The cat is out of the couch, and she’s photogenic, too

She’s been out for a while. Weeks, in fact. And she’s awesome.

She’s a normal, happy girl with all the needs and habits one would expect of a cat. She cuddles, she purrs, she hides under my bed when she’s scared. She mews when she’s hungry. She sleeps near my face. She chases her tail. She plays with her food. She’s somewhat doglike, in fact.

Best of all, she now uses my couch as a scratching post, not a cave. Bad for my couch, but good for me, for I now have a pet instead of a stowaway.

Now my only hope is that the cost of caring for her decreases substantially in upcoming weeks and months. Because of Paloma, I have had to pay some hefty dry-cleaning bills. OK, so one of them was my fault. Paloma did not ask to be locked in my sweater drawer for, like, 16 hours. I can’t really blame her for using it to… well… you can guess, or I’ve already told you. The comforter-and-pillow incident, however. That was all her. Her and her alone. Yes, I was out of town, but yeesh! Isn’t there a less disgusting way to say, “I miss you”?

Bygones. Whatever.

I am very thankful for modern dry-cleaning technology.

Moving on.

At least a few of you have requested photos of my cat. Because I’ve made you wait for so long (the agony!), I’m giving you a video, too (don’t expect the video to lessen the agony).

Without further ado, Paloma and the Grape:

Brilliant cinematography, right? And the score! Oscars ‘10, baby. I thought about making it a trilogy (Part 2: Paloma and the Leaky Faucet, followed by the grand finale, Paloma and the Giant Leap of Death), but then I thought, no. Let this one sink in a bit first. I wouldn’t want to overwhelm my audience with three consecutive films with thematic densities so jarring they make The Reader seem whimsical.  The Faucet, then, can wait.

Don’t worry, though. I’ll still give you a photo:

Isn’t she sweet? Now I can rest assured knowing that Dahiaka, at least, is happy.