Heh. Water's a whole 'nother story. The cat has to have glasses all over the place if I want her to leave me along. The dog does most of her drinking at night shortly after I go to bed - I think she's afraid of getting caught.

There are also two dog beds - a smaller one in a side room, on which she spends most of her time day and night, and a larger one in the living room, which she sneaks out to at night sometimes and flees back to her room if I happen to get up. She is definitely trying not to get caught at that.

And we thought llamas had drama.

Animals, they are strange and funny....

Oh, indeed. TNG won't eat from her bowl if I'm doing anything in the kitchen: she takes a mouthful of kibble out to the living room and drops it on the floor and eats it one bit at a time. If I'm elsewhere, she'll eat at her bowl. I think she feels vulnerable eating, and any distraction, like me doing the dishes, is too much.

In general, she has been ridik easy to train, except around things that scare her, like other dogs or the furnace vent, which is in the hallway floor. She gets all worked up about that thing, and usually ends up racing past it (and scratching up the hardwood right there). Summer is better, when I can put a rug over it.

But she recognizes patterns, so now she gets upset anytime I bake, because she knows that sometimes the smoke alarm goes off when the oven is on...

We once had a cat that didn't like having her water bowl - not both, just the water bowl - against the wall. So when there wasn't anyone in the kitchen, she'd pull the bowl out into the middle of the floor. And, of course, my mother would go through the kitchen to the downstairs bathroom in the middle of the night - half asleep, in the dark - and either trip over it or step into or on it.

Reggie does not drink like a normal cat; she dips her paw into the water and then licks the water off of her paw.

Wednesday does that! She also drinks out of a dish, though she prefers the dog's dish (she also prefers the dog's food - when I feed them gooshy food in the evening she will abandon her dish of canned cat food to come elbow in on Walter's canned dog food).

Lee, have you tried a fountain for Dita? I have a couple here and there because Jadzia vastly prefers running water to still and I am indulgent like that. Also I like the sound of fountains. So really, everybody wins.

My cat Ivan used to drink the remnants of my hot cocoa that way.

Tanuki recently decided she prefers water in glasses that I was just drinking from to water in her water dish. . . but she just sticks her head into the glass as far as she can get it.

And we thought llamas had drama.

Hee. Also, I think Seabiscuit is starting to be a little incontinent. We need to keep an eye on him and make sure he's getting out enough. During the bad weather stretch we tended to keep him in with us more than usual, so maybe that's all it is, but he is getting older. Anyway, except for the wind, which he doesn't mind, it's much nicer out these days, so he should be out there since he loves it.

But I will bet you bucketfuls of money he is, right now, sleeping on the loveseat, which he knows he's not allowed on, but will do when he knows I am busy in the office. He has a dog bed underneath my desk where he's supposed to be right now, but he knows better.

Lee, have you tried a fountain for Dita?

I haven't--I should though--that sounds like it might work.

Or it might be a recipe for disaster.

Either way, FUN

Animals, they are strange and funny....

And this is what separates us from the animals!

Oh, wait.

I wonder if the giant Soul Train line in Chicago is up on youtube somewhere.

The Bottle of Wits, The Princess Bride Wine by Alamo Drafthouse

Austin-based cinema chain Alamo Drafthouse has launched The Bottle of Wits, a signature line of wine honoring the 25th anniversary of The Princess Bride. Creative firm Helms Workshop in Austin developed the custom wine packaging system for Alamo Drafthouse which “features a playful interpretation of the characters and quotes from the famous scene from which the wine names are drawn.”

The labels are pretty cool. So even if the wine sucks, you can leave an empty bottle on the shelf to show off.