Kneecap Nibbler

Micah is doing this thing now, where he cruises around the couch and when he gets to a person, he starts gnawing on their kneecaps. He does one...and then a minute later he does another.

Maybe he is a future canabal.

The loudest bird in the world is the Red-Throated Warbler. It's alarm call can be a piercing 122 decibels. I am unaware of anything special about their anal sphincters.

When asked to rate themselves, 81 percent of college professors consider themselves to be an "above average" teacher.

Zippadie do-da

Today was a beautiful day. We decided to drive over to Tallulah Falls and go for a picnic and a walk.

Mini-Me

Snickers insisted that she be allowed to pick her pose. She chose the over the shoulder look.

.

Perdy 1 and perdy 2

Who dat?

For some...manna in the wilderness....For Micah....crackers in the wilderness.

Micah loved everything about the trip to the park. Ok, actually this is just a picture where you can kind of see his top two teeth if you click on the picture and look close.

Here is Tori and Micah posing for a picture. Tori is smiling at the camera; while Micah concentrates on figuring out the mathmatical formula for explaining the extended length of the shadow in comparison to the original physical objects.

Sure...she looks tired....but endurance builds character.

While forcing Snickers to stand on this rail overlooking nearby water; I noticed she seemed a little nervous.........(see next photo)

heave-ho - see picture below

I believe the best way to help a small dog overcome its fear of water, is to make it face it head-on. Head-on and from 20 ft. in the air.

Snickers was tuckered out on the ride home. Here she is lying right next to the empty movie case that we tried to return.

Charlius Momentus Maximus

This is a bad one. Just happened today.

I will not tell you the backstory first, because you need to hear it fresh, just like this poor girl did.

The students are working in groups of 2. One group, close to my desk is composed of a black girl and a white girl.

They both address me and the white girl says,
"Mr. Kelly, how much time is left in class?"

Now remember, both the black girl and the white girl are basically looking at me when I say the following, (and the black girl has no idea why I would say the following...)

Mr. Kelly - "There's about 3 1/2 gorilla lengths left. And I have no idea how to translate gorilla time to real time."

Thats right. I said this to a group of two girls. One of whom is black.

-----

Why I said that....

The white girl's favorite band is the "Gorillaz". And I often tease her about gorillas because of it.

Of course, the black girl does not know this.

So of course, when I realized what I had just done, I had to play it off, and have the black girl ask the white one what her favorite band was, so she would see why I said that.

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Yes. A true, true Charlie moment.

How do cats "know" to use litter boxes?

Dear Yahoo!:
How do cats "know" to use litter boxes?
Felix
Catskills, New York
Dear Felix:
Cats know how to use litter boxes because they still have thousands of years of wild cat DNA floating around in their nervous systems. It's the same reason why dogs like to bury bones, or people respond negatively to high-pitched shrieking sounds.
Cats are attracted to litter boxes for elimination because they provide a sandy substrate for covering their waste. Covering waste is very important in the wild, as it helps to elude predators. A cat's urine can smell pretty strong -- it can actually attract hunters. That's why in the wild cats always urinate far from where they sleep and hunt, and they do their best to cover it up when they're finished.

To be effective, a litter box also has to provide a certain amount of space for the cat. "Taking care of business" can be a vulnerable moment in more ways than one, especially if something is actively hunting you.

If your cat is having litter box accuracy problems, you may want to consider replacing it. Most litter boxes are plastic, which means they tend to absorb odors. Try to replace your litter box with an identical model, however, as our feline friends are notoriously sensitive to changes in their environment.

Why do dogs sniff each other?

Dear Yahoo!:
Why do dogs sniff each other?
Tarna
Dear Tarna:
Last year, we addressed why dogs love to stick their heads out car windows. Now we tackle another of life's great mysteries. What's up with a pup's propensity to sniff the backsides of his friends? Such behavior would not go over well in the human world, but in the canine community, it's standard operating procedure.
A dog's nose is its strongest weapon. In fact, it works up to a million times better than a human's. A dog uses its nose not only to sniff out dead birds in the backyard and burgers on the BBQ, but also to better understand other dogs. According to Point Ask, a sniff of the rear tells a dog all sorts of things, including what the other dog likes to eat, its general health, and if a female pooch is pregnant.

Dogs also use their olefactory talents to understand humans. This article by Meg Moss explains that, with one whiff, "a dog can tell where you have been and what you have been doing, what you have eaten, and even whether you are not feeling well." Moss goes on to say that when dogs sniff each other, they learn whether or not the dog is safe to play with or if they should retreat. Basically, it's just a way of getting to know each other. Although it's apparently an effective means of introduction, we're sticking with the handshake.