black cat

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Natural

The theme for our combined Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt this weekend is natural. This complements a theme from a year ago, artificial. At that time, we explored the interplay of Luna’s natural beauty with her artificial surroundings. Especially in light of my recent experience with New Topographics, it seems like an appropriate subject to revisit. We often explore the interplay between Luna’s naturally curving biological body and the straight lines that dominate the art and architecture of her surrounding environment.

The patio is really our landscape. It is an artificially constructed one, but it is a space claimed by natural elements, such as the plants, Luna, the bugs she likes to hunt, the grass she tries to eat out of the flower pot…

Another bit of nature this morning, this time one that is not so welcome.

These snails were a menace in our garden when I lived in Santa Cruz where they seemed to arrive in swarms. This is the first one I have seen in our patio in San Francisco in over two years. Removing it from a cactus is not a simple task. On the plus side, it was opportunity to practice with macro shot, which is not something I usually do.

A sad note. Our friend Nirmanakaya’s Viandra (aka “Sniffie”) passed away last week. “Sniffie and Florida Furkids” have often visited and shared their thoughts with us on topics far beyond feline, and in turn we got to know a little about them. Sniffie will be missed, and our thoughts go out to her family.

Weekend Cat Blogging #277 will be hosted by Othello (with some assist from Astrid) at Paulchens FoodBlog?!

Photo Hunt #232 is hosted by tnchick.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday by Nikita and Elvira at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging #276: A quiet morning

It’s a quiet, rainy morning here.  So we are just relaxing a bit.  Luna was sitting quietly on the carpet for an extended period of time, which gave me an opportunity to play with the cameras.  First, a detailed black-and-white portrait (36mm):

Next, it’s over to the iPhone camera for more fun with the Hipstamatic app:

I think both the green lens effect and the monochrome of the first image capture qualities of this morning.  So does this nice big yawn:

A quiet, moody and gray morning like this is actually welcome.  It’s an opportunity to rest and turn inward.

Weekend Cat Blogging #276 is being hosted by Patchouli and Pam at Sidewalk Shoes.

The Carnival of the Cats will be up this Sunday at When Cats Attack!

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging #275

For Weekend Cat Blogging, some more photos:

Here we see Luna in mid-step in her favorite area for morning sunshine.  I like capturing her in mid motion.  The lines and curves of her limbs match the chrome bars on the chairs.

The extreme hours at my new job have been continuing, including this weekend.  And while I like the work I’m doing, the prolonged intensity is taking its toll.  But I am noticing that it is taking a toll on Luna as well.  She is a bit more stressed, although from her relaxed poses it would be hard to notice:

Spending time with Luna and working with these images, even if only for a few minutes, is a form of relief.

As mentioned in the previous article, the Peninsula Human Society and SPCA is working to help the animal victims and their human companions who were affected by the devastating fire in the nearby town of San Bruno this Thursday. Please visit their website to find out more.

Weekend Cat Blogging #275 will be hosted by LB and Breadchick at The Sour Dough.

The Carnival of the Cats will be up this Sunday at Mind of Mog.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging #272: Sadness

It was a sad week for many of our cat friends and their families. This past Wednesday saw no fewer that four announcements on the Cat Blogosphere of regular contributors who had passed away. Anyone who has studied probability and statistics knows that such clustering is normal behavior for random events, but one still notices it and can be affected by it.

And then late in the day we received some sad news from our friend Vivi Pedgraglio that DJ Kikovas had passed away.

This was very sad news, and our thoughts are with Vivi this weekend. We often featured DJ Kikovas on CatSynth. And the symmetry of our exchanges was fun, the white boy cat playing electronic music in the studio in Argentina and the black girl cat in the U.S. who is surrounded by electronic music. He will be missed.

Among the cats whose passing was announced on Wednesday was Luxor, an elegant white cat whose site we followed. Our thoughts are with his family as well.

It is a dreary overcast morning, after a week that in addition to the sad news has been quite tiring. So we rest.

[click to enlarge image]

I looked at those photo of Luna resting on the bed linens – this has been her favored resting place again over the last few weeks – and thought about how often I have seen her curled up there over the years. Here is a photo of her in the same position in 2007, at our former home in Santa Cruz.

So many things stay the same, but the same time life is always moving forward. That is both a happy and sad thing.

Weekend Cat Blogging #272 is hosted by Samantha and Clementine at Life from a Cat’s Perspective.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted by Nikita and Elvira (who is hosting for the first time this week) at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.  They also have a tribute to the cats who past away this week.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging #271: iPhone and Orange

For Weekend Cat Blogging #271, we put aside the “big camera” and present some images of Luna all taken with our new iPhone 4.

This was taken with the Hipstamatic app. It emulates the classic Hipstamtic camera, including various lens and film options. This was taken with a Kaimal Mark II lens (not sure how it got an Indian name). It tends to give the image an overall orange tinge, and thus we squeeze into this week’s Photo Hunt theme of Orange.

Here are two more photos of Luna taken with two other Hipstamatic lenses:

And another in the clear (i.e., just the camera without additional apps or filters):

She does lounge quite elegantly sometimes. I also tried out the video capabilities, here is a short clip:

Yes, Luna is very much a cat. I quite like the look in her eyes at the end.

Weekend Cat Blogging #271 is hosted by LB and Breadchick at The Sour Dough, where they are enjoying lots of relaxation, and a bit of golf and baking.

Photo Hunt #226 is hosted by tnchick. This week’s theme is Orange.

Carnival of the Cats will be up this Sunday at When Cats Attack!.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging #269: Entropy

Another weekend has arrived, and with it Weekend Cat Blogging.

Here we see Luna in the studio in an embarrassing state of disarray. July was a rather busy month – actually most of them are, but this one was a bit different. Between the Outsound Music Summit and all of the associated rehearsals, the various photo shoots and my new job that started last week, there hasn’t been a lot of time for much else. In particular, the studio has a victim of entropy with a lot of equipment being moved out of place for use in shows (like the keyboard and cables) or to make way for new items (the E-MU modules in the back of the picture are being moved because the space is being taken up by the new Pro Tools HD system, but I need them still to be easily accessible). And then there is the never ending torrent of paper. Some of it useful, like the scores from Reconnaissance Fly, the Cardew Choir and Conduct Your Own Orchestra night that can be seen behind Luna. Others, like just about any piece of paper sent by any financial institution, are mostly useless. But they accumulate as one sorts them out.

The new job has also meant less time at home, and less time with Luna. I suspect she spends a fair amount of our time apart napping. It is a moment to reflect on the month that has past, and how it was a chance to focus on things that were of particular importance – my cat, music, art, city life, friends. Hopefully, after the initial change and chaos, things will be begin to come back into balance.

We have also been tardy is visiting our fellow WCB participants over the past couple weeks, and will do our best to make up for that this month.

As for today, we have to start cleaning up a bit.

Weekend Cat Blogging #269 is hosted by Pam at Sidewalk Shoes, with a nice photo of Smudge in the yard.

Carnival of the Cats #333 will be up this Sunday at One Cats Nip.

The monthly Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos will be at Mind of Mog.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.