HARD AT WORK ON NEW CAT BOOK!

If you're wondering why I haven't been posting as much lately, it’s because Steve and I are hard at work on the follow up to The World Is Your Litter Box. The new book is titled The World Is STILL Your Litter Box… hey, you can’t say the creative juices aren’t flowing around here! I’m very excited about the book so far. If you enjoyed The World Is Your Litter Box, I’m pretty sure you’ll REALLY like the new one!

As you can imagine, writing a book is very time consuming, (and VERY tiring, as you can see from the photo above), so I want to apologize for not keeping in touch with my blogging pals as often as I should. I certainly don’t mean to ignore anyone! I'll continue to post on my own blog (and yours) whenever I can. I’ll also keep you up to date on the progress of The World Is STILL Your Litter Box and let you know when it will be available, etc. And from time to time, I'll include a little "taste" from the new book for you to read and comment on.

Meanwhile, I hope everything is going well with you and I wish you all the best!

Your Friend & Kitty Author,

Quasi

GOODBYE SOCKS

Socks Clinton, the former first cat, has gone to the Rainbow Bridge. Socks was 19 or 20, which for a kitty is a nice long life.

Socks was adopted by the Clintons’ daughter Chelsea when her father was the governor of Arkansas, and like the good cat he was, he brought much happiness to the entire Clinton family. When Bill Clinton was elected president, Socks came along to Washington and had complete run of the White House. There is no truth to the rumors that Socks clawed up Lincoln couch, shredded the Declaration of Independence, or kacked up excessive hairballs in the Oval Office. He did, however, delight in getting cat hair on important world leaders (actually, I don’t know that for a fact, but hey, ALL us kitties love getting cat hair on people, right?).

When the Clintons left the White House in 2001, Socks went to live with Betty Currie, President Clinton’s former secretary, who adored Socks and gave him a wonderful home for the rest of his life.

Nap in peace, Socks.

THE ECONOMIC STIMULUS PACKAGE - WHAT'S IN IT FOR CATS?

The multi-billion dollar stimulus package, intended to help resurrect the economy that was basically screwed up by short-sighted (and greedy) humans, was signed into law by President Obama on Tuesday.

Now this is all fine and good, but what I really want to know is… how will the stimulus package be of benefit to us cats? Needless to say, I don’t have time to paw through the thousand-plus pages of details, so I thought I’d pose a few question to my kitty friends in the blogosphere, who may have some answers.

Will the stimulus package…

• Put more (and tastier) cat food in our bowls?
• Provide us with better health care coverage for trips to the hated vet?
• Help our humans find jobs so we can take extra long naps while they’re at work?
• Put more money in our humans’ pockets so they can spend it on us?
• Improve our schools so children can learn more about cats?
• Help American workers build better and safer cat toys?
• Help decrease global warming and increase global purring?
• Help reduce our dependence on foreign catnip?

If anyone has the answers to some or all of these questions, please let me know. Meanwhile, let’s hope the stimulus package proves helpful to cats, humans, and all other living things.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Well, it’s that time of year again when a young cat’s fancy turns to love, although yours truly is a hunk-a-hunk-a burnin’ love 365 days a year. Still, there’s nothing like having a special day dedicated to amour for everyone to enjoy and remember how important love truly is. I hope everyone has someone special to share it with.

For your loving (and laughing) pleasure, here’s the “Valentine’s Day” excerpt from the “Holiday Fun & Danger” chapter of The World Is Your Litter Box…

Valentine’s Day: A good holiday for cats. Love is in the air and typically, male humans give female humans gifts such as candy and flowers. This means you will have wrapping paper and ribbons to play with and flowers to sniff (and eat). If your human gets a box of candy and leaves the top off, you can have the sumptuous pleasure of licking and sampling each individual piece. Because humans tend to get all mushy and gooey on Valentine’s day, you can usually expect to receive a little extra lovin’ yourself, and maybe even a present. Steve and his female are such shameless cat lovers that they always buys me a Valentine present, usually a cat toy, catnip, or the most expensive kind of kitty food. Ain’t love grand!

NOTE: In some instances on Valentine’s Day, your human may pay more attention to another human than you. This is UNACCEPTABLE HUMAN BEHAVIOR and cannot be tolerated. If your human is being amorous with another human and ignoring you, jump between (or on) them and meow loudly to express your displeasure. Then, turn your back, stick your rear end in their faces and march off in a huff. Make them understand that Valentine’s Day or not, you are numero uno and will not be ignored.

Along with Steve and his female, I want to wish you and yours a most happy Valentine’s Day!

HOW CATS CAN HELP RESOLVE AMERICA'S ECONOMIC PROBLEMS

As a good American kitty, I would like to propose a solution to all of America’s economic problems, and I call on all cats to help me. And don’t worry, mon fellow chats… you won’t have to go to work or give up any precious nap time. The concept is so simple, I can’t believe some other cat (or government genius) didn’t think of it before! My idea….

NATIONAL PURR DAY
On a given date and time (to be determined), every American human will sit in their favorite chair and hold a kitty on their lap. For humans who don’t have cats (poor devils), one cat will be issued to each person for this event. Then, upon a signal from President Obama, (perhaps the popping open of a can of cat food on national TV), all the cats will begin purring simultaneously. This will create a soothing, rumbling nationwide vibration, which will make everyone feel happy and serene. But Quasi, you ask, how will this solve our economic ills? Well, it won’t, really, but like FDR said, we have nothing to fear but fear itself, and if everyone just calms down a bit, things can only get better, right? That’s me in the photo, doing my part with Steve.

And, hey, all you kitties… even if National Purr Day never becomes a reality, feel free to jump up in your human’s lap and purr whenever you want. After all, as all cat people know, things can never be THAT bad when you’ve got a purring kitty on your lap.

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY

As I’m sure pretty much everyone on the planet (or at least in the United States) knows, February 1st is Super Bowl Sunday. This is a day for friends to gather, drink rivers of beer, eat megatons of Buffalo wings and other gristy-but-delicious junk food, and holler at the TV as gigantic padded male humans yell, growl and snarl, slam into each other, and generally fall down a lot. If a foreign power wanted to invade the U.S., Super Bowl Sunday would be a good day to do it because no one would care… just as long as it didn’t interfere with the game.

Steve and his female are not big football fans – in fact, all the Super Bowl really means to Steve is that the start of spring training for the upcoming baseball season is only two weeks away (Steve IS a major baseball fan). Still, they’ll probably watch the game like the good Americans they are, if nothing else to see Bruce Springsteen perform at half-time. I think Steve is also secretly hoping that one of the cheerleaders might have a “wardrobe malfunction” like Janet Jackson did a few years ago… but don’t tell the female that! As for me, I’ll probably hide, nap, or troll for any errant junk food remnants that might fall on the floor… or more likely, a combination of the above.

At any rate, it’s nice to have a day for Americans to come together and forget their problems for a little while as two football teams, in this case the Cardinals and the Steelers, go mano a mano on the gridiron. Bring on the testosterone!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year, with 2009 being the Year of the Ox, and year 4707 on the Chinese calendar. So to all my Chinese kitty (and human) friends, let me be among the first to say GUNG HAY FAT CHOY… which loosely translated means, “Best wishes and congratulations. Have a prosperous and good year.” That's a traditional Chinese good luck cat in the photo on the left.

Now some of you curious cats might be wondering why each year on the Chinese calendar is named after an animal. Well, ‘ole Quaz Yat-Sen has the answer for you! According to legend, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve animals showed up and Buddha named a year after each one. Unfortunately, no kitties came (they must have been napping or otherwise occupied at the time), so there is no Year of the Cat. Buddha also said that people born in a particular animal’s year would have some of that animal’s personality… which is probably too bad for people born in the Year of the Snake, the Year of the Rat, or… horror of horrors… the Year of the Dog!

Also, and how cool is this… I just found out that The World Is Your Litter Box will be released in Taiwan later this year. So all you mingows (that’s cats) in Taiwan, be on the lookout for it! What would Buddha say!

INAGURATION OF PRESIDENT OBAMA - PART 2

CONGRATULATIONS PRESIDENT OBAMA

Your Inaugural Address was stirring, especially your call for all of us to contribute. As a cat, I would like to offer my services in ridding the White House of any pesky rodents that might be hanging around.

Seriously, though, we wish you all the best in facing the enormous challenges that lie before you, and before all of us as Americans. Speaking on behalf of Steve, the female and (of course) myself, I'm glad you're our new president!

Your Friend,

Quasi

INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT OBAMA

Along with Steve and his female, and just about everyone else on Planet Earth, I just can’t WAIT for Barack Obama’s inauguration. Also, and no offense to you conservative cats out there, it will be great to see George W. Bush in the rearview mirror, although, I think there are actually quite a number of conservatives who would agree with THAT statement! In fact, to honor Mr. Obama’s effort to reach across the aisle to members of the opposing party, I’m going to reach across the driveway and extend a paw of friendship to all the dogs in the neighborhood (well… not really).

Anyway, Tuesday will be a VERY exciting and historic day, and we intend to watch it all from the comfort of our living room… I already have my reserved seat on the back of the couch behind Steve and the female. And aside from the fact that Mr. Obama wants to get a dog for his children instead of a cat, we think he will be a great president and wish him all the very best!

COLD WEATHER AND KITTIES

Last night I was watching TV with Steve and his female (from my usual spot on the back of the couch behind their heads) and I saw that most of the country is currently paralyzed by frigidly-cold weather and lots of that white stuff that falls from the sky and piles up on the ground (snow, I believe they call it). It was kinda strange to me because, being a Southern California kitty, I’ve never seen snow or experienced those kinds of cold temperatures. Also, not to rub it in, but while most of the country is going through a mini-Ice Age, we’ve had sunny days and temperatures in the 80s in Los Angeles.

My first thought when I saw the news about all this cold, nasty weather was… how does all this affect my fellow cats that live in these areas? Can they go outside, or will they freeze their noses and the little pads on their feet? And what about kitties who literally use the outside world as their litter box? I can only imagine how uncomfortable THAT must be! And what if their drinking water freezes? Or, even worse, what if their humans run out of kitty food and can’t get to the store to buy more? It all sounds pretty harrowing to a warm weather cat like me.

But on the other hand, are there any FUN things about snow and cold weather? I’ve heard that dogs like to frolic in the snow (although dogs think pretty much anything is fun, regardless of how horrible or disgusting it might be). How about building snow-kitties? Or ice skating… it seems like it might be kind of fun to slide around on a cool, slick surface. Or maybe a nice steaming cup of tuna-flavored hot chocolate to warm you up?

Anyway, for you cold weather kitties, I hope things warm up soon. Look at it this way... in six months, it will be summer and everyone will be complaining about how hot it is!

MY SPACE GROUP FOR THE WORLD IS YOUR LITTER BOX

Along with my human, Steve, I would like to invite you to join the official My Space group for The World Is Your Litter Box. We’ve created the group to provide a forum for your thoughts and comments about the book, hopefully complimentary and nice, although you can be critical if you want… hey, we can take the heat! We also welcome book reviews and photos of readers... cat, human and otherwise. All ages are welcome, but please… no animal haters, overt weirdos or dangerous cranks.

To join the group, click http://groups.myspace.com/theworldisyourlitterbox.

NEW YEAR - NEW BOOK

Now that we’re into the new year, Steve and I are hard at work on the follow up to The World Is Your Litter Box. We don’t have an official title yet, but the working title is Litter Box 2 (How’s that for original!). I don’t want to give anything away, but let’s just say, if you liked The World Is Your Litter Box, you’ll REALLY like this one!

Now, having said all that, don’t look for the new book in the stores anytime soon. First, we have to finish writing it, and great literature like this doesn’t always come easy (especially when you’re a spoiled, coddled artiste like myself). Then it has to go through all the normal permutations of the publishing industry such as editing, layout, scheduling, etc. The new book will definitely be available before the return of Halley’s Comet, which will make its’ next appearance in mid-2061, but at this point, we can’t exactly say when. I’ll keep you posted, though, as things move along.

Meanwhile – yes here comes the first blatant, shameless plug of 2009 – if you haven’t already read The World Is Your Litter Box yet, or if you know someone who hasn’t, you have plenty of time to pick up a copy before the new book comes out. Hey, we need to keep eating while we work (especially me!).

THE WORLD IS YOUR LITTER BOX WINS "KITTY KNOWS IT ALL AWARD" IN CAT FANCY MAGAZINE

How’s this for a totally cool way to start the new year (for me, anyway!). Grab a copy of the February 2009 issue of Cat Fancy magazine, turn to Page 51, and you’ll find an article titled “They’ve Got Cattitude” by pet lifestyle expert Sandy Robins. In the article, Sandy presents five “Cattitude” awards to various cat books, and guess which book just happens to be one of the winners! Here’s an excerpt…

… And the Kitty Knows It All Award goes to a little gem called The World Is Your Litter Box: A How-To Manual for Cats, (Sterling) written by Steve Fisher. This man certainly knows his place because he claims his cat Quasi is the author. And who can resist such chapter headings as “How to Annoy Humans Who Are Allergic to Cats” and “20 Good Places to Throw Up.”

Thanks to Sandy Robins and Cat Fancy magazine for this prestigious “Cattitude” award. Steve and I are very honored to be among the winners. And you’re right, Sandy… Steve DOES know his place!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Well, fellow cat and cat lovers, 2008 has finally come to an end and a new year has begun. Out with the old and in with the new! For your pleasure and amusement, here’s the “New Years Eve” section from the “Holiday Fun (& Danger)” chapter of The World Is Your Litter Box…

New Years Eve: For some reason, many humans like to begin the new year by celebrating wildly, drinking to excess, and throwing up (and they call us animals!). At midnight, these well-oiled pagans yell “HAPPY NEW YEAR,” hug and kiss other humans they normally hate, then sing “Old Lang Syne” and get all blubbery. This is a holiday that does not hold a lot of promise for cats. Most likely your house will be filled with loud, obnoxious strangers and you will have to seek refuge in one of your favorite hiding places. However, there are a couple benefits. First of all, when humans have parties, their guests often leave their coats on the bed in a darkened bedroom. This provides you with an excellent opportunity to sleep on different clothing (and to leave cat hair all over it and teach the intruders a lesson for disturbing YOUR peace and quiet). The best part of New Years Eve, however, is when all the revelers finally go home. In most cases, your human will be too tired (or too wasted) to clean up the mess. When they finally noodle out, the remaining food and debris is YOURS FOR THE TAKING. Because your human will probably sleep soundly for hours, you can eat as much as you want and play among the ruins to your heart’s content. Sex and drugs and rock ‘n roll!

NOTE #1: If you come across a bottle with a small amount of liquid still inside... go ahead and taste it, but DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK. One New Years Eve, I knocked over and drank about a third of a bottle of beer and, oooooh wheeee, it really twisted my head around. I must admit, fellow celebrant, that I got a little goofy my own self. Ultimately, I ended up falling asleep and missing most of the fun. So be careful what you drink. And before you “party hearty, appoint a designated kitty.

NOTE #2: Because humans tend to become a little wobbly when they drink, be sure to stay out of their way to avoid being stepped on, or crushed if they pass out and tip over. Also, for you outdoor cats, stay away from the street where reckless and sometimes drunk drivers abound.

Along with Steve and his female, I want to wish you and yours all the very best in 2009!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

With Christmas Day nearly upon us, here’s a little holiday entertainment for you in the form of the "Christmas" section from the “Holiday Fun (& Danger)" chapter of The World Is Your Litter Box...

Christmas: The mother of all holidays... a time for joy, goodwill, and complete madness. This is a holiday that is nothing but fun for cats. The Christmas lights. The presents. The tree. The tinsel. The ornaments. The egg nog. Deck the halls indeed!

Although many stores start selling Christmas stuff in July, or so it seems, most humans start their serious Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving (although, for extra thrills and chills, some masochistic humans wait until December 24th). This means the Christmas season lasts around one month – one full month of crowded malls and post offices, angry drivers duking it out over parking spaces, mind-deadening Christmas music, maxed-out credit cards, and endless unrealistic TV commercials showing rich people buying each other plasma TVs and other expensive presents that normal mortals can’t afford. Why do humans put themselves through it? I don’t know.

But forget them. What about us cats, you say? Just what’s so special about Christmas from the feline perspective?

Well, fellow reveler, let’s start with that most traditional of holiday traditions, the Christmas tree. A week or two before Christmas, most humans bring in a fir or pine-type tree from outside and decorate it with lights, tinsel, candy canes and ORNAMENTS. These colorful shiny balls may possibly be the best thing about Christmas – the way they dangle and glisten so invitingly, just begging to be batted at. Who can resist? Not me, that’s for sure. Or you either. And why should we? After all, if our humans were truly worried about damage to their ornaments, they wouldn’t hang them in such a tempting location. So don’t be bashful, fellow sultan of swat. Whack at those ornaments until your heart’s content. And hey, if you happen to knock a few (or several) off the tree, don’t sweat it. It’s Christmas!

Then there’s the yuletide thrill of climbing the Christmas tree. However, a word of caution here. A few years back, I shinnied up my tree all the way to the top. Just as I was getting ready to do my impersonation of the Star of Bethlehem, my massive kitty girth upset the fundamental balance of gravity and the tree topped over with a resounding, tinkling crash (those ornaments DO break if they hit the floor hard enough). Naturally, Steve was pretty chagrined... although, deep down, I think he thought it was pretty funny.

It’s also great to sleep under the Christmas tree. You can even pretend you are a present if you like. And there is nothing like a refreshing drink of cool, pine-scented Christmas tree water to really get you in the holiday spirit.

Another great thing about Christmas is the presents, or, should I say, the ribbon and wrapping on the presents. The amazing thing is, fellow cat, that after all the painstaking planning, the stupefying shopping and the manual dexterity-challenging wrapping of gifts, the actual present-opening ritual is over in a matter of minutes, leaving an orgy of detritus for you to play in. Oh the joy of taking a flying leap at a mountain of crumpled-up wrapping paper, the glee of scattering colorful ribbons and bows around the living room, the unparalleled pleasure of climbing into new, unexplored empty boxes, the ego-flattering self indulgence of posing for photographs amid the rubble. And because your human won’t want you to feel left out of all the gift-giving – and receiving – they will probably buy something nice for you. In my house, its usually just a trifle like catnip or a cat toy, but hey, it’s the thought that counts, right? Besides, on top of all the other previously-mentioned delights of Christmas, an extra present is merely icing on the cake.

And of course, when the merriment finally comes to an end and your human is cleaning up the wreckage, there is nothing better than a contented-cat snooze in front of a roaring yuletide fire.

NOTE #1: Many children-humans break or become disinterested in their Christmas presents within minutes of receiving them, thus leaving them for you to play with and break further, if you so desire. Also, be sure to investigate the presents given and received by adult humans. Most likely, you will find some nice new clothing to curl up and sleep on.

NOTE #2: Sparkly and inviting as it may seem, DO NOT EAT TINSEL.

NOTE #3: Some humans will become very angry when you knock ornaments and other objects off the Christmas tree. Many will even create an ornament timber line, that is, they will only hang ornaments in positions above your reach. DON’T LET THIS STOP YOU FROM HAVING YOUR GOD-GIVEN RIGHT TO BAT AT CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS. If ornaments are placed beyond your reach, climb up the tree and rock it back and forth like a bear at Yellowstone National Park. This will surely cause a few things to fall, or at least tumble to a place where you can get at them. (For ways to combat your human's anger over broken Christmas ornaments, see chapter entitled “How to Get Away with Unacceptable Kitty Behavior.”)

Along with Steve and his female, I want to wish everyone (cat, human and otherwise) a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A GREAT HOLIDAY GIFT FOR CATS & CAT LOVERS

Hi fellow cats and cat lovers. ‘Tis the season to be jolly, spread some good tidings – and sell some books. Yes, that’s right… it’s time for another brazen, unabashed holiday plug for my book, The World Is Your Litter Box. Here’s a list of ten great reasons why Litter Box makes the PERFECT gift this holiday season:

• It’s the hippest, coolest cat book out this year (if I don’t say so myself!)
• It doesn’t require any complicated assembly
• It weighs only four ounces, so it’s cheap to ship
• It won’t break or fall apart on Christmas morning
• It won’t have to be returned because it doesn’t fit right
• It makes a much nicer gift than argyle socks
• It’s easy to wrap
• It’s more edible than tinsel
• It’s WAY cheaper than a plasma TV
• It’s VERY funny, and I think we can all use some good laughs right about now

So why not make it easy on yourself this year? The perfect holiday gift for cat lovers is only a bookstore away (or, if you prefer, a few clicks on Amazon.com). Ho-ho-ho!

CAT BITES SANTA!

Here’s a nice little Christmas event that didn’t go exactly as planned. During a Santa Paws photo shoot at a PetsMart store in New Jersey, a very large cat named Benny, who was sitting on Santa’s lap, became freaked out by nearby dogs (speaking in their thunderous, horrible tongue, no doubt), and BIT SANTA ON THE WRIST AND HAND!

Fortunately for everyone involved, primarily Santa and Benny, everything seems to be working out okay. Benny’s owner provided assurances that Benny has had all his vaccines and Santa said that he did not want anything to happen to Benny. However, unless Benny’s owner produces his vaccination records, Santa will have to undergo a series of rabies shots. Ouchie! Let’s hope that doesn’t have to happen.

So, fellow cat, the moral of this story is that if your human takes you to have your photo taken with Santa, biting or scratching ‘ole St. Nick is probably not the best way to show him that you’ve been a good little girl or boy. And Benny, I probably wouldn’t count on Santa coming through with that new mechanized litter box you want for Christmas this year.

A DOG IN THE WHITE HOUSE? HOW ABOUT A CAT?

Like most Americans, Steve and his female are very excited about Barack Obama being our next president. As a good tax-paying kitty (well, not really), I too am looking forward to the Obama presidency. Except for one thing…

It seems that at some point during the campaign, Obama promised his daughters that they could get a dog if he won the election and they moved into the White House. Now that’s all fine and good, and dogs do make good pets, but I DEMAND that cats get equal time! Sure, a kitty might claw up the furniture in the oval office, mangle important documents on the president’s desk, get cat hair on the clothing of important world leaders, or walk across the console in the communications room and inadvertently sever diplomatic relations with France, Great Britain and Chad… but hey, these are minor things that certainly should not disqualify one of our feline brethren from becoming a pet for the Obama girls.

So, Mr. President-Elect, even though you’ve got your hands full with the economy and what-not, how about taking a few moments out to consider the possibility of a cat in the White House. As a good American, I would even be happy to donate a copy of The World Is Your Litter Box so the presidential kitty would know exactly what to do to make their life (and yours) even more pleasant and enjoyable!

THE WORLD IS YOUR LITTER BOX - BOOK SIGNING

This Friday, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM, Steve will be signing copies of The World Is Your Litter Box at the Toluca Lake Christmas open house in - yes, that's right - Toluca Lake, California. Steve will be in front of A Tamara Dahill Salon at 10216 Riverside Drive. If you live in the area, please drop by and say hello... and maybe even buy a signed copy of Litter Box as a holiday gift for the cat lover in your life!

The Toluca Lake Christmas open house is an annual tradition where Riverside Drive is blocked off and all the merchants stay open late and give out treats like cookies and glasses of wine. Zillions of people come out and stroll around and sing Christmas carols, and of course, Santa makes an appearance for the kids. For a cat like me, it would be way scary, but for humans, its a lot of fun. Ho-Ho-Ho indeed!

THANKSGIVING & BLACK FRIDAY REDUX

Right about now, if you’re a human, you’re probably thinking, “Oh, God, I hate going back to work after the holiday” (If you’re a cat, today is pretty much like any other day). The Thanksgiving gorge-a-thon and Black Friday shopping tumult of 2008 are now history. Next stop… Christmas. Gulp!

As I’m sure you know, Black Friday was marred by complete human madness that included the death of a Wal-Mart employee who was trampled by frenzied shoppers, and a shootout at a Toys-R-Us in California that left a couple shoppers dead. This proves, once again, that cats are WAY SMARTER than people. A cat would NEVER go shopping on Black Friday, much less participate in gunplay or a rampage where other humans are trampled to death (although, in all honesty, I must say that if we cats had opposable thumbs, we probably WOULD exchange gunfire from time to time).

At any rate, please tell your human to be cool and stay frosty this holiday season. There’s plenty of time to shop, and there’s no need to trample or shoot anyone to get to that copy of The World Is Your Litter Box you’re planning to buy as a holiday gift for the cat lover in your life. Yes I know, another cheap plug for my book, but we’ve got to get in those holiday promos while we can… and at least we’re not subjecting you to nauseating Johnny Mathis Christmas music!