My favorite polar bear turned 1 yesterday and he out on some pounds.  I have to get on his diet.  Happy BDay Knutster!

Cat apparently hitches from N.J. to Ga.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. –Heathcliff the cat
somehow hitched a nearly 800-mile ride from New Jersey to Georgia –
most likely on a moving van, authorities said.      

The orange and white shorthair
was reported missing Oct. 24 from Sicklerville, N.J. The animal was
identified Nov. 9 at an animal shelter in Lawrenceville where a
resident took the cat after trapping him.

D. Mosier, an animal
control officer, scanned Heathcliff for a microchip, as she does with
all animals that show up at the Gwinnett Animal Welfare and Enforcement
Center. The microchip led to information that the kitty was reported
missing.

A volunteer rescue group shuttled the cat back to its owner Wednesday.

Last
week, a Lawrenceville woman provided what might be the answer to how
the cat ended up in the Atlanta suburb. The woman called Mosier and
told her she helped her son move out of a New Jersey apartment shortly
before the cat turned up in Georgia.

B went to get a MRI done last week.  No because she is sick, but because Kip needed subjects for a study and B is a good girlfriend.  And yes, she got some nice brain pics and brain slides out of this deal.  B is not that giving and she likes to get things in return, which I think, is not that bad of a trade.  I, myself, tend to be only sweet and cuddly when I get Greenies afterwards.

The good thing is that her brain looks normal.  (Nothing points to her obvious weirdness.)  The bad news is that she constantly looks at the pics now and tries to distill any abnormalities.  I wonder what my brain would like in comparison…

Since B is such a Red Sox fan, I have been educating myself on baseball stats, famous players, plays and Fenway Park.  Like B I am not happy that Schilling was given another year at Fenway.  He is a loud-mouth and very inconsistent.  (Yes, his record was good during the play offs, but all the other games also count.)

I am now hoping that they also bring Lowell back.  I like Lowell’s beard because it reminds me of Papa Schellenberg’s beard.  Plus, Lowell seems really nice and I would not mind if he petted me for a while.  I would not allow Schilling to touch me.  The Soxies have to hurry up, though, to get Lowell.  Their exclusive "talk time" with him is up today:

Last updated: 11/12
Deadline day for Lowell

It’s crunch time in the Mike Lowell negotiations. The Red Sox lose
their exclusive negotiating rights with the third baseman when the
clock strikes midnight on Monday night, and according to the Herald’s
Rob Bradford, the team was continuing to work with Lowell’s agents in
the hope of reaching an agreement before that deadline. It’s been
widely rumored that the Red Sox have offered Lowell a three-year deal
in the neighborhood of $36 million, but will that be enough? According
to the Globe’s Nick Cafardo, Lowell’s side believes a four-year deal at
around $56 million might be attainable on the open market. Will Lowell
be willing to leave that on the table to stay in Boston? Or might the
Red Sox step up their offer before the deadline? Stay tuned …

Theo, what are you waiting for?  He is the bestest third base man.

For two reasons:

1. Kip is coming home tonight and I will have my favorite lap back.
2. It is half way through the work week, which means I only have two more days of B getting up at the weeee-hour of 6am and coming home later than 7pm.  Apparently, there are very important things happening at work.

It’s been sort of a difficult weekend for me and I have thus, taken to Kip’s bar. 

Kip left for some conference in San Diego and B has not really provided me with the lap that I want/need/desire.  Yesterday, she and her friend Erica made cookies.  I wanted to help and thus, jumped onto the counter, but was promptly removed.  There was some talk about getting some kitten hair into the dough.  I tried again, ignoring B, but was removed again.  This time, she raised her voice and I got some of the raw dough onto my fur.  Sigh!  I liked it off, but I actually, do not care much for sweet things. 

This morning, B got up early to go to yoga.  I wanted to stay in bed and cuddle with her like I do with Kip in the morning, but she pushed me aside.  She did it gently, though.  Now, she is watching the Pat’s game.  Again, not my thing.  I was hoping that now baseball season is over, we can sit together on the couch again.  But no, now it is football season.  It just never stops.  And football is wicked loud.  All these people in the stadium scream and the people discussing the game (what a useless job) are always raising their voices.  I am not liking it at all.

So, I am taking over the bar and will try all the different bottles till Kip and my lap return.  So far, the limoncelli has been been my favorite.

Ok, here is what I don’t understand.  This kitten is pretty cute and if he is a boy, I would be all over him (don’t tell B I show interest in boy kitten), but why would want anyone spend over $ 10K for it.  There are so many cute and needy kitten in all the local shelters.  You can get one that will cost you less than $100 and will love you forever.  Kitten are being killed every week, because no one wants them and now they are actually creating brand new cats.  Please, if you want to get a kitten, go to your local shelter.  Save us!  (I am also writing to my senator to ask for a tax rebate when a human saves a shelter pet.)

I am not quite sure what to think of this.  I am intrigued, but B says that I should not even start thinking about kissing.

I was sort of disappointed in Halloween this year.  No one knocked on our door and thus, I did not get to sneak out like I was able to do for the last couple years.  There were also no extra treats for me, even though B got several candies and a huge (almost as big as me) cookie from Kip.  What is up with that?  I obviously was forgotten.  He should not be surprised that I never sleep on his side.  This will require a discussion - a serious one.

B and Kip had their Halloween party last weekend already.  While B always talks about dressing up as a kitten, she did not do it again as one this year.  I think she generally makes a better looking human than a cat anyway and I am not sure why she wants to do it.  I bet the fur would make her really sweaty.  If she were to go as a kitten, though, she should get this costume from another famous German - Heidi Klum.  This is pretty hot.

For a couple weeks now, Kip has been busy writing a grant proposal.  This apparently, will get him some money to join any lab that he wants at Brown.  He has been stressed and I have been trying to help him cope by laying on his lap when he sits on his desk.  I don’t like it very much when he types while I sit there.  I noticed that his legs start to twitch when he does not know how to continue his thoughts.  I like to put my paw on his arm at this very moment to assure him that the thought will come.  This is called "Kitten Reiki".  I learned it from Mama Schellenberg.  She is pretty good at it - not Kitten Reiki, but Human Reiki.  Sometimes, this new method will help Kip, but sometimes he just gets annoyed at me and I have to leave his lap.  Let me tell you something, though: While these last couple weeks have been hard on him, I have been feeling busy as well.  It is not an easy task to keep one of your favorite humans appeased and happy.  let’s all hope that he gets the grant and then, I am sure, he will have more time to pet me again.