What's in a name?

Now I have to start this post out by saying I am not copying Fran, our minds just seem to be in sync here. I came up with the same idea after I finished yesterdays post and she posted her's 1/21/08.

Gus' registered name is lame: Skiak's Paws-n-Effect, he was one of the Paws litter. The others were The Paws That Refreshes, Paws-a-traction, and Paws-a-bility all of them dumb, in my opinion. She wouldn't let me use this for his registered name but I chose Angus Mac Og for Gus, the Irish god of youth, love, and beauty. I'd have called him Angus except his breeder kicked up such a fuss, he'll be fat if you name him after a cow! Funny, I always thought it was more about diet and exercise. And what about Angus Young of AC/DC?!?! I relented and went with GusGus, the chubby mouse in Cinderella. The breeder had a much better theme for Llelo's litter, they were all named after James Bond movies and I got to choose which movie. Llelo is officially Skiak's Goldeneye. Desmond Llewelyn was the name of the man who played the character Q in all but the most recent Bond movies. Also, I'd been reading the Sharon Kay Penman series, which begins with Here Be Dragons, an exciting trilogy of 13th Century England & Wales. Llewelyn was the name of the last independent Welsh Prince before the conquest by Edward I. As a boy, at least in the books, he was called Llelo. And for those wondering Skiak is the breeder's kennel name.

Arthur was named for King Arthur. He was the first orange tabby cat I've had. I had been reading a book about Guinevere that began with her learning of Arthur's death, don't remember the title, though. Arthur is always described as being fair and blond or red headed, it seemed to fit the orange cat. He could pull off a regal bearing when he sat in the sun, not so much otherwise. Nemo was a pound kitten, very tiny when I brought him home. He was at the pound back in the day when they kept many cats in one cage. Each time I went to visit him he was all wet, the adult males tormented him and he tended to get backed into the water dish. He needed a nautical name, what better than the captain from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which I still haven't read. The photo was the day I brought Nemo home, I was 18.

Hamlet was a Russian Blue cat that showed up at our back door. The mother said I couldn't keep him if I named him something stupid like Nemo! Who knew?!? My brother and I suggested this name and that name, she suggested Hamlet, we kept trying other names which she poo poo'd, hence Hamlet. A sweet but very twitchy cat. Tigger, well, I was only 9 and he was a grey tabby. He was the grouchy old tomcat, but I could do anything to him. I have an old photo somewhere, he is laying with his head on a pillow between 2 teddy bears and covered with a doll blanket. My first pet was a calico kitten that I named Tuna Fish, after my favorite food. I believe I was 5 or 6. Tuna disappeared before she reached adulthood and I couldn't eat tuna for over a decade. The mother had a grey tomcat named Brother Violet. He was 3 yrs older than me. The story behind the name: my mother though it was a female and had already been calling him Violet. There was a tv show with an Uncle Elizabeth so Violet became Brother Violet.

My brother over the years had cats Psyche, Rose, Kuan. We also had Freyja. Psyche was the great hunter. She'd bring home kill for Brother Violet when he'd reached advanced age. Freyja was the little match stick girl, her fur was always rather rumpled and looked as though she needed a good shampoo and blow dry. Rose was a cat of very little brain. Kuan had entirely too much.

When the mother was growing up she had cocker spaniels. I remember tails of Buzz and Zzub, who came after Buzz. The dogs would go along for ice cream cones and would get their own. And at least one of them was trained to wipe it's feet by running in a circle on the door mat. She had Helga, the german shepard, when I was a baby. I learned to walk using Helga to pull myself up. Whenever I became too annoying she would lick my face until I went kerplop on my diapered bottom.

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. -- Roger Caras
If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. --Will Rogers

I have to agree with these statements with the caviat "cats, too". Ear rubs and tummy scritches to all.

Sisterly pride

I was having a lack of ideas flowing today, still very tired from all the driving, paddling, eating, driving, spa-ing, and driving yesterday. And I stayed up way past my bedtime writing my blog and tweeking the various settings only to get up early again today to meet folks from the Seattle Hiking Group at Mae's Phinney Ridge Cafe and then take a walk around Greenlake. It was fun, but too early in the morning. I spent the rest of the day in a bit of a foggy haze, too much sleepiness, not enough napping.

And then I get an email from Fran, the link I sent her wasn't loading and all she was seeing was the image of a very intense guy holding a guitar. harumph! I got on IM to my sister-in-law, where I go for all my tech support questions. Can you fix it, make it better?!??! After a short while she sent me this link. I passed it on to Fran, who said it takes a long time to load (so be patient) but the very intense guy plays beautifully. Well, of course he does, he's my brother, Israel! He's good at everything he does, a little annoying that way, but I think that's a sibling issue more than anything. He received his first guitar a month before his 7th birthday, I was about a year old (this photo was a few months before that). He's been playing for over 40 years and it shows. When he was living in New Jersey he formed a group called The Beetniks and they recorded an album called World Beet, you can hear his vocals on tracks 5 & 6 and the acoustic guitar as well. There are rumors that he will be recording another album, as a solo artist this time. I speculate it will be more acoustically based and less of the electric guitar, I think it will be more representative of his personal style rather than that of the group. I can't wait! And believe me I'll let you all know when it's out!