Merry Grinchmas!

 Someone unusually grumpy has taken over Christmas at the library this year (No, it's not me).  This someone just happens to be green and wears his shoes too tight (See?  I told you it wasn't me).  If you need a hint, check out who's hanging upside down behind me. 

Don't look now....

....but the Grinch is behind you.  

The Grinch!  He's been sneaking around the library "ruining" Christmas!  Rumor has it he even scared Santa away from the library this year.  Or, well, that's what I thought he was here to do.  That is until I found some suspicious bags of goodies in the Youth department.  They were all neatly packaged with Grinch gifts and human treats, and on the outside they were labeled by the Grinch.   

But do you know what?  The Grinch left treats and gifts for all the girls and boys at the library, but he completely forgot about me.  I don't want to sound ungrateful, but he didn't leave a single thing for me.  At least he didn't take any treats from my special treat drawer.  He probably knew that Barb would catch him and make him ring the bell.  

Holding out for the real Santa,

Chance

Sunshine Puddles

 Some people like to take a warm bath to relax after a stressful day.  Me?  I like sun bathing.  

Honestly, is there anything better than stretching out in a warm puddle of sunshine goodness and just melting your problems away? 

I don't think so.  

Humans can keep their wet "relaxing" bath time.  I think I'll stick to something drier.   

Searching for a bright spot,

Chance

I Did a Thing...

 As some of you may remember, about 11 and 1/2 months ago Barb L. set off with a goal to teach me how to ring a bell for treats.  You may also remember that she was not very successful initially.  And even when she claimed I was ringing the bell, it was really more like wishful thinking.   Those times when I "rang the bell" were the results of my paw slipping.  At first I was feeling stubborn.  No one can tell me what to do, I'm practically the boss around here.  So I decided to see how long it would take before Barb gave up.  

But despite my efforts to convince her that you can't teach a old cat new tricks, she kept at it.  11 and 1/2 months later, she was still getting the bell out and trying to get me to ring it.  Well, I decided that if Barb is going to keep at this forever, maybe I should go about it a different way.  So I chose to ring the bell.  Not like how she told me to, of course.  Barb wanted me to ring the bell with my paw, what she got is me ringing the bell with my nose.  

Ta-da! 

Maybe this isn't so bad...

I want to make it especially clear though, that I rang the bell because I wanted to, not because anyone told me I should.  After ringing the bell on my own terms, Barb was pretty ecstatic.  She began telling all the rest of the staff how I rang the bell with my nose.  I don't think Newbie Lillian believed her at first, until she put the bell out and watched me do it for herself.  

To be honest, I actually kind of like ringing the bell.  Because now I have one more way I can tell the staff when its time for a treat.  Well, at least I did, until they started keeping the bell in the drawer so I couldn't ring it whenever I wanted to.  That was a little miffing.  I didn't ring the bell for almost 12 months, and then when I do ring it, they put it away so I can only ring it when they want me to.  I guess that's just the way it goes.  Humans are very hard to make happy sometimes.  They want you to ring a bell, you ring the bell, and then they take the bell away.  I might never understand them.  

Still trying to figure out how to open the treat drawer,

Chance

Elections and Ghost Stories

 The kids have voted, the ballots have been carefully counted, and the winner for best pet has finally been announced.  Cats have victoriously claimed the title of Best Pet 2020!  It was a close race, with cats narrowly beating dogs by only 6 votes.  Based on this, I think it is safe to say that the public loves dogs almost as much as they love cats.  Almost.  Rabbits also made it onto the ballots with two write ins.  Personally, I love to watch the tasty rabbits hop around outside, so I can definitely see some good reasons for voting for rabbits.  

Well, besides voting happening at the library, we've had some unusual visitors over Halloween.  Namely a ghost, and a few other spooky creatures in the youth department.  Now, I definitely would not consider myself to be a scaredy cat.  I think I'm quite brave, actually.  But I think the library staff forgot that when they invited these guys to hang out in the lobby for the month of October that I would have to live with them.  Even in the dark.  I decided the best way to get along with these spooky roommates, who showed up without my invite, was to just ignore them and pretend to be brave.  

I ain't afraid of no ghosts! 

They left promptly after Halloween, but not before promising me they would be back to visit next October.  I didn't want to hurt their feelings, but if the library staff gave me a choice (which they probably won't), I might pass on the month long sleepover next year.  

Ghostbusting,

Chance

Cats for Best Pet 2020

     For as long as anyone can remember, people have been fighting over whether cats or dogs are better.  Some prefer a canine companion, while others would rather have a feline friend.  Well, the Youth Department is going to put this debate to rest once and for all.  Next week they will be taking a poll from all voters under 18 to see which pet is really the favorite.  

    Now, I may be a little biased, but I already know who I would vote for.  So incase you aren't quite sure who makes the better pet, let me list some reasons why someone should vote for cats.  

    1. Cats have a pawsitive attitude.  Cats like to look at the bowl like its always half full of treats.

    2.  Cats understand the concept of personal space.  Dogs may get up in your face and lick you, but cats will respect your personal space unless they have a very good reason not to (like getting more treats).  

    3.  Cats are cleaner than dogs.  You may have to give a dog a bath, but cats make less work for you by cleaning themselves . 

    4.  Cats are quieter than dogs.  While dogs bark at anything that moves, cats prefer to only talk when they feel something should really be said.  Like "Wouldn't you like to open the treat drawer now?" or "Why is that loud dog barking outside the door?"

    5.  Cats walk themselves.  Cats don't have to be walked constantly like dogs do, because cats would rather just walk around their house (or library).  

    6.  Cats can do jobs that dogs can't, like working in libraries.  Cats are perfect to work in libraries because they are quiet, professional, and clean.  

    Even if I haven't entirely convinced you, I think we can all agree cats are definitely great pets to have around, so why would you vote any other way?  

Casting my vote,

Chance 

Cat Art

As a cat, I shed.  Sometimes a lot.  And I have discovered that whenever I'm near someone wearing a dark color it's inevitable that somehow or another my fur will be all over them.  It's like a law of nature. But along with this, it almost seems that I have a sixth sense.  In fact, I think a lot of cats have this sense.  It is the ability to just somehow know when someone has decided that today is the day they are going to wear dark colored clothing (or light clothing if you are a dark haired cat).  And the moment that I realize this, is the moment I go searching for whoever has made this decision.  

Once I find them, I take the wonderful opportunity they have presented me with and I create beautiful cat fur art all over them for everyone to enjoy!  But as much I love cat fur art, humans don't quite seem to see the value of it.  I know this because as soon as I have finished my lovely creation they go find a fancy eraser called a "lint roller" and erase it!  

The "Fancy" Eraser

And in the process of erasing my art, they insult it (and my fur) by calling it lint!  Humans just don't appreciate cat culture the same way we cats do.  

Well, the other day, a particular someone on staff decided to wear all black.  I thought she had worn black just for me.  I created a beautiful artwork all over her and she promptly erased it. 

My beautiful creation

 She didn't even wait until I left so she could discreetly erase it.  Nope, she just demolished my art in front of me.  I was slightly offended.  Of course, I asked for treats in apology.  But this staff member is stingy and only gave me one treat.  One treat!  I may have been a little miffed.  If anything, this experience has shown me that humans need more cat art.  

In search of the person wearing dark colors today,

Chance

Nine Ways to Get a Treat

1.  Roll onto your back and purr really loudly

2.  Stare intently at the treat drawer till it magically opens

3.  Meow at whoever is ignoring you till they give you a treat

4.  Expertly, carefully learn how to open the treat drawer yourself (I'm still working on that one)

5.  Sit on someone's notes, keyboard, or right in front of their computer screen

6.  Somehow appear next to the treat drawer whenever anyone is standing relatively close to it

7.  Follow someone everywhere they go till they finally relent and give you a tummy scratch and a
treat (a two for one!)

8. Stare at the back of someone's head till they finally turn around and get the hint

9.  Look really cute

10. Ring the bell 

Opening the treat drawer,
Chance

Bird Watching

We've been staying pretty busy here at the library.  There's been a lot to do lately.  But it's also been pretty quiet.  Since it was so peaceful this afternoon in the youth department, I figured there was no reason to go all the way back upstairs to do my afternoon grooming.

*lick lick*

Wait a minute...

Don't look at me while I'm grooming!

While I was downstairs I decided to complete one of my favorite things to do currently-- watch those yummy birds fly back and forth in front of the door. 

Come out, come out wherever you are...

I talk to them and tell them how nice it is to see them fly by today, and how I wish we didn't have to be separated by two glass doors.  They fly pretty fast, so sometimes all I see is a feathery blob go past the window. Today I looked away for one second and this bird decided to stare at me!

What was that?

"Yikes!  A cat!"  

"Oh, wait! He's an inside cat.  False alarm!" 

By the time I looked back the bird was gone!  

Guess it was nothing.

Oh well, there are plenty of other birds to see and talk to.  

Just bird watching,

Chance

2020 is a mess...

Okay, so maybe it's not that bad.  2020 has actually been pretty good so far, though Barb is still trying to get me to ring that darn bell.  I "accidentally" rang it with my foot the other morning, and you would have thought Barb won the lottery.  Speaking of  the bell, I was told that it was used in the inaugural spelling bee that was held here at the library (though no one thought to invite me).  Apparently the bell was used to signal contestants to hurry up and write down their spelling guesses, and also to possibly scare Britta.  I guess the sounds of bells ringing and dinging behind her tends to make her jump.  I'm keeping that in consideration since I wear a bell, and there are potentially some great opportunities to ring my bell behind her.

The Bell of Doom

In other news, a patron returned a game the other day called "Here Kitty Kitty".  I decided to investigate, as this sounded like a worthy game.  Upon further inspection, I discovered that not only was this game about cats, but it had 40 miniature cats, 10 of which were ginger-colored.  The staff downstairs were getting out all the pieces, and I thought that meant they were going to play, but when I offered to help them by sitting on all the pieces they rudely told me to move.  They claimed they were just counting the pieces to make sure they were all there, and that I was in the way, but I'm not so sure.  I think they knew that if I played, there would be no beating me since I had the upper hand, me being a cat and this being a cat game.  I may have given them the cold shoulder for a while after this incident.

The Cold Shoulder

Eventually I forgave them though for the price of a treat and a chin scratch.  Wasn't that generous?  

Should I, do I, will I ring the bell?

Still trying to decide if I should ring the bell,

Chance