Today I lost Junior. Juney June. My Little One. The Love of My Life.She was the little feral one who came into my yard as a kitten of some indeterminate age and stayed. She stayed 14+ years with me, forever in my heart.She first came over through the bamboo on a brick wall. She was a refugee from a house four or five doors down where a man fed black cats. Any black cat in the neighborhood came from him. He had about 50 black cats, never had them fixed. He was overrun by cats and Junior tried to escape that life.I tried sending her back. One morning, August 6, 2000, I came outside and Junior was asleep on a towel that had fallen. I fed her. She stayed.I didn't know she was a she. She looked ...

Yeah, I'm about to brag. I just got back from Thailand! Wow, what a wonderful country! From the people to the food, Thailand is an amazing place.We did a nine-day tour in central Thailand, which included Bangkok, Kanchanaburi Province, and Ayutthaya, which has so many ruins, it puts Rome to shame.Thailand is colorful, warm, harsh, beautiful, friendly, dangerous, fragrant place. Bangkok holds on tightly to its charms but they are there... in the riverside, temples and the tranquility that you might find at somewhere like Jim Thompson's house.Kanchanaburi has the history of the Death Railway (who can't get the theme to "The Bridge Over River Kwai" out of their heads?), the confluence of two ...

Anyone who knows me knows what a big cat lover I am. I'm frequently told I'm one kitten short of becoming a crazy cat lady although when I had five of them I think I was the crazy cat lady.So when I say Happy National Cat Day, I mean it but to be honest cat day is every day around here. My little 14-year-old Junior is my soul cat... the love of my life. She is sweet and affectionate and devoted in a way that astounds me. Considering she wandered over here in August 2000 and after one meal decided to stay the next 14 years and beyond, I feel pretty lucky to have her.She actually was an outdoor cat for 11 years... don't worry, this is Los Angeles, she had a her own house with a heated bed, ...