Action Shots! With Heads! Mostly!
**J'aime bien les chats Bengals, ils sont tout doux et ils ronronent. Attendez pour les diner, bande de petits monstres poilus! Et on ne fait pipi sur le plan de travail ni sur futon! Si cous etes sages, on pourra jouer avev les batons a plumes, et peut etre que je vous donnerais aussi des croquettes!
Je suis tres fatigue......
But I did get to Skype with Nathilie today, and learned some truly useful French phrases, as you can see. No telling where this is going to go...
And we rode outdoors today! Further evidence to support my claim that Spring is indeed here. Mel and I even Rode Out of the ring, around the grounds. Thru the woods. Saw some Grouse. They saw us. Horses saw Grouse. Learned I can stay on when they do that JUMP thing. We also rode along a beautiful bluff, high above the river. VERY high about the river. I didn't want to go close, but Mel, who has a fine sense of humour told me to face my fears.
I told her to stop reading my blog.
I tried for some action shots tonight after I got home. Hard to do. I don't think my camera is UP to it. When Kitty comes, we will get shots and vid of these Amazing Bengal Leaps, but for now, at least they have heads. Mostly.
As I type this, Mim is doing her imitation of a Banshee announcing the Imminent Death of One of a Noble House. What the heck. She's fed. We've played. The window is open. I don't THINK she is hunting anything alive. When I go and ask her what seems to be the problem, she says "Nothing. Why?".
Magic came to the window when I drove up this evening! Another first! And he mewed, and licked, let me sit by him while he ate, and, well bit, me a good one. But I got him back good. I did a real actual PET on his head. Teach him. Here he is washing his Butt. Sooooo cute.
Right.
Love, French, Ponies and Bengals,
Lorraine
PS For those of you whose French is on a par with mine: **I love Bengal Kitties, they are soft and they purr. Wait for your dinners you fur covered monsters, and don't pee on the counter or futon! If you are patient, we will play with the feather stick, and I MAY give you crunchies.....
Je suis tres fatigue......
But I did get to Skype with Nathilie today, and learned some truly useful French phrases, as you can see. No telling where this is going to go...
And we rode outdoors today! Further evidence to support my claim that Spring is indeed here. Mel and I even Rode Out of the ring, around the grounds. Thru the woods. Saw some Grouse. They saw us. Horses saw Grouse. Learned I can stay on when they do that JUMP thing. We also rode along a beautiful bluff, high above the river. VERY high about the river. I didn't want to go close, but Mel, who has a fine sense of humour told me to face my fears.
I told her to stop reading my blog.
I tried for some action shots tonight after I got home. Hard to do. I don't think my camera is UP to it. When Kitty comes, we will get shots and vid of these Amazing Bengal Leaps, but for now, at least they have heads. Mostly.
As I type this, Mim is doing her imitation of a Banshee announcing the Imminent Death of One of a Noble House. What the heck. She's fed. We've played. The window is open. I don't THINK she is hunting anything alive. When I go and ask her what seems to be the problem, she says "Nothing. Why?".
Magic came to the window when I drove up this evening! Another first! And he mewed, and licked, let me sit by him while he ate, and, well bit, me a good one. But I got him back good. I did a real actual PET on his head. Teach him. Here he is washing his Butt. Sooooo cute.
Right.
Love, French, Ponies and Bengals,
Lorraine
PS For those of you whose French is on a par with mine: **I love Bengal Kitties, they are soft and they purr. Wait for your dinners you fur covered monsters, and don't pee on the counter or futon! If you are patient, we will play with the feather stick, and I MAY give you crunchies.....
86 Comments:
I love this place....where else can I learn the french word for futon.
And I hope the grouse-induced jump wasn't near the tall bluff.....
Oh and MAN, he's got a beautiful back.
Magic, that is.
See, when you put all your fears out here for us to see, everyone sees them and helps you!
And here my first thought at the word "crunchies" is "fingers". I think I've been reading your blog too much... or perhaps I'm turning into a Bengal.
Fear.
Also - excellent French lessons! Also, also, I only understood about 75% of it, so thank you for printing the translation. ;)
Magic does indeed have a beautiful back, and I just want to tickle that paw as he licks his butt.
You stayed on when the horse pigrooted Quiche? Or was it more that little sideways startle jump? Well done either way. I'm really developing a hankering for some riding.
OH good, French lessons! I can read a bit, but am sorely lacking in Bengal vocabulary.
Watching Criminal Minds on the Giant Fruit, and winding silk. Height of excitement around here...
Ronronent=purr? Love it!
Been reading and being inspired, but not much to say. Sleep well, rise well...more thoughts perhaps tomorrow.
The Bengals are absolutely GORGEOUS.
Well, it was more of a Startle than a real jump, and it was just before the bluff, so no worries, and Mel did tell me there was no was the horses were going over the thing. Ain't dumb apparently.
I don't know much French, but I will learn. Nathilie and ROsetta Stone willing.
You should here how Ronronent is pronounced , kind of sounds like a purr. When Nathilie says it anyway.
ANother weird word, tho wacky French: Heures. Pronounced "er" no kidding.
Bengals are lovely. Venus is curled beside me. Watching. Nice Venus.
My baby bengal is named Zanzibar but is called almost exclusively "the Monster" or "Baby Monster" (we will ignore that he is 4 years old and not at all a kitten).
French uses way too many letters for too few sounds for me to comprehend it. Especially fun since I have French clients.
tres bon!!
French IS strange with the letter thing. Never pronounce the last letter. Unless you do.
They never outgrow Monster, do they Adri?
Merci, Jeda, and welcome!
Yay, French! I understood a bit. Enough to exclaim "They aren't Monsters!". Ronronent sounds like onomatopoeia the way you describe it. Fun!
Action shots can be tricky with most consumer-grade digitals. Possible, but not easy. I tried shooting formula 1 cars and Porsche race cars one year with a good, but still consumer, Nikon. The trick is, if the camera supports it, to hold the shutter button down halfway so it meters the shot in advance, then finish pressing at the right moment. Works best if the subject stays the same distance away so things are in focus. Good luck!
That said, Magic is one lllloooooooonnnggg cat, even allowing for some wide angle distortion. Very cool beans about checking out the window when you got home.
This was a funny blog entry! :)
mmm crunchies.
and how does one break a limb getting out of bed?
Oooo, riding horses outside!
Whoop! :) Plus, you stayed on when your horse was startled! Not that you really had a choice. ;)
You don't have to be an "artist" to submit a doodle for a charity auction, Ms. Fabulous. It's a doodle not the Mona Lisa. That being said, you don't have to do it if you don't want to. I doubt anybody will think less of you if you don't submit one; I know I won't.
Oh, and I forgot, Happy Earth Day. I mostly saw old men watering concrete in the neighborhood. They'd say they were watering grass, but I know what they were doing.
Let God water the yards - He does it far better.
Night fiendom. I can't stay up any longer.
Hi, JeDa! We have nice jackets with shiny buckles up the back for you to choose from, and paint and permanent markers to personalize them. Sorry, I don't have one of those gadget to add rhinestones or studs, but you never know what you'll find around here. ;)
::SSSSNNNNIIIIFFFFFFFF::
MmmmmMMMmmmmMMMmmm. . .
SPICY!
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
One of my favorite essays (I think it's an essay) is David Sedaris' "Me Talk Pretty One Day." I heard him read it on NPR and just about wet myself. I do recall wheezing at the poor French students trying to explain Easter to the girl from Morocco.
"It is a party for the little boy of God who call his self Jesus and...oh, shit."
"He call his self Jesus and he die one day on two morsels of lumber."
"He weared of himself the long hair and after he die, the first day he come back here for to say hello to the peoples."
"The rabbit of Easter. He bring of the chocolate."
Teacher: "A rabbit?"
"Well, sure. He come in the night when one sleep on a bed. With a hand he have a basket and foods."
Teacher: "No, no. Here in France the chocolate is brought by a big bell that flies in from Rome."
"But how do the bell know where you live?"
"Well", she said, "How does a rabbit?"
That's about how well I speak Spanish, I think. French, not so good. I AM speking gud in teh Lolcat.
Three posts while I was typing, aaargh - I DO have the rhinestones in forty different colors - they iron on!
Fluffy that was so funny.
I am reading but having a very hard time putting my words together in writing t comment.
I'll just say the last couple days you all have made me think and smile and other good things.
Night/Morning and happy french learning to all!
Magic is coming along nicely and m'dear he is drop dead gorgeous!
I think I am understanding what you mean by the Bengal need to tell you everything and then say it's nothing. This is usually after sweat droplets form on my forehead.
So worth it.
I'm too tired for feathersticks... But crunchies are carbs, right? I'll take those. Good for my brain. Tomorrow will be my 15+ hour day. I need more crunchies.
Magic is so beautiful.
Nighty-night.
Mim was just expressing herself about a fine day (actually meowing in French too as she resented the hint about cats peeing on the counter).
It's true about Easter chocolate being brought about by the bells coming back from Rome: Why did you think Quasimodo was excited about "the bells! the bells!" in Notre Dame de Paris, otherwise?
As I was reading the first part of this and I got to "ronronent," I remembered hearing the word pronounced by native speakers of French and thinking it was cool. Then, not too much later in the comments, I read how you think it sounds like a purr and I thought, "YES!" That's exactly it. And utterly beyond my meager French pronunciation skills to reproduce.
Then, in one of those inexplicable thought links, it all suddenly reminded me of an animated short film I'd seen many years ago that had the most unusual sound track. For the sound of, say, logs splashing into water there was a group of voices repeatedly whispering the word "splash." Other onomotopoetic words were used similarly. Watching the film was very bizarre experience because it took me a few moments to realize what I'd been listening to. I remember nothing else about the work, not title, not subject matter, nor any other thing.
I fully expect to be embarrassed by someone pointing out this is an animation classic and any Fiend worth her salt would know as much.
Oh well.
You never know about those grouse..they may secretly harbor Huge Saber Teeth. Or at least the horses think so. LOL. Hooboy do I know that "I'm gonna jump ten feet sideways right NOW" thing. You stayed on and this is a Very Good Thing.:) One more fear down, right?
Maybe Mim thinks she can sing?? LOL
And you got an actual PET in on the Magic? I hope for the sake of your fingers he eases off on the biting soon.
Wretched insomnia. Too much thinking about cliffs? Or lack of same?
But it did give me time to finish P&P&Z. Very fun read. It ends with a Reader's Discussion Guide, which is a hoot.
G'night. I hope.
The most fun sideways hop I've had on a horse was when there was a snake...I'm not sure who was most startled, the horse, me or the snake.
OSS I know where your sock went
Magic est tres tres beau, (et Venus et Mim aussi)
I didn't know 'ronronent' but I do know that the german for purr is schnurren (may not be spelling it right) which sounds like a purr, too...
So, so far, all the words for purr are onomatopoeic?
Purr certainly is, especially if you roll those RRRs.
And I don't know the animated short, but would love to, if nyone else knows what it is...
Bonne matin/soir a tous les Fiends mervelleux...
(with apoligies to Nathalie and other French speakers...it's been a very long time...)
Ticky box... and that was meant to say Good morning/evening to all the marvelous Fiends. Hopefully it was at least close!
I like having a head.
OOOh, Dan, me too!
Good morning Fiends! ("Morning" in Phiala Daylight Time, anyway.)
Dan, I quite agree - we like you better with your head as well. Don't let Lorraine take your picture!
I am off to work shortly, where I will write More Paragraphs on this paper. And then it will be done. I truly only have half of one section to finish: all charts and tables are done, the bibliography is done, the Intro, Methods, Results are done, and the Discussion is about half done. So... not too bad. (Why yes, that IS a self-administered pep talk.)
I've rewritten it twice, redone all of the analysis several times - the whole thing has been horrid and I never liked it. Much better now, but the lingering horridness has made it very difficult to finish.
Dan, don't worry, it's just ahead.
Doesn't onomatopoeic kind of sound like what it is too?
Morning Fiends. Up in the 6's again, but get this, did house chores!!!!!!!!!! Spooky Teen comes over tonight to clean, and it behooved me to do a few things.
OSS, Insomnia. I suffered pretty badly for a few years, played wake up and worry all darn night. Now it takes me about, kid you not, 35 seconds to fall asleep, what with all this FIT stuff going on, just a thought.
(Good thing I am only sleeping with Bengals, eh?)
I don't know this short film either..
Fods, I need to do that doodle today. Among other things.
Ride first tho.
Thanks Dragonsally, that was a great way to start the day!
In my too-little-sleep brainfog, I must have messed with my alarmclock somehow. I arrived at work, in a rush cause I was running late, only to find the doors still locked. Huh?! Look at watch. It says 7 not 8. The emptiness of the train should have been a clue, but after last night's insomnia, noticing anything short of locked doors was beyond me.
So, perfect LOLcat, perfect timing!
Good morning, fiends! I actually went to be early - might have a little something to do with eating too much sugar and crashing - and so was up earlyish (for me.) DID get some writing done, though - so I shall not complain.
Hope that everyone has a loverly day!
~ tosses in that stray D that should have been on the end of bed and ticks off the ticky box to boot. ~
Oh Dear, OSS, I hope you had a nice extra hour anyway..
Nearly ready to go off to ride. Ana today, and western. I want to go outside work on my Other Direction canter. Going to the left, I rock, going to the right, it's like I forget how to drive. Lots of space, and the western saddle will be helpful for this.
And I will TRY and get on without my step.
Ana is pretty tall tho, may not have the muscles for it yet.
Comme je suis nulle en équitation... Je suis allée voir sur Wikipedia les allures du cheval.
Le mot "canter" n'existe pas en français!
Someone just sent me a note saying how much they enjoyed the vid on the web of me performing Marilyn with Paul.
Huh?
Who knew this? No idea anyone ever shot that. Or anything else of Paul and I.
I shudder.
Really? No word for canter? What do they CALL it?
Galop.
Sally - I had just seen that picture of the LOLcat - that website always makes me laugh out loud, I think of it as a health website, as laughter is good for us.
DH grew up across the street from David Sedaris; we have been fans for a long time.
The Bengals are so beautiful...
And just WHAT is a gallop then? We need to know.
They are beautiful monsters aren't they, Jane? I can't wait for Kitty to do some proper photos.
Off for my Day. Full of hopes and plans and dreams.
Yay for hopes and plans and dreams!!!
Also "galop". But a quicker one.
Lorraine, are the Bengals soft? They look soft, not to mention drop-dead gorgeous.
Absolutely freezing at work today. Hard to predict indoor temps here. Fortunately I keep a variety of knitwear in my cube. Today requires both a shawl and the elbow-length fingerless gloves. Right, early coffee break is in order too, I think. Then I might try to do some actual cataloging. Hope I remember how.
Do the videos from the live webcasts stick around?
OSS, my office is a bit like that - although I can predict that if it's sunny outside we will be ripened like tomatoes in a greenhouse - unless the windows are wide open, in which case the wind will have us all shivering within no time!
Glad I'm working from home today :o)
See, brain both frozen and sleepy today. You already told us the Bengals are soft, albeit in French. I keep wanting to stroke the screen.
OSS, same here, but the knitwear is all at home. I feel silly even thinking about turning on the space heater, but my hands are cold! It is 43F/6C here today, and it's supposed to be in 81F/27C by Saturday.
The Paper from Hell is off my desk - it has gone to my coauthor, who will no doubt find all kinds of things left to do. But still...
Well done Phiala!
I've got so distracted from working today, but still at least I managed to get done what I needed to.
Had a great time at the not-spinal-tap show. it was Christopher guest, michael mckean and harry shearer as themselves playing acoustic! And doing things from their whole catalog. Also sharing video clips and stories of spinal tap censor antics, etc.
It was a really fun show.
I want to interview Harry Shearer for foodporn...must figure out how to make that happen.
Yay for done papers, Phil!
Lorraine, I love checking in for stories and pictures of the bengals. Those stories make me very happy.
Magic is such a pretty boy.
Feeling down and out of sorts?
Watch this (with sound).
Dan and Lorraine - Dr. Wicked recorded a couple of the songs from the February broadcasts and posted them on youtube... he also posted 3 songs from the March broadcast on his ustream page as 'Archived Videos'. One of those is Marilyn.
If you follow the link to his ustream page then click on 'Archived Videos' you will find them. here is the ustream pageWell done Phiala!!! Feels good to get those papers off the desk, doesn't it.
That was cute Spacedlaw. I like the tone of the owner's voice in the bloopers best. It is that 'cat owner' voice trying so hard to get the cat to do as asked. Your postcard arrived yesterday!!!! Thank You!!! So cool! I pondered it while sipping tea from a certain shop in Paris. Thank you so much.
Your riding trip makes me want to go riding SOOOOooooo much. Hmmm. Do you think there is a possibility that we could arrange a group riding trip at the Fiend-meet this June? Anyone else up for that?
Hee hee i like the bloopers best too.
"Get the Zebra"
"What?"
"Go get the Zebra"
"Why?"
"Come on get the zebra"
Disdainful stare translates as "I will not perform for you, silly deluded human"
A canter and a gallop are actually the same gait/movement. We distinguish them by speed and, technically whether all four hooves are ever off theground at once. If yes, that's a gallop. You can observe this gait change in dogs as well!
In Western riding, the canter is called a lope.
And that's my pedantery for this morning! Pre-coffee even!
One of my bengals is soft like plush, the other is soft like a soft, sleek cat. My mix is soft like a rabbit!
My Phoebe (100% mixed who-knows-what) is soft like silk -- like long, fine strands of un-spun silk that float through the air and get into everything, absolutely everything ;-)
Too much break now. Must get back to the Civil War. No book-cataloging for me today, alas.
Perhaps... Fiendom Come should have an afternoon of crafts for usin' teh paints n markers n spangly bits?
Well done Phiala - must be such a relief to have got it off your desk, even if it may come back for amendments later!
Ooooh, pretty pretty Bengals. And I love "les batons a plumes." I tried cooing it at my dog just now, and he did the "Huh?" tilted-head-look.
Salut mes amis. As we're being bilingual, my friend teaches French to middle-school kids and is a huge Eddie fan so has them all saying "Où est le singe?" "Le singe est sur la branche". She also has many of them convinced that there's an enormous plastic snail in the middle of France, like the Eiffel Tower but less likely to rust.
Nat, is "suppôt" the right word for "fiend"?
Fascinating article from Wired magazine about a stone monument in Georgia, US that was secretly financed and designed. It has instructions for humanity for after the apocalypse (they think) in 8 world languages. It also functions as a calendar, a clock, and a compass!
"Drogués", rather.
Even if I would rather use "Fous de...", depite the fact that it is not an official translation of "fiends".
Adri - that's amazing. How reassuring that someone is planning ahead. Plus I bet it would be a magnet for zombies :)
You know, Andrea, that's not a bad idea. If we each bring a blank t-shirt we could write on each others' shirts with permanent marker and have instant souvenirs/favors of the gathering. :)
Just a thought. With the metallic permanent markers you wouldn't necessarily have to have a white/light colored tee, either.
Adri - that's amazing (not the least amzing part - people who make promises to keep serets and then actually keep them)
I do question the choices of language, however - are we expecting a lot of students of babylonian cuniform to survive the imoending apocolypse? (Query - could this be the explanation of the carvings on the stones at stonehenge?)
Thanks for the video, Spacedlaw. That was good to come home to. It has been a down and out of sorts kind of day, starting last evening. Hence the no sleep, I suppose. No particular reason. Anyway, thanks.
They are so lovely. I have never met a Bengal and now feel I must.
Louisa, I thought your friend taught french to Middle Earth children. Too much Tolkien in my recent past...
Nathalie -that video was gorgeous. Love black cats...so glossy.
OSS I'm glad the LOLcat made your day a bit better. I've done that be there too early thing too.
Phiala - I hope your coauthor didn't create too much work on the paper.
ah Fluffy, thanks for that Sedaris--- two morsels of lumber!
one of my favorites, as I grew up with a Greek dad who constantly mis-Englished. cracked us up---
yes to photos...and videos.
thanks for posting the link, Little Rubius.
xo
We should do up shirts with spaces for decorating, and writing in and such, thru the shop, some sort of saying for the weekend, and in white, well, or anything that one can write on, and order them before, so we all have them for the weekend...
When is the weekend, again? DH says obviously we need to come, meet all you cool people...he may be right :-)
We're listening to the Love Actually soundtrack while preparing dinner.
Meeting at Stillwater MN on June 26, 27, 28, 2009.
Let Aleta know who is coming. Everyone is responsible for their own transportation and lodging. Many of us are stay at the Water Street Inn in Stillwater. They may be filling up fast. There are no rooms there before the Friday (26th)
What Siri said Jane, except she forgot to mention the Water Street Inn may have a really really cool band playing...
Doing my new post now.
Yeah - I heard something about some group playing....Paula and Lorrie, or Pukka and Lalanie or something like that.
(I just finished booking rooms so I can come up on Wednesday night and play with Marjorie and anyone else on Thursday and get Jess and Phiala from the airport on Friday and remember, Q, I have a box full of skull candleholders I'm bringing.)
No headless animals are featured in tonights new post.
Which is now up.
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