And now for something completely different...
A cat playing a theremin.
(Video below the fold, since putting it above the fold mucks up my archives.)
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I wanted to let you all know that Catfish, my beloved cat, died today at about 4pm, at the age of almost seventeen years. She was diagnosed with cancer two weeks ago; we gave her some treatment, appropriate to her age and her prognosis, but she faded very quickly and was obviously suffering, and we had her euthanized at home this afternoon.
I am, of course, extremely sad and grieving about this. Catfish was a good friend and a dear companion for close to half my life, and letting her go is extremely hard. But I also know that I -- and for the last few years, Ingrid and I -- gave her a good, long, happy life. And I am very glad that we were able to give her a good death, safe and comfortable and peaceful with us at home.
If I haven't been my usual cheerful and prolific bloggy self for the last couple weeks, and have been focusing on death and grief in my writing to an unusual degree -- and if I'm not my usual cheerful and prolific bloggy self for the coming days and weeks, and focus on death and grief in my writing to an unusual degree -- this is why. In addition to all the other reasons this is hard, this was the first death of someone I was very close to since I became an atheist and let go of any belief or hope in an afterlife. But I want to thank all my friends, family, colleagues, and increasingly beloved total strangers, for being part of the meaning of my life and reminding me every day that life is no less precious and amazing for being temporary. I'll talk to you all again soon.
Love,
Greta
And now, a cute picture of our cat.
Catfish often likes to keep me company while I write, as has been documented before. But here, she seems to determined, not just to keep me company, but to get in on the action herself. (Or maybe she's just determined to get in my way, so I pay attention to her instead of that ridiculous piece of plastic I'm so fixated on.)
So I thought I'd let her take a guest spot this week. Here's a few thoughts Catfish has come up with while walking across my keyboard:
lp;p,u888888888888y6777777777777777
nmmmm
loooooooooooooooooookiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
She's new to this blogging business, so while I encourage lively debate as always, I'm going to ask commenters to be gentle. And no, I don't agree with her about the nmmmm issue; but she does make some interesting points that I think are worth considering.
And now, three cute picture of our cat.
Last week, we had a photo of Lydia looking uncharacteristically noble and dignified. So this week, in the interest of full disclosure, I thought we should have some much more typical views of Lydia.
Lydia is an unbelievably sweet cat: a little dim, but affectionate, good-natured, unlikely to start fights with the other cats... and completely shameless in her bid to get scritching and belly-rubs. In many ways, she's more dog-like than cat-like: she doesn't have the aloof, stand-offish thing at all, and she sees no point in playing hard to get. And as a result, she probably gets more attention than both of the other cats combined. I feel that I have a lot to learn from her.
The top picture is of Lydia getting a belly-rub from our friend Tim (of Christmas Rhapsody fame). The second is of Lydia getting a belly-rub from Ingrid. And the third is of Lydia getting a belly-rub from me. The girl likes her belly-rubs.
And now, here's a cute picture of our cat.
In most of our pictures of Lydia, she looks somewhat undignified: she tends to sprawl about in a rather abject, "please rub my belly now" manner. But in this picture, I think she looks very dignified, and beautiful in a very classic way.
And now, two unbelievably cute pictures of our cat.
At last, at long last, we have photos of Violet that do her justice. Violet, as you can see, is a strikingly beautiful cat; but she's very hard for us to photograph. Our apartment doesn't get much natural light, and when we use the flash, (a) it makes her just look like a big black lump, and (b) she closes her eyes against the flash, thus obscuring her most distinctive feature -- the heterochromia (different-colored eyes).
But Ingrid found her sitting in the back windows, and got these two stunning pictures of her. I asks ya. Is that a beautiful cat, or what? The second one with the heterochromia is obviously spectacular; but I actually like the profile a little better. It makes her look so noble.
And once again, I need to share with you our Violet's Blue Eye song:
Why don't you scritch me like you used to do?
Why do you treat me like a worn-out shoe?
My fur is still furry and my eye is still blue
So why don't you scritch me like you used to do?
That is all. Thank you for your patience.
And now, three cute pictures of our cats.
Lydia and Violet don't snuggle very often. (In fact, lately Violet has been hissing at her sister a lot, and taking swipes at her, and generally being a bitch.) So when I caught them snuggling on the sofa the other day, I had to take about a million pictures. These are the three best ones.
And now, a cute picture of our cat.
This one requires a little explanation.
Catfish's favorite thing in the world is to sit on our heater. When it's off, the pilot light is still on, so the top of it is a little bit warm all the time. We put a placemat on it so she can sleep on it, and she pretty much never wants to do anything else. She treats the heater like it's Shangri-La.
But when the heater's on, of course, it's much too hot for her to sit on. And when it's been turned off, it still retains a fair amount of heat, and it'd be dangerous to put the mat on it right away. So when we turn the heater off, we have to wait for several minutes for it to cool down before we can put the mat back on.
This is Catfish sitting next to the heater, impatiently waiting for us to put her mat on it.
Really. When the heater's been turned off, she sits on that little bookshelf next to it, and glares at us until we put the mat on. The moment we do, she's on it like a shot.
And now, a cute picture of our cat.
You know how if there's a thing, the cat has to sit on it? If there's a magazine on the sofa or a file folder on the bed, that's where the cat will sit?
This picture illustrates that principle two-fold. The giant cardboard box in the living room is our new coffee table before it was assembled. Here is Violet, sitting not just on the giant box, but on my laptop case on the giant box.
BTW, I've read that the "if there's a thing, the cat has to sit on it" principle has to do with cats' territorial instincts. Any zoologists out there know if that's true?
And now, a cute picture of our cat.
I love it when Lydia curls up in a tight ball, with just one back leg sticking out. I love it when she curls her tail over her paw. And I'm entertained by the image of the cat falling asleep in front of the TV while channel surfing.
And now, a cute picture of my cat.
Catfish has lately taken to sleeping on the dryer on sunny days, where she relaxes in some very entertaining poses. This is one of them. I love the front paw draped over the back legs.
And now, two cute pictures of our cat.
Notable characteristics of these photos:
1. The placement of the paws.
2. The prominence of the black nose dot in the first photo.
3. The way her haunches are spilling out over the sides of the sofa arm.
You can also see the heterochromia (different colored eyes) if you click to enlarge. The funny thing is: When we take photos of Violet and get red-eye, we only get it in the one blue eye. I took it out for this photo, but it's very strange-looking. Like she's possessed by the devil, but in a really half-assed way.
And now, three cute pictures of our cat.
This is Catfish, doing yoga on our laundry pile on the dryer. I like these pictures, because she somehow manages to look both relaxed and hostile at the same time. That's my girl.
And now, two cute pictures of our cat.
Okay, not our cat, technically speaking. Ginger is a feral cat who hangs out in our backyard; our upstairs neighbors feed her and shelter her and keep an eye on her, and for a feral cat she's become pretty social -- she tolerates our presence if we don't come too close, and she makes for a very pleasant and decorative garden cat. Here she is sitting on our backyard fence, also known as the Great Wall of China.
And now, two cute pictures of our cat.
This is Catfish helping me blog.
And here is a closeup on same. The smug, somewhat hostile look on her face is deceptive. She really is a sweet cat when she wants to be, and very helpful indeed with the blogging.
And now, a cute picture of our cat.
I'd love to think that Lydia is expressing her opinion here about organized religion. But really, I think she's just expressing her opinion that if there's a book on the sofa, it should be sat on.
And now, two cute pictures of my cat.
Isn't she angelic, sitting there in that patch of sunlight? Doesn't she just look like the sweetest thing?
And here's a note that our catsitter left when we got back from vacation. Click to enlarge. "Fluids" means subcutaneous fluids, the reason we hired a catsitter in the first place. This is now the third catsitter we've had, and the first one who was succesfully able to hydrate the cat. A formidable challenge, indeed. You have no idea how much trouble a seven-pound, 16-year-old cat can be. That's my girl.
My cousin's wedding last week was held in a barn, and there was a mother cat living there with four kittens at maximum cuteness age -- about six weeks, young enough to be tiny and fluffy still, but old enough to be playing and gamboling about. We took a million pictures, but this is my favorite: Kitten Feeding Time Mosh Pit.
I love the kitten on top, the one lying on the other kittens' heads. He's all like, "Yeah, I'm sitting on your head. What's your point?"
And the hay bale is the perfect touch.
For the total experience, click to enlarge.
And now, four cute pictures of our cat. (Typepad was down on Friday night, which is why this week's Friday Cat Blog pictures are going up on Saturday.)
Violet is really the beauty of our cat family (as well as being the diva), but she's very hard to photograph. Our apartment doesn't get much light, and with the flash she tends to just look like a shapeless black lump. Plus the flash makes her close her eyes, so you can't see her different colored eyes, which are spectacular.
But Ingrid got this series of her on a sunny day in the brightest room of the house, and I think they turned out amazingly well. Please note the exquisite "tuck and roll" formation in Pictures 1 and 3; the paw over the eyes in Picture 2, and the heterochromia (different colored eyes) visible in Pictures 3 and 4. (You can click on the photos to enlarge and get a better view of the eyes.) Please also note the little black spot on her pink nose, and the way the white patch on her face cuts across her blue eye.
And speaking of which, I have to share with you the song Ingrid wrote about Violet and her one blue eye:
Why don't you scritch me like you used to do?
Why do you treat me like a worn out shoe?
My fur is still furry and my eye is still blue
So why don't you scritch me like you used to do?
That is all. Thank you for your time.
And now, a cute picture of my cat.
We don't take that many pictures of Catfish, since mostly all she does is sleep on the heater. (She's an elderly cat and loves the warmth even more than most cats, and the heater is always slightly warm from the pilot light.) But this pose with the dangling tail was too perfect to pass up.
And yes, we have a little mat on the heater specifically for her to sleep on. What's your point?
And now, two cute pictures of our cat.
This is Violet, on Ingrid's suitcase. I'd like to think that she's doesn't like Ingrid traveling so much and is trying to tell her not to leave. But really, I think she just likes sitting on the suitcase.
Which, I would like to point out, is not that much larger than Violet. We have some large cats.
Dream #1: I dreamed that our cats Lydia and Violet had hired a PR representative to improve their public image. I was reading either a press release about them or a magazine article based on a press release, and realized that their publicity was being handled very professionally.
Dream #2: I dreamed that I was visiting Ingrid at her new job in the prisons (in the dream, the Chino prison she's been going to all the time was only about 45 minutes from San Francisco). When I arrived, it seemed that the prison was very small (only about 20 prisoners), and security was very lax. The guard asked if I could help push a patient in a wheelchair in to see Ingrid, and when I left, the guard very casually asked if I could lock the door behind me on my way out.
And now, a cute picture of our cat.
This is Lydia, faithfully guarding my laptop case from all who would defile it.
And I would also like to point out: Toes!
And now, a cute picture of a cat.
This is Ginger, a feral who hangs out in our backyard. Our upstairs neighbors feed her and give her a shelter on their porch, and she rewards us all by being decorative in our garden.
Also a quick FYI: I'm going to L.A. for a couple of days to visit our friends Chip and Hayley, and rather than being a psycho anti-social freak, I'm locking the laptop up at home and taking a break from it. (Really -- I can quit any time I want.) I'll probably be back on the keyboard Monday or Tuesday. I'm sure you're all devastated, but I hope you'll find the strength to carry on.
And now, a cute picture of me with our cats.
Can't... move! Surrounded... by... huge.. cats! Send... help!
They've been doing this a lot lately -- Lydia flanking me on my right, Violet on my left -- but not usually this aggressively. It's sweet, but it's kind of overwhelming, since between the two of them they weigh about 36 pounds.
And now, three cute pictures of our cats. Lydia and Violet don't snuggle together very often, so I take a lot of pictures when they do.
And now, a cute picture of my cat.
Still don't have the digital camera working (next week, I swear), so this week's Friday cat blog is a cartoon from the odd and excellent Wondermark. (Click on the image to enlarge, or visit the original link.)
Exceptionally well-suited for a Friday cat blog, don't you think?
This particular cartoon is from the 2005 archives, and has been making me and Ingrid chuckle ever since we saw it and put it on our fridge. I'm especially tickled by the casualness of "She doesn't update very often though" and "I really only subscribe to be polite" -- and the phrase "something particularly notable in the litter box" has become a household catchphrase.
Next week, I swear -- cute pictures of our cats. I know you're all waiting with bated breath.
We haven't yet figured out how to use our new digital camera, so this week's Friday Cat Blog is a very funny note our catsitter left us last Thanksgiving. Here's the key excerpt from the text; you can also click on the picture to see it full size. (Quick explanation: The "fluids" she's talking about are the subcutaneous fluids that Catfish gets every day -- it's why we hired a catsitter in the first place.)
"Thanks so much for letting me take care of your kitties. I am completely smitten with Lydia and Violet. They are just the cutest, sweetest, most amazing girls. I had a lot of fun with them. Catfish, hmmmm, what can I say? She didn't like me very much. I couldn't give her fluids at all. But, she was drinking water. I let her out every night and shuffled her into her room in the morning. She didn't eat much. She is so cute though. She's just really mad about something. I wish I knew what it was."
People who know Catfish will know exactly why this is funny. "Hmmm, what can I say? She didn't like me very much" and "She's just really mad about something" are probably the most tactful things anyone's ever said about her. "Your cat is a bad-tempered raving bitch" is more like it.
And for the record, we know precisely what Catfish is mad about. Catfish is mad about the existence of other cats. The fact that other cats exist is a profound insult to everything she holds dear. Sometimes she just sits in the window and hates other cats. More on this in next week's cat blog.
My friend Hayley used her camera phone to take this picture of Catfish doing yoga in front of the heater, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to begin my foray into Friday Cat Blogging.
I should warn you: Ingrid and I got a digital camera for Christmas (thanks, Judy and Lori!). So as soon as we figure out how to work it, this largely "sex and atheism" blog will be turning into a "sex, atheism, and cute pictures of our cats" blog.
Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.
I dreamed that Ingrid and I were building a government-funded amusement park for our cats. We had about 100 of the storage benches we use for window seats (and which our cats adore), and were arranging them in a big grassy field, trying to decide what configuration the cats would like best.
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