esprit de l'escalier

Other people's pets

Some photos of other people's dogs from my trip to Oregon last month. Mostly my sister's dogs, Stella and Tana.

Kitten adventures: update

Kitten update: they are doing great. We are all getting along well, except for when I try and hit the snooze button a couple of times and they are ready for their breakfast. They definitely keep each other well exercised and love chasing each other around the apartment, when they aren't wrestling each other. I caught them playing tug of war with a piece of string the other day. It was hilarious. They like to ruffle up the carpets so they can hide amid the folds and then pounce on each other.

I'm headed west early tomorrow morning (must get to bed!). I'll miss them while I'm away, but my friend Joe is going to check in on them. (We live close and are switching cat sitting duties for each other.) My only worry is that they won't come out for him. They are still quite shy with others. But I assume they will hear a cat food tin opening and come running.

Kitten adventures

If you follow me on instagram (did you know you can see all my instagram shots here?) or twitter, you may know that last Saturday I adopted a pair of kittens. Seen above, Lulu on the left and Minnie on the right. The first couple of days they spent more or less under my bed, which has remained a favorite, secure spot for them. Slowly they have been venturing out. Miss Lulu is the braver of the two and now regularly comes up for pets and playing around. When Minnie does come out, she all she really wants is pets.

I adopted them from my flickr/twitter friend Jess. Her husband found and took in a young mother cat who had kittens and had taken up residence on their woodpile. He started blogging about his foster kittens and I fell in love. (Here is his blog, The Kitty Charmer.) It has been almost a year and a half since Frank died and after I fostered Leo this summer, I have been thinking more and more about being a pet owner again. So I worked out adopting the two sister kittens from Jess and her husband and met them halfway between our homes last weekend. (My friends Esther and Laura came along for the ride.)

Expect more kitten stories and photos as the ladies and I get used to each other. Aren't they sweet?

Operation Leo Drop: Race to Nantucket

This past weekend I took an epic roadtrip with my friend Tony to Nantucket with my cat Leo in tow. My mother thought this was a terrible idea, so I didn't tell her I was going through with it. (Sorry Mom.) We were taking Leo to my Flickr friend Nickleen. I had been looking for a new home for Leo. I was never home enough, and he was bored. He needed more activity and more sociable home. Nickleen had the perfect home for him. Knowing that helped me feel less guilty about having to give up the cat.

Not only did Nickleen give Leo a new home, but she and her family opened their beautiful home to us for two days and showed us all over the island. Oh Flickr friends, you are wonderful people. I always liken my friends made through Flickr as penpals. The best sort of penpals, because you get to see glimpses of their lives, as well as read their words. Thank you, Nickleen, for having us last minute and for giving Leo what I know will be a great home.

Our epic roadtrip was a complete success. The cat was a champ in the car. We started the trip Thursday night with a quick jaunt to Akron to stay with my friends Amanda and Mike and their cat Russell. I wanted to get a leg up on our journey, and it gave us a couple hours. I was a little paranoid about making the last ferry to Nantucket. In the end we made the earlier ferry. The cat got to stretch his legs a bit, too. 

Many photos to follow. To start with, here's some instagram shots. Instant, 35mm, and medium format to follow. Search #ackleo on instagram and twitter if you want to see Nickleen's and Tony's photos. (Thanks to Tony for coming with me on my hairbrained scheme. You're an awesome travel buddy.)

Miss Mookie

Here is Miss Mookie. She's a sweetie. She belongs to my friend Cat, who I've been running with in the mornings. This is from Memorial Day weekend, and Mookie was trying to beat the heat. Isn't she cute?

Happy caturday

This morning was full of laundry, hanging with Leo, and an impromptu Skype session with my lovely friends in Germany. (So nice to see your faces Elaine, George, and Ben-o!) This is my friend Ginny's cat Maebe, from back in early April when I was in DC. Hope you're having a lovely weekend. I'm off to a party tonight to celebrate my friend's graduation from med school. Should be a fun time.

More Leo photos

Here are some more photos of Leo!

Monday morning kitties

Here are some cute kitties, belonging to my friends Andy and Esther, on this Monday morning. I wish you a good week.

Furry Friday

My friend Mel has an awesome cat, Kid Rock. He is a big lover of a cat. Hope you have a great weekend.

Instant kitties

Today I got a note from my friend Mark that made me happy. Thanks Mark. I also got a roll of film back that I had slowly clicked my way through in October and November, which also made me happy. I should have some photos to share, along with some stories I have not yet told.

These two polaroids are of my friend Natasha's kitties, Pushkin and Mila. I used some of the Impossible Project's new black and white film for my Spectra. How have I ignored this film for so long? It is spectacular.

I was in Chicago this weekend. We had a nuclear family get together, as my sister and her husband were in town and my brother lives there. It was nice to see everyone. I've been missing my siblings lately, and neither are coming home for Christmas. It was seriously cold and I walked and walked and walked for three days straight. I didn't have enough time to see everyone I would have liked to have seen, but it was good to see those that I did.

This coming week is slightly nuts. Christmas parties start up this weekend, and I'm kind of excited for all of them. Hope you all have a great week!