Once upon a time there was a little black cat who had a crush on Charlie Rose...

When we first got Ben and her sister Mosby we also got a big scratching post. It had a nice rug covered platform on the top that they both loved to lay on and watch the world. For a long while we had it in front of the TV for no good reason. Late at night we would often watch the Charlie Rose talk show - after all, Charlie is a good son of North Carolina.

Then we began to notice a strange thing. Little Ben, the silliest kitten that ever walked the earth, would climb up on the perch as soon as Charlie Rose's theme music came on. She would intently stare at Charlie and his coffee cup. One night he was interviewing George Bush. Every second the camera was focused on Charlie, Ben stared at him. As soon as the camera switched to George, Ben's head turned and she started watching something, anything, else. But when the camera went back to Charlie, Ben's head swiveled back to stare at him.

After a month or so of this, fickle Ben dumped him, and has paid no more attention to Charlie since. We have never been able to figure out what the attraction was. Unless it was the coffee cup.