I had better see a record number of reposts on this.

Banana Phone.

"'He got my IP address.' is no more dangerous than 'He got my street address.'"

Finally got to watch the new #MuppetShow I really hope it gets picked up for a full season, if only so I can hear Kermit announce "our very special guest star, Bad Bunny". The musical numbers would be absolutely amazing.

A mystery. "The world may never know."

Out of curiosity, any idea why the bundle doesn't include The Last Hero and Raising Steam?

I mean, not a big deal--I already have those in paper--but if it's a way to sell a couple of books at regular retail, why those two in particular?

Rhubarb - 2009-2026

Another light gone from the world.

Tape? No, use nails so it doesn't come loose when he sweats.

"Jaws". In other words, 2026 is gonna be pretty much the same as 2016-2025.

Noses The youngsters have decided that the library—nominally their room—is all well and good, especially at dinner time, but hardly the best place to hang out. Hotaru is frequently found on one of the dining room chairs. Hoozuki, on the other forepaw, moves around a fair amount, but seems to have a liking for my box of masks. All things considered, we much prefer her choice to his.

Hotaru and Hoozuki have a collective name!

Preach it! I've long held that mayo is the devil's condiment.

Melting Point We had a spell of hot weather recently—legitimately hot, not just hot-by-local-standards. The cats melted. Fortunately, it’s not that serious; as we already knew, cats are liquid anyway. But having them melting down outside of a container can have awkward side effects, especially when the weather cools down again. Things get sticky. Good thing Em and Lefty have different coloration, or we might not have been able to figure out which bits were who.

Recent weather has had some disturbing effects on the cats. Oh, and some minor commentary on Apple's latest hardware announcements.

They Grow Up So Fast The hellions formerly known as The Kittens are now officially adults. It’s largely a chronological thing, but they are starting to take on some of the privileges of adulthood. They’re eating “Big Kitty” food—mostly, there’s still a little bit of kitten krunchiez mixed into the adult dry food—and, perhaps most importantly, they’re not being confined to their room overnight. They haven’t yet discovered the adult pleasure of sleeping on the bed with the hoomins and the big kitties, but that’ll probably come.

Little kitties aren't so little anymore.

Not Exactly Spelunking Watanuki can often be found chilling in his cave. It was designed as a high-class litter box enclosure, but the drop-front opening just didn’t work for us: scooping a box is much easier from above. So, no box and no litter; instead, it’s got a few blankets and a sleeping pad. Comfy, convenient to the actual litter box and to the food bowls, and with a reasonable field of view toward the master bedroom.

Not Exactly Spelunking: Every cat his cave.

Filling In and Filling Out Lest Rhubarb feel left out, yes, he’s just as low-energy as everyone else around here. Pink toebeans, brick red nose, and artfully draped tail. Good work by Maggie to get a shot of him when he wasn’t singing the sad song of his people. Speaking of which… Maggie recently added some decoration to the young hellion’s room. (The art is by…

"Feed us, Mother..."

Geminaughty I know it’s been rather quiet around here lately. The bottom line is that everyone has been rather low-energy. Case in point: (Yes, ‘Nuki is wearing a bib. He’s a drooler, and even though there’s a Protect-o-Blanket on the bed, we’d prefer to impose a bit of flood control.) Sachiko makes sure she always has the important tools of her trade handy, even while napping in the sun.

Geminaughty: Four pictures, six cats as an apology for my lack of posts lately.

Also, a few early thoughts about Google Gemini's performance on the Google Watch.

Seven cats in this house and not one of them could be arsed to supervise me in the bathroom.

Astonishingly, I survived the experience.

Man, do I ever want to see the grant applications...

Untitled Emeraldas, Watanuki, and Lefty are currently in a friendlier phase of their ever-shifting relationship dynamic. Sometimes she’ll cuddle with one or the other; recently she was focused on Lefty, until he decided she was being too snuggly. Several brief spats ensued, featuring startled exclamations, pointy-pawed slaps, and just a dash of ear biting. Since she started paying more attention to Watanuki again, bedtime has been quieter.

The feline poly lifestyle has its moments, peaceful and otherwise.

There’s a Bug! Although the Hellbeastsyoungsters spend a large fraction of their time hanging out together, it’s rare to see them cooperating on a project. One will nap while the other wanders off to check the food bowls. One will explore the kitchen sink while the other watches from below. Bug hunting is an exception. They stalk together, chase together, and on occasion, even use each other as springboards to launch themselves to ever-higher altitudes. A true exemplar of the saying that “The family that eats moths together, stays together.”

There's a Bug!

Felines, Nothing More Than Felines I don’t have anything to talk about today, so enjoy your “nothing but cats” post. Hoozuki is often found sitting on the back of the futon in the kittens’ room, just watching the world go by. Recent warm weather forced us to close the blinds; he can still see out, but it’s not quite as entertaining, so he sometimes rotates his viewpoint 180 degrees.

Felines, Nothing More Than Felines

No politics, no technology. This week, just cats.

Persistence Persistence is a virtue. (Please consider the obligatory comment on the current political landscape as made.) Take Sachiko for example. In recent days, she’s decided that my pillow makes an excellent place to sleep, or just hang out. I’m fine with her snoozing there during the day. I’m at work, so why shouldn’t she get comfortable? And it’s not like the pillow is going to wear out.

Persistence is a virtue, in politics, on the bed, and in the kitchen. Also Slow Cooker Cheesy Beef

Charles Dickens is, right or wrong, one of the most revered authors in the Anglo-American canon.

This does not mean that anyone wants to see a return of the socioeconomic conditions that inspired his writing.

WWDC and Some Other Stuff It really is Tahoe and MacOS 26. Too bad; it woulda been a nice joke. Before I start ranting about everything Apple, here are ‘Nuki and Emeraldas to remind us all that some things aren’t worth getting worked up about and we should really just chill. Relaxed? Good, let’s move on to WWDC. -=*=- Revamped name scheme aside, Apple’s big announcement was the (well-leaked) design change.

In these trying times, it's important to make time to just chill with friends. No matter how excited you might be about Apple's latest announcements.

Who Am I Again? Hoozuki has discovered the joys of the ‘nip. (Photo credit to Maggie) Meanwhile, helpful creature that she is, Hotaru helps Maggie load the dishwasher. She’s also been known to help unload it, but we try to discourage that because it makes us nervous to see her emptying the knife basket with her mouth. -=*=- In other news, Google has declared their destruction of the Wallet app on watches to be a bug and has reversed the change.

Apple is supposedly renaming their various operating systems. Does anyone really care?

Chill Graydon is the Champion of Chill. It’s not, by the way, that nobody indoors is doing anything photo-worthy, just that they’re not doing it when I have my phone handy. To mitigate the lack of feline variety, how about a special bonus for the ‘bean fanciers? You’re welcome. -=*=- I don’t have anything like Graydon’s level of chill. Many things tick me off.

Take a tip from a cat: sometimes chilling is the best thing you can do for yourself and others.

Google I/O 2025 and Some Other Stuff No, that’s not G’aw. They do look similar, but this fellow doesn’t have as much white around his front shoulders. Meet Graydon. He’s been visiting the Backyard Bowl somewhat frequently of late. He’ll typically show up mid-morning, help himself to some catnip while he sunbathes, and then raid the gooshy fud before he wanders off to take care of his other feline obligations.

Catnip isn't right for everyone.

Untitled I know some of you have been waiting for this for months, so without further ado: Hoozuki Toe Beans! And, of course, Hotaru Toe Beans! -=*=- In other bean-related news, Yahoo! informs us that a “standard” serving of 28 chocolate-covered espresso beans has between three and four times as much caffeine as the “standard” 8 ounce cup of coffee. And in my opinion, tastes three to four times better as well.

Sooner or later, everyone shows off their toe beans.

I Beg Your Pardon Why does one always get sick on one’s day off? Apologies for the later-than-usual post. Not only was it written under the influence of a slight fever, but the upload was delayed by Xfinity’s attempt to “enhance the network” in our area. This resulted in frequent and protracted losses of connectivity for much of the day. Anyhow. The Terrible Twosome’s integration with the rest of the gang continues.

Feline relationships aren't always particularly complex. Sometimes, though...

Sachiko had a bad week, so we did too.