Of course it is, when you’re happily banging away on the keyboard and you look over and right beside you, is this.

Together they’re like a little bit of Octobertime decor. They look like there should be a fluttering candle or bouquet of black roses growing out of their heads.

One of the images that’s stuck with me from my teenage years – the days I used to wallpaper my bedroom walls with 80’s metal bands torn out of magazines – is a concert shot of Tom Araya. It’s a really cool photograph: he’s singing into a mic, everything a blur of light and shadow, the only thing in focus is one shining eye.

This week’s cat pic was supposed to be “awwwww, Bella jumped up on the bed to cuddle with Pollywog and Pollywog’s grooming her ears and they never really do this anymore and isn’t it so cute AWWWWWWWW” and instead my cat channels Slayer’s bass player.

You know that old trope about people who resemble their pets and vice versa?
There is probably no better graphic representing the kind of week I just had.

Polly’s latest favorite place to ooze herself: my gym bag. It is so considerate of her to make sure all my workout wear is covered in the fine fluff of a cat butt. Thank you, O Goddess of Fantastic Cheekbones.

And this is what lurks on my bedroom floor. I often catch it staring at me from across the room. It can be unnerving.

So I hope you all had a superbly ridiculous April Fool’s Day yesterday. I quite enjoyed inducing heart attacks in a few of you :) This blog prank was my favorite: Rare Baby Skeksis Born at Franklin Park Zoo. Mmmmmmmmm!

It’s a good idea to have a scratching post if you have a cat. It’s absolutely crucial if you have a Bella. Better a ramp of sisal than my tender flesh, which is her second favorite place to bite down and kick with her back legs.

The new post! Not only is there fresh sisal, but a perch. What a great spot for birdwatching! And rolling around, since plush carpeting is such a novelty to hardwood-raised paws! And fighting! What a great height from which to smack another cat! Yay!

There has thus far been no sharing. This appears to be a one-at-a-time perch.

So I’m cheating a bit today and using an image taken a couple weeks ago, but the girls refuse to stay still for the camera at the moment, and I’m a big fan of not-perfect pics that end up capturing the subject’s essence so perfectly.

This really does say it all about them: Pollywog flashing her Bette Davis eyes, Bella ready to star in a low-budget horror movie. By the way, Bella’s expression never changes.

So here in New York, it’s been like our third or fourth really nice warm day, and Meowcat Beach is in full swing.

The kittybed was originally something meant to be attached to a window, which is what we had in San Francisco. That is no longer the case in our Brooklyn digs. As you can see, everybody’s just heartbroken.

Especially now that the glass slides back and there’s constant breezes and birdsongs in the air. Just awful, I tell you.