Charlene Vickers and the Cat’s Meow.
As any owner of an urban cat will tell you, those cats get BORED. They have toys, they disdain them. You try to play with them and they yawn in the most discouraging fashion. That’s why I was so impressed by Charlene’s Cat’s Meow, you know, that awesome cat toy you’ve seen advertised on tv and often wondered about. Could it be the answer to chronic urban cat boredom? I popped over to Charlene’s in the middle of the summer heat wave, record setting number of days with hotness and no precipitation. It was the perfect temperature for staring into the fridge, opening the door and sitting in there, or perhaps using it as a storage compartment for your unmentionables. Once again, I failed to find the jumbo carrots and long English cucumbers that set my heart aflame when I look into a person’s fridge. Sigh….. I feel that sometimes people do not consider my needs at all when they are stocking up in preparation for our visit. I did however find quite a fascinating number of condiments and some delicious- looking chocolatey items. Charlene is a fairly recent addition to the good-natured grunt Board of Directors. It’s been about a year since Glenn popped the question and asked her to join up. She is a multi-talented artist, whose work includes painting, sculpture and performance art. She was working on finishing up her MFA at SFU when I visited but still managed to find time do the cooking around her place. I so admire people who cook, and I suppose it does explain their need to stock the fridge with something other than entirely phallic vegetables as I am prone to do.[some food pic here] I did not manage to pry too many juicy, gossipy details out of Charlene, despite revealing endless fascinating tidbits about myself. She admitted to a fondness for Cheezies, but not to any lurid scandals or anything. I was so overheated that day, I forgot to ask if she preferred the Styrofoam-y type, or the hard crunchers. (Personally, I like the Styrofoam-y ones, if anyone cares at all…….or wishes to get me a little snack or anything.) Mostly, we chatted about the Cat’s Meow, and the general happiness of her cats. Charlene was as patient and pleasant as all the grunt directors have proven to be, and not at all shy about sharing her fridge secrets. My visit with her resulted in the purchase of a Cat’s Meow for my cat, who loves it so much, she sleeps on top of it every day! Refreshment Rating for this visit: **** What could be better than an icy cold glass of water on a boiling hot day? Well, a small cookie or two might liven things up, but I am never one to complain.
