The toothiest thing I saw today.

You may have received this in the mail from a major health insurance provider:

The Beav!

Cute. Beaver. Teeth. Ok.

Then you open it up and:

Better? More like MURDER!

The horror!!

That beaver is sure to fall to the grips of evolution now. Pretty sure he cannot swing an ax.

The Frankencheesist Thing I saw today: Monster Challenge!

Oh this week has flown by! I have another monster submission waiting in the wings. You people are awesome!

This installment is by Jeremy Couturier
I actually bought a drawing of his on etsy.com, it is a timeless piece portraying an epic battle. Take a peek. I think Chuck Norris will win! Todd questions my where my loyalty lies. What do you think will win?

Jeremy says: This familiar trio has decided to ham it up for an opportunity to be in the monster challenge!


Boy howdy! They certainly have. And they look great doing it, still scary.

I bow to your talent, Jeremy. Thanks for sharing some monsters with us!

The Chinga!-iest thing I saw today: Monster Challenge!

I am excited to share a drawing that Jennifer made for the Monster Challenge.

Jennifer also drew one of her pets:


The artist says: This is Jezebel. I drew this picture of her as an attack cat for my friend Xime -- the Chinga!cat reference is from an X-files episode, in which a very violent doll wreaks havoc, all the while saying, "I want to play!!" This is my cat, to a T.

I have met Jezebel and know her story, I can't argue with Jennifer. Sorry Jezebel! You attack things, but you are a pretty kitty, nonetheless.

Here is a very slow loading set of footage from that episode (I hope!):

The Sweetest thing I saw today: Monster Challenge!

Today's entry comes from my friend Sarah. She created a lovely mixed media piece to depict her monster and sent it to me via the US Mail.



I could debate with Sarah about whether or not Clara Belle is a true monster; but there is no arguing that this piece is darling!

It makes me think of Ezra Jack Keats or Eric Carle, with layered papers of different finishes and colors. I wish that the scan could do that effect justice, you will just have to trust me.

Who will be next? Who is ready to share a monster with us?

The Cryptid-iest thing I saw today!

Here is another great submission to the Monster Challenge!

This one is called "Daydreaming at Work Monster", or "Wishful Thinking" and it was created by Jen.



Jen is a graphic designer and amateur cryptozoologist.

While I did not confirm this, I believe this is actually Jen is a prior life, or maybe on the weekends?

Great work! Bravo!

I hope to see more monsters. The people who have contributed thus far have enjoyed the activity, so if you need a boost to your day, take a bit to scratch out a creature!

The Bow Wowiest thing I saw today!

I love holiday decorations! I do!

We all know about houses that go crazy filling their yards and homes with props and lights, and then more props and lights!

Well, this house in my neighborhood had a different vision than most and I love it! I salute it!:



I hope it is clear that they gave their house jowls and a red tongue so that it looked like a dog, because that is just what they did!

The varying sizes in the upper windows make the dog that much more charming, in my opinion.

I cannot wait until I have a house to decorate. Bravo!

The creepiest pants cats I saw today!

The Pariah and I did some imagining yesterday. It is fun to imagine.

You see, we both have the same "cat-a-day" calendar which I purchased on clearance from Target after the holidays. Together we enjoy some silly cats and our own commentary on the cats.

Yesterday, The Pariah was away from her calendar when I shot her an email that said"AH! Creepy pants cats! LOL."

Since The Pariah had to wait in great anticipation to see the creepy pants cats, she decided to venture a guess at what they looked like (click to enlarge):
And even though I KNEW what the creepy pants cats looked like, I drew my vision for them too:


What do you imagine the creepy pants cats look like???

If you want to draw your vision I will post them for you!

The Cattiest thing our GUEST ARTIST saw today!

Yes, we have a guest artist today! My chic friend the Pariah has tried her hand at drawing something that caught her eye. I was so thrilled to receive this from her and I hope you welcome her and her art.

The Pariah says:
When we were driving back from the purcell-cutts tour, we passed custom cat purrniture, the holy land for cat ladies, located on university avenue.

there was a happy couple walking out of the store, with a happy kitty perched on the shoulder of the gentleman. he had sturdy shoulders and the kitty seemed quite pleased with her perch, but being a concerned cat-man, he was securely holding kitty's leash in his other hand.

perhaps his shoulder was getting sore from all of the perching, and they were looking to invest in a custom cat furniture perch to substitute?

I think the Pariah is on to something there. I'll bet his co-workers are tired of the cat coming along to work everyday.

My cat is pretty jealous that she does not get to go shopping; but when I remind her that shopping involves getting in the car she pipes down.

Hooray and thanks Pariah!! I love that the sky is a hazy shade of winter!

If anyone thinks they can handle the pressure, I would be happy to have your contribution to this collection!

The Cat wanted to say something.

I am working on my next post, but to bide some time, here is our cat Ginger decked out for the holidays:


Here are some gift ideas for Ginger and your kitty.

I hope your winter celebrations are going well!

The Dog is my Co-Pilot-est thing I saw today.

Walking through the neighborhood, I saw a loyal pet owner taking his best friend and some other guy on a drive:


The Some other guy had to sit in the back seat. Apparently the dog is a better navigator.

The Birthingest thing I saw at the Fair

Even though the fair grounds are now quiet and cool, I still have a few things jotted down to share with you from my visit to the Minnesota State Fair.

One crowded attraction at the fair is the Miracle of Birth barn. Here you can see sheep, pigs and cows giving birth and then you can gawk at the cute little babies!

The place gets so packed with city slickers dying to witness the animals they eat that there are bleachers and many huge flat screen TVs hanging from the ceiling.

The animals are bred to give birth during the fair and some animals are induced. It is actually a very clean, well run and educational place. The animals are treated very well.

This year I was lucky enough to witness some poor cow give birth in front of hundreds of eager fair goers.

The crowd cheered and clapped as the deeply mooing cow brought a new male calf into the world. But the calf did not hop right into life; instead it lay lifeless in the hay.

Parents tried to avert the attention of their small children while the vet in charge stepped up and gave that gooey newborn CPR!!!!



Holy crap!

The little calf sprang into action with that breath of life.

Everyone cheered! What a hero! What a cute calf! Oh that poor cow!

I was in awe of what I witnessed and again reassured that I was not made to work in medicine.

The Mama cow began to lick her new son clean while my husband and I went to the All-you-can-drink Milk Booth.