It’s Art Conference time. I went down to Little Rock this week for the Annual AAE Fall Conference. This year my oldest daughter had legal business to do in Little Rock so we went together and instead of staying in the hotel with my fellow art teachers, my daughter and I stayed at The Rosemont Inn, an elegant bed and breakfast in the Quapaw Quarter Historic District of Little Rock.

We shared a cozy room with a sleeping porch. There are pets on the premises. Figaro meowed at the door in the morning and we invited him in. Fig visited for a while as we were getting ready to leave and seemed regretful that we had to go.

Figaro followed us down to the dining room and lingered as we said our farewells.

What might have been a hectic stay in Little Rock was comforting, relaxing and fun. The Rosemont is full of antiques and every room has a library full of books. We loved seeing The Cat Who books on the shelves. The breakfast was delicious, served in the dining room on gleaming antique china with genteel silver. Susan, our hostess, made us feel welcome and comfortable with her warm, Southern accent.

The house reminded me of our visits with my husband’s late grandmother, Mama Wera.

Not surprisingly, Bill and Hillary Clinton were visitors to the house back in the bad old days but I won’t hold it against The Rosemont. The place is immaculate.

Speaking of Hillary, I’ve been busy with life, art, my grandson and family so I didn’t watch the debate the other night which revealed Hillary to be nothing more than a Chatty Kathy doll, with a string pull in her back, programmed with seven or so responses. Something went haywire during the debate and Tim Russert actually asked some probing questions. Chatty Hillary went all-jello, and we saw the harridan (who presumedly expected much more softball questions from the former Democrat operative) melt down. She didn’t want to reveal that she supports New York Governor Elliot Spitzer’s plan to give driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants but was put in a tight little corner by Tim Russert. (with a little bit of anemic help from Dodd, Edwards and Obama) Her clumsy attempt to escape the trap made her look like Bill Clinton without the charm.

Now her campaign is crying like a bunch of Baby Rays, accusing the other guys at the debate of being mean. Criminy, how will she respond to our nations’ enemies when she can’t even get through an actual debate?

Hillary really must not like men very much. She quickly retreated into the arms of her sisterhood at Wellesley. I suspect that move won’t play well with the electorate at large.

I’m glad my line of work is art, and not trying to fool the American people, which is what Hillary Clinton has been doing all of her adult life.

Peggy Noonan muses, People who’ve studied Mrs. Clinton often ask why her ethical corner cutting and scandals have not caught up with her, why the whole history of financial and fund-raising scandals doesn’t slow her rise.

Scandals and corruption aside, what else would you expect from a woman who could give her cat away?

UPDATE: Gaius at Blue Crab Boulevard has the Quote of the Day regarding cats:

You do not want to mess with a cat lover. You will lose.

Lots of cats can be found at the 189th Carnival of the Cats hosted by CatSynth.com