Games People Play

I'm a silly human, so sometimes I like to force new things onto the cat, with the hopes that she will actually take joy from the new thing and add it to her daily routine.  I'm silly, because clearly the cat only wants to play with what the cat wants to play with, when the cat wants to play with it!  Pesky human meddling in her life! Geez!

Gary: Seriously, you want me to do what?

I was at Dollarama yesterday and I saw this activity toy for cats.  Treats get locked into a ball that has treat sized holes, and the cat is supposed to play with the ball until the treats fall out.  They generally fall out one at a time for extended play.  Sounds simple right?

Treats that have fallen out of the ball.

I encouraged Gary to play with the ball.  I pushed it in front of her.  Nothing.  I shook it to indicate it contained treats.  No dice.  As she got more and more annoyed, she glared at me like I was a stupid human jerk.

Gary: I don't care about this.

Gary: Seriously!! Just give me the treats already.

I was not giving up!  I was going to force the cat to have fun, whether she liked it or not!  For the most part I just pushed around the ball until the treats came out.  Gary ate the treats and caught on to the idea that the treats and the ball were somehow related.  She had no desire to push the ball, though; that was something a silly human would want her to do.  Periodically she would sniff at the ball, but it only made her angrier.  I continued to push the ball around and more treats would fall out.  Gary would eat the treats and then resume her frustration.  Finally she put two and two together.

Gary: Okay ball, I don't like you and you don't like me...

Giving it a push.

Gary: Something better frickin' happen!

And then.... success:

A little later Gary decided that there was a much better way to get at the treats.  Leave the ball and the human out of it altogether!

Direct access = Smart Cat

Back in Bloom

We still have my Mother's Christmas Cactus, and it is doing exceptionally well.  In April of 2010 the Christmas Cactus successfully bloomed a year after almost dying.  Since then it has showed some wonderful new growth and it looks really happy hanging around here.

Just over a month ago, in early December, the Christmas Cactus began budding, but within a few days all the buds fell off.  I don't know enough about how plants function, but I'm guessing that it wanted to bloom in December (hence Christmas Cactus), but it just didn't have the power to do it yet.

This past week I started noticing buds again, and we had our first full bloom on January 21.  So who knows, maybe by Christmas 2011 it will be right on schedule!  As always with this amazingly tough, sixty-plus year old plant, I say: "way to go, buddy!"

The following are some of the Christmas Cactus flowers at various states of growth:

Baby bud.

Next size up.

Showing a little colour.

Getting long.

Full Bloom!

Awesome of the Week

If you are part of the Monday-Friday crowd, Mondays generally suck. Knowing this, I would like to introduce a new feature here at My Adorable Small Town Life, that will showcase something awesome every Monday.  It's my little attempt to make sure there is something good about Monday.

Today's piece of awesome is inspired by my recent intake of all six seasons of The Sopranos.  The show is as good or better than you've heard it is, and their use of music is beyond stellar.  I won't spoil it for you, but there is an amazing episode that uses the following song by Moby.  The song, "When It's Cold I'd Like to Die" was haunting in the episode and it is equally haunting on its own.  It is also awesome. 

I couldn't find an official music video, but the video below from YouTube has some pleasant imagery.  Enjoy!  Also, if you have already seen The Sopranos and want to revisit the episode in question, follow this link to enjoy it on YouTube.

My Finished Scrapbook Layout for the Contest

As I've detailed here and here on the blog, I am participating in a Scrapbook layout challenge.  I've finished the layout and handed it in and now it is up to the voters/visitors of The Cottage Scrapbook here in Midland to see where I place.  There are 13 participants in the challenge, so they are awarding first and second place prizes ($20, and $10 of store credit respectively).  If you are in Midland, head on down to the Cottage Scrapbook (294 King St., right beside The Perk!) and check out all the awesome entries...but be sure to vote for mine! :)

First things first, here is a photo of Gary sitting on my layout (it is in the paper bag, thankfully):

Gary likes to sit on important things.

And here is the layout I worked on and submitted to the contest:

The theme was Christmas 2010, and the layout features my little cutie Gary.  It was really fun creating this layout and working with new materials.  I did way more planning than I think I ever have for a layout.  Even if I don't win, I will probably participate in this event again.

If you are in Midland, please go downtown and vote for me!  Voting closes at the end of the month!  Thanks!

Find the hours for The Cottage Scrapbook here.

Surfing Saturday

Surfing Saturday: a weekly round up of some of my favourite links on the interwebs.

Arts and Crafts

My friend Tasha was rewarded this week for her readership of The Canadian Living Craft Blog.  Her comment was randomly selected as the winner of a basket of yarn. Congratulations Tasha!  The craft blog is great, and this week they show you how to make picture mats using scrapbooking supplies.

Last week I needed help with a title for a scrapbook page and found The Perfect Title.  Lots of suggestions for a variety of page themes.

Also with Scrapbooking, I realize that my new favourite thing to work with is brads.  Eyelet Outlet has tonnes of them that I am falling in love with:  Guitairs!  Legos!  They even have Moose!  The store motto is: "Because Eyelets & Brads Aren't Just Round Anymore!" They sure aren't!

If you're a knitter and haven't joined Ravelry yet, you should!  It's free to join and there are tonnes of free patterns on there.  I have a number of patterns in my queue that I will one day get started: a needle case, a rocking wonder woman sweater, and the always inspiring flying spaghetti monster! 


Geeky Goodness

If you dig Role Playing Games, check out Rule of the Dice, and not just because I know the dude that writes for it (it's also awesome!)

For technological news, reviews, analysis, and advice, head over to Ars Technica for some interesting reading.

And if you've ever made a website for someone or been involved in advertising, Things Real People Don't Say About Advertising is right on the mark.


Celebrity Blogs

After the recent NOTroversy over his hosting of the Golden Globes, I have been avidly reading Ricky Gervais' blog.  Funny, funny, dude.  And he has balls!

I recently caught up on Jorge Garcia's blog.  He played Hurley on Lost and he has a new blog since leaving Hawaii (this is his old blog).  Seems like a neat dude.