WCB

Weekend Cat Blogging #319

Our foggy, overcast summer days in San Francisco make for great cat photography:

Luna enjoys looking out the window, and a nice stretch.

Weekend Cat Blogging #319 is in honor of Sher, one of the original WCB participants we met back in 2006, who tragically passed away in July, 2008. Like many longtime participants, Sher was primarily a food blogger, and in tribute we made one of her recipes. Between work, music and social events we haven’t had much time to cook here at CatSynth HQ – and as I look back through the archives, that has happened each July since 2009. But we will make time this summer to try out a new recipe and share it on an upcoming weekend.

Weekend Cat Blogging #319 and Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this weekend by Billy SweetFeets.

And the friday ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging #318

For Weekend Cat Blogging #318, a few interesting photos of Luna from multiple cameras. First a high-contrast picture in the window:

And here is Luna today, once again napping in her favorite beanbag chair:

This was done with the impulse-acquired Roboto Glitter lens for the Hipstamatic iPhone app. The first photo was with done with the conventional camera.

Like Luna, I am looking forward to a relatively quiet afternoon.

We know that several regular WCB participants are foodies, so do check out the report from the Outsound Music Summit Benefit Dinner that I posted yesterday.

Weekend Cat Blogging #318 is hosted by Jules and Vincent at Judi’s Mind over Matter.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday by Samantha and Clementine at Life from a Cat’s Perspective.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Busy

There is rarely a moment that we at CatSynth aren’t busy, thus it is an appropriate theme for this week’s combined Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt. Even going into the extended holiday weekend.

Luna poses once again with the iPad, but the app on display isn’t as exciting as the synthesizers and music controllers we usually show. It’s Toodledo, the cloud-based todo-list service that I use on iPhone/iPad and the web in a valiant attempt to keep ahead of the extreme busy-ness of the past two years. Not very exciting, but we do our best to make it at least look pretty in photos.

For those who obsessively try to do such things, the task being shown on these photos (strategically distorted via the Hipstamatic) is a daily reminder to brush Luna. There is also a weekly task for Weekend Cat Blogging. Many of the tasks on the list are about getting in touch with friends and professional contacts. I do need to catch up on those! On that note, we have been a bit remiss in visiting our WCB friends. We will try to do so this time.

Weekend Cat Blogging #317 is hosted by our friends Kashim, Othello and Salome. Even though they live in Vienna they honor us with a Fourth of July theme.

Carnival of the Cats will be up this Monday (rather than the usual Sunday) in honor of the Fourth of July as well, hosted by Nikita and Elvira at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

Photo Hunt #272 is hosted by tnchick. This week’s theme is BUSY.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Cards

This weekend we are once again combining Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt. The theme is cards, and we start with an unexpected take on the theme:

I recently came across these older “Smart Media” data cards while cleaning. They’re bigger (and a bit more interesting to photograph) than the current SD cards my current cameras and other devices use, but they are essentially useless. I do have a reader that can read/write them, but no particular reason to do so. Anyone have any ideas?

Here is Luna with some of her past birthday cards:

I believe they are from 2010 and 2007. It’s not Luna’s birthday, but the cards are out because of the recent cleaning (similar to the memory cards).

Weekend Cat Blogging #316 is hosted by pam at Pam’s Sidewalk Shoes.

Photo Hunt #271 is hosted by tnchick. The theme this week is cards.

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

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator

Weekend Cat Blogging #315: Garden Cat

For today’s Weekend Cat Blogging, we feature a “garden cat” we encountered at the Mount Madonna Center the Santa Cruz mountains:

This cat was very friendly, and followed us around during a walk in the gardens:

But there was also something that made it connected to its wild surroundings:

I was at the retreat for a sad occasion, a memorial service that I also referenced in this previous post. But the walk in the garden afterwards and the encounter with the cat were a nice postscript.

Weekend Cat Blogging #315 is up at Mind of Mog

The Carnival of the Cats will be returning to Meowsings of an Opinion Pussycat, with Nikita and Elvira.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator

Weekend Cat Blogging: 6th Anniversary Edition

This weekend marks the 6th anniversary of Weekend Cat Blogging.  It was started by a group of food bloggers who took a break from the regular topics every weekend to post about their cats.  It is not an in appropriate combination, as like their human counterparts cats enjoy good food and good company.

We at CatSynth found Weekend Cat Blogging back in 2006 and have been regular participants ever since.  This is of course not a food blog, but we do appreciate food and have indeed made recipes posted by long-time participant.  Indeed, a diverse collection of bloggers have participated on and off over the years.

If you would like to participate in this anniversary edition, please leave a comment below, or tweet us @catsynth with hashtag #WCB.  We always welcome new participants!

We are also celebrating another anniversary this weekend: Luna’s adoption.  If you have not had a chance to yet, please visit Luna’s Gotcha Day post.

And so let us get on with round-up.

Jules of Judi’s Mind Over Matter has been a regular participant, and he can be counted on to make an appearance whenever we host.  Call it “black cat solidarity” if you will.  In any case, we think he makes a very handsome outdoor model, though he sometimes wants to eat the props.

Catsparella has a Caturday post featuring several cats from around the internet, including Mar (aka Mar(ilyn) Manson aka Tuxedo Bad-Ass).  In addition to having an interesting namesake, he is a cancer survivor.  He also loves eating spaghetti.  We wish him the best for a healthy and happy future!

Over at Gattina’s “My Cats and Funny Stories”, Rosie is practicing her seduction skills on one of the many cat statues that adorn their garden.  It makes for some very cute photographs.

At Pam’s Sidewalk Shoes, Smudge is posing on the garden pathway in an apparent attempt to distract us from the garden weeds.  We think it is a very handsome portrait.  And the weeds in the stones of the pathway add a rich texture to the image.

At The Chair Speaks, Pebbles enjoys a day of relaxing.  She evokes an image of poolside bliss on a deckchair.

Regular reads know that we at CatSynth are regulars in our local arts community in San Francisco, so it’s great to see our “TX furriends” Samantha and Clementine featured at a gallery near you.  That’s a gallery near you, not near us.  But it’s great to see their virtual art show – and nice prominent placement of their images (I particular like the big one of Clementine).

Our friends at Animal Shelter Volunteer Life present the cats in Cat Room 8 taking it easy on Sunday.  Our Sunday is busy as usual, so we will just have to live vicariously through their great photos.  These cats are likely dreaming of loving homes in their futures.

At Herman’s Hideaway, it appears that Herman and Emma are stuck in an infinite loop (are stuck in an infinite loop) as each watches, ready to pounce if the other does anything.  Read the post to find out the full story.

Our dear friends from Vienna Kashim, Othello, Salome and Astrid have been participating in Weekend Cat Blogging just about as long as we have.  They look back on WCB’s origins this week and link to their original post.  They also discuss the fun and value they have received from sharing these posts over the years, and we could not agree more!

As we wind down this edition of WCB, Ritzi shares a contented moment with a blanket at Mind of Mog.

Our friends Georgia and Tillie along with the rest of their household stopped by for the WCB 6th Anniversary.  Check out their Friday Close-ups!

It’s always great to here from another Luna!  This week Luna T Katt and Zulu are remembering Luna’s littermate Keiko, whom they lost to the rainbow bridge last year.  The kitten pictures are very cute – and they all miss her very much.

It seems that Gracie has been having trouble with the blogger monster and thus having trouble leaving comments for friends.  But she was able to make it though and wish Luna a happy 6th Gotcha Day and everyone a happy 6th Anniversary of WCB.

We will continue to post entries throughout the weekend, so please continue to comment or tweet us if you would like to participate.

Weekend Cat Blogging #313: Rainy

We’re playing with the Hipstamatic app on the iPhone again. Here we see Luna looking out the window, where it is raining…in California in June. Speculate as you wish. The signal processing (Helga Viking lens and Kodot XGrizzled film) brings out some lush colors in the rain-soaked plants.

Carnival of the Cats will be hosted here at CatSynth tomorrow! If you would like to participate with your cat-related blog post from this past week, you can use the handy submission form or leave us a comment here.

Weekend Cat Blogging #313 is hosted by Billy SweetFeets.

As mentioned above, the Carnival of the Cats will be right here at CatSynth tomorrow.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Looking Down and Cluttered

Today’s combined Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt features two themes. This week is Looking Down, but last week’s theme of Cluttered was delayed and happens to be perfect for this week. We are in the midst of a major clean-up here at CatSynth HQ, which brings the usually hidden clutter out into the open:

It’s amazing how much stuff accumulates. Many things were in storage at previous home then ended up being stored again here. The PurrPad that Luna is sitting on is one of them. It was taking up space and serving no purpose in a closet, but now she clearly enjoys it. Indeed she has been resting here more often that her other usual spots.

For “Looking Down”, we peer down the staircase at Luna. The perspective is interesting, particularly with all the lines from the metal railings.

Once again, we are thinking about our friends in the middle of United States affected by terrible and storms, and especially the tornado in Missouri. We heard about a particularly tragic and poignant story last week.

Those who wish to help pets affected, visit the Jopin Humane Society. And there is the American Red Cross.

Other donation efforts and fundraising efforts can be found here and via the Cat Blogosphere.

Weekend Cat Blogging #312 is hosted at Mom’s Sunday Cafe.

The Photo Hunt is hosted by tnchick. This week’s theme is Looking Down. We are also using last week’s theme of Cluttered.

The Carnival of the Cats is back at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat this Sunday.

And the Friday Ark is taking a break this weekend.

Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt: Missed

The theme if this week’s Photo Hunt is missed.  So for our combined Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt post, we present Morty:

As one can see, Morty was a rather smart cat, and like some other individuals we may know enjoyed his coffee and newspaper every morning, and kept his cell phone nearby.  Though it does appear that Morty enjoyed the department-store ads more than the news.

The cell phone definitely dates this picture, which I’m pretty sure was taken in early 2002. Seen in comparison to the current iPhone, it is definitely not missed. I still have that coffee mug, which I had originally gotten from a used store when I first moved to California several years earlier.

Morty was actually the first cat I lived with.  He was a rather impish character, always getting into mischief but also seemingly aware that his cuteness would prevent him from getting in trouble.  Even though he often drove me crazy, I still miss him once in a while. (As far as I know, he is still alive and well and still making mischief.)

Appropriately for a post featuring a tabby cat, Weekend Cat Blogging #310 is hosted by the “three tabby cats in Vienna”, Kashim, Othello and Salome.

Photo Hunt 265 is hosted by tnchick. This week’s theme is missed.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday be Samantha, Clementine and Maverick.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.