“There Is, Incidentally, No Way Of Talking About Cats That Enables One To Come Off As A Sane Person”

Pork Steaks, Beans, Bacon, Peanut Butter, and Corn. And Little Nan. And Cats.

You know it’s Spring in St Louis when the Pork Steaks can be seen in back yards around the city.  They’re usually be found where Cole Slaw, Pea Salad, and Baked Beans are also emerging into the sunlight.  This one was captured at the home of Joe and Marie last weekend.

For several years, we’ve been trying to replicate the  Unwritten Corn-on-the-Cob Recipe of H. Earle Moore.  Earle was the Moore Family Patriarch and the Maternal Grandfather of Leah and Erin.  At one memorable back yard barbecue in the mid-seventies, he grilled corn-on-the cob using a method I’ve never heard of before or since.

 He smeared peanut butter on a raw ear of sweet corn. . . .

. . . .wrapped it with raw bacon, rolled it in aluminium foil, and cooked it on the grill for X amount of minutes.  When he judged it to be done, the bacon was cooked, the peanut butter was melty and delicious, and the corn was perfect.  We haven’t quite recreated it yet.  We may be using too much peanut butter, or maybe we need to blend it with regular butter.  But we’ll keep trying. 

The post-Pork Steak entertainment was sorting through boxes of old 3-D slides from the Moore 1950s and 1960s.  We only got through about 5% of the total.  They were divvied up based on who was striking the cutest or most embarrassing pose.  This is Nan in the foreground, stealing the scene at Mary-Jo’s 4th birthday party.  Our flatbed scanner doesn’t do the slides justice.  We’ll either need to get a new scanner, one equipped with a back-light to handle slides, or have them digitized professionally.

It’s been a while since I posted a Cute Cat © picture.  Here’s Rufus, looking very sly and devil-may-care, like a real bon vivant.  He’s actually just so blissed out he’s about to drool on me.

And last, proof of McGregor’s full recovery from his spinal injury.  Rufus is cuddling him again.  While he was still sick, Rufus wouldn’t have anything to do with him, probably because McGregor smelled like a cat box.

- Poppa

Photocatting

Here are the original photos:

Awkward-looking position, no?  His eyes were open when I started to take the picture, but he’d close them each time the flash went off.

I recently discovered the cats don’t react well to the Shower Murder Theme from Psycho.  You know, the one where the violins just go, “SCREECH! SCREECH! SCREECH! SCREECH! SCREECH!”  Rufus is going “WTF?” and McGregor is looking askance.  Both put their ears back when they hear this piece but I couldn’t catch them doing it at the same time.

I moved McGregor’s eyes from the bottom photo to the top, rotated his paw, cropped out the Rufus butt, and voilà!

The hue around McGregor’s eyes doesn’t quite match and I don’t have the outline around the paw down yet.  Still learning.

- Poppa

Katzenerin, or Erin and the Boys

“Who’s the little person sitting in the Big Guy’s chair?”

“Don’t know, but she hasn’t fed us since she got here.  I say we stare at her until she does.”

A Wedding, a Terminator, and an Earthship

He looks noble, doesn’t he?  He looks like he’s thinking, “I am the ruler of all I survey!”  Actually, he’s thinking, “How do I get down from here again?”

The totality of our vacation photos, the good ones anyway, are posted.

- Poppa

Erin’s Quiz (with Cat)

Saw this quiz on benjerin’s blog, thought it looked like fun, you know the rest …
 

1)  How do you like your grilled cheese?
Cover outside of two slices of bread with real butter, load up with good cheese (cheddar, Muenster, jack, Port Salut), add an ounce or two of thin-sliced turkey, then grill until golden brown. Top with dill pickle.

Or any grilled cheese made by someone else.

2)  Where did you go on your last vacation?
Our last long weekend was spent in DC with Leah and Ben’s Chili Bowl.  Our last big vacation was to Scandinavia.

3)  Who are your godparents?
I used to know, but I think I’m old enough that the question is moot.

4)  Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Sitting in a comfy chair and surfing/reading/watching TV.

5)  Where are you at noon everyday?
Sitting in a comfy chair and surfing/reading/watching TV/working.

6)  How many speeding tickets have you gotten?
Two, both were fair cops.

7)  What is your favorite movie?
Can’t choose one:  Zulu, Zulu Dawn, Alien, Aliens, Day of the Jackal, A Christmas Story

8)  What do you think of the I-phone?
Love it.  When Boeing stops paying for my BlackBerry, I’ll get one (unless something better comes along AND we can afford it).

9)  What do you think of winter?
Love it.

10)  Do you use a plan book?
Used to.  I never found a device that could equal my old Palm Pilot.  Before that, my Franklin Planner went everywhere with me.

11)  At what age do you plan on having kids?
I’d have to step into a time machine to answer this.

12)  When was the last time you swam?
Actually swam as opposed to get wet?  Um, the Eighties?

13)  What do you order at Subway?
A 12 inch Turkey on White with Bacon, Mayonnaise, Deli Brown Mustard, Olive Oil, Vinegar, Provolone Cheese, Lettuce, Black Olives, Onions, Pickles, Tomato, and the secret herbs & salt they sprinkle on at the end.

14)  Do you keep your closets organized?
Closets are where I hide my piles of stuff.

15)  How do you make headaches go away?
Excedrin.

16)  Have you owned a beta fish before? What was his name?
Yes, don’t remember if he had one.

17)  If you moved out of state where would you go?
Mexico, New Mexico, or Sweden.

18)  Did you attend pre-school?
No, I barely attended school at all.

19)  What do your shower curtains look like?
We don’t have any.

20)  Did you have an imaginary friend as a child?
No.

21)  How do you make eggs?
Omelets.  Or fried, over medium with potatoes and sausage.  Or lightly mixed and fried for an egg and cheese sandwich.

22)  Where do you wash your clothes?
At home.

23)  Which parent do you look most like?
I’ve been told I look like my dad.

24)  Who are the neighbors who live to the right of you?
If I’m facing north, it’s Al Faber.

25)  What are your thoughts on Tom Cruise?
Word association?  Scientology.

26)  What is the next vehicle you wish to buy?
Some days a Hummer, some days a Mini Cooper.  (You did say wish, right?)

27)  Do you pay bills online or by mail?
Nan pays the bills any way she wants to.

28)  What would be the best gift someone could get you right now?
Fresh sweet corn and vine ripened tomatoes.

29)  What is something stressful you will deal with next week?
Dealing with converting one of my applications to WSSO (Web Single Sign On).

30)  What is something in your home that you collect?
Books, DVDs, military hats.

31)  What did you do last night?
We met Joe (Nan’s brother) for steak at Tuckers and then closed down Left Bank book store.

32)  Who did you last see?
Besides Nan?  Joe.

33)  How do you take your coffee?
Some sort of cow juice and Splenda.

34)  What is the oldest thing in your fridge?
Black bean sauce.  Or pickle relish.

35)  On your keyboard, what key is wearing out from pressing it so much?
No keys are wearing out.  Some are less dusty than others.

36)  Where do you put your keys when you come home?
My keys reside in my fanny pack.  My fanny pack hangs from my dumbbell rack.  My dumbbell rack sits in the library.

37)  Where do you go for Thanksgiving?
Anywhere there’s family.

38)  How old will you be in 2010?
58.

39)  What actor/actress would play you in a movie?
Brian Blessed (he’d need to tone it down a bit, though).

40)  How much cash is in your wallet?
This morning $1.  Right now $200.

41)  What color is your house?
Brick red (literally).

42)  If you were starving to death would you eat a pet?
Probably, especially if it was somebody else’s pet.

43)  Ever been to Alabama?
Too many times to count.

44)  What kind of accent do you have?
None.  I was born in Iowa, where the world’s only pure form of English is spoken.

45)  What kind of alcoholic drinks are in your fridge right now?
Beer and wine.

– Poppa