Daily Photo: Necessary Distractions, Kitty Belleh
I’ve had a few long days at this desk and just as I’m nearing my breaking point with sitting in this chair, Mr. Sunshine provides the purr-fect antidote—he unrolls himself from his kitty ball posture and rolls over onto his back. This is not only pleasant to look at, but also an interactive display, because I get to touch the belleh.
If I moved too fast or petted him too vehemently, Sunshine would roll himself around my arm and bite and scratch me, but I know better and so does he. I need to relax, not work myself up more, so I slowly reach out and run my fingers through the thick longish fur on that belleh and I am rewarded with an invitation to keep it going. It’s the purr-fect antidote indeed, and though I need to stop and get some work done, I could still get another dose.
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What other photos did I share on this date?
I’ve missed a few days of sharing past years’ photos!
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Premiere of Reality Show “Mousewatch” on Cat TV , 2013
Giuseppe has opened the cabinet door where mousies are known to visit and settles in for an evening program of “Mousewatch”.
This involved quietly being vigilant in one spot for hours punctuated by five or six seconds of extreme awareness.
Isn’t this what reality TV is all about?
Giuseppe really does open either both the cabinet doors or only one as you see here by standing up and pulling on the knobs at the top corners of the doors—often both at once, but in this case just one door will do; one of these days I’ll get a clear photo of him opening the doors, or even a video. Then he looks inside and listens, sometimes disappears inside to explore, then settles down outside the cabinet as you see here. He cannot be moved.
This cabinet is under the sink. The few cabinets I have in this kitchen are the old metal cabinets, and this sink cabinet is quite a production. The top sink area is one solid piece, which I like since it’s very easy to keep clean and automatically drains right into the sink. The bottom section is another story. From years of leaking faucets and drains there are patched rust holes here and there, and underneath that are patched holes in the old wood floor, which is where the mice come up from the basement—though I would swear up and down that I’d patched everything. Someday soon I’ll replace this thing, but my kitchen needs so much renovation, inlcuding replacing the entire floor, it’s probably still going to wait a while.
And I have to wonder about these mice. Are they being paid by the network to engage in high risk behaviors for the entertainment of feline audiences?
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Wordless Wednesday: I Think I’m Having a Flashback, 2013
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It’s Hot, 2012
Mr. Sunshine exposes himself to the neighborhood in an effort to catch a breeze on his belly by lying on his back with his legs spread. It’s classic Mr. Sunshine in the summer.
It’s a little hot here. We’ll get used to it.
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Mr. Sunshine and His Tools, 2012
My mom thinks I’m helping her work, but I’m actually doing a lot of the work myself. Look how well I’m handling both the spool of that really fun plastic-coated wire—and you know how I love my plastic—at the same time as I am tasting one of those long metal things. I can do this! Just lay everything out in front of me and I’ll take care of things.
Everything must be tasted; mom laughs and says I relate the the world by chewing on it. I don’t know what that means because how else could I determine anything about an object I’ve never seen? Or one I have seen but haven’t seen in a while? Or one I see all the time but just feel like I have to bite it?
I even let mom use my tools as long as I’m not using them already.
Here I am when the work is all done. I’m very proud of my work.
Feline logic, it just can’t be argued with.
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Arrangement of Two Black Cats, 2011
It is what it says.
I watch them all the time, of course, and sometimes, by their own random movements, they form the most wonderful compositions. A turn of the head, two shapes in the same space that complement each other, how their shapes catch the light, the glint of their eyes in inky fur, it’s part inspiration by feline, part abstract arrangement.
Mewsette and Mr. Sunshine are not looking at each other or touching each other, yet they are interacting and the space between them becomes as important as themselves. I watched the two move about on their own and shot several photos until this one had that positive-negative balance I was looking for.
That’s one of the reasons why I desaturated this one to appear black and white, and I also increased the contrast so the dense black shapes are the boldest elements in this image.
And aside from their wonderful personalities, that’s the wonderful thing about having all these black cats around the house, their shapes become patterns and elements in addition to being living beings. I am constantly visualizing feline-patterned things and soon enough I’m going to have to do something about all those ideas.
Browse some rescued cats and kittens!
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dood….veree nice oh ewe ta offer sum distractionz for mom B….hope her repaid de favor N paid it for werd by gettin ewe a nice plate oh perch
♥♥ heerz two a flounder fries & fun week oh end !!
We’re having canned food this week, Tabbies, so he’s getting a lot of salmon!