How to Begin?

` I'm not sure, so let me try a variety of ways:

Guess where my cats love to curl up when they get a chance?

nicerestingspot Here's a hint!
waitasecond That's right! Kittehs luv mah posteriorior!
stillnicerestingspot They've grown a lot since August, haven't they? Poor baby Violet was sick in that photo!
helpwithfinals Back into the present month - I took my shiny shoes on a cat walk!
newshoes Vada's completely outgrown her orange harness - this is harness #2, plus her new collar!
newharness The decidedly healthy Violet also has a new collar, but her harness still needs to be upgraded.
behindinupgrades Okay, enough with the cats. What about instead pretending to start this post with my boyfriend being manly and cool?

Lou Ryan: True construction man!

fiercedrill Here he is while I was typing my last photo post about him being strong, actually in the act of being manly and cool.

Look closer... that's his chilled arm and face in the icy cold, installing little black treads on the stairs so people stop falling on the stairs when it' slippery outside!
One day he spent 13 hours working hard on the recording studio with a former co-worker - so whenever he picks up his new computer from UPS, he'll have a place to put it.

hardatwork How do you like that? A built-in bathroom door!

evenabathroom Sideshow, the guy who was telling lies to stop the building of this room, isn't much of a construction man but he makes things out of Popsicle sticks. Also, he installed a hydraulic thing so the porch door swings shut. (The old one actually fell off right between Lou and I as we arrived home late last year, almost killing us.) That at least was nice!
Curious, he hasn't fixed his broken window....

mrsideshowsbrokenwindow As the men were building a wall for the recording booth, Sideshow approached them and laughed! Lou raised his eyebrows and said; 'Make that outta Popsicle sticks!"

gunyadown Luckily, the next day Sideshow apologized for all the grief he's been giving Lou about the studio. Hooray!

` It's a happy beginning! Or, you know, I could instead start silly and do some faux adverts!

Couch grow a tumor?
couchtumor Violet gets the job done!
vanquishcouchtumor Or how about this?

Cats on the roof hard to supervise?
beforecatovision Try Cat-O-Vision!
aftercatovision With the Cat-O-Vision system, your cat will have three heads!
catovisiongivescatsthreeheads Or even this:

Sickly baby cat?
climbing Bring out the predator in your baby with Feathers on a Stick!
redintoothandclaw She will quickly grow into a deadly predator!
terrorizethetoy Even the brightest of feather toys will not escape her iron grip!
rawrgotit Yeah, break its neck! Take that mofo down!
breakitsneck Or prettier:

The New Sunrise.
sunrisesagain Thanks to springtime, I can catch a bit of sun before my 8:00 class!
suchvividcolors Speaking of class, this is one of my classmates. Her name is Copycat.
copycat My art teacher is not photographable (because he's a vampire), but if I sneak off during break, I can draw him really fast.
artteachernotleprechaun He's the best art teacher in the whole world. I must write more about him.

Since the school art gallery is public property, the only way I can have a photo of it is when I'm in the picture. Okay then... so, does it look like I'm standing right next to that Chuck Close (of Chuck Close)?
artgallery Perhaps it's not so convincing when you click on it for a better look.... If you do that, you'll also see that is indeed a genuine tapestry made by a genuine local artist, the aforementioned Chuck Close - perhaps you've heard of him, being internationally known and all?
` If you could just look a little closer, you'd also see that the image - though it looks like a photograph - is actually made up of minute black, brown, white, yellow, tan and gray threads.
` Why is there such a famous work of art in our little school gallery? Because all of the artwork in this exhibit ("Catalyst") was made by former students of EVCC's first art instructor, Russel Day (said catalyst). In fact, the Northlight gallery has now been renamed in his honor!

` You know what, though? Who cares about photos and all that when this has been the most important thing on a personal level:

The struggle is over. The irritable reflex of my skin has been switched off. Things that itch or tingle no longer feel overwhelming and anxiety-inducing. For the first time in my life I drank a carbonated beverage without wincing in pain, to my great amazement! Hell, sex don't even hurt!

` I think I ought to stop right there. Not difficult to tell why I didn't choose that beginning. Hey! How about the story of how I was trying to find a stoveless place to hang my Dream Catcher, and I found the paint a little thick for thumbtacks.

damnthickpaint Then, I was hanging it on a thumbtack somehow already in the wall and Violet came climbing up the mattress to eye level and proceeded to crawl over my head. I noticed, as we met nose-to-nose, that she had cedar breath.

So that's what she's been doing on the roof all this time! (So catnip is a gateway herb!) This might even explain why she exhibits such unusual behavior as standing on frost - in view of a dog that once chased her for ten whole feet!

stooduntilherfootsfroze That's B-Dizzle's pit bull, Li'l Mama, who would just love to get in a room alone with an inebriated cat.

fascinatedbydog Did I mention they also enjoy hunting crows that are perched in trees across the street?

carsarescary This is why I'm glad they're safely stuck on the roof.

But wait! Where's Valentine's Day in all this? Glad I asked - I put that on my website:

Tasty Roses and a Shark: Gifts Not Worthy of Silly Holidays!

And yes, there are yet more cat pictures! Sheesh! See, this is exactly why I began stockpiling them when the cats were babies....