Pardon the fromage...

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

I know it's cheezey, but I figure somebody might be interested in a couple recent snaps of the furry cuteness.

Shoe Tree

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

As I stopped to take this picture, an elderly woman carrying a small painting came up to me on the sidewalk and spoke in a thick accent. I didn't really understand what she was saying at first, so I just said "no thanks." Dumb, huh? Turns out she's 82, hails from Portugal, has a cat named Lucy, and this is her garden. She told me it's no good now because there are no flowers. She's going to take all those boots off the tree, repaint, replant, and rehang them. I'll go back over the summer to check on her progress.

Here, kitty kitty

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

From the Chapman Brothers’ excellent show of corrugated cardboard animals at Paradise Row.

The indignity

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

This is Olive sporting her Danish head funnel. TEN DAYS she has to wear that thing. I actually had to go for a more BDSM/Gaultier arrangement since she kept kicking it off and gnawing at her stitches...

SNOW DAY

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

This is probably it for 2007. At least poor Olive got to experience a bit of winter magic before I trundled her off to the vet for her little snip-snip this morning.

Olive & Hazel

Originally uploaded by sf2london.


Originally uploaded by sf2london.


Originally uploaded by sf2london.

While Steven & I were away, Olive stayed at Auntie Kath's house and got to know couzin Hazel. I know, sick. But cute!

Merry Christmas!

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

Love,
Mark, Steven & Olive

Introducing...

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

Taxi!

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

That, apparently, is English for "get me out of here!" or "get out of my face!" depending on the situation. Anyhow, HELP! That's what Steven wants to name the kitten, so any appropriate suggestions would be most welcome. At this stage of the game, she's about the size of a large grapefruit and is super duper extra ultra mega totally cute. Very affectionate and sociable. And very smart, I think. My productivity has plummeted. Did I mention how cute she is?

Have kitten, no name

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

Physically very Alice-esque (so will be tuxedo cat #3 for me, but Steven is having -- surmountable -- issues). In terms of temperament, I think very different from the old girl. But Alice was friendly and gregarious as a youth, so we'll just have to wait & see. Our acquisition of what seems to be a black market kitten was all very hush-hush and on the QT. You have NO IDEA what hoops you have to jump through to adopt ("re-home" here) from the RSPCA or one of the main shelters! So we paid cash and we're keeping quiet about our source. Considered naming her David Banda. Others on the list are Daisy, Mabel, Jade, Vanda -- I won't go on because the list is long. Any ideas would be welcome, though. So far her little life is play, sleep, eat, repeat. When awake doesn't stay still long enough for a photo (at least not one taken with my "multimedia computer")...

Fifteen years until now.

Steven just wrote this tonight:

I am finding it hard to forgive you
For leaving us in the lurch
So suddenly

Or was it we who did the leaving
Day after day
Out the front door we'd go
Into the Void.
How else could you see it?
How could you know we'd come back?

Now it's your turn.

We miss you, sweet pea.
Epitome of faithful, paragon of friend
Gold-medal homebody
Always here for us
Fifteen years
Until now.

You were not generous with love
You treated it, and us, more carefully than most
And that was your great talent.

Nurse Alice
Doling out doses of affection
Just enough, when needed
Was more than enough always.
You healed all our hurt
With tender nonchalance
And casual furry grace.

Cuddly, not.
Snuggly, barely.
More spice than sugar
Fuzzmuffin, you could sure lash out
More prizefighter than diva
(Though you had the girth for either label.)
Or maybe you were just a type A control freak.

Where could you have learned such behavior?

From a box of sibling rivalry
That Brooklyn day
Out you lept, spidery kitten,
smelling our aromatherapy candles and good soap.
You knew somehow you'd get a good deal.
We got the better one.
And to think I didn't want you or your kind hanging around
That is, until I saw you.

And then?
O adoration! O boundless and effortless love!
Our first and only charge, our little cutie.
Alice Jackson.
A name to accommodate whoever you became:
Cute little Alice
Big fat Alice.

What foresight we all had!

You got your great adventure, and so did we.
We crossed a continent
an ocean
a channel
together, us three.
You made every place into our home
Just by settling in, on the rug.
Kittyloaf.
Anenome Face.

Through it all
Your tastes were simple:
You loved the water
And patches of sunlight
And shady spots beneath the flowers.
And nibbles of lettuce and grass
And tuna juice
The sound of the can opener
And of us coming home.

What was it like
When you were alone
Were you contented, relaxed, napping and dreaming?

Did it still feel like home
Or was the house devoid of comfort
Bereft of its soul?

I remember times in the night
You'd forget we were in the next room
And you'd cry out, a long drawl of a howl.
So sad
So lonesome.

So relieved when we called your name.
Your little chirp of gladness
The thump of you landing on our bed

Gone now.

We still see you out of the corners of our eyes
Afraid to turn our heads and look
Lest you disappear again.

We miss you Miss Alice.
We miss you kitty.
We forever miss you.

R.I.P. Alice Jackson - II

This picture was taken in October 2005 by Lauren Barr at 6B Penzance Place.


This picture was taken by me on July 2nd of this year on our terrace at 97 Golborne Road during one of this summer's many heatwaves. It might be the most recent photo of Alice.

R.I.P. Alice Jackson - I

Spring 1991 - 24 August 2006





Thanks to Elliot Clapp for capturing the inimitable spirit of Alice in the last four photos (and many more, including video clips, which I will try to post somewhere, some time). She was a good friend, and we are glad she shared her long and happy life with us.

Poor Old Girl

Since we got back from Helsinki (yes, yes, I've got a backlog of photos), Alice hasn't quite been herself. Google said she was exhibiting symptoms of diabetes. Two trips to the vet got us a "high" (but not catastrophic—ta-dum-dum) glucose reading and special prescription food to try for a week or two. But this past week she really seemed to be deteriorating rapidly. Steven & I took her to the vet yesterday, and they wound up admitting her for observation & stabilization. The hospital is full, so Alice will be spending the next couple of weeks with 12 other cats (her least favorite people). This is without question the worst thing that's ever happened to her. It hasn't been a picnic for us either, as we've had to confront the mortality of our friend, companion and "nurse" of 16 years...

Oliver Hardy?

Alice's English cousin? Or...
Moustache cat

Dam! Dam! Dam!

So Steven & I went to Amsterdam for the weekend. You know how you think living in Europe would make that kind of thing no big deal? Run of the mill? Par for the course? Well, it took us 9 hours to get there. It's 200 miles away. Part of our trip was down the M-something-or-other on a bus from Gatwick to Heathrow. In rush hour traffic. I HATE British Airways! Why are they the world's favoUrite airline? My guess: most of the world doesn't have a choice. Anyhow, we finally arrived and it was fun.

There's more, but I just thought I'd share these for now, since I'm supposed to be writing a 5,000 word "thesis" that's due in 10 days.

Across the street from 2 lesbian bars...


A couple of Alice's Dutch cousins???

Istanbul - March '06

After the end of Lent term, a group from the program went to Istanbul and Thessaloniki. Steven, just returning from a round-the-world trip, met me in Istanbul for a long weekend.

Near Galata Tower
Lots of amazing neon
5 Kat sign
Trendy Cuppa
Flowers, Taksim Square
It's a face!
Yikes!
Self-portrait 1
"French" street
Gate
Halva - yum!
Flavin-esque
Bakery sign
Grand Bazaar
New Mosque
Antique thingie
Artichoke, Istanbul Modern
Manti, Istanbul Modern
Dolmas, Istanbul Modern
Sign, Pera
Construction, Pera
Construction, Pera
Building in Sultanhamet
Near Hagia Sofia
Hagia Sofia
Hagia Sofia
View from Sulimaniye
View from Sulimaniye
View from Sulimaniye
Cafe, Pera
Steven, Pera
Pera
Self portrait 2
The next 'hood
The next 'hood
Window grate
Kitty
Ladybug cakes, Istiklal