Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

It’s a doggy dog world.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

You cannot shame the shameless.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Cole is on a roll !

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Cat Blogging / Sometimes You Just Gotta Nap

Reader Interactions

70Comments

  1. 1.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Not a dig, but do you think as far as size goes that like attracts like?

    ETA: What is the Breaking Bad thing?

  2. 2.

    DanR2

    He’s a spectacularly magnificent cat, but I seriously just got my fourth pair of those Merrell Men’s Moab Ventilator shoes today via UPS.

    They last about 18 months until the plastic behind the heal cracks, but worth every cent. Walking on air, man. If your cat just kicked those off, he’s a real stud.

  3. 3.

    Violet

    @DanR2: I’m looking for some lightweight boots like that. Something a bit sturdier than running shoes for trails, but not heavy hiking boots. It does look like Steve just kicked them off. Love the strategically placed Breaking Bad DVD cover (?).

  7. 7.

    MomSense

    Aw, nothing like a contented kitteh. My Maine Coon cat is sleeping in one of the boxes that holds the Christmas decorations. With the ornaments out, he made a little nest with the newspaper wrappings and has been napping there around the clock. The temp has dropped below zero outside so I don’t blame him for hibernating under the dining room table at all.

  8. 8.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Violet: I have a pair of those. Much smaller that Cole’s. They work quite well. Nice ankle support. I don’t know that I would go for anything heavier for serious hiking and/or backpacking. They are great.

  12. 12.

    Violet

    So this morning when I went for a walk with my neighbor, we saw a little Chihuaua-looking dog just across the street from my house. I’d seen it earlier through the window but at that time I thought it was on a leash and being walked by someone. Clearly I was mistaken as my neighbor said she’d seen it running loose the night before and had tried to get it to come to her but it just ran away.

    It was cold this morning and the poor thing was shivering like crazy. We tried to get close to it, but it just ran away. I haven’t seen it since and I’ve felt bad about it all day. Poor thing looked so cold and pathetic. It was so small. Not sure what else I could have done. We couldn’t get near it. Later today it started raining so if it’s still out there it’s got to be truly miserable now. :(

  14. 14.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Oh, dear. I am not a lights person. Nor is my dad. My mom is. Dad never put lights up until he had grandkids who said the liked them; at that point, mom finally won. Dad still doesn’t put up much.

  17. 17.

    Violet

    @Omnes Omnibus: How do they do in wet? I do a lot of my hiking in wet and muddy conditions, especially when visiting the UK. Then it’s cold, wet and muddy. Would they work? Or are they better in drier and dustier conditions? The word “Ventilator” in the name gives me pause.

  20. 20.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Violet: I’ve walked through streams without problem. As long as they were shallow. The only times I have been uncomfortable in them is when I wore them to a Packer game in below zero weather. That was my error not a problem with the shoes.

  21. 21.

    Violet

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Love Christmas lights. Not the crazy ones where the neighborhoods are so garish people come from all over to see them, but just normal Christmas lights. Love seeing what people put up.

  25. 25.

    Violet

    @Omnes Omnibus: How about several days out on the trail in the wet, mud and rain? Would another shoe be better for that? In the UK when I visit and go walking, frequently it’s quite cold. Maybe not freezing, but not far off. I wonder if I’d be better investing in two types of boots–one for hot weather and one for wet and cold?

  26. 26.

    John Cole

    @DanR2: I buy a pair of the mid cuts every spring. I have a pair of the ones that go up higher (and I am totally blanking on what those are called) and are more boot like that I replace about every three years.

    What I love the most about them is that they are as comfortable the moment you buy them as they are the day you throw them away. Just awesome.

  28. 28.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Violet: I haven’t done anything more than day trips with ’em. Also, you should remember that I come from an ex-army place. Change your sock and alternate pairs of boots to let them air vs. tie that boot tight on you twisted ankle and no one will see it and that blister isn’t that bad, let’s not mention it to anyone. I did 3/4 of my basic training with ankle that I had smashed and was twice normal size. It was easier in boots than running shoes.

    Tl;dr: I don’t know.

  29. 29.

    Anne Laurie

    @Violet: One thing you might try, get one of those disposable styrofoam tubs used for shipping frozen goods, cut a ‘door’ in it, and put it upside down in a quiet corner where the little guy can use it as a hideaway. (Even a cardboard box will work, especially if you put an old towel or something fuzzy inside, but styrofoam holds body heat better.)

    You can try baiting it with food, if there’s not a lot of rodent competition in the neighborhood, but even a warm dry ‘den’ makes a great difference, especially for a very small dog (or cat)…

  30. 30.

    Violet

    @Omnes Omnibus: Heh. Yeah, I guess you might have a different perspective. Maybe I should just go to REI and ask them.

    @Anne Laurie: Unfortunately there is a lot of rodent competition–we’ve got plenty of rats and mice around and we also have possums and feral cats. Plenty of all of them. Don’t think a food trap would work well. Haven’t seen the little dog since this morning. Don’t know if it belongs to someone in the neighborhood or not. Maybe it just got out and had an outing and decided to go back home. There’s another dog in the neighborhood that’s notorious for that.

  31. 31.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @John Cole: Do you wear them every day? I have had my pair of ankle highs for about six years. I just use them for hiking and/or snow. They are in almost perfect shape still.

  32. 32.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Violet: Honestly, I think modern lightweight boots do everything that old style, heavy hiking boots could do. Find the ones that fit you and seem to meld to your feet.

  33. 33.

    Violet

    @Omnes Omnibus: The ones that I see in the stores here and the ones I see friends in the UK wear are quite different. The UK ones aren’t as ventilated (it’s obviously generally cooler) and seem to focus on being more waterproof, which makes sense in a wet climate. Here people hike in all conditions, but we’re generally warmer and ventilation is more important.

    I agree, boots have come a long way, but there’s still a difference between water resistant and water proof. I do have to do something, though. The soles of my current boots are separating from the shoe portion and they’ve been repaired so many times they’re at a point where they can be repaired no more.

  36. 36.

    trollhattan

    Local paper’s website has an article about the Colorado shooting (jeez, how many times have I written those very two words?) and immediately below–an ad for a gun store with “Smokin hot deals! Hard-to-get-ammo and Over 200 AR type guns priced to move.” I hope everybody who contributed to the juxtaposition is happy as hell.

  38. 38.

    Suffern ACE

    So I guess I’m just kind of a party pooper, but no, I don’t tend to get boozy at office parties and no I don’t want to chill with my workmates once a year and discuss which coworkers are hot with a bunch of middle aged men. So glad Christmas comes but once a year.

  39. 39.

    MikeJ

    @trollhattan: Why is shooting children in Colorado even news any more? They passed some minimal gun control laws and then immediately recalled legislators that voted for it.

    The people of Colorado are getting what they voted for. Dead kids.

  40. 40.

    NotMax

    Something unexpected, musically, for the holidays (well, it does have Santas in it). Scene cuts off abruptly in the video.

    Great little movie, BTW.

  41. 41.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Suffern ACE: Dude, go now. Find the cartoon Grinch. Watch it. Then watch Scrooge the very best version of “A Christmas Carol.” After that come and complain.

  43. 43.

    Suffern ACE

    @Omnes Omnibus: i suppose I could work myself up into a right lather, declare I hate Christmas, and then hope for a dream that’ll change my perspective on things and teach me the true meaning of Christmas. It happens all the time on TV. Although my Christmas Fairy will probably suddenly change into a chemistry professor reminding me that it is finals week and I haven’t studied for the exam all term. I guess you learn from the Fairies your psyche gives you and not the ones you want to have.

  46. 46.

    Ruckus

    @Violet:
    I wear the gore tex Merrill shoes and they are great. I get about a year, year and a half out of a pair but that is far longer than most any other shoe for me and they fit my weird feet. Work in the snow and rain as long as it isn’t too deep snow or much colder than about 20.

  52. 52.

    max

    @Omnes Omnibus: @max: ‘Mats! You and I sleep alone.

    HA. Everybody really digs Tim (I like it to!) but I like Pleased to Meet Me. Possibly that may be because I had that CD (or did I have the vinyl?) and it disappeared. (OK, I like Hootenany best. But then, I like Fables of the Reconstruction best, just like…nobody else does.)

    @Suffern ACE: which coworkers are hot with a bunch of middle aged men.

    Speakin’ of Minneapolis: Bob Mould – Silver Age – The Descent.

    max
    [‘I wonder if Cole is the one person in the world who took all the brown acid.’]

  53. 53.

    MikeJ

    @max: I like Let it Be. From I Will Dare to Answering Machine a great album. I like that it sounds like they were still trying to figure out what they were doing as a pop band instead of a punk band.

  55. 55.

    BD of MN

    @max: I’m with you,Pleased to Meet Me is my fave too, Although it’s a bit like picking your favorite kid…

    Is it weird of me to love the Mats more than Husker Du on recordings, but the other way around live? I saw each of them at least four or five times, and the raw energy that Husker Du generated with the audience was amazing…

  57. 57.

    patrick II

    Just something about the presence of a fat cat that makes me happy.

    That is probably why you started out as a republican.

  59. 59.

    Elmo

    Me, I swear by Asolos for hiking and yardwork. They’re heavy, but they can be waterproofed, they’re all leather, and they protect my feet better than anything shy of steel-toes.

  62. 62.

    WereBear

    Thank you, John “I love large cats” Cole, for so wonderfully illustrating how EASY it is to fall in love with a cat past kittenhood…

    and how much love they have to give, too.

  66. 66.

    JoyfulA

    @Violet: i had a chihuahua-chasing cat that would be perfect for this situation. The neighborhood had a chihuahua that was forever “getting loose,” and something about chihuahuas really pissed off my cat. She’d tear after him until he was clawing at his door.

    I she were still with us the living, I’d offer to lend her to you.

  68. 68.

    CaseyL

    @DanR2: @Violet:

    Keen makes a hiking shoe very similar that is probably more durable. When it comes to hiking shoes and boots, my go-to brands are Teva, Keen and Vasque. They’re comfortable, durable, and aren’t terribly expensive (esp. if you find them in a consignment shop or during one of REI’s huge annual sales).

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