22/10/2003
So, maybe it is time to come back from "summer vacation" and do some updates in here ;)
I've had a really lazy summer of laying around doing nothing. It has been very hot here, and so I have not been in the mood to do much. Linda gave me wet towels to sleep on, and that was my favorite
napping spot for weeks! But now the weather is finally cooler, and so I can now enjoy playing with Ninni again!

It turned out Ninni was not a bad friend at all, she is so much fun! I must admit I do tease her a
little bit, like washing her face. She hates that, and usually pounces me when I do it. But then we can play a bit, I love chasing her all over the apartment. She is a bit crazy though, and will abandon every game if Linda or Geir opens the kitchen or bathroom! door. The kitchen part I get, she is probably hungry (as always), but why she is so desperate to get into the bathroom I cannot understand! I usually stay far away from that room, much too wet in there for my taste! I have taught her all my "tricks", like knocking down the bathroom wastebasket. That always gets the people really angry, so now that I taught her to do it she gets yelled at instead of me. Having a little sister can be very convenient ;)

Earlier this summer Linda's grandmother came and visited us. She was ok, but I had to keep up my reputation as a "grinch", so I did not talk much with her. And I did not like that she took over the guestroom, that's where I have one of my favorite sleeping places (a suite case under the bed, where no one can find me).

Linda and Geir bought leashes for me and Ninni, and took us outside in the woods. I liked it the first day, although it was a bit scary! The second time I did not like it at all, there were to many scary
noises everywhere! They have started taking just Ninni for walks now, and that's fine by me! I run and hide as soon as I see that leash, I am quite happy staying in here thank you very much!

Geir's mum and aunt came and visited us a couple of weeks back. It was a bit scary having so many people around, but I got used to them. Geir's mom kept trying to bribe me with cat treats, but as I have decided to be a grinch I just ignored her (well, sometimes I ate the treat first, and THEN went back to ignoring her...).

10/6/2003
Dear Diary!
Yesterday my parents were away for a really long while, they did not come home after work as usual. And then, when they did come home, I was of course very glad to see them. But I could smell that they had been in contact with a lot of other cats, and got a little jealous! Then I noticed that they had my cat carrier with them, and I thought that was a little weird. As I went over to them I noticed that there were someone INSIDE my carrier! They put it down on the floor and opened the door. This little Maine Coon girl boldly left the carrier and went into MY bedroom. I was shocked, she did not even say hi to me... I told her that I did not like her attitude, but she just completely ignored me. And to make it even worse, she was really friendly with MY people, and they were nice to her as well. So I watched her closely, while I told her to go home.

After a while I got tired of growling to her. She did not even look at me, and she did not seem to be getting the message about leaving. So I decided that since she was here, we could play and have some fun. But do you think she was interested? Oh no... I tried my best being cute and playful, but she kept ignoring me... After a while I got so frustrated that I was practically begging her to play with me (don't tell anyone that I did that though!), but I hardly got a glance from her. She was to busy exploring MY apartment and MY toys, eating MY food, and purring at MY people! I followed her around, and did not dare to take my eyes of her.

After a while she let me come up to her, and I could finally introduce myself. Her name is Ninni, and Linda later told me that she will be staying with us... I am not to sure what I think about that, I was kind of liking it when I was a spoiled only child... At least I hope she will play with me, what else would a baby sister be good for... Linda also tells me that I have to be nice to her, and that I will have to learn how to share. She even mentioned something about sharing my webpage with her, but we will see about that!

I am not even talking to Linda and Geir. I am angry with them about this whole thing, and its going to take a lot of sweet talking and treats to get me in a better mood!

This morning Linda gave me and Ninni a plate of canned cat food each. But I was so busy watching Ninni eat to remember my food, and before I had time to protest she had eaten my food as well! She has got some nerve that little girl, but she is kind of cute as well... I think I will give her a chance, but I am not putting up with everything from her, that's for sure!

7/6/2003
Dear Diary!
Wow, it has been a looong time since I found the time to write! A lot has happened lately, so I have quite a bit to write about.

I went to my first show on 17th of May. It was in Tampere, and we drove there on Friday evening. We stayed in a hotel during the night, and went to the show early Saturday morning. The show was pretty large, with about 550 cats. At first I thought it was really scary, there were so many weird sounds and scents there! But after a while I settled in, and it was not all that bad. Linda and Geir bought me a nice bed that I could lie in and watch all the people that wandered around. I also met the people I used to live with when I was a baby. I went up to a table to see a nice Danish lady, she gave me a small ribbon.
I think this ribbon was the reason we came there, but I don't get the point - I am not even allowed to play with the thing...
I was very glad when we got home on Saturday evening! It had been a long trip, and I was very tired!
So I spent the evening doing all my favourite things: Sleeping in my cat tree, eating lots of food, getting attention from Linda and Geir and playing.

The next Tuesday was my 6 month birthday. Linda made me a really cool birthday cake, you can see pictures of it in the gallery. It tasted delicious, but although I offered Geir some, he refused to taste it. Humans are sooo weird, I will never understand them.....

This week me and Linda are home alone. Geir is on a trip to Norway. It is not too bad to be home alone, cause then I get all of Linda's attention ;c)
I hope he comes home soon though, he can be a lot of fun to play with!

I have discovered some cool flying noisy creatures that fly around outside our balcony. "Birds" I think humans call them. I would really love to catch one, and try my best, but Linda gets really nervous when
I try to get to the top of the balcony chairs to get closer to them. So now she has closed all the windows out there, and I am not allowed to be there alone. Silly human, I am a cat, I have great balance and full control (well, most of the time at least...).

1/5/2003
Hi again!
Well, it turned out that “vet” is a doctor, and not to a tuna restaurant. We went there by bus, which I did not like at all! There were lots of noise and lots of people all around. The vet was not so bad though, although she gave me a nasty vaccine :(
When we finally got home I got a lot of attention, and that is always nice! I also got some of my favourite canned cat food, but no shrimps - you would think I had deserved some after being such a good boy at the vet...

Yesterday something cool happened! When my people came home from work, they had three large boxes with them. Inside these boxes were lots of nice things, beds and scratching posts, and even some toys! They then started working with the pieces, putting them together. I tried to help, because I was very excited to see what it was! My people had a very hard time getting it all together, and they used a lot of bad human words in the process. I of course saw what they were doing wrong, and tried to correct them, but only got pushed away.
Finally, after a lot of work, it was done! It turned out to be a really cool cat tree!!! I love it, and haven’t been down from it since, except for to eat of course. My favourite spot is on the highest bed, there I am right under the roof, and have full overview of the apartment.

I had some fun last night. When Linda and Geir woke up this morning, Geir had a small scratch on his lip, while Linda has a larger one under her eye. Now they are both wondering how that could have happened, without them noticing. I have figured out that if I am very careful, it is no problem having some fun during the nights. And it is even more fun to watch them in the morning, when they see the mark I made, and wonder how it got there :)

I've been over-hearing Linda and Geir lately, and they are very excited about going to some "cat-show". I believe it involves me getting a price, however I fear that bathing is a neccessity in order to do so. This will happen in Tampere, Finland 17th of May. Luckily I won't have to go there by bus, we have a car now! They took me for a ride the other day, and allthough I thought it was abit scary at first, it was a lot better than the stupid bus...

2/4/2003
Dear diary,
Guess what! My people bought me new toys - again! Not that I have been complaining or anything, but it's always nice to get a couple of new things to play around with. One of them is a larger (and slightly different) version of the "Kitty Roundabout" which I have already reviewed, the other one was a glove with mice attached to it. I'll do reviews on them as soon as I'm finished with the other unwritten reviews.

Well, life goes on and every day I learn something new to love or fear. I accidentically discovered a bathtub my people calls "toilet" the other day, fortunatly for them the water was way to cold to actually enjoy. Don't know about you, but have you ever tried falling into one of those devices and only wet the tip of your toes? That's how fast I am, you know. For some reason, my people insisted on washing parts of my body in their sink afterwards - even though they said they were really glad the toilet was flushed and clean. Humans never seize to surprise me, so much fuzz about a little dip... I'll tell you one thing though, after this happened, Linda has been very careful to close the lid. Geir is delighted that a woman have to put down the lid after use, I think it has something to do with "the history of men getting yelled at". Don't know what that means, and I really do not care...

Lately I've heard talk about something called "vet". Even though I do not understand Norwegian fully, I suspect it has something to do with needles and humans in white coats. In order to find out, I have to come with them this Friday - I'll tell you more about that when I know what a vet is. It could also be that they want to take me to a tuna-resturant since they love me so much, but I'm still suspiscous.

I've also continued the research on how to wake up humans. This is what I came up with:
Juusos studies in ways to wake up humans - Part II.

• Study 5: Toe biting/feet attacking... Geir likes to sleep late, even though he always is in a hurry in the mornings to get to work. So, as the sweet and gentle kitten I am I figured that he needed some help. One of these mornings he was lying around in bed, Linda had already been up for atleast half an hour. I started off easy, with study 1 and 2 since these proved to work fine with Linda. In this case however, there was no reaction, so I understood that I needed some heavier artillery. So I started bouncing up and down on top of his feet while clawing and biting and stuff like that. Amazingly, there was little to no reaction! The only thing he did was to mumble something and pull his feet under the blanket and continue to sleep on... I continued this for 5 minutes or so, but it seemed like Geir had decided not to get up by my command. Next time I'll try to rip off the blanket, then attack his feet.

• Study 6: Tickling... Purring and tickling them with my whiskers on their nose doesn't work too well. Depending on the hour, they either wake up and starts to pet me, or they just turn their head and sleep on. It's nice when they wake up though.

• Study 7: Nose biting... Actually, I didn't get to try this yet (Geir's nose is too big), but I tried carresing him with my claws the other night. I guess it was too late for him, but he sure started to wonder the next day when there was a big red line on one side of this nose :) I think he suspected that it was me, but I just looked the other way - innocently.
  

18/03/2003
Dear diary,
My people have been very lazy with updates lately... But I will keep an closer eye on them now, making sure they use their time more efficiently (in other words: they should either be playing with me, petting me, feeding me or be working on the web page!)

We had a visit from a scary guy one morning! He just came in and started climbing ladders and taking the wall apart, he didn't even say hi to me first... He made a lot of noise, and I hid under the couch while he was there. Geir Rune tried to comfort me, but when that guy started making noise again I got scared, and scratched Geir Runes arm (I felt a little bad about that afterwards, so I gave him a kiss on the nose, that seemed to help). I guess the noisy guy did some good though, because when he left the light in the hall worked again.

I have found another favorite food: Chicken! Geir Rune and Linda had some for dinner on Saturday, and of course Linda "dropped" a few pieces on the floor. She also saved some for me, that I got for breakfast this morning. I have also gotten some new treats, called "kitbits". They are not bad either. Linda says I have finally gained some weight, she thinks I was too thin. Geir Rune says I am getting chubby... No wonder she is my favorite ;)

I love playing "wrestling games" with Geir Rune and Linda's hands, but I guess they got tired of looking like scratching posts, because they have started using an old glove now when we play that game. That is great, because I can really play rough with them now, without having to worry about drawing their blood.
We also came up with a new game yesterday. Me and Linda played a nice chasing game: she chases me through the apartment trying to catch me. Of course I easily outrun her and outsmart her, humans are so slow! I could sprint right between her feet without her catching me. It was fun anyways, even if she is no match for a ball of lightning like me...

I have been doing some research lately as well, I will share the results with you:

Juusos studies in ways to wake up humans - and their reactions to the different methods.

• Study 1: The nice kitty... When I am not in a hurry in the mornings I will just sniff Linda in the face, and as soon as she stirs I purr to her. This wakes her enough to give me some attention and cuddling, and gives her a good start on the day I think :)

• Study 2: Playful kitty... Sometimes I will bring one of my toy mice into the bed, and play on top of Linda and Geir Runes feet. I can do this for a while without them waking up, but when they do wake, Geir Rune usually throws me out of the bedroom and shuts the door...

• Study 3: Hair pulling kitty... Sometimes Linda will sleep on the very edge of the bed, and her hair hangs out over the side. This is of course almost irresistible, I just have to attack... I will try to grab it, and use it to climb into the bed. This will NOT wake Linda in a good mood however, she gets kind of upset...

• Study 4: Hand biting kitty... Tried this one this morning. The results were not that good. First I got pushed out of the bed, and when I came back to continue my study they shut me out of the room. Humans have no humor at 7AM, that's for sure...

Future studies: Toe biting, chest/belly jumping (have to get a little heavier first though...), nose biting, tickling... And probably some more, just have to think of them first :)

03/03/2003
Dear diary,
First I would like to thank all the nice people that have visited my home page, and everyone who has taken the time to sign my guestbook and send me emails! And remember that if you have your own homepage, I can add it to my "links" section, just fill out the form that you find there!

I figured out what a bath was yesterday, and I did NOT like it! I got wet, very very wet! Geir Rune and Linda says that it made my fur look really nice and shiny, and that I smell very nice now... Well, I do not think so! It will take me forever to get that shampoo smell out of my fur! If my brothers were to meet me now they would think I have turned into a girl-kitty, with the perfumed smell that I now have... I am NOT amused at all!

The good thing about the bath was that I got a lot of pampering afterwards. I got wrapped in nice warm towels and cuddled for a long time, and I got lots of my favorite treats! But that's the least they could do, and if they hadn't done that I would still not be talking to them... People and their silly ideas... As you can see, I was not in the mood for posing for photos afterwards. Who can blame me for that...

Besides that, not much going on here. I sleep, I play, I eat (and I do a little mischief)... In other words, filling my job as the cat of the house to perfection!

26/02/2003
Dear diary,
it's been quite a while since I wrote anything now, but so much has happened and there is so many fine objects to scratch... Anyways, I've settled down quite nicely since the last time I wrote. Things here at my new parents place are quite nice actually, in fact, I think I enjoy the fact that I am the only cat here. This gives me plenty of attention from Linda and Geir - which I of course appreciate.

As I said, lot's of things happened since last time. Firstly and most importantly I've already discovered what ticks them off, like clawing on the sofa, their shoe-laces, running around in their bed at 8.00 AM. I also enjoy using their computer, but only as long as they are there themselves. If you haven't discovered the intriguing sensation it gives you to chase a mouse pointer yet, I suggest you should try...

My people also does a lot of strange things, like here on tuesday i.e. Geir picked me up and put me down on my back in his lap. Then Linda started fondling my paws or something, while Geir cuddled me on my tummy. I quite enjoyed the experience, however I was very surprised to discover that my claws were more or less gone afterwards. I mean, they were still there, but I couldn't play "Cliffhanger" on their sofa anymore?! I wonder if this might is something they will do often, and I hope to discover the location of the devilish tool they use in order to destroy it for good. Don't they realize how long it takes to get my deadly weapons back??? Takes at least 3 days and that includes a lot of scratching I tell you.

An interesting side effect with sofa-scratching I've discovered is electrostatic current. If I run really, really fast and dive down amongst the pillows a few times: Voilà! I'm ELECTRO-KITTEN!! It doesn't take claws to surprise Linda or Geir when I just can zap them once in a while! Although it hurts me a bit as well, it's well worth the pain :-) One of these days, Geir swears he will fasten me to the roof if I don't quit, just like a balloon or something. Yeah, I'd like to see you try that....

I managed to teach my people a few tricks as well, last weekend I made them throw my mouse around the house for me to chase and return to them. It seems to amuse them a lot, they got all buzzed up about it, so I've obviously trained them well. I have to try and figure out other ways for them to exercise.

The seemingly endless photo-sessions continue still, but I generally just try to do the opposite of what they want me to. This technique seems to work quite nice, although I'm sad to say they have a so-called digital camera so they just delete the picture that doesn't turn out ok. If they only had to pay for each of them, he he! A mental note to myself there, try to innocently push their camera onto the floor.

Life is good, I get a lot of attention and good food. And if I don't, I know how to get it. I've heard them talking about "bathing" though, I don't know what it is, but I sure don't like the sound of it. I will let you know what it is as soon as I know my self...

I pasted some photos of myself playing with one of the toys I got, I almost managed to chew the string off, but Linda saw it and made another knot to it, so now I'll have to start all over again - SIGH!
Oh well, plenty of time to kill :)

16/02/2003
Dear diary,
Today when Harri and Terttu came home from work, they put me in a cat carrier, and took me for a drive. At first I thought that we were going back to that stupid vet with the long needles, but we did not stop at the vet's place. Instead we kept driving for a while, I do not know for how long, because after a while I fell asleep. When the car stopped we were at a place I have never seen before, outside a large apartment building. They took me inside, and rang the bell at apartment nr 23.
At first I did not recognize the people that opened the door, but after a while I realized that they had come and visited me a couple of weeks ago, and had played with me.
The guy (Geir Rune I later realized that his name is) let me out of the carrier, and I carefully stuck my nose outside. The place was totally unfamiliar, and I could not understand what I was doing there! Geir Rune and Linda (the other person living at this place) seemed very happy to see me, but I really could not understand why, I mean, we had only met once.... So thinking that they were a little weird, I stuck to Harri and Terttu. The humans sat down, ate some weird smelling cakes, and drank some of that nasty black stuff that humans seem to love soo much (coffee I think they call it). I was offered some food and water, but was not going to eat these strange peoples food... Instead I hid behind Terttu's back, and from there looked around a little. After a while I fell asleep on my own blanket, that I had brought from home.

When I woke up, Harri and Terttu was not there anymore. I was a little hungry, so I checked out the food again. Hm, it did not smell bad, so I decided to have some. After that I felt a little braver, so I looked a little around. There were some pretty neat toys here, and Geir Rune and Linda were not so bad after all. They gave me a lot of attention, and I played some fun games with them. After a few hours we went to bed, and that was a place that I loved! They had a nice large bed, that had lots of room for all of us. I cuddled down between the sheets, and stayed there all night!