I have to say I'm really enjoying this unseasonable weather. It's so good to just stretch in a warm sunbeam and nap with a fresh, light breeze drifting over me. Every day should be like today.

I've been spending some extra time at the reporter house because the humans I live with are on a trip to Guatemala. Don't worry — there are plenty of people taking care of me. Your friend Bob is well-loved.

But I have to admit it's been a little lonely with my humans gone, so I've been showing my reporter friends some extra lovin' this week, just so they know I appreciate them.

They've all been working really hard to make sure other humans can get the news about what's happening at the Legislature — and boy is there a lot going on here! But even though everyone is busy, they still take time to stop and say "Hi" to me and scritch behind my ears. I figure it's my job to help keep everyone relaxed by being adorable.

I've been spending the day inside the reporter house, trying to stay out of the rain, and all of the InternKittens are talking about one of the politician humans who did something kind of silly today.

From what I heard, the politicians really want one of the old space shuttles to come to Washington state when NASA is done with it. That would be pretty cool. I like space ships.

From The Capitol Record:

“If we refer to these kinds of things as ‘letters to Santa’ usually,” said. Rep. Bob Hasegawa. “The world is changing so much and for us to be able to lay claim to this valuable piece of history … I think it really speaks highly of Seattle and our aerospace tradition.” He finished by saying, “make it so and k’plah.”

But here's the silly part the InternKittens are all talking about — apparently, Hasegawa threw a Vulcan salute while he said "Make it so," and the heads of Trek nerds everywhere spontaneously exploded.

The Vulcan salute, of course, was made famous by the character of Spock. Everyone knows that when you make the salute, you say "Live long and prosper." That's the accepted etiquette.

"Make it so" is what Capt. Jean-Luc Picard would say when he wanted Data to make the ship go. Then he would usually tug on his jacket. It was kind of his thing. Some fans refer to this as the Picard Maneuver.

The point is that the Vulcan salute and "Make it so" just don't go together in the Star Trek universe.

K'plah, by the way, means "Success!" in Klingon. It like wishing someone good luck.

"K'plah!" to you, Rep. Hasegawa. Your friend Bob won't hold it against you.

I came across this blog post during my wanderings on the internet this morning. I think Bonkers really has the right approach to politics.

It's a beautiful day at the capitol. I went prowling around outside for awhile and then came to visit my reporter friends until it was time to settle into my favorite chair for a nice long morning nap. I look forward to drifting off while listening to birds chirping outside. Maybe I'll have a good bird-chasing dream.

Later!

Did you know Workers Compensation covers cat-related injuries? We usually don't mean to hurt anybody, but claws happen sometimes.

Isn't that the guy from Nirvana in the comments?

Thanks to my reporter friend Rachel for the link.

I haven't been a very good blogger lately. As happens to so many writers, I've been overcome with doubt and malaise, wondering whether I really have anything important or interesting to say. Are my napping habits really that riveting? But then I checked my e-mail and comments and learned I have fans!

One of my fans is Gracie, who sent this e-mail:

"Dear Bob:

What an exciting life you must lead being able to take care of all of those interns! All I ever get to do is pretend to be jumping all over the floor as my human, Linda, swings a ribbon tied to a string tied to a stick. I let her think 'I'm thinking about killing a mouse but, I know it's just a ribbon tied to a string...Whatayougonnado?? You got to keep these humans happy... I have a older playmate here but, since I am the new kid on the block and she is eighteen years old, she ignores me every time I try to be friendly.I also have three dogs that I enjoy teasing as, they get in trouble if they even look like they want to kill me ! It's lots of fun ! I have a pink blanket I like to curl up on. I also like to sleep on the bed, on a shelf, on my human's favorite chair and especially, on top on the kitchen table when the sun is blaring from the window. My human's daughter, Sharon, works there at the capital with you and I know you must keep a careful eye on her as she is under the control of four of us felines. I know they must have a time keeping her on the straight and narrow ! Well Bob, it has been great talking to you and may I say I hope all of your ''temptations' are delicious ones!!

Your friend, Gracie"

She even sent me a photo!




Another one of my fans is Precious, who left some comments on my last post and said she liked my idea to have a state cat. I'm sorry I didn't see those sooner, Precious!

Precious was pretty worried about me and her human wrote to one of my reporter friends to make sure I was okay. Wasn't that nice? I like when humans do things like that. It makes me feel loved.

Precious is 3 years old and will be 4 in April. Here are some other things Precious' human said about her.

"She likes to ride in the car and goes to visit people, even a business in Aberdeen and sits on the counter. She has an electric train that she figured out how to work the remote, takes the keys off the laptop, helps cook, even has her own little netbook computer. She walks on a leash like a dog and sleeps on her own hot pad when it gets cold.

Precious also drinks white wine form the Westport Winery, only likes white......Bordello Blonde...."

Precious' human also said that when anyone buys a bottle of Westport Winery's Jetty Cat Red, some of the money goes to help homeless cats.

Thanks to Gracie and Precious for being my fans. It makes me very happy to know other cats enjoy my blog. I promise to keep writing for the rest of the legislative session.

I'm still working on those legislative priorities. They should be done tomorrow.

Today I came over to visit my friends in the reporter house but they were all gone! I guess they were all out working. They're all back this afternoon and I've been having lots of fun going from office to office visiting them all, and getting to know the new InternKittens. As I predicted, they totally love me.

The reporter house smells pretty funny today. A couple of strange guys in overalls were spreading white stuff all over the walls. It makes me feel rather drowsy. I think I'll hop up in my chair with the red fleece blanket and take a nap think about my legislative priorities some more.

Hello again!

It's been a long interim. I'm glad some of my friends are starting to trickle back into the capital. The reporter who brought me the red fleece blanket came back on Monday. I've really enjoyed sharing my office in the reporter house again. A cat can never have too much attention.

The last few months have been pretty exciting for me. Did you know I nearly died? After a lovely summer soaking up the unusual, but very welcome, spell of heat and sunshine, I started feeling kind of funky and wasn't breathing very well. Then one day I went to visit my friends at the reporter house and I almost couldn't breathe at all. My friend Rachel scooped me up and she and Joe drove me to the emergency vet. They thought I had been hit by a car. The people at the vet clinic thought so too until they figured out that I have asthma and that's why I couldn't breathe. They gave me some medicine and I'm fine now, but apparently I was minutes from death. Thank you, Rachel and Joe for saving me! I was very grateful, even though it meant a trip to the vet.

Speaking of Joe, he retired right after that and I really miss seeing him in the press house. I hope you're enjoying your retirement, Joe.

I've also been dieting and must say I'm feeling a bit more svelte than when the last legislative session ended.

I'm looking forward to next Monday when the session starts and all of my friends are back. I'm currently drafting my legislative priorities to give to my politician friends. I know this is a bad budget year, but I think I have some great ideas. I'm sure they'll agree.

I'm also looking forward to meeting a whole new set of ReporterKittens. They call themselves "interns." A few of them came yesterday, but I haven't really gotten to know them yet. I'm sure they'll love me. Who wouldn't?