Tom Waits or Bob Dylan?

Borrowed the pictures from Crawdaddy where, if'n you're a fan of either of these gentlemen, you'll find a wonderful trail of bread crumbs that leads to something that can only be described as audio treasure.

Here's another

We tweeted a few months back about a book of poetry from Mr. Waits and it appears that the time of its release is upon us. Enjoy.

How-deeee!

Sorry to interrupt our regularly scheduled programming but there is still the matter of Minnie Pearl. Some of you may remember that back in August, I confiscated a young mama cat and her three kittens from a neighbor who, when originally asked about having her cat spayed, looked at me like I was an idiot and said: "There aren't any male cats around here."

Then one day she called me up shocked and said: "Susan, something happened; there are kittens all over my dining room."

"Really [insert name here]?"

"And, I didn't even know she was pregnant!"

"Must have been immaculate conception," I said.

"Go ahead, say I told you so - but I'm going to need you to take them up to the pound." [she's disabled] "When they're big enough," she added.

"Sorry, can't help you there." I said.

"You won't do it?"

"Kill a litter of kittens? No, I won't."

"They wouldn't kill them," she said, "they're kittens!"

Two weeks later, she called back and pretending like we hadn't had this conversation, she told me again how cute the kittens were and asked me to come and take them to Animal Control. I advised her to flush the kittens down the toilet and cut out the middle man. (Note: just in case anyone reading this thinks I'm serious - please think again) I was hoping to enrage her in the same way her stupidity had enraged me. I saw this entire scene play out in my mind the first time she ever showed me her new kitten eight months earlier. She shamed me for suggesting such a thing and said she could never hurt kittens. I assured her that she already had but agreed to come and get them on condition that she give me the mama cat too; the cat she presumably loved.

Ten minutes later, all four of them were living in my basement. That was August.

Roy, Buck, and Lulu were adopted less than two weeks after I got them vetted and placed at PetSmart. Minnie Pearl who grew into a beautiful adult, is still waiting. She has spent a lot of time (thanks to Nashville Cat Rescue) at Hundred Oaks and Cool Springs and a couple of weeks ago, I brought her home for a cage break. Stella and Gigi (my cat) made her feel insecure at first but she's slowly getting the hang of things. She's made friends with Domino, our neighbor cat who spends the night occasionally and they play together running through the house like little banshees. It sends Stella to the moon.

I say all that to say this: If you or anyone you know is looking for a cat with a big personality, a history and some real potential, I can hook you up.
Pass it on.

Busted

We're there in the kitchen, the two of us. I empty the wax paper tube of the last few Ritz crackers, toss it in the trash can, and open a fresh one. I take a few crackers out, twist the top closed and drop it into a big bowl on the counter. I carry the plate of cheese and crackers into my office and sit down at the computer. Time passes.

You know how when you have children and they get into stuff and suddenly you realize you haven't heard them in a while? That's what happened. When I snapped to attention I heard a licking sound. The sound of paper, wax paper, scooting across old linoleum. I stepped around the corner and there stood Stella in the middle of the kitchen floor, head down, caught in the act. All I thought of was the new pack of crackers. So instead of thinking that she'd lifted the old paper out of the can (which is what happened), in my head - she'd just finished an entire pack of new crackers. The look on my face apparently conveyed this thought rather well. I say that because the second our eyes met - Stella tore out of the room past me, ran into her crate and laid down.

Fifteen minutes later, I said "Alright Stella, you've suffered enough," and she stood up and walked out.

What does your dog do when it knows it's done something bad?

Reminder: One last chance to win the final calendar; leave us a comment in that post that's linked on in the sidebar there. The drawing is tomorrow night!