Could I get some sweet-passing~ma for my cat, Elliot? I've been treating him for lymphoma, but now his liver is failing and I'm having him put down after work. He was a sweet cat that loved everyone and a joy to be around. I'm going to miss him very, very much.

Some of you may remember the long post I made twelve years ago when I took Emmett to First Grade in the East Bay by BART for the first time. It was a bittersweet note because I'd lost the battle on whether Emmett was going to go to school in San Francisco or the East Bay, and it was consigning me to more than a decade of brutal commuting, often three and a half hours a day.

I couldn't imagine then how I would be able to do it. It seemed unlikely that I'd be able to stay in San Francisco. My pride and pleasure in his first day of school was mixed with all those darker feelings of despair.

And this morning I drove him to school for the last time, as he's graduating from Albany High School and will be attending Sonoma State College starting in late August.

Somehow those twelve years passed. Somehow I managed the driving. As happens so often in life, the insurmountable, impossible task that confronts you is completed.

And he's happy, and a good young man, smart and funny and loving. Well more accomplished in his childhood than I was. And I am done with that drive.

I have a new piece up at Hilobrow about the great 20s Jazz crooner, Cliff Edwards, aka, Ukelele Ike. But best known to most as the voice of Jiminy Cricket. He also originated and made famous songs as various as "Ja Da," "Singing in the Rain" (in 1929), and "Fascinatin' Rhythm." A mostly forgotten but hugely influential American vocalist. Check it out!

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My Photoshopped tribute to the late, great Casey Kasem:

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Arthur makes the news.

He hasn't looked nearly so well the last couple of days. The surgeon thinks his immune suppressant levels are too high, causing nausea and lethargy. He plans to adjust as soon as the results come in on the latest bloodwork.

For those of you playing the home game, I passed my Board Exam. My code name is now officially "Doctor Otter."

Kara is back in the hospital. No details yet. All the ~ma you can spare is gratefully appreciated.

Any job~ma that could be sent my way on Saturday afternoon would be great.

If heath~ma can be sent in the direction of Otter Lake, NY I would appreciate it. Mom is in the hospital getting treated for pneumonia, again. She has had it several times in the past few years. She had a cold/flu and her grandson was watching her closely, checking her oxygen levels, listening to her chest, etc. and decided to take her to the ER this morning.

They admitted her and hope to give her IV drugs and be able to release her in a day or two since my nephew has a lot of EMT experience and lives very close by. They will send her home with oxygen but he was already a step ahead and had picked up a tank from the local firehouse to have on hand.

It isn't bad, but she will be 93 this summer and has heart valve issues, so it is always tricky.

Thanks in advance for keeping her in your thoughts. I hope to head that way some time this week or by the weeks end.