Pokke likes to bite people. We thought it was because she's declawed and has no other frontal defense.  However, Internet research says the #1 complaint for cats is urination in unwanted locations and the #2 complaint is biting.  We've narrowed it down and it appears she bites because, get this, she's oversensitive.  Hehe... okay, seriously there is a known but little understood fact that cats can get overstimulated from petting and they'll bite you to tell you "Stop it."  Top warning signs before the bite occurs (which can come in any order):

• Tail is twitching
• Ears are flattened back
• Head turns toward your hand

Unfortunately, Brian has a zero tolerance policy for bitey animals.  The main source of frustration was that he kept treating her like a dog and Pokke would just snap back in defiance.  When a dog bites you, you immediately assert dominance and get them to back off so they'll never do it again.  Cats, on the other hand, don't respond to physical punishment as well.  After researching how cats reprimand each other, here's our battle plan:

1. Stop or slow down the petting if she shows one of the above warning signs.
2. Gently grasp her neck to calm her, much like a mother cat.
   
3. Use a deterrent, like a spray bottle of water or air.
   
4. Don't pay attention to her and physically walk away.
   
5. Don't yell at her (some cats think of any human vocalization as attention).
6. Praise her if she stops herself from biting you.
   

And now, to reward you for reading through this dissertation on cat behavior, here are some "omg she's so cute!" pictures so that you'll wish you had a cat too:

I wouldn't eat that fur-covered candy corn if I were you...


Good Pokke twin meets evil Pokke twin (but which one is which??)*


So that's where all the missing socks went...**


*Jessi made me a life-size crochet Pokke doll!
**Pokke has this funny habit of dragging things into the living room, anything from cat toys to dirty socks to even her whole cat bed. 

Before I learned about these yarn arts, I thought knitting and crocheting were pretty much the same.  One uses a pair of needles, the other uses a hook.  But it's merely a difference in technique, right? Not so much. Having learned how to crochet about a year ago, I now have 50 projects under my belt and am unafraid of any pattern you could throw at me.  Knitting, on the other hand, I learned a few months ago, and it's just been an uphill battle ever since.  I will freely admit, knitting is a finer art, great for making pretty clothing, funky socks, and elegant lace shawls.  But it's slow, unforgiving of mistakes, and... did I mention, way too slow?  I am attempting to make a simple ribbed scarf as a Christmas gift.  The pattern is mind-numbingly simple (knit knit knit, purl purl - repeat to infinity and beyond), and yet an evening's worth of work produces maybe 2 inches of scarf.  It would take me less than 5 minutes to make 2 inches of crocheted scarf... gah!

I've already committed to doing a KAL (knit-a-long) with Teresa, so I don't think I can stomach two knitting projects at the same time.  Luckily, there's something called Tunisian crocheting, which uses a long crochet hook but the outcome looks like knitting. Can't wait to go home and try out!

Knitting vs. Tunisian Crochet

Wow, my dad just helped Ye-ye (my paternal grandfather) buy and learn how to use his first computer ever!  You see, Ye-ye is really into stocks and every day he would sit in front of the TV and watch the stock tickers, manually recording and tracking the historical trends for his investments on graph paper.  However, this 85-year-old man has heard of the miracles of Google Finance and is willing to give technology a shot.  I'm hoping he learns how to use email proficiently too, since it's a lot faster to shoot him a quick email than sit down with my Chinese dictionary and attempt to scratch out something intelligible on paper.  Check out these handy online tools that I discovered to help me with my Chinese typing:

• Online Simplified/Traditional Chinese Input System (for typing pinyin to get Chinese text)
• Google Translate (for translating English to Chinese and vice versa)
• Pinyin Converter (for converting Google's Chinese words into pinyin, so I know if I picked the right phrase)

The Amazing Chow Family 能力!


* 能力 = competency, capability

I'm sure this has already made the rounds on the Internet, but I was recently reminded of it when I read an article about the increased happiness in people who can wait for the long term rewards (rather than instant gratification).

That's what the famous Onion-inspired shirt that Brian got for Christmas says.  It's also applies to our no-name cat, given the past two days.  Upon enter our home, we confined the new addition to our family in the utility room, as recommended by many a website.  Within 24 hours, she was already very curious about the rest of the house, so we decided to let her explore the downstairs of our house.  As Brian fell napped on the couch to the sounds of Sunday afternoon football, I gleefully played with my white little furball... until I noticed a black speck on her forehead move.

Only those very close to me know that I have a phobia of cockroaches (see previous entry) and itch-inducing, bitey bugs (like fleas, lice, and mosquitoes), but I'm perfectly fine with June bugs, worms, spiders (they eat bugs), lizards (they also eat bugs), etc.  So to see these little black dots* on my beautiful snow white kitty freaked me out (I get goosebumps every time I think about it).  Poor Brian had to deal with my panicky state as we re-quarantined our cat, raced to Petco, squirted her with Advantage flea medication, vacuumed the entire house, and washed her bedding.  Advantage kicks in within 12 hours, so all the fleas were dead by the morning.  But there was still one more task left to do...

Traumatized kitty after her first bath ever


"I will kill you in your sleep. Don't think I won't!"

Now I've always thought that I would be a strong disciplinarian when it comes to pets and children because, by golly, these crazy creatures are going to behave in my household.  But when I actually had a kitty of my own, it totally pulled at my heart strings to hear her pitiful mewing as I tried to one-handedly shampoo her fur while tightly gripping her neck in the other. Still, she seems much happier now that she's clean of flea poop and the psychological torturing has ceased. 

* Brian says to think of them like ants (which I don't abhor, because they also eat bugs),