We are Maamiff

Melodie and I recently discovered that we are a pair of Instagram cats called Maamiff. I am Brown Cat (Michan) and she is White Cat (Fuchan). https://www.instagram.com/maamiff/

One of our many favorite ways to correspond is via cat captions. It's like a constant game of "caption this" which turns out to be incredibly easy when you speak Cat. Here are some of my recent favorites. Sometimes their captions are also very fitting as well.

This one was particularly delightful to me since I actually did have a stye when they posted this one. 

And also like me and Melodie, Brown Cat and White Cat are always together, and Brown Cat seeks out more attention. They also have excellent taste in food.

Who's the one that loves to play?

(Hi Tiana)

I just love the movie Inside Out. I've watched it 3 times in its entirety, and parts of it several other times between falling asleep on planes.

I cry every time -- every time when Bing Bong realizes that Riley doesn't need him anymore, when Bing Bong sacrifices himself, when Sadness helps Bing Bong feel better unknowingly, when Joy realizes the purpose of Sadness, when all of Riley's islands crumble beneath her, and when they all rebuild and her memories come back as more multi-colored and complex.

I cry when I feel like I'm 11 years old, learning about the world and being forced to change. I want my islands to stay the same forever and for Bing Bong to fly me to the moon on his song-powered rainbow wagon.

But I guess if Disney wanted me to learn a lesson, it's this -- that we can grow more islands without losing the original ones, that more colors are good colors, and that Bing Bong's always got your back.

Who's your friend who likes to play?
Bing Bong, Bing Bong
His rocket makes you yell "Hooray!"
Bing Bong, Bing Bong
Who's the best in every way, and wants to sing this song to say
Bing Bong, Bing Bong!

Also, that it's OK to cry.

Fourth of July 2016

This past weekend was one of the most weekend-y weekends I've had in a long time. A bunch of Mark's friends came into town, coupled with a nice string of other events, and it turned out to the loveliest of lovely weekends.

On Friday, Tyler's band, Tyler Imbrey and the Ghost Review, played the opening set at House of Blues. They were really good! I see their inspiration as Counting Crows x Dave Matthews Band, though I haven't confirmed that with the actual members. The best part to me was how much fun they were having -- they were clearly loving their own pieces and the stage time. It's fun to watch other people have fun.

Saturday morning, I had another morning swim date with Glen. We went to the Ping Tom pool, and by the time we got there and got checked in there were only 20 minutes of lap swim time left but we crammed in a few laps so it was worth it. Then we went to Spoke & Bird for a nice outdoor cafe brunch. I'm waiting for the rest of the South Loop to catch up to its cuteness.

Then Melodie had people over to grill, and we did our usual of a feast fit for 20 people for a party of...less than 20 people. We had pork ribs, chicken wings, pork bratwurst, portobello mushrooms, purple onions, slaw, pea mash a la Melodie, watermelon, berries, and strawberry rhubarb pie by Rachel. We are good at winning summer.

After that, Rachel and I headed to meet Tiana at Summer Dance where they were teaching Two Step. It's the easiest dance in the world, and the sun and slow instructions made it kind of boring, so...

Cut to Magic Berry tasting! We've been talking about eating magic berries to see the difference it makes in the taste of stuff for over 2 years, so we finally got the berries to try it. It makes everything sour taste sweet, so we tasted lemons and limes and oranges and watermelon and cheese and apple cider vinegar and berries...I think I ate 4 lemons. They tasted like candy.

I thought about a nap, but then I remembered a greater mission we had for the Fourth weekend -- to write our hit summer single Summer Flame, a song about finding your summer love by the grill. Rachel and I scrubbed up a few lyrics we'd started earlier in the week and had a not-so-bad-if-i-say-so-myself song in about 2 hours. She plays the guitar, I play the lentil jar, and we both sing. Here are the lyrics:

Summer Flame <-- click to play
by Rachel and Alexa

Verse 1
Ooh girl, when I saw you by the grill
I got a summer chill
watchin' you as I flip burgers

Ooh girl, I'll have to take a pill
to cool this summer grill
My corn cob's on the burner

Chorus
Hey bae, you're my summer flame
and I don't want this light to go out
May-bay, you make me go insane
you've sparked the match of love, no doubt
Cray cray, you've got my head all dizzy
making me turn cirlces on the ro-ti-sserie
You --- my summer flame

Verse 2
Ooh girl, I saw you from afar
Checkin' out my burger char
and you got out of the pool

Ooh girl, you walked up to the bar
super smokin' hot you are
Like hot peppers, make me drool

Chorus
Hey bae, you're my summer flame
and I don't want this light to go out
May-bay, you make me go insane
you've sparked the match of love, no doubt
Cray cray, you've got my head all dizzy
making me turn cirlces on the ro-ti-sserie
You --- my summer flame

And the rest of the weekend after that doesn't even matter. Happy Fourth of July, everyone!