Lift-off! (a blog for Jen, Bronwyn, and Adam)

I spent wayyyy too much time this morning trying to get this blog megan-ish... it turns out I have a very loose grip on what "megan-ish" means, and an even looser grip on how to write in HTML gibberish, so in the meantime this is it... I woke up early this morning with one of those "it's Sunday, I'll get lots done!" feelings in my belly, but then Tycho came and climbed into the warm covers... and my laptop was within reach... and it's snowing outside... and our house is so cold that Dawson came down to see if the furnace was broken... so all those factors lead to me staying in bed and trying to make friends with sdhfsdhehrkehcjkhek (<--- what HTML looks like to me)

I did one productive thing, though: read some of Pierre Berton's Cats I Have Known and Loved, because I'm going to use one his stories in my Aminals in Lit class. IT'S INCREDIBLE: on the cover of the book is cute little Pierre Berton, wearing a cute little bowtie, and he is holding Suki, his grey tabby, who is ALSO wearing a bowtie. I don't know how the photographer managed to keep a steady hand. The cuteness is off the charts. I saw Pierre Berton at UWO once, reading from this very book! I didn't know it then but it turns out we are kindred spirits. SO to celebrate the first-ever "real" post on this under-construction piece of web pie, here are Pierre Berton's "Rules for Guests of Cat-Owners," which couldn't have been written better myself...

After the usual greetings and pleasantries, please keep in mind the following rules for conversation in this household if you want anyone to listen to you.

1. Ask regularly and repeatedly about the state of the household cats: what they eat, the state of their health, what funny thing they did today... (megan's note: you're off the hook for this one, because I generally don't need any polite prompting to willingly offer all of this information in exquisite detail)

2. Punctuate your discussion of geopolitics, movies, or sex with stories about cats you have known (ie. Yes, there is no question the situation in Belarus is volatile; that reminds me of the time my cat...)

3. No discussion is so intense, no story so riveting, no hockey game on TV so important, no kitchen task so crucial that it can't be interrupted when a cat enters the room. When one does, all attention should turn to the cat (ie, Oh, what a beautiful cat, what's its name? That reminds me of the time my cat...)

4. If you do not own a cat, and in fact have hated and feared cats you entire life, do not disclose this information. Fake it, lie about your true feelings, and make up amusing stories about the felines you have known and loved.

I turned my first Animals essay into an elaboration on one of Pierre's cat stories. Tycho helped by strutting around the floor as I typed. Should I post it?