Three a.m. found me outside, talking quietly into a cell phone while the cicadas traded stories with the crickets about the end of summer. Beneath me, the concrete gathered chill from the still, silent air, as clouds played peekaboo with a gibbous moon.

"Okay. Now it's time to head into the computer room and play the ever-popular game of 'How Many Blinky Lights Are There?' You have a guess?"
— Amy

Wow, takeover and domination of two different sites in less than 24 hours. Was it my birthday and someone forgot to tell me?

But seriously, folks. This is Chris, better known as Duckie to some of you, here to let you know that our beloved domesticat has been having what she likes to call a "rubber-ball modem" for the better part of the past week. In other words, little to no net access, hence the lack of posting here on cat.net and such. To assuage the multitude of rumors I've been hearing, allow me to set the record straight:

1. Dead? Nope.
2. Ran off and joined the circus? Sorry.
3. Become a nun? Ha!

"Nope. Forty-five inches." He shrugged, folded the fabric neatly back onto the bolt, and handed it to me. Ok, I thought. So my dress won't be emerald green. I took the bolt from him and wandered back to the 'luxury fabrics' section of the store with a sinking feeling. I compared the width to the red and blue velvets I liked. They, too, were 45" widths. I grumbled (audibly) and mentally scratched options 2 and 3 off the list.

Barbie Dolls Inc. announces the release of models of limited edition Barbie dolls for the Central Arkansas area:

Heights Barbie

This trendy homemaker Barbie is available with your choice of Lexus SUV or Ford Wind star minivan. She gets lost easily west of Reservoir Road and has no full time occupation. Traffic jamming cell phone sold separately. Available with or without tummy tuck and face-lift. Workaholic Ken sold only in conjunction with "augmented" version. Optional matching tennis outfit.

(whap) "Tenzing, get OFF the fabric!"
MEOW! (indignant)
(sound of cat being tossed across the room)
(sound of cat jumping onto fabric)
"Edmund!"
(sound of cat being tossed across the room)
(sound of cat jumping onto fabric)
"TENZING!"
(sound of cat being tossed across the room)
(sound of spouse laughing) "Got help, hmm?"

...and so it goes, and so it goes.

As days go, not bad.

Fall has awakened the cotton gin near our house, and tipped the edges of a few early-adopter leaves with gold. Each day brings a different number of bales of raw cotton piled up near the side of the road. Bales, not in the sense of man-sized or tractor-sized, but eighteen-wheeler-sized; one enormous bale per truck.

We drove off to dinner, Jeff and I, and he cocked an eyebrow toward the field of bales and wondered aloud how the owners of the cotton gin moved the bales from field to truck. In the four years we've lived here, I've never seen a bale loaded from the field onto a truck, and only in the past couple of days have I seen a bale being deposited onto the field in the first place. They simply appear during the quiet of late morning or late night, when no one is around to see their arrival.

By such things are the seasons marked.

At long last - you can now search through entries and comments on domesticat. I know, I know, this feature has been years in coming, and I know that a couple of you (*ahem*Geof*ahem*) have been wanting this feature implemented for quite a while now.

Like virtually every other shirt or dress I've ever owned, it wants to slide off my shoulders. I'd blame my utter lack of sewing skills, but they've picked up more than their share of blame for this project. My shoulders just point down and entropy, like gravity, goes along for the ride.

I finished all principal sewing on my Halloween costume tonight. In fact, I am wearing it, breathless and giggling, as I write these words; I am giving my body a few minutes to relearn how to sit properly in a dress of this type.Scratch 'relearn.' I've never worn anything remotely like this.