growing up i would’ve said i was a dog person. really. but winona is the cat of my life. amazing to think i got her seventeen years ago, at the beginning of my senior year of high school. she’s lived with me the past twelve years straight, through dog attacks, unfriendly room-mates, two lovely girlfriends (one allergic, one as smitten with ‘nona as she was with me)  and several different apartments. once long ago, when i had a darkroom, i could’ve sworn that winona was addicted to fixer. those who know me know that i’m irrationally devoted to her, and i like her more than most people i meet. also, she depends on me for survival, which most people i meet don’t do. that kind of helps with the attachment.

now, at seventeen, winona is hanging on, in a pretty advanced stage of kidney failure. i give her 100 cc’s of saline through an IV every other day. she’s surprisingly patient with this, and i’ve been doing it for over a year. so far the veterinarian seems amazed she’s still alive and kicking. every day she makes me smile, especially on days when nothing else does. happy birthday, kiddo.

the above pic was taken with the glorious iphone 1.0, in mid august. the pictures below were taken today, on her birthday, in an attempt to do something more formal. cats are not terribly into being cooperative for studio pictures. thanks to mark miller for cat wrangling, even though it was an uphill battle. these aren’t quite what i was hoping for but i was afraid we were starting to stress her out, which is bad on the kidneys.

and my thanks, also, to the james watson bobble head doll for standing in.

last week our fair city of angels was graced with the presence of jonathan saunders, who brought a shotgun with him. ignoring the fact that we’re a bunch of bleeding heart liberals out here, he somehow managed to convince a few of his photographer friends to travel to sylmar and shoot at fluorescent pink clay targets. i abstained from handling shotguns, but was happy to watch jonathan and joe toreno have at it (below).

not typically known for his good cheer, jonathan was downright gleeful handling a shotgun, so that was nice to see. he hit the first two targets he shot at which is good enough for me to remain impressed. really, the best angle to photograph from would be right in front while he’s shooting but i’m not that brave yet. maybe next time. i managed to pocket one of the empty shells as a souvenir, though.

later in the week we went bowling. i haven’t bowled that badly in twenty five years. but thanks to jonathan for hanging out, and for providing entertaining stories about people i kind of know. it’s a weird world out there.

the segment i taped for the charlie rose show in april is airing tonight (wednesday, june 18th, 2008) on PBS. check your local listings. i’ll be hiding somewhere, cursing the fact that my head looks weird and my voice sounds funny.

i’ll post a link to see the segment tomorrow, or whenever they update their website.

in the meantime, this is what my street looks like at sunset. it’s good to be back in california.