Pet Photo Fails: Oldies But Goodies

Hi, all! Welcome to the September edition of Pet Photo Fails.

Old SoLT is still seriously not feeling well, what with the infections and kidney stones she has been fighting. The good news is that the stones are finally gone, the infections are finally gone, and the pain she's having now seems to be from the stent she has, which is supposed to come out today. We hope that if all goes well, she will be on the mend by next week.

But that is next week, and this is this week, and old SoLT has not taken a single photo of anything this month, so she has no fresh photo fails. Instead, We're sharing these two classics from last year. The first one is Webster not cooperating, and the second is Paisley not cooperating:

Now it's your turn! Just post your not-quite-right pet photos and link up here to join in the fun. All pets are welcome. The Linky will be open until 11:59 p.m. Monday (eastern time). We can't wait to see those photo fails and laugh at them commiserate with you over how hard it can be to take a good pet photo.

Not ready for this month's hop? No problem! Mark your calendar for next month's hop, which will be on September 28.

#PetPhotoFails

Pet Photo Fails: Paisley, Unfocused

Welcome to the August edition of Pet Photo Fails!

We have just one fail for you this month, because old SoLT has not been feeling well for a whole month now and hasn't taken many pictures. She found out she has a kidney stone that might be sort of stuck, and she will probably feel better after she has it removed, but we don't know when that will be yet.

Anyway, here is a blurry photo of Real Cat Paisley 

Now it's your turn! Just post your not-quite-right pet photos and link up here to join in the fun. All pets are welcome. The Linky will be open until 11:59 p.m. Monday (eastern time). We can't wait to see those photo fails and laugh at them commiserate with you over how hard it can be to take a good pet photo.

Not ready for this month's hop? No problem! Mark your calendar for next month's hop, which will be on September 28.

#PetPhotoFails

Caturday Art: Webster in the Cat Tree Cubby

This week's Caturday Art features Real Cat Webster in one of his favorite spots: the little cubby hole in the cat tree.

Old SoLT used the Floating effect at 40% in LunaPic. She tried adding a bunch of other things on top of that, but nothing looked quite right, so she decided to stop. She did bump up the contrast and brightness in Photoshop, though.

Here's the original:

We're sorry we haven't been around much lately, but old SoLT is still not feeling all that great. I hope she gets better soon, because I have lots of stuff to tell you about!

We're joining the Caturday Art Blog Hop, hosted by Athena and Marie!

Caturday Art: Sleepy Webster

This week's Caturday Art features Real Cat Webster doing one of his very favorite things: going to sleep.

Old SoLT did this with a combination of Lunapic and PicMonkey effects. In Lunapic, she used the Sketch 4 art effect, followed by just a touch of the Landscape effect (26%) to put some color back in. Then in PicMonkey, she added the Frost effect and a drop-shadow frame.

And here is the original:

We're joining the Caturday Art Blog Hop, hosted by Athena and Marie!

Words with Webster: Henry’s Pocket, Plus Friendly Fill-Ins

We have two fun Friday features for you today. First up is Real Cat Webster, who has an “eary”  word to share. After that, it’s on to Friendly Fill-Ins!

Words with Webster

Hi, everybody! It’s me, Real Cat Webster. Welcome to Words with Me. Today’s word is “Henry’s pocket.” I picked this word because I just thought it was interesting. It is also not in the dictionary, which makes it kind of hard to find its origins or give examples.

But anyway, the important thing is that Henry’s pocket is that little pouchy thing on the bottom part of a cat’s outer ear. It’s also called the “cutaneous marginal pouch,” but “Henry’s pocket” is so much more fun to say. Some kinds of dogs and other animals have these little ear pouches too.

That little pouch at the bottom of this cat's ear is
Henry's pocket. No one knows quite what it's for.
Public domain image by Mattes, via Wikimedia Commons.

Humans like to name things, so they have named this little pouch, but none of them seem to know for sure what its function is. One possibility is that the pouch helps cats detect high-pitched sounds. No one seems to know why it’s called Henry’s pocket either. We have no idea who named it that or when. All in all, Henry’s pocket is kind of a mysterious thing.

One thing that is not so mysterious is that nasty little parasites like to hang out in Henry’s pocket, so you and your vet should keep an eye out for them!

Friendly Fill-Ins

And now it’s time for Friendly Fill-Ins, from 15andmeowing and The Four-Legged Furballs. Real Cat Paisley took on the first two this week, and old SoLT did the next two.

Real Cat Paisley’s answers:

1. I have faith in the Cat Food Gods because they eventually make sure I get some tasty food. Sometimes it takes a while, though. Please see my answer to #2 for an example.

2. Yesterday, I finally got some tasty food after several days of icky food. The gods must have slept through the first part of the week or something.

Old SoLT’s answers:

3. My favorite place to be is sort of theoretical because I almost never get to go there . . . but I love the beach.

4. If I was granted one wish, it would be to live closer to the shore so I could enjoy walking on the beach more often than once a decade.

Catuday Art: Paisley Reviews a Book

We are so glad to be back after having to skip a whole week of blogging due to illness! Old SoLT has been fighting an infection for almost two weeks now, and she is finally starting to feel better. Many thanks to those who wrote to make sure we were okay--we really appreciate it!

Anyway, old SoLT felt up to doing some Caturday Art this week, so she artified a picture of Real Cat Paisley helping her review a book:

The art was done in Lunapic with the Blue swirl (100%), Space (51%) and Futuristic (79%) art effects. We think it looks appropriately spacey, although it's kind of hard to see Paisley. The book, in case you're wondering, is Space Cat Visits Venus.

And here's the original photo:

We're joining the Caturday Art Blog Hop, hosted by Athena and Marie!

Pet Photo Fails: July

Welcome to the July edition of Pet Photo Fails!

We have a healthy crop of photos gone wrong this month, beginning with this one of Real Cats Webster and Paisley together. You can probably make out Webs, and Paisley is that big blob on the right:

And this is Paisley stretching. We think old SoLT was trying to help her take a selfie:

Here, old SoLT shows off her stunning photography skills by getting a blurry photo and cutting off Paisley's face:

And finally, this was definitely an attempted selfie, and it just happened last week. Webster was protesting having to look at the camera:

Now it's your turn! Just post your not-quite-right pet photos and link up here to join in the fun. All pets are welcome. The Linky will be open until 11:59 p.m. Monday (eastern time). We can't wait to see those photo fails and laugh at them commiserate with you over how hard it can be to take a good pet photo.

Not ready for this month's hop? No problem! Mark your calendar for next month's hop, which will be on August 31.

#PetPhotoFails

Sunday Selfie: Webster Cooperates--Sort Of

Real Cat Webster agreed under mild protest to participate in this week's Sunday Selfie. He never did look at the camera, but at least he looks cute:

We're joining the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop, hosted by The Cat on My Head!

Caturday Art: Webster

Our Caturday Art this week features Real Cat Webster with an unknown filter from Dreamscope:

This one only took a week to get back. It came out a little dark, so we bumped up the brightness and contrast in Photoshop. We're pleased with it and didn't think it needed anything else.

No sign of the art we started in Dreamscope three or four weeks ago, though.

Reminder!

Don't forget to remember the Pet Photo Fails Blog Hop, which happens right here next Friday, July 27!

Just post a couple of those not-quite-right pet photos (we know you have some) and stop by, ready to hop.

We can't wait to see you!

We're joining the Caturday Art Blog Hop, hosted by Athena and Marie!

Words with Webster: Catnap

We have two fun Friday features for you today. First up is Real Cat Webster, who has a sleepy word to share. After that, it’s on to Friendly Fill-Ins!

Words with Webster

Hi, everybody! It’s me, Real Cat Webster. Welcome to Words with Me. Today’s word is “catnap.” I picked this word because today is Nap Day, a day that sure seems made for cats. Anyway, we all know what a catnap is, right? In case you don’t, it is a “very short light nap,” according to my favorite dictionary (Webster’s, obviously [Webster’s Third New International, unabridged, online]).

The Oxford English Dictionary doesn’t have a separate entry for “catnap.” Weird, right? Anyway, they list it under “cat,” along with a whole bunch of other phrases and words that have “cat” in them.  They say a catnap is “a short nap while sitting.”

These definitions make me think that maybe dictionary people have never seen a cat take a nap. When me and Paisley take naps, we don’t mess around with “short,” “light,” or “sitting.” We are serious about it! Maybe other cats do it different, though. Please let us know in the comments if we are taking naps wrong.

The OED says that this word has been around since at least 1823, when it appeared in James Fenimore Cooper’s Pioneers:

I just closed my eyes in order to think the better with myself... It was only some such matter as a cat’s nap. (II.xiii.187)

There weren’t a lot of good quotes for "catnap," so that’s the only one I picked to show you.

Obviously “catnap” is a combination of “cat” and “nap.” If you want to know about “cat” (which has been around since at least the year 800), you can read my post on it. “Nap” has been around since about 1300, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. It seems to be related to the Old High German hnaffezan and Norwegian napp.

Maybe this will give you something to dream about while you're taking your nap today!

Friendly Fill-Ins

And now it’s time for Friendly Fill-Ins, from 15andmeowing and The Four-Legged Furballs. Old SoLT did the first two, and Real Cat Paisley did the next two.

Old SoLT’s answers:

1. I tried  a cricket and I liked didn’t like it. Someone gave me a “Cricket Lick-It” lollipop once and I thought, Well, why not? so I ate it. Let’s just say it turned out to be not my thing. And the tequila-flavored lollipop with the worm inside? Also not my thing!

2. Am I the only one who would actually eat candy with a cricket in it?

Real Cat Paisley’s answers:

3. Garfield is my hero/heroine. All that lasagna!

4. If I could eat only one food for the rest of my life, it would be … You must be crazy. There is no way I could eat only one food. I get tired of everything after one day, sometimes after one serving, so Mommy has to rotate my food brands and flavors a lot.

Reminder!

Finally, here is your monthly reminder about the Pet Photo Fails Blog Hop, which happens right here next Friday!

So post a couple of those not-quite-right pet photos (we know you have some) and stop by, ready to hop.

We can't wait to see you!

Sunday Selfie: Real Cat Paisley at Work

Sometimes Real Cat Paisley likes to  sit in the window behind the computer monitors while old SoLT is working. That's where she took her selfie this week.

We're joining the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop, hosted by The Cat on My Head!

Caturday Art: Paisley with Waves of Illusion

Just when old SoLT thought she was going to have to spend an hour or two making a Caturday Art, she tried one filter in Lunapic and said, "Wow, that's cool!" Then she put another effect on top of it and said, "That's cool too!"

She couldn't decide which she liked better, so here they both are:

This first one is the Waves effect at 100%.

And this one is Waves with Illusion added at 100% for some more color.

Which one do you like best? Let us know in the comments!

We're joining the Caturday Art Blog hop, hosted by Athena and Marie!

Words with Webster: Panther

We have two fun Friday features for you today. First up is Real Cat Webster, who has another wild word to share. After that, it’s on to Friendly Fill-Ins!

Words with Webster

Hi, everybody! It’s me, Real Cat Webster. Welcome to Words with Me. Today’s word is “panther.” I picked this word because one of the comments to my last post asked, “If leopards aren’t panthers, then what are?” That’s a great question, and we wondered about that ourselves. So of course I looked it up, and Webster’s dictionary says “panther” means

(1): a leopard of a supposed exceptionally large fierce variety (2): a leopard of the black color phase. (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, unabridged, online)

A panther can also be a cougar or a jaguar, again according to Webster’s.

Next I used Mommy’s library account to look at the Oxford English Dictionary, which defines “panther” like this:

Originally: an exotic spotted big cat that was believed to be distinct from the leopard. Now: a leopard (Panthera pardus), esp. a melanistic one.

The OED also says that “panther” can mean a cougar or jaguar, although it indicates the “jaguar” meaning is obsolete, which seems weird to Mommy because she has seen “panther” used to refer to a melanistic jaguar a whole bunch of times.

I found this fun quote from 1894 to make things more confusing:

The panther was long called a “tyger” in the Carolinas, and a “lyon” elsewhere. (Century magazine, April, 849)

This quote uses "panther" to refer to the cougar, puma, mountain lion, or whatever other synonym you can think of.

Anyway, “panther” has been around since the early 13^th century, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. It came from the Old French word pantere, which was from the Latin panthera, which was from the Greek panther (“panther, leopard”). Some of you may recognize panthera as the genus name of several big cat species: the lion, tiger, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard.

This cat could be called a panther (it's a melanistic leopard), but so could a few other cats.
Photo by Davidvraju [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons.

There are lots of quotes for this word, so I picked just a couple:

The leoparde or spotted panthere…signifieth the kingdom of great Alexander. (George Joye, 1545, The Exposition of Daniel the Prophete, 1^st ed., vii. f. 98)

In the twelfth edition of the Systema Naturæ the Panther and Leopard seem to be confounded by Linnæus himself, who seems to have considered them as the same species. (George Shaw and James Francis Stephens, 1800, General Zoology, 1^st ed., I. ii. 349)

In conclusion, a panther is a leopard … except when it is something else.

You humans just can’t decide what to call cats, can you?

Friendly Fill-Ins

And now it’s time for Friendly Fill-Ins, from 15 and Meowing and The Four-Legged Furballs. Old SoLT did the first two this week, and Real Cat Paisley did the next two.

Old SoLT’s answers:

1. As a child, I feared ghosts, and I thought everyplace we lived was haunted.

2. Friday the 13th is a movie I remember watching on cable when I was in high school. It scared me then and still kind of freaks me out today. I don’t have any superstitions about the actual day.

 Real Cat Paisley’s answers:

3. I think tortitude is my best quality.

4. You can’t go wrong with taking a nap. Napping solves most problems and gives you more energy to play.

14 Questions for Real Cat Paisley

Just when we thought we weren’t going to think of a Thursday post topic this week, our pal CK posted a set of 14 new questions to answer, and we jumped on it. Real Cat Paisley agreed to provide honest answers in exchange for extra treats.


1. When did something start out badly for you but in the end, it was great?

Going to adoption events when I was just a kid. I was about 6 months old, and my foster family kept taking me to cat adoption events at Petsmart, but nobody would adopt me. I think it was because I was frightened and people couldn't see the real me. It was awful. I went five times and nobody wanted me, but then on my sixth time, my mommy came and found me, and it was obvious we were made for each other! So that turned out pretty great.

2. What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?

I don’t think anything I eat is weird, but I really like a beef and liver combo that icks Mommy out.

3. What food have you never eaten but would really like to try?

I can’t think of any. Except maybe I would like to try fried chicken more often than Mommy lets me.

4. What food is delicious but a pain to eat?

Fried chicken, because I have to ask and ask and ask to get just a tiny little piece!

5. What's the most expensive thing you've ever broken?

That’s easy: Mommy’s balance ball chairs. They’re not expensive (under $20 each), but I’ve gotten my claws into quite a few of them over the years, so it adds up. Mommy says she’s never buying one again, and now she sits on a stool that I can’t figure out how to break yet.

6. What would a world populated by clones of you be like?

So much fun! Interspersed with lots of arguments, ’cause I don’t take crap from anybody, even myself.

7. What smartphone feature would you actually be excited for a company to implement?

Meow recognition, so I can open Mommy’s phone and do stuff whenever I want.

8. What’s something people don’t worry about but really should?

Anything other than themselves. Too many humans decide not to care about animals, or the planet, or people who aren’t just like them. If more people figured out they’re not the only thing that matters, the world would be a better place.

9. What was cool when you were young but isn’t cool now?

Flip phones.

10. If magic was real, what spell would you try to learn first?

That one from Harry Potter that makes people throw up slugs. I have a list of people I’d like to try it on.

11. What goal do you think humanity is not focused enough on achieving?

I have to agree with CK: Humanity needs to eliminate kill shelters. Killing animals because they are “extra” is one of the dumbest ideas people have ever had.

12. If you were a ghost and could possess people, what would you make them do?

I’d make them get the zoomies and run around the house like we cats do. I want to see Mommy run up and down the hall real fast with that wild look in her eyes!

13. What game have you spent the most hours playing?

Probably “chase the toy.” I haven’t played this in a long time, but I used to do it every evening. Mommy would toss a toy down the hall and I’d chase after it, then she’d walk to the end of the hall and throw the toy in the other direction and I’d chase after it, and so on. We both got a lot of exercise doing this!

14. What’s the most comfortable bed or chair you’ve ever been in?

Definitely the bed in the guest bedroom, and specifically the pillows on it. That’s the best place in the house.

Sunday Selfie: Paisley's Two White Whiskers

Real Cat Paisley was persuaded to do this week's Sunday Selfie, and after she took it she noticed that it shows off her two white whiskers. See them?

We're joining the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop, hosted by The Cat on My Head!

Caturday Art: Brave Webster

For today's Caturday Art, old SoLT used the Ceremony (100%) and Brave (42%) art effects from Lunapic to make this art of Real Cat Webster:

We think it makes his eyes look pretty cool. And here's the original:

We're joining the Caturday Art Blog Hop, hosted by Athena and Marie!

Words with Webster: Leopard

We have two fun Friday features for you today. First up is Real Cat Webster, who has a … spotted word to share. After that, it’s on to Friendly Fill-Ins!

Words with Webster

Hi, everybody! It’s me, Real Cat Webster. Welcome to Words with Me. Today’s word is “leopard.” Maybe you remember that I mentioned this word in my column a couple of weeks ago and said I’d do it soon. I’m doing it today.

A leopard is

a large strong cat (Felis pardus) of southern Asia and Africa that is usually tawny or buff with black spots arranged in broken rings or rosettes, is somewhat arboreal, and often lies in ambush for its prey that consists of most animals small or weak enough for it to overcome—called also panther. (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, online)

You probably already knew that. And if you read my last post about the word “pard,” you might already suspect that “leopard” is a related word. Well, it is. Let’s go in our usual order, though, with dates and quotes.

“Leopard” has appeared with various spellings since at least about 1330, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The Online Etymology Dictionary says the English word has been around since the late 13th century and was used as a surname starting in the early 13th century. There were several good quotes. I picked these ones for you to show a couple of the different spellings:

Then answered Kyng Richard, In deed lyon, in thought libbard. (Richard Coer de Lyon, 2182 [about 1400])

There was a lyeparte there aboutes whiche destroyed the people of the contre. (Jacobus de Voragine, Golden Legende, trans. by William Caxton, 416/1 [1483])

Wert thou a Leopard, thou wert Germane to the Lion, and the spottes of thy Kindred, were Iurors on thy life. (Shakespeare, Timon of Athens (1623) iv. iii. 342 [about 1616])

This word comes to us from the Late Latin leopardus (“lion-pard, lion-panther”) and Greek leopardos, says the Online Etymology Dictionary. Back in those times, people thought the leopard was actually a hybrid of a lion and a panther, so that’s what they called it: a lion-panther. Now we know that a leopard is its own thing.

Look closely at the cat in this drawing of an Egyptian chariot...
(By Unknown author [CC BY-SA 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons. Original source is W.W. Loring, "A Confederate Soldier in Egypt," 1884.)

It's spotted, but it also seems to have a sort of mane.
Could it be an ancient lion-pard? 

One last note for today: A few commenters on my last post said that they thought “pard” would have something to do with “partner.” Well, it does, actually. “Pard” is also a colloquial term for “partner, chum.” This usage originated in the US and has been around since at least 1850. It is a shortened form of “pardener,” which has been around since at least 1795:

Improprieties, commonly called Vulgarisms... Pardener for Partner. (Benjamin Dearborn, The Columbian Grammar, 137 [1795])

Friendly Fill-Ins

And now it’s time for Friendly Fill-Ins, from 15andmeowing and The Four-Legged Furballs. The first two are answered by old SoLT this week, and the next two by Real Cat Paisley.

Old SoLT’s answers:

1. When it is hot, I like to sit on the deck (under the awning) and read. I enjoy getting out of the air conditioning, and it is nice to not be mildly to moderately to severely cold all the time.

2. I am looking forward to the end of this month. Because then it will be August, which is one month closer to my favorite season, fall.

Real Cat Paisley’s answers:

3. The theme song of my life would be “Margaritaville,” only I would re-title it “Niparitaville.”

4. There is no such thing as a free lunch. At least that’s what Mommy told me, but she feeds me lunch every day and I never pay her or anything, so I think that might be one of those alternative facts I keep hearing about.