I got Marcel one of those cat dancers with the feathers on the end. His favorite thing to do with it is chew on the stick end. Why do I try?

A paper by one of Nigel's kindergardeners:

Check out: Barna Howard

I've been really enjoying the newest self-titled release by a friend of Nigel's, Barna Howard. The album comes out officially tomorrow, and is available to purchase on Amazon or the Mama Bird Recording Co. website either as an MP3 download, or a vinyl album with free MP3 download. You can listen for free to one of the singles, Promise I Won't Laugh, on Barna's bandcamp website.

Pierre

I'm in Intro to Psychology this block (CC is on the "block plan", which means we take only 1 class, or block, at a time, for 3 and 1/2 weeks, meeting for several hours a day), against my will, and to satisfy the lab class requirement at CC. Being an Art History major, I try to stay as far from the maths and sciences as possible, but psychology should be pretty interesting, because it is a subject that can be related to really any other subject. My first assignment is to train the world's most adorable rat to do several tricks, like pushing a lever, and rolling a marble down a track. My partner and I got the smallest (and cutest) rat, and named him Pierre.

Here he is getting used to his new training box:

The Great Escape

Yesterday was a bit of an adventure, as my roommates told me in the afternoon that my darling cat Marcel had escaped from the house, and had been gone since the night before. He's not supposed to be an outside cat, so I was pretty panicked, and set out searching the neighborhood with some cat food, accompanied by our other cat, Ira. (side story: during the search, Ira actually jumped into our neighbor's car through an open window. I've never seen a cat do something so bizarre.) After a fruitless search and a few more hours of waiting, I put up a few signs and a posting on Craigslist. Through my research, I learned some interesting things about lost indoor cats:

1. They are usually close to home, hiding under something small.
2. Sometimes they wait until dark to try to find their way home.
3. Putting something outside the house with your scent on it can help the cat get back.

So I put some cat food and an un-chewed cardboard box, which Marcel can't resist, on the porch and continued to wait.
That night, as I left the house to go see Nigel, Marcel came prancing in the door like nothing had happened. His giant tail was full of tree sap and pine needles, so he must have climbed a tree.
Today he has been recovering in his cat tent.

Marcel in the cat tent.

His most recent box chewing project.

Check out Nigel's good friend, and maybe consider making a donation!

A new art project: cat scans

The cats provide valuable feedback on my guitar progress.

Ira