LEELU EXPLORES

Leelu head buts me over the covers. I squint with one eye as her second attack moves in to remind me that IT's TIME TO FEED ME. So I stumble from under the covers tripping and stubbing my toes on whatever the animals have played with overnight that now litter the floor and head to the bathroom where a private dining area has been erected for her eating pleasure. She leaps from tile floor to toilet to her counter top where she whines while waiting for the pop and kawhoosh of the lid of cat food.

The kawoosh of a can lid screams the siren call to all animals--the dogs and cats line up for the licking (akin to kids getting to lick the spoon, bowl and spatula of the remaining chocolate icing.) Plop and scrape; the whining grows insistant.

I use a cat food spatula--tiny enough to scoop every morsel from under the rim, although nothing beats the camel-like-tongue of our doberman mutt; she can sniff a microscopic morsel from 200 yards and beat everyone off the line to get it. She shows a "gimme" attitude for when she arrives on any scene, if another animal beats her to the morsel, she'll wiggle her large behind to insure she gets more than her share. It's hard to argue with the biggest butt around.

Meanwhile, Leelu, impatient, bounds off the counter, skimming the toilet seat (it's important to keep it closed for her access as well as keeping the dogs from using it as an alternate water bowl) and tangling my legs until I bang the dish on her counter alerting her to her breakfast pleasure.

Ah pleasure; she mews her 'thank yous' intermittently between bites. Chomp. Mew *thank you," chomp, Mew "thank you", chomp, Mew "this tastes great", chomp, Mew "thank you," chomp, "I love you." chomp, Mew "thank you" and so on until she's done. She's a social buterfly. I think she keeps up the conversation so I won't leave her to eat alone. Now, Jaz is anther story. Jaz, the cat, loves her privacy. But that's another day.

DISCOVERING TWITTER

Writing a short phrase was never my strong suit. Perhaps that is why Twitter fascinates me. With the limitations of characters, it forces me to be precise and concise in my Tweets. It's also a quick fix into networking. Since the points of contact are short and sweet, perusing them is fast and furious. Suddenly, I'm at the doorstep of extraordinary people around the world that I can tune into with a click of my mouse. Blogs, however, offer me the chance to delve further into what others are doing and present more of myself.

Leelu Explores

Leelu, @(-.-)@, our new kitten, from a neighbor's batch of 'oops, my Siamese purebred met the wrong kind and now we have eight', provides better entertainment than TV. She leaps upon fuzz balls--I let my housekeeping go just so she can find playtoys naturally (heh heh)--and everything is a source of joyful discovery. Her ice blue eyes darken when she is suspicious of sounds, but when she's finished her morning aerobics she bounds upon my lap, spins three times before curling into a fluff ball--blue eyes focussed on me, until my hand begins to stroke her long white fur, mottled with the colors of her birth father. Her head rests on her paw and purrs grow louder with each minute, occassionally interrupted by an immediate need to lick a paw or other part of her body.

LYNN E. HAZEN AND SUSAN TAYLOR BROWN'S SOCIAL MEDIA ADVENTURE

Two outstanding authors entertained the SCBWI Bay Area group with some insightful tips on websites and blogging to the novices and published authors. Discovered the hows and whys of Twitter and a plethora of other sites. Networked among those in the same boat of confusion. I have that dazed look of a soaked sponge ...not the alertness of Sponge Bob but the glazed over version. Fortunately, they provided oodles of handouts with everything I ever wanted to know and more. This was my first visit to an SCBWI event. Well worth the jog. As a result, hope to improve my blog.