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David McElroy

making sense of a dysfunctional culture

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Monkeys celebrating new donation button, hoping for more bananas

By David McElroy · February 8, 2012

When I added a donation button to the site earlier this week — on the top right of the page — I had no idea people would actually use it. As you can see from this picture of Leonardo counting the money, though, some donations have already come in.

I’ve been urged for months to add this feature, but I resisted because it felt too much like begging. People kept telling me that some folks wanted to give, so I should give them a chance. So if you enjoy the site and want to help feed the monkeys, this is your chance.

The monkeys are starting to make lists of things they want me to buy with the money. The leading idea, of course, is more bananas, but a few had interesting ideas. One mentioned a company helicopter for them to fly. Another thought we should get new typewriters for all the monkeys. One guy even mentioned getting t-shirts for all the readers. I’m still thinking about what to do with this motherlode of cash, but right now I’m leaning toward blowing it on Chick-fil-A or the bill for Internet service.

Seriously, I really appreciate those of you who’ve contributed. The money is really nice, but the psychological boost that comes from the support is even more important. So thanks. I really appreciate you.

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David likes email, but can’t reply to every message. I get a surprisingly large number of requests for relationship advice — seriously — but time doesn’t permit a response to all of them. (Sorry.)

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If you enjoy this site and want to help, click here. All donations are appreciated, no matter how large or small. (PayPal often doesn’t identify donors, so I might not be able to thank you directly.)




Future Photo Display

As part of my effort to rid my life of social media, I will no longer display links to my two Instagram accounts here. Those accounts will be dormant for the time being and will eventually be deleted. I plan to have a method for displaying photos here instead, but the solutions I’ve tested so far have been disappointing. I’m still working on it.

My Instagram

I need some new portraits of myself, so I tried a I need some new portraits of myself, so I tried a few shots after I got home late Monday night. This one wasn’t great, so I’ll try again later, but I can use it until I have time to shoot another. I was too lazy to light this one properly — and it shows. 😺
Sunset, Leeds, Alabama — August 27, 2026 Sunset, Leeds, Alabama — August 27, 2026
Sunset, Leeds, Alabama — August 19, 2026 Sunset, Leeds, Alabama — August 19, 2026
When I got home at midnight Monday, I was doing so When I got home at midnight Monday, I was doing some work in the studio and Oliver wanted to join me, so I showed him around to acclimate him to the place again. He rarely goes in there, but I have pictures of him in that studio on the night I brought him home as a kitten. 😺
Earlier this week, I found two photos of Lucy and Earlier this week, I found two photos of Lucy and me that I had never seen. I loved finding the pictures, but seeing these photos left me thinking about the effect it has on us when we lose an animal we love — and it was also a reminder of how much my life has changed for the last nine months it’s been since I lost her. I wrote an essay about this. You can find it as the most recent post at davidmcelroy.org right now if you’re interested. I really do miss this sweet girl.
When I take lightning pictures, I’m always hoping When I take lightning pictures, I’m always hoping to get just one usable photo, but I got two dramatic images tonight. You might recognize the water tower and communication tower that you’ve seen in many of my sunset photos. This is about a mile from my house in Leeds, which is just east of Birmingham.
For those who are in places where it’s miserably h For those who are in places where it’s miserably hot today, here is a minute of light rain and gentle thunder from my back yard late Saturday afternoon. It’s very relaxing to stand at my back door and watch this, especially since the heat is pretty mild today — 80 degrees (about 26 celsius) — for July in the American South.
Alex was willing to cooperate with me for a new po Alex was willing to cooperate with me for a new portrait late Wednesday night. It’s been roughly three and a half years now since the cold night when I was able to lure him out from behind a garbage dumpster into a trap — but I don’t think he’s sorry at this point that he fell for the trick. 😺
This is the face of a man who’s thrilled that the This is the face of a man who’s thrilled that the weekend is finally here. It was a very long (and productive) week, but the time has finally come that I have time to write and read and think. Late Friday night, I’m at the McDonald’s near my house with a Diet Dr Pepper and a MacBook. For me, it’s like Cheers without the booze.
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From the CritterCam: I’m not home to see what migh From the CritterCam: I’m not home to see what might have awakened Sam from his nap briefly, but he seemed to wake up long enough to look outside a nearby window before curling back into a ball for more sleep. These felines have really tough lives.
I’ve just gotten home and I’m changing out of my d I’ve just gotten home and I’m changing out of my dress clothes, so Meg and Oliver have come to keep me company. They’re both on the bed while I change, but they’re not getting any closer than about three feet. There’s been no hissing so far tonight.
This is about as close as I’ve seen Meg and one of This is about as close as I’ve seen Meg and one of the boys voluntarily come to one another. Sam was very curious about Meg just a moment ago, so he walked right up to her and I was able to snap one quick frame. When he got slightly closer than this, she hissed slightly and Sam ran off, but they’re getting closer and closer to each other. I keep saying this, but I’ll say again that it’s slow but steady. She has been with us for two weeks today.
Alex and Sam have both developed a love for this c Alex and Sam have both developed a love for this cat bed on my desk. (It actually came with Oliver when he was a kitten, but the other two love it far more than he does.) When Sam is in the bed, Alex often stands impatiently to the side, waiting for him to get up — and then they seemingly swap places when I check later. It’s a funny pattern to watch.
At the end of a long day, Meg is looking out a win At the end of a long day, Meg is looking out a window with me at the front of the house. I’ve taken this exact photo with all the other cats of the last few years, so she’s joining the tradition.
We’ve had thunder and lightning this evening — to We’ve had thunder and lightning this evening — to go with the rain you can see — and Meg isn’t sure what she thinks about all that. She’s already nervous in the office with all three of the other cats, so the thunder was a bit much for her.
I came home a bit after 10 p.m. Friday to find Meg I came home a bit after 10 p.m. Friday to find Meg sound asleep, but she laid in my arms and purred as she tried to wake up. I’ve been able to leave her in the same rooms as the rest of the cats for several days now and there are no problems. They still avoid one another — and there can be some mild hissing if one of the boys gets too close — but they’re getting closer and closer to accepting her as one of their social group.
I think Meg is quite comfortable living inside the I think Meg is quite comfortable living inside the house already. A few minutes ago, she was just posing nicely on the bed, but shortly after that, she was stretched out to be far longer than I thought she could be. 😺
Late Wednesday night, Meg is the only one of the c Late Wednesday night, Meg is the only one of the cats still hanging out with me in the bedroom while I’m writing.
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Briefly

Meet my new girlfriend. Her name is Meg. And she’s my little sweetheart. A couple of months ago, a neighbor across the street told me about a new stray in the neighborhood that she and I were both soon feeding. The cat had been very skittish about contact and she had a lot of scabs and parasites in her fur, but a trip to the vet last week revealed that she was otherwise in good health. The vet estimates her to be 1 to 2 years old. I named her for Meg Murry, the 13-year-old protagonist of Madeleine L’Engle’s wonderful book, “A Wrinkle in Time.” (Please read the book. Don’t watch the horrible movie.) Since we lost Lucy almost a year ago, it seems appropriate that we finally have a new little girl to join the household. She’s already captured my heart, but Alex, Oliver and Sam aren’t there quite yet.

There’s nothing socially acceptable that’s as dangerous as drinking alcohol. Most people grow up being told to “drink responsibly” — and all of us see people abusing this drug in one way or another — but the truth is that drinking alcohol is always a terrible risk. The alcohol in these drinks is toxic and the human liver has to work hard to filter the toxins out. What most people don’t realize is that alcohol is classified as a known carcinogen by the World Health Organization — because of the well-established connection between imbibing and various cancers. Many people have taken refuge behind the idea that light or moderate drinking might be safe, but a new study shows that drinking even one drink a day increases the risks of 10 types of cancer. When I was a teen-ager, I looked around and saw the negative effects that this behavior had on a lot of people and decided not to start drinking, so I’ve never even tried this poison. The evidence keeps piling up that I was lucky to have come to that conclusion early.

It turns out that the radical far left has been training “Antifa cats” to sabotage anything important to Donald Trump. Everything he did was perfect. Honest. It was all the cats’ fault. Arrest all the cats! This is the latest of my ridiculous satirical shorts. Please go watch it. Then “like” it and subscribe. Please. I’m begging you. (Too much?) Although a couple of the previous videos have had views in the hundreds, most have still been seen by fewer than 20 people. So I seem to be having trouble letting people know that page exists.

Here’s the latest of my ridiculous parody shorts. It crossed my mind Tuesday to wonder what a slick and fast-talking car dealer might do right now to try to turn the high price of gasoline to his advantage. So I conceived of a fat and lovable character who tried to sell cars that don’t use any fuel — and then I started wondering if it would be funnier if all the characters were felines. Designing the King Cashpaw character took about four hours, but the rest took only another four hours, so this was a relatively quick piece that virtually wrote itself. I know it’s almost impossible for these parody videos to find a larger audience, but at least they amuse me — and there are 19 of them on my YouTube page now. The first few were very limited, but they’re getting more complex.

The Republican Party is dead. It still exists in name, of course, but it’s nothing but a shell. All that’s left are idiots and stooges and con men of the MAGA party. When Donald Trump is gone — which won’t be long — those populist idiots and pragmatic fools will have no one to follow. Democrats will thrive. They will take more power than ever and they will push the federal government further to the radical far left than ever. When that happens, don’t just blame Trump if you’re a conservative. Blame every person who has claimed to be a conservative and has given up on principles, character and everything else that Republicans once claimed to stand for. As someone who worked as a GOP political consultant for many years, this is disgusting and disturbing to me. Those who have enabled Trump to have almost unchecked power are going to be shocked when they see what they will unleash in the long run. It’s been plain all along what this narcissistic con man is. It’s your fault that you chose to pretend not to see what he really is.

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