Sunday Catbloggery

January 6, 2008 By John Scalzi 41 Comments

Ghlaghghee makes the argument that she is the perfect desk accessory. And really, who are we to argue?

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Comments

ianmorris says:

January 6, 2008 at 3:47 am

how do you pronounce Ghlaghghee’s name?
Karen says:

January 6, 2008 at 4:17 am

Now, see, that couldn’t have happened without the desk being clean. Mind you, I could clean my desk for the next five hours (and it needs it), and Tuffy still wouldn’t fit on it.
Karen says:

January 6, 2008 at 4:19 am

Ian -

Fluf-fy. It’s like the old bit about “ghoti” being pronounced “fish.”
Karen says:

January 6, 2008 at 4:21 am

(Oh, forgot to say)

Whenever I see the word “Ghlaghghee”, my brain insists on pronouncing it gull-i-ghee, like the cartoon sound of someone chuging water.
Melanie Fletcher says:

January 6, 2008 at 4:34 am

Well, she certainly color-coordinates with the desk marvelously.
Jim Millen says:

January 6, 2008 at 6:11 am

Saturday plotting, Sunday catblogging – sounds like a good weekend!

As for pronunciation, I’ve always imagined it as GLAH-GUH-HEE – anywhere near the mark?
Tim Eisele says:

January 6, 2008 at 8:34 am

Well, of *course* she’s on the desk, how else could she use that nice brass telescope?
Where's Kodi says:

January 6, 2008 at 8:52 am

Well, this is just blantant pandering to the Maine readership!

signed,

The Official Kodi Should Be The Alpha in the House Society.
Cassie says:

January 6, 2008 at 9:00 am

I see the desk is getting cluttered again with that pile of stuff behind the cat.

Is it wise to be feeding the Non-Chang’s obsession, John? Lots of cat pics in the last few weeks. What will happen if you start to cut back?
chang, who is not chang says:

January 6, 2008 at 9:09 am

O Great Scalzi, what an excellent beginning to your 2008 photojournal of The Beauteous Ghlaghghee.

Magnificent She is not just simply a perfect “desk accessory” as you so crudely put it, but Simply Utter Perfection Itself. This elementary fact can be easily observed by even the least sophisticated of the Whatever readership (with the possible exception of The Anteater-Appreciation Society, which for some reason confuses Chang with Not Chang. Even though Nathan should know better.).

The Official Ghlaghghee Fan Club
Nikitta says:

January 6, 2008 at 9:29 am

Aaaawww! Now I’m all cheered up! This is a really good picture of her.
Brett L says:

January 6, 2008 at 10:16 am

Is that her ‘usual’ spot, or has the great New Year’s Cleaning allowed her to have a spot on the desk? Mine claimed the top of the printer as his new spot the other night. Apparently, he has figured out that the papers on the desk are not actually in use, thereby destroying the attractiveness of lying on them.
Patrick says:

January 6, 2008 at 10:33 am

I always say, nothing can be considered beautiful, unless it looks as good bald. Could you shave Ghlaghghee and take photos please?
Tim Walker says:

January 6, 2008 at 10:42 am

My immediate thought was what Karen said in #2. Could be a long-term impetus to maintain clean-deskitude . . . ?
Doug from Vancouver says:

January 6, 2008 at 10:55 am

“The ancient Egyptians worshipped cats, and cats have never forgotten that. ”
You are correct, who are we to argue if Her Royal Highest chooses that particular spot to grace with her presence.
Nathan who is also not Chang says:

January 6, 2008 at 11:03 am

Enlighten me, oh Not Chang. I’m cornfoosed.

**Kodi Rawks**
chang, who is not chang says:

January 6, 2008 at 11:35 am

O Cornfoosed Nathan, how many times must it be explained? I am Not Chang, not Chang.

The Official Ghlaghghee Fan Club
Rembrant says:

January 6, 2008 at 11:43 am

Off subject but I have to say woot woot. I stumbled across this site via a google search on Heinlein. It was your bit about being compared to him being a good thing. Well I enjoyed that bit so I bookmarked the site and have been loitering and tossing in my two bits for a couple of weeks now. Well I picked up three of you books yesterday and am a quarter of the way through OMW. Which brings me back to woot woot. Epic so far and I am only a quarter of the way through it. You set up some interesting things very early that I am really wondering about. As far as the Heinlein comparison, I don’t see it. Unless you think that interesting ideas in an entertaining story makes your stuff like Heinlein. Bla bla bla, I just wanted to say great stuff so far. Oh and purdy putty.
JJS, who doesn't even want to be Chang says:

January 6, 2008 at 12:11 pm

M’sure Rembrant, it isn’t that the Scalzi compares himself to Heinlein, but that a lot of other people do. I think it is the ability to tell stories on a grand scale and keep them small and interesting, in a way.
Siller J says:

January 6, 2008 at 12:12 pm

It’s a Kitty! I WANT KITTEH!! Alas, Mom’s allergic (yes, I live with my mom. I’m also 16).

It would make a nice desk accessory…. If there was room on my desk. He’d (I’d get a he cat) have to sit on my various Who CDs and dolls from Japan.
Janiece, Who Loves Dogs says:

January 6, 2008 at 12:15 pm

And really, who are we to argue?

You are her human servants. Which means you are no one. Now get her a treaty-treat, and quit messing around with things that are not her.
Dan who is not in Chang's kitchen says:

January 6, 2008 at 12:47 pm

Seeing Ghlaghghee’s name always makes me want to say weird things with a sort of coughing followed by a slight squeal of trying to suck in a breath.

Fortunately, I remember she’s Welsh, and things start to make sense.
Chang, who is Chang in Chang's clothing (with bacon!) says:

January 6, 2008 at 1:13 pm

Uh, hello? Is this thing on?

Love the picture of Arglebargle. She’s as beauteous as my anti-namesake states. They do seem to like to deposit themselves in such a way as to be less accessory than monument, don’t they?

Remember. Cats have staff, dogs have owners.
Diatryma says:

January 6, 2008 at 1:18 pm

She’d be a better desk accessory if she were magnetic.
Dana Jean who Wang Chungs but never Changs says:

January 6, 2008 at 1:46 pm

I love this cat. She is just gorgeous.

I got my new kitty Friday–Chappy after Charlie Chaplin– and my resident cat–Jackson, after Jackson Pollock–wants to gut him like a fish. It’s been very upsetting. We’re making baby steps today though. Instead of spending 100% of his time trying to be a Slice-O-Matic, Jackson now only spends 50% of his time in that pursuit. The other fifty is spent with his nose up the kitten’s behiney. The kitten is looking at him with a disgusted, Dude!-I-don’t-like-you-that-way look.

I’m spending my time running alongside the kitten like a secret service agent–escorting him to his official potty and food stations.

I hope this gets better. :-(
Two Write Hands says:

January 6, 2008 at 1:51 pm

…because everyone needs a paperweight with a mind of her own…
Thena says:

January 6, 2008 at 2:07 pm

What I’m wondering about is the collection of Official John Scalzi Convention Name Badges on what appears to be a lampshade behind Her Majesty.

Do you keep them for souveniers, or because by the end of the con you can’t remember your own name?
Rembrant says:

January 6, 2008 at 4:38 pm

I am not a writer so maybe my post wasn’t clear. I didn’t mean to say that Mr Scalzi compared himself to RAH. Lets edit!

As far as the Heinlein comparison, I don’t see it. Unless you think that interesting ideas in an entertaining story makes his stuff like Heinlein.

Change one little word and everything changes. Shoot while I’m at it I’ll get the typo too.

Well I picked up three of your books yesterday and I am a quarter of the way through OMW.

There all better. I thought about getting cute and useing their or they’re but decided against it. I need all the iq I can hold on to.
Part II is done and gone. Not as fun as part I but still good. No sign of the answers to the interesting things I noted in my first post.
PixelFish says:

January 6, 2008 at 4:39 pm

Ian: I’ve been pronouncing it Glaggy mentally EVEN THOUGH I know, know, know, that’s pronounced Fluffy. (My boyfriend thinks it’s an awesome name.)
Rembrant says:

January 6, 2008 at 4:40 pm

Shoot maybe I should of said
story makes Scalzi’s stuff like Heinlein.
Oh well.
Syd, who wonders, if Chang and Not Chang actually met face to face, would they annihilate each other? says:

January 6, 2008 at 5:38 pm

Beautimous cat–and congrats on the desk still being clean enough to have room for her!

Also…finished You’re Not Fooling Anyone… and Old Man’s War–Whee!
hugh57, who is neither Chang nor not Chang says:

January 6, 2008 at 5:44 pm

I always thought that Ghlaghghee was named after the sound a cat makes when coughing up a hairball.
How many Changs could Not-Chang chang if Not-Chang could chang changs says:

January 6, 2008 at 5:52 pm

Cats make great desk accessories – *and* great fashion accessories, bed warmers, sofa cuddles…. is there anything they can’t do?
Alan Kellogg who is Alan Kellogg, but not that Alan Kellogg says:

January 6, 2008 at 10:45 pm

When two cats meet they’ll bump heads. During this head bumping they’ll release pheromones that send the message they’re friendly. Considering how humans and cats tend to react to each other, I wonder if maybe we produce a chemically similar pheromone that sends the same signal.
Sarah says:

January 7, 2008 at 12:44 am

To Patrick at #13: I have almost the same exact cat (well, except for gender), and the answer is no. He does not look nearly as beautiful bald. Plus they hate it and tend to shred the human who wields the clippers.

Believe it.
nsh says:

January 7, 2008 at 2:02 am

I’m finding the golden telescope much more interesting then the cat.
could you please dedicate a post to it (the ‘scope not the cat) ?

Is it functional ? for decoration ?
Have you shared your family with your astronomic findings/observations ?
Christopher Hawley says:

January 7, 2008 at 3:25 am

#25 Dana Jean who Wang Chungs but never Changs Says:

I got my new kitty Friday–Chappy after Charlie Chaplin– and my resident cat–Jackson, after Jackson Pollock–wants to gut him like a fish. It’s been very upsetting. We’re making baby steps today though. Instead of spending 100% of his time trying to be a Slice-O-Matic, Jackson now only spends 50% of his time in that pursuit. The other fifty is spent with his nose up the kitten’s behiney. The kitten is looking at him with a disgusted, Dude!-I-don’t-like-you-that-way look.
I’m spending my time running alongside the kitten like a secret service agent–escorting him to his official potty and food stations.

Dana Jean: If Chappy and Jackson don’t hit it off, consider boarding them together(!) for a day or two. No, seriously….

A good friend who adopted three kittens a couple months ago had a similar problem: Hoover (senior feline) wanted nothing to do with the young’uns¹, and clearly considered them interlopers at best, or intruders — hiss, snarl, smack — when in a bad mood.

All four felines spent a few days boarded together at the nearby vet/clinic to allow my friend to visit her relatives for Christmas. (In past years someone² has been available to mind cats over a holiday weekend, but this year no one could take up the slack.) Said boarding, while neither unduly unpleasant nor to the cats’ liking, had an odd payoff — they bonded at some point while in durance vile. Hoover is now not only civil, but actually plays with the wee kittens… even mock-wrestles with ~~eldest~~biggest kitten Leo at ~five percent of his full strength, while faking defeats like a seasoned WWE pro.

Best of luck to you, to the New Kitty on the Block, and the Resident Curmudgeon — and hope you all have fun tonight!
--------------------------------------------------------
¹ Adoptees: Leo (“Leo Pard”), Sacha, Lilly; all ~6 months of age.
² Ofttimes, someone = me.
Christopher Hawley says:

January 7, 2008 at 3:34 am

#36 nsh scrobe thusly:

Have you shared your family with your astronomic findings/observations ?

Although astronomy is one of John’s passions, I’m certain that you meant to write that sentence the other way around… :-)
Dawn says:

January 7, 2008 at 1:21 pm

He is quite gorgeous… And, you are already messing up the hard work that Krissy did in that office… aren’t you?

be well,
Dawn
Karl C. who is not Karl says:

January 7, 2008 at 1:54 pm

I, for one, welcome our Magnificent Feline Overlord. Forgive me please Magnificent Ghlaghghee for noticing things other than you, but…
Are those drumsticks visible in the background? Inquiring minds want to know…
As for the convention badges- I like to keep my own just for their value as reminders of great times. Of Scalzi’s, my favorite has to be the WorldCon 2006 “Hugo Loser” Crashed Rocketship badge.
Karen Milan says:

May 29, 2009 at 3:07 pm

my dream job is to design items like these