Lost, Found, and In Between

(Big doin's around the compound lately: Buddy, the Emergency Backup Cat, went missing for nearly three days.  We had adopted Buddy from the local animal shelter for no apparent reason.  How many cats do you need?  [answer 0]  The wife had her two ancient cats Rutger and Alex for many years, but the Boy wanted his own so in spite of all my carefully thought out reasons for not getting another cat [i.e.: "over my dead body"] Buddy became a member of the family about three years ago. Now, cats normally aren't known for their intelligence.  We refer to Alex, weight 20 lbs, as "25 watt."  You know, "Dim Bulb?"  And in the case of sheer feline stupidity, Buddy doesn't disappoint.  But he always seemed to remember where he lived after being out in the backyard for several hours, so I didn't worry about him too much.  He's a young large, strong, male domestic shorthair tabby and he seems to rule the network of neighborhood cats with sheer stupid rudeness.  At the first of the week he didn't show up at the back door for his usual feeding, and for the next couple of days there was no sight of him regardless of all our efforts at calling him home.  Day and night the three of us entertained the neighborhood residences with hallelujah choruses of "heeere kitty kitty kitty buddybuddybuddy" to no avail.  Boy was very upset and getting worse, so we went back to the local animal shelter where we'd gotten him to see if someone had turned him in for the deposit [bad joke]. Nothing.  Finally last night, when I was just beginning to have hope [bad joke #2], the elderly next door neighbor called and asked "you lookin' fer Buddy?"  Seems our little feline Einstein had gotten into a storage area in the back of the neighbor's garage and was too scared to come out where they could get him.  Boy went into the garage and called for him, and Buddy practically flew into his arms.  So the idiot cat is safe and sound, has eaten over half a large bag of cat food, and slept in the Boy's bed all night last night.  Awww.  I hate cats.  But I digress ... )

• Actually, at my age things like having a cat missing is rather comforting in a randomly usual way.  Life in the neighborhood situation is predictable - the garbage is picked up on Thursdays, the mailman gets here around 11AM, the doorbell makes the dog bark, etc.  What makes life fun and exciting are things like Michele Bachmann suddenly becoming a Swiss citizen.  Didn't see THAT one coming, did ya?
• There's a hilarious website called "Live Funny or Die" that posts outrageous videos to lampoon life's little silly things.  In this one, Kate Beckinsale, Judy Greer and Andrea Savage "spread" the message that the one thing women really want in their vagina is the government.  Ohgawd, this is good.
• Say what you will about President Obama (and we know that you will), he eventually gets around to trying to say the right thing.  It started with our favorite Vice-President, Joe "Shecky" Biden who actually stood up for his convictions and stated his support for equal rights for gay marriage.  And this statement apparently nudged the President into saying the same thing.  Or did it?  Common Dreams posts a report by Robert Scheer, There is enormous condescension in Obama’s assertion that “I’ve always been adamant that gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly and equally.”
• Jonah Goldburg is the founding editor of the National Review Online, about as ultra conservative as one can get without being institutionalized in a mental facility.  Apparently Jonah has learned how to pad a resume' from Bill O'Reilly, who once famously listed his two non-existant "Peabody Awards" on a book blurb.  Goldburg says he's been "nominated twice for a Pulitzer Award."  Yeah, and so have I.  MSNBC investigative reporter Bill Dedman reports.
• And finally, let's check in with the Romney campaign.  As we left the Mittstir he was stating quite concisely in a New York Times editorial that we should let "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." Okay.  Well, fortunately, President Obama didn't do that, he bailed them out, and now the auto industry is fired up and working well.  But guess who's taking credit for the whole thing?  Yeah, guess.