Friday, August 17, 2007

Owen Boy

Well, I have finally decided on a name for "Fiona": Owen. I think it suits him, and Oliver and Owen has a nice ring to it.

Little Owen. Funny how your pre-conceived notion affects your perception of something. I was so convinced of his femininity - the s
oft fur, the high-pitched kitten meow, and the beautiful blue eyes. My little girl who trotted around with a feminine swing.


Now, I see the masculinity. The puffier cheeks, the jaunty strut, the confident stare.

Or are these just general cat qualities??

Perception skews. If you think its a girl, those girly qualities will come out, and vice-versa.

I could go forever calling him Fiona, my little girl, and he wouldn't know the difference. But I would.

Isn't that funny, a name and sex for the benefit of the human, not the cat. What would happen if we called our own boys girls? I hate to think. Just read Middlesex and you'll see what I mean (but at least that was an honest mistake).

I indulged in the thought of her being a hermaphrodite, actually, for a moment. Trying to search for any reason to hang on to my image of her. Hehehe. The letting go happened gradually.

Owen is nice, and my mind has settled on a male image. But he'll never know the difference. He'll just go on eating paper and chasing Oliver's tail as always.

8 comments:

Bee said...

What a great picture! Actually your pictures are all great! I love the name and you're right it does have a nice ring to it. Has he started responding to his new name yet?

Berta said...

Thanks!

No response yet, but there are times when I refer to expletives (i.e. when I find another shredded roll of toilet paper), so he might be a little confused!

Anonymous said...

Hey there!

I am finally back from the Big D and to blogging.....well, I've got some ideas to put out there anyway (haven't posted yet). But...wanted to come over and check out your site 1st and say 'hi'. Glad you finally came up with a name for the former Fiona. I love that picture. How clever of you to include the denim (furniture?) in the background that happens to match his big beautiful blue eyes!

Berta said...

hehe. Actually the denim was sort of a lucky accident, but that seems to happen with a lot of pictures hehe.

Glad to have you back!

Joseph said...

Hiya!

oh man.... so much to say. i decided to post on this entry randomly, 'cause it had kitties.... and because all the text that you didn't write is in russian, and so i can't figure out how any of this works.

but first things first. old musicals and 80s comedies and action movies! I had no ideab. well, i kinda did, but.... anyway, i know some reaalllyyy good bad action movies to watch...

lets see... oh yeah! hhaaaa, horsing is one of your interests. that wasn't even a woorrdd a couple years ago.

and you... when i saw i had four comments, i kinda suspected it meant one comment, in four parts, from one berta.

so much to read. you've been busy with this thing! .... im typing a billion miles an hour.

okay ill go read some randomly now.

Joseph said...

okay, now i read the owen one. and thats so true.... i think every cat has all those qualities. but if we want them to be proud and brave, we see those qualities, and tell everyone they're the proudest, bravest kitty in the world. ha.

Joseph said...

P.S. i like your picture of you.

Joseph said...

also, P.S. your blog looks way nicer than mine.