Truck Series

HipstaTruck, taken yesterday at MadCat.

Slowly but surely working on a 2011 calendar for MadCat... we're probably going to use a photo of the truck for the cover. Now the assignment is to make the old girl look good.

I took the above pic with the Hipstamatic app on the iPhone. It's not the greatest calendar picture but I think it's pretty kickass anyway. The photo to the right is with my regular camera.

Andy wants to replace the numbers on the license plate with the year, 2011, so I laid on the parking lot to get this pic with the plate front and center and everything else kind of spreading out, looking epic. Didn't hurt that the skies in Wisconsin have been amazing lately - choppy and white, like the cotton ball creations we made while learning about clouds in second grade.  Stereotypical skies.

We'll figure it out.

Pure Attitude

Nikki MadCat, taken on my lunchbreak today.

This picture of Nikki says pure attitude to me. I took it on my lunchbreak, doing more snap snapping than sitting, as I should have been. Camera in one hand, Hot Pocket in the other. So worth it.

Lucy wasn't so cooperative today, focused more on munching the last of the summer grass before the frost tonight. Sometimes she does a great job posing, other times she's face down in the grass, or else rubbing on me and getting right in my camera.

Nikki has never been so comfortable with me. She always strikes a great pose when I'm too far away, and then she runs when I get too close. I was glad to get this shot this afternoon. It expresses her personality perfectly.

We've been thinking lately at the store that the cat hierarchy has changed - Morty used to be on top, but he hasn't anymore. We're not sure of the cause, whether it was a fight between he and Nikki or what have you. But I think this picture is physical proof of exactly how Nikki thinks of herself. It very much says, Oh yeah. I'm the boss. I make the rules. And don't you forget it.

MadCats

Taken behind MadCat this afternoon on my lunchbreak.

I spent my lunchbreak this afternoon lying on the bit of grass behind MadCat, munching on tortilla chips while Lucy munched on the grass. Morty headed out too and rolled his little heart out on his favorite manhole a safe distance from us.

The store cats have the run of the place, doors open, able to come and go as they please. But they really only want to go outside if someone is out there with them. Lucy stuck close by me during the entire half hour, and it was hard to snap her gorgeous photo while she kept nudging me for pets and attention.

And it was a nice September day, warm and humid but not uncomfortable, a nice breeze. I like sitting on the landing behind MadCat - it's like a little peaceful greenspace in the middle of parking lots and one of the busier areas of Madison. I'm not a nature person in the least - nature annoys me - but I like to find and appreciate secret urban oases.

Lucy MadCat

One of my favorite subjects, Lucy MadCat, resident cat at MadCat Pet Supplies on Mineral Point Road.

I've been closing the store on weekends, and Lucy always wants to follow me out the back to munch grass for a few minutes. With the great sunset lighting and the crazed look in her eyes, I'm usually more than happy to oblige, as long as she doesn't mind modeling while we spend quality time together.