I love cats

A blond version of a cat lady in one of my collages.  Everything is handcut and pasted and embellished with rhinestones. A yellow napkin was used to make the hair.  Done for a woman decorating her daughter's room in leopard and turquoise.  https://www.etsy.com/listing/95268422/cat-collage-cat-woman-leopard-turquoise?ref=pr_shop is the link to the item in my online shop.  

Lots of interesting cat stuff in the Sunday New York Times.

Here are two items.

First, in the travel section on South Korea, is a mention of a Cat Cafe (godabang.com).  Cats live in the cafe for you to play with and photograph.

Who knew there was such a thing as a cat cafe? According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_caf%C3%A9),  a "cat café is a theme café whose attraction is cats that can be watched and played with. Patrons pay a cover fee, generally hourly, and thus cat cafés can be seen as a form of supervised indoor pet rental.

Cat cafés are quite popular in Japan, with Tokyo being home to at least 39 cat cafés. A pioneer is Cat's Store (猫の店 Neko no Mise^?), by Norimasa Hanada, which opened in 2005. The popularity of cat cafés in Japan is attributed to many apartments forbidding pets, and to cats providing relaxing companionship in what may otherwise be a stressful and lonesome urban life. Other forms of pet rental, such as rabbit cafes, are also common in Japan.^[3]

There are various cat cafés. Some cat cafés feature specific categories of cat such as black cats, fat cats, rare breed cats or ex-stray cats. A cat café must obtain a license and comply with the strict requirements and regulations of the Animal Treatment/Protection Law.^[4]

Japanese cat cafés feature strict rules to ensure cleanliness and animal welfare, in particular seeking to ensure that the cats are not disturbed by excessive and unwanted attention, such as by young children or when sleeping. Many cat cafés also seek to raise awareness of cat welfare issues, such as abandoned and stray cats. In 2011, American singer Katy Perry was seen at one of the cafes in Tokyo while on tour.

Secondly is a review of the book "Another Insane Devotion: On the Love of Cats and Persons" by Peter Trachtenberg.  A rave review by Jennifer B. McDonald, calls the book a pet memoir...... but "not jut a pet memoir".  Along with writing about the pursuit of his missing cat, Biscuit, she says that  Trachtenberg's memoir "is about the torments of grief and separation as much as it is about the nature of desire and devotion." 

Sounds intense.  Depressing.  Maybe I won't read it.

Here's a link to the book:  http://www.amazon.com/Another-Insane-Devotion-Love-Persons/dp/0738215260

Happy reading!!  Happy New Year!!  Happy cats!!