Do you guys remember back when Chloe drew a pretty little picture of a Catcake? Or a Cupcat? Well NPC reader Melvin does. I was delighted to find these pictures in my inbox yesterday. He had the folks at Beaverton Bakery make these based on the drawing.

I love how he placed them on the laptop. Next best thing to an iPad? I’m very impressed at how closely they resemble the original drawing. I hope they were delicious! Thanks very much Melvin!

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Lisa and Mike have been catching up on all the past Lost episodes, and while it doesn’t suck me in as much as it does those two, I have to say that I’m intrigued by what everyone is calling “The Smoke Monster.” Now maybe people know what the smoke monster is, and maybe they don’t. Either way, I think this black cloud of destruction would be ever so much more interesting if it were essentially feline in nature. Naturally I drew myself as the Lost smoke monster, and I think it came out quite well.

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NPChloe is the weekly inward musings of one pensive and culture-loving feline, Chloe. The words and art below have been ripped directly from her diary and spread out on the internets here for all to see.
I recently sat down to watch the 1982 Jim Henson film the Dark Crystal. Wow, what a beautiful world! It was refreshing to see such wonderful design and imagination all brought to life via puppets and sets and matte paintings. A dying art, no doubt, in this age of computer graphics. I was particularly drawn to the Skeksis, the reptile-like bird villains. Or are they bird-like reptiles? I couldn’t help but think of the Arakkoa in World of Warcraft. I looked it up later and apparently the Skeksis were Blizzard’s inspiration for those Outland bird baddies! I sketched a Skeksis, adding kitty ears and whiskers. While the feline additions are undoubtedly an improvement to this intriguing race, I’m not entirely happy with my sketch. Perhaps more study is needed.
Bink came in the room about mid-way through the film. I fully expected him to make some sarcastic remark and then leave, but instead he sat down and watched the rest in silence. I even think he was a little scared by the Skeksis.

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I recently had the opportunity to stream the excellent film, Man on Wire, through Netflix. It’s a 2008 documentary directed by James Marsh, chronicling Frenchman Philippe Petit’s astonishing feat of walking a wire suspended between the two World Trade Center towers in New York City in 1974. It’s a story of breath-taking courage, or suicidal insanity, depending on how you look at it. At times it was difficult for me to watch at all without getting a chilling sense of vertigo. I sketched myself on walking a wire, though I didn’t think of myself as being nearly as high as he was. I don’t think I could have finished the sketch if I did! I also assumed that my tail and natural feline sense of balance obviated the need for a the balance pole he held.

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Bye Bye Birdie, Grease….how could I top those? Xanadu, that’s how! I looked up Olivia Newton-John’s other work and soon found myself enthralled with this musical rollerskating fantasy. The 1980 film is about an artist, (played by Michael Beck), a former orchestra leader (played by Gene Kelly), and a beautiful muse, one of nine sister muses, played by Olivia herself. It’s a beautiful tale of love and art. The film’s title, Xanadu, refers to Samuel Coleridge’s famous poem, Kubla Khan. The first few lines of which are:

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

Beautiful, isn’t it? Though I think I could hear Bink snickering when he stopped and watched a few minutes with me. He just has no taste, the big blue grump. When I explained to him that Xanadu is the epitome of class and talent, he nearly lost his head laughing so hard! I could even hear him chuckling a little from the other room a whole hour later. Silly kitty, doesn’t know what he’s missing!
I didn’t try to Newton-John myself this time. I just wanted to see what I’d look like in a pair of skates!

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After watching Bye Bye Birdie I craved more musical awesomeness. It seemed like a natural progression to move on to the 1978 hit musical Grease with John Travolta and Olivia Newton John. I think I prefer the wholesome nature of Ann Margret’s Kim McAfee to Sandy Olsson, but I found the songs in Grease to be catchier. I’m still cooing and bopping my head around, even as I play World of Warcraft. The end is fun, but I really don’t approve of Sandy’s choice to smoke. Maybe they didn’t realize how unhealthy it was back then? At least she puts it out toward the beginning of the number. Anyway, of course I couldn’t resist sketching myself as her. I can’t really pull off sexy though. I could sketch myself with a more cinched waist, but that would be dishonest.

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I recently had the opportunity to watch the 1963 musical sensation Bye Bye Birdie for the first time. I was up late one night, feeling conflicted over the fact that I missed my Mousercising sessions. I reminded myself that I shouldn’t miss any time I spent with those evil little demon spawn mice, but I still felt empty inside. So I fired up Netflix and looked for some interesting musicals available for streaming. I figured that some good old fashioned musical theater would pick up my spirits. Well Bye Bye Birdie did the trick! Ann-Margret and Janet Leigh are sooo pretty, and they charmed my kitty socks off. My favorite number is Lot of Living to Do. Ann-Margret wears this adorable pink outfit with ruffles. I drew myself doing the dance in that same outfit. I like how it turned out – but it kind of looks like I’m doing a pee dance. Ann-Margret was more graceful. Oh well.

*Chloe’s a little too tied up this week to write a journal entry. So we’re posting this old drawing she did when she was a kitten. It depicts her jumping on Lisa’s head, one of her common kittenhood activities.*

I’m slightly embarrassed that Bink found me out, but I refuse to feel ashamed! I’m merely fostering a positive body image through exercise. The fact that I enjoy exercising with mice is evidence of my mature attitude towards our natural prey. Bink just sees everything in black and white, that bonehead. We’re not talking now. I realize that reconciliation should be attempted, how could I possibly forgive him? He ate one of my new friends!

Speaking of my new friends, I’ve noticed them acting a little…strangely. I’ve been training them to operate the keyboard part of playing World of Warcraft, and they aren’t taking to it very easily. They usually just do aerobics on the keyboard or stand still and stare off into space. It’s a little eerie actually. I tried to capture the blank look in a drawing, but I don’t think I quite mastered the exact feeling of chills down the tail their odd looks give me. We have another raid tonight on the druid, so I better go get them in tip-top condition.

My new friends are so nice! I encountered them one night and they showed me the most amazing show, from long long ago, archived on YouTube. The host, Kellyn, is sooooo pretty! She has such fluffy hair, such colorful leotards… I drew myself in one of my favorites. Maybe I can make it for myself in real life someday! Anyway, I hope to eventually be able to do my mousercises as well as she does, with so much poise, grace, and happiness. Having a bigger wardrobe of leotards will help.