse" sounded more poetic. *giggle*!

"Flight" is an "Interlocking Rubáiyát." And here's more about the Rubáiyát form.

Get Ready, Get Set...

...GO to Jeter's blog for his nifty Squillion Contest... it starts in only a few hours, July 15 at 12:01 EST!


And Mickeybear, darling, just to let you know: I've completed my Rubáiyát for you! I hope you will like it *purrrr*. I'll wait until tomorrow to post it, though, because I'm sure you're busy helping Jeter with his contest!

Community Involvement Award, and a Surprise for Mickey

What an honor -- my sweet friend Jeter (brother to my mancat Mickey) has honored me with a Blogging Community Involvement Award! Thank you, Jeter! I appreciate it so much. I love the Cat Blogosphere, and I'm overjoyed to be honored by a great kitty like you for making positive contributions.



Details about the Blogging Community Involvement Award are as follows:

"As it goes, schmoozing is the natural ability 'to converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection.' Good schmoozers effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship."

Now I have the pleasure of nominating five fine felines for the Community Involvement Award. I want to try to give it to kitties who have yet to receive it, but first, I want to say that everykitty on the Cat Blogosphere is well-deserving of this award, because the Cat Blogosphere is, bar none, the friendliest and sweetest place on the Internet.

Here are my choices, and all of you may display the award badge on your blog and nominate up to five more recipients.

Jade -- New to blogging, she's already made quite a splash. She's feisty, sweet and supportive.

Gretchen -- Also new to blogging, she has distinguished herself as a kind-hearted, fun, and romantic girlcat.

Monty Q. -- Monty Q. has been working hard on a project that I suspect will be lots of fun for us all!

Bounce, Lucy, and Trixie -- Sweethearts, all three of them.

Oops, that's six. I must have forgotten how to count *wink*.

My darling Mickeybear preferred not to receive the Community Involvement Award because he doesn't consider himself much of a Schmoozer, *giggle*. So I've created another award which is perfect for him: the Poetic Mancat Award.



This award is given by me to the mancat -- who happens to be my mancat, *smile* -- on the Cat Blogosphere who writes the best, most romantic, to-swoon-over poetry. And that mancat is and will always be my Mickeybear. Mickey, I would be honored for you to display this award on your blog, and it is for you and you alone. *purrrrrrrrr*