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Posts tagged ‘cats’

Nov 20

13 Comments

Winter photos, lovely friends, an adorable kitteh, and a beautiful film

Winter has arrived. Ugh. I was hoping that lovely autumn would stick around a while longer. Ah, well. On the bright side, snowy trees are quite pretty:

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My dear friend Pete‘s birthday was a couple days ago, and I meant to post this on his actual birthday. However, I’ve had a cold all weekend, and that has put me behind on everything. Very sorry for the belatedness, m’dear :)

Anyway, Pete and I have known each other since we were 15 and 16 (I’m the older one). In addition to being a wonderful, compassionate, and brilliant person, he’s also an extremely talented artist. Be sure to check out his artblog.

Here we are in August ’99, in Seattle to see R.E.M. at Bumbershoot. Because we were fan club members, we were able to get into the show a little early, and I remember with nostalgic delight how we (and our friends) raced to get to the front row of the stadium, so young and enthusiastic and breathless with excitement.

Happy birthday, my dear. I’m so very lucky to know you.♥

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My friend Reed is a fantastic and kindhearted chap. He is also extremely intelligent and innovative, and has put those traits to great use in the skeptical movement. He’s the creator of SkeptiCamp, “informal, community-organized conferences borne from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment”. The concept has spread quickly: since 2007, there have been 38 SkeptiCamps all over the world. I like the idea of community-organized open events, as they offer opportunities for activism, organization, learning, sharing, and dissemination of knowledge that larger and more formal events aren’t always able to provide.

And Reed has a cat. Firpo T. Cat, to be more precise. Firpo is a lovely and kind kitteh who enjoys working out on Reed’s treadmill. I haven’t yet been able to witness this awesomeness in real life, but, via Skype, I once saw Firpo workin’ on his fitness, and it was one of the best things ever.

Anyway, I bring you two examples of Firpo Cuteness. Reed very kindly gave me permission to post these photos here:

Aww!

So: yay Reed! And yay Firpo! :)

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And finally, just because I love it so, here’s my favorite scene from one of my favorite movies, Jean-Luc Godard‘s Alphaville:

♥

Oct 31

8 Comments

“There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin.”

Oh goodness, my brain is quite frazzled after grading lots and lots of papers. I’m currently sitting on my couch, huddled under two blankets (it’s coooooold!), listening to kids Trick-or-Treating outside. I just heard one boy shout at another: “HEY, ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE G.I. JOE? OR BATMAN?” Ha! If it wasn’t completely dark and extremely cold out, I totally would have run outside to sneak a peek at that costume. I mean, seriously, what sort of costume was the kid wearing? Combat fatigues with a cape? A military uniform with bat ears? Inquiring minds want to know!

Anyway, it’s time for a Halloween-ish post!

1) Halloween morning sky & trees. Such bittersweet ephemeral loveliness:

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2) Some lovely leaves on my porch:

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3) Dapper Mister Pumpkin says “OH HAI!”:

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4) Clearly, Maru wasn’t pleased with his Halloween presents this year:

That’s understandable, though, as the only present he really wants is tuna. Lots and lots of tuna. His quest for tuna is positively Sisyphean!

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5) Here’s baby me, dressed as a ballerina for Halloween. It’s probably from ’80, but I don’t know for sure:

I look a little bit like a tiny ballerina version of Don Corleone. See?:

Hee!

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6) I love watching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown every year (the post’s title is one of Linus’s lines from it). I ♥ Linus. Aww!:

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More soon! ♥

Oct 16

25 Comments

Writers + kittehs = adorableness

I came across an awesome and adorable Tumblr blog this weekend: “Writers and Kitties“.  A few of my favorites:

1) William Carlos Williams (look how dapper & lovely he was!):

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2) Tennessee Williams (& a curious kitteh):

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3) Mark Twain (aww!):

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4) Kingsley Amis:

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5) George Orwell getting photobombed by a kitteh!:

(“Oh hai der Mizter Orwell, I iz sorry for photobombin yr pictshur wit yr goggie, but I comez to teh beach todai becuz I rilly wantz to talk wit u about dat kitteh in Animal Farm. We felidz resent bein teh symbol ov laziness an apathee!”)

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6) Hemingway giving a kitteh some corn. Nom nom nom!:

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Go have a look at the rest. Aww!

& Bonus lolz! Check out this screenshot from my iPhone TV listings app:

Ha! “Naughty cats”! For some reason, that makes me think of kittehs reenacting this scene (or any scene, really) from The Benny Hill Show. Cheeky!

Also, a woman cheered for the wrong girl at a swim meet? OH THE HIJINKS!!! Oh goodness, I sometimes forget that AFHV is still on.

Anyway, writers + kittehs = adorableness! ♥

Oct 13

36 Comments

The ethics of posthumous publishing

This week, Cambridge University Press published the first volume of The Letters of Ernest Hemingway, a series which will eventually contain at least sixteen (!) volumes.

Part of me would love to read them.

But the rest of me wouldn’t feel right doing so.

Why?

Because Hemingway made it clear that he did not want his letters to be published after his death, and posthumous publishing that ignores an author’s wishes makes me extremely uncomfortable. Reading such works (particularly correspondence) makes me feel like a sleazy voyeur who is violating the author’s privacy.

Yes, I know: the author is dead, so there’s no rational or logical reason to worry about such things. Still, reading them makes me feels icky and disrespectful. In general, I just can’t bring myself to do it (I’ve certainly made exceptions, though (two favorites: A Literate Passion: Letters of Anaïs Nin & Henry Miller and The Letters of Kingsley Amis)).

I find my response to such works to be a bit strange and frustratingly irrational. As is almost always the case, I want to find a rational explanation for my response. I feel a bit odd making a literary choice based on a feeling that I can’t properly explain.

What do you think? Do you feel uncomfortable reading a posthumously published work that ignores an author’s stated wishes? I think that the ethics of posthumous publishing is a tricky and complex issue, and I’d love to hear your take on it.

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