Alien micro-organisms? My instinct is hoax, but until that is shown I'm going to believe real aliens.

Pretty interesting, but I'm pretty skeptical about Popular Science

My cats seem so mellow compared with everyone elses. When they freak out the only thing that gets hurt is upholstery.

My cat has hurt me twice, both times by being frightened by a loud noise outside while sitting in my lap. In an effort to flee, she's dug her claws in to propel herself off my lap.

I think I might have alien microorganisms living in my foot!

My previous cats have never freaked out like the incident I just had-- they were pretty mellow, like Sue's, and loved the cardboard scrather thing that I couldn't get this cat to touch!

Prompted by this conversation, I had to revisit mycathatesyou.com. Hehe. [link]

Amarna's normally pretty laid back. She only gets nippy occasionally, and she really only goes for my forearm when that happens. She goes on her little tears around the place usually around midnight, but that's part of her daily routine.

But, she's very sweet when she just wants to lay on top of me and be petted; she starts by jumping on my stomach, meowing down into my face, kneading my stomach/boobs/arm until she's ready to lay down, and then positioning herself so that her head is within easy reach of my hand.

All the dumb-things-done-when-small stories are cracking me up. I was rather well behaved, or at least disinclined to risk my own person. My sister, on the other hand, once infamously stuck a metal nail file into a light switch while our eldest sister was watching her. Sis got zapped, got scared, and big sis had to retrieve the nail file for her. And get zapped herself. She still brings this up on occasion.

We used to have an attack cat. She also peed inside. We put her on a kitty dose of Prozac to help her adjust to being inside, but she never quite took to it. She'd run indoors, eat a ton, mooch as many pets as she could, and then, if we were lucky, she'd run outside again. If we were unlucky, she'd stop to pee on something on her way out.

Most of the dumb things I did as a kid involved fire or "simulated" weapons. (Trying to be action-movie-esque by dodging things likes sharp sticks and lawn jarts, not thinking about the fact that if we failed to dodge we could get seriously hurt or killed. Or sword-fighting with a wide variety of objects.) I did stick a small metal cylander up my nose (it was a part from one of my broken toys I think) and it got stuck, which promptly made me realize how stupid it was. I managed to get it out on my own because I was mortified of anyone realizing what a dumb thing I had done.

She'd run indoors, eat a ton, mooch as many pets as she could, and then, if we were lucky, she'd run outside again. If we were unlucky, she'd stop to pee on something on her way out.

This sounds a lot like potty training a toddler.