How 'The Status Quo Calico' Got Its Name

After I had committed myself to writing a blog, I knew one of most important aspects would be the title. The title is how readers will find the blog, and what the blog will be referred to as in the future. It had to be succinct, but also meaningful, providing an introduction to the topic of my blog.

I was going to call it The Cat Whisperer--that's what dad jokingly calls me. He seems to believe I have a special insight into the feline mind, or something. But it didn't take long to discover that 'The Cat Whisperer' is already a registered trademark. So, it would have to be something far less obvious, something unique to me.

Now, here's something unique about me: I love cats, but another one of my passions is Barbies. This is a secret, so don't tell anyone. I consider myself a collector. I have something in the neighborhood of 400 Barbie dolls, as well as Barbie books and movies and such. Probably the best Barbie movie to date (in my opinion) is Barbie as The Princess and the Pauper. It's a musical spin on the classic tale The Prince and the Pauper, by Mark Twain. In the movie, Princess Anneliese and Pauper Erika each have a cat.

Barbie as Princess Anneliese with her white cat Serafina, and Barbie again as Pauper Erika with her calico cat Wolfie.

One of the musical numbers in the movie is about Erika's cat, Wolfie. Wolfie is a male calico, which is weird. He behaves like a dog and barks like a dog, which is also weird. Anyway, the song is called "The Cat's Meow." Erika sings it to Wolfie when he tries to act more like a cat and hide his true nature. My favorite line is: "You're no status quo calico, so why keep trying to be?" Basically, the theme of the song is to be yourself, even if you're a huge weirdo, and the ones who really love you will love you still. As you now know, I'm a pretty big weirdo, so that, for me, is an important message. I also have the movie's soundtrack on my iPod, and I have always enjoyed singing that particular song to my cats. (Or, rather, in the vicinity of my cats - I doubt they listen.)

The words 'status quo calico' have a nice ring to them, don't you think? I thought so. And I like calicoes. Callie, the inspiration for this blog, was a calico (and for the record she was definitely not a 'status quo' calico, either). Everything just seemed to click once I latched onto that phrase, and thus 'The Status Quo Calico' was born. I hope you like it as much as I do.