The most fascinating thing in the world...

...is this:


Or at least it is to the kids. In case you couldn't tell from the pic, it's one of those plastic pull tabs typically featured on beverage cartons. Since I drink a fluid fuck-ton of coffee with half and half, I always have these things around. And it's not like they make a lot of noise when you pull one off, but the cats come running from another room when they hear it being removed. (Much the same way we did in college when we heard the pop top on a brewski).

I don't understand the obsession with them. They don't move. They haven't been baked in an opium den with catnip. They don't flash and sparkle. But they remain, by far, the favorite "toy." And I've tried other things. Doorknob hangy things with feathers. Rolling balls with bells. Mice shaped toys stuffed with herbs. But they know what they like, and dammit, that's what it is. They're cheap (or no cost, depending on how you look at it), however, the only downside is that they don't play well with the vacuum cleaner. They're easy enough to avoid when vacuuming, though, so it's a small price to pay for the eternal gratitude and constant joy they seem to bring.

So let's hear it for plastic pull tabs, the most fascinating toy known to man. Or cat.

Just for the "awwwww" factor: