We’re always deriding her, but how would you feel if not only your income but your house AND its furnishings were entailed? And, as we know, Mrs. B. “would be ashamed of having [an estate] that was only entailed on me.” … Read on
I have no idea why or how I came up with idea of Pride and Prejudice and Kitties – a thoroughly ridiculous idea at best! But then, Jane herself has an appreciation of the ridiculous. And I like having fantasies about my cat’s pursuits and preoccupations. Isn’t that what cat-lovers do, have fantasies about their cats? Dog-lovers don’t have fantasies because dogs act out everything and leave no room for the imagined. When our book came out, my coauthor, Debbie and I, were roundly accused of copying Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.. But the (unhappy) truth was we’d had been working on our concept and honing our query for over six years. Not to mention that it took almost eighty agents before we found one who sold the book. Originally the publisher asked for 100,000 words to go with the photos – almost as many words as in Pride and Prejudice itself! We got them down to 30,000 but even now … Read on
You’d imagine nothing would be easier, given the cat’s natural adorableness and all the funny cat photos clogging the internet these days. So we began all bright with optimism. Find cat, aim camera, and voila! Alas, no. We learned – and slowly – that it’s not so simple. First lesson: some cats are natural stars. They truly play to the camera, and the camera in turn loves them. But – just like with humans – being funny and adorable in real life is no guaranty of being a great photo subject. And you really never know which way it will go. This means you have to photograph a lot of cats, which is all to the good. The more the merrier. Second lesson: Keep clicking. In the olden days of film, a roll allowed between 12 and 36 shots. We started taking pictures as if using film – 30 shots at a sitting seemed like plenty. We learned, of course, … Read on
http://icanhas.cheezburger.com – Grandparent of silly cat photo sites, it now includes videos, gifs and lots of animals that are not cats. Also ads. http://meowcheese.com – Much like icanhascheezburger only with not quite as many photos – silly cat photos with LOLs. Also like the cheezburger site, it has branched out and shows other animals as well. Several episodes of Henri the Existential Cat, who speaks French and is ever so tired of life, can be found online. See, e.g., Henri the Existential Cat is back with a holiday message http://www.simonscat.com – We see Simon and his cat in funny minimalist cartoon animations. The site also has silly cat photos, contests, etc. http://kittenwar.com – The home page presents two photos of kittens, click on your favorite, see how many others agree with you, then consider the next pair. Kittens can’t lose. http://www.squidoo.com/sillycats – Videos of silly cats, including an excellent Maru compilation. http://stuffonmycat.com – Just like it says, but the photos … Read on
Note: This post was originally published in a slightly altered form at womensmemoirs.com. My late kitty, Mittens, didn’t have much personality. As my friend and co-author, Debbie, once observed, “he’s one notch above a stuffed animal.” I argued for two notches, but she had a point. Poor guy. It wasn’t his fault that he was born with no street-smarts or even house-smarts, and slept 23-3/4 hours a day. He was also terribly timid and ran away meowing if he even saw an ant. The most dangerous thing he ever attacked was a Starbucks straw. So imagine my shock and amazement when Mittens caught and killed a mouse in our living room, just a few weeks before he died. It goes to show, you never know what someone is capable of. Furthermore, “what someone is capable of” is not fixed or finite; it changes and shifts as we evolve. I’ve seen this truth play out (to one mouse’s misfortune) in many … Read on
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