One day while I was at work…

…Chaos taught himself how to open the nightstand drawer so he could steal earplugs. I discovered this when he dropped one at my feet so I could throw it and play fetch with him. Hmmm. The earplugs are now sealed into a plastic container, but he still rummages around in the nightstand every day. So, do I buy some sort of child-proofing device or simply remove the drawer handle? Maybe his protothumb project is further along than I realized…

For your chance to win the entire Kitty Norville (Colorado werewolf and dj) series by Carrie Vaughn, head over to Blood of the Muse before February 20, 11:59 pm PST. Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist is giving away the Kitty Norville series, too, plus some runners-up will receive a copy of Kitty Raises Hell (not out yet). Not sure what the end date is for this one.

Speaking of book contests, I’ve had a bit of luck myself recently, winning a copy of Hell’s Bells by Jackie Kessler from Urban Fantasy Land and a copy of Tempt Me With Darkness by Shayla Black from Midnight Moon Cafe. I highly recommend following a few book blogs in your favorite genres! And remember – “Reading: Not juz fur innterlectualls.”

Tetris art!

Isn’t this a clever little knitting gadget?

Brace yourself for a cute burn – wee kittens wrapped in knitting. *thud*

Lovely way to hide unsightly cables and cords by disguising them as vines – too bad plants and cables/cords are some of May’s favorite things, making it the ultimate Mayhem SnackPack.

Perfect! A remote control for your cat.

Simply change the cat’s name to Chaos or Mayhem… This could be Mayhem, too. And talk about truth in advertising!

Speaking of cats on the internet, Salon has a short article on “how the lowly cat became an online star.”

Hee hee – too bad you can’t actually rent an author.

Reading Update
Weddings Can Be Murder by Christie Craig. Nicely done contemporary romance/mystery.
Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand (Kitty Norville, Book 5) by Carrie Vaughn. Dang, I think it would’ve helped if I’d remembered more of Kitty and the Silver Bullet… I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed the previous Kitty novels. (There are vampires in these books, but they are not the main focus.)
Sighs Matter by Marianne Stillings. You’d think the punnish title would’ve prepared me for the ongoing punnishment of this romance. Alas, no. As a romance went, it was lacklusterly ok, but the punnage, ah, the punnage was painful.
The Mercenary by Cherry Adair. Think this was a reissue of the first T-FLAC novel, without much paranormal to it. This was ok romantic suspense, but I felt that the ending was lacking a particular critical bit. (I’ll ruin the story for you if I mention what it is.)
Edge of Danger (The Men of T-FLAC: The Edge Brothers, Book 8 ) by Cherry Adair. Sexy anti-terrorist wizards. Eat your heart out, Jack Bauer.
Stay the Night: A Novel of the Darkyn by by Lynn Viehl. Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham as vampires (er, Darkyn) in the modern world. This is apparently the last Darkyn novel – looks like the next book will be a Kyndred book. Not sure it will make a huge difference.
The Pagan Stone: The Sign of Seven Trilogy, Book 3 by Nora Roberts. Whew! This was an intense finish to the trilogy.
Dogs and Goddesses by Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart, and Lani Diane Rich. If you liked The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes, which was another paranormal romance group writing project from Crusie, you’ll probably enjoy Dogs and Goddesses. It was fun and well-written, featuring talking dogs, cookies from a Like Water for Chocolate mold, and a Mesopotamian god and goddess or two. But, sadly, the last third of the book sort of fell apart.
Dream Warrior (Dream-Hunter) by Sherrilyn Kenyon. The latest Dream-Hunter/Dark-Hunter novel (because really, to have any clue what’s going on, you have to keep up on both) is another rather mediocre effort, alas.
Slave to Sensation (Psy-Changelings, Book 1) by Nalini Singh. Telepaths and wereleopards, oh my! I definitely like her new Guild Hunter series better, but maybe I shouldn’t judge this series by the first book… Very steamy stuff.


“I deny everything!” -Chaos

37 thoughts on “One day while I was at work…”

  1. Moxie rummages in my nightstand drawer and buries the contents in the bed, but that’s because I have a bad habit of leaving the drawer open. Chaos is smarter, more advanced. I know…duh!

  2. One of Ms. Kitty’s favorite toys are those squishy travel earplugs.. I have to hide them in a bag between the mattress so that she doesn’t steal them and bat them around the kitchen floor at 3am. Naughty kitties!!

  3. My sister’s dog goes into the nightstand drawer, too. Strangely alluring, the romance of the night? Wierd rubber stuff, more likely. And that knit kit? Very cute but I’d surely lose all the little bits.

  4. Sammy can work the phone. She uses the intercom button in the morning to alert us that it’s time for the morning feeding ritual to commence!

  5. Yup, Atticus used to rumage through the cupboards at night too when he was a baby. Time to kitty-proof…

    Aren’t those leetle wee kittens just the most adorable thing??? I nearly collapsed this morning when I saw them.

  6. Animals are smarter than we give them credit for. Our neighbors have a little dog that they trained on the Invisible Fence. The dog figured out that the warning beep on the collar, which was supposed to tell her to stay away from the border, had a limited lifespan (battery operated). So if she got to the place where the beeping started, but before the electric fence kicked in, she could just sit there and wait for the beeping to stop. Once it stopped (dead battery), she could cross the fence line with no problem.

  7. Those are some fabulous cat links! The cat box-surfing video is just too cute. 🙂

    It sounds like Chaos enjoys figuring things out — my girls are not that clever.

  8. Those vine cord covers are pretty, but they are a gold plated invitation to have a rabbit snip through your cords. 🙂

    As for smart animals – our group once had a foster bunny who trained his foster parents to come upstairs from the family room by clicking the “find handset” button on the phone. It took them a few episodes before they figure out just why the handset would randomly start beeping when they had been downstairs for a while.

  9. So – do I or don’t I read Dogs & Goddesses? Is it one of those “it will do” when you don’t have anything else to read books? Because I have A LOT of other things to read….

    Benny opens closet doors but only because those sneaky fury mice hide in closets & he must get them

  10. Somehow I was picturing Chaos in a mug shot (you know – front and side view). I just finished reading The Host by um…Stephanie….can’t remember last name. REALLY GOOD. Not paranormal, but aliens.

  11. Those tiny kittens are so cute!
    I think you need a webcam to see what Chaos is doing. Otherwise, childproof the drawer. I know of quite a few cats that have a thing for people’s ears, presumably the earwax; I’ve even read about it, but I don’t remember where (long time ago). It’s gross, and I don’t understand it. If only Chaos could speak.

  12. “Powered by positive thinking” – HAHAHA!

    Hmm, I am grateful that my kitties haven’t learned to open the night stand drawer. That’s where we keep the catnip!

  13. My Ashe used to open my bathroom drawer to get at my hair elastics. He used to steal them and bat them around the house. I never figured out a way to stop that.

  14. I say fill the drawer with cat toys as a cat toy chest and let him go at it! The dogs love their toy box. And it gives them something to do when we are not home.

  15. my kitty Ziggy attacked my gf’s laptop cable last night repeatedly and then attacked my dog’s toy that was right next to his nose while he slept. of course, being the brave kitty he is, as soon as my big pup woke up, he would pretend to be bathing himself

  16. Hehe 🙂 Chaos is a very clever boy! I love that he is still trying as those ear plugs must be wonderful toys.

    That Knit Kit looks brilliant – hope they are over here soon.

  17. I believe you, Chaos. After all, who would believe you love to eat earwax?

    Well, there are those photos of you slurping Mayhem’s ears…..

    Cute knittens! Those Jennifer Crusie shorts sound good, I love her stuff. How were the other authors?

  18. I started clicking on links and almost forgot to come back. 🙂 We have child-proof locks on all important cabinets to keep the ferrets out (ones with garbage or cleaning stuff in them). Katie bangs the kitchen cabinet doors when she wants attention. They need to get a remote for ferrets!

    I like that little knitting kit!

  19. That knitting gadget is pretty cool. I have an empty altoids tin with a a pair of folding scissors, a needle or two and stitch markers. No crochet hook or measuring tape, because I have those everywhere (including in my jacket pocket). I like the look of the gadget a bit better.

  20. I will not get sucked into watching YouTube kittehs. I will not get sucked into watching YouTube kittehs.

    Oh, yeah. The cabinet thing? Nikita’s been at it for years. Doors too. Cats really are keen observers. I’ve made liberal use of baby locks.

  21. Ooh how fun. Chaos’ background is in black & white.

    Also, I want to read Nalini Singh. I’m not sure which series to start with, but I’ve heard lots of good things about her.

    And I think you should make a Mayhem Snack Pack. It would be amusing. And she would love you for it.

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