Me & my Shadow

Except for Neo, who is John's baby, I am the other cats' favorite person. To be honest, I'm not sure why. John is way nicer to them than me.

Cass, pictured here, takes the devotion to extremes. There is an area on my "desk" (old gate leg table (I hate it)), to the right of my keyboard, that is hers. Before I switched to left-mousing, getting anything at all done was a chore; she would lay down, near my hand, then sprawl, stretching more and more, until I had to move the keyboard and mouse over. Then she'd shift again.

A couple of months ago, I got (what I thought was) a clever new mousepad with a calculator on the end. It didn't work out so well for me, but that's okay: it's Cass's spot now. The calculator part has to align with the edge of the table, and the mouse pad part must be kept completely clear. Once she starts doing the thing where she walks back & forth in front my monitor, I just have to tap the mousepad and she walks over to it and sits down. (Only if it's completely clear.) She still spreads out, but I've found that keeping a novel next to the keyboard keeps her from "helping" me type. As long as she's touching me, she's happy.

Halloween Music, Stories & More
For years, I've wanted to do a kick-ass CD mix as a Halloween party favor - or just a gifty to friends - but have never really gotten in gear. Well, thanks to this guy, I will have what I've always wanted! It's a great resource for sound effects and readings (like Christopher Lee reads the Exorcist). He's struggling to keep it all available, so if you find something you like, shoot him a couple of bucks, okay?