Sleeping On the Job
So here’s the thing. I realize in advance that I’m going to come off as a crazy cat lady here. I’ll admit I’ve always been a little nervous about the crazy-cat-lady thing. People tell me that three cats is enough to make you a CCL, and given my penchant for losing my beloved familiars, I’ve always managed to stay far away from that line.
Of course, I forgot to spay my kitten, and she hit puberty one day when I wasn’t home. Suddenly she was weighing about ninety pounds and her belly was the size of a football. Bob Barker would have my head.
So Kalliope is a young, unwed mother. She gave birth to three kittens on September 28th. She was considerate enough to choose my bed as her birthing room, so I came home to find three tiny closed-eyed little rodenty creatures in a pile on my duvet, a bloody mess on my pillow, and a stillborn under my sheet. I did a lot of laundry.
I’ve always been infatuated with creation. Given the option, I’d almost always rather create than consume, which is why I tend to gravitate towards writing, drawing, painting, Lego sets, etc. Watching another life be created, though? That puts everything else to shame. I suppose this is the sort of thing people usually realize when they have children, but, well, I’m too much of a child myself to ever go that route.
While I’ve been feeling unproductive because most of my projects are stalled in some midphase, or they’re behind-the-scenes sorts of pieces that I can’t really add to my portfolio, Kallie’s been raising three beautiful, healthy, and only marginally psychotic tiger-striped felines.
And I’m trying hard not to get attached, but I’ve watched them quadruple in size. I was there when their eyes started to open, I knew them when their ears were closed flat, and I taught them to eat solid food. Two weeks ago, they all had earned names.
This is Copernicus at about three weeks old:
Sabine, today, posing with her favourite plaything (after her Mum’s tail):
And Matilda boning up on her typography:
More crazy-cat-lady photos can be found on my flickr page, if you’re really so inclined.
Oh, and in actual news, I’ve added two new projects—digitaledge.ca and a logo for Comfort & Joy (website in production!). But, really, neither of those attack my shoes when I walk into the room, so they really just seem less thrilling, somehow.
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