We went to watch whales, but instead met an otter

I don't know if you heard that there has been an unusually large number of whales sticking around Monterey Bay long past their usual season there, due to a huge run of anchovies. So we thought we'd trek down there for a day in hopes of getting in on the action.

Then something unexpected and wonderful happened.

We got a phone call from someone who had no idea we were headed toward Monterey who had, as it happened, just been in the area the week before and had, as it happened, been told by a local that a wild sea otter, but one habituated to humans, was just hanging out at a local dock where people could stop by. As it happened, this dock was 20 minutes away from where we were. We practically swerved off the road, in hopes the otter was still hanging around the dock, and in hopes we could reach the dock before dark.

It was, and we did. And it was amazing.

The otter was perfectly happy and healthy (well, at least as far as we could tell), and as you could see, didn't seem at all perturbed to have people standing around looking at it.

Or taking its picture. Or even...

...stroking its fur, and I know, I know, don't touch a wild animal, but I can't say I regret it. It was amazing. It kind of rolled over and did the "scratch right there" thing that the dogs do. My hand was rather gray afterwards, but boy was it incredible to touch that fur.

Did you know that sea otters have the densest fur of any animal? On some parts of their body, it has 1 million hairs per square inch. 

I can also tell you now from first-hand experience that they have the cutest ears and strangely small front paws that look a little like catchers' mitts, and that when they flex their toes, their back webbed feet are disproportionately large. 

The next day, as it happened, the whale watch was cancelled due to rough weather, so we went back to visit the sea otter who was enjoying a healthy breakfast. I can also tell you now from first-hand experience that sea otters are noisy eaters. Well, see for yourself.

Various & Sundry: Courage from start to finish

I love my little blog. It's just so satisfying, being able to share what's on my mind and have it actually reach other people. It's nerve-wracking, too, of course, and I'm glad I am an obscure little bit player in the blogosphere, but as a writing person, I think blogging is great exercise. If you're wondering about blogging yourself, I'd recommend that you read Mark Shaefer's post 10 Maxims of Successful Blogging. Here are maxims 1 and 2:

1. We live in an increasingly information-dense world. The only way to stand out is to dig down deep and bring your own story to the world. Your point of differentiation is you. You have no competitors. Write a blog post that only you could write.  

 2. The biggest challenge to blogging isn’t having the time, the ideas, or the resources to do it. It’s having the courage to do it. It takes guts to put yourself out there in front of the world. You can’t learn that. You just have to do it.

Actually, I think that's about more than just blogging, don't you?

In other writing news, the editor for the obituary page of the Daily Telegraph (London) explains how to write a good obituary:

You know that James Harrison is going to have a good obituary, when the day comes. Harrison has a rare form of blood plasma that prevents Rhesus disease, a condition where antibodies in a pregnant woman’s blood destroy her baby's blood cells. He has been donating blood an average of once every three weeks for over 50 years and is estimated to have saved 2.4 million babies. Makes me wonder when I'm next eligible to give blood.

Here's who else is not in the obituary pages this week: Debbie Harry, who is, instead, featured in Vogue Spain, 67 years old and looking absolutely fabulous. As Tom and Lorenzo explain (well, mostly Tom), Debbie Harry taught Tom "that being fabulous is the very best 'fuck you' one can give to a world determined to tear you down, and that drama, beauty and glamour were good for the soul when so many people around you seem to be striving for mediocrity." Given that yesterday, I wasn't sure whether I'd actually brushed my hair that day, I think I could be doing better in learning this lesson.

I did not look like this yesterday. Or any day, for that matter.

Then again, I don't look like Hitler either. Unlike some tea kettles I could name. JC Penney got in trouble this week when someone pointed out that the kettle on a billboard near Culver City had a decidedly Third-Reich-like cast to it. This gave rise to the following lead in Business Insider:

JCPenney has officially denied that a tea kettle being advertised on a billboard on the 405 Interstate near Culver City, Calif., is intended to represent Adolf Hitler, the Nazi dictator during World War II.

What's your favorite part? Is it the "officially denied"? Or (my favorite) that they explain who Adolf Hitler is?

Here, by the way, was JC Penney's official response:

@telegraph Certainly unintended. If we'd designed the kettle to look like something, we would've gone w/a snowman: twitter.com/jcpenney/statu…
— jcpenney (@jcpenney) May 28, 2013

Well, naturally.

I understand JC Penney is having a hard time of it these days, and they may want to read this post, or at least follow its wonderful advice: "There is no silver bullet. There are only lead bullets." Really, that's better advice than you'd think. Sometimes you just have to fight that good fight.

But wouldn't you rather watch bath time for baby sloths? I know I would.

What is a Gromit?

Since we got him a little over a year ago, the Infusion household has been pondering this question. What does it take to become a Gromit? I mean, besides poise, savoir faire, and someone's clerical collar. Clearly there was some dachshund involved, but what else?

Well, thanks to the Wisdom Panel (R) Dog DNA test (oh yes there is), we have either a) learned about Gromit's mysterious past or b) been sold an excellent story.

First of all, can I just say I cannot believe we got any DNA sample out of Gromit at all. According to the directions, we were supposed to swab the inside of his cheek with a little brush that looks like a mascara applicator for 15 second. If we got three seconds, I'm amazed.

But apparently, it was enough, because here's what they came up with:

Gromit is...(drumroll please)

a Standard Wirehaired Dachshund, American Staffordshire Terrier, English Springer Spaniel, Kerry Blue Terrier, Miniature Poodle Mix

Well, obviously.

Here's the official lineage, according to our results:

Call the AKC! Now that we know the magic formula, we can start churning out Gromits like crazy.

Or maybe we'll just enjoy the one and only Gromit that we have.

Various & Sundry: Now with more random animal drama!

It's been a busy week work-wise as a deadline looooms for the ecumenical version (actually versions) of Confirm not Conform, which of course means I have more than the usual number of goofy links to share. I'm just going to go for the random, here. You sort out the themes.

My favorite grammar heresy, the Singular They, gets a thumbs up from the Grumpy Grammarian, asking, "are we really to heed [William Strunk's] aesthetic sensibilities over Shakespeare’s or Thackeray’s?" Let's just consider that a rhetorical question.

Here's a lead you don't read every day: "An English coroner is being asked to decide why a man was in the chimney of a law firm where he was found dead." Well, yes, that does raise some questions.

You also don't hear about pot-sniffing moose every time you turn around.

In other wild animal encounters, Nancy Kho describes How to Maximize the Drama Inherent in a Wild Turkey Encounter. That's a wild turkey as in an actual wild turkey, not Wild Turkey like glug-glug. Although Wild Turkey might indeed maximize the drama inherent in a wild turkey encounter. No mention of it, though.

OK, I do seem to be sensing a theme as we turn to glow in the dark sheep.

Scientists in Uruguay have announced the world's first genetically-modified phosphorescent sheep. 

Nine sheep were born in October of 2012 at Uruguay's Institute of Animal Reproduction, an experiment conducted in conjunction with the Institut Pasteur. 

The scientists used a gene from a jellyfish, allowing them to produce a green fluorescent protein.

The scientists say the sheep developed normally. They claim there are no differences to their non-modified peers.

Well. Good for them, then. But they are kind of creepy, aren't they?

On the more serious side, two pieces that made me go yay:

First, four teenagers in Wilcox County, Georgia, finally were able to offer the high school's first integrated prom. Yes, you read right. 2013. They had an integrated prom. So kudos to the four girls who finally broke through. It's still hard to wrap your brain around, though, isn't it?

Also kudos to the principal who fired security guards at his elementary school so that he could hire art teachers. He took a real risk, but it looks like it's paying huge dividends.

And for your own decision-making needs, take a look at the Disapproval Matrix, which is "one way to separate haterade from productive feedback." Very useful. Who are you listening to?

How animals spend their tax refunds

A few examples. There are many more.

Bats are very sensible. For the most part.

Various & Sundry: Supermodels, Martyrs, Poets, and other animals

*sigh* It's been one of those weeks that's clunked along. I had lots of plans of things to blog, but, as you see, it didn't happen. Probably because I never did get that handsome dose. But I do have a few things left lying about the place that are worth sharing, late as it is, so here you go.

For example, there are good reasons I didn't become a supermodel. Again, the handsome dose would have made my career as a supermodel more likely. But there are other legitimate reasons, as Nancy Kho points out.

I don't know if you've been following Lent Madness, but this week the martyrs have been beating the tar out of the more naturally-death-inclined. Yesterday, however, in a match-up between John Donne and the martyr Agnes of Rome, Donne charmed the votes out of people, which broke the martyrs' win streak. Does it have something to do with his erotic poetry?

This leads very nicely into Book Riot's Date, Dump, or Marry: Famous Author Version. Your choices? I'm thinking to date Jane Austen (she would be an excellent dinner companion, don't you think?), dump Poe (I mean, creepy, although I'd worry I'd be the inspiration for some gothic character), and marry Dick Francis. He seems stable and unpretentious.

Oscar fanatics and film buffs may want to read this analysis of Django Unchained. I haven't seen the movie, and don't plan to, so I am in no position to opine, but it strikes me as a really important perspective.

I really liked what Beth Kanter had to say about the importance of being data-informed rather than data-driven. And I especially appreciated this article on the seven  habits of highly effective mediocre people:

Being mediocre doesn’t mean you won’t change the world. It means being honest with yourself and the people around you. And being honest at every level is really the most effective habit of all if you want to have massive success.

In law enforcement news,

Prosecutors in England, prepping for a case, repeatedly contacted a police department for details on the arrest—specifically, they demanded a witness statement from "PD Peach," an officer who assisted. The problem is, PD stands for Police Dog, and Peach is an adorable German Shepherd, and as such is incapable of reading or writing.

Well, maybe, maybe not, as this police report shows:

Perhaps Peach had someone speaking for him, something Pat Derby did quite well. Ms. Derby, who died last week, was "a former animal trainer for television shows like “Lassie” and “Flipper” who became a crusader against animal exploitation in entertainment and founded of one of the largest privately operated wildlife sanctuaries in the United States." I read two obituaries for her this week, one in the Times, and one in the Telegraph. In both, she sounds tough-minded and realistic. "Throughout her life, she remained acutely conscious of the inherent shortcomings of raising wild animals in captivity: 'You can never replace the wild. You can only make the prison as comfortable as possible.'"

I don't know. I think this bucket of sloths looks pretty cozy.

Various & Sundry: What I read when I should have been writing the first round Lent Madness bios

I finally turned in the last of my Lent Madness first-round bios today. All that writing this week meant...a whole lot of web surfing. Here's some of the stuff that distracted me I think you will find interesting.

Let's start with the important stuff: Camel hit by car on Bailey Road in Concord. Yes, California. Yes, a real camel. As you see. I'm happy to report the camel is apparently fine.

"He's fine, he's hot and his adrenaline's pumping, but he's fine," Ferrante [who owns the trailer] said. "I have never done this before, so I can put (rescuing a camel) on my resume."

I'm sure that will impress at the next job interview. No report on the state of the minivan that hit the camel. Hope they weren't headed somewhere important because that's a tale that would not pass muster.

Also important: celebrating 80 years of marriage, as this couple did last November. John (101) and Ann (97)  Betar defied their parents' wishes to get married in 1932. They are being honored by Worldwide Marriage Encounter. "It's quite an honor," John told the Daily News, "but I don't know what it's for."

Nancy Kho wonders about what we lose when we don't need to wonder about anything any more. She asks, "will our future problem solvers – aka the kid sitting at her homework desk right now Googling 'Ideas for experiments for science fair' - have enough experience at Not Knowing to do the job? At understanding that feeling completely unmoored and fumbling around in the dark may be exactly what’s needed to find a tricky or non-obvious answer to a hard problem?" Gosh, I don't know. Where can I find the answer?

PeaceBang had two terrific posts this week. The first, in response to those people coming to the church for financial assistance because they don't want to be dependent on Government, is a real barn-burner. And the second, as Laura Ingalls Wilder endures the current blizzard in New England, is hilarious.

Mary and I are thinking that maybe Ma forgot to refill her prescription for anxiety medication but we are obediently stripping the beds. Where will we find dry hay for fresh ticking? The roads are bad, so a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond is out of the question.

Andrew Sullivan has some thoughts about how to create actual change  and small business owner Beth Schillaci invites others to embrace your smallness.

I've started following Solemn Hulk on Twitter. He's still considering his Lenten vows.

HULK GIVING UP RAGE FOR LENT. OR MAYBE CHOCOLATE. OR MAYBE FACEBOOK. HULK HATE DECISIONS.
— SOLEMN HULK (@SOLEMNHULK) February 5, 2013

Me too, Hulk. I hear ya.

Various & Sundry: The Sound of the Music of the Wolves of the White Christmas of the Dead. And some other stuff.

Hey, how about we have a normal Friday evening V&S post before the end of 2012. Won't that be fun? Let's see here.

For some lightness, let's start with Tom & Lorenzo's devastating take-down of White Christmas. There were never such devoted sisters. "Honeys, if a gay man over 35 tries to tell you that they don't know EVERY SINGLE WORD to this song, don't believe them. Trust us on this."

Meanwhile, the Baroness Schraeder regrets to inform you that her wedding to Captain Von Trapp has been canceled.

But I don’t want you to be angry at him. We are all adults here. “But Baroness,” so many of my friends have said, “you must be devastated. You yourself are fabulously wealthy, so you cannot have wanted the Captain for his money—you must have truly loved him.” It’s true. But so, I am sure, does his new fiancée, his children’s nanny. Her wardrobe is made of curtains. She’s definitely not a gold digger or anything.

Ha. That will bring us back to dough. (oh oh oh)

Speaking of dough, I thought this article on women and organizational leadership made an absolutely fascinating point: when asked why there was a disparity in leadership representation, the men blamed the system; the women blamed themselves.  It suggests a radically different approach to creating change in an organization which was, in many ways, a huge relief.

Also on the issue of gender/racial balance, the Columbia Journalism Review did officially what I have done only casually and analyzed who gets a NY Times obituary. Among other things, dead people most often went to an Ivy League school. Did you know that? State school people apparently live forever. The gender imbalance is noted in the chart below:

I loved this idea of the Virtual Food Drive from the Alameda County Community Food Bank.  

Why a Virtual Food Drive?

It's the greenest (and easiest) of all food drives

You save the Food Bank precious resources – schedulers, drivers, food sorters and fuel

Your donations allow us to purchase our most-needed items

And, they point out, they can stretch every $1 donated into $4 of food by buying in bulk. Sounds sensible.

Finally, I was very sorry to see that this was the Anglian Wolf Society, not the Anglican Wolf Society. But I think someone ought to start an Anglican Wolf Society. Then we can all have a Wolf Experience and Llama Walk, instead of needing to go to North Bedfordshire. Might be worth a trip, though.

Gromit's Christmas Present

What'd'ya get, Gromit?

Hmmm...

Various & Sundry: Not About General Convention Edition

I'm sitting in the Denver airport, en route between General Convention in Indianapolis and the World Domination Summit in Portland, and thought I would write a quick post that includes ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the Episcopal Church. It's going to be quick, though.  Ready? Here you go:

Let's start with the obits, and baseball great Doris Sams. "Doris Sams, who pitched a perfect game and set a single-season home run record in the women’s professional baseball world of the 1940s and 50s that inspired the movie “A League of Their Own,” died Thursday in Knoxville, Tenn." A phenom. I also love this story:

She once outdueled Lois Florreich of the Rockford Peaches through 22 innings, winning by 1-0, as she remembered it, in a game that had been tied after the scheduled seven innings as the short game of a doubleheader.

“After that, I told my manager: ‘I don’t want to pitch any more seven-inning games. They’re too long,’” Sue Macy quoted Sams saying in her league history “A Whole New Ball Game” (1993).

In World War II obituary news, you must read this great account of derring-do by the wonderfully titled Count Robert de la Rochefoucauld. He escaped execution twice, once by faking an epileptic fit

and, when the guard opened the door to his cell, hit him over the head with a table leg before breaking his neck. (“Thank Goodness for that pitilessly efficient training,” he noted). After putting on the German’s uniform, La Rochefoucauld walked into the guardroom and shot the two other German jailers. He then simply walked out of the fort, through the deserted town, and to the address of an underground contact.

The escape further entailed dressing as a nun.

You might be surprised to learn of these 5 forms of charity that are not helping. This article helpfully summarizes what you think you are doing, and why you shouldn't do it.

I thought this article on who gives or accepts compliments was fascinating. (Hint: women are bad at it in a strange variety of ways.) Note to self: say thank you and move on.

Looking for that perfect gift for your 16th wedding anniversary? The Bloggess suggests you say it with sloths.

No slothiness allowed here. Got to run!

Garden update update

Harper and Gromit report that a Masked Intruder entered the garden early Monday morning and cruelly snatched the top 12 inches off of the coreopsises (coreopses?) in the back bed.

They further report that they valiantly attempted to defend the yard, accidentally digging up some of the dahlias in the process. They were at last able to chase off the intruder who left behind the severed remains of the assaulted plants.

They are very sorry about that.

Various & Sundry, the "I'm on deadline" edition

So I thought I'd take a break from revising Confirm not Conform (which is why blogging has been so sparse) and do a Various & Sundry post. And then I realized that I haven't been collecting items for the V&S post either. So this is going to be sparse as well.

Best obituary, hands down, goes to Artisanal, Reluctant Branding Pioneer, Dies at Age 474. "He is survived by his wife, Organic, and their two small boys, Natural and Green, as well as his cousin Hipster, though the two had fallen out in the '70s and were no longer on speaking terms." Oh, do read it.

Church Geek Alert! Scott Gunn has been writing a series of posts on the resolutions coming up before this summer's General Convention. My personal favorite related to the general principle he offers for proposing political resolutions. Namely, "Let us tell the world what we are going to do about political problems, rather than telling the world what they should do about political problems." Amen to that. Oh, and some lovely snark in that post.

I think the exhibit on A Girl and Her Room is fascinating. I wish there were photos from even more countries.

Finally, and for no particular reason, try to find the real cat in this photo:

Then ask yourself what kind of destruction he has on his mind.

Back to work for me.

A new addition

Meet Gromit.

We weren't planning to get another dog.  No, we most certainly were not.  We were trying to help friends get another dog.  But then we met Gromit and we knew we were doooomed.


Gromit is a Guatemalan Otter Hound.  Or something.  He came from an organization called AWARE, a non-profit that operates a spay/neuter clinic and no-kill shelter for street dogs and cats in Guatemala.

From what I understand, his former owner had 8 dogs.  When the owner had a stroke, Gromit and the other 7 (including Gromit's father) went to the shelter.  Gromit was placed in a home where the person was gone all day, so he would howl.  He was returned to the shelter, then was sent to the U.S. where he lived with a foster family for a month.  (You can see lots of pictures of him there at the TubeDog Facebook page.)

We saw his profile on Friday evening, put in an application on Saturday, met him on Sunday, and on Monday evening he came to live with us.  He and Harper played non-stop for almost two hours last night, so I think there's a bit of an over-play hangover this morning.  It's remarkably quiet around here.  But so far, so good.

Here's the pack.  (Gromit is looking at one of the cats.)

Oh, the cats are fascinated.  And Jack ate out of Gromit's bowl this morning.  So clearly they're terrified.

Undoubtedly more images to more.  Here are articles from The Bark and SPCA International about AWARE.

Hawklet!

Remember the Red-tailed Hawk Nest cam at Cornell? Well, the eggs are hatching.  One little fuzzy thing is out already and a beak has made its way through another egg.  The gory thing sticking out? Sparrow remains. Take a look! If you stick around you'll probably get a glimpse of a hawklet or two.

Watch live streaming video from cornellhawks at livestream.com

Various & Sundry, April 13

First off, what would you guess the New York Yankees Fragrance would smell like?  If you guessed sweat, leather, and money, you would be wrong--at least according to the official website:

This fresh, woody scent introduces an invigorating blend of sparkling Bergamot, Coriander and cool Blue Sage. As it evolves, the fragrance reveals a fusion of crisp Ivy leaves, Orange Flower and Geranium enhanced with rich earthy Patchouli, smooth Sandalwood and Suede to create a timeless, masculine scent.

Sounds a bit overwhelming to me.  Kind of lost me at Patchouli.

There's also a Yankees Fragrance for her: "a fun, inviting scent that captures the playful spirit of the Yankees™ girl." Oh goody.

There was an obit this week for Peter Douglas, defender of the California coastline, to whom we all owe a great debt of thanks.

For 26 years, Mr. Douglas was the executive director of the California Coastal Commission, the powerful state agency that he helped create with a mandate to keep the coast open to the public — and one that set a high standard for its counterparts in other states.

So any time you get to the beach, be sure to say a little prayer of gratitude for his work.

The Internet Monk directed me to a blog post by Ed Stetzer on Considering (and Surviving) Unhealthy Christian Organizations, which I thought was spot-on. Here's a hint: unhealthy Christian organizations are all about looking good on the outside.  I think Jesus had something to say about that.

Brene Brown also has words to say about the Worst Advice Ever, that advice being, "You can rest when you're done."  As she says, "How do you 'rest when you're done' when it's never done?" I think God had something to say about resting as well.

Speaking of getting some rest, I sure hope It's Margaret gets a lot since she is dealing with a gutload of gallstones--ugharino! You're in my prayers, babe, and get well soon!

Perhaps a little tango will make you feel better:



Or maybe some baby goats.

Various & Sundry

Whew! Lots to share.  Let's get to it.

The voting continues at Lent Madness, but more pressing matters are at hand: The Peeples Choice Awards for the Washington Post Peep Diorama Contest is on, and there's still time for you to vote for your favorite!

I saw this article courtesy of Word Boy Dave: memoirists' mothers review the memoirs written by their children! Brave mothers and children both.  And such good motherly advice, too! For example, when asked, "Any advice for Sara [Benincasa] about writing her next memoir?" the answer was, "I think she needs to put in more vulgarity in the next one; this one was way too innocent!" Coming right up, I'm sure.

If the book The Righteous Mind is anywhere nearly as informative as this review of The Righteous Mind, then I think it's something I'm going to have to read. Here's one snippet from the review:

To the question many people ask about politics — Why doesn’t the other side listen to reason? — Haidt replies: We were never designed to listen to reason. When you ask people moral questions, time their responses and scan their brains, their answers and brain activation patterns indicate that they reach conclusions quickly and produce reasons later only to justify what they’ve decided.

Here's another: "The problem isn’t that people don’t reason. They do reason. But their arguments aim to support their conclusions, not yours."  Isn't that amazing? And so obvious when you think about it. It makes me wonder what other insights I'll get if I read the whole book. And if it will change the way I talk and listen to others.

Speaking of reviews, PeaceBang wrote a perceptive review of the new Muppets movie this week that is worth a read for the critique that begins about a third of the way in.

In my ongoing resolution (now Lenten discipline) to give up shame, I appreciated this blog post on Perfectionism and Claiming Shame from Brene Brown from a few years back.  She defined perfectionism thusly:

Perfectionism is a self-destructive and addictive belief system that fuels this primary thought: “If I look perfect, live perfectly, and do everything perfectly, I can avoid or minimize the painful feelings of shame, judgment, and blame.”

Well, when you put it that way...

In contrast, take a look at 43 lessons from 43 years.  For example, lesson 31: "The perfect is the enemy of the good. Too many people never get started toward their goals because they don’t know that the “best” first step is. Don’t worry about getting things exactly right — just choose a good option and do something to get started."

Finally, for your viewing pleasure, here is the Red-Tailed Hawk Cam from Cornell University. I find it very soothing to keep this up on my computer screen for a quick break during the day. Enjoy.

Watch live streaming video from cornellhawks at livestream.com

I think Harper thinks she's a cat

It may also be that the cats think Harper is a cat. A really weird cat.

Various and Sundry, June 24

From a traveling correspondent, I recently learned of Voodoo Doughnut in Portland, OR, which features a Voodoo doll doughnut: "Raised yeast doughnut filled with raspberry jelly topped with chocolate frosting and a pretzel stake! (characteristics of Voodoo Dolls are all different)," according to their website. Apparently, the store has been closed for 3 months but is opening again on the 4th of July, so that Portlanders can be patriotically pastrified.

In other travel news, you can Savor the Central Coast this September, including a wine tasting poolside at Hearst Castle. "You’ll feel like a celebrity as you sip wine under the stars and sample tapas beside William Randolph Hearst’s Roman-style Neptune Pool at historic Hearst Castle." Well, I don't know if I'd feel like a celebrity, but I do think it's pretty cool.

Hmmm...seems to be travel on my mind.

Not a lot of obits that caught my eye this week...with the exception of Bill Haast, a professional snake handler who died at the age of 100 of "natural causes," which begs the question, isn't a snake bite a natural cause?

A secret of his success was the immunity he had built up by injecting himself every day for more than 60 years with a mix of venoms from 32 snake species. He suspected the inoculations might have explained his extraordinarily good health, but he was reluctant to make that claim, he said, until he reached 100.

I don't think I'll try his technique.

Book bloggers will appreciate this rant. I can't do it justice with an excerpt. You'll just have to read it.

And finally, for some reason, I cannot get enough of this video. I can just imagine one of my cats doing this very thing.

Sisyphus

In case you're wondering where I've been, I've been cleaning. Actually, it's mostly not me doing the cleaning, but I've been trying to stay out of the way while other people clean. Houseguests, you know. (That came out wrong; the houseguest is not doing the cleaning.) Stressfully, this particular houseguest was head of housekeeping for the Atlanta Olympics.

So yesterday it was the upholstery guy who worked for 5 hours to clean the sofas and chairs. He said he thinks he got 90 percent of the fur out of the furniture (making it "niture" I guess). I thanked him profusely, paid him, wished him great fun at his daughter's quincenera, waved goodbye, came in the house and found...

Well, you knew that was coming.

Sunday Cuteness

Our Sunday Funnies feature will resume...eventually.