Flooftender (floofinition) – a housepet who lays claim to head pet throne who is held to have no just title.
In use: “The new cat thought she’d make herself queen, but the established calico soon taught the flooftender her place.”
Saturday’s Theme Music
It’s another feline inspired theme-music day. I petted Tucker and fed him, then fed the others, and then started my coffee and breakfast. Tucker, though, stayed with me, standing by me wherever I want. I finally asked him, “What’s up? Is this stand-by-you day?”
So, for Tucker, here’s the Pretenders with their 1994 song, “I’ll Stand by You”. Not that he was looking sad, or had any tears in his eyes. Quite the opposite, he was tail-up.
Mettlefloof
Mettlefloof (floofinition) – a spirited housepet; a housepet full of vigor and stamina.
In use: “The household was used to quiet, dignified pets. The new mettlefloof of a lab puppy was anything but quiet and dignified, shaking it up with gallops around the house, invitations to wrestle, and eating any food found anywhere.”
Friday’s Theme Music
Today’s song started streaming when I awoke and thought, “Ah, heart is still beating.” I was amusing myself, and not worried about health.
From that, though, came Huey Lewis and the News, and “The Heart of Rock & Roll” (1984). I’m not a fan of the band or the song, but one, I had friends who were (and presumably, still are) fans, and their songs proliferated on Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) FM stations when I was in Asia and Europe.
Now it’s stuck in my head. I’m passing it on to you. You can thank me when you see me. Cheers
The M.B. Dream
Someone from my past returned to me in a dream last night. They were helping me build a new home.
First, my wife and I discovered a place where we wanted to live. We were just out in another town having fun on a clear and sunny, pleasant day. We came across the house by accident. Partially constructed and all white with many arches, it struck us as gorgeous. We purchased it on the spot, eschewing all the standard real-estate requirements for buying a house. Excited, she went off with friends to move us to our new home, and I finished building it.
That’s when M.B. showed up. I haven’t seen him since 1990. M.B. was a friend, at first. We were assigned to the same squadron in Germany. A year older than him, I was a few ranks above him, and he was in a different section, but he lived across the street from me in military housing.
He was an interesting guy. Incredibly strong and athletic, his hand-eye coordination was fantastic. But he soon demonstrated unlimited arrogance, no empathy, poor communication and interpersonal skills, and was short on discipline and intelligence. He claimed to be an expert in everything and disparaged everything. We soon found out how little he knew, but since he didn’t want to admit that, he never learned. Besides all that, he was a reckless braggart. People were soon avoiding him. Although I tried being his friend, I began avoiding him. Being around him was exhausting.
It was surprising that he was in my dream, then. Not only that, but he was vastly changed and helpful. We worked on the house together. He knew what he was doing. The final touch was putting on a new front door. After going out and getting a door for us, surprising me, M.B. worked on squaring and installing it. I wanted to help but I was delayed by other things happening, and couldn’t assist. Then he had to leave. He left me with guidance on how to finish hanging the front door.
I was just beginning to do that when M.B. my wife and friends showed up with our furniture. Several of the guys helped me finish the front door and install it. I then began calling people on my cell phone to tell them we had moved. My first call was to our current neighbor. She asked, “Where did you move to?” I said, “Jacksonville.”
That was the first time that I realized that I was in Jacksonville, a small town a short drive from here.
The dream ended.
Dutifloof
Dutifloof (floofinition) – conscientiously or obediently fulfilling one’s duty to their pets; a housepet who remains loyal and conscientious toward others.
In use: “She had a meager income, but she was dutifloof, ensuring that her miniature collies had the best foods and medical treatment possible. They were her best friends and a comforting presence. Making them happy and keeping them safe made her happy.”
Thursday’s Theme Music
Once again, a dream contributed the theme music’s selection. The dream is too scattered to remember. It had a lot of candles, blowing trees, thunder, dark clouds, running and shouting, reminding me of some drug-induced psychedelic adventure, sort of Alice in Wonderland is blended with Bladerunner.
The dream was difficult to remember, reminding me in my efforts of web pages that won’t correctly load, incomplete and chaotic, but done at a frenetic pace. The pace brought “Welcome to the Jungle”, G N’ R, into my stream as I examined what was remembered.
I was stationed and living in Germany when “Welcome to the Jungle” (1987) was released. We worked in an old, brick, two-storied building right by the flightline. Photographs of the building with German zeppelins docked next to it were on the building’s walls. I found one of the photographs on line and posted it here. That’s the little building, under the zeppelin’s tail.
I worked upstairs in a vault. My small ops center served as the control point for the vault. Beyond my ops center was the crew briefing room and our intelligence section. As there were no windows and things like radios weren’t permitted in the vault, we all went into the other three upstairs offices when there was down time. Several of us came together and bought a boom box so we could play music and hear the news. Guns N’ Roses was a hard rock staple of the time, getting boomed into the upstairs hallway while we pursued our mission.
I still have the boom box.
Floofloaf
Floofloaf (floofinition) – a housepet that resembles a rolled up towel or a loaf of bread; a healthy pet that prefers not to move around, but lazes in one spot; a person who doesn’t change positions because a pet is on them.
In use: “He’d been a young fighter when they’d brought the orange kitten into the house but within a year, he became a floofloaf who enjoyed nothing more than a good nap, a warm lap, and a bit of kibble a few times a day.”
Michael Seidel, writer 