I have very cute cats. No, really... everyone says they have cute cats but mine are affectionate, playful, sleek. Except for my one; Manson. He's developed this Extra Special Annoying habit over the last few months, which is to get my attention while I'm sleeping thusly: # Yowl at medium volume. # Rattle the doorknob of my walk-in closet which is 5 feet from my head. # Repeat ad nauseum.

I'm not quite sure how he figured it out, but if his aim is to get my attention, it's quite effective. Various responses on my part include:

* Rolling over and groaning. * Rolling over and yelling, which stops him for _just_ long enough for me to almost get back to sleep before he starts again. * Throwing the other pillow in his general direction. * Getting really desparate and going downstairs to find the damn spray bottle which I then douse him with. In my half-groggy state I usually spray the wrong cat anyway, as they all tend to gather around to watch the other one get a whuppin'. * (Most effective) Hanging my "messenger bag":http://timbuk2.com/ so that the padded strap is across the knob, and then leaning my guitar case across the knob/strap combo to thwart his rattling efforts.