Remember this little girl? (Kitty updates!)

October 24, 2017That Asian-Looking Chick Leave a comment

Kitty update fans… I’ve owed you this post for a long time. Nenette updates have been few and far between. Not only that, but the last one was pretty lame, as it was text-heavy and it featured only one pic of Nenette. I know you’re here for the pics!

The thing is, I’m always trying to take pics of her, but she dislikes having her picture taken. She knows when I’m doing it. She’s the Houdini of photography: she’s good at escaping. More often than not, I wind up with a blur of whiskers and butt-hole.

I don’t give up, though. I’ve been continuing my efforts, and now I’ve got a handful of pics to show for it. These range from the first week of September to yesterday. Oh… I should say that I’ve posted a couple of good pics of her on my Instagram in the last few months. Those pics aren’t included here. My insta account is thatasianlookingchick, if you’re interested (it’s in the sidebar).

Without further ado, enjoy some pics of Nenette!

She loves to lay down next to me while I’m writing. Here she it trying to get my attention:

Nenette’s favorite kitty bed is this backpack that I mistakenly thought was mine.

She still leads us to her toy box and digs into it, searching for the toys she wants.

Nenette in her toy corner

Nenette doesn’t hang out on the bed, but she’s been joining me more when I settle there with my laptop. (It’s a sleigh bed. I sit and lean against the footboard.)

Nenette on the prowl (new territory for her)

She still loves her little glasses of water all over the place. This one is a permanent fixture behind me where I write. She comes and asks for fresh water several times a day.

Nenette drinks as much water as I do.

Nenette up in her crow’s nest at my office window… one of her favorite places.

Nenette in the late summer

I picked up two new plants for my office, so Nenette had to inspect. By the way, my office looks slightly different since I last posted pics of it. I might do an updated office tour post, if you’d be interested in seeing that.

Nenette with Linden, one of my new plants.

Nenette’s always loved to hide behind the books in the living room. Now she can do it in my office, too, since I’ve acquired some shelves.

Easter egg Nenette

That’ll do it for this post! Everything is good with Nenette. I’ll keep trying to get pics of her so I can do these posts more often.

Every day is Bring Your Fur-child to Work Day. (Nenette update!)

June 20, 2017June 20, 2017That Asian-Looking Chick Leave a comment

Kitty update lovers, today is your lucky day on TALC, for I have a Nenette update post… only a month since my last one! Shocking!

Being that I’m in my office all day, all of these pics were taken here.

Nenette has developed new habits and games for this new, revised office.

For instance:

She spies on me from behind the plants.

Behind HER plants.

She gazes at the Buddha (like mother, like daughter).

With the Buddha.

She instigates play by chewing the tassels on the bag I keep right next to me. She knows, see, that I don’t want her to chew those tassels… by chewing on them, I’m compelled to grab her toy – the black string behind her – to distract her away from the tassels. (Yes, I’m easily trainable by her. I’m only partially susceptible to her tricks. Truth be told, I could refuse to participate if I wanted to!)

Chewing on tassels that aren’t toys (aka playing)

Now that I’m not sitting at a table with room on it for her, she drinks her water beneath the small bench behind me. This little “cage” has become her new watering hole, and here, she’s upped her water game, taking it to a whole new level: she comes to ask me for water, I get up and get it, bringing my own refilled glass while I’m at it… and then when I get back, I set her water glass down, hold mine out to her for a toast – “chin!” – and we both drink our water.

Callaghan could not hide his amazement the first time he witnessed us performing this ritual.

Nenette with her drinking habit

(I don’t know why/how that black bar filled up the bottom part of the pic, by the way.)

She naps on the futon.

Nenette crashing on the futon

She lolls around with her tongue sticking out.

Nenette revealing her silly side up in her crow’s nest (looking a bit washed out by the bright sun behind her)

And there’s our Nenette update for June! I’m not making any promises, but we’ll try for another one in July.

The general kittystate chez nous. (Kitty updates!)

December 6, 2016December 6, 2016That Asian-Looking Chick Leave a comment

Several of you request more frequent kitty updates, and I’m sorry I haven’t gotten better at this. I like to oblige when you make requests, so I’ll work on posting about the fur-kids more often! For now, every five-six weeks continues to be the norm.

So what have been the main points of interest around here?

1). We went out of town for Thanksgiving. While we were gone, our kitty-sitters never saw Nenette. Not. Even. Once.

We weren’t surprised. We were satisfied to hear that her food was disappearing between visits, and that her litter box was being used.

While she’s continued to get more comfortable with Callaghan and in the house, in general, poor Nenette still has a crippling fear of men and strangers.

If you remember, it was for this precise reason that our Feline Behaviorist recommended keeping Nenette here and giving someone else a chance to take Nounours home to an only-cat situation. Because of their comfort levels with humans, Nenette was deemed “not as adoptable,” while Nounours was evaluated as “very adoptable.”

(How right she was. Because of his personality, Nounours was indeed Mr. Popular at the shelter, and he was adopted by his ideal cat mom within two months.)

When we adopted Nenette, she was confined to a small see-through container in a window at PetSmart with nowhere to hide, so we couldn’t fathom how afraid she was. At the shelter, where visitors get to wander amongst the many available cats, she wouldn’t have been seen. Or she would’ve been seen cowering in a corner. Either way, people would overlook her. People are naturally drawn to cats who come up to say hello and ask for pets, like Nounours the Snuggle-Monster, who loves all humans indiscriminately.

Nounours is in Nounours Paradise with his doting Mom and no competition, but Nenette is still working on overcoming her severe social anxiety. At least our Thanksgiving kitty-sitters have seen pics of her!

That aside, she’s very happy when it’s just us.

2). On her part, Cita is very happy in the winter cabin we’ve created for her in her laundry room. I lined and padded the spacious, highest shelf and covered it with a soft blanket, and she loves it. She has little pillows up there, and at night, we make a cozy bed with a kitty bed (she likes to sleep against it rather than in it, which works well because of its high sides), her pillows, and her bouillotte (soft hot water bottle covered in cozy fabric). She has a space heater and a cat door and a lamp for lower, warm lighting. I spend the working hours of my days in there with her, as I use the washing machine as a standing work station. As far as she’s concerned, Cita is indoors.

She still goes out and gets beat up now and again, talking trash to other cats in the hood. She cannot tolerate other cats (unlike Nounours, who simply resented competition). Twice, we had prospective families for her, and both times, they fell through. But looking at the situation with clear eyes, we can see that she’s simply happy here, on her property, with us. We do what we can to minimize her chances of getting hurt.

Without further ado, enjoy some pics!

Inside fur-child (evidence that Nenette exists):

Nenette’s favorite place to sleep: In her kitty bed. On her chair. Next to my side of the bed.

It’s chilly now, and kitties are in full-on snuggle mode.

Nenette reached out to touch my face just as I was about to take this picture.

We put up a Christmas tree in anticipation of family from Europe coming to visit for the holidays. As far as we know, Nenette had never seen a Christmas tree. We haven’t decorated it yet… so far, it just has the lights that came with it.

Nenette doesn’t know what to do with this fake tree in the house.

As for Cita, our outdoor fur-child:

Cita reminds me of a cartoon character in this pic. I just can’t think of which one.

She loves plants more than anything.

Plants are Cita’s favorite things on earth.

And she loves her bed in the laundry room!

A sudden sound outside caused Cita to make this face just as I was about to take her picture.

That’s it for now! I’ll try to post kitty updates more often in 2017. I can’t believe we’re within weeks of the new year. Yikes.

Kitty updates! (Halloween edition.)

October 25, 2016October 25, 2016That Asian-Looking Chick Leave a comment

True confessions: I’ve become that (cat) mom who puts on a video to entertain her kid while she writes.

But it works.

Nenette watching her birdies and squirrels video

Nenette and I have discovered the wondrous videos of Paul Dinning. Nenette’s favorite one is just over two hours long, and when it ends, YouTube rolls it over to another of Mr. Dinning’s videos, which is three hours long. Indeed, Nenette sits and watches the birdies, squirrels, and what have you… for, yes… FIVE hours. It’s gotten to where she’ll literally ask me to put on her birdies. She just adores Mr. Dinning’s videos, and I’m happy to provide, because otherwise:

My writing table, aka Nenette’s favorite hang-out while I’m working.

Thank you, Mr. Dinning… we are much obliged!

Nenette also let me know, in no uncertain terms, that she’s ready for Halloween.

Nenette with Jack-O-Lanterns

Outside on her patio, Cita is ready, too.

Cita with Jack-O-Lanterns

She’s getting into character, getting the evil look down… but she’s nothing more than a sweet armful of cuddly kitty. Cita’s problem is that she trash-talks other cats, but then can’t handle the repercussions. Instead of backing up her talk, she runs. This leads to major drama; this is why she can’t live indoors with another cat in the house. But she loves her patio and yard, she’s very territorial (she was living on our property before we bought it), and she enjoys her role as head of security chez nous. So we do what we can to keep her safe.

She’s a happy girl, overall.

Cita in the mesquite pods

She loves luxuriating in piles of mesquite pods!

And she enjoys napping on any of the six chairs arranged on the patio. We’ve made the patio her haven (which includes our attached laundry room, where she eats).

Cita on one of her many chairs

We’ve decorated her patio for Halloween:

Skeleton trellis

Laundry room end of the patio

BBQ end of the patio

(Cita does approve of the Halloween décor.)

We’ve been celebrating Halloween all month, including dressing up for the costume party at Drag Bingo. Flash-back to just last week:

Pulling out spines all night with Callaghan

As for what we’re planning for Halloween… we’ll be chilling. We’re opting out of Scarizona once again, but that’s okay. We were going to do an interactive game in the house (haunted house), but our schedules will preclude such shenanigans! The times, they are busy: Callaghan’s getting ready to embark on a journey, and I’m working on my main project and tackling a to-do list for the house. We have upcoming events, so there are Deadlines of various sorts. You know how it is!

Anyway… I’m happy to report that the fur-kids have been doing well.

T minus six days til the holiday! Happy Halloween in advance!

Changes in the hizzy. (Kitty updates)

June 24, 2016August 4, 2016That Asian-Looking Chick Leave a comment

I usually present my kitty updates on the positive end of the spectrum of current feline happenings. Today, I’m here on a more subdued note, but a positive one nonetheless. Things are not always sunshine and happy bunnies throughout. Things are sometimes dark rain and miserable bunnies, but even on those days, you can usually find a sun-splashed cloud somewhere.

[/cheesy metaphor intro]

After my kitty update post last week, things amongst the felines took a turn from the challenging to the Very Challenging. But we are working through it.

It’s funny. I thought I was knowledgeable about cats and inter-cat relationships, and my knowledge was on point at one time… but now it’s out of date. I mean, it’s funny how you don’t realize that your information is outdated until you trip and fall on the evidence right in front of you. With my knowledge lagging back in the Dark Ages, and Callaghan following my lead, we’ve made some mistakes in the last two weeks.

In short, it’s been a Rumble in the KittyHood.

It’s been the KittyPocalypse.

It’s been exhausting.

It was time to call an expert.

I consulted a renowned Feline Behaviorist, and with her compassion, talent, expert analysis, and guidance, we’re heading back to the ol’ drawing board (cats in hand) to start afresh. As far as we’re concerned, no one up in here knows anyone.

Goals! Lots of goals.

At present, I’ve got some new kitty pics to share.

Cita:

Cita, “Cat with big paw”

Cita exploring the mysteries of life on the table of death.

Before I moved my working set-up out to the dining room table…

Nounours:

Nounours, our teddy bear with glassy eyes.

Our beloved Nounours.

Nenette:

When Nenette hears her name.

When Nenette doesn’t hear her name. “Cat draped over a living room speed bump”

Obligatory upside-down kitty pic.

Our goal… all we want!… is for everyone (meaning the cats) to be happy together.

Nounours is a badass in Nounours clothing, and other kitty updates.

June 10, 2016June 10, 2016That Asian-Looking Chick 2 Comments

These last two weeks, man.

I went to my eye doctor – my REAL eye doctor this time, for the first time in years – had all of the tests done in a full examination, and ordered some new glasses that I’m excited about. That’s the plus. The minus is that the tests yielded some disappointing outcomes. (More on this later, perhaps.)

That along with national news items more sickening than usual, and I’m very glad to post a kitty update post today… pics included, of course!

Nenette’s New Things:

~Stalking and stealing my hair ties.

~Drinking from our glasses of water… to the point where she mostly shuns her water bowls. To the point where she’s trained us to set out glasses of water in certain areas around the house. But hey! Providing Nenette with glasses of water (25% room temperature, 75% chilled, mind you) in hot weather is a small thing to do for a thirsty kitty.

~Jumping up on my desk and posing exactly like the white porcelain cat. She does this a lot, and it’s slightly disturbing in a cute sort of way:

Nenette: “WHY does this weird white cat copy everything I do?!”

Still impossible to say no to this face.

Nenette’s halo was cut off in this pic, but you can imagine it there.

All of the cool, flat surfaces, all of the time.

Nounours’ New Things:

~Nothing.

Nounours is Nounours, and we’re just fine with that. The big purr-monster is perfect the way he is!

All of the rugs, all of the time.

Nounours naps like a boss.

Nounours: “I’m a badass in Nounours clothing.”

Cita’s New Things:

~Winning at adopting us. Closely related New Thing: being spoiled with love and concern, as every kitty should be.

~Methodically guarding the perimeter of her territory (our backyard) every night after dinner.

~Spending her days napping in the fort I made for her under the lounge chair on the back patio. She also enjoys hanging out next to the hibiscus plants.

All of the shade, all of the time.

Cita looking more and more like the cherished little girl that she is:

Cita: “Beneath my tough street kid exterior I’m really a pampered house cat.”

Like Nenette, Cita has a way of imitating non-animate cats.

Le Chat Noir on the left. Cita on the right. NOT UNLIKE.

To be Continued!

It’s a feline wonderland. (Kitty updates!)

May 6, 2016May 6, 2016That Asian-Looking Chick 2 Comments

Wow, guys… particularly you kitty-update-loving guys… my apologies. It’s been exactly seven weeks since my last kitty update post. I’ve been slacking.

Not to point the finger at anyone in particular, but NOUNOURS. That big purring ball of affection manages to look the same in every picture, and I don’t have time to stalk him with the camera all day waiting for a fluke to happen so I can get a pic that’s different… and I can’t do a kitty update post without pics of him! I have been trying, though.

Nounours’ eyes are bluer than yours.

[Sidenote: that hen hiding in the shadows in the back of the lower shelf? That’s a door-stop from France that I’d been trying to find. I only found it upon examination of this pic. Thank you, Nounours.]

One of Nounours’ favorite things is to snuggle up to articles of clothing the second they land on the bed.

Nounours snuggling Daddy’s jeans, because that is how the Nounours do. (nod to zfrank1)

Then there’s Nenette…

Nenette chilling on my side of the bed… or, should I say, modeling.

And look at this. YOU try to tell her “no” and shoo her out of the linen closet!

Nenette likes to jump up into the linen closet when I’m putting clean towels away. This is her idea of “helping” Mommy with the laundry.

She can’t even take a bad picture when she comes up and sticks her face in front of the camera.

Nenette in a split-second candid shot as she stretches her paw out to me.

One of Nenette’s new things is rounding up a few of her scattered toys and lining them up like toy soldiers. I kid you not:

Kitty toy soldiers.

Is it just us being proud kitty parents, or does everyone find this ridiculously cute?

Meanwhile in the backyard, Cita, our unofficially-ours kitty, has made herself more ours than ever. We’re besides ourselves about what to do at this point.

And so here, I guess, is her first real appearance in TALC:

Meet Cita!

I’ve been making it a point to spend time with her throughout the day, because she craves our company, of course… but not much arm-twisting goes into that. She is precious.

My attempt at a selfie with Cita. Awkward.

Cita has a small collection of toys, too. They’re cloth, stuffed, but they’re little stuffed shapes rather than stuffed animals. Several times a day, I go around the yard gathering them so I can group them together where she likes them (on the patio). The strawberry-shaped one is her favorite. It’s my favorite, as well… it’s red and easily detectable in the gravel. The donut-shaped one, though, is a different story. It’s brown and spotted and sometimes it’s a good while before I can find it. It would be so much faster if I had bionic eyes.

I took a picture one time when the donut finally materialized after I spent 10 minutes walking all over the backyard searching for it:

Found it!

It’s like staring at one of those pictures you used to see in the malls in the 80’s, where you stare at the finely detailed recurring pattern until the 3D picture comes into view. Remember those? Your friends could always find the sailboat. You couldn’t.

The donut on closer inspection…

I looked up those pictures; they’re called “autostereograms.”

and closer…

THE DONUT.

Alright, folks… kitty update post out! Until next time, then.

What’s new in the Kittyverse? (Nounours and Nenette updates!)

March 18, 2016March 18, 2016That Asian-Looking Chick Leave a comment

Today, I come to you with a much-requested kitty update. By popular demand, here’s what’s new in the Kittyverse chez nous!

Nounours: Callaghan and I have noticed that when we text Nounours’ name, the auto-correct changes his name to “NonUsers.” Yes. Non-Users. This cracks us up because it’s so fitting… Nounours’ merits are sweetness, lovableness, huggableness, and companionableness. Smarts don’t figure into the equation of the Nounours, and the only real emotion we can ever see behind his big, blue eyes is jealousy. But that’s okay. He’s an armful of loudly purring teddy bear. He’s the teddy bear your five-year-old self always wanted to come to life.

Nounours’ superhero power: Shedding and teleporting his fur to far-off places for you to find when you least expect it. This is his way of making sure that you never forget him.

Nenette: In the spring weather we’ve been having, she’s been enjoying catching mosquitoes… those big, floofy male ones you see in the house from time to time. We can’t understand how she does it. The mosquito will be lightly bouncing along the wall high up by the ceiling, like they do; Nenette will be sitting patiently beneath it, and next thing we know, it’s in her mouth and she’s chomping away. She’s also extremely playful, despite being eight months older now. She actually makes up sophisticated games and teaches us how to play them.

Nenette’s superhero power: Solving complex differential equations and writing ground-breaking mathematical proofs in her sleep.

Together, Nounours and Nenette have reached a point in their relationship where they have four modes: Tolerating each other, glaring at each other, “playing” (Nounours and Nenette-speak for chasing each other around and clearly having no fun at all, and sometimes, every once in a very great while, actually reposing near each other for no apparent reason.

Nenette and Nounours, together in their pod. They even look like peas.

I’m sorry to say that in the weeks since my last kitty update, I’ve tried to snap good pics of Nounours, but it’s so difficult. He’s difficult to photograph. For one thing, he usually doesn’t stay put long enough for me to get a clear shot. But I thought this was cute:

Nounours holding my hand is pretty much the sweetest thing ever.

Then there’s Nenette, who’s a natural in front of a camera and couldn’t take a bad picture if she tried.

Nenette reading Anne Sexton’s letters up on the bookcase.

Nenette trying to keep me from going to work. (*winks at Aunty Carol*)

We bought this giant toy rat for Nounours, but he doesn’t know what to do with it except ignore it. Nenette, on the other hand, likes to pull it toward her to use as a pillow.

Nenette and her rat pillow.

Nenette playing E.T. with some of her toys.

Nenette chewing her toes with great concentration.

Nenette, the epitome of a girly-girl.

I truly wish I could get as many pics of Nounours. I’ll keep trying!

Kitty updates in Haiku (Haiku 1: Cats) (Sharing original poems.)

February 5, 2016September 17, 2021That Asian-Looking Chick 2 Comments

Kitty updates today! I was feeling a pull toward something different when I sat down to write last night, so I went with it. What ended up happening was I wrote about Nounours and Nenette in haiku. It was a fun change of kitty-update pace, plus I’ve been thinking it’s kind of sad that I’ve written so few poems since getting my M.F.A. in Creative Writing with a Poetry concentration.

If you’re not into haiku or poetry in general, just scroll on down… I added a paragraph of non-haiku kitty updates under the last pic.

Haiku 1: Cats

(by Kristi Garboushian)

Bedtime ritual –
the voyeur of espresso,
wicker ball, a lyre.

Nenette cleaning her feet at bedtime.

His roaring soft self
to curl, melt the desert bright
in pastoral glow.

Nounours in the nest Daddy made.

A swing, a feather
like a river marring stars:
Possibility.

Nenette deciding which toy.

The round vacancy –
morning routine, following
the feral other.

Nenette and Nounours enjoying a sunbeam.

In plain speech, Nounours and Nenette have been happily snuggling down in their special nighttime beds that we put together for them: Nenette on her padded bar-stool (in the bedroom corner next to my side of the bed) that I’d swathed in t-shirts I’d worn, and Nounours in the couch nest that Callaghan made with a serape and random cushions.

Nenette still loves her toy corner in the living room more than anything! She studies her toy basket and paws at the toys she wants, lifting them out with her teeth.

On weekend mornings, I’m home to watch both kitties winter sunbathing in beams on the floor.

They’re doing well.

Thanksgiving, TALC-versary, NEW KITTY PICS!

November 27, 2015That Asian-Looking Chick Leave a comment

Today falls between two days of significance: Thanksgiving and my TALC-versary, the latter being more of personal significance, of course.

So, happy belated Thanksgiving, American readers!

And happy 3-year TALC-versay to me, which actually feels like an extension of Thanksgiving, because I’m grateful for this blog. I’m especially grateful for all of you who read it. I wrote my first post on November 28, 2012 after creating my WordPress account sans clear idea of what it would involve. Sometimes it’s more fun not knowing, though, and fun, it has been. I can’t say it enough: Thank you all for reading! Here’s to the next three years!

Yesterday marked our first Thanksgiving here in the Land of AZ since we moved back. It was just the two of us and kitties this year. We talked to Mom and Dad on Skype and then did the traditional thing of eating a lot and catching up on Scream Queens.

For the food, I kept things simple and made savory dishes to satisfy the palate the same way as the traditional Thanksgiving spread. I made quinoa and brown rice pilaf with sautéed mushrooms and garlic, roasted baby red-skinned potatoes and onions, roasted Brussels sprouts, and thick eggplant slices lightly fried in olive oil. We had fresh, cooked broccoli with Veganaise for an appetizer, and fresh raspberries for dessert.

Thanksgiving dinner 2015.

Now for some pics for a mini visual kitty update!

No one lounges like the Nounours.

No one poses better than la petite Nenette.

I managed to catch Nounours in a rare moment of being properly illuminated for the camera. You can even see the blue of his eyes!

Nenette has taken to resting on the back of the couch to be near us.

It’s funny how these two often sit near each other on this end of the couch.

Also! Kitties’ Aunty Carol captioned one of Nenette’s pics from the last update:

“What is HE doing here????”

Yes, Nenette really says that sometimes when she’s in the same space as Nounours, and he says the same thing of her. Their dynamic is mysterious and Callaghan and I mostly try to avoid intervening too much, but I admit that I’m a helicopter cat mom who sometimes hovers over the furbabies to make sure Nounours keeps his intimidation tactics to a minimum.

Today, we’re hiding from Black Friday madness. It feels like the day after Christmas, and that’s awesome.