Anatomy of a name

So, after sitting on the floor asking many times "do you want to be called X?", I finally made a decision.

First there were names offhand - June didn't work for her face - and then names inspired by books (namely "The Setting Sun" & "Pygmalion"). When she stood against the window last night, I couldn't help but remark what a huge cat she is. She has this incredibly long and high frame, with a little head and huge eyes fixed atop her lengthy neck. I started thinking that if she was a human, she would have been a Russian ballerina. I don't know the names of any Ballerinas & the Russian women's names I do know all come from the 19th & early 20th century in Tolstoy & Dovstoyevsky's books. Some of them are like, 14 letters long, and while I found them amazing - Julien told me in January that no, if we had a child, it would not bear one of those names.

So, Russian ballet. That made me think of Swan Lake/Lac des Cygnes...but Lac is probably not a well thought of female cat name, nor is Cygne. Then of course, hello...Tchaikovsky. Or Tchai, or! I keep hearing people talk about "Chai" and "Chai Lattes"...so there we go!

Chai came home last night, and I hadn't slept in about 30hours, so I felt terrible for Heather who was introduced to me in that loopy state. We took her upstairs&off to the closet she ran, as apparently it doesn't shut all the way, and can thus be opened by the strength of a scared, pregnant cat.

At about eleven o'clock, when I was ready for bed, I went to wish her a goodnight and she finally emerged. She desperately wanted affection, and I remarked to myself how incredibly skinny she is save for her swollen belly...the girl is huge and yet feels as if she's just walking bones. I decided instead to grab a pillow and blanket and sleep in the guestroom, and ultimately she alternated between yowling at the window ledge, and then curling up next to me in bed.

I went in again this morning (the yowling made me leave at 4am!), and I gave her skeletal frame a good brush and gobs of hair just flew off. I guess obviously they aren't really given any affection in the shelter, but I don't know when the last time this girl was properly cared for was. She was obviously somebody's cat...

I haven't taken any pictures of her yet, because honestly, she does not look so hot. The fur around her face is all oily and flush against her skin, and as it goes down to her belly it's all stringy and unattractive.

I did, however, take super cute Bart & Emmet photos that I plan to upload later...