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Thursday, October 28, 2010

The Patriarch

I kinda left the tale of the feral cats hanging there......

I was looking for pictures that I have taken of White Kitty.   But it seems they are all on the camera that I left outside in the rain....and like the recipe for the cake in MacArthur's Park, I will never have them again.

White kitty is a big old dumb cat that comes around and eats the food that I put out.  I first noticed White Kitty coming around last winter, Sooty and Cleopatra would be taking advantage of their respective timeshare arrangement in front of the sliding doors, when one or the other of them would let out a blood curdling howl.  I would bolt upright from wherever in the house that i was and come running.

Seeing White Kitty shoving his butt up on the frost covered lilac bush never seemed like adequate reason to have my heart beating 200 times every minute.  I would explain this to my spoiled indoor kitties and encourage them to be tolerant of White Kitty, and stop giving me a heart attack.  When Beat Up Kitty comes around there is not such a violent reaction!!!

And Beat up Kitty was coming around on a regular basis,  winning my heart with her "I wanna trust you but life has been hard on me" attitude.   And White Kitty was commin around with a "thanks for the food now ya wanna rub my belly"  attitude.  Not saying White Kitty looks like the winner of most loved kitty of the year.  He was always showing up shivering in the dead of winter looking for a handout.  I thought he and Beat Up Kitty were rival Tom Cats fighting for territory.  In spite of the fact that my affections were leaning towards Beat Up Kitty, White Kitty seemed to be the dominant Tom.  He would show up on my front step when Beat Up Kitty was hanging out and Beat Up Kitty would run away.  Same thing in the backyard, on the roof of my neighbors shed.  In spite of the fact that Beat Up Kitty looks like the tougher of the two, White Kitty was seeming the Alpha.

Then one fine spring morning I stepped out the front door to see Beat Up Kitty sharing a amorous tryst with White Kitty in my driveway.  I told myself they were two Toms fighting.  But  Grizabellas kittens a few months later were the proof in the pudding,  White Kitty is the neighborhood Tom deadbeat Dad.

Monday, October 18, 2010

The Matriarch

It seems like the wild ones have always been around, but it actuality I think it has been about a year since the ragged old tom started showing up on my doorstep.  He had a scratched up eye, was missing part of his ear and appeared to have a serious case of mites or something that was making him scratch his ears raw.

My natural instinct was to provide some sort of care.  I started with food that was readily accepted.  Beat up Kitty became a regular visitor to my doorstep.  In spite of his appearance his demeanor was anything but aggressive.  He was serene and easygoing.  He never hissed or ran away, he did not show aggression or fear of me.  But in spite of all of this he would only accept my company if I stayed out of arms reach.  If I came closer he would step away. 

As time went on I came to understand that Beat Up Kitty wasn't just my Beat up Kitty but also my neighbors TomTom and another neighbors doorstep cat.

Then in April beat up kitty showed up at dinner time with a couple of young uns.  Humm methinks Beat Up Kitty is not the neighborhood Tom, but rather the neighborhood tramp.

My neighbor still calls her TomTom, I have renamed her Grizabella after the Heroine of Cats

Monday, October 11, 2010

Season 4 of Mad Men

From the beginning, I have been a Mad Men fan.  I love the perspective of looking back on a period of not so distant history and recognizing how much has changed.  There is Don Draper, holy yummy, Betty Draper giving her kids dry cleaning bags to play with, Sal Romano, living in the closet, and the big surprise was that there were gay guys that DIDN'T live in the closet. What we call sexual harassment today is a joke compared to this stuff.



And of course the fashion.  I LOVE 50s fashion.  I love the pleated structured dresses that the women wear.  Even the "skin tight" outfits of Joan Halloway seem like overcoats compared with the Lycra dresses offered up today.

As much as I love the show, there has been a basic element that, for me, has been lacking.  The characters have been developed but their positions at Sterling Cooper...well there has not seem to be allot of explanation about why they are "respected" in their field of expertise.  Don craps all over his female Jewish client, Pete spends all day gossiping and playing pranks with the Boys, and Peggy seems totally incapacitated by her inferiority issues, Joan is secure in her role as the pretty girl and will not tolerate any interlopers, Roger inherited his position and uses it to get laid, Bert has moved on from advertising and is evolving into a higher life form.  These are the people that Don chooses take with him when he sets out on his own.

When season three ended I was soo impressed with the way that loose strings had been tied up I actually wondered it the show was wrapping up. 

Then season 4 came along.  The pretty dresses and the historical perspective have worn thin and there is a sinking feeling in the pit of my psyche telling me that the downward spiral is about to begin.  I was not expecting find out that Peggy has a backbone, Pete schemes to get and keep clients, Don really has no integrity when it comes to who he sleeps with, Bert really does care about what happens, Joan actually does more that show up and look hot....Roger (thankfully) remains the 12 year old boy trying to avoid getting into trouble.


This past season has made things all come together.  I am feeling like all three pervious seasons were just laying the groundword for a tale that is going to be long, winding and very entertaining.