Simon vs. Chopsticks

Simon is our cat. We got him about two weeks before we got Luna. We wanted to adopt his sister as well, but when we got to the shelter, someone had just adopted her about 30 minutes before. Oh well, Simon and Luna are the best of friends now. Of the two of them though, Simon is the problem cat. Not that he means to be, he just is. You see, he has been blessed with great beauty, and perhaps the finest tail that a creature has ever been given on this Earth. But with cats, like people, when you get too much of one trait you have to give something else up. In Simon's case, he got short changed on intelligence. He's just not the brightest, but we love him anyway. He's our "Mimbo."

For instance, Simon has never figured out his name is Simon. Luna responds to her name and the dozens of variations and nicknames we've come up with for her over the years. There have been a few basic rules we've been able to instill in him over the years. One of these was no kitties on the table while we are eating. As you can see, once we got to Australia, he forgot this rule.

Simon also has strange eating habits. He's recently developed a love of people food. But not the food you would expect. He has no time for salmon or tuna, only dry cereals and other grains. He can't get enough. Weird, right? He's always loved oatmeal- he doesn't know his name, but he can recognize the sound the oatmeal container makes from halfway across the house. Lately though, he's expanded this love to include breakfast cereals, chips, crumbs of all sorts, and most troubling, chocolate cake.

Also, he likes to help Laurel eat. By "help", we mean "try and whack whatever she is holding" at the time. Forks clearly need to be swatted. As do chopsticks, nachos (with dip preferably), breadsticks . . . well you get the point. Here's Simon, giving up on the fist swat technique and going to his classic finishing move- the headbutt.

This particular day we had picked up some take-out Asian food from a place called Wok-in-a-Box- it's a fast-food noodle bar. Delicious. Apparently, these noodles and chopsticks challenged Simon's honor. A great battle ensued.

What these pictures don't show are all of the noodles that ended up on the floor from too aggressive swatting. Ah, life with cats. It's never boring.