ah, Leo Kottke

The warm up hour was Los Lobos, a talented and nice to listen to band. Then came Leo Kottke, its my fourth time to see him but always the same..... this man is up there with Mozart in my I-Tunes listings! I can just be transported away from anything listening to his guitar playing....and to top it all off he’s very funny and talks a lot. If he picked me out of the audience and said to come follow him - wouldn’t I be helpless to go? :) Don't worry, Bill, there's zero chance of that happening....

But the voice, the stories, the music especially are mesmerizing. He plays alone but it sounds like three guitars. His picking style is unique and self-taught. First time I saw him was 25 years ago. He's still the same but with silver hair.

Stone Mountain Christmas Village

At Stone Mountain in Georgia we visited the Christmas Village. This park is an attraction all year with its wonderful scenery, trainride around the mountain, villages, exhibits like glassblowing, restaurants, laser show and park. But at Christmas it turns into a wonderland at night....I'll let the pictures tell the story.

The Village
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Telling of the Christmas story during train ride...
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The huge Christmas tree and Judith with our token real child - Anastasia.
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The Snow Angel and fireworks finale
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Broadway Grill and Cabaret in Atlanta

The cat show was fun, if a bit tiring and hard on the feet standing on a hard floor all day. We didn't see a lot of Atlanta but certainly one highlight was the Broadway Grill and Cabaret. We got the front tables courtesy of Gary Narramore, husband of Siberian breeder Lillian. Gary was the singer and many talented people from the audience came up and sang also including Lillian. The dancing was wonderful to watch even if the only one we were brave enough to try was very slow...

Here are some photos from their website of Gary and one with Lillian and two others.


We had a great time - food was wonderful, wine was good and the cabaret atmosphere is worth many visits! Wish we were closer...

Here is their description below - click on the logo to go to the website.

We are still a night club, piano bar with music, we have great food and have a bigger dance floor. The baby grand piano and a key board are in the middle of the space. A variety of musicians, from jazz to rock, perform at the Cabaret. Professional singers, both male and female sing nightly for the guests. Talented guests are also welcome to sing. Music styles encourage fast and slow dancing.

Atlanta CFA International Cat Show

Cat shows and cat breeders - what an interesting phenomenon. Its all about winning and certainly more fun when you have at least a few ribbons to hang on your cages.... but this time with no cats entered, it was relaxed for me and I thoroughly enjoyed having the chance to meet several Siberian breeders and see their cats. Here are a few pictures (mostly courtesy of my friend Judith) of rows of cat cages - there were over 750 cats and a judging ring.
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Walking around shopping was pretty good too!! 
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The final awards were very formal and quite impressive as the best kitten, champion cat, and alter cat of each breed was presented.

Flight to Atlanta

Luckily a short flight as this was the view to my side, man sleeping
with his arms folded at shoulder height and sticking into my seat, I'm
in the last row where seats don't recline (not appreciated at 7AM) and
the smell of bathroom deodorizer is very strong and giving me a
headache..... what a contrast to by last flight....lesson on this one
is the good life is better.....but I knew that and didn't need this
flight to confirm it.

Downtown Nashville

Walking impressions of downtown Nashvile....

These little boxes with giveaway ads and newspapers all in a row made me think of the Terracotta Army in China....
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Nashville Hard Rock in the land of softer rock.

The old and the new Nashville - old part of Hardrock and the AT&T building


Down by the River

And an old bar on 2nd Ave

BB King's where we get to attend a private party hosted by Rockwell Automation tonight.


Gingko Biloba trees - now known to not help prevent Alzheimers...

A lesson from 30,000 feet

I knew a young woman when I worked at the Mayo Clinic who was from the Mayo family and couldn't reconcile her background and her boyfriend- he was a truck driver and too unpolished for her friends - but no one else was quite what she wanted... and I always thought it was very sad she broke up with him for that reason.

I always think of her when I hear Carly Simon sing The Carter Family which is playing on my iphone. I guess there is a lesson here.

you used to make me moan in bed but that can't be enough
my friends complained your jokes were crude your manners were too rough

don't know just what I wanted but I know I wanted more, someone smooth presentable to blend with my decor
now at night I think of how you grinned when you undressed
and I find I miss you more than I'd ever have guessed

Flying first class (on frequent flyer miles) to Nashville and three glasses of wine have made these old memories a little sentimental but now the Iphone has moved on and is playing Transsiberian orchestra and we are landing soon... did I mention they served me three glasses of wine? Maybe the lesson is don't drink so much wine on the airplane.....

Pat Cotter
Sent from my iPhone

Nashville and Atlanta - waiting

Here I am at the airport just waiting.....Bill's flight was earlier as he had to fly all on Delta. So I am enjoying the NWA WorldClub lounge, free food and just watching The Other Boleyn Girl. It beats sitting at home with housework calling my name...



A very sad and emotional version. It is a story that has always intrigued me in its various forms. And it has certainly helped pass the four hours I had to wait for my airplane.

More coming from the town of the Grand Ole Opry and our friend Jeanne whom we will be seeing there.
And then on to the International CFA Cat Show in Atlanta....

Here is my little cubicle at NWA :)

See Judith, there is my IM open, waiting to hear from you that Illyana arrived safely!

Its been a fun ride - two litters of kittens born 5 days apart - six in each litter! Right now there are 9 left, and constant motion and constant sounds of them running, climbing, scuffling with each other, batting toys, running into things... how can soft little 2 lb kittens make SO much noise??

But they are starting to leave now - 3 gone, 1 leaves today, 2 on Saturday. The rest a little later, with at least 2 staying with us as future breeders.


Next week I get a little break....I get to leave the cattery for a few days! That doesn't happen very often because between my home business and the cats, its hard to leave.... but my daughters will stay here and cat sit and even run the business! How lucky am I?

We are going to Nashville, TN where Bill has a trade show to attend and I get to visit a favorite friend who lives there. After a little Opryland, we'll be off to Atlanta, GA where we are going to the CFA International Cat show. There we will meet several other Siberian cat breeders and help out some that are bringing cats to show.



Looking forward to seeing Stone Mountain Christmas Village

Where the hell am I?

I discovered this guy and his movies a few months ago - well actually my daughter showed me his movie probably six months before. And I thought it was dumb.... she was upset with me when (having totally forgotten she showed it to me), I showed her and said how cool it is... :)


You can see this in better quality on www.wherethehellismatt.com and read about his life...

But here is someone who just up and quit his job to do something totally adventurous and fun - and amazingly got discovered, thanks to YouTube and now has a sponsor sending him around to do more movies worldwide and speak all over the country. Makes you want to at least take a week off and go SOMEWHERE!

Just heard from an old friend from Notre Dame too - he was a high level techie at HP and now has quit, moved to the San Juan Islands, took flying lessons, became an instructor and works scheduling for an air charter company. How cool is that! But then he never had to pay big (BIG) bucks for kids tuition and we did, and gladly.



BUT, some days I really want to just walk away from everything and start new somewhere really cool....

But still I was able to not have a boss since 1985 (other than my kids) and still have a business that makes some money (The Preemie Store) and now my cats (Shadowheart Siberians)who are my hobby, my love and actually do sometimes make me money too.