Out of boredom or stupidity or whatever, I recently checked out Wikipedia's entry on the Exotic Shorthair cat. I joked with my boyfriend that almost nothing in the section on character applies to Winston. He joked back that a video illustrating Winston's deviance from his breed would be a funny thing to make. And so we did. And it's below.
Make no mistake, though: I wouldn't want him any other way. Abnormals unite!
Don't worry, I didn't get another cat to be weird with and about. This cat belongs to the person who runs Mouchois. He's a 12-week-old teacup Himalayan. Cute animals are a dime a million on the Internet, but Melvin's story is pretty remarkable (while at the same time, I fear, too common): his owner bought him via Craigslist, only to find out that he has primordial dwarfism and the host of problems that come along with it ("Basically, if there's a problem out there that doesn't cause a cat to die, he has it," is how she put it to me in an email). I appreciate the blog not just as a document of Melvin's weird cuteness and fighting spirit, but as a cautionary tale about the dangers of breeding for dwarfism. That sounds obvious, but it still happens so it isn't obvious enough. Obviously!
Anyway, just a heads-up that this crazy cat exists and that his fight for health is being documented at Mouchois. Melvin's troubles remind me of an intensified version of Winston's. I hope that he can one day be as healthy is my guy.
ANTM 12's Allison Harvard, light of my life/fire of my blogging loins, recently visited New York (she's actually still here!) and so you KNOW I had to do something on the collaborative tip with her. The problem is that once a reality show is over, it's over so all the minutiae that would have been fascinating to pick through a few weeks ago seems, well, over. So I decided to do something completely nonsensical with her and have Winston "interview" her. I'd want to talk to someone who painted my picture, too, so I thought it was only fair. If you enjoy watching this a tenth as much as I did when making it, you should be right tickled.
Next week, I'll have one more little video collabo with Alli. She is such a good sport!
Click to enlarge. Slightly less frightening versions are below. Happy Friday!
Continue reading "Pretty much the best picture I've ever taken" »
In my opinion, this catfight between Winston and Rudy is long enough to be worth posting but not so long that it causes discomfort. Also, I think it's more a wrestling match than a catfight. My cats are so butch. I'm proud!
The painting above, based on Winston's 2008 Halloween costume, is the work of ANTM Cycle 12 contestant Allison. I kinda got the feeling she was reading my stuff (via another ANTM girl, which...yeah, fraternizing with the talent is potentially problematic), so in my recap of the recap, I not-so-gently hinted that I wanted the sketch of a bloody-nosed Tyra that she did. Weirdly, the following week, she emailed me just to say hey, and I was all, "AHEM! I saaaaaaid I wanted that sketch." She gave it away to someone on the set, but she promised to make something else for me. I suggested something Winston-oriented (I wanted to experience the space dust of worlds colliding), and lo and behold a few weeks later, this is what she has come up with.
I probably don't need to say that I love it so, but I do. This is the single best material thing that has come out of my work on the Internet. My favorite thing about it is how utterly bizarre it would look to someone who hasn't seen Winston: a painting of a smoosh-faced cat wearing a hat and wig and stole and dress, as inspired by E.T.'s Halloween costume. What a wonderful thing!
No, sorry, that's my second favorite thing about it. My favorite thing about it is that Allison painted it!
There's a lot more of her creativity on her Flickr. To paraphrase the hushed words of Little Edie Beale, when you consider what's going on today, and then you compare Allison, she's very gifted. She really is. She's very gifted.
He's been so weird lately. We got new furniture and it's turned his world upside down and made him more playful than I've ever seen him in his life. It's a new frontier in Winston. Be excited.
Look at this bastard:
The other day, I ate a banana as I was getting ready in the morning. Winston was still in bed. When I went into my room to get my shit together, he started sniffing the air. He must have smelled it on my fingers or breath and, evidently, he was pissed that he wasn't invited to share in it because when I walked back into the living room a few minutes later, he was there, sitting on my keyboard looking up at me. I really think he was doing it to spite me. We've run into this problem before. Once, he ended up somehow deleting an entire recap I did for work when I left my computer open overnight. Thank god Wordpress saves every draft individually, otherwise I might be wearing Winston as earmuffs now.
But that's not the point of this post...
I can't let too much time pass without noting that on Sunday, I completed my fourth nicotine-free year. Before March 15, 2005, I was a boozer, a user and a loser. But more than that: a chain-smoker. Now, at least I can say that I've shed the last title. Really, this is the accomplishment of my life and one of the few things in which I allow myself to proudly revel. Looking over the ledge, before I quit smoking cigarettes, I worried that I was condemning myself to a life sentence of pining for nicotine. I'm glad to report that it's not the case at all: it only gets easier and more harrowing that I ever smoked in the first place.
Also on Sunday, Rudy turned 6. I notice more and more that people worry that he doesn't get the attention that Winston does. That couldn't be further from the truth IRL -- if anything, Rudy gets more affection because he's more into that sort of thing. Winston is something of my muse because he's so fucking weird. Despite appearances, I would not share so much about him if he didn't genuinely interest me on an almost scientific level. The, "Awww, cute cat" thing is there, of course, but there's a lot more to it than that, as far as my inspiration goes. Rudy, being more conventional in appearance and behavior, therefore, takes up less space on the Internet, but not in my heart. He's the one who sleeps on my chest every night, not Winnie.
How's that for irony?
I can't think of anyone who loves anything more than Winston loves bananas, and so we celebrate:
(The "Justify My Love" reference is obvious, but the track is actually Public Enemy. Just saying.)
