Anime : Polar Bear's Cafe (Shirokuma Cafe)

Look at his adorable little face!

I've been working through some personal stuff lately, and while it's nothing too serious - I have been feeling a little blue. Some adorable panda faces and cheesy puns sounded like just the cure. Enter Shirokuma Cafe.

I had seen a few random gifs from the show, and had no intention of watching it. It seemed fairly strange - and my list of shows to watch is already way too long. But noooo, Isaac had to have the first episode playing on his laptop, and though I tried my hardest not to pay attention... the voices and sound effects snagged my interest. By then it was too late - I was hooked. (Thanks a lot Isaac. No seriously, Thanks! ^^)

 What I had failed to realize was that in addition to all the silliness, this show is absolutely overflowing with cute.

I'm only seven episodes in, so far - but I love it! The voice acting is solid, the puns get me every time, Panda-kun's faces are insanely adorbs... but the main reason I love it so much is this guy:

Shirokuma.

He's the main source of puns in the show, also extremely adorable, and is the owner (these animals have jobs, yo) of a quiet little cafe. His sense of calm and overall chillness totally won me over. 

This show is the ultimate bad-day fixer. It's a comedy for sure, but it also has some very heart warming moments - and a subtle, underlying message of 'stay true to yourself'. If you can handle the slice-of-life style and anthropomorphic animals, you're in for a heavy dose of smiles & hahas.

I can't stop laughing at this. Panda-kun, you so crazy. ^^

Check it out!

(Images in this post came from Random Curiosity, Lemmas and Submodalites, Good Morning Lovely, and Polar Bear Cafe on Tumblr. I added the 'This Guy' text.)

Creepy Cute : Arboreal Salamander

I was out one night having a chat with my neighbor, when her cat discovered something towards the back of our building. We investigated, and much to our surprise - we found a little Arboreal Salamander!

He looks neat, but also a little spooky. 

I was worried that the little guy might have been, ahem, snacked on by the cat... 

he did look a bit shocked, but otherwise seemed to be in decent shape.
^-^

I believe I will refer to this salamander as Sir Lucky, should he ever appear again.

Heading to a safer spot.

Now you've met the newest member of our building! 

Panda Poet

When I'm winding down at night, or just need a break from life - I love getting lost in puzzle games. Panda Poet is awesome because it's a combination word/strategy game, with relaxing music and lots of adorable pandas!

(Source: Lost Garden)

You can invite friends to play against you, or hop on a local match (which is usually what I do). There's also a small chat box on the left side if you feel like chatting up your opponent. I do recommend going through the tutorial as well. Even though it's a pretty simple game, half of the game is stealing your opponents pandas - which could be a bit confusing for new players.

The only tricky thing is : you need to have a gmail / google account to play. That's it! You have to deal with a few minor ads, but for such a cute game it's a price I'm more than willing to pay for a free game.

The other thing I love is that the games can continue for a long time. If you only have five minutes to play, no big deal - your game will be saved and you can even receive emails when it's your turn to play, if you wish. I like to have about ten games going at all times, so there's always a game for me to come back to. And if you have a great game with someone, you can challenge them to a rematch after the current game is done! Awesome.

I play as CardiganNoir (cardigannoir@gmail.com). If anyone's interested, I'd love to battle you with words! ^-^

The Cute : Pusheen The Cat

Pusheen the cat is almost too cute for words. (That face! AND a tiny chef hat. Love it.)

This adorably round cat has quite an active life, which includes both baking and the occasional dance party.

I highly recommend checking out more of the awesomeness that is Pusheen the cat.

^-^

Guardians of WiFi

Yoko, Maka, a wandering Jackalope, Chun-Li, and Sakura protect our WiFi from evil-doers.

They also strongly dislike tiered bandwidth.

The Cute : Cuddling With Yumi-chan

Isaac's gray cat (Yumi-chan) is our resident furball, and she's consistently adorable. 

If you happen to sit next to her, you can bet she'll find a way to snuggle up.

^-^

The Cute : Tiny Christmas Tree

Our Christmas tree this year was tiny, pink, and quite sparkly.

Thanks Daiso, for letting me bring some adorable holiday cheer into our home for cheap.

The Cute : Daily Puppy & Favorite Dogs

The Daily Puppy can cure my sorrows almost any day of the week, if only for a moment. It's no secret that I really (no, REALLY) love dogs. If you walk your dog past me on the street, I am going to tell you that they're cute, guaranteed. I was super lucky to have a crazy pile of fur - named Quincy - to keep me company through high school. (I was a Quincy Jones fan at the time.) A tri-color Australian Shepherd, he had boundless energy and a constant smiling little face. He was awesome, and I miss him terribly. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of him, but he looked a lot like this cheeky guy.

Source: Just Dog

He taught me a lot about dogs. I took him home from our local humane society, and though we had originally stopped by to look at another dog, his happy face stole my heart. Young as I was, I just knew that I wanted a dog, what did it matter what kind it was? Boy, was I in for a surprise. The second he entered our yard, he took off and started doing laps around the house... and didn't stop for an hour. Welcome to the endless energy of Aussies. They are crazy. Crazy awesome.

Later, when I joined an amazing team of dog washers in Chicago, I learned even more. For instance: look at the first five ingredients on the label of your pet's food. If there's corn, it's no bueno. By law, the ingredients in dog/cat foods must be listed according to weight, so those first five tell you exactly what the main make up of the food is. Watch out for by-product meal and glutens. What's Really in Pet Food.

Financial straits and an effort to build a solid foundation for my life are really the only things keeping me from running out the door, right now, to a rescue. Whenever I manage to find my future slobbering furball, puppy or adult, that dog is going to be cherished. And that means having money, time, and training so he can be the happiest little dog ever.

Here's a few of my favorite dogs, and the ones I'm leaning toward bringing home with me in the future. Many are, ahem, wolf like in some aspect. Who doesn't want a direwolf?

The Cardigan Welsh Corgi

Souce: The Corgi Site

That's right, my love of cardigans isn't just limited to sweaters- dogs too! As adorable as Pembroke Corgis are (especially if they're name Ein), I really love the slightly bigger build, temperment and varied colors of the Cardigan. After Quincy, I know that I need to keep my eye on smaller type dogs if I want to keep living in an apartment, otherwise I'll need to get a lot of agility course training in. Which brings me to...

The Australian Shepherd

Source: JustDog

Probably the greatest dogs ever. They're incredibly smart, super loyal, beautiful, and constantly smiling. Also, they very much want to please you, and lack some of the stubbornness of other breeds. That said, they take a lot of work. They can easily become velcro dogs (following you around, all the time) out of love and boredom. All that energy needs to be used for something, and a walk a day isn't going to cut it. They also excel at agility training. But if you have the space, the time (or the sheep), and the effort, they're absolutely fabulous dogs.

The Keeshond

Source: Wiki Keeshond

Look at his little face! I'm convinced these dogs are made of half fluff, half adorable. You know what all that fur means though, you'll constantly be chasing little tumbleweeds of gray through the house. Be prepared.  I am a huge fan of most Spitz type pups, something about that curly tail, pointy face and rounded eyes. The Keeshond is one of two favorites. The other one is...

The Japanese Spitz

Source: Wiki Japanese Spitz

They look almost fake, with perfect snowy white coats and happy, beady black eyes and noses. Similar to The Samoyed, The American Eskimo, and White Pomeranians, they're my number two favorite Spitz.

The Alaskan Klee Kai

Source: piperbasenji

Basically a tiny wolf. {It's too much, their adorableness cannot be stopped!}

 Started back in the '70's by Linda S. Spurlin, the Alaskan Klee Kai came about during a search for a way to breed smaller huskies without resorting to dwarfism. These awesome little guys are epic mutts; Husky mixed with Schipperke, American Eskimo, and a few others that remain a mystery. It's the only dog out of all the ones I've posted that I haven't actually encountered in life... but the internet has been fueling my far away adoration for these puppies for a few years.

The Bullmastiff

Source: Wiki Bullmastiff

If I hadn't met a truly awesome brindle bullmastiff while in Chicago, I probably wouldn't even think to love this dog as much I do. This dog walked into the store with his owner, reared back and plopped his two giant paws on top of the counter as if to say "Hello, I'm here for my appointment. Can I have one of those biscuits?" He was adorable, huge, and wonderfully sweet tempered. Other than his entrance, (which his owner kindly apologized for, but I loved) he was a shining example of obedience, and gave many kisses freely. 

So there you have it! Some of my favorite Canis lupus familiaris.