It's official!

His name is Soots! We all deliberated a l-o-n-g time and considered many, many names. But seeing as this name had popped into a dream of Christina's AND the kitty's nose & paws look like he got into some soot made it destiny. :)

He was incredibly good on the 3 1/2 hour ride home last night, then settled right into bed.



We have been playing and exploring the house today.

Christina and David did an excellent job of finding this kitty at the shelter!

Guess who we are picking up tomorrow!

Or would that be "Guess whom..."?

In any event, it's the new über-cute kitty, who is currently hanging out at Christina's with Mr. Tumnus!



(Christina took the pictures earlier today.) Tumnus and the new kitty look like brothers!

The new kitty does not yet have a name. We will wait to name him until we see him "in person" -- and get input from Christina and David. I've been trying to think of some preliminary ideas for names, but have come up short. And the "cute cat names" websites aren't being that helpful either, although "Raymond Purr" did make me smile. :)

new kitty's a comin'...

... so stay tuned for details!




(photo taken with David's cell phone)

festival update

Christina is home (well, back at college that is) from a great week in Reno where she participated in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. (She is in Region 7 which includes Alaska, Northern California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Northern Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming.)

We were so excited for her -- She made her way to finalist for the prestigious Irene Ryan Award. Although she didn't win the whole shootin' match, what an accomplishment and honor to get that far (one of 16 chosen out of 230)!

Yep, we're proud!

not again!

First they "updated" (and by that I think we mean "ruined") Strawberry Shortcake, and now they've done it to Rainbow Brite! (Apparently this happened several months ago (story here), but I just found out about it.)

The original:


The updated:


WHY?!

At least the Sprites are still cute... that is, until they get personal trainers and develop skinny waistlines.

Remembering Marble

As most of you know, we had Marble for over 16 years. Today I gathered pictures of him to do a slideshow video. I set it to Al Stewart's Time Passages which worked really well. Only it didn't work well for Mr. Stewart who is reaallllly picky about copyright issues. Sheesh. (I would have happily paid but that wasn't an option.)

Soooo... the alternate soundtrack isn't as good, but it works.

Song #1 is Carole King's Brighter (because Marble made our world brighter). Song #2 is the Grass Roots' Glory Bound (because it is upbeat, I like the Grass Roots, and I guess one could say Marble is glory bound).

Anyway, we all love and miss Marble -- he was a one of a kind cat.

billy john and elton joel...

Er, make that Billy Joel and Elton John. That's who we saw in concert last night in Portland. We opted for the cheap seats behind the stage -- they were close in terms of physical distance but facing the 'wrong' direction. But it actually turned out pretty well! Since the pianos were pointed sideways, we got a nice view of Billy Joel for the entire concert.



We mostly saw the side and back of Elton John's head...



But there were times he did turn around!



Anyway, the old guys still have it. It was a great concert. Even so, I'm considering it just a warm up for (yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!) Carole King and James Taylor in May.

"Staving off the Gloom" Friday Five

Sally writes this week's Friday Five:

Candlemass is past, and Christmas is well and truly over, here in the UK February looks set to be its usual grey and cold self. Signs of spring are yet to emerge; if like me you long for them perhaps you need ways to get through these long dark days. So lets share a few tips for a cold and rainy/ snowy day....

1. Exercise, what do you do if you can't face getting out into the cold and damp?
I ride my stationary bike and channel surf. (That might count as two exercises.)

2. Food; time to comfort eat, or time to prepare your body for the coming spring/summer?
Umm, both?

"Me want fooooooood!"

3. Brainpower; do you like me need to stave off depression, if so how do you do it?
I don't really find that I need to stave off depression per se, but I do like to keep the ol' noggin functional. Reading and making my little slide show videos both work well for this.

4. How about a story that lifts your spirits, is there a book or film that you return to to stave off the gloom?
I tend to read and watch new things rather than repeat... but if I want a good laugh I'd probably watch one of the Pink Panther movies. Peter Sellers and Steve Martin both crack me up.

5. Looking forward, do you have a favourite spring flower/ is there something that says spring is here more than anything else?
We have tulips planted in our yard. Those say spring!

Bonus; post a poem/ piece of music that points to the coming spring...

It's gotta be Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra!

Groundhog Day

In honor of Groundhog Day:



Question of the Day: If faced with a similar 'time loop' situation, would you be tempted to do the same to ol' Ned?