Our Tiny Christmas Miracle

Well, miracle is a strong word for it.  But we thought it was pretty cool.

So you know how we named one of our cats Wolowitz after Simon Helberg's character in The Big Bang Theory, right.  In case you've forgotten, here is our Wolowitz and below him is Simon's character from the show:

Wolowtiz the cat

Wolowitz the nerd

Well, every since we named our boy after Wolowitz, Gia has had this idea that maybe we could get a picture of Simon Helberg and our cat together. I mean, we knew that getting a picture of the two of them in the same place would be nearly impossible. We don't get to LA all that often.  But we thought we might be able to swing getting a picture of Simon holding a picture of Wolowitz. A little Wolowitz-on-Wolowitz action, if you will.

But how does one go about that?

Well, I first looked to see what Simon Helberg's online presence was like. And his online presence was basically nada. No Twitter account. No blog that I could find. Only a contact address for his agent. And I didn't want to go that route. It seemed kinda creepy to ask his agent for a photo.  So I basically forgot about it for a while.

Then, for some reason, I looked again a few weeks before Christmas, and I saw that he finally opened a Twitter account. Which I immediately started to follow...looking for a way to get him to fulfill this incredibly stupid request of ours. That's when I saw that he was basically using Twitter to help promote his wife's film project that she was hawking on Kickstarter. I wrote about that here a while back. Her name is Jocelyn Towne.

So I checked out the project, and I thought it would make an interesting Christmas present for Gia.  I would pledge enough to get her listed as an Associate Producer on the film.  So for $100, she would get a screen credit plus a whole bunch of other goodies like a copy of the DVD, a signed poster, etc...  Since I jumped into the project fairly early, I thought Jocelyn Towne might contact me via email or board post.  Maybe then I would be able to ask her about getting a picture of Simon with our cat.  Yeah.  Weak, but why not?

You know what?  That's exactly what happened.  She wrote to thank me for pledging toward her film project.  I wrote back telling her how we named one of our cats after Simon's character from the show.  She replied thinking that was hilarious as they were cat people themselves.  They have three cats named after famous film detectives.  That's when I asked her about getting a photo with Simon holding a photo of our cat.  She thought it was a great idea and asked me to send her a photo of Wolowitz.

That was the morning of Christmas Eve.  A few hours before midnight and Christmas itself, here is what showed up in my email:

Wolowitz and Wolowitz

Jocelyn Towne and Simon Helberg are two of the coolest cats in the world. Thanks, kids!

Simon's Cat

This guy's cartoons about his cat are absolutely spot-on!  Especially this one about how much his cat loves a good empty box.  Our boy Wolowitz will concur.

Hope everyone enjoys the big Winter Storm tomorrow! Well, those of you in the path of the storm. Ya know.

I am I

I couldn't even stay away one day.  See what happens?

This is actually a post about a project I've become minimally attached to.  Simon Helberg, who plays Wolowitz on The Big Bang Theory is married to a lovely woman named Jocelyn Towne.  She is trying to gather funds through a site called Kickstarter to make her movie called "I Am I".  You can read all about it here.

So I jumped in.  I'm also trying to get her to have her husband take a picture with a screen-shot of our boy Wolowitz for a little Wolowitz-on-Wolowtiz action.  Dunno if that is gonna happen, but they seem pretty cool about doing stuff for the cause.

Check out the video and decide if you want to back their project.  And Merry Christmas...again!

Coming Home

UPDATE: OK, we are coming home tomorrow. Got bumped from our flight today and the next one they could get us on was leaving at 9:40PM. Eff that! So we decided to spend one more night in Chastown instead. Wunnerful, wunnerful, wunnerful.

Later today. It's a good thing and a bad thing. Bad because who really wants vacation to end? Good because, well, I really miss my cats.

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Note: Remember to play the Badgerdaddy Trivia Challenge every day. CATS!

Sunset with Wolowitz

Our ultra-curious cat, Wolowitz, likes to be taken outside on occasion.  We have indoor cats, and we wanna keep it that way, but he is really, really good about being held outdoors.  So we take him for a stroll in the backyard every once in a while and it makes him happy.  He doesn't even try to run away or jump down.  He's content just being held in my arms and checking out the scenery.

And boy oh boy, did we have some great scenery the other night!  Check out that sky!

This pic was taken about an hour after a series of thunderstorms swept through the area.  And it really doesn't do the sky justice at all.  Everything was washed in weird orange and purple light.  Very awesome.

We're headed to Montauk for the weekend.  Y'all have a good one!

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Note: Remember to play the Badgerdaddy Trivia Challenge every day. Cats rule...dogs drool.

Thanks, dude

So I mentioned the other night that Gia was feeling a little under the weather. She was and still is, a bit. Upset stomach, she can't keep anything, um, in. Well, as the loving couple that we are, we share everything. Including stomach bugs.

So I spent most of the day Sunday alternating between the bathroom and the bedroom or doing a squinchy walk between the two. I've managed to choke down two bagels to go along with some water, but that is about it.

My boy Wolowitz was very supportive throughout the day. He slept right next to me when I was in the bedroom and he would lay at my feet as I sat on my throne in the bathroom, exorcising the evil within me.

So it was truly lovely, after my latest bout of Cha Cha Cha*, when he jumped up onto the bed to see if I was okay.

Then he puked all over the sheets.

Thanks, dude.



*Cha Cha Cha has been a favorite euphemism used in my family to describe the trots.  I have very little idea how it started.  Maybe an old commercial for Pepto Bismol ("Diarrehea, cha cha cha")

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Note: Remember to play the Bug-Eyed Trivia Challenge every day. Doing laundry now.

The Wolowitz Rules

As I've mentioned before, Wolowitz is an interesting cat.

I figured that since I posted a pic last week of his sister and his brother from another mother (Gogo and Avery), it was time to give the odd boy his due.

He loves laundry-time.  I'm not so sure he is really interested in helping out or if he just thinks that the color of the laundry basket matches the color of his eyes.

He also loves the water fountain that we bought him.  Except he likes to come it from an odd angle.  The "up top" angle.  This leads to a slight bout of choking as the water goes down the wrong pipe, but he still does it anyway.  Notice the tongue.

Some of his other tricks in the bag that we have yet to capture on film:

• He loves hiding in either the washing machine or the dryer when we turn our backs.  One of these day he is gonna get either soaked or fluffed if we aren't careful.
• He has much too much fun with the changing of the sheets on the bed.  He likes to "help out" by hiding under the fitted sheet or the top sheet, basically preventing you from making the bed.  
• Because of that, I had Gia gather them all up in the other room while I made the bed a while back.  She closed the door and I don't believe any of the kittens had ever seen a closed door before.  Gogo and Avery tried to get under the door, in vain.  But Wolowitz looks at the door, looks at Gia, then looks back and the door and figures it out.  He reaches up and puts one paw on each side of the door knob and, ya know...tries to fucking open the door!  I shit you not.  He was unsuccessful, by the way.  No opposable thumbs.
• Wolowitz loves an empty box more than life itself.  Gia does a lot of internet shopping.  When something gets delivered he literally shivers in anticipation of the box being empty soon.  So he can hang in it.  And he just sits there and purrs.  Hysterical!
• But his favorite thing in the world?  Bugs.  Spiders, flies, whatever.  He loves "playing" with them.  Earlier today he was going nuts over a fly that had got in the house somehow.  He caught it...in his mouth!  Then he walked into the living room and let it out, where it flew away in an erratic path.  All so he could catch it again.  You really haven't lived until you have seen a housefly escape your cat's mouth.
  

 And finally, he will often just get right in your fucking face.  Because he can.

In all honesty, that last photo might be Gogo.  From far away or really close up, they can be hard to tell apart.

Deal with it. - Earl

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Note: Remember to play the Bug-Eyed Trivia Challenge every day. Still trying to catch a photo of him in belly time.

Belly Time

Wolowitz, one of our new kittens, is a strange dude in just so many ways. He coos like a pigeon, he needs to find a way to get on top of the highest thing in every room, he loves an empty box more than any living thing should love any inanimate thing and he likes to hide in our bathroom sink. It's a white sink and he is mostly black/dark brown. He's pretty easy to spot.

But the oddest thing that he does is his belly time.

When he is in the mood for some lovin', he will jump up on the bed or the couch or wherever and start purring and preening for some petting. Then he will lay down, usually just out of reach so that he has to start the process all over again. Then he rolls onto his back and spreads his rear legs wide while he allows us to scratch his belly. Right above his hey nonny nonny. He will stay in this position for hours as he usually falls asleep during the process. And Wolowitz sleeps like the dead. It's incredible.

I've never had a cat before that enjoys his/her belly rubbed like this. They usually let you do it for a moment or so and then they push your hand away with their back paws. But this guy? He fucking loves it.

It's his special belly time.

PS - I understand that this post is in serious need of a kitty pic of Wolowitz in his belly time pose, but we have yet to capture it on film. Deal with it, bitches!

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Note: Remember to play the Bug-Eyed Trivia Challenge every day. I'll scratch your belly if you do.

Hot, hot, hot

So remember how we adopted those kittens a few months ago? Well, we had Wolowitz fixed a while ago when he needed x-rays. No reason to put him under for two seperate visits, right? We waited on Gogo because the Vet said there was no rush. Just make sure to do it at or around the six-month mark.

Well, we think she is around 20 weeks old right now. That would put her between four and five months old. I made an appointment for this coming Thursday for her "procedure". Felt it was about time.

So, of course, she went into heat over the weekend. She is coo-ing and warbling and acting all kinds of weird the past few days. Fucking figures. Now we have to wait a couple of weeks, we think. Does anyone have any experience with female kittens going into heat? I'm calling the vet tomorrow for advice.

So in Gog's honor, here is The Cure. with "Hot Hot Hot". Talk about your weird cooing and warbling.

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Note: Remember to play the Bug-Eyed Trivia Challenge every day. All the kittens in heat are doing it.