The Bumble Buzz bloggin' "best-of" list.

Bumble Buzz was not the smartest cat, but she was absolutely loyal and single-minded in her devotion to me, sleeping next to my pillow every night for 15 years. To commemorate her sad passing, let's dig into the ol' blog archives and enjoy some of her adventures, misadventures and foibles.

Bumble Buzz gets cat acne

Bumble Buzz gets a cyst on her tail

Bumble Buzz gets her claw clipped

Bumble Buzz scared of ceiling fan

Bumble Buzz vs. Reggie

Bumble Buzz vs. Reggie Round II

Bumble Buzz as a 9/11 plotter?

RIP BUMBLE BUZZ. 1995-8/18/2010

Sweetest, most loyal kitty ever.

New Laymans!!!: Ash and Ruby Daffodil Swain

Holy frak. My comic book won an Eisner.

The many faces of sad, alcoholic Layman (Venice edition)

Some pictures of my week in Venice

Every freaking picture looked like a postcard, I swear.

Chew hits Treviso

The final stop of CHEW tour Italia saw Layman and Rob heading to Treviso for a presentation and Q&A at a packed house at the Spago Paraggi art gallery, moderated and translated by Michele Foschini of BAO Publishing (publishers of CHEW: MENU DEGUSTAZIONE*). In the background, is the gallery's current exhibition, photographs of deceased 80s Italian porn star Moana Pozzi.




And some shots of lovely Treviso:



*Note: For all you CHEW completist weirdos who live in the U.S., we will be offering details for how to order BAO's Italian edition.

More pictures of Milano di Duomo

Today Bergamo, tomorrow CHEW TOUR ITALIA goes to Treviso.

Chew in Milan: Day One

Milano di Duomo cathedral:

Chew Italia vs. Chew Englesia


The BAO Publishing booth:

30 Days of Batty: Day 30.. the End

Battyfact: You'll notice I sorta fell off at the end here. Not out of laziness (though, when it comes to blogging, I certainly am guilty of that.) No, this got harder and harder to do as I approached the end, because, although this was meant to be a cathartic exercize, getting close to the end of this sorta meant saying goodbye to Batty again, and I didn't really want to do that.

Funny, of all my cats, Batty was always my least favorite. Not that I disliked her by any means, she was just so self-sufficient and strong and confident it did not seem like she needed me, whereas Bumble Buzz, Rufus and Reggie required much more than Batty.

Batty was happy, and loved everybody, and did her own thing, and really seemed to enjoy everything. She loved mischief, and loved to go where she was not supposed to and explore places she had not before. She loved food, loved company, loved other people and animals.

She's been gone for two months now, and the house is empty without her in a way I don't think it would be without the other cats. She was such a dominate force in the house, and she was in many ways the unbridled spirit of our family, if that is not too corny.

She was a really great cat. Sweet and smart and wonderful. I miss you, Batty. We all do.

30 Days of Batty: Day 29

Battyfact: Batty had a good heart.... just bad kidneys.

30 days of Batty: Day 28

Battyfact: Nobody could relax like old Batty.

30 Days of Batty: Day 27

Battyfact: Batty was nobody's fool!

30 Days of Batty: Day 26

Battyfact: Good old Batty. Always everybody's pal.

30 Days of Batty: Day 25

30 Days of Batty: Day 24

30 Days of Batty: Day 23

30 Days of Batty: Day 22

Battyfact: Batty would suffer through any number of indignities, and never complain.

30 Days of Batty: Day 21

Battyfact: Batty and Reggie were a photogenic pair. I think maybe Batty was the only thing that made life tolerable at the Layman household for Reggie, and Carter probably tipped the scales. Reggie lives with my mom now, and is much happier.

We are down to Rufus and Bumble Buzz. Two old grouches.

30 Days of Batty: Day 20

Battyfact: WTF?!?!? Batty loved corn!

30 Days of Batty: Day 19

Battyfact: Batty was pretty fat for a while, but by the end her failing kidneys had causes her body to absorb all her fat and muscle and she was just skin and fur and bones.

30 Days of Batty: Day 18

Battyfact: Batty liked to get all up in yo business.

30 Days of Batty: Day 17

Battyfact: Batty was indifferent, to Carter while the other cats hid.

30 Days of Batty: Day 16

Battyfact: Batty's white cat hair got EVERYWHERE.

30 Days of Batty: Day 15

Battyfact: Batty's fur, where white, was almost blindingly white. She was cottony soft. Not as soft as Rufus, but Rufus has an almost oily slickness to her softness. Bumble Buzz is not all that soft, and Reggie was sorta bristly.

30 Days of Batty: Day 14

Battyfact: Kim bought Batty from a trailer park in Chula Vista, paying $60 for her because she didn't know much about cats and was hoodwinked into thinking one of Batty's parents was an "Australian Marble Snow Leopard" showcat (no such thing.) She also picked Batty because Batty was the smallest of the litter, and had a cold, so when Batty was brought home, she was sneezy and sickly.

She would recover, of course, but her kidney issues started showing up around 2003-2004.