All the birds that visit our yard, including this mockingbird, like to perch on this wire that runs from a telephone pole to our roof.

Baby out in the yard, in color and black and white. It’s nothing artistic, but I like this picture…the way he’s walking away from the camera.

Baby is usually strictly an indoor cat, but the last few days I’ve been letting him go outside for a few minutes at a time. This is partly because he was sick and I felt like giving him a “treat”, partly because I want him to know which house is his in case he ever escaped, and partly because, well, it amuses me. I’ve had some indoor cats who, when let outside, would bound all over the place and I’d have to keep an eye on them and chase them back inside when their time was up. But Baby only meanders a little around the patio area, keeping close to me. He sniffs a few things, he scrunches up his eyes against the sunlight and wind, then wanders back inside the house on his own. In other words, he’s not a cat who really wants to go outside much in the first place.

Squirrels, a mourning dove and other small birds hanging out around the birdseed dish together. Pretty soon I’ll be able to sit outside, whistle a happy tune, and make like Snow White w/the forest animals.

At first it was a few red-headed songbirds. Then it was a few more. Then it was a few brown chickadees/sparrows (whatever…). Then it was a few more. Currently, there’s about 15-20 little songbirds that come flocking down out of the trees hoping for a full dish of birdseed. I fill the dish and it’s empty two days later. They’re still shy and won’t come down if we’re sitting outside, so I have to take pictures through the sliding glass door, as usual.

It’s pretty cool having so many birds flying around and perching between the trees in the yard…but the downside is that certain spots are becoming…well…bird-toilets. Hahah.

Just an update on how my cat is doing.
Baby-kitty had two back teeth that were broken off at the root. It didn’t look a super-recent breakage, so I don’t know how long they were like that…could be a few weeks, could be months…but since that seemed like a likely culprit for his facial swelling, I gave the nod to remove them. The vet I went to was a short hop away in Menlo Park…they seemed efficient and pleasant. When I went to pick him up several hours later, the vet whipped out a plastic mold of a cats teeth/gums - it looked like a set of dentures for cats - and proceeded to show me what teeth had been removed etc. Nice customer-service touch. More importantly to me, tho, was the fact he said he found another tooth that looked like it needed removing, so he went ahead and did that…it didn’t appear to me that he charged me any extra for it, either.

The vet gave me an amusing story about the teeth removal…how he went in and one of the back teeth came out, root and all, very cleanly. The other tooth was more brittle (even the root) and prone to breakage. So when he x-rayed Baby’s mouth to see if he’d gotten all the root, he saw a spot on the xray and thought to himself “more root” and went back in to try and get it. Another x-ray - another spot. Tried to remove it. Another x-ray, another spot. By then the vet figured he’d gotten most of it out and the remaining bit would either be harmless or would work its way out on its own….the vet didn’t want to go messing too deep into Baby’s skull, especially when the patient in question is a senior citizen of the cat kingdom. So I guess Baby had a tooth root that practically went up to his eyeball…an eyetooth? Hahaha…

Baby came home and was all wigged out from his experience - not to mention the painkillers the vet gave him - running around the house like he was on speed. He seemed to be eager to eat again, however, and for a day or so was gulping down the chow. Then for about 24 hours he stopped eating again…even tho the swelling of his face had gone down a lot. At first I worried, but then thought that maybe once the painkiller wore off, the holes in his gums were sensitive…perhaps taking big normal bites was causing the food to stick in those holes too much or something.

This evening he finally became hungry enough that when I put some food down, he used his paw to “scrape” some out of the dish, and licked his paw clean. In that fashion he cleaned his plate, which made both him and myself happy.

So he seems to be on his way to being well. The vet, btw, said Baby looked “really good” for his age…his other non-broken teeth were fine, with far less tartar than one would expect, and his actual gums seemed non-inflamed…plus his general appearance/weight/muscle etc. was very good. Baby went through a rough patch for a few months w/those seizures, but the past couple he’s been doing really well - except for the stiff hips, you’d hardly realize he was going on 18 years. I guess the move has been good for him? I wonder if Baby will be one of those rare cats that ends up living to be 20 years old. That’d be neat. Then again, he could fall over and die tomorrow.

I’m so cynical. :D

Edit: I’ve had a lot of photos I wanted to post, but between sick-cat and my thumb issues I’ve been…well, not in a big blog mood. Plus trying to reduce my computer time (again) because of the hands, so I haven’t done much photo work beyond clicking the shutter. :) Hopefully I’ll get back to some more regular posting of pictures again soon.

American Idol’s 2 hour extravaganza finale was actually fairly entertaining this year. They had some good guest stars mixing it up with some of the Top12 singers, a few funny bits, and, of course, the announcement of the winner.

Memorable moments for me were:

David Cook playing with ZZTop. Now that was cookin’. I love ZZTop.

Michael Johns and Carly Smithson singing “The Letter”. Perhaps these two should put out a duet album. Judging from this performance and their appearance on “Ellen”, they work and sound good together. It was very nice to see Michael again. :)

Brooke White and Grahmn Nash singing “Teach Your Children.” I grew up with that song, it has some memories, plus it’s an awesome song. And it’s perfect for Brooke.

Renaldo Lapuz!! He came out singing his “I am your brother” song, complete with marching band and at the end, Paula & Randy up on stage dancing alongside him etc. Wonderful cheesy fun. Makes me want to listen to that remixed YouTube version again.

The Gladys Night and the “Pips” segment, where Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black and Ben Stiller were the “Pips.” That was hysterical. At least to me.

Jordin Sparks singing some tepid pop song in a horrible, unflattering dress.

Both David’s did their own version of a Guitar Hero commercial where they ran around in undies and button shirt ala Risky Business…I suppose it was supposed to be funny, but honestly, that’s not exactly the American Idol image I’d like to remember.

Then finally…the results were in. 94million or so supposedly cast their votes, and Ryan Seacrest said the winner had won by 12 million of those votes. And the winner was …. David Cook! He was slightly tearful and motioned for the audience to ‘give it up’ for David Archuleta, before singing the winner song.

Now, since I thought both David’s had a chance of winning, I wasn’t tooo surprised, but I admit I was a little. I guess this year the voters were finally tired of the more predictable ballad-singing pop voice and wanted something grungier and perhaps a bit more creative. So kudos to Mr. Cook.

I still wish David Archuleta had won…not because he was better or because I liked him better - I was pretty neutral about all of it - but because in my opinion, he would likely have been more comfortable/at home with the contractual mumbo-jumbo that winning AI is going to throw at him for the next year. I’m sure David Cook can “handle” that stuff, but he might’ve been a little better off getting a separate recording contract and making a record that’s more indelibly his own, if that makes sense. But I’m not a music industry guru, so what do I know.

Anyway, it was a watchable American Idol finale, and a David won. Until next year, so long, American Idol, and good luck to David Cook. Me, I’ll still be waiting for a Michael Johns CD.