Of course, I forgot to spay my kitten, and she hit puberty one day when I wasn’t home. Suddenly she was weighing about ninety pounds and her belly was the size of a football. Bob Barker would have my head.

So Kalliope is a young, unwed mother. She gave birth to three kittens on September 28th. She was considerate enough to choose my bed as her birthing room, so I came home to find three tiny closed-eyed little rodenty creatures in a pile on my duvet, a bloody mess on my pillow, and a stillborn under my sheet. I did a lot of laundry.

I’ve always been infatuated with creation. Given the option, I’d almost always rather create than consume, which is why I tend to gravitate towards writing, drawing, painting, Lego sets, etc. Watching another life be created, though? That puts everything else to shame. I suppose this is the sort of thing people usually realize when they have children, but, well, I’m too much of a child myself to ever go that route.

While I’ve been feeling unproductive because most of my projects are stalled in some midphase, or they’re behind-the-scenes sorts of pieces that I can’t really add to my portfolio, Kallie’s been raising three beautiful, healthy, and only marginally psychotic tiger-striped felines.

And I’m trying hard not to get attached, but I’ve watched them quadruple in size. I was there when their eyes started to open, I knew them when their ears were closed flat, and I taught them to eat solid food. Two weeks ago, they all had earned names.

This is Copernicus at about three weeks old:

Sabine, today, posing with her favourite plaything (after her Mum’s tail):

And Matilda boning up on her typography:

More crazy-cat-lady photos can be found on my flickr page, if you’re really so inclined.

Oh, and in actual news, I’ve added two new projects—digitaledge.ca and a logo for Comfort & Joy (website in production!). But, really, neither of those attack my shoes when I walk into the room, so they really just seem less thrilling, somehow.

I am, naturally, enamoured.

In other news, I’m moving out of my little room in my little apartment into a commercial space just up Lincoln Street—it’s an oddly-shaped little three-room affair with hardwood floors and just the sort of character I like. I‘m hoping this will help me segregate my home from my work life and give me a little more space to stretch out in. As an added bonus, I won’t need to clean up my apartment when a client comes to visit!

A few new projects have been added to the website, and there should be more finishing soon.