"Jeri the Giraffe"

Allow me to present the newest addition to our menagerie of creatures, Jeri the Giraffe. I've always had a soft spot for giraffes, long before I found out about how the first one got transported from Africa wedged between two cows so it wouldn't feel so lost; or how the Victorian novelist, Geraldine Jewsbury, almost wept when she saw the giraffe in London Zoo for the first time, even after she was assured by the keeper that their hides always looked like that.

Jeri (named after a certain Oxford don if you must know, not because it begins with the same 'j' sound that 'giraffe' starts with) has an expression that is rather like Fran's, slightly quizzical, slightly startled. She's even smaller than Fran though, which is why she can get away with living on the cup heater over the coffee machine. I suppose the microclimate up there is a little more equatorial than the weather we're having elsewhere in the house.

So, there you go: Jeri. Who likes coffee and looks at the world with her head cocked to one side.

Pup
xxx

PS Seeing that she's an African animal, it seemed churlish not to have a go at shooting her first portrait Nick Brandt-style, especially since I got hold of a Lensbaby 2.0 this week... more on that later...

Me and Susie

Figured there hadn't been a picture of Susie here for a long while, so here's one of us chilling out on her favourite chair...

By the way, that article on sepia I'd been procrastinating about in former posts: it's now available, here.

Photo Storage Device

Despite kittens, it's been a bit of a geeky week, here at Chez Puplet...

First, I ordered a Digital Camera Buddy enclosure from USBTech.

A steep climb on the learning curve that is hard-drive terminology later, I was scouring eBay for a suitable drive (60gb+; 4500rpm but preferably 5400rpm; 2.5" rather than 3.5"; not broken). Eventually found one, secured it for next to nothing using (like all the best eBayers) my very useful Powersnipe account, fitted it, reinitialised it via my laptop's 'Disk Utility' application, and, hey presto! a fully functioning USB2-speed PSD which can store 60gb of data and can transfer from CF at a rate of 300mb/min!

Why, then, the rubber bands? Well, it seems that despite all my careful planning I got the wrong drive after all. Mine is 12mm high rather than 9.5mm so the back cover can't screw down properly. Personally, though, I think the rubber bands make it look more edgy and different from its considerably more expensive cousin, the Epson P4000. I'm thinking of adding yellow go-faster stripes to it, what do you reckon?

Manni's been reserved!

Hurray! Patrick and Bernard are really coming into their own these days and look less like relatively uninteresting kittens, and more like handsome, magical creatures who wouldn't look out of place protecting the needs of Sheila McCullagh's Hidden People.

Take care, little Manni kitten!
Much love,
Fran & Pup xxx

Where did Susie go?

Dear Susie,

Where on earth to go off to the night before last? I was beginning to worry that you wandered off - so very, very pleased to you were back last night, and thought that hissed at me, in your usual manner, very nicely indeed. You are such a wonderful, fascinating friend when it comes to all this hissing!

Much love,
Fran kitten
xxx

Research proposals...

So, I'm actually getting ideas for my new (career-defying) book on the Illuminati these days, and I've even got hopeful enough about it to think about putting in a handful of applications for the research fellowships that have just come up in Cambridge...

I am, after all, a PhD'd puplet, with a monograph on the near-horizon...

But, writing a research proposal. And listening to B*Witched (whatever happened to those perky pagans?). And not having a crate of books and notes with every scrap of information that there is in the whole wide world on the subject. I don't even know where the nearest copy of the eighteenth-century parliamentary reports I'm going to need are...

It's a bit like... being a very small kitten - not that this is a cat post. No, this is a special edition purpley lomo image posting (think Samuel L. Jackson's special edition light sabre in Star Wars I-III), just for my friend, Altitude (ah-hem) Zero, who seems to like them. Yes, matey, you get a bit of radial/motion blur thrown in for free, just for being such a nice bloke and working so hard with your wallpaper :-)

Manni, Bernard and Patrick update

Well, the good news is that all three of them seem to be in good health, if a little withdrawn still but the bad news is that all of them have yet to be rehomed, and are surrounded by a good baker's dozen of - I hate to say it - more attractive kittens, inquisitive, child-friendly creatures with blue eyes, pink noses, and piteous miaows. If any of you haven't yet cast your "Pet Idol" vote for Manni, today's your last day to do so - there's a link of the shameless solicitation of votes below. Just click on the highlighted word 'here' and it'll take you straight to the voting page...

Jewellry isn't just for women, you know. The more enlightened of us will know the enhancing features of "man jewellry": a fine watch, beautiful cufflinks, a single ring, a leather fob in the style of Australian surfers...

And so, it is with this in mind that I bring you "puppy jewellry", courtesy of my good friend, CrystalWebs. Remember, you heard it here first: metrosexuality is now officially passé. And puppy is the new urban chic.

"Pet Idol": shameless solicitation of votes...

My local newspaper's running this competition called 'Pet Idol'. Everyone sends in a picture of a pet; the public vote for the one they like the most - winner gets a bucketload of vouchers redeemable at the local pet-supply store. I entered a picture of Manni before I got Fran - he's not yet homed and the publicity of winning would probably do him good and, no doubt, a sackful of new cat toys would probably be very welcome at the local animal shelter.

If this was purely a competition of photographic skill, I wouldn't mention it - but the entry form says 'Start your campaign and urge all your family and friends ... to vote for your pet'...

On-line voting forms are available here (one per email address).

Pet name: Manni
Pet number: 0830

Remember to check the box that bars them from sending you junk mail...

Many thanks in advance for all your support!

Pup

First Fran-initiated nestling session

...

Stoned...

...in a distinctly post-vaccination kind of way.