I was out on assignment shooting a story near downtown, and had in mind to look for random bloggery… and stumbled across a slightly confused rosebush that doesn’t realize it’s still winter here.
I hope someone’s looking after this little gardenish enclave and gets it covered before the freeze hits tomorrow night…
If not, at least we have the photograph.
So… Saturday, after a very pleasant session, I pulled into the Kroger at Buffalo Speedway and Westpark for necessities, and got tagged by a little sign: “Weekend Cat Adoptions.”
Now as it happens I am, at the moment, between owners, and of late that’s been bothering me somewhat,so it seemed that it might be worth stopping in to see if by some chance there was a minor deity in the market for a trained, experienced, and motivated chief of staff. Or, at the very least, a blog post.
Well. I got the blog post, anyway.
The adoption center, one of the small retail outlets on the north (Westpark) side of the center, is operated by Save A Cat Rescue, Inc. Unfortunately their website seems to be a bit uncertain just at the moment so I’m not going to link now. There will be more opportunities for linkage later, I expect, as I really LIKE these folks… They’re devoted servants, volunteers, and understand the importance of letting the fuzzy ones decide who they do and don’t want to consider taking on as permanent staff. Nobody even looked at me funny when I said I was just giving the cats the opportunity to consider me, which is to me a VERY good sign. (I’ve been to any number of shelters where the volunteers just don’t get it — they think the relationship choice is up to the humans. So I wasn’t expecting much and was pleasantly surprised.)
There were cats there who were residents of the shelter’s group home (I’m not gonna call it a cathouse, I’m not, I’m not…) and others who are currently foster kitties. Without exception they all appeared to be healthy, well-cared for, and reasonably well socialized given that they are, after all, “homeless,” and are being subjected to the attentions of any number of strange humans and exposed to other cats, many of whom they probably don’t know. (This is always a stressful situation for cats, and a few of them did show signs that they were not exactly thrilled to be there…. but even the bad tempers were well within normal for the situation.)
After a few minutes of being present, it seemed unlikely that I was going to be adopted that particular morning, so I got to work.
This is Einstein. Allegedly, when he was a youngster, he had very little body coat but a significant if somewhat disreputable and disheveled ruff, and looked very much like early photographs of the good Doctor. He’s grown into one of the most handsome guys I’ve seen in years, a Maine Coon / Tuxedo mix, about 8 months old and extremely dignified.
(He is also, at the moment, clickable. There are more cats behind him. Go look.)
Not supposed to rain tomorrow. Hit the streets.
For the first time since Y2K I was actually around other people at the turn of the year. I didn’t really set out for that, but my brother-and-sister-out-law were in town and we don’t see each other nearly enough (in my opinion, anyway; theirs may vary a bit…)…
So after watching the art cars and strange goings on at Gloworama , we wound up (as so often we have) talking across a table in a coffee shop.
And it was a very nice, quiet, low-key way to welcome the new decade.
(It’s not that I blame the old one, as such; it probably did the best it could and there were some very good moments. But like many of us I’m kind of hoping the new one will allow for the correction of a few issues.)
Anyway. First pic of the new year:
George and Tina, Jan 1, 2011
12/26, 2230: HFD responded to a call at Bellerive and Bonhomme, Sharpstown, just a few blocks from where I was trying not to fall asleep at my keys. The incident website said “gas leak,” and so there was nothing for it but to grab cameras and go for my evening walk.
I hung around across the street for about 90 minutes, in case something “newsworthy” happened; happily, it didn’t. About the time I decided that there was nothing to be gained by staying, several of the trucks and ambulances that were lined up just in case started shutting down lights and leaving; by the time I got about half a mile up the street, it was all quiet again.
Once Upon A Time…
I was in an auditorium with a bunch of low-flying cheerleaders.
They were impressive.
Hopefully they will not wind up in front of the eclipse shots tonight, but you never know with eclipses. Or cheerleaders.
Found this when I stepped out of the bookstore the other night, between the bookstore and the antiquarian map shop.
Clearly, Santa has good taste.
Normally, when I’m not working, I’m about as sociable as a fer-de-lance with a toothache, but last night I made the (not really extraordinary) effort of visiting the Holiday Shebang at one of my favorite book shoppes. The place is a maze; you never know what you might find in the stacks… Tonight, though, just lots of books and an equally non-socially-minded lady.
And the shutter button on the PanaLeica.
Okay, so now.. go shoot.
A few days ago, a friend and colleague mentioned that she had a number of old books dating back, in some cases, to the late 19th century, and asked if I knew where she might find out if they had any significant value. We’re both readers, of course, and book people, and as it happens I’m on friendly terms with Larry Turk, the proprietorial genius of Quarter-Price Books on S. Shepherd.
Yesterday, en route to one of our usual coffee-laced writing and thinking sessions, we stopped by Mr. Larry’s shop, whereat she got some good advice about her books, and I got the chance to test my new camera, a Panasonic GF1, on a living human.
Me Like. Leica Lite…. (Not quite so easy to use but I can put my hands on it now. An M9, maybe the ultimate picture-making machine for me, I can’t afford. I have no complaints about the price, you understand… I just don’t currently HAVE it.)
Smile for the cameras.
You should. These are nice people. Really. They just have bigger lenses than you.
