Membership Process

Dear Pablo, fan club members and friends,

I wanted to take this opportunity to show you all how very long my whiskers are. And also to explain the rigorous process that we here at the Pablo Fan Club Headquarters go through to determine the suitability of Fan Club members. It actually is very easy to qualify - you just have to demonstrate an interest in the Fan Club and an admiration for Pablo by posting a comment both on this blog and on Pablo's. Whenever anycat (or dog and recently even a human) expresses interest in joining, we just quickly check that they indeed have commented on Pablo's blog and we add them straightaway! Every once in a while, we also try to compare our comments with Pablo's to seek other admirers and add them. This is a challenging task, so if we missed you as a potential member, please let us know.

I know that a lot of cats have very long blogroll lists to include everycat in the blogosphere. I really appreciate that spirit and enjoy being an active member of the cat blogosphere. But the Fan Club Chairfeline Committee has decided to limit our blogroll to just club members to keep our sidebar streamlined and most useful for us, for Pablo and for the club members. We are considering adding a separate list for other friends, but have not reached a consensus yet. Our sidebar is getting kind of long.

A hearty welcome to our newest members The Crew (George, Max, Tipper and Misty), Marilyn MonREOW, Mickey Mantle, Caricature (our first human member), Ceasar and Prinnie, Diamond, Kassiel y Antonia (los Gárgolas), Marie, Mr Hendrix, Parker, Samantha and Tigger, Sultanfus and Guy and, finally, Suzanne, our lovely senior citizen lady-cat.

Phoebe's True Confessions

Dear Pablo,

Thank you for tagging me for the confessions game. I have thought long and hard about what I should confess. Here is what I came up with.
1. Sometimes when I sit on our computer desk I spread myself out and stretch and then, kerplunk! the basket with Very Important Papers falls onto the floor.
2. I have not been vomiting much anymore. But when I do, I usually eat it afterwards... it is all nice and mushy and it still tastes pretty much the same.
3. Sometimes, Tracy let's me stay in the bedroom with her until Denis comes to bed later (they sleep at different times). Often, I get so excited that I can't decide where I want to lay down and I walk back and forth around her head. I accidentally step on her hair and she says "ouch" and then she has me leave.
4. I still try to sneak out the front door sometimes. Not as often since I have become an Outdoor Explorer, though.
5. This is the most embarrassing one... I know I said in my advice to Possum that she should practice being aloof and not letting your people know how much you like them. But actually, I'm not so good at doing that myself. I sometimes follow Tracy around like a D-O-G.

I hope that you don't think any less of me for my confessions, Pablo.

My Favorite Mouse

Dear Pablo and fan club members,

The other day Denis was cleaning and he found my long lost mouse hiding under some furniture. As you can see, he is a furry, purple mouse with pink ears. He is my favorite mouse to play with. I carry him around by his tail with my mouth. I chase him around in the kitchen. I throw him into the air. I wrestle with him in the living room. I think his name might be George... I hope he doesn't get away again.

True Confessions

Dear Pablo and fan club members,

Chairman Mao tagged me for this game which was invented by his sister Marilyn MonREOW. We are supposed to tell about the naughty things that we do - as many as we like - and tag as many friends as we like. Well, I'm not sure that I would say the things that I am going to list are naughty, per se. Let's just say that the people and I have a difference of opinion about the appropriateness of certain habits...

1. I like to chomp on flowers that are brought into the house. Tracy sometimes gets the great idea to cut some pretty flowers and put them in the kitchen in a glass of water. The smell great! Things that smell great often taste great too. However, I get chased away when I am caught at sampling them.
2. I like to play with post-it notes. They are very interesting as they are slightly sticky on one side. I take them to my food or water dish so that I can play with them again. The people complain that they have important notes written on those things and I get them all wet or food crumbs on them. Hurmph! What a silly place to write important notes...
3. Another interesting thing to chew on is photographic paper. It is pretty rare to find some laying around the house - Tracy guards it in a box which I can't get open. I don't think it is very nice of her to keep it all to herself. Christmas is a good time to find some lying unguarded on the coffee table. People send them in the mail to us.
4. I like to sit on top of the stereo tower furniture. It is a great tall place to be and look over the living room. Denis doesn't like that at all!
5. I like to go into the "guest room" and look around. There is lots of very interesting stuff piled all over the place in there. The people keep the door closed as Phoebe and I are not allowed to go in there. But if they have to go in there for something, they have to open the door and I sometimes run int and hide under the bed. Sometimes, they squirt me with water to make me exit.
6. I like to lounge on top of any human that is available at the moment. This is a completely fitting place for a cat to be, of course. But Tracy says I get very heavy and she can't change positions. So after a while, she often pushes me off. I just give it a few minutes and get back in my rightful place.

Well, that's all I can think of. As you can easily see, there is nothing particularly naughty about what I do.

I would like to tag Pablo, Faz, Suzanne and Zippy.

Grandma's house

Dear Pablo and fan club members,

Thank you all so much for your good wishes for our vacation at Grandma's house. In this picture, you can see the lovely toilet facilities that she provides and one of my special Grandma toys. That toy jumps up and down from a springy cord.

On my vacation, Grandma and I went for a walk nearly every day. We decided to just leave my harness on to make it more convenient. I liked that just fine, so I didn't have to bother with getting it on and off over my ears. We patrolled the grounds at my house and I always checked to see if Tracy and Denis were home yet by going onto the porch and checking at the door. But then Grandma would say, "no, they're not home yet" and take me back to her place. Pablo, you were right. It was a long vacation. In the end, I was ready to go home. Let's go Tracy!

Vacation

Dear Pablo and fan club members,

Phoebe and I are going on vacation for a week starting tomorrow. We are going to Grandma's house for some rest and relaxation. As I have mentioned before, Grandma is an excellent hostess and knows how to run a tight ship. The litter box gets cleaned daily (which is often a shortfall in our house), the water stays fresh and there's lots of recreation time. When a cat has a need, Grandma is right there to accommodate. Plus, Phoebe wants you to know that Grandma's shoes smell great (She's a little weird, that kid. She likes to hug Grandma's shoes.)

So, we will be away from the computer for a time. I know that you will all miss us terribly and we will miss all of you. Especially you, Pablo. We will think of you daily.

Oh, in case you were wondering, Tracy and Denis are going to Portland to visit all their friends from when we lived there. Boy am I glad they aren't taking us on that long car ride.

Testimonial

Dear Pablo and fan club members,

I would like to publicly thank club member and prominent physician Dr. Daisy for helping me out with my IBS problem. Daisy recently completed her Milton-Bradley medical training and is working on her surgery residency. When she witnessed the indignity of my daily pill-taking ritual, she vowed to study IBS and try to help me out. Well, on her excellent medical advice, Tracy bought me a harness and took me outside on regular walks. Since I have been going outside, I have only vomited twice and my pills have been reduced to every 2-3 days. I'm not sure if it is the exercise, the fresh air or the high quality grass munching that has done the trick. But Dr. Daisy, I am so grateful for your assistance. I recommend Dr. Daisy to any ailing kitty.

7 Things About Me, Monica

Okay, Phoebe tagged me for this game (as I knew she would), so it's my turn. Here are seven things about me.
1. When Tracy first named me, she called me Matilda. My light coloring made her think of a fair Aussie lass and the song Waltzing Matilda. But when her friends met me, they all said, "OH! Matilda like the witch!". Tracy didn't want my feelings to be hurt or for me to be thought of badly, so she changed my name to Monica. Now everyone things we were named after the girls on Friends, but we weren't. We liked that show so we don't mind. And sometimes we wonder if we have a sister somewhere named Rachel.
2. Before I came to live with Tracy, I was a homeless kitten. I don't remember those early days very well, but I'm sure I took care of Phoebe. We used to hang out at the swimming pool of an apartment complex and that's where some people took us to a cat rescue organization.
3. At the foster home, there were a LOT of other cats. A little old lady provided food in lots of dishes and water too. There were lots of litter boxes. We were all kept in two rooms in her basement. It wasn't the best place, but I guess it was better than being on the streets. At least Phoebe and I stuck together. I was sick with a respiratory infection and my eye was all swollen by the time Tracy came to spring us from that joint.
4. I still look out for Phoebe. She says I boss her around, but the order that I maintain keeps us all from descending into chaos. She is a very obliging underling and is not too much of a bother. In fact she is very helpful with grooming those hard to reach spots and I like to knead on her very soft fur.
5. I am not afraid to speak my mind about what I think. I try to communicate with Tracy and Denis, but they are a bit dense. Speaking slowly and loudly helps. Persistence is a must.
6. I value my leisure time. I don't generally interrupt my naptime by following the every move that the people make. Most of the time it's pretty boring anyway. I just let them know if I think of something that they need to do for me, like pet me, fill the food bowl or clean out the litter box.
7. OH, I'm on my last one already. This is an important one. I don't like parties. When lots of people are around, you can count on one thing - lots of noise. A quiet dinner with a couple of friends over is okay, I'll probably stay around and visit. But when you have more than three extra people in your house, it is way too much. I go straight away into the master bedroom and wait it out. If someone comes looking for me, I hide under the bed. Noisiness generally means chaos and hazardous stepping and moving around. Somecat's tail could get stepped on!

Well, there you have it. 7 fascinating things about my life. Thank you Phoebe for inviting me to participate. Phoebe already tagged our friends for this. It would be too hard to think of 7 more.

7 Facts about ME, Phoebe

Dear Pablo and fan club members,

I was tagged for a game my Marilyn Monreow. I'm very excited because Monica usually hogs the games like this, but Marilyn picked ME. I have to tell seven interesting facts about myself that you may not know. Then I will tag seven of my friends to play the game. Here we go:

1. I am the submissive cat in my household - Monica bosses me around. You might think that it bothers me, but I don't mind at all. I have more interesting things to do like conduct research into the hygiene habits of humans and monitor the grounds for birds and neighbor cats.

2. As I have already alluded to, I am conducting research in human behavior. I am studying for a master's degree in this field and I have chosen for my master's thesis "The Hygiene Habits of Humans, Male and Female". I have been working on this research for about 5 years.

3. I like to observe my humans during a good part of the day. I follow them from room to room, but try to be unobtrusive. Therefore, I wait just a few minutes before following them into a new area of the house. This allows for more natural behavior on their part as they are unaware of the observation for a time.

4. I have become a great Outdoor explorer. I have gone 2/3 of the way down our driveway now and all the way to Grandma's house. I have explored all the range of the grasslands surrounding my house and Grandma's.

5. Although I know that I have to wear my harness to go Outside, I still don't like to put it on. I always squirm and wriggle when Tracy is putting it over my head and around my middle. I hope one day she will realize that I can go out by myself.

6. Although I like to be wherever the action is, I don't particularly like to sit on people's laps. I prefer to lay beside them on the couch or above them on the back of the couch (like in the picture above). This is one of my favorite places to nap.

7. I try to be helpful around the house. I help Tracy with the laundry and I help Denis with repairs around the house. I am generally a polite cat and undemanding. Because of this Tracy and Denis like to have me around more than Monica. They let me come into the bedroom at night for a snuggle, but Monica is not allowed.

PS. I hope it doesn't sound like I don't like Monica. I love her, she is my sister. We play together and groom each other. We are just different and that's okay, isn't it?

I will tag
Pablo
Monica
Rocky the CEO of Artsy Catsy
Tara
Diamond
Kassiel of Gargolas
Sherman

Pet Peeve #4

Dear Pablo and fan club members,

This is called Bubble Wrap. You should watch out for it and stay away! It comes in boxes in the mail. The boxes are great, of course, but the Bubble Wrap is nothing but trouble. I know it looks harmless enough. But do you see how Tracy's fingers are holding it? She is squishing it and making a horrid popping sound! When she does this I slink away and hide. Then she apologizes to me and promises not to do it again. But it's like she can't help herself, she just keeps doing it. The best thing to do is carry it straight to your garbage receptacle and throw it away. Because the people are hopeless; they just can't resist the popping.

A Poem for Pablo

Lately, Jeter Harris' brother Mickey Mantle and Chairman Mao's sister Marilyn Monreow have been leaving poems for each other. I think that this is a great idea and that Pablo should also have a poem. So I scoured the internet for a poem that made me think of Pablo and here is it:
The Cat of the House

Over the hearth with my 'minishing eyes I muse; until after
the last coal dies.
Every tunnel of the mouse,
every channel of the cricket,
I have smelt,
I have felt
the secret shifting of the mouldered rafter,
and heard
every bird in the thicket.
I see you
Nightingale up in the tree!
I, born of a race of strange things,
of deserts, great temples, great kings,
in the hot sands where the nightingale never sings!

Ford Madox Ford

I hope he likes it! I haven't seen Pablo around for a while. He must be very busy with business for his company, Pablo Enterprises or his football team, the West Hobart Tigers. Or perhaps Kate is off on a research project again. I miss him.

Artsy Catsy Bookmark

Dear Pablo and fan club members,

The pretty pink bookmark that I won on the Artsy Catsy auction for Lilly Lu arrived the other day. Isn't it pretty?
Phoebe wanted to play with it, but it's mine!
Oops! Tracy put it into a book. I guess I'll have to wait until we read something together to play with it again.

The Monster

Dear Pablo,

Monica and I have been going Outside now for some time. It is mostly very fun. I love to smell the air and feel the wind in my furs. Monica is getting braver about exploring with me too. But we are having trouble with this red monster that lives down the street from us. It comes down our road, growling at us loudly. I am sure that it is trying to come and eat us! When it gets to the wide spot in our road, it gives up, turns around and leaves. It is a very tricky monster. I think it is trying to get our guard down and then really eat us up.

Monica is very scared of the red monster. ( I hate to tattle on her, but she is kind of a sissy). One day, the monster came growling at us, then left as usual. When it was gone, I told Monica that the coast was clear and we could go on our walk safely. But Monica decided that she didn't want to go outside anymore. This is very dissappointing. I like it when we all go Outside together. Now, Monica checks very carefully out the door to make sure the monster isn't anywhere around. It takes her a long time to decide that the coast is clear. I say, "come on Monica! Let's go!" I sniff her and give her a little lick to reassure her. I wish that mean monster would just leave us alone. I wonder if Skeezix has any special vishus monster repellant...

PS. One of our friends was wondering how Tracy would take us both for a walk. We tried that once, but it didn't work out very well. Monica and I couldn't agree on where to go, so we would pull Tracy nearly in two. We always recruit Grandma to go on walks with us now. We make a great foursome!

Announcements

Dear Pablo and fan club members,

You may have noticed that I recently added some useful links on our sidebar as a service to all fan club members and friends. Have you noticed that Blogrolling is not working lately? Our lists are not showing when blogs have something new to read like they are supposed to. I found out that the only part that is not working is the way that blogs automatically show as updated. This is called "pinging". You can still manually "ping" your blog and it will show as updated on all the blogrolling lists. We put a link to the form to ping your blog manually. It is really easy, you just fill in two spaces and hit the ping button. If you do that each time you post something, your blog will show as updated on ALL the blogrolling lists.

Most cats know about the Cat Blogosphere, where you can get lots of current news about all your friends. You can also add your name to the list of new posts for that day by scrolling down to the first post on CB for the day. The best way to let everycat know that you have a new post on your blog is to "ping" it on Blogrolling and then add your name on Cat Blogosphere. Plus, Pablo is the special Australian correspondent for CB. He has a special repurrter badge with a very handsome picture on it. I love to read his reports.

The Cat Blog Help Center is an excellent resource for any questions you have about how to customize your blog. Skeezix started it and he is very smart. He has helpers who answer your questions. You can search for the topic you need info on and it's probably already been answered. Or you can write a question in the first post at the top of the blog and someone will answer it for you. The Cat Blog Help Center is where we learned about "pinging" for blogrolling.

Lilly Lu is feeling so much better and almost back to her old self. So I changed our colors back from pink. I had forgotten what color it used to be...

And finally, I have been made a Pink Lady because I look so good in pink. I'm so honored and proud. Here is my badge.