Caturday

Inspired by Cara, I am putting up pictures of my cats. Because really, there just aren't enough pictures of people's cats on the internet.
This is Alvy getting groomed by Mr. Bonkers. It's a combination of dominance and affection, as far as I can tell.
Alvy puts up with it for a while and then he'll start to fuss and kick, or else Bonkers will be very gentle for a while and then start chewing on Alvy's legs like they were chicken bones, at which point Alvy starts to fuss and kick. At any rate, it always ends kind of badly, but it's fun to watch.

Driving Miss Dorrie

Dorrie hates the car. Never mind that we only ever take her fun places, doggie daycare or to people's houses where she gets to run around in the countryside or the vet -- Dorrie actually seems to like the vet, probably because he has two great big handsome dogs who hang out in the waiting room. And once she's actually in the car she's OK -- she rarely gets carsick and she doesn't really do the helpless drooling thing anymore. But the process of getting in there is just miserable. You'd think she was about to get beaten with sticks, or a bath, or something along those lines the way she balks and cowers.

So when we're driving I talk to her a lot, tell her she's a good girl, skritch her on the head. Often I'll sing to her. It's a good distraction, mostly because it seems to puzzle the hell out of her -- what exactly am I doing? But it takes her mind off the fact that we're in the car, and that's a good thing.

I just discovered Mixwit, a mix tape site (via bricolagelife, an art/design blog I like a lot). And one of the things I've been doing with my time off is just giving myself permission to mess around with stuff, play a bit, whatever. Tonight that's what I've been messing with. (And eating cheese!)

So in honor of my good little dog, here's a mix of songs I like to sing to her in the car.

Cheers

OK, enough with the sad little dog pictures. I'm taking a little time off from work, and while there will be more about that later, in the meantime I am trying to work my way through the Seven Deadly sins in their entirety. And since most of my days are already filled with Wrath, Pride, and Envy, it seems only fitting that a vacation should consist of Lust, Gluttony, Sloth, and Greed. I haven't gotten to the Greed part -- I'm headed downtown to have lunch with a friend so maybe I can do a little shopping and get that out of the way, but that tends to be my least favorite Deadly Sin. On the other hand, I've been very assiduous about the other three. We are in possession of a large amount of incredibly good cheese sent out of the blue by a dear friend, for one thing, and I think we've got every single one of Thomas Aquinas' Gluttony categories --

* Praepropere, eating too soon;
* Laute (washedly), eating finely;
* Nimis, eating too much;
* Ardenter, eating burningly;
* Studiose (keenly), eating daintily;
* Forente (boringly), eating wildly.

(thank you, Marta!)

-- pretty well covered. Can I just say: Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam with blueberries? Holy shit.

(The bartending bear was a commission for a friend's husband's birthday.)