37 Comments on “Lopsided Cat Guards the Sacred Pile of Freshly Laundered Towels”

1. I’m surprised he’s not taken up a position *on* the Sacred Pile. Because higher is, after all, always better.

2. The annual animal migration happened a couple of weeks ago. We turned on the heat, and Spot the small old cat went from her usual hangouts under the table or on the couch to the space next to the baseboard heater. There’s now a mat there for her to lie on.

   Also, we went on vacation for Thanksgiving, and the pet sitter was able to get her to take her pills, so we didn’t have to board her at the vet just to get drugs. (The pills are stashed in pill-pocket cat treats, but on previous trips she’s just looked at the pet sitter, grumbled, and hidden, unlike Jack the Big Fat Cat, who likes to play with visitors even when they’re not filling up the food dish.)

3. Aw. This makes me miss my sister’s pets back home!

4. Because it’s the LAW, that’s why.

   An hour of play for my puppy “Pip” at the park. Two sonnets. Two multiple choice questions on Rotation [(E) Arthur Fonzarelli’s (The Fonz) in the “Happy Days” TV series would never ever have said: “sit on this and rotate”]. Reviewed some math and Physics papers. Cleaned in advance of the folks coming over in an hour and a half for our semi-weekly Screenplay, Teleplay, Stage Script workshop. Then I’m supposed to do a performance of one of my Bradbury coauthorships in North Hollywood.

5. He does have that thousand-yard-stare, doesn’t he? The innards of all the rodents he’s wronged rise up before him each night; so at least he has that to comfort him…umm innards.

6. My Saturday? Well, I went hunting in the woods early this morning for a log to craft into a “Yule log tea light holder.” More elusive quarry than you’d think. Lesson learned: It’s pretty darn awkward trying to transport a wet, muddy log in one of those promotional backpacks the Sierra Club gives out to new members. Also, I got some pretty strange looks from fellow hikers in the woods and from people on the street as I hiked back home.

   So, generally, a pretty normal day.

7. D’aww. Loppy cat is so cute!

8. Loppy’s the unsung kitteh of the family, I think. He doesn’t have the bold patterns and “how YOU doin'” of Zeus, nor the markings, long hair, and ineffability of The Radiant She. He’s just a cat, slightly off plumb, doing his job. Still, that light ring around his chest is quite handsome, and he seems a good boy.

9. We are in need of new student helpers at the library, as we are currently undergoing the annual purge/”I’m outta here!” I predict not being able to get anyone on board until after the holidays, when the partying is done and they are feeling poor. We did pick up a library Christmas tree last night, though, and the lobby is starting to smell glorious.

   The house is a mess, being full of cards, outgoing packages, and unwrapped presents in various stages of organization. And on top of Mt. Crumpitt lays Zorro, being a paperweight, happily surveying all and drooling.

10. I have… seen things you people wouldn’t believe… Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments- OH SHIT I HAVE TO GO TO THE KITCHEN….

11. I spent my afternoon volunteering with my dog rescue group. If you read John’s charity blog yesterday you may have seen my post about the group’s dog, Stilts, who needs surgery to recover from being hit by a car. I met her today. She is sweet as the day is long, a terrific dog, and an absolute trooper. She plays with smaller dogs and runs (slowly) at the ranch where she fosters. Folks were extremely generous today and we adopted out two other dogs.

    But dammit I should have brought tissues.

12. Hm. That might be the sort of humor only people with cats will get…

13. He is too handsome for words.

14. Come on; he’s merely assisting those who have not realised that cats have done an exeptionlnal job in domesticating humans…

15. Lopsided Cat has truly impressive whiskers.

16. Our rescue kittens have recently discovered the dining room table. I’m okay with that; we haven’t used it for dining in 20 years. Yesterday one of them discovered the joys of the warm laundry I’d sorted on it. Thankfully, most of our clothes are black and so are the cats.

17. Lopsided Cat is a handsome beast.

18. Well last Saturday I bought Diablo III in a BF sale, so this Saturday was not particularly productive* apart from digging up my yarn stash and a crochet refresher course.

    *Unless for you killing demons=productive.

19. I don’t know the history of LC. How did he get his name? He doesn’t look that askew.

20. I toiled all day on the background to a story I’ve been working on. Results: good.

    If I’d known how much writing would cut down on my reading, I’m not sure I’d have begun!

21. Saturday was movies, quilting, and DDR, because I’m retro for very specific variants of “retro.” Also a nap, which was lovely.

22. “Indoors. I’m only indoors. Every time, I think I’m gonna wake up back in the forest.”

23. I found an old Chang who is not Chang comment on another picture of Lopsided Cat. The cat has definitely matured. http://whatever.scalzi.com/2011/10/24/and-now-the-most-interesting-cat-in-the-world/

    Still missing Chang, after three years.

24. Seeing LC here, I get the impression he is telling you, “These towels are nice and warm, therefore they are MINE!!!” This, of course, is standard cat thinking, which is justified by the fact that a cat is thinking it, therefore it is correct and there is no valid argument against it. You would be wise to remember that, PUNY HUMAN.

25. Wonderful picture, and he’s definitely a lot happier than I am. The iPad continues to lurk in another dimension, and I continue to ransack the place without success; I have books, I have fabric and I have yarn, all in lunatic amounts, and about the only happy bit to emerge from this debacle is that I now know where my Liberty’s printed silk velvet is. I’m glad other people, and felines, are enjoying themselves…

26. That golden ring around his chest is all that remains of angel he hunted down and ate one night. Thus explaining the thousand yard stare. His knows he is going to hell (or the appropriate destination or non destination of your religion or non religion.)

27. Yes, but when he gets to Hell, he’s going to OWN it.

28. “You Shall Not Fold!”

29. I’ve been trying to think of the right word to describe this picture, and I’ve finally come up with it: majestic.

    Jeff, more like “Hold, human, for it is not yet the hour of folding!” Because, of course, you have to know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ’em.

30. He’s reminding me a bit of my Rufus, who we just lost this past Tuesday. :( Not in coloration (though shape, size, and degree of fluff seem comparable), but in demeanor.

    Saturday we went to my husband’s work party at the California Academy of Sciences. High point, no pun intended, was probably the planetarium show. I’m not sure I’ve ever been to one before. The earlier part of the evening was largely spent showing cat pictures to another couple, who actually asked for it even after hearing that we have 13 12 cats.

31. Suberb whiskers – have any cats ever discovered moustache wax?

    Will

32. I think we have that same beach towel. Our cats guard all sorts of freshly laundered items, especially when they are fresh out of the dryer. For some reason.

33. Yeah, now that you mention the walrus-like whiskers, all I can thinik of is this:

    http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131116002700/villains/images/f/f5/Wilford_Brimley.jpg

34. Robin, I’m sorry for your loss.

    Greg, I sure hope LC doesn’t have die a beat us!

35. @ Teh Gerg – the history of LC’s name http://whatever.scalzi.com/2008/05/07/the-deal-with-lopsided-cat/

    Given my poor choice in marrying a man with allergies, it’s comforting to know that I can always live vicariously through John’s pets!

    My Saturday consisted of hanging out with the in-laws, otherwise known as a drink-n-smile fest. Don’t get me wrong, I do like my in-laws, they’re just a little… over the top. Also work Christmas party, at which the traditional copious amounts of alcohol were consumed, everyone clapped when the bosses said nice insincere things about work being like a family and no one mentioned how miserable and paranoid the workplace has been all year… Ah Christmas!

36. Thanks, Xopher. I probably shouldn’t have mentioned it here, but it jumps out at me at odd moments. I think Rufus and Loppy would’ve been kindred spirits, which is to say that they’d probably be trying to rip each other to shreds because there can only be one.

37. Thank you, moggybreath. We lost our cat of 12 years or so (actually 15 y.o.) about 2 weeks ago to a sudden attack. My wife and I are reaching the age where a long-lived pet could end up being a problem for our children in the long run, so Mattie was probably our last pet. She was a jewel among kitties, and we miss her.