Anderson Kitten, the Movie!

Remember my little underwear-stealing Corsican kitten, Anderson voleur Chausette? Well, he is now a star of YouTube! While recovering my camera files after a recent hard-drive crash, I discovered video upon silly video of this adorable little dude hanging out in my hotel room. And with the help of Windows Movie Maker, I have started editing some of the footage into short videos.

The first features Anderson hanging out in a bag (his favorite spot) while chasing his own tail (his favorite activity). Enjoy!

Early spring in Minnesota (but mostly just an excuse to post more pictures of creatures)

It was 60 degrees and sunny in Minneapolis today, and so, being the good Minnesotan that I am, I decided to take a walk by the lake.

Sometimes I think God gave our great state so many lakes so that Minnesotans would have one nice thing to look at in early spring. This is not the most flattering of times for the northern climes (yay cheesy rhyme!). Roads and boulevards are encrusted with dirt and talc residue left from winter saltings. Leaves don't emerge until late April. And the new grass has to fight through the peat bog seal of dead leaves and mold left over from the fall.

And so, on the first 60 degree day of the year, people and animals alike converge on the lake, the first bastion of color among the grays and browns of spring.

The waterfowl were out in droves at the new drainage pond by Lake Calhoun, some of which let me take photos.

Peekaboo!

Hey there, cutie

A mallard and his wake

A white heron, hunting fish and proving that awkward  really is beautiful

Creatures of my bedroom

A few days ago I found a wasp in my room.

It seemed cruel to kill her. A late spring is finally dawning in Minnesota after one of the coldest winters in recent memory, and any summertime bug with the tenacity to survive that doesn't deserve a helpless death under the weight of a rolled up newspaper. I took out my camera, and she, sensing her cue, posed in a ray of sunlight and let me take pictures while she removed a piece of lint from her back leg.

The next day I found her curled into the carpeting, dead.

A few nights later I noticed a dark spot exploring the crevices of my ceiling. It was a little spider, running her nightly laps - up the corner, across the ceiling, back down the wall and over again. There was something endearing in her frantic pacing. What might this hyperactive insect be looking for, or running from, or trying to forget?

She also got her glamour shot.

As far as I know she is still alive, exploring the space behind my walls. I just hope she doesn't get eaten by a centipede.

The melting snow bares its rusty corpses

 Winter has been hard for the bikes of Cambridge:
.

 Some, however, find a way to conquer:

Bonus Kitty Pics: Barley Bear has taken up journaling! Each morning he joins me to write long diatribes about the teasing robin on the balcony and secret love letters to the orange lady cat downstairs - and complains about how I don't pet him enough. Stupid cat.

Haiku for a silly cat

Curious cat in
the morning, stalks a pidgeon
on the windowsill.

Poses long and lean,
like a model: Look at my
sinewy neck!

 

Dude, I'm trying to write a blog post here!

And you are TOTALLY not helping.

I can haz interwebs?

Relationships in Black and White

Despite the urgings of many a friend (and mom - though, I only have one mom), I had to leave little Anderson Chaussette behind in Cargese. Not to worry, he will be cared for - he wore a little white collar (though, without a label) and one night I saw a woman in the neighboring apartment feeding him and a larger but otherwise identical version of him (the mother, I presume?)

I however, am not doing so well. I thought I could handle a little kitty-dating, a little casual kitty hook-up. Mr. Romeo, my balcon chaton, slipping through the window in the dead of night and curling up beside me, disappearing just as quickly in the morning. But, as you have probably guessed, I couldn't help getting my feelings involved, and now I miss him terribly.

Luckily, fate has brought me a older, wiser man to help me get over my little kitty vacation fling. A week after I returned from France my roommate Michelle adopted a 2 year old, as yet unnamed kitty. He is large, muscular, with the blackest of black fur and big green eyes (whatever his official name, I will nick-name him "bear", because that is what he is). Though he usually sleeps with her, during the day he sometimes curls up in my bed, and I can pretend I have my little Anderson back again.

Kitteh in ma bed: Anderson and Bear.

Of course, like all men, big Bear requires some training. He's already developed the habit of jumping on my desk while I try to work. Perhaps a southern accent will discourage him? (Please watch the link, it is hilarious)

However, I will always have a special place in my heart for Anderson, the voleur chaussette.

Introducing: Anderson voleur Chausette!

The origins are as follows:

The first name "Anderson" was inspired, not by Anderson Cooper (despite his striking resemblance to my kitten) but by the phenomenon of Anderson Localization, which occurs when scattering events off of disordered media lead to wave localization rather than diffusion (In case you are curious, here is the Anderson localization wiki). As "Son et Lumiere" is primarily concerned with the behavior of sound waves, this topic has been thoroughly discussed. My kitten was, believe it or not, the (partial) inspiration for a slide at the end of Prof. John Page's talk, which described the phenomenon of Anderson localization of a cat: said cat becomes localized, rather than diffusive, when it is encounters a high density of randomly ordered scattering events: dogs, cat-haters, waitresses, cars etc. Just you wait: one day, Anderson's cat will hold a place as highly esteemed in the symbolism of science as Schrodinger's cat, and my little Anderson started it all.

Anderson versus Anderson

The middle and last names, suggested by John, mean "sock thief" in French - very fitting for my little laundry rooting kitten. Anderson v. Chaussette - it just rolls off your tongue, doesn't it? I was considering "underwear thief", but "sous-vetements" just does not have the right ring to it.

And, because I know all you guys really care about, here are some more photos:

But before you fall into a coma of cuteness, consider this: my little Anderson jumped on my face at 2:30 this morning, waking me up and tracking mud all over my bed. Silly cat.

I will post about something not related to kittens sometime in the near future. Cheers!

Creatures of Corsica: or, the cat that tried to steal my underpants

Some of the things I very much enjoy about Corsica, or at least Cargese, are the animals. As the town is very compact, there is clearly no room for yards, and so people's dogs and cats are allowed to roam free. I like this mode of operation very much - the dogs I have met are all calm (probably because they can run where ever they like), well socialized, and smart enough to avoid traffic (I should add they are all wearing collars, so I know they are not strays!)

A dog nap at the institute.

The institute appears to be a favorite hangout for about six dogs from the village, which has created some funny moments at the school. Most notably, the dogs seem very intent on entering the lecture hall during talks, and so it is not uncommon to have speakers interrupted by a dog who just wants to be part of the action. It doesn't help that the pointer is actually just a giant stick.

My advisor, petting a dog in the middle of a talk.

 

Me giving my flash presentation. Notice the large stick - very tempting to dogs.

Every night I leave the doors to my balcony open while I sleep. On my second morning here, I woke up to find a little white kitten looking up at me from beside my bed. It looked at me cutely for a few seconds before viciously attacking my feet. I played with it for a few minutes and put it on the porch so I could shower.

Wake up!!

That night the cat returned before bedtime, and since then he (I checked -  it's a boy) has been a frequent visitor to my room. One night after a long hiking trip I was dozing on the bed when he came in, jumped on my chest, and proceeded to take a nap with me, nuzzling my neck. More often, however, he is in full-on kitten mode - running in circles, attacking anything that moves, and rearranging my laundry (last night he made it to the balcony carrying my underpants - I luckily caught him before he could get any farther, though I do believe now I am missing  a red sock!)

During a rare calm moment

I want to name my little Corsican vacation kitten. Any ideas?