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CatSynth: The App! for iOS 1.4.142 is released!

CatSynth: The App

CatSynth: The App! for iOS

We’re happy to release the first major update for the iPhone/iPad version of CatSynth: The App!. 1.4.142 (yes, it’s the square root of 2) has the following new features and improvements:

  1. New Mystery Synth #3!
  2. Facebook or email login for comments, favorites and more.
  3. Numerous bug fixes and under-the-hood improvements

It’s that last one that really took the longest: the under-the-hood improvements using a completely rebuilt backend. We might have more to say about the technology that went into it (it’s pretty cool from the point of view of a computer-science geek), but for now we simply ask that if you have an iPhone or iPad, please download and enjoy the new app.

And yes, 1.4.142 for Android is coming soon, too!

Happy 10th Gotcha Day, Luna!

It was exactly ten years ago, June 10, 2005, that I brought Luna home from the Santa Cruz County animal shelter. And so we are celebrating her 10th “Gotcha Day” (adoption anniversary) over the next few days in style. It began the evening before with a festive meal, complete with main course, treats, and a “cocktail.”

Gotcha Day dinner

The “cake” didn’t quite come out of the can perfectly, but as we can see that did not bother Luna at all. She devoured her special dinner with enthusiasm.

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It is hard to believe that 10 years have gone by, but it is hold hard to imagine life without my special little girl. We have been through a lot together – adventures and transitions – more than be documented on these pages.

Here is her official photo from animal shelter, followed by a portrait from her first week at home.

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Baby Luna at home

At the time, she was 7 months old. Still a baby in many ways. Over the years, I have watched her grow into a beautiful cat. Here are just a few photos, including one of the most recent.

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We are certainly looking forward to many more years and adventures together, wherever life leads us. Please join me in wishing Luna a Happy 10th Gotcha Day!

Weekend Cat Blogging with Luna: Logo Portrait

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Luna posed quite elegantly for this impromptu portrait. As always, she seems to match the interior design. The quintessential modern city cat.

If I can wrangle Photoshop, we might also be able to use this as Luna’s official logo portrait for our new app-development house, the CatSynth Appwerx! So far we just have CatSynth: The App, and that is all we can say at this time for a great many reasons.

2014: Transition and Turbulence

CatSynth 2014 in Review
[Click to enlarge.]

Once again, it’s time for our traditional end-of-the-year image at CatSynth. 2014 was a year like no other for us: transition, turbulence, complexity, controversy, beauty. Luna turned 10, and is enjoying the life of a mature but very spoiled house cat. And for me, the year began with a profound change that is still reverberating. Some things stayed remarkably constant, as one can see from themes in the words and images here. But others changed in ways I was not prepared for. Changes in my music, my personality and identity, my friendships and relationships, and my professional life. But in the end I learned the importance of speaking one’s truth. It comes with tremendous risks, but with potential great rewards. So what this means is that even more big changes are likely in store for 2015, especially in music, work, and the pages of this website.

The blog did suffer a bit amidst all the tumult of this past year, but we are reinvigorating it for 2015. There is the new look and feel – one of our truths – and more posts and channels coming. Thank you for being part of this year with us, and looking forward to the next!

Weekend Cat Blogging with Luna: Documenting Art

We have a lot going on at CatSynth HQ this extended holiday weekend. Here we see Luna supervising the process of documenting artwork.

Luna and cartoons

It’s actually not my artwork, or Luna’s; but it is a series of great cartoons by a very close friend of ours, many of which are part of a series called the Mensa Cats. I am using both a portrait (fixed) lens and a zoom lens to get the best photos possible. This impromptu photo featuring Luna was done with the portrait lens, which sometimes blurs a bit.