I was born on an Air Force base in Virginia to some teenage children. After a short classified assignment for the president, my family returned home to Washington State. From about age four to age fifteen, I was raised by dogs and cats. I occasionally intersected with my parents by accident. “Oh it’s you?! I have to make you a lunch, don’t I?” As I grew into a young adult I was very confused and lacked direction. My parents very much wanted me to become a crack-whore, but I gravely disappointed them by graduating from college. Though they did not notice until years after the event, they still take my failings personally.

And now, here I am, humbled before you dear readers, begging your attention from such things as reality television and Wendy’s bacon cheeseburgers so that you might notice my rock band. Yes, my rock band. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I, Neko Case, could be part of something so grand. I have become equal parts truck driver, gladiator, and mule. It has been no bed of roses, and clean gas station toilets are few and far between, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. And in America no less! It just goes to show that if you keep plowing away, extraordinary things can happen. Why just today in this beautiful part of the country I’ve seen two wolves, an elk, four javelinas, a fox, a coyote, and a great horned owl. Wow! Wealth indeed! By far the wildest thing I’ve seen today however was a KFC day-manager named “Shelly” wearing a floor length leather trench coat sporting a very serious tattoo of a vampire bite/neck puncture wound. She had her KFC baseball cap on too. I wonder what kind of fantasy mate Shelly is trying to attract? To me, the tattoo says “I’m lookin’ to date make-believe Draculas.” That’s the kind of pioneering spirit I’m talking about. Just out there waving in the wind. Rock is my make-believe Dracula. I just don’t have a tattoo of it on my neck, I have a website.

Through their grassroots effort to place previously considered "unadoptable" dogs and cats into good homes and reduce the number of unwanted pets through effective spay and neuter programs, Best Friends remains committed to achieving a time when there are No More Homeless Pets®. Best Friends also maintains an animal sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, which on any given day, is home to about 2,000 dogs, cats, and other animals from shelters and rescue groups around the country.

Contributions to support Neko's walk on May 9 can be made by donating at Case's "Live Your Best Life Walk" site here.

Cheyenne Cinnamon and the Fantabulous Unicorn of Sugar Town Candy Fudge

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