The Perseus Chronicles, Chapter 6

In Which Our Valiant Hero Takes a Lil' Nappy Nap

Yet again, I come back from a long absence in the supplying of adorable and/or hilarious cat photos and vow to do better in the future, somewhat suspecting that that may not be the case. When it comes down to finishing a book and writing a review or writing another installment in the life of a valiant warrior cat named Percy, I usually choose the book. He knows this is true, too, but is so sweet as to love me anyway, and to often accompany my reading with purring.

Anyway, you're all here for the pics, so I'll get on that.

"Nappy nap? Not me. No way. You crazy, mom."


"See how wide open my eyes are. I'm not tired at all.
Perseuses...Persei...whatever it is, we don't need sleep."


If you think the secret to making kitties sleepy is cheesy flash photography, you would be wrong.
The secret is being really boring.


Look how cute he is when he sleeps. Now I can finally stop watching The Cat from Outer Space.


"Hey, I was watching that."

The Perseus Chronicles, Chapter 5

They Grow Up So Fast

Parents always comment on how speedily their little tykes grow out of being wee things. Personally, I'm really glad Percy's getting older fast (although not Robin Williams in Jack fast, because that would be bad like the movie). With age has come some amount of calmness. Believe it or not Percy actually took a nap on my lap yesterday. He slept! I could hardly believe it.

"I is now taller than this machine you constantly ignore me for. Victory!"

As you can see, Perseus is now taller than the height of a laptop on a laptop stand thing. He has also grown into his ears somewhat, which is good, but I do miss his comically large ears sometimes. Oh well, at least guests won't make Dumbo jokes anymore.

"Herro!"

One thing that's really been consistent through his many months of life with me, along with the energy, is that Percy loves to make eye contact. Thankfully, he no longer pounces each and every time he manages to catch your eye.

Notice how he immediately looked up when I stealthily tried to get his picture in a natural attitude. One of Percy's favorite things is to get underneath the curtains by the sliding glass door at the back of my townhouse and look out the window at all the things, by which I mostly mean the grass waving. I'll end with a picture where he's actually doing that and not staring at me, a difficult thing to capture.

The Perseus Chronicles, Chapter 4

Cat in a Box

I am proud to report that I have clearly passed my love of books onto my lil' darling. I went to a library book sale and came home with a box o' books, as is my wont. Perseus felt compelled to check out the contents of the box, surely to look at the titles rather than smell the smells. I am positive that's what he was doing.

Sniffing out a good bargain

Okay, so maybe he was just sniffing the books. Fine. Apparently, the best/most interesting smelling book was Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, which seems somewhat appropriate.

Of course, boxes are also good for other things. Like hiding.

"You can't see me. I blend."

Percy's huge ears are a bit of a detriment when it comes to being all sneaky. He always thinks I can't see him, but they always loom up from behind his hiding place. Otherwise, he blends into the box pretty well. What's really funny is when he hides behind things much smaller than he is. Hopefully, I can nab a picture of that one of these days.

"I can pounce you from here. Don't think I can't."

The Perseus Chronicles, Chapter 3

They Grow Up So Fast, Don't They

Today's picture of my little Mr. Perseus is intended to show how big he has gotten. Ignore me as much as possible. Note though how huge he is! Last Monday, he got neutered. He's around six months old now. What a big boy!

"Mom, what are you doing? You crazy. Put me down!"

He weighs somewhere around ten pounds and has big paws, ears and eyes. Unfortunately, the snipping has not calmed him down all that much, as I was told it might. He still wants to play pretty much all of the time.

Since I didn't post any pics last week. Here's a bonus pic of my little attention hound. He's sniffing my camera case.

"Pay attention to me!"

The Perseus Chronicles, Chapter 2

In Which Perseus Goes to War

I have been so bad about posting pictures of my tiny catface who is not so tiny anymore. In the future, I will endeavor to post a picture or two weekly, although your guess is as good as mine as to whether that will happen.

Today's pictures are from when Percy was about 4 months old (he's now about 6 months). These photos highlight the utter feistiness of my little man. This photo series shows some skirmishes in the eternal battle betwixt kitten and sockie. Note the evil/playful glint in his giant eyes. Also, look how big he got in just a couple months!

Emerging from his super secret hideout, Perseus, valiant warrior, espies the enemy, the dreaded and vicious Sockie.

Hark! My foe!

Sockie tries to sock our hero with a shot to the gut, but gets a punch to the kisser instead. Perseus is off to a good start in this epic battle.

This is what is known as a kitch slap.

Perseus has wicked claws, but Sockie has resiliency. Just because he's down, you can't count him out. And just because he's not moving, doesn't mean he's just playing dead!

I'mma bite your head!

Thankfully, our hero knows this and aims to end this battle with the ultimate sockie-killing technique.

Evisceration...no breathing.

Having won this round, powerful Perseus looks around, prepared to face down any other enemies that might be present.

I r victorious! Anyone want to challenge me? Bring it!

The Perseus Chronicles, Chapter 1

Introducing Perseus

Knowing how dearly book lovers adore cute animals, I have been intending to post about my new kitten for over a month now. I am finally doing what I have previously failed to: introducing my rambunctious little tabby kitten Perseus.

Before I got him, I averred that I wanted a full grown (or close to full grown) cat, not a kitten, because I work all day and do not have the energy to deal with kitten antics. Enter cat-loving coworker, who, upon taking his cats to the vet, found that they had cute tabby kittens there. He knows I have a weakness for tabbies and even offered to drive me to his veterinarian's office to look at the sassy little cats. Against my better judgment, I agreed.

When I saw him, I was in trouble. His cute little face, his big eyes, his absurdly large ears and his purring right from the beginning melted my frosty heart. Who could resist the tiny lovin's?

Note the tiny face and ears the size of his entire head.

On the day I brought him home, he immediately set to exploring, conquered the stairs and began playing with the scary giants who had taken him to this new land. He loves toys and playing and pouncing and snuggles and being held. Of course, the active ones generally win out against snuggles, because he has all the energy in the world.

I can get it!

I should have known when I saw him settle in and start attacking things (or trying, as he was still too little to reach a lot of things) that he would be a right little scamp. Oh boy, but he is. Cute as can be, but any guest I have is saying 'don't pounce me!' to him by the end of the night.

Percy loves to make eye contact.
But if you look at him for too long, he will pounce your face.

Most of the time, Perseus' name seems a bit too epic for him, so I generally call him Percy or Perce or Mr. Perseus (somehow the Mr. makes it sillier). The name works, though, because Perseus is a little hunter. He has killed a selection of bugs, including three flies (and he's not yet four months old!) and eviscerates socky, depicted above, every single day. Socky may be the same size he is, but he is undaunted. The same is true of humans; they may be giant, but he will get 'em! Thankfully, even the most active and vicious of kittens get sleepy sometimes.

Look at that wittle face!

So that is a very simple introduction to my crazy kitten. He has grown so much in the just over a month I have had him. It's crazy looking at his kitten photos. Expect further installments of The Perseus Chronicles, in which you can mark his progress from kittenhood to full grown valiant cat warrior.

Perseus would like to leave everyone with one final message: books pave the stairway to success and purrfection!