Catymology

Got bed cats? What ailurophile doesn't need another bed cat? Now, check out this drawing of a really big bed cat in the January 23 New Yorker cover by Gahan Wilson. This lucky feline is all tucked in, surrounded by his humans. Aw, shucks!

You can put it on my wish list for Valentine's Day. If the price ($295 for a large framed print) seems high for Valentine's Day, what about for my upcoming birthday? Don't know when my birthday is? I think I'm going to have to look it up myself.

Let's see: James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was born on February 2, 1882. Since that great language hunter shares my name, I'd adopt his birthday as my own--except for the fact that (amanuensis says) February 2 was last week. All cats know that birthdays are movable. So perhaps this is February 2 after all.

But wait: T.S. Eliot, author of the immortal Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, was born on September 26, 1888. That's an idea.

Or how about this:

Saint Aloysius Gonzaga was born in Castiglione della Stiviere on the 9th of March 1568 in the region of Mantua in Northern Italy and was the first-born son of the reigning Marquis Ferdinand Gonzaga. . . . And the 21st of June is his feast day.

Although I'm not very religious, I think that March 9 would be an excellent day to celebrate my birthday. Meanwhile, I think I'll lie down again and concatenate some naps.