The Terrible Catsafterme

Denise and I were trying to come up with the time period when our cat Niki first appeared in our lives and what we decided was that she first showed up, unannounced and unsolicited during the summer of 1985. It was most likely one of the summer holidays – possibly the Fourth of July or Labor Day. Denise recalls that she was playing outside with the Tangeman kids and stumbled upon this oddly-colored tortoiseshell tabby cat. She had splotches of black, orange, brown, and one odd patch of white on her chest. Read the rest of this entry »

As far as my memory is concerned, Laddy was my first cat. Although we had a fleeting association with another feline, who remained nameless, at our home on John Glenn Road, I have no memory of any cat before Laddy. We’re not quite sure who named Laddy, but I suspect it was my Dad. He was a stray cat that initially hung out across the street at the Ferrenberg’s house, but one he started roaming over to our neck of the woods, we offered him some food, and Brenda Ferrenberg offered him to us. Read the rest of this entry »

I was very saddened when our cat Charcoal passed away during the Fall of 1977. In an effort to help me recover, my parents decided to get me a brand new kitten – another gray one – for Christmas that year. I first met Charcoal 2 (seen at left in late 1979) when he commenced meowing in the garage during breakfast on Christmas Eve. Read the rest of this entry »

In putting together my posting of the goings-on of December 2008, I realized how odd and eclectic my lifestyle can at times be. Of course, I wouldn’t change anything about it, but I wanted to point out the complete opposite ends of of a three-sided spectrum that some of these events represent: from a drunken fiesta with wild associates, to a gathering of vintage film geeks, to the family party of a ninety year old great-uncle, it’s hard to tie these events together in any way, shape, or form…other than the fact that they all occurred in the merry month of December. Read the rest of this entry »

Cats have always been my household pet of choice. So much so in fact that to date I have had ten different cats who played a significant role in my life. The very first one was the least memorable…mostly because I don’t remember him/her. While no dissertation of my life would be complete without including a tribute to the very first in a long line of feline friends, this one was merely a flash in the pan with no given name. It simply became referred to as “the cat on John Glenn,” a stray that hung out with us for just a brief time in 1973. But it would pave the way for my first official cat to be given a name a year or so later.

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