Comfort wins.

Catnap or catnip?

Bob chose doze.

From Amy's pets.

Bob (the cat) taking a nap in our window,

obviously confident of that piece of wood propping it up.

MNF, not really.

For me, Monday nights used to be reserved for Monday Night Football on ABC. For over 30 years I could watch an exciting game and catch the highlights of the other Sunday games during the halftime highlights show.

From Howard Cosell, Dandy Don Meredith and Keith Jackson (replaced the next year by Frank Gifford) to Al Michaels and John Madden, it was always something to look forward to.

1 Overview 2 History 2.1 Pre-1970 2.2 1970s 2.2.1 Jackson, Cosell and Meredith 2.2.2 Cosell, Gifford and Meredith 2.2.3 Cosell, Gifford, Williamson and Karras 2.2.4 Cosell, Gifford, Meredith and Tarkenton 2.3 1980s 2.3.1 Cosell, Gifford, Meredith and Simpson 2.3.2 Gifford, Meredith and Simpson 2.3.3 Gifford, Simpson and Namath 2.3.4 Gifford, Michaels and Swann 2.3.5 Gifford, Michaels and Dierdorf 2.4 1990s 2.4.1 Michaels, Dierdorf and Esiason 2.4.2 Michaels and Esiason 2.5 2000s 2.5.1 Michaels, Fouts and Miller 2.5.2 Michaels and Madden 2.5.2.1 The end of the ABC era 2.5.3 Move to ESPN

Since 2005, Monday Night Football on ABC is on NBC on Sunday night as the week's showcase game of the week. Now, Monday Night Football is found on ESPN. Having big games on both Sunday and Monday nights, I tend to have less interest in them unless it's a really good matchup. Sunday nights I catch most of Fox and either Desperate Housewives or a good PBS mystery show if one is on. Football gets the commercials.

On Monday night, unless it's a really good matchup or if I'm doing well in my football pools, I skip most of the game and again watch regular network fare, catching parts of the game during commercials.

I was 5 of 13 in my pools going into Monday night's game (very bad). And, San Francisco vs Seattle is hardly a marque event to watch. On top of that, the game was lopsided (which is only fun to watch if it's your team leading).

So while Amy snoozed on the couch, I took some pictures of her pets as they were on a typical weeknight.

Monday Night Pictures.

Liatris spicata. If you knew great. I didn't. Actually they are tall stalks of purple flowers about two to four feet tall. I took a picture looking down at a short one.





Phlox from the garden. Purple, white, and red flowers seem to be flourishing this year. Except for the sunflowers, all my yellow flowers are taking a beating. It seems cyclical. Some years it is the opposite.




I'm still trying to get the aperture mode right. On my old camera it was set the F-stop, focus and click. This one keeps trying to autofocus / adjust settings on it's own. Even with auto turned off (I think). Anyway, I want to give the impression of tons of them growing together. I'm impressed they all have come back from seed the last couple years.




Cubbie follows me around all over the yard and garden, and who do I take a picture of instead? Bob (the cat). He didn't even notice me.

Bob (the cat). 15 second videos.

I grew up a dog person. We raised English Springer Spaniels when I was a kid. Burpee was my first dog. What was he named after? I don't know. I never really thought about it. Anyway, that was his name. He was around till I was about 16.

Now our household pets are all Amy's: Cubbie, the Chocolate Lab; Rama and Bob (the cat).

Both cats came from animal control centers. They were lucky. Living with Cubbie, they act like dogs in a way. In the morning they would rather wait by the door to be let out than use the litter box.

Catch them in the right mood and they actually will come if you call them (okay, sometimes). But in the end, they still are cats and usually follow the beat of a different drummer.

Bob (the cat) in 4 acts on a Sunday afternoon:

Part 1. Bob (the cat) sunning by the front step.

Part 2. Bob (the cat) says hi to his (something going on there) friend, Cubbie.

Part 3. Brushing him out while he "air guitars". So much hair. So much cat emotion. You should see him do the Blues.

Part 4. Brushed out, Bob (the cat), the epitome of balance, almost falls off the picnic table. Ha.

The music was excellent Sunday. It was live from the archives weekend. Mostly live performances from appearances on WXRT or local concerts. This noted, I can keep track how long it will be before they do it again.

"I'd appreciate your support," Bob (the cat).

Hi. I'm Bob (the cat) and I'm doing a guest blog. I'm a little nervous. Posting an entry isn't as easy as it looks.

I'm running for cutest cat in the Chicago Tribune's Petpalooza and would appreciate your vote.

I don't know how exclusive the contest is because there are tons of entries; anyway, if you want to vote for me do this: click the word CATS on the Trib's page (not the picture of a cat) I'm about a quarter of the way down drinking out of a chair.

Personally I liked the "sleeping in the window" picture but I had no say on the matter. By the way, if you click the cat picture it will take you to adoptions / sales (wrong place unless you want to get a cat).

Thanks.

Bob (the cat)

(In the spirit of Chicago politics I'd say vote early, vote often BUT they are accepting only one per household.)

Sleep over.

Please excuse the quality of the picture. I took a better one but Bob (the cat)'s head wasn't all in it.

I don't want to make too much fuss taking pictures or they move.

Anyway, aren't they cute? Ha.

Strange bedfellows.

Past sleepovers:

Cubbie and Bob (the cat).

Cubbie and Rama.

Let's Spend the Night Together.