tap my glass

Pretty much what i did too. That and clean the basement.

Off to bluesfest, yay tv on the radio!!!

The cats are getting a little out of control these days. In an effort to be “stern” and to convey my sense of disapproval, i often grimace or put on a mean face. I also attempt to “shush” the “meeeooeeehhh’s” and “reeeeehhh’s” that are meant to convey something to *me*, that i’m too dull or incognizant of.

It got me thinking this morning. Human’s have this incredible ability to smile and form a variety of other highly elaborate facial expressions. Cats (and most other animals i’m assuming) do not. I’d like to think my cats are smiling sometimes, or are frowning, but the reality is they lack this ability to convey emotions with their faces (i could be wrong, please let me know if your cat can smile for real). If they’re happy or they’re sad, its the same face (although their eyes being slightly closed or twitching or whatever may convey something, their mouths/cheeks do not seem to). This begs the question - can cats sense our emotions through our facial expressions?

I think cats can sense emotions, or at least i’d like to believe this. Before i ever had cats, i’d heard they’re great at sensing when your down, and spending some quality time snuggling with you. What are they using to determine this? The sad look on your face, or is something deeper? Or is it total nonsense, a coincidence brought on by human’s sponge-like emotions willing to accept any gesture as one of love when we sorely needed reinforcement?

I think another scientific cat experiment is in order. The next time i need to be stern, i’m going to do so smiling. If i get a different response, i’ll have to conclude that my cats are in fact, cognizant of my facial expression. If not, i’ll have to scientifically conclude that they are not, and it will be a great day for science. I likely will fail to mention the results here, you’ll have to see the journal of nature for that.

btw, the title is inspired by when you smile by the flaming lips

I’m writing this 6 hour 250 question exam tomorrow. I’ve been studying for it for roughly 3 months. It has basically swallowed all my free time. Pass or fail, I will be very glad when it is through.

If i pass, i will definitely have my cats to thank. They’ve helped me through some tough times.

If i fail, i will definitely have my cats to blame. They’ve definitely caused me to waste lots of time.

How many times have you been a conversation, or been listening to one and heard the words “let me finish!!” usually in an excited tone.

Its seems us humans have a very strong tendency to interrupt people when they are talking. This obviously annoys/angers people, and sparks them to chime out the aforementioned words.

Cats on the other hand, do not have this problem. I just conducted an experiment with my occasionally noisy cat Ruby. She gets into winy moods where she mixes up her speech with a variety of murmurs, mechs, and meows. My experiment reveals if i wait for her to finish what she’s saying, then launch into conversation with her (maintaining eye contact), no matter how long i go for (within reason, up to 20 seconds or so) she won’t interrupt me and will stay attentive and focused on me. Only when i complete my speech will she then, normally within a few seconds, respond with some of her usual noises. I think she’s agreeing with me.

In some ways cats are far more polite than humans.

Its true. Our adorable ex-kittens are now cats. Winston and Ruby turn 1 today, and i’m very excited. I don’t specifically have anything planned except a few extra rub downs, and slight lenience of my military rule.

Heres Ruby this morning, she’s always moving so without flash, this is as good as i could do:

And here’s the big dub, proud as always.

This is them at 8 weeks - yes, they were adorable then, and are just as adorable now as far as i’m conerned:

Happy birthday Winston and Ruby!!!

Ok, now that i have cats, its time to mix that and youtube and show you all what my cats can do. This is just the first vid, no edits, but i think it speaks for itself if you can wait through the first dark 15 seconds.

So, we now have cats. They are named winston and ruby. We were originally only going to get one, but we ended up being faced with choice, and in the face of choice, we decided to opt out and just take em both.

Winston is the grey and white boy, and ruby is the more spotty girl. They are both adorable. So ridiculously adorable.

They had their first shots today. It went very well, but they were tired for the rest of the day for sure.