Disclaimer: Do not give cats alcohol.
Of course, there is no alcohol in this eggnog. It’s all catnip.
(Click cartoon to embiggen, or you can view all cartoons in Slideshow mode on Flickr.)
One of the best thing about taking a few days off from work is napping!
Especially when every time you feel like taking a nap, you have a loyal napping buddy who is all too willing to join you.
Sometimes, Jacoby is already napping on the bed, and I have to kind of curl up around him.
He doesn’t mind when I join him. This nap-buddy gig is a two-way street.
And it actually isn’t just naps.
Jake also cuddles up with me like this when I go to bed at night.
Granted, he does it more during winter naps than he does for summer naps…but that’s okay.
It’s funny that he doesn’t want to sleep under the covers. He just wants to sleep up against my stomach, on top of the comforter.
He slept with me like that on his second day home…and five and a half years later, he still sleeps in the same place!
Since we haven’t gone on therapy visits for a while, I think Jacoby has missed going out for walks. On our way home from seeing Santa at Petco, he got so excited when we got to the Broadway Bridge.
He recognises the bridge as part of his “territory” – which seems to be defined as the area outside that he knows how to get home from. This is where he’ll hop out of the stroller and start walking.
The bridge is definitely part of his self-defined territory. Even when we’re in a car, when he sees it, he starts getting antsy.
He knows he’s close to home and he wants to walk!
Luckily, it was a warm, almost 50° day, so all he needed was his fleece hoodie and his feet didn’t get cold on the pavement.
Jake seemed so happy to be out walking. Look at his happy tail!
After a while, Jake decides he’s tired of walking, and he hops back into his stroller.
He especially likes riding down the ramp at the end of the bridge.
He doesn’t mind sharing his stroller with a shopping bag, either.
As we get closer to our building, he’ll decide he wants to walk again.
You can tell he knows where he’s going! He even knows how to cross the little side street next to our building (not that I let him actually cross the street – he gets carried)!
He actually stopped right below our living room windows. He knows this is our building, but I doubt he knows that he was standing right underneath the window where Angel was napping.
Okay, Jake…let’s go back home and take off our coats.
This week’s Photo Hunt subject is “Smooth.”
Jacoby got a new Tiny’s Tie from Sherry for Christmas.
As you can see, it’s a Boston’s Bruins Tiny Tie.
And, as you can also see, Jake’s looking pretty smooth wearing it.
Cue the dramatic lighting!
Whoa! Where the heck did that come from?!
I know I post this nearly every year, but I love these photos so much I have to share them again.
Pretend Gun-Hee is Rudolf…a holiday tradition!
We got Gun-Hee on December 15, 2006, so I always called him my Christmas kitten.
This was Christmas night, after all the presents were opened, and my future husband and I were in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner when we heard a sound from the front room of my old apartment.
And there he was, Gun-Hee. Up the tree.
We extricated him from the faux branches and put him back down on the floor, but as soon as we let him go he scrambled right back up into the tree like he had magnets in his feet.
This went on for a while. I was afraid he was going to break the tree – the wiring between sections was already kind of iffy.
As it turned out, this old tree only had one more year left in it. Had we known that then, we probably would have let Gun-Hee play in the tree more.
When he was up in the tree he just looked so serious.
It was like climbing the tree was his job, and he was a very diligent worker.
He was such a little kitten compared to Jacoby. It’s probably a good thing that we got Jake in the summer, and by Christmas he was 8 months old and too big to really consider climbing the tree. Jake just played underneath it. A lot.
Yes, Gun-Hee is looking at the curtain rod to see if he can get any higher.
Here’s some photos of yesterday’s photo being taken:
I was a little bit amused that the photos were just taken with a little digital camera. Ah, progress.
I really liked the manager’s commitment to the Santa outfit. I mean, really, he only needed to wear the top half of the suit, right?
Since I don’t have everyone’s address, here is your holiday card!
Merry Christmas, one and all, and thank you for following our adventures!
I thought of this before I actually found Jacoby an ugly Christmas sweater…
…so I had to come up with the ugliest sweater ever in the history of ugly Christmas sweaters. Which this has to be, because I did a Google image search “ugliest Christmas sweater ever” and combined several of the best worst ones I found. And then enhanced them. So this is truly an ugly Christmas sweater. If I could make it an animated blinking gif, I would have.
And here’s the original iPad sketch, just for fun. There are some things that Photoshop does really well…and evidently uglifying Christmas sweaters is one of them. I couldn’t make the sketched sweater nearly as ugly as I wanted.
(Click cartoon to embiggen (if you really want to see that sweater any larger than this), or you can view all cartoons in Slideshow mode on Flickr.)
The other evening, Jacoby discovered a new perch.
Now, you all know that we built all kinds of high cat perches right into the design of our new apartment when we moved, right?
Right. Because the kitties spend more time in the apartment than we do, and they like their perches.
So it’s not like Jake is deprived of high places. Not at all.
That being said…yeah. Jake finally noticed we have a hat rack.
And he realised he could get up onto it and see the apartment from a new vantage point.
He was exceedingly proud of himself, too.
Mind you, this isn’t a solid shelf. It’s an IKEA Tjusig hat rack, and the top shelf is round metal bars spaced at least an inch apart.
A cat has to be careful up there.
It’s a balancing act.
If you look carefully, you’ll notice Jake keeps his back feet on the solid wooden part of the shelf, just in case.
I have no idea how he jumped up there, though. There’s a cabinet nearby, but there’s a good space between the cabinet and the hat rack, and it must have taken a clever leap to land without a foot slipping through those bars.
I wish I’d seen it.
You can see how proud he was of himself for getting up there.
He was also pretty pleased that I noticed his accomplishment and was taking photos of him.
And he always loves it when he’s taller than I am.
I wish you could hear the purring.
I also don’t know how Jake got down from here. I wandered off to do something else, and the next thing I knew, he’d gotten down to follow me. He is such a character!
Last week, Jacoby went to see Santa at Petco.
This is something I’ve wanted to do with him forever. I used to take my Siamese, Harri and Sigrid, to see Santa back in San Francisco.
So when I learned Petco was doing photos with Santa I leapt at the chance.
Luckily, it was a nice warm day, in the 40’s. I bundled Jake up well, but really, it wasn’t that cold at all.
It’s been a while since we went anywhere in Jake’s stroller. I think he was happy to go out somewhere.
We actually went to an Unleashed by Petco store. This one just opened on Washington Street in the South End back in July, and it’s so close to where we live! It was less than a mile’s walk, closer than the Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller Center. We’ll definitely have to come back more often.
The staff is awesome. And they were thrilled to see a cat come to shop.
The manager, Jim, was playing Santa. He left his post to come meet Jake.
Now, that’s special treatment, when Santa comes to see you.
I’m not sure who enjoyed the petting more, Jake or Santa!
This week’s Photo Hunt subject is “Craft.”
Back in October, BuzzFeed challenged its readers to craft a simple trap and see if their cats fell for it.
Well, of course I had to try it!
Jacoby actually showed up while I was still building my trap.
Of course, he wanted to help. Or criticise…I’m not sure which.
Although he’s right, you would think someone with a degree in art could at least make a tape cat trap look a little nicer than this.
Jake did walk towards it…
And he did step into it briefly. But I think that was just an accident. He was really looking at the tape and the trap just happened to be in his way.
I wouldn’t say he was trapped, exactly.
I’m not sure, but I think he was actually mocking my tape trap.
“Really? That’s it? That’s all it does?”
“This is boring.”
“No, I mean really. It was more interesting to watch you make this whatever-it-is than it is to watch you take photos of it…I’m outta here.”
Well, that was a tremendous failure. I decided to try it out on Angel instead.
She hadn’t seen me crafting the trap, so maybe she’d fall for it?
Let’s find out, shall we?
After a bit of thought, Angel marched right into the middle of the trap.
And stood there.
The thing is, Angel kind of acts like everything is a trap, so why should a lopsided circle of tape on the floor be any different?
After a bit more thought, she sat down…
…and started to groom herself.
She kept looking at me like she was waiting for me to do something. Give her a treat, grab her…I’m not sure what.
And then…she left.
Okay, BuzzFeed…Not sure your cat trap works on Abyssinians. Angel did sit down, which I consider a partial victory…but I think that had more to do with the fact that I touched her and it was a convenient spot to clean off my cooties than it did with there being a tape circle on the floor.
Last week I decked Jacoby out in his holiday finest. But then, we went to Petco to see Santa Claus, and a funny thing happened…
Yeah, we kind of found more holiday gear for his wardrobe.
Like this Elf costume complete with jingle bell “shoes.”
Green is definitely Jake’s colour.
And then we found…
…Reindeer antlers!
And they’re not just reindeer antlers. They’re red and green plaid reindeer antlers!
Yeah, it just doesn’t get much better than red and green plaid reindeer antlers.
Except…remember last week I mentioned I wanted to get Jake a fugly Xmas sweater…but I couldn’t find one? Well, guess what they had at Petco?
Unattractive holiday sweaters!
Yep…Admittedly, it’s more Neo-Fug rather than the Classic Fugly Sweater from the late 60’s to mid 80’s…but it’s definitely on the right track, don’t you think?
And you know what makes the sweater even better?
A red and green plaid holiday trapper hat!
Oh, yeah. Now Jake’s ready for Christmas! Bring it on.
Racy Mooner was literally jumping through hoops to entertain her fans at the World Show last month.
She did it several times, and I was lucky enough to be able to capture her on camera.
Sort of, even with my rapid-fire SLT camera, Racy is fast! These last three were taken about 1/8th of a second apart…and she’s still a blur.
After her landing, she composes herself…
…and then she’s ready for a treat and another go.
Of course, it must be remembered that Racy is a cat.
And cats…
…don’t…
…always…
…Perform on command.
Sometimes, Racy didn’t feel like going through the hoop and just walked on by. It was pretty funny.
Lisa-Maria just asked Racy to do it again.
Come on, Racy, let’s go!
Perfect landing!
And now you get your treat! Good girl, Racy!
This is just a little something I came up with while riding the Commuter Rail out to Natick.
I don’t think Jacoby actually fits inside his stocking, but if he could…
And here’s the original iPad sketch, just for fun.
Also, I really want to thank CoyoteMange for an awesome set of Photoshop fur and feather brushes they made available for free download on DeviantArt! This is the first time I tried them and I really like the effect. I think these are going to be a major influence on my cartooning in the future.
(Click cartoon to embiggen, or you can view all cartoons in Slideshow mode on Flickr.)
While I was taking snapshots of Jacoby in his mistletoe hat last week, I picked up a snowflake light that had fallen off the string.
Of course, Jake was instantly intrigued.
He demanded (as only an Aby can) to see what I had in my hand.
“What is this shiny device? I must have it!”
Gimme dat!
Nom nom nom!
It’s really amazing just how strong those Aby grabby hands can be when they really want something.
Usually only really good food (ie, MY food) gets this kind of a reaction!
I’m not sure if it was the interesting shape, or the way it caught the light. Jake was really biting that snowflake!
“Mine! All mine! I licked it, so there!” Yeah, things got a bit frenzied.
He was really into that flake! As it turned out, we’re still missing one snowflake bulb, so the string won’t light up. I’m thinking that may not be a bad thing…could you imagine Jake trying to bite the snowflakes if they were lit?
One great thing about the World Show was seeing old friends again.
Like Racy Mooner, her mother Twyla, and their human, Lisa-Maria.
Racy, Twyla and Lisa-Maria were actually working at the show.
Lisa-Maria was selling the Sturdi Walking Vests she and Racy helped design.
Racy and Twyla were the models.
Racy seemed a little dismayed that her mom was sharing the spotlight with her.
She needn’t have worried.
Racy is always the star!
Besides, modelling isn’t as glamourous as it’s cracked up to be
Racy sat on the table with the merchandise and basically did what Abys do.
She helped.
At least, I think she was helping.
Lisa-Maria was busy explaining the harnesses, helping people find the right size for their cats, and selling them to a steady stream of customers.
Meanwhile, Racy showed off how great the harnesses are.
Together, they make a great team!
This week’s Photo Hunt subject is “Beauty.”
There are those who say cat shows are basically just beauty contests.
They are, to a degree. But cat shows are more about conformation and adhering to a written standard than they are about physical beauty. And, of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Some cat fanciers find this to be the epitome of feline beauty.
Meanwhile, other think that body type is “ugly” and consider the rounded features of the Persian to be “beautiful.”
I think most cats are beautiful in their own way, and I can appreciate when a cat embodies perfection according to the breed standard, regardless of the breed.
The “beauty contest” part of a cat show really comes into play when it’s time to put up the cats in the finals, because how can you compare a Maine Coon to a Sphynx to a Persian to an Oriental Shorthair to a Scottish Fold to an Abyssinian…and come up with a “Best Cat” overall? In that, it comes down to personality and, yes, beauty.
While Jacoby scores highly in the “beauty” category, I doubt he’ll ever be named “Miss Congeniality.” He doesn’t kiss up to the judges. He doesn’t like to play around on the judges’ tables. He rarely climbs the pole, even if they ask him nicely.
He doesn’t play with toys, either.
No, Jake just prefers to stand there and look awesome.
And some judges really love that he just poses majestically on his table so they can step back and examine him “hands off.” So there.
Of course, even the most handsome cat can be made to look awkward in a well-timed photo…
The Daily Abyssinian...and Singapura 