Triple-Decker Catblogging
Posted on May 6, 2008 Posted by John Scalzi 31 Comments
You’ve seen Ghlaghghee. You’ve seen Lopsided Cat. You’ve even seen Zeus. But until now, you’ve never seen all three of them together in the same picture:
And there you have it. Your life is now totally fulfilled. You’re welcome.
Actually, the interesting thing about the picture for me is that three years after we moved it to another location, you can still see in the grass the circular impression of the inflatable pool we once set up there.
What, no eviscerated rodents or birds? They’re slacking!
Have you aerated the lawn? Sown new seed? It’s possible that the roots are matted enough there that the grass just has a harder time growing.
(On Sundays I run the board for our local gardening show. Some things just sink in over time.)
Oh, and I’m impressed with the triple-catter. That’s a difficult feat, especially as they rarely deign to notice one another’s presence, and do so by leaving the vicinity.
With a name like Lopsided Cat, you’d think he’d not be too keen when it comes to being perched precariously on railings and whatnots.
As for the inflatable pool ring, throw down some topsoil, some more seed and water water water…
Or, just tell anyone who asks that the circle is where the rituals are performed. And, when they ask you to extrapolate, just point to your Campbell Award.
Fourth post, and no Cat Erotica from Chang yet?
Something MUST be wrong in the Universe.
I am waiting for you to get flak from someone about your cats being outside. Because I do. My only response to that is that you will have to talk to the ones who make the rules for the house. (hint, they are furry and have stripes)
No dog. Still unfulfilled. Just sayin.
Our cats are outside because a) we live on a New York City block’s worth of lawn, and b) they’re working cats who make sure the teeming masses of rodents in the agricultural fields to the east, west and south of us don’t actually make it inside the house.
I tried keeping my cat inside, and you know what? It’s much easier to let him outside than it is to constantly replace a torn screen time and time again.
Northern Feline Pool Circles repel rodents from all directions. Well known fact.
You just caught them coming back from a coven.
“Working cats” mwahahahah.
I once very-diligently mowed the work “FUCK” in eight-foot tall letters (with fairly loose kerning) in my parents’ backyard during my teenage-angsty-rebellious phase. (They had it coming to them.) It got less noticeable over time, but even a year later, the statement was vaguely legible.
Fortunately, we had a fenced-in backyard, so I didn’t have every neighborhood kid blaming me for their use of the f-word.
Christian, that sound you heard, the muffled plop, was Not Chang’s head exploding from all the cat goodness.
I am now fully self actualized. Thank you.
I’ve got eight cats to deal with, so I’m not even trying for something like that.
(No, they aren’t mine – I’ve been house-sitting for someone since October, and, well, they really like cats).
Obviously photoshopped.
O Great Scalzi, you have outdone yourself with this excellent picture. (Then again, in your case the bar is set so low it’s not difficult to exceed your previous best.)
The Executive Committee notes the correct positioning of all participants: Mighty Lopsided Cat scanning the horizon for threats to Her Person and potential good eating, TempCat Zeus returning from some mission She sent him on, and of course Her Shimmering Radiant Glory looking displeased with his report. Or possibly – what are the odds – displeased with you.
Nevertheless, a unanimous vote by The Official Ghlaghghee Fan Club has provided you with the coveted
The Official Ghlaghghee Fan Club Seal of Approval Award
(valid for a record setting one week from this date)
You may have a little statue or t-shirt made up to commemorate this, but bear in mind the expiration date.
The Official Ghlaghghee Fan Club
Nice crop circle.
Out of curiosity, in what way is Lopsided Cat lopsided? Or is it purely a psychological thing?
I was wondering why you let your cats out, since I am deeply opposed to the idea but your reasoning is sound and I’d probably do the same thing.
…wait who gives people flack for letting cats outside? This is a genuine thing people worry about? Seriously? Every cat I know would go completely nuts if it wasn’t allowed to go outside? Not quite as bad as having a big dog in a small apartment, but cats love being able to go outside, and its kinda mean not to let them!
There is an imprint of the pool, but not of the bacon?
I try to refrain from giving people flack about letting cats out, but I do have an opinion about it. People should not let cats outside if they live in an area where the cats are likely to get hit by a car or have some other urban mishap. (That’s my take on it, anyway.) Zeus, Lopsided Cat, and Ghlaghghee seem to have sufficiently rural setting to be safe from unnatural dangers and have had reproductive organs removed, so they’re good to go.
I let my cat out on the balcony 8 stories up. She loves sitting on the chair in the sun and the pigeons move one apartment down to let loose their bowels. Win-win.
When we adopted our cats from the shelter, we had to sign a statement saying we would not let them outside. It is a city thing. I think there are some dangers, i.e. cat roadkill, but in general if you spay/neuter your cats, they are going to be able to survive better than you can outside. It is mostly because in the city there are cat HATERS…I mean HATERS (mostly men, I have found. And my radfem theory is this is because cats cannot be dominated). So the excuse is that the shelter wants their cats protected from them. The cat haters will see a cat in the neighborhood without proper supervision and call animal control or bring it back in or do other, more unseemly damage to them.
We let our cats outside, but only when we supervise them and only for about 20 minutes at a time. (That is about how long we can stand to supervise them.) Mostly, they get to sit by an open window and sniff.
I second the question about why Lopsided Cat is called Lopsided Cat. Please, oh, mighty Scalzi, share with us mere mortals the answer to this puzzlement….
All three cats at once…Cool. I was beginning to wonder if they weren’t really all just the same cat. You know, like the Jacksons.
I love the look on Zeus’s face…it looks like he’s getting ready to punch in for the day. “Yeah, mornin’, where’s my coffee?”
See what I mean about flak? Yes, it is true there are cat haters in the cities. My cat was abducted by one of them. Also, I have been given flak about having outdoor cats by the grouchy neighbor lady–while HER cats were sitting on the sidewalk next to her.
Your commenters are being kind to you. Secretly, they do not approve of your cats being outside at all, and are only making excuses about it being okay for them to be outside in the country. That, or they’ve never heard of coyotes.
The real reason to let a cat out is because he told you to do it. People who do not obey their cats can never be happy in life.
I’m part of the ‘cat-inside’ coalition, but for me, it’s a strictly a function of location. I’m a SoCal girl, and any cat outside in this area is named “Food For Coyotes” or perhaps “Mountain Lion Chow” or the even-more-popular “Hawk Bait”.
We have feral cats in the neighborhood, courtesy of the 1994 Northridge earthquake. (Short version – next door neighbor was sooo freaked out by the ‘quake that the entire family packed everything in a shipping container and went straight back to Korea, abandoning house, cars, and pregnant cat.) The cats come and go, as they meet the challenges of larger predators in the area. Currently, our chief neighborhood feral cat is gray and has a tail that’s been shortened in the past.
My dog, an older, sweet-tempered Newf named Rocky, gets along with the feral cat just fine.
But where is the bacon?
Life fulfilled…what now? I’ve read the books, seen the cats what should I do NOW!!!
Well, actually there seems to be a hierarchy there in the picture, Lopsided Cat is master of all while Ghlaghghee is guarding his place and Zeus is quietly trying to climb the stairs to a better place….or maybe I’m simply reading to much into the picture to procrastinate longer…
Heh, we had a cat that used to visit us and sometimes sleep inside and my cat liked him so he got fed, we used to call him simply “the Yellow cat” after his fur. Found out later that his name actually was “Fluffy”….stuck to calling him Yellow…he was a nice sweet cat purred even as you tried to chase him away, so I gave up on that approach.
Here’s some Friday SCATblogging — let’s name a sewer plant after Bush!