Neko batted playfully at the USB drives dangling from my fingers as I chatted on the phone. A little too playfully, in fact, as she launched herself into my hand and bit down hard. I half-jokingly threatened to bite her back, and she persisted in attacking my hand. Quickly excusing myself from the phone call with the ominous announcement that someone was going to get a bath today, I chased Neko, scooped her up, stalked off to the bathroom and dumped her into the sink. She turned angelic eyes on me, all innocence, but I told her she wasn't getting off that easily - and turned the faucet on full blast. (Warm water, though; I don't like cold showers and I doubt she would appreciate them either!) It was difficult dealing with a wriggling, pointy-toed cat, but I'd had the foresight to close the bathroom door, and I just chased her and scooped her up every time she tried to escape.

I splashed her with water and shampooed briskly over her loud complaints, but she was more docile than the books would have had me believe - no fury of claws, no tantrums or fiery tempers. The bath over, I rubbed her down with a towel - or tried to, as she kept escaping my grasp, electing to diffidently wash herself as if the indignities I'd put her through were completely uncalled for. Her twitching tail a metronome of annoyance, she smoothed her fur down into some semblance of order and proceeded to give me the cold shoulder.

I decided to head back to the Internet room in order to check on my students' progress and get some work done. With no desire to leave an annoyed cat in the darkness of the house, I picked Neko up and brought her to the room as well. She proceeded to ignore me and calmly continue licking herself off - that is, until sleepiness got the better of her. I was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar nose poking around my computer, glad to feel the dainty feline jump into my lap, and content to hear the sleepy rumblings of a somnolent, purring cat.

It was not too long ago that Neko was just a kitten who nestled in my lap while I checked my mail or added to my webpage. She had neither the skill at jumping nor the confidence she enjoys now, and due to her small size and lack of strength she could not gracefully jump into people's laps. No, she scaled people's legs, digging in with her claws and hanging on for dear life. A few instances of this and I learned to carry a heavy towel with me to the Internet room so that at least no blood would be drawn; her claws would find purchase in the fabric and the soft, thick towel would cushion the impact of claws designed to rend flesh. (Cats are clearly no vegetarians.)

There was no keeping Neko on the ground. She preferred hiding behind the monitor, playing with the printer cables, gnawing on the edges of my computer - at least until I could spare a hand to shoo her off. She'd bound from the shelves to the desk in one fluid motion, springing from floor to chair to floor again with the enviable agility of a creature that lives in a fully three-dimensional world. Even we humans do not enjoy that appreciation of different surfaces. Most of our lives are spent on the ground, walking around. Dogs are like that as well. We obey the laws of gravity; cats flout it.

Earlier she chased the mouse pointer as I moved it around the screen. She was confused by the fact that it could always slip out of her grasp. Now she sits on my lap, awake but resting, half-lidded almond-shaped eyes staring sleepily at the bookshelves. I feel her breathing on my lap. The cat hair sticks to the velvet dress I wear. It is the end of the day and I do not have to brush cat hair off before going out. The bell around her neck is silent, and she is a picture of calm and contemplation. Perhaps we should go to bed before she remembers that she is a nocturnal animal.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see one of my students exploring GTK by porting his old class projects from Java to C and C++. This is the same guy who groks Emacs. <grin> It's always fun to find a kindred soul; in fact, I suspect he'll do far better than I did, as I never thought of redoing my school projects just for kicks!

<sigh>

Sorry, encrypted; this is for me to remember, and you probably won't want to read this anyway.

Before I forget, let me go through a backlog of stories.

Dropped by the CompSAt Christmas party and the Trend Micro Christmas party on 2003.12.13. The Trend party was quite a show with all sorts of presentations. Also attended the IBM Christmas party on 2003.12.20 and got to meet a few people.

Went to DISCS Christmas party at Dr. Rodrigo's house on 2003.12.19. Had tons of fun. Eric and I sang "Staying Alive" for kicks. Because we did particularly well (97), we went through a few other high and fast songs. Then Ariel, Christine, Fanny, Eric, and I slept over at Fanny's apartment - well, more like passed the night playing Taboo.