leçons de karaté

Si quelqu'un te frappe la joue gauche, prends des leçons de karaté // If someone hits you on the left cheek, take karate lessons -- Quino

Here is the cat, practicing his karate moves in front of a mirror. Looking good, no?
 

Un pessimiste

Un pessimiste est un chat qui dit la vérité prématurément // A pessimist is a cat who tells the truth prematurely  -- Edmond Rostand

 

Nuff said, really.

La formule ratée de la critique

La censure est la formule ratée de la critique // Censorship is the failed form of criticism -- Miss.Tic

 Today's quote from Citation Célèbre page seemed so much like a political commentary that I went to read around. And that's how I found out that Miss. Tic died two days ago. RIP.

la sagesse

Le doute est le commencement de la sagesse // Doubt is the beginning of wisdom

On citation-celebre.leparisien.fr website they ascribe the quote to Aristotle, but once you start looking for the confirmation, you find that it was also said by Pierre Abélard, René Descartes and probably few other wise people. So, a bit of a question mark there. Personally, I have no doubts about the idea expressed by the quote, which, in turn, must be an oxymoron.

The cat, being a simple creature, occasionally has his doubts, too. On this occasion he doubts if he should take red velvet or cherry mousse cake first.

Il n'est pas prudent

Il n'est pas prudent d'écarter de ses calculs un dragon vivant, quand on est près de lui // It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations if you live near him

 

The quote comes from The Hobbit.

You might think the cat is being impertinent, sitting on the top of a sleeping dragon to admire sunset. But he is not. Firstly, they are friends with the dragon. Secondly, nobody, not even dragons, can resist his feline charm. We all suspect that cats rule the world. Cats themselves just know it.

Pics related to dragons, sunsets and cats on shutterstock.

les loisirs

La société de masse ne veut pas la culture mais les loisirs // Mass society does not want culture but entertainment

 

Today's quote from Citation célébre, by Hannah Arendt, is somewhat heavier than their usual fare.

I find it difficult to disagree though.

solar

Beaucoup d'amis sont comme le cadran solaire ; ils ne marquent que les heures où le soleil vous luit // Many friends are like the sundial; they only mark the hours when the sun shines on you.

 

Today I have decided to take my cue from the wordle. I won't publish it till the wordle change, of course. 

So "solar" -- solaire or du soleil in French. 

Found an appropriate quote from Victor Hugo and everything.

Meanwhile, the cat is trying to solve the "sundial in the dark" problem with some help from a torch. I think it is working for him.

Une porte ouverte

La lecture, une porte ouverte sur un monde enchanté // Reading, an open door to an enchanted world -- François Mauriac

The cat is very fond of reading per se, but here, judging from the illustration, he is reading something about central Gran Canaria. In which case I would strongly advise him to forget the book, go and check it out with his own eyes. He won't be disappointed, of that I am sure.

Toute l'obscurité du monde

Toute l'obscurité du monde ne peut pas éteindre la lumière d'une bougie // All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle

There seems to be a confusion as to who said this beautiful phrase. The Citation Célèbre site claims it was Confucius, while most English quotes have Francis of Assisi as the author. Not sure which version, if any, is correct.

Anyway. Here is the cat, peacefully reading his book by the light of a single candle. Is he aware of all the darkness in the world that surrounds him? Sure he is, he is a very aware person. Does it bother him? Well, that's debatable. He can't combat all the darkness in the world. But he can read a couple of chapters, while the candle lasts. And, being a cat, maybe he can continue reading even when it goes out. 

Maybe it doesn't really bother him after all.

people whom one has ceased to love

Les émotions des gens qu'on a cessé d'aimer paraissent toujours un peu ridicules // There is always something ridiculous about the emotions of people whom one has ceased to love

 Oscar Wilde said many interesting things. 

Today I suddenly realized that the use of "one" as a pronoun in English  could originate from "on" in French, used there more or less as "we". Wikipedia confirms.

Chaque anniversaire est un cadeau. Et voici le tien !

 

Chaque anniversaire est un cadeau. Chaque jour est un cadeau. // Every birthday is a gift. Every day is a gift. -- Aretha Franklin   🐱 Et voici le tien ! // And here is yours! -- Sumo Wrestler Cat

Here is the cat, wishing all birthday people out there a happy birthday. And  a happy day to all people out there. 

By coincidence, today's Inktober prompt is "knot" - "nœud" in French. So here you have it, too.

Craignez la colère

 

Craignez la colère de l'chat patient // Fear the wrath of the patient cat

Although today's quote comes from Citation Célèbre website, it doesn't really. Partially because the citation doesn't deal with cats, but with men, in a typical anthropocentric manner. Partially because they say it is an Irish proverb, while it is a quote from John Dryden, quoting Publilius Syrus.

The cat, as we all know, is very patient. Look at him there, patiently filing his claw, as all patient cats do, at least according to some memes out there.

Une maman c'est une montagne

 

Une maman c'est une montagne de compréhension // A mother is a mountain of understanding. Jean Gastaldi

Rêver, c'est le bonheur ; attendre, c'est la vie

 

Rêver, c'est le bonheur; attendre, c'est la vie // Dreaming is happiness; waiting is life.

The cat is waiting for his dream of hanami to become reality.  He, unlike me, already did it at least once, but he wishes to repeat it. While waiting, he assumes the attitude of Zhdun, The Awaiter, closes his eyes and shuts the current humdrum stuff out.

Admittedly, you can do hanami on Gran Canaria. But it doesn't feel the same somehow.

Ses erreur

 

L'expérience est le nom que chacun donne à ses erreurs // Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. Oscar Wilde

We already knew that the cat likes cooking. It seems that he is taking it to the next level, with book signing and everything. 

Not everyone can extract so much value out of their experiences in the kitchen.

Sans perdre son enthousiasme

 

Le succès c'est d'aller d'échec en échec sans perdre son enthousiasme // Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm

The quote above is apparently being credited to Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln by almost equal amount of sources, but Le Parisien wants to credit Winnie, so let it be so.

 

 

Prenez du chocolat

Prenez du chocolat afin que les plus méchantes compagnies vous paraissent bonnes // Take some chocolate so that the nastiest companies look good to you.

Today’s quote, by Madame De Sévigné, brought to mind a picture of the cat enjoying his hot chocolate while a brawl was raging about him. Then I decided that maybe a scene in a bar while a football match is going on will do. Not sure why the cat went to the bar, he should have gone to a nice quiet pâtisserie, but I guess he was overcome by an attack of acute chocolack and decided to take his chances in the nearest place he can find.

And the chocolate is working its magic on him. Look at his pleased face. He doesn’t even mind the guy on the left, clearly angry about his team losing, leaning on his shoulder. Long as the cup stays full, he stays happy.

Je peux résister à tout

Je peux résister à tout, sauf à la tentation // I can resist anything except temptation

The quote by Oscar Wilde naturally lead me to all sort of cake-related things. Cats normally are not much into cakes, but the cat is. Btw, the cake in the pic is "медовик", Russian honey cake, as I remember it being served in Parunāsim cafe in Riga — except that now I see they make rectangular pieces, not wedges.

More stuff related to cats, cakes and temptations on shutterstock.

La plus belle courbe

La plus belle courbe sur le corps d'une femme est son sourire // The most beautiful curve on a woman’s body is her smile

Yesterday, local and national TV stations were showing a "virtual" carnival show in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Its equivalent in Las Palmas this year had the carnival spirit diluted to the point of being insipid, not to say homeopathic. So I was pleasantly surprised to see that Santa Cruz managed to keep at least some of the normal exuberance. It was just one show instead of many, and there were no public in attendance, but at least the costumes were beautiful. Maybe not as huge and expensive as normal, but still, quite impressive, very feathery.

Yesterday's quote by Bob Marley from Citation Célèbre got connected in my head with the show. The costume of the croquis is loosely based on number seven in yesterday's list.

Why God invented cats

Dieu a inventé le chat pour que l'homme ait un tigre à caresser chez lui // God invented the cat so that man could have a tiger to stroke at home.

 

 

 

When Victor Hugo wrote this, he probably had in mind fluffy cuties who indulgently allow themselves to be stroked in exchange for food, cushy bed and other necessities. 

I wonder what breeds of cats were around in his times. Perhaps unstrokable cats, the hissing balls of fury, all claws, teeth and glowing eyes came into fashion later and he simply wasn't aware of their existence.