patio

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Square…and Rememberance

This weekend, we have another combined Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt. The theme this week is square. Geometric shapes, including squares, abound at CatSynth HQ. But with the exceptionally gorgeous weather, we turn our attention once again to the patio:

The patio is covered in square slate tiles on which Luna enjoys rolling around. We are still doing some work to fix things up for spring now the construction is in the past. New design ideas to emphasize the industrial and geometric aesthetic.

This weekend we are also joining our friends the Three Tabby Cats in Vienna ~ Kashim, Othello and Salome ~ in a Weekend of Remembrance. We participated when they hosted a similar weekend back in 2007, lighting a candle like this one.

As we have made more friends online, so we have also lost many friends. We said goodbye to Mickey only a few weeks ago. Last year, we lost DJ Kikovas, the feline companion of our friend and fellow electronic musician Vivi Pedraglio. We also said goodbye to Tali and Sniffie. It is interesting to look back and see the diverse collection of people, mixture of musicians, engineers and cat lovers, who cross paths in these stories. We have also lost many heroes in music, art and mathematics in this same period of time; and some personal friends. We remember them as well.

Our thoughts for all our friends who lost love ones (human and non-human) over the past year, and for those who are struggling in the current storms in southeastern U.S., recovering from the disaster in Japan, and living through the seemingly greater number conflicts around the world.

Weekend Cat Blogging #308 is hosted by Samantha and Clementine at Life From a Cat’s Perspective. They are dedicating their post in remembrance of Praline.

Photo Hunt #263 is hosted by tnchick. This week’s theme is SQUARE.

The Carnival of the Cats will be up tomorrow at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

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.

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It is a beautiful harsh sun this morning. Sitting out the patio with coffee, reading and writing.
As I contemplate whether to go on a sort trip, Maybe for photography or highway spotting, I realize I have everything I need right here. Our industrial and concrete surroundings. The geometric shapes from the structures and the artwork. The sounds from the nearby freeway like a gentle wind or waves along the ocean. The cadence of the trains coming to a stop.

Luna provides a bit of the wild and nature. The little black panther hunting in her native habitat.

I just read an article where the author derided cats for being so close to their natural cousins and thus I’ll suited to bring pets. I instead chose to celebrate how a creature can retain parts if her wild heritage and perfectly reflect the design of artificial surroundings.

And since it is Labor Day, it seems appropriate to reflect on the recent month I spent unemployed. I already had a new job lined up for August, and I had things pretty well mapped out with a combination of music, photography, time at home, and time just taking in the city.
The first Monday, I did one of my long walks through Chinatown, North Beach and along the Embarcadero feeling far more positive and optimistic than I had in a long time. I got sick that night. I am convinced it was all the toxic aspects of my previous job leaving my body. By the next evening it had passed I was feeling as healthy as i had all year. This coincided with the start of a yoga and meditation routine for prosperity and opportunity. And those did come. Lots of musical opportunities. Three different opportunities to do collaborate on photography. I rarely left the city during this period, preferring to take in everything i could by foot or by transit until the new job would force a new routine with a daily commute and sense of bring cut off from the things that make me feel most myself.

Which brings us back to today. My body needs a break from driving. It’s more important to edit and review and select from the photos I already have than make new ones. For music, i just need to spend time playing and exploring.

So staying here seems like the right choice.

Weekend Cat Blogging #268

I had no idea what to post for Weekend Cat Blogging (I have been so focused on the performances, rehearsals and other goings on).  But while sitting on the patio this morning, I saw Luna looking up at something, and managed to get a few good pictures.  Here is one.  It is definitely worth doing the “click to enlarge” thing:

[click image to enlarge]

I have no idea what she was looking at.

Yesterday on a whim I tried out the HD video feature on my camera – this camera is for still photography, so the video feature was mostly coincidental – and caught a bit of Luna scampering about.  You can hear her give one little squeak early in the video.

Behold the power of HD video to use up hundreds of megabytes of slightly shaky and blurry motion!  Also, as this an impromptu recording, the house is in the middle of normal daily use, with cat toys and the incongruous bright blue yoga mat spread out in our usually clean living room.  (Actually, the cat toys are usually scattered about.)

While on one of my long urban walks yesterday, I saw one of the mobile adoption stations set up by the San Francisco SPCA.  This one was along the Embarcadero, near the Gap company headquarters.  Lots of kittens, mostly curled up for an afternoon nap.  We certainly hope they find good homes.  The mobile adoption stations are out regularly in the summer, so if you’re in San Francisco downtown, check out their schedule and stop by.

Weekend Cat Blogging #268 is hosted by Nikita and Elvira (the new edition to their household) at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted tomorrow by Kashim, Othello and Salome.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging: back on the patio

We had another warm weekend, so Luna and I enjoyed some late-October time out on the patio.

I particularly like this second photo, with its sparse quality. Luna and screen are discrete elements on the continuous field of stone squares.

Weekend Cat Blogging is being hosted this weekend by Samantha at the New Tuxedo Gang Hideout.

The Carnival of the Cats will be up today at When Cats Attack!.

The friday ark is at the modulator.

And don’t forget that Weekend Cat Blogging Hallowe’en Edition will be right here at CatSynth next Saturday!

Weekend Cat Blogging: Enjoying the outdoors.

Our weather continues to be unusually warm and sunny (considering the reputation of San Francisco summers from Mark Twain’s apocryphal comment). And Luna continues to enjoy time out in our little urban garden.

Here we see her strolling:

And stopping to pose in front a metal screen sculpture:

Right now, we have two sculptures outdoors: the black metal screen, and the rusted metal work Pierced Screen by J. Michael Smiley.

This weekend is looking to be exceptionally warm again (well into the 90s in this neighborhood), so Luna has wisely retreated indoors.

Weekend Cat Blogging #221 is being hosted by Mr. Tigger at the M-Cats Club.

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

And of course the Friday Ark is the modulator. But it looks like they are moving to a new “Modulator Manor”. Recalling the chaos but subsequent rewards when we moved to the new CatSynth HQ, we wish them well!

Weekend Cat Blogging: A triangle of light

This weekend, we have Luna basking in a triangular patch of light.

It reminded me of some of the architectural photos I have been taking, both the triangular shape and the stone surface. And it has a feeling of emptiness, though things can never be too empty with a playful cat.

Weekend Cat Blogging #220, is being hosted by Salome, at Paulchen’s Foodblog?!. This is no small feat as Astrid is away, but she is getting help from some of her human and feline friends.

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

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.