An award/meme & call for pictures!

Abby: We received this award/meme from Tama-Chan and Tom of The Poupounette! Thank you, friends.

The "rules" for this award and meme are as follows:

"When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to said person so everyone knows he or she is real. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have 7 friends. Show the 7 random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Weblog.” Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on! "

So, keeping in the tradition of Tama-Chan and Tom, I shall first post an "honest" picture of myself before telling you some more about myself:

1. I really like tissue paper. I like the way it sounds, the way it crackles. I love it when Mr. R brings out the cat toys and dangles them around, because I will make sure I dive under the paper as loudly as possible before staging my attack on the toy.
2. I do NOT like having my tail touched. I do NOT like being scratched above the tail. Don't do it. Just don't go there.
3. I don't like treats of any flavor anymore. Not even Temptations. I used to gobble them up when I saw Styggie getting some, but I'm older and more selective now about what I eat.
4. I will not sit in anyone's lap.
5. I'm really a coward. Even though I may end up initiating play and wrestling with Stygia, I am usually the one who is on the run by the end of the game.
6. I get really concerned for Ms. C when she is doing that thing she calls "singing." I show this by getting close to her face and trying to touch it. The louder she sings, the faster this happens.
7. I do not like being brushed.
8. My purr is frequent but so quiet, you'd have to touch my throat to know that I am doing it.
9. I am allowed to sniff anyone, anywhere, anytime. However, you are not welcome to sniff me.
10. Ms. C is my favorite.

Stygia: Now it's my turn! Here's a picture of me:

1. I am not completely a black cat. I have a very few white furs on my chest, like a tuxie, and a little white spot on my lower belly. Shhh!
2. I want to eat whatever food Abby eats except for that gross moist tuna stuff she gets at 4pm every day. After she gets that, I follow either Ms. C or Mr. R and get 5 chicken Temptations instead! Yum!
3. I weigh 11.1 pounds according to the vet, who weighed me yesterday.
4. I only weighed 7 pounds when I first came to live at my new forever home.
5. It's a good thing I have gained this weight, because I need to hold my own against Abby, who weighs about a pound less than I do. You see, I don't have front claws. Ms. C and Mr. R would never declaw a kitty, my previous owners did, but I need the weight to intimidate Abby.
6. When my tail fluffs up, it looks like a pipe-cleaner.
7. Sometimes I like to sit right behind the tower of Ms. C's computer because the fans blow out that nice warm air, and it feels so good.
8. I get more hairballs than Abby even thogh her hair is longer than mine, because I refuse to consume that malt hairball solution they offer to me. Yuck.
9. I roll repeatedly to show my love for Ms. C and Mr. R.
10. I love butt-scratchings and brushings!

Now we must nominate 7 blogs. This is always the tough part! Today we are going to nominate:

Tristan of Tabbylicious
Siena and Chilli of Cat with a Garden
Poppy Q
Angus Mhor
Mr. Black and Elvis of The Kittini Boys
Rosie of Louche Tabby
Gandalf and Grayson's Mom

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Ms. C: I am attempting to build my portfolio of pet portraits. And I could use your help. Here are two I've done:

This is a watercolor portrait I did of IKKYU, who has since passed over the bridge.


This is a pen and ink drawing I did of Abby:
I am trying to build my portfolio of pet-portraits so that in the future, I can someday create them professionally. What I am hoping is that some of you will be generous enough to allow me to draw or paint your pets. I work in a variety of media, including those you see above, acrylic, and digital work.

What I need from you is a clear picture or pictures of your pet that you took yourself. I cannot work with professionally taken or otherwise copyrighted works unless you own that copyright yourself. You must give me permission to use your photo as part of a portfolio that I can share with prospective clients. I agree not to use your photo and resulting artwork for anything other than advertising my services.

I will be accepting photos for this project until March 1st, 2009. I cannot guarantee I'll use every photo I receive; I will be selecting the ones I feel the most comfortable with for the artwork.

Please email your photos to tabbynormal at gmail.com ... If you do not have a digital copy, please contact me at that email address to make other arrangements.

In return, if I select your picture, I will provide you free of charge with a fine digital copy of the artwork that you may use however you wish as long as I get credit for the creation of the original artwork. You can use it on your blog, print out cards or posters with it, alter it, and so forth. No one else is allowed to use the artwork without the permission of both of us. I will also send you the original drawing/painting if it's done in physical (non-digital) media such as watercolor or acrylic, provided that you pay the postage.

I don't know how long it will take me to complete this project, and I don't know how many pictures I will be able to select. I estimate that it is a project that I will continue work on throughout the rest of 2009. Part of the idea of this project is for me to get some practice, so if you submit a picture to me, please have some patience with me! =)

Thanks so much in advance for your support, and I look forward to working with you.

PS. ANY kind of pet is welcome: cats, dogs, birds, rabbits, ferrets, snakes, and so forth (no pet rocks!) If you are not sure about it, just send me an email and ask. Unlike Abby, I don't bite.

Clear Evidence . . . and Awards!

Stygia: First of all, we'd like to thank our friends at The Poupounette and Ramses Meowings for our first award of the new year! How beautiful it is to have friends. We love making new friends, and sometimes friends are lost for one reason or another, but friends are always in the heart!

We are going to pass this award on to Niko and Cloud of Cats in Maryland and to Whicky Whuddler and his family at Everycat. By the way, Ms. C is ashamed to admit that when she tried to remodel the blog, she lost track of last year's awards. She is still hoping at some point she can discover a way to resurrect them, but if not we shall start afresh with the friends award!

And now I have something far more serious to report. You can see that I am very serious, yes?

She . . . I mean Abby Normal, has finally been captured wet-pawed doing that thing she thinks she is doing secretly!!! She does it in her water-bowl, and now she has even started doing it in Ms. C's water-cup, as you can see here! In case you cannot tell what she is doing, she dips her paw repeatedly in her bowl or the glass and licks it off. I just can't understand this behavior, so I can understand why she wanted to keep it a secret, and why she stops when she thinks Ms. C or anyone else is looking. But now we have PROOF.

Nevertheless, we still love her even if she is a sneaky little adolescent type of girl, because she is just so cute. And I appreciate that she bathes my head and ears for me. I have only just started giving her a tentative lick from time to time. Maybe when she calms down a bit in a year or so, I will be able to return the favor.

At least we can calmly share the couch together. We like it that our humans cover it with all kinds of comfy blankets for us to snuggle around.

Honoring Sen-Chan

It is with great sadness today that we learned that Sen-Chan of The Poupounette crossed the rainbow bridge today.

Please stop by their blog today and leave #1, Tama-Chan, and Tom some love. In spite of his all-too-short life, what a fantastic life he had with wonderful friends and family.

News Flash and Tabby Toesday

Abby: Sen-Chan, Tom, and #1 of The Poupounette have welcomed a new member of the family to their home yesterday! It's a coup for the cats, as felines Sen-Chan and his new Abyssinian sister now outnumber the other species in their household. We are so excited for all of you. Congratulations! She is a lucky little girl.

Speaking of lucky, Ms. C was very lucky this morning because I chose to warm her lap:

I don't know why they call relaxing "chilling out," because we were so warm and cozy. I love to lay all flat and spread out to maximize my warmth intake. I just let my tabby toes hang in the air, I was very relaxed!

I am not usually a lap cat. This morning, however, it was much colder than I was used to. The sun was not out. It was raining. I thought Ms. C looked like she could use some kitty warmth, so that's why I did it. Now that the sun has come back out, though, Stygia and I need to get back to our positions on the window.

Caturday Award & Catnip

First of all, I would like to thank both the awesome cats of The catsp and Sen-Chan of The Poupounette for honoring me with this Arte & Pico award!

About the award:

This award was created to be given to bloggers who inspire others with their creativity and their talents, also for contributing to the blogging world in whatever medium. When you receive this award it is considered a special honor. Once you have received this award, you are to pass it on to 5 others.

Rules:

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogger community, regardless of language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award-winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4. Award-winners and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5. To show these rules.

Thank you so much for this honor! In return, I would like to tag Catzee, Texas, Nixon, Jake, and Jojo!

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And now, on to the Caturday activities. What should I do first--play or sleep? Well, you may know (or not) that Ms. C was a little bit disappointed that I had no interest in catnip. Some cats don't, but today I discovered its joys!

I wrestled with my mouse, clasping it and rubbing it all over my face. I rolled. I even made my little furrymouse go airborne:


It was exhausting, and blissfully I discover a new and comfy way to rest my ears during my nap. We are going to be lazy today, and I hope you shall too!

Great News & Playful Start!

The News
First of all, I am really excited to welcome some great friends of mine to the blogosphere! I introduced them last week, and now Sen-Chan and Tom have their own blog, The Pouponette! Visit it to see all the fun they are having, find out what a Poupounette is, and see all of their beautiful pics!

Playful Start
I was a little bit confused when Ms. C took my favorite place to lounge away, the table in-between their two desks. She said something about "painting the ugly thing," whatever that may mean. But as you can see, she kindly placed a temorary table between their desks and put a nice, soft cloth on it for me. I think it really sets off my stripes:

But do not be deceived by that pose of repose. I have many games to play each day, each of vital importance. Some, like this example of Catzilla, I like to play with Mr. R:

This morning I was up very, very early with the crazies at 4am. I viciously attacked those monsters under the bedcovers. Mr. R tried to calm me with some corporal cuddling. Just what is corporal cuddling? Ms. C has located (but had nothing to do with the creation of) a fun and educational video concerning this topic:

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

When the corporal cuddling failed, Ms. C decided to just do the right thing after all and get out of bed. I followed her, and while sitting in the chair next to hers, discovered that my tail was getting out of hand!! You can see here, I almost Got it:


Never fear, even though you see my claws viciously extended in the previous pose, no harm came to any tails: