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A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP CAN TAKE YOU FROM A COUCH TO A BARD AND A CAT WITH A DREAM

Happy slumbering, Dear Weekend Readers.
I am Porche Noel, the Personal Dog of the guy who usually provides the filling for this literary peanut butter & jelly sandwich called Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap.
Yes, it is true that at readlarrypowell.com I have been a sleeping dog face every now and then. For this edition, I am both awake and asleep. That is either a political reference or an NFL defensive backfield reference. No offense to office-holders or Dallas Cowboys.
My job in life is author/companion. Author doesn’t pay well, but companion comes with plenty of food and a place to sleep.
First, in today’s deep thought segment, we ask a question involving a longtime friend of my ancestral family. My great-great-great-and so forth on back to the 1600s grandparents knew him as “Will” and sometimes as “Bill” but mostly as “The Money.”
The question is:
Did William Shakespeare have a crab?
Yes, he did. And as your extensive research will demonstrate, Will/Bill had a dog named Crab, a canine character in The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Yes, Shakespeare on stage had a dog and didn’t need fancy whizzbang electronic computer gadgets to get the character across to the audience. I think the publicity posters may have read “LIVE! ON STAGE! CRAB -- THE DOG WITH THE THEATRICAL TAIL”
So that brings us to this photograph — we are not live, on stage, but we are Wendy Louise Wagstaff Arden (near the camera) and me, Porche Noel, canine nose shoved into hiding at the other end of the couch. We know how to take up space on a couch.  [PORCHE ASIDE: That's my sweet sleepin' face on the right. I wear it 98 percent of the day.]
Dogs knew long before humans knew it that sleep is an important element in a healthy mammalian life. Thus, in the name of physical fitness, “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap.” Insomnia is not a canine or feline curse — it ia a human challenge — yes, a. human “Malédiction de nocturne.”
And with that, we’ll close today's trip from the 21st century to the era when Crab walked the stage on behalf of the Bard of Avon. [EDITOR’S NOTE: William Shakespeare was born in April 1564, coincidentally, the last year the Dallas Cowboys won the Super Bowl.] [CORRECTION FROM PORCHE: We have a bitter text editor who made that ups and inserted it into my entertaining Crab & The Bard report. My sincerest Canine Apologies. The last Super Bowl year was 1996, in the previous century. Thank you for your patience.. Fact-minded Porche Noel.]
[PORCHE EXPLANATION: Moving along, that is a photograph from several years ago of a sleeping dog (me) and a mono-eyed cat who writes what  he calls “poetry” in a trance brought on by listening to '60s rock 'n' roll while translating Latin in his still 16-year-old day-dreaming mind.]
And that concludes this edition of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap.  As the Romans once said, "Sic friat crustulum." (Translates as "That's the way the cookie crumbles."
[DEAR READERS:  Remember to send photos of your sleeping dogs and napping cats to us at [email protected] and we’ll feature them in the weekend edition of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cat’s Nap. As Lady Macbeth originally said when the new puppy soiled the castle carpet, “Show your sleeping dogs. Show us your napping cats. What's done cannot be undone.” LARRY ASIDE: It’s amazing how artfully literary a 1960s junior college dropout can look when he has access to the internet and a willingness to have fun with words and the original author’s been gone so long that even his lawyers are too dead to file a lawsuit. And that, too, is a Shakespearean reference. It’s a line about lawyers from Shakespeare’s Henry VI — a comic line. Some say. You can look it up.
That, on the right is Senior Office Cat William Powell, long a fan of stage productions in the modern years. In particular he dreams of taking on the lead role in Tennessee William's 1955 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. 
-- THANK YOU FOR READING AND GET SOME SLEEP! -- 

FOR A FRIDAY EDITION: CHOWS IN COWTOWN; CUTIES IN MESQUITE, CONTEMPLATIONS IN PRINT

EDITION OF FRIDAY, SEPT. 6, 2024 [PetPowellPress] I was going to put off mentioning this, but I might as well go ahead and note that the Holiday Insights online calendar people report that September 6 is “Fight Procrastination Day.” It’s also National Coffee Ice Cream Day (never had that) and “Read a Book Day” — when I could read faster, I could do that. Nowadays I celebrate “Read A Book Quarterly Day.”
FROM OUTTA THE PAST,
REMEMBER A CHOW FAN
On Friday, I opened the Facebook page for Fort Worth Animal Care and Control Placement Network HERE
and found photos of Chows with a headline that read “RESCUE NEEDED BY EOD 9/6.”
[LARRY ASIDE: Immediately I remembered the late Dianne Watson, gone many years now, but the triumph of her mission to save every Chow that needs saving made an impression on a lot of people. Bless Dianne and may her spirit help get these two into happy homes.]
The note on the website read, “CHOW CHOW LOVERS!! We have two pretty Chows that were brought to us after being dumped at another shelter. They are currently in our medical treatment ward and we are out of space and need to get these babies placed ASAP. They are not doing well in the shelter environment and will benefit from getting over their URI out of the shelter. “
The goal is to get them out of the shelter by the the end of the day today!
THE CHOWS ARE:
GRIFFIN (#56624542) A 4-year-old fellow who weighs 39 pounds.
CHEYENNE (#56624515) is a 4-year-old, 41-pound medium-sized girl.
The rules at the Fort Worth Shelter for helping this pair of Chows include, “DO NOT CALL THE SHELTER!”
To rescue these dogs, email [email protected].
You may also see them at the Silcox Campus of Fort Worth Animal Care and Control at 4900 Martin Street on the southeastern side of Fort Worth.
SOMETIMES THE DOGS
CAPTURE THE CAMERA
We got the photos and stories of these two adorable adoptables from Debra Chisholm of the bio-writing corps at Mesquite Animal Shelter.
As you can tell, she has focused, so to speak, on two dogs who can “work the camera.”
Of the first dog, Debra writes, "This delightful and handsome boy is Jax, a stray that arrived on 8/31. … He weighs 74 pounds, is approx 3 years old and is neutered. “My Dog Scanner app suggests Rhodesian Ridgeback or Redbone Coonhound in his mix. 
The $64,000 question is ‘Why has his owner not come looking for him?’ He looks as though he’s been well cared for. He is an enthusiastic tail-wagging, sweet-natured fellow. Jax seems confident, trusting and well adjusted. …He walks beautifully on a leash. He did his business in the yard. He is well mannered with a moderate activity level. Jax is a boy ‘on the move!’  He loves treats and will sit for them for as long as a human friend will dispense them!  Jax is amiable, more than happy to be petted and is willing to receive loving attention.”
See the full bio and that of the second dog, many other dogs and cats by going to the shelter’s website at
https://www.cityofmesquite.com/1239/Animals-in-the-Shelter
Jax is #56678289 — cite that number when you call the shelter at 972-2156-6283 or email [email protected].
Same system for this guy Boyd, #5666266. He came in as a stray on August 2w9. Debra says her Dog Scanner app
“suggests Terrier and Great Dane in the mix, weighing in at 42 pounds and at approx 2 years of age.  He seeks out affection and enjoys the attention of a kind human friend.  In fact he is a lap dog wannabe and he wants to please.  Boyd is playful and likes toys.  What you would immediately note about Boyd is that he is emaciated, skin-and-bones.  Either his owners badly neglected feeding him or he has been out on his own scrounging for food to stay alive. But he is a happy boy, wagging his tail and desiring a human friend and ready to move on with his life. 
“As a result of this malnutrition, he is very food and treat intensive and takes treats roughly. In his new home he would need to be fed separately from other animals or fed in his kennel. The staff is feeding him extra food in appropriate amounts in order to gain a more healthy weight. … He is inquisitive and interested in what is going on in his surroundings.  He wants a person or family that will allow him to live inside and be an integral part of the family circle. From the way he snuggled and cuddled with our volunteer, it is obvious that he is a sociable fellow.”

  He might not be suited for a family with young children until he realizes he doesn't have to desperately grab for food. No how, no way would he be happy being forced to live his life in someone's backyard.  Please assist Boyd in finding his very special forever home by networking or tagging at [email protected], typing in the subject line TAG, ID 56662660.  Interested but have questions?  Then please call 972-216-6283 or email at [email protected]. 
And just in case you wondered, if you click on this MESQUITE SHELTER LINK https://www.cityofmesquite.com/1239/Animals-in-the-Shelter

CONTEMPLATIONS
MAYBE SOME CRACKIN’ WISE
I saw, in a local paper’s report on the Grand Prairie contaminated water crisis, that the city’s mayor had declared “It’s over.” And, as a longtime observer of municipal crises in Texas, and, in particular the Metroplex, I’m almost convinced that no municipal crises is over until the lawyers say it’s over! Someone start counting the lawsuits over the dirty water! …
Speaking of days, one more look at Holiday Insights. For Sept. 7 the online calendar reports and Saturday is National Salami Day, Neither Rain Nor Snow Day, World Beard Day (which I’ve endorsed since 1971) and, finally, National Tailgating Day which, I think, means more people get on Dallas’ freeways and drive as closely together as the law allows.
AND A PERSONAL NOTE PLEASE: My father, Calvin Powell of Texarkana, Texas, never liked anybody making a big deal out of his birthday. But, as the oldest child, it’s my job to do what he didn’t want done. Friday, Sept. 6, is the 100th anniversary of Pop’s birth. He left us at 84 on Nov. 18, 2008. Things haven’t been the same since. I suspect there’s a daily clattering of dominos on a kitchen table in Heaven. And maybe some Hank Williams (the senior singer) on the record player nearby. Have a Heavenly Day, Pop.
—- Offer sage advice or cautions by clicking on ‘comment’ below or by emailing [email protected] and put “GO RANGERS 25” in the subject line. —-