Cats

Recently I was digging through the archives and found a number or pictures of my first cat Franklin. Franklin was a quirky cat, blind and weighing about four pounds he was the perfect portrait of a litter runt. But for all his disabilities, he got away with many schemes and antics.

When I say he was blind, I don't mean completely blind. He had about enough sight to distinguish a flash light shining on a dark wall. He would chase that spot of light like a thirsty desert dweller would chase a mirage, crying sadly all the while.

He faked it well though, you would often see him staring out the window at things. You would almost believe that he was keeping a keen eye open, observing all the on-goings of all the humans and wildlife. His head would swivel periodically tracking the nefarious deeds of the local squirrel cartel. Just when he had you fooled he would go sit down 10 centimeters from a wall and stare straight at it for hours watching the on-goings of mice, men, and squirrel cartels.

Really he survived quite well he knew the boundaries of the apartment and had just enough sight to get around. Occasionally that just enough sight was just enough to get him in trouble. One hot summer day I had the balcony opened up with only a screen door separating Franky's safe zone from the wild. Just enough light to make it look like there was an opening, but not enough to realize there was a barrier. He came tearing through the house carefully navigating the open spaces, he rounded the last corner and leaped into the opening that wasn't really an opening. Turns out that cats bounce.

One day I dug up a catnip plant from the farm, potted it and took it home for Franky. Sure it may be a gateway drug but medicinal use was clearly a solid defense. I excitedly took Franky and placed him directly in front of the plant... but he just walked on by. After many frustrated attempts I gave up. Either his smell was handicapped too or he just didn't care or was too stupid to notice it... For some reason I kept the plant and nurtured it letting it grow and grow. Now I grew up in a place where marijuana is typically cultivated better than any of the other cash crops. So I might have clued in to Frank's scheme. He wasn't olfactory-challenged, dumb, or innocent. He was simply waiting for the right time to harvest.

At the choice time, I came home to find the catnip plant completely demolished and knocked over -- not a single leaf left on the plant. I foolishly assumed that he had simply eaten the fruits of his harvest. But Frank was a clever cat and tended his stash better than most of the bong-toting hippies I know. Months later I saw Frank go behind the TV and come out with that wild look in the eye that says "Get off my couch and go get me 10 bags of Doritos." I looked behind the TV and there was a neat pile of dried catnip leaves stashed in a recess in the TV stand. I am sure there is a feline Rob Schneider somewhere mocking me "... and you can put your nip in there."

He also had a keen understanding of home theater equipment. In the night, in his true element, he would cause a ruckus. catching fake mice, bullying boxes and general tom foolery. Now my DVD player had a value-add feature, you could just shut the DVD player off by it would remember the play position of the movie. And this DVD player was low to floor, just high enough that you could slide a box up against it and hit the play button. Once night Frank brow beat a box directly into the play button. The system came alive DVD player whirring, the stereo came on with the DVD player, and Crash! The paused movie was paused just before a loud explosion and the stereo was set somewhere between lout and very loud. He was a lot more careful and diplomatic in his future dealings with boxes.

There are many other small stories, like the lemonade incident of 2000 and his screen climbing escapades. He was quirky and handicapped but always up for malevolent enterprise. Here's to Frank long gone but not forgotten.

Me?, originally uploaded to flickr by vfilby.

Princess the photogenic kitty.

A Valentine's Day video for Jasmine's mommy!

Ever since we got a second cat, Vince and I have been worried that Mazrim's nose has gotten a little out of joint. We were a little disappointed that Mazrim and his long-lost sister Jasmine didn't become buddies right off the bat. But little did we know that they only "fight" when we come home from work! I had the chance to stay home for a few days and caught them snuggling in the sunshine and licking each other. My theory is that they fight to see who gets the most attention when we get home! Click below to watch the video.

My master's thesis used cat whiskers and a transducer to create robotic sensors. Though I did collect all the whiskers my cat lost naturally, I did have to clip one whisker (for science people!). People were mortified when they heard this, often claiming that he wouldn't be able to walk straight, balance himself or know what size hole he could fit into. I claimed that he was fine and it was not a big deal because cats naturally lose and regrow whiskers.

Perhaps, however, he did suffer some long-term effects as seen in the video below. I just say that my cat is strange.