This is our cat. Her name is “Hunter’s Niece”. She is probably really Hunter’s cousin or a half-sibling. Whatever. Hunter was a way cooler and smarter cat, except she got run over by a car one night. Hunter’s Niece is kind of dopey, but she hasn’t gotten run over yet. And she hasn’t crapped the kitchen floor in a few weeks. So that’s good.
This is Oliver, our “dog”. He’s a Jack Russell terrier(ist). I’m told that these kinds of dogs need to have jobs. His main job is to control (or “manage”) the rodent population to whatever extent he’s able. So far in his two years plus of employment he has dispatched 3 rodents- a chipmunk, a field mouse, and what was either a very big grey mouse or a very little rat. His daily task is to “monitor” chipmunk movement along the stone wall from his post at the picture window.
His secondary self-directed job is to torment the cat pictured above.
The rest of his employment is questionable as to its purpose. He has several rawhide bones and tennis balls in various states of chewed-up-ness that he has cached in undisclosed locations mostly indoors. We think that he may have hidden some objects outside as well but we have not ascertained location on these.
Thoughts-0-Dave 
hi dad! i actually don’t have any particular comments… i just wanted to be the first to confirm that somone out there actually DOES read your blog. i hope that since i am your only daughter, i will be immune to the “all people who post comments on blogs suck” rule (especially since, as i said before, this isn’t even really a comment). Love you, s
By: Sarah on March 1, 2007
at 8:41 pm
This is a very nice dog, and he is photogenic, too. You can see that by the way he ever so slightly lifts his ears to let the light come in from behind. And his nose fits those eyes just right.
The cat could have been a relative of my cat, a distant relative, because my cat was from a small town in Toledo, Spain. She had relatives all over, really.
By: cantueso on February 2, 2008
at 8:08 am
Oliver turned out to be very popular with some of the other commentators on this blog. You’re right about his photogenic looks. And considering what a general pain in the ass he is I’ve exploited his “cuteness” pretty effectively. He is still unemployed.
By: David on February 2, 2008
at 11:04 am
I’m loading down those two photos to show to people here. These things should be tagged “art”. Since A is the first letter in the alphabet, “art” is the first category on the WordPress home page and this is where people start clicking.
Also, art can simply be looked at. You don’t have to read it. So it’s easier on people.
By: cantueso on February 3, 2008
at 11:24 am
Thanks for the compliment cantueso! I’ve enjoyed photography for most of my life, and agree wholeheartedly on the ease of “looking” at art. In the art classes I’ve taken, however, the art objects end up getting read and critiqued, and the simple beauty (if any) is sometimes drained away.
Re: the cat- she is a friendly one, not terribly smart, but a very good hunter of birds and mice. She has a habit of drooling when being stroked, but not purring. Weird, huh?
By: David on February 3, 2008
at 12:15 pm
One can’t speak about art, because it has to be done via metaphor, i.e. in writing, if it is a picture the same as if it were a piece of music, unless, indeed, there is just an enumeration of things painted and their location.
Well then I guess all those art critics should be a little quieter.
By: cantueso on June 2, 2012
at 3:26 am
I honestly believe that your cat has learned how to mug for the camera. It’s called mugging, isn’t it? Next she will want to sit for cosmetics ads.
Yes, that pose above is particularly supermodel-esque isn’t it? If only she could quit smoking … The cosmetics do a great job of covering all the insect bites and scabs. Lately a strange cat has been hanging around our house and we can’t tell if our cat is friendly with it or if it’s just enjoying all the chipmunks and baby squirrels it seems to be killing.
By: cantueso on June 15, 2012
at 12:45 pm