Coming to an Internet Cafe Near You: Furbook

*Sigh* It was bound to happen sooner or later. The attention from Li'l Grey having his own blog, Twitter account, and Facebook page has gotten too much for Bootsy to stand. After dropping several hints recently, wherein all twenty or more pounds of my oldest and largest son crawled up on my lap (top) for a rather pointed cuddle, I have acquiesced to help Boo start his own Facebook page too as a way of launching his writing career and work on his memoirs, The Cat with a Thousand Names. He was, after all, the first of my katz to show a real interest in social media and doing research online, so it's only fair that he get to start down that road too after giving Li'l a head start. Sandy/Dustin/Li'l Grey was my first feline soul mate relationship, so that was definitely fair. However, Bootsy thinks he's given him enough of a lead, and he wants to get started working seriously now that the parade of kittens has stopped.  

Bootsy Trying to Figure Out Fairyland on Facebook

Bootsy Reading His Mom's Facebook Page

Bootsy Branching Out Online

I knew it would come to this eventually, but it seemed that his interest had waned a bit after the staggered arrival of three kittens in this household in the past couple of years. First, in January of 2011, I adopted little brother, Li'l Grey, who took to blogging and writing his memoirs right away. Li'l Grey is also Boo's former older brother, Dustin, as well as my first cat, Sandy. Confused? No worries. All will be explained and re-explained until you can tell who's who and what's what. At least with a few pictorial cue cards. Although he's called Bootsy in this incarnation, he started out in my life as Van Gogh, a name HE changed to Bingo because he did not appreciate his mother's wry sense of humor. Bingo fit his fun-loving, gregarious personality better than the more serious, and somewhat depressing sound of Van Gogh. I have to agree with him, but when you see a photo of Bingo, you'll see where the name arose. It really was logical, if not appreciated by some of the cats in my life.  

Bingo the Stray Cat Who Stayed

Anyway, this evening, after much wrestling over control of the laptop in the living room, Bootsy has announced to me, none too subtly, that he too is starting his own Facebook page. Really? I litterally (snark!) couldn't wrestle control of the keyboard from him until I promised to let him. It's not the I don't want him to, because there's nothing I could be happier about than helping Bootsy to launch his own writing career and social media network, but you parents of teens get it. There are only so many laptops in the house. I do need to use more than one for work because I have to use them unplugged from the wall. Otherwise, the electromagnetic waves get to me. At least one laptop is always in the wall recharging. Perhaps I can just let da boyz have total access and control over Auntie Jan's old Windows XP laptop. It's a little slow, but sheesh! It's not like they don't have seven or eight hours a day to take turns working on it. The rest of the time, they're sleeping. You know how teenage boys are with all the sleeping they do. 

Well, I suppose it's not fair to lump Bootsy in with teenage boys. He's fully grown now, hopefully. If he gets much bigger, I'm going to have to build him a special cat tree. Although he's a bit on the filled-out side, Bootsy isn't fat. He's simply enormous! He's a big boy Maine Coon cat. If you've ever had or seen a Maine Coon cat, then you'll understand. It's more like having a furry small pony. Thank goodness his litter mate sister got some different genes mixed in there because, while she's beautiful and furry, she's only about half his size. My back really appreciates that. I think Bootsy and I are going to need to do some renegotiating into between lifetimes next time around. As I age, I think that it might be a good idea to get slightly smaller models so I can at least pick them up. I can pick him up now, mind you, but we're beginning to push those boundaries seriously. It doesn't help that Boo has the spinal column of a slinky either. If he doesn't want to be picked up, he simply turns himself into a glass of water and pours himself through your fingers. That's the only way I can explain it so you have a prayer of comprehending one of his many unique talents. 

Liquid Bootsy

Anyway, after winning me over last night to his view of things, we started working our way back to the bedroom for the night. By the time I was out of the bathroom and getting into bed to write this blog to introduce Bootsy, he was already ensconced in bed at the top of the cat tree. Even that didn't come without a bit of a tussle for da Boo guy. After having been a fairly easy-going (i.e., pushover) big boy, Bootsy has finally grown a pair (five years post-neutering, no less) and decided to stand up for his rights in the pecking (purring) order in this household. He has been, after all, the "eldest boy" in the house for nearly three years now, but he's such a gentle fellow that he has pretty much let everyone push him around. Last night the pendulum swung way to the other side. 

As I mentioned, he was on the top tier of the cat tree in our bedroom after we'd had our serious discussion about him having his own Facebook page. He was thoroughly settled in for the evening when I came in and started getting situated in bed with the "nighttime laptop." Yes, I do sometimes write from bed. How else do you think I keep up with all these blogs and websites? Anyway, Yeti came in and tried to oust his big pushover cousin, as has been his habit in the past. Much to his surprise, Bootsy didn't budge an inch. I somehow got the impression that the light bulb went off in Boo's head last night that he really is the "BIG GUY" in this house. He might be a heavy weight, but he looks and acts fluffy, adorable, and sweet. I think in his mind all this time, he was still a tiny little guy. Only last night, there was a noticeable paradigm shift, and Yeti, who can be pretty insistent, and who has gotten rather big himself, simply could not move Boo off the cat tree. I had to laugh, despite my shock. Go, Bootsy! I have to say that I like this new, more assertive Bootsy. Given what a lion-hearted small guy he was last time, I have wondered how this much bigger boy turned out to be such a Pollo (his actual rescue kitten name). Now it seems that, although he may have started out somewhat timid, he is now "large and in charge," as his auntie is fond of saying. 

So now there will be two of my katz online starting this week. I asked Anjolie last night if she wanted to join her brothers in their social network circle of literary lions, but she just wanted to head butt me and cuddle. She may reach the point where she wants to write her memoirs about being the ass-kicking stunt double kitten for Anjolina Jolie's character, Lara Croft, tomb raider, but I think there may be some incidents along the pages of her life that she doesn't particularly want to remember right now, just when life has thoroughly calmed down for us. Maybe later if her looks go. Right now, she's still strutting her gorgeous princess stuff and enjoying it. Being a princess is good work if you can get it. However, that doesn't mean that she won't decide to have her own Facebook, or "Furbook," page, as my katz call it, in the near future. We shall see.