Man-Cat Monday

CLEANLINESS = CATLINESS

Man-Cat Monday

We kitties like to keep extra clean. And sometimes, a guy just has to give his “little” brother a bath.

 

Mauricio believes in cleanliness and gives Cooper Murphy a bath.

A kitty should never go to bed dirty. Cleanliness is key.

 

 

A wee bit of wrasslin’ may have occurred after this incident. And then it was off to Dreamland. I dreamt about my beautiful and lovely wife Allie. I have no idea what Cooper Murphy dreamt about, but my guess would be food!

Mom has a special post tomorrow about aging cats. We hope you’ll come back to read it.

 

MAURICIO’S PORTRAIT BY THOMAS DALSGAARD CLAUSEN

You may recall this ballpoint pen sketch of Lily Olivia created by Thomas Dalsgaard Clausen last April.

 

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Clausen was drawing many of our friends, like Sammy, Flynn, Siddhartha, Austin, Speedy, to name a few. At the time, Clausen had challenged himself to draw daily and was taking requests for portraits.

When he contacted us last week to let us know that he is now doing portraits on commission and ask us to put the link to his new site on our previous post, we were happy to oblige. You can find that original post here.

We like supporting artists and so offered to do another post for Clausen, who offered to do another portrait for us. Several of us and most of our angels have been memorialized in one type of art piece or another. Mom would like to have a portrait of each of us eventually. We’re sort of surprised which of us she selected for this new portrait—none other than the pest/bum Mauricio. She claims to have selected him not out of favoritism but because of his distinctive look.

portraitMom sent Clausen three photos to work from, and he chose this one. Mom used this same photo as the basis for her “double exposure” entry in the Caturday Art Blog Hop a couple of weeks ago. Mom really liked her art piece but claims it cannot compare to the portrait Clausen created using india ink, ballpoint pen and white correction fluid. We are certain you will agree.

 

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Clausen says of his portraits, “There’s a great difference between seeing a portrait that looks like someone and a portrait that clearly is that someone. Some of it is in the eyes—some of it is in the posture—but a big part of it, you just can’t put your finger on! My goal is not to create a “photograph-like” representation of your pet—granted, a great photo is a work on art in itself—but what I like to do, is paint or draw your pet the way I see it—I make an interpretation rather than a copy, and then put some of your pet’s “being” back into the picture.

We think he caught Mauricio’s being perfectly and send our sincere and heartfelt thanks to Thomas Dalsgaard Clausen for the inspired portrait of Mauricio.

To see more of Clausen’s work, visit his blog, One Drawing Daily. To commission a pet portrait, visit his new site at http://tclausen.net.

Purrs and paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

 

MAURICIO’S MISSISSIPPI RIVERBOAT TRIP

Hi Gang. It’s Mauricio here. Mom is giving me today, Man-Cat Monday, to post about my latest trip with Cat Scouts. And she says I can have Tuxie Tuesday as well so that I don’t overwhelm you here.

Mom and I learned how to do something new, and I have created a slide show from our first day. I only included five photos as most of our day was spent traveling to the Carolina Queen Riverboat docked in Vicksburg. To see the captions move your cursor anywhere over each photo. You must close the caption for the slides to advance.

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We spent the evening dressed in period costumes. I was a gunslinger/cardshark and Allie a Southern Belle in the gown my mom selected for her. She is wearing her diamond collar I sent her for Christmas. Isn’t she just the most beautiful lady-cat you have ever seen? She makes my heart go pitter patter whenever we are together. I am so happy we are both Cat Scouts and can enjoy these adventures together.

When we retired to the Lounge after dinner, I shared a special story with our fellow Cat Scouts. I want to share it with all of you so am keeping the rest of this post short. Mom has promised to feature the story on our sidebar for a short time. I so hope you enjoy it.

The Legend of MAUverick

This is the story of a purrported gunslinger and cardshark, MAUverick, and his beautiful and genteel girlfriend, Allie Scarlett. (She is not related to Austin Scarlett of Project Runway Fame but legend has it that all her gowns were designed by a distant relative named Miss Melanie. They were all hand-sewn by mice seamstresses.)

Getting back on track…legend has it that MAUverick could shoot the center heart out of the Ace of Hearts at a hundred paces. No photographic proof exists, so it remains a legend. All reports say, however, that he never  drew his gun on any human or cat as he was a peace loving man-cat.

 

Before meeting Allie Scarlett, MAUverick traveled the Mississippi River on the paddle-wheeled boats playing poker and telling stories about his time in the Old West. Rumor abounds that MAUverick used to keep an ace or two up his sleeve, but this has never been proved. And it is known that he was not a cat of great wealth. Any money he won at cards was always donated to a worthy cat shelter of which there were many along the Mississippi.

 

Once he met the beautiful and charming Miss Allie Scarlett, he gave up his wandering ways. They settled in a modest cottage in New Orleans where they ran a kitty refuge and tended a garden of cat nip in their spare time. They were said to have lived happily ever after, well into old age, never letting a day go by without holding paws and sharing tender kisses.

 

The End
I hope you will join me tomorrow for another slide show, the story of our day and evening in the swamp and a short, semi-scary poem I shared at our evening campfire.

 

Purrs and paw-pats, Lion Cat Scout Mauricio

 

 

MAN-CAT MONDAY WITH CAT SCOUT MAU

I am taking over the blog today. Mom has been absolutely remiss in posting about my Cat Scout accomplishments. For COD’s sake, you would think she’d be proud of me and want to brag a little bit. But…NO!

She did report on me moving up in rank to Lion Scout but did not show you my pawsome new card. Raz, Gracie and I were the first Scouts to be purrmoted to Lion. Since then my best furiend and Worldwide Wildcats Troop Leader, Sammy, and my most beautiful girlfuriend and excellent Scout, Allie, have been purrmoted to Lion rank. I am so super purroud of both Allie and Sammy.

GEO-PHILIPPINES Cat Scout BadgeSince last reporting on any Cat Scout activities, I have traveled to the Philippines where our good furiend, Sushi, lives. Sushi, from Sushi’s Diary, unfortunately, had to resign from Scouts due to her mom’s health issues. This makes all of us very sad. She was the Scout who gave me my nickname of “Mau.” And along with Allie’s brofur, Raz, was Cat Scout of the Year for 2013. Please send purrs and prayers to her mom.

On the right is the cool badge I earned for pawticipating  in the trip to the Philippines.

And did my mom ever bother to give a final report about The Lemonade Stand fundraiser I held at Cat Scouts? I think not. But if she did, and I missed it, please accept my apologies. Thanks to the generosity of my Scout furiends, we raised $455 to help set up our new site. And the site is quite pawsome. If you are not a Cat Scout, I highly recommend you consider joining. If you join this week and decide to become a member of Troop Worldwide Wildcats, you can attend the Sock Hop we are having on Friday, July 11.

flag-day-plus1badgeOn Flag Day, I earned another Merit Badge. I had to post my photo with our American flag and give a report about  some fact pertinent to the flag. I reported on the Pledge of Allegiance. This is my cool Flag Day Badge.

Cat Scout Float PATROL SIGN Cat Scout 4th-july-purrade badgeWe’ve been doing tons of fun things since we have the new site. You already know about our Drive-in Movie night, and the 4th of July was amazing with lots of events. We had a purrade where the Patrols created and rode on floats. Allie and I, in our patriotic outfits, were right up front on the Wolverine float. This is the cool sign I created for our float, which had a zoo theme. And on the left is the badge I earned for taking part in the purrade.

We had lots of great noms as well as volleyball and corn hole games and, of course, lots of fireworks. Lisbeth had the opportunity to attend as well with my patrol mate and her furiend, Charles.

Cat Scouts badge-cake-walkOne of the main events was the Cake Walk that I organized and emceed. I even sang all the songs I used as music. So many generous Scouts contributed cakes for the event, and it was pretty successful. The Denmaster surprised us by creating a Cake Walk Badge for all those who pawticipated. That’s it on the right.

Cat Scout merit-badge-patriotAnd finally for all Scouts who earned the Flag Day Merit Badge and pawticipated in the event on Independence Day, we earned our Patriotic Merit Badge. I think it is one of the best badges ever as it has a kitty dressed like I did for the 4th of July festivities. Check it out on the left.

If you didn’t see me in my stars and stripes attire (and even if you did), you can click on SnapYeti to see me and “admire” me by giving me a thumbs up! Mom entered me in a contest for Patriotic Pets sponsored by Just4MyPet.com.

Now if I can only get her to transfer all my scouting achievements to the Cat Scout page she created for me, we can include it as part of our blog. I have my paws crossed she’ll do it sometime soon, but I am not holding my breath.

Wishing you a terrific week and sending purrs and prayers to Allie and Raz’s (and Ellie and Cubby‘s) dad to make a quick recovery from his recent surgery.

Purrs and paw-pats, Lion Cat Scout Mauricio (Mau)

MAN-CAT MONDAY WITH CAT SCOUT MAU

 

Mauricio has learned that being only one of six Cat Scouts holding the rank of Cougar brings with it the responsibility to do good deeds and set an excellent example for the other Scouts.

Scouts had been having trouble getting into the Cat Scout site and dealing with error messages, misdirected links and a server that was very, very slow. With Cat Scout membership growing, Denmaster made the decision to procure a dedicated server for Cat Scouts and build an entirely new site. The new site launched one week ago. All the problems with the old site have been eliminated, and according to Mauricio, the new site is very “Scouty” looking as well.

As Cat Scouts pay no dues or fees to participate, Mauricio wanted to do something to help Denmaster defray some of the cost for the new server and site. He decided to have a fundraiser at Cat Scouts and set up the Lemonade Stand and Bake Sale. That’s him manning the booth now. Scouts have been donating (virtual) scrumptious noms for the “sale,” and those same Scouts and others have been making pledges per item or outright donations.

If you are a Cat Scout and haven’t visited the new site, Mauricio encourages you to do so. And if you aren’t a Cat Scout yet, he recommends you check it out. It is a great place to make new furiends, learn new skills and eat lots of great noms, especially s’mores! To get there, click on the Lemonade Stand graphic.

The Lemonade Stand and Bake Sale close in three days. We’ll give an update with regard to Mauricio’s efforts sometime near the end of this week.

Wishing all our furiends a great week. It appears as if ours is going to be a rainy one.

MAN-CAT MONDAY WITH A RANT BY MAURICIO

My butt IS NOT this big. We all know that the camera adds ten pounds.

My butt IS NOT this big. We all know that the camera adds ten pounds.

Preface: One of the very best things about Cat Scouts are the noms. We have them in our Wolverine Patrol Den, at our Worldwide Wildcat Troop Headquarters, and of course, at the Campfire! Some of the scouts are gourmet chefs! And now each of our Patrols has a Grubmaster to make sure we are well- and healthily-fed so as to be ready for any and all competitions. I do not hold that position in my Patrol. I’ll admit that I much prefer eating the noms to preparing them. This is not to say that I over-indulge. Whomever has been spreading such a rumor is just jealous ’cause my girlfriend is the prettiest girl in all of Cat Scouts.

Anyway, I have faced some ridicule at home the last few weeks. My sisfurs and Mom say that I am becoming portly. Mom claims that I have not eaten my breakfast on a few occasions, which has led her to the conclusion that I have been chowing down at Campfire every evening. I swear I have no recollection of either event. I always eat my breakfast and any other cat’s I can wrap my lips around. So I absolutely have no room for Hello Kitty donuts, birthday cake, hot chocolate, bacon or any of the other less healthful fare available. I only drink cucumber water provided by Sushi or have an occasional cup of nip tea.

See, my butt looks much better from the proper camera angle.

See, my butt looks quite well-porportioned from the proper camera angle.

In some lame attempt to prove she is correct, my ridiculous excuse for a mom, bought this shirt for me (which is at least two sizes too small) and enrolled me in Gold’s Gym Feline Fitness Program. I bet you didn’t even know there was such a thing. Well, neither did I, and I am outraged that this prestigious company would stoop so low as to pander to the whims of our feline pawrents by instituting such an unneeded program. I know that I get all the exercise I need wrestling with C.J. before every meal and chasing the red dot around the house, not to mention the hiking at Cat Scouts.

And, I honestly don’t know when she expects me to find time to pawticipate in such silliness. I am Assistant Leader of the Worldwide Wildcats, and I am Scribe, Cheermaster and Birthdaymaster for the Wolverines Patrol. Those all are serious responsibilities and take up oodles of my waking hours and even some hours when I rightfully should be enjoying a restorative snooze. Additonally, I have my pawsome, sweet and loving girlfriend, Allie, with whom I already don’t get to spend enough quality time.

Look at these biceps! I am totally buff!

Look at these biceps! I am totally buff!

She says that I must be a part of this foolish feline fitness routine until this shirt (which I’m pretty sure was actually designed to be worn by some shivering dog) fits. Rude…just plain rude and totally unrealistic! For COD’s sake, she bought a size small. That is a huge blow to my ego. I am the man-cat of the family after all. This thing might fit Astrid, Misty May or Lily Olivia, but they are all minuscule lady-cats! Well, I am sorry, but I must cut this short as I am off to Campfire to see what’s cooking for lunch. If I have to be a part of this fitness regimen, I must keep up my strength!

Purrs and paw-pats, Mauricio

 

 

MAN-CAT MONDAY WITH MAURICIO

Cat Scout Update

The biggest news from the world of Cat Scouts is that my friend Sammy and the leader of the Worldwide Wildcats Troop asked me to be Assistant Leader of the troop, and I agreed.

The most recent news is that I have joined the Patrol led by another good friend, Gracie. The Assistant Patrol Leader is a most pawsome scout, who just happens to be my girlfriend, the stunning, Allie. As of now the other members are Tubby, Socks and Andy. A budding romance may be in the works between Tubby and Gracie. I’ll keep y’all posted about that. I do not know as yet who the additional member(s) of our Patrol will be.

Recently I received my neckerchief, woggle (the leather slide to pull the neckerchief ends through) and my Bobcat pin. I have not been very cooperative about having my photo taken, but Mom finally got some okay shots today.

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CAT-SCOUT-MERIT-BADGE-GIFT-WRAPPINGcat-scout-merit-badge-strollin

I have earned some additional Merit Badges as well. I received my Gift Wrapping, Holiday Foto Fun, Strollin’ and Boxing badges. I didn’t get this for going a couple of rounds with Calista Jo each day prior to breakfast or dinner but for enjoying the comfort of a cardboard container.

I am still ranked third on the Karma Scouts Leader Board with Sushi in first place and Raz in second. With these two troop mates  both receiving the honor of Cat Scout of the Year, it will be very difficult to catch or surpass them.

cat scouts merit badge holiday fun

cat scouts merit badge boxing

 

 

 

 

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I thought it would be fun to show you a couple of photos of me strollin’. I struggled with the concept at first, but once we got going and I got comfortable, it was actually lots of fun.

 

 

If you haven’t visited in a while or didn’t notice, I have re-written the song, “Mr. Blue” for Allie. It is in our sidebar.

And finally, I wanted to share with you a really fun photo Denmaster did of me and my friends Sushi, Jake and Angel, singing Christmas Carols. I particularly like my hat. With the single digit temps on their way to SWVA, that suit, coat and scarf are really going to come in handy. Please try to stay warm if you are experiencing this blast of arctic air.

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And don’t forget how much fun you could have if you joined Cat Scouts. We always have a Campfire going with scrumptious noms and warm drinks available.

Purrs, Bobcat Scout Mauricio

 

 

MAN-CAT MONDAY WITH MAURICIO

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Don’t I look happy and comfy?

Last night after dinner, I had settled into Dad’s lap for what I had hoped was going to be a nice snuggle and snooze. I really needed it after a tumultuous day at Cat Scouts. As I promised my sisfurs no Cat Scout reports until the New Year, I will not burden you with the details now.

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Guess who’s on the bottom?

Much to my dismay, this comfy nap was soon interrupted. My shadow sisfur, Astrid, decided that my lap looked as inviting to her as Dad’s had looked to me. The following pictures show what ensued. Being a good Cat Scout and big brother, who doesn’t mind being worshipped, I sucked it up and indulged the little interloper.

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Yep, it’s me…still trying to nap!

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Not looking very happy!

Aatrid looks up when Mom calls her name.

Astrid looks up when Mom calls her name.

Giving Astrid what she wanted: A bath!

Giving Astrid what she wanted: A bath!

Astrid finally decides to settle in for a nap.

Astrid finally decides to settle in for a nap.

Trying to get comfortable.

Trying to get comfortable.

Shortly after we settled in for a long winter’s nap, Dad declared us too HEAVY and unceremoniously dumped us out of his lap!

For a short video of the bathing session, click this link: Mau bathes Astrid.

Purrs and hugs, Mauricio and Astrid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MAN-CAT MONDAY WITH CAT SCOUT OF THE WEEK MAURICIO

Hi efurrybuddy. I hadn’t planned to report about my Cat Scout activities again before the new year, but then I got this great surprise.

Can you believe it? I was named Cat Scout of the Week for the second time. I didn’t even know that was pawsible! You could have knocked me over with a s’more when I found out.

And check out the cool new portrait Denmaster made for me with the Santa hat and red neckerchief. And the green border really makes my eyes pop, don’t you think? Just a reminder to all you lady-cats: My heart belongs to my sweet and beautiful girlfriend Allie.

campfire-carolsSince I last reported on my scouting activities, I “catified” the song “The 12 Days of Christmas.” It is now “The 12 Days of Catmess,” and it is printed in our sidebar. For that and singing with various other scouts, I earned my Campfire Carols Merit Badge. This badge was another that I suggested, like the Sing-A-Song badge, so I earned an additional 20 Karma points.

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Here’s a snapshot of me singing with my troop mates, Gracie, Raz and girlfriend Allie. We were singing Allie’s “catified” rendition of “Santa Claus (Paws) is Coming to Town.”

cat scouts deck the halls merit badgeI also earned my Deck the Halls Merit Badge. This badge was suggested by my lovely Allie as well as another Worldwide Wildcat troop mate, Bubba.

Image 2-001This photo is one of three I posted to earn this badge. I was minding my own business and snoopervising Mom’s work when the camera appeared, taking me by surprise!

I have maintained my third place ranking on the Cat Scout Leader Board, partly by earning extra Karma points helping Denmaster compile our songs from the Sing-A-Song Merit Badge into a Songbook.

One of the most pawsome things to occur was the acceptance by my troop mates of my Worldwide Wildcat Anthem as the official anthem for our troop.

On my honor as a Cat Scout, I have promised my sisfurs, and I now make the same promise to our readers: I will not post any additional information about my achievements in Cat Scouts until 2014.

However, I do encourage any kitty who would like to make new friends, learn new skills and have lots of fun to visit and see what Cat Scouts is all about. You don’t need to have a blog to belong.

Purrs, hugs and a salute, Bobcat Mauricio

 

 

 

MAN-CAT MONDAY WITH MAURICIO

DSC00104So, the humans are still in Paris, and we are wondering how long it can take to see one city? Anyway I have been spending lots of time snoozing in sun-puddles on the heated kitchen floor as you can see from this photo.

But when I haven’t been doing that, I’ve been spending as much time as possible  with all my friends at Cat Scouts. This does, of course, include my girl friend Allie, which is an extra incentive to hang out with my troop, Worldwide Wildcats, as much as possible. Well, that turned out to be a pretty good idea on my part, as I was just named Cat Scout of the Week!

I think the pawrents are surprised that I am taking this new endeavor so seriously. But, I figure, it is never too late to improve yourself, especially as I have always been somewhat of a slacker.

I hope that some of my friends, who follow my sisters and I here on the blog, will think about joining me in Cat Scouts. We have oodles of merit badges for you to earn. Our Cardwood Derby is coming up and we have a Campfire where we can meet up with our pals. Both boy and girl cats are Welcome to join Cat Scouts. I have sent invitations to many of you, but I suppose they could have gotten lost in your mailboxes.

If you want to join or just get additional information, you can do so at http://catscouts.mousebreath.com

Now, if I could just get Mom to finish my Cat Scouts page for The Cat on My Head, I really would be a happy camper.

Purrs and hugs, Mauricio