How to Give a Cat a Haircut - The Sequel

You may recall my blog called How to Give a Cat a Haircut from January 22, 2009 in which I told you how I give my cat, Jazz, his haircut. And I shared some photos, including a before and after of Jazz. I received a lot of fun comments on that blog and, since then, I have been kicking around the idea of videoing Jazz's haircut. Well, I finally got around to doing that yesterday.

I thought the video might be humorous if I could speed it up to several times it's normal speed. Unfortunately, when I tried that in MS Movie Maker, the video just skipped and it didn't at all have the desired effect. Since the haircut (not counting breaks) takes about 40 minutes, the only other way I could keep it short enough to (hopefully)keep from boring you out of your minds was to just edit out lots of tape of me going over Jazz with the Robocut.

I had asked FringeGirl how many takes it took to do her video. I was hoping it wasn't a whole lot (and it wasn't) because I knew that I would get exactly ONE take for mine. Once I started cutting Jazz's hair, if the take wasn't good, I'd just have to wait a few months for his hair to grow again before I'd get another chance.

No one else was in the house and the camera was on a tripod. All I can say is it's a very weird feeling to talk to a video camera as though it were a person! The audio is poor, especially when I didn't project my voice directly toward the camera. And, boy, do I mumble sometimes! The video blog is a new thing to me and I have SO much to learn!

The results are... well, not nearly as humorous as I'd hoped. And very amateurish, to say the least. Nonetheless, I've decided to share it with you. After all, we're friends, right? Even edited, it's still 9 minutes of your life that you'll never get back and for that I apologize. If nothing else, watching the video will show you a little bit of Jazz's unique personality. And maybe people will finally believe me when I say that giving Jazz his haircut isn't really the wild cat rodeo that naturally comes to mind.

Well, I guess I should just get on with it! Here goes nothing...



While I have your attention, I want to brag on something very briefly. Yesterday marked the 18 month anniversary of my first date with Mindy. I'll refrain from getting too mushy. Suffice to say my love for her continues to grow and I know how very blessed I am to be the man she loves. It's only the beginning!

Before Photoshop Elements

I guess it's time to share the "before" version. Now you see the reason for editing!

Are you laughing? Thanks for playing! Just for a little Friday fun, here's an animated gif looping the "before" and "after" images.



I am so ready for the weekend! Margarita anyone?

After Photoshop Elements

Can you spot the Photoshop Elements work?

Giveaway Bonus Round

You probably already know what this picture means, but I'll explain it anyway. Yes, there were only supposed to be THREE drawings. You are correct. I am very happy for everyone who won the drawings. But as I got to the end, something was bugging me just a little bit. Even though I weighted the drawing according to the number of comments, the people at the top of my list who have given me the most comments and blog support hadn't won anything. As I contemplated the possibility of that happening, I told Mindy that I might have an additional drawing. At least I was kicking around the idea. She thought it was a fine idea.

When I was at A&M, I took a course in statistics and probabilities. If you've had such a course, you know it starts out kind of fun, but then becomes very difficult and not so much fun. Well, from what little I could remember from the fun part, I could hardly believe that no one from the top four in commenting had taken a prize. Perhaps that would change with a fourth drawing. Or perhaps not.

Of course, the problem with that is, the luck of the draw being what it is, you just never know. I debated this all in my own mind, even as I was publishing my last post. So I ended my post with, "So, folks, is the giveaway fun over? Hmmmm. Not necessarily" just to leave the door open. But I still hadn't decided at that point. What if I drew someone far down the list? Would I have a fifth drawing? A sixth? A seventh? It could get crazy. The more I thought about it, the more I was starting to lean against having a fourth drawing. I had just about decided to just let it go. Call it quits. Let it be finished.

Fast forward to this morning. At my house, Thursday mornings are hectic. I probably shouldn't even admit this to you, but I have a lady who comes to clean my house on Thursdays. Yes, it is wonderful, but she only cleans, she doesn't straighten, etc. So Thursdays are called "housekeeper day" around my house and the morning is very busy "getting ready for the housekeeper." Hey.... keep those tiny violins quiet!

So I'm rushing around this morning in my bath robe really not thinking much about blogging, the giveaway or anything else not related to getting the house straightened and myself ready for work. Just as I was about to get into the shower, this thought popped into my head, "David, just go pull out a shotgun shell. Don't think, just do it!"

So I went straight to my closet, unzipped the bag just a little and very unceremoniously slipped my hand inside. I grabbed a shell and held it in my closed fist. "Be a low number, be a low number, be a low number!"

I opened my hand. TWO! Ahhhh. I think I can stop now! THE END.

Congratulations, FringeGirl. By now, you know the drill. Pick your prize and email me a shipping address.

Cher, when you said you were unlucky, I REALLY thought one of my drawings was bound to prove you wrong. I stand both astonished and corrected!

Deb, I know you have more important things on your mind right now. Prayers for your daughter continue.

Amy, I love looking at your photos. And thanks for following my blog.

To everyone, I sincerely thank you. I appreciate all who have read and commented. And I hope this was fun for you, whether your number was drawn or not.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging.

Giveaway Drawing Number Three

Sometimes the stars are just aligned. And inexplicable good fortune rains down on someone like manna from heaven. Take for instance an email that Mindy forwarded to me earlier today. This guy won 181 million dollars in the lottery last Wednesday, then finds the love of his life just two days later!



Can you believe it? Simply amazing! Talk about luck! And they say lightning doesn't strike the same place twice! HA!

Which brings me to the third and final drawing. By now, you know the routine. I rolled the shell bag around some more. I unzipped it just enough for Alissa to get her hand inside. Then she plucked a shotgun shell from the bag...



Let's check the list to find out who has the number 20...

1 Cher, 39
2 thedomesticfringe, 28
3 trash talk, 25
4 ALVN of WhisperWood Cottage, 19
7 Tracy, 5
8 Phyllis, 4
9 Hi! I'm Cindy, 4
10 Margo, 3
11 Tim, 2
12 deb did it, 2
13 cheryls fascinatingfinds, 2
14 The Hat Chick, 1
15 2L3Bs World, 1
16 Antiques and More Blog, 1
17 THE VERANDA, 1
18 MuseSwings, 1
19 jen, 1

---> 20 bella shabby, 1<---

21 delighted heart, 1
22 time-worn interiors, 1
23 Shannon @ Silver Trappings, 1
24 Moonlight Hollow Musings, 1
25 Janera, 1
26 philben5, 1
27 Stonefox (otherwise known as Heidi), 1
28 Garden Antqs Vintage, 1
29 Sie, 1
30 Debi, 1

And the winner... with only ONE shell in a bag of 150 shells is....

Sue at bella shabby!

Sue, you must be livin' right, girl! Seriously! Congratulations! You get your choice of any of the misfits except for Misfit #6, the chocolate colored Pike Street blanket that Beth has already claimed from the first drawing and Misfit #1, the Oregon Scientific Emergency Alert Monitor that Jan has already claimed from the second drawing. Please comment your prize selection and email your shipping address to tx_david@yahoo.com so I can get it on its way.

So, folks, is the giveaway fun over? Hmmmm. Not necessarily.

Giveaway Drawing Number Two

My daughter was gone to Six Flags with some of her friends all day and wasn't available to draw the next winner for the giveaway. Meanwhile, Mindy came over to go with me to a family birthday party.

"Would you like to draw out the next winning shotgun shell?" I asked her. You should have seen her face light up! She was more than happy to lend a hand!

Once again, I rolled the shell bag around. Once again I unzipped it just enough to get a hand inside. Mindy reached in...



... and pulled out the winner! Oh, what fun!



The shotgun shell she pulled out had the number 6 written on the brass.



Let's check the list to find out who has the number 6...

1 Cher, 39
2 thedomesticfringe, 28
3 trash talk, 25
4 ALVN of WhisperWood Cottage, 19

---> 6 summersundays-jw, 6<---

7 Tracy, 5
8 Phyllis, 4
9 Hi! I'm Cindy, 4
10 Margo, 3
11 Tim, 2
12 deb did it, 2
13 cheryls fascinatingfinds, 2
14 The Hat Chick, 1
15 2L3Bs World, 1
16 Antiques and More Blog, 1
17 THE VERANDA, 1
18 MuseSwings, 1
19 jen, 1
20 bella shabby, 1
21 delighted heart, 1
22 time-worn interiors, 1
23 Shannon @ Silver Trappings, 1
24 Moonlight Hollow Musings, 1
25 Janera, 1
26 philben5, 1
27 Stonefox (otherwise known as Heidi), 1
28 Garden Antqs Vintage, 1
29 Sie, 1
30 Debi, 1

And the winner is....

Jan at summersundays-jw!

Congrats, Jan! You get your choice of any of the misfits except for Misfit #6, the chocolate colored Pike Street blanket that Beth has already claimed from the first drawing. Please comment your prize selection and email your snail mail address to tx_david@yahoo.com so I can get it to you.

Wow, this is fun! And remember there is still another drawing on the way!

Giveaway Drawing Number One

Time to get this giveaway fired off! I just happened to have a couple hundred Federal 12 gauge shotgun shells. Doesn't everyone?

Using a sharpie, I wrote the number "1" on 39 of them for Cher, the number "2" on 28 of them for thedomesticfringe, the number "3" on 25 of them for trash talk and so on and so on. You get a lot of bang for your comments around here!



Some people have a lot of chances to win.



Some people have just one chance.



They looked kind of like toy soldiers to me.



I threw them all in a shell bag.



Then I stirred and stirred. And stirred some more. Then I zipped the bag up tight and rolled it around for a while. And tumbled it end over end. And shook it. And rolled it around some more.



Then I unzipped the bag just enough for my daughter, Alissa, to get her hand inside. She reached in blindly and dug around for a bit. Which one to pull out?



Then she pulled out this shotgun shell. It has the number 5 written on the brass.



Does everyone have their number memorized? No? Checking the list...

1 Cher, 39
2 thedomesticfringe, 28
3 trash talk, 25
4 ALVN of WhisperWood Cottage, 19

---> 5 Beth@playinwiththepaulsens!, 16 <---

6 summersundays-jw, 6
7 Tracy, 5
8 Phyllis, 4
9 Hi! I'm Cindy, 4
10 Margo, 3
11 Tim, 2
12 deb did it, 2
13 cheryls fascinatingfinds, 2
14 The Hat Chick, 1
15 2L3Bs World, 1
16 Antiques and More Blog, 1
17 THE VERANDA, 1
18 MuseSwings, 1
19 jen, 1
20 bella shabby, 1
21 delighted heart, 1
22 time-worn interiors, 1
23 Shannon @ Silver Trappings, 1
24 Moonlight Hollow Musings, 1
25 Janera, 1
26 philben5, 1
27 Stonefox (otherwise known as Heidi), 1
28 Garden Antqs Vintage, 1
29 Sie, 1
30 Debi, 1



Number five is Beth@playinwiththepaulsens!

Congrats, Beth! You get your choice of any of the seven misfits. Please comment your prize selection and email your snail mail address to tx_david@yahoo.com so I can get it to you.

There will be two more drawings. And with Beth's 16 shotgun shells "out of the bag," everyone else's chances just went up for drawing number two. So stay tuned for more fun!

From The Island of Misfit Toys

What do these poor unwanted misfit toys have in common?

Misfit #1: An Oregon Scientific All Hazards Emergency Alert Monitor that tunes into NOAA weather radio. It also has a compass, a thermometer, an alarm clock, a lighted face and a belt clip. It runs on three AA batteries (included). I bought this misfit toy about 20 years ago. It's seen some light use on camping trips, but is still in very nearly new condition and works fine.



Misfit #2: Three "looks-sorta-like-pewter" photo frames. Two of them have the original papers in them and one has a picture of my daughter and I from last summer. Yes, calm down, you get the picture too! These too have been lightly used. Then again, how do you heavily use a picture frame?



Misfit #3: A Dr. Scholl's infrared massager with five interchangeable attachments. I got this misfit toy at Mindy's family Christmas exchange 2007. It's never been used. It has a long handle angled like a back scratcher. The head swivels and the infrared thing heats up. It plugs into an electrical socket.



Misfit #4: They love me at Cabela's. I have a Cabela's Visa. Every now and then, they send me a fabulous prize for no apparent reason. This misfit toy is a folding lockback knife. Looks like a dandy, but I already have several knives.



Misfit #5: You need coasters and you need photo frames. So why not combine the two? This misfit toy was a recent Christmas gift. Now you would think that I, enjoying photography as I do, would want to keep these. And I will say they are a pretty darn nice present. But for whatever reason, I have a mental hangup about setting cold wet beverages on top of my pictures. Go figure.



Misfits #6 and 7: A couple of Pike Street comfort throw blankets. These are sort of a quilted kind of thing. The cover is microfleece or something of that nature. Soft, comfy and warm. They are 50" x 70" in size, perfect for snuggling on the sofa with that special someone. I bought a bunch of these from Amazon when they went on sale and gave them for Christmas presents in 2006. Now I can't remember who I've already given them to and I have these two left that need homes. Still new in the original bag, these misfits have been in the top of my closet too long.

Misfit #6 is chocolate...



... and Misfit #7 is beige...



OK, so what do these seven misfits have in common? They all hope to be selected by one of the lucky winners of my giveaway. I will draw three winners from these fine folks...

1 Cher, 39
2 thedomesticfringe, 28
3 trash talk, 25
4 ALVN of WhisperWood Cottage, 19
5 Beth@playinwiththepaulsens!, 16
6 summersundays-jw, 6
7 Tracy, 5
8 Phyllis, 4
9 Hi! I'm Cindy, 4
10 Margo, 3
11 Tim, 2
12 deb did it, 2
13 cheryls fascinatingfinds, 2
14 The Hat Chick, 1
15 2L3Bs World, 1
16 Antiques and More Blog, 1
17 THE VERANDA, 1
18 MuseSwings, 1
19 jen, 1
20 bella shabby, 1
21 delighted heart, 1
22 time-worn interiors, 1
23 Shannon @ Silver Trappings, 1
24 Moonlight Hollow Musings, 1
25 Janera, 1
26 philben5, 1
27 Stonefox (otherwise known as Heidi), 1
28 Garden Antqs Vintage, 1
29 Sie, 1
30 Debi, 1

You notice I've numbered them on the left. Easier to draw numbers than names. The number on the right is the number of times the number on the left will be entered. As stated before, once your number is drawn, you can't win again. Clear as mud? I thought so!

I will draw the first winner probably this weekend. They will pick one of the seven misfits above to go home with them. A day or two later I will draw the second winner and they will make one of the six remaining misfits very happy. A day or two after that I will draw the third winner and they will choose which of the five remaining misfits gets a new home. The last four sad and rejected misfits will be returned to the island. Sobbing uncontrollably no doubt! Poor, poor misfits!

Happy Birthday, Peanut!

Today is my daughter's birthday. Yes, my little Peanut turned sweet 16 today. We were at the DPS this morning when they opened at 8 am to get her driver's license. Alissa is a licensed driver now!

Here is a picture of her "driving" at one year old...




And here she is this morning...



Alissa, I probably don't tell you this often enough, but I am very, very proud of you. You are growing into a wonderful young lady right before my very eyes. Just remember that no matter how old you get, you will always be my Peanut! I love you! Happy birthday, baby!