Tuesdays With Murray (Chapter 61)

September 30th, 2008

We purchased a new toy for Em. It’s this crazy ball-shooting machine that plays music every time you press its big red button. It’s nuts. To be honest, I’m a little surprised that he even likes this thing. Had we been in a toy store, it probably would have been one of the last items that would have caught my eye as something he’d like to play with. But then we had a play-date at Caroline’s house. She brought out the ball-shooting machine and BLAMO! he was mesmerized.

The following day I told grandma about his adoration for the toy. A week later he had one of his own. Naturally.

Em still very much enjoys the toy. He has it out constantly. And we find it pretty hilarious that he uses one tiny finger (instead of his entire palm) to push the button. Sometimes, it takes him several tries to get that thing to sing and pop but he manages.

What we weren’t aware of was how fascinated Murray would be by the toy. Almost every time Em pushes the button, Murray runs out to watch. In fact, I think the only time he’s uninterested is if he’s sleeping or eating—his two absolute favorite pastimes.

Even though Em has decided that trying to insert anything and everything into the opening is much more fun than using the balls it came with, Murray tries hard to play along. My guess is that Murray is thinking, “BALL-SHOOT! YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG!”


We’ve had to pull out a coat hanger three times now to remove items Em has crammed into the opening.

In other news, we’ve had quite the crazy morning here. You see, during our walk this morning, we found a lost cockatiel. He’s currently in our bathroom scared half to death and wondering where his mama is. We are trying to figure out how to contact said person by calling every local vet and shelter. I have my work cut out for me today.

We’ve named him Newman temporarily.

How does Murray feel about Newman? Hilarity ensued outside the bathroom door. Commando Kitty all around. And every time Newman squawks or tweets, Murray’s all, “WUZZAT?! IMA GIT THAT BIRD!” Tucker was just curious and then stopped caring immediately. Pookum didn’t care at all.

I get the feeling Newman would win in a fight against any of our absurdly passive cats.

But we’re not taking any chances.

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Open Discussion Thread About Toddlers

September 29th, 2008

I have about a dozen half-written posts to push live. I never seem to find the time to finish them, however. I only now just realized they are stories about Em and our day-to-day lives and they usually end in a question. So, because I’m not sure I’ll ever get around to making them public given my day’s seem to be getting shorter and shorter, I figured it might be worth a shot to just list them here and see if folks want to talk/discuss/commiserate, whatever.

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Francisco DeFlaviis – The Lone Juror.

September 27th, 2008

Joseph Petcka, the man arrested for beating a 7-pound cat to death, had his day in court recently. The jury came back hung: 11 to 1. After five days of deliberations eleven people were in favor of convicting Petcka of aggravated animal cruelty. A lone juror by the name of Francisco DeFlaviis did not believe that Joseph Petcka killed the cat on purpose.

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A Pumpkin on a Beach?! That’s Crazy!

September 24th, 2008

I left for the Jersey shore on Tuesday morning to visit my parents and relax a bit. I also wanted to give TobyJoe some “time off”. That doesn’t mean he’s not still working—he’s very much at work and working—it means he gets to sleep all night long and wake up later than 6 AM (which is when I leave for the gym in the morning).

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Tuesday Without Me.

September 24th, 2008

To humanever it may concern,

I regret to inform you that my friend, feeder, and feline keeper forgot it was Tuesday. She didn’t forget about me—she will never forget about me. I won’t let her. I drool on her, stand on her fat rolls, and steal her food.

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He’s Named After Saint Francis.

September 22nd, 2008

Check this out. That’s my boy, my sweet, gentle boy.

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Suicide Is Painless. Bailouts Are Not.

September 19th, 2008

After the week we’ve had here in America, I think the flier I saw last week may need to be updated.

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Music Class for Toddlers.

September 18th, 2008

We’re attending our second music class today. The first one was last Thursday and fifteen minutes into it, I vowed never to return. It wasn’t nearly as bad as mama and baby yoga, but it would have made for an excellent soundtrack.

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Tuesdays With Murray (Chapter 60)

September 16th, 2008

I threw together this video of Murray today. It may seem a little boring, but I think it does a pretty good job at showing people what it’s like having him as a roommate.

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CNN Outside Lehman Brothers Headquarters.

September 15th, 2008

Forgive me for the horrible quality of this video. I don’t have the fancy equipment needed to do this. Plus, our TV died last week, so we’re using the 70-dollar tube we purchased from a Radio Shack in San Francisco. But it’s clear enough that I think you’ll get the point.

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