Joe and the Cuddle Cats

Joe is a producer/engineer/mixer by day and at night he dons the drum sticks for LA's rock n' roll 5-piece Le Switch. They're awesome, and so is he. His percussive skills are so good, in fact, that at one point he was simultaneously in 3 different well-known LA bands! His cat-petting skills are pretty ace too, as you can see here. Closest to the camera is Luna, and on the other side is her mom, appropriately named Mama-Cat. In Joe's own words, these cats love to cuddle, and he likes to let them.

Check out Joe's musical endeavors here:
http://www.joenapolitano.com/
http://leswitch.com/

Geoff and Gray Cat

Geoff is an LA-based Educational Curriculum Developer by day and brilliant musician by night. He is also a friend of felines. Geoff was having some band promotional photos taken by his friend, photographer Charles Mallison. Although Geoff can rock an audience on stage, he was feeling a little camera-shy. The first part of the shoot, in his house, was bland and uninspired as a result. Then the guys stepped outside to get some more natural light, and along trotted Grey Cat. Geoff picked him up and suddenly things became less awkward. Charles started clicking away and said that he'd never seen Geoff "so happy!"

To check out Geoff's bands Pizza! and Big Whup, as well as his music reviews and collage-based historical re-interpretations, check out his website!

www.geoffgeis.com

Louis and Apple - a love rivalry continues.

This is Apple. She came into Louis and Queta's life around a year ago. Queta had wanted to get a cat as soon as she and Louis found a place they liked. Louis was merely going along with the whole thing. Within days, however, Apple had totally taken to Louis, and sadly Queta was left holding the camera. Hundreds of photos later, two things are clear: Apple is kinda cutely out of her mind, and she is a bit territorial with Louis. Don't believe me? Apple routinely attacks Queta's crafts. She knocks down just about anything Queta hangs on the wall. And recently, she even grabbed a photo of Louis and Queta off of the fridge and proceeded to destroy it! Wow, Queta, hang in there, sister.

Clearly saying "keep your paws off" right here.

Moments before she took the glasses off the wall.

To paraphrase "The Dark Knight": Apple isn't the cat they need, but she's the cat they deserve.

Since you can't get enough of Apple, check out Queta's lovely Flickr stream at www.flickr.com/photos/geetargeek/sets/.

About Louis: this man is the most gainfully unemployed individual you'd ever meet. Just look at what he spends his lazy days doing!

www.thesatelliteshow.com

www.louisathome.tumblr.com

www.miniaturefiction.tumblr.com

He also occasionally writes for The Yeti Blog (www.theyetionline.com/category/views/the-yeti-blog/), and is director of the puppet-Tommy Wiseau webseries "The Room Responds" (www.youtube.com/user/commentsinyourpocket).

Mr. Jay and Ms. Robot

Here is Jay with Ms. Robot. Ms. Robot came off the mean LA streets and into his life 7 years ago, and they have been roommates ever since. A TV producer, Jay lives in lovely Highland Park with Ms. Robot and his fiancee documentarian Diane (who haplessly rolls the camera as Ms. R does hula dances with Jay's aid).

The image that started it all - Tai.

This is a guy named Tai, holding Mama Kitty, back in the pre-Katrina days of New Orleans. She had no name as such, but she did have two baby kittens. All three were outdoor kitties, and all three were enamored with Tai. And he loved them right back, despite his cat allergy. They would sneak into his house and nap on his bed all the time. When I visited him in NOLA, I witnessed as he'd hold them and they would fall asleep in his arms. I have been around cats all my life, but had never harnessed this power. Later on I realized that his calming powers worked on humans as well, as I would almost always fall asleep in his arms whenever he held me (and still do!).

Here he is listening to Mama Kitty purr herself to sleep. And that's the thing about a guy who can cradle a cat in his arms - cats are feisty, moody animals, and to love them shows a capacity for patience and investment. And there are lots of moody, feisty people out there who want to be loved just like that.

Check out Tai's Flickr photo-stream!