Aby-a-Day – 31 May: Birthday memories (Cartoon Tuesday)

Tomorrow is my birthday…again. And as my personal New Year’s Day, I’ve always reveled in it.

Dressing cats since 1981…oh, yes. Actually, this was only a couple of months before I got my first all-mine, raised from scratch, leash-trained, bike-riding, boykitten Sgt. Pepper, a chocolate Siamese and white (what now would be a Snowshoe) who was also my first real CFA show cat (HHP, of course). Mary and I were both into cats and the Beatles (clearly).

(Pepper was named because Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was originally released on my birthday in 1967, and as such was my favourite album.)

And cameras. I’m not sure who these cats are (her name seems to have been Betsy), but I think they may have been Mary’s cats.

This fascinates me…I drew these 35 years ago, almost to the day. My basic style really hasn’t changed all that much, has it?

Aby-a-Day – 29 May: The Jake and Coco Show (Selfie Sunday)

You remember when you were a little kid, and you would put on “shows” to entertain family and friends? Some of us did them live in the living room, others (like me) would record “radio shows” on tape, and today they’re making mp4 movies and loading them onto YouTube.

But I think we all did it at some point. And lately, in our nightly FaceTime sessions with Björn, I feel like Jacoby and I have been putting on the “Jake and Coco Show.”

“Come on, Jake…do you have anything to say to the nice people out there in FaceTime land?”

“…Hmmm?”

“No? Nothing? What, has the cat got your tongue?”

“How about a kiss, then?”

“No? Okay well I wouldn’t kiss me either after that joke.”

“Better now?”

Then I got up for some reason, and Jake didn’t want to be alone onscreen without his sidekick.

So he followed me.

But don’t think for a second that he doesn’t know where the camera is at all times.

Aby-a-Day – 28 May: “Light” (Saturday Photo Hunt)

This week’s Photo Hunt subject is “Light.”

Just this past Monday’s post was shots of Jacoby with my little round nightlight.

These are the photos I thought turned out best from that set.

Jake is such a great subject. Most of the photos I liked best involved the light reflecting off his eyes’ tapetum lucidum (which means “light tapestry”) and playing with the night light.

Usually, photos with eyeshine in them need to be fixed.

But mixed with Hipstamatic, they become the best of the bunch.

Aby-a-Day – 27 May: Rolling around on the bed since 2009 (Friday Flashback)

You may recall that Wednesday’s post featured a silly photo of Jacoby rolling around on my bed.

This isn’t exactly a new thing with him.

He’s been rolling around like a goof on my bed since he arrived to stay with us in 2009!

These were taken on 7 September 2009, just a week before Jake turned 5 months old.

Aby-a-Day – 26 May: Red Nose Day

Today is Red Nose Day, a fundraising campaign run by the non-profit organization Comic Relief to raise money for children in poverty worldwide.

The red noses themselves have been on sale at Walgreen’s for a few weeks now, so I picked one up.

It’s just a squishy red ball, like one of those desk stress-relief toys, with a grove to stick it on your nose.

Well, of course I had to see if Jacoby would wear it.

It wasn’t really built for feline noses, apparently.

Maybe a different angle? Uh…nope. Not really working.

Finally, however, we found the best way for Jake to wear the red nose.

On his head, of course!

Aby-a-Day – 25 May: Wordless Wednesday (They see me rollin’)

Aby-a-Day – 24 May: Birthday Toast (Cartoon Tuesday)

I got this card for my stepmom, Ann’s, birthday:

And when I wrote a little note and signed it…I got a little carried away.

But you know…Jacoby loves bread…he would totally try to eat that little toast dude!

Aby-a-Day – 23 May: Night light (Hipstamatic Monday)

I got this cute little rechargeable nightlight for my bed.

It’s a little round ball of light, USB chargeable, and it has the option of throwing cool or warm light.

The light is really quite nice, and it gives off no heat.

Perfect for use around cats.

One recent evening, Jacoby and I were just hanging out, and I was intrigued by his interaction with the light.

I also thought it would be interesting to see what Hipstamatic would do with the light poses.

It was not a dissapointment. Sometimes the simplest set-ups make the prettiest photos.

Aby-a-Day – 23 May: Yeah…That’s not what they mean by “Dog-like”…at least, I HOPE it’s not (Selfie Sunday)

Jacoby has been a very snuggly, cuddly boy lately.

He’s been sleeping with me almost every night.

Although, sometimes, he’ll settle in an…shall we say…awkward spot.

And then…boom!

Erm…Jake? You realise that…oh, I can’t even.

Other People’s Abys: Maisy Hunts with StarClan

I cannot believe I am writing this post. I cannot believe that this is happening.

Back in January, I reported the sad news that my friend Kelli lost her Aby Emmy. In March, she adopted a new Aby girl, Maisy.

Sadly, just this past weekend, Maisy was diagnosed with FIP and Kelli made the horrible, painful decision to put her to sleep. Losing two beloved Abys in less than six months…oh, Kelli.

It’s especially painful since Kelli and I met because we shared a loss of Abys to FIP, her Maggie and my Gun-Hee. It’s never easy to lose a cat…but it’s so much harder when they don’t even get a chance to grow up.

My heart has joined the Thousand, for my friend has stopped running today. Sleep well in Tuonela, dear Maisy.

Aby-a-Day – 21 May: “Flip” (Saturday Photo Hunt)

This week’s Photo Hunt subject is “Flip.”

It’s starting to get warm in Boston, and my bedroom hasn’t got the greatest air circulation, so I keep my little Vornado Zippi fan running at night while I sleep.

Jacoby sleeps with me most nights, and he thinks the fan is pretty cool.

In fact, he finds it fascinating.

It’s like the best cat toy ever.

He likes to stop the soft cloth blades. They don’t hurt at all.

Although sometimes, it seems they do sting his paws, so he has to stop and lick them.

But then…

…he’s right back at it, smacking my fan.

Or biting it. Biting is good, too.

It’s like a game. If he catches it and makes it stop, he wins.

And if he flips it over…? Bonus points! And in case you were wondering…why, yes, does it makes a lot of noise! And he does it a LOT! It’s like his version of playing with the boingy door thing. Siiigghhhh…

Aby-a-Day – 20 May: The iconic Lisa Larson cat (Fashion Friday)

I’ve posted before about the iconic Lisa Larson cats.

Lisa Larson started working at the legendary Gustavsbergs Pottery in 1953. Her mid-century modern design manifested in more ways than just cats, but for some reason it’s her felines that are all over the internet (probably because that’s what the internet is for – cats).

As a wedding gift, Björn gave me this modern cat figure designed by Lisa Larson. He picked this one because, well, “it looks like an Aby.” Can’t argue with that!

But my love of Lisa Larson cats goes way back to the first time I saw one in 2000. I had gone on my first trip to Europe, to Amsterdam with people from work, and while they went to a conference, I spent a few days in Holland before skipping off to meet my old penpal Björn and his girlfriend in Sweden.

I flew in and out of Göteborg, and one of the first places he took me was an antiques shop, where I saw this big kitty! And he is big, too – look at him compared with my hand! He was designed in 1957 for the “Stora Zoo” collection, and at the time he was pretty expensive (I think I paid around $100 USD for him)…and it turns out that he was a pretty savvy purchase!

In fact, in this photo of me with Björn (the first ever taken of the two of us together), you can see my Stora Katt in the bag I’m holding.

On that same trip, I picked up three small cats from the “Lilla Zoo” collection, circa 1955. I found them at various thrift shops and flea markets that Björn took me to.

One of them had an accident when he fell through a hole in the paper bag and crashed to the cement floor. He shattered to bits…but Björn insisted that we pick up all the pieces, and that night he sat down at the table with some glue and did what all the King’s horses and all the King’s men couldn’t do…he put my cat back together again!

Can you believe he did that?

I was amazed. I hadn’t actually been carrying him when he dropped (Björn’s girlfriend was), and I was sad that he had broken but there wasn’t much to be done…or so I thought. I was absolutely blown away that he was able to repair the cat so well.

I think that was when I started my crush on him forreals…

A year or two later, Björn sent me this tall Lilla Zoo cat because he looked like Patrick

He has stripes down his back!

One of my more odd Lisa Larson cats is this Necono Digital Camera! The camera’s website even explains: “Lisa Larson is a world’s famous Swedish ceramist. She lives in the nature with her husband who is also an artist, and continues to produce ceramics even in her 70s. Before Japan learned about the Scandinavian ‘kawaii,’ she had always been teaching us how charming Scandinavian designs were.”

Similar to how the Japanese appropriated Finland’s Moomins, Japan has embraced Lisa Larson’s cats, especially the cartoonish version of the Stora Katt called “Mikey.”

Mikey is the star of this camera and matching bag.

It’s a fun little remote digital camera. Not really sure why a digital camera needed to be cat-shaped, but…

…Oh, right. Because Japan.

Another modern usage of Lisa Larson cats is in the form of the typically Scandinavian pedestrian reflector. Born of a combination of the combined Nordic passions for creative design, the love of the outdoors, and safety, the pedestrian reflector is a extremely common thing, seen dangling from the snowsuits of toddlers to the fancy handbags of their grandmothers.

So of course there are Lisa Larson cat reflectors!

Finally, I have this Japanese keychain/hanging charm…another gift from Björn, of course…I guess he and these cats will always be intertwined in my memory.

Aby-a-Day – 19 May: Spring has sprung

It took a while but spring has finally gotten to Boston.

Jacoby was enjoying the sunshine this morning.

Shhhh…don’t tell Jake it’s meant to rain most of next week…

Aby-a-Day – 18 May: Wordless Wednesday (Turnabout)

Aby-a-Day – 17 May: Finding Marlin (Cartoon Tuesday)

I was at a NEMO meeting this past weekend, and spent most of it drawing. I working up a new version of our mascot, Marlin, for this year’s show.

That drawing isn’t finished yet, but I was reminded of these drawings of Marlin. The ones with the fish were done for a “Finding Nemo” scavenger hunt-type game we played at shows, and the one of Marlin as a kitten was done as an idea for kids’ activities…but I never did anything with it. I think I didn’t think Marlin looked “kittenish” enough, but didn’t ever get around to redrawing him or even colouring him in. Perhaps some day…

Aby-a-Day – 16 May: Photographer’s assistant (Hipstamatic Miniature Monday)

When I was taking the photos for last week’s Hipstamatic Miniature Monday, I had a little help.

Well…perhaps the assistance was somewhat driven by jealousy..?

But I was taking photos of mini-Jacoby…

…real Jacoby decided he needed to be involved.

“Involved” as only an Abyssinian can be.

Jake had to distract the attention – and my camera – away from his Mini-Me and onto himself.

Jake, you do realise you’re competing with an inanimate object, right?

Aby-a-Day – 15 May: Me and my boys (Selfie Sunday)

Jacoby loves to hang out with me while I FaceTime with Björn.

Sometimes I grab him and make him interact with us.

As you can see, he’s a big fan of that.

More often, though, he just meanders into the picture, asking for pettins.

“Oh, hey new dad. Didn’t see you there.”

Annnnddd…back to rubbing on mommy.

He does that a lot.

He also comes in for random headbutts.

Headbutt, rub, roll, repeat.

Aby-a-Day – 14 May: “Lake” (Saturday Photo Hunt)

This week’s Photo Hunt subject is “Lake.”

We don’t live near a lake in Boston, but Jacoby has seen plenty of water in his day. Of course, there’s Fort Point Channel, very close to the building in which we live.

And there’s Boston Harbor, too.

And there’s also the Charles River, which we cross over whenever we take the T into Cambridge.

But when we move to Sweden, we’ll have an actual lake outside our window. It’s called “Käpplundasjön” and here is Pyret looking at it.

Enjoy your peaceful view out the window while you can, Pyret. You’re about to be invaded by Abys!

Aby-a-Day – 13 May 2016: Ancestral Abyssinians (Friday Flashback)

This week, The CFA History Project published an article about Sedgemere Peaty, one of the very first Abyssinians.

There is also an article with a fanstastic wealth of photographs about a silver Abyssinian born in 1909 named Quizero Taitou (Or Ouizero…there’s some confusion over whether his name started with an O or a Q; Q makes more sense, though).

What is interesting about Quizero, though is that his father, Aluminium, also sired Ras Dashan, who sired Ras Djibute, whose granddaughter, Woodrooffe Aura was the mother of the famous (Djer-Mer’s) Woodroofe Ras Seyum, from whom Jacoby, along with many modern Abyssinans, are descended.

Ras Seyum was famously featured in the November 1938 issue of National Geographic. How fun to see Jake’s ancestors’ photos!

(Oh and also, while looking for these historical photos, I stumbled upon this article about cat domestication and was flattered to find one of my photos used – and credited! – as an example of a show cat! It was just published on 27 April, so there’s another nice surprise.

And just for fun, here is a series of photos of Jake doing something he rarely does: Pole dancing! While many cats love to scratch the sisal post on the judge’s table, Jake usually prefers to post majestically. However, in his first ring at Seacoast with Gary Veach, he decided to have a little stretch. Although he does seem a bit bewildered, doesn’t he?

Aby-a-Day – 12 May: Show Season Surprise!

Yesterday I got this email from Meg:

Which…OMG! Jacoby is a Top Ten Abyssinian in Premiership for the 2015-16 Show Season! Which means that, last year, along with being the 21st Best Cat in Premiership in the North Atlantic Region (Region 1) among all breeds, he’s also the 8th Best Abyssinian in Premiership throughout the CFA worldwide! It’s also ironic because, three years ago, Meg and I tried to get Jake to hold onto his 10th Best ranking, only to have him lose it the last weekend of the season. He was 11th Best Abyssinian in Premiership for 2012-13…but there’s no ribbon for that.

Do you think Jake’s newfound fame will go to his head?

Yeah, right.

And…goodnight.