Tex's New Album

Bobby and I joke that a lot of my pictures of Tex look like they could be the cover of her solo album. She's got kind of a rock star edge for a gray house cat.

The classic rock, singer-songwriter album cover.

The smooth jazz album.

The hard rock album.

The R&B album.

Finally, my favorite, the indie rock album. A surprising number of new releases lately have been adorned with ironic, quirky pictures of cats. A lot of people think the cover of Tex's album is an uninspired imitation of those albums. They're wrong though. It's just a picture of the artist.

Black Pug Treat Face

Prior to exposure of treat.

Immediate reaction once treat is revealed.

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!

Pugs are notorious for taking their dear sweet time in finding an acceptable place to get the job done. And when it's raining, well you might as well not waste your time. We discovered this the hard way one weekend when there were record rainfalls and area flooding. One Beaneth Theodora Pug did not doot for 36 hours, though not for a lack of trying on our part. We spent more time out in the rain with that animal than Noah. In the end, her bowels did the job for her. She dooted inside, on the carpet, while Bobby was in the shower. Tex watched the whole thing in repulsed horror -- but was thrilled to finally be able to claim herself the superior creature once and for all.

How does all this relate to Treat Face? Well, to speed up Bean's bathroom selection process -- and thus insure that Bobby and I won't show up to work late on account of "my dog wouldn't poop" -- we decided to offer some incentives. Every time Bean relieves herself efficiently, she gets a treat and a "Good HURRY UP, Bean!" Like any dog, Bean would sell her soul for a treat. She gets down to business like a champ now, and every time she does, she turns to us with a alarmingly obsessive treat face, which on a pug makes you wonder if you're going to have to rush to the vet with a pug-eye in your hand.

Beaneth Theodora Pug

Many months have passed since I posted to this thing. Since then, we have a new member of the family, a five year-old pug named Bean. She is 100 percent pug, complete with snores, snorts, schnarfs, sneezes and sighs. She's the clumsy comedic sidekick to Tex's straight man. And one of my favorite things about her is that she barks when she hears a baby cry on TV.

Tex is more than happy to share my camera's gaze with Bean.

Fun with Tex

Tex poses.



She holds for her close up.



Then, unable to resist her charm, Bobby requests a dance.

Rebelious Sookie

My mom was away all weekend, leaving Sokie, her third child, home alone. When she returned on Monday morning, she discovered that Sookie had voiced her objection to my mom's absence with her butt. She had pooped in the kitchen, she had pooped in my mom's favorite chair, she had pooped in her bed, she had pooped on the rug, she had pooped in the bathroom sink. She had pooped more than any cat could possibly poop in a weekend, and she did it in places that my mom would never miss. She had never messed outside of her litter box before. Her food bowl was full, water fresh, litter box clean. This was 100 percent ruthless revenge. But she looks so sweet in this photo, doesn't she?

Tex's tongue

Our new apartment has a slew of windows and a generous amount of light. No flash needed ever. Tex likes the new digs too, but for different reasons. She goes from window to window, impressed with her new found access to the outside world. Unfortunately, there are no window sills, which Tex is discovering the hard way. She keeps hopping up to the window, only to find herself sliding down the wall. We need more cat perches.

Tex's claws

It takes a lot of manpower to clip those guys. Sometimes it sounds like she's wearing high heals.