Cell Phone Album Extravaganza!

[rusty_armour]

I finally got my USB cable for my Nokia phone, and the world has just become a slightly more frightening place because of it. There's a reason why some people shouldn't have cell phones, and I think this LJ post is an excellent example of why.

As I can't seem to take decent pictures of human beings (and my family knows where I live), I'll begin by picking on my parents' cats.

I'll start off with Oakley first because he's the oldest and has suffered under my parents' roof the longest. I was only able to get three pictures of him over the Christmas holidays because he kept going into hiding and sulking over the fact that his mommy brought a little sister home. As I ignored my own sister for the first year of her life, I won't make any judgments on poor Oakley.



And here's Hamish. We were all surprised by how quickly he warmed to the kitten. We thought he'd be the one who'd have problems with her, not Oakley. However, Hamish was pretty cool and laid back over the holidays -- except when anyone tried to pick him up or cut his claws.



Oh, and here are two pictures I took of Hamish yesterday. That little white ball of fur washing his head in the second picture is Minerva. I'll get to her in nauseating detail in just a sec.



Minerva. What can I say about Minerva. She's absolutely adorable and I fell in love with her the moment I saw her. She's very affectionate and just loves to play. As my own beloved Marmie was part Maine Coon, with the same kind of bushy tail, Minerva reminds me of him in some ways. Anywaaaaay, as you can see, I might have gotten a little carried away with my cell phone camera when it came to Minerva.





And it gets even scarier. Here are two very short, boring and badly-filmed clips of Minerva. I think I can safely say that these are two of the worst vids on YouTube. *g* In the first vid, Minerva is taking a round out of one of my presents. In the second one, I thought she was going to start attacking me, but she decided to fall asleep instead.

"" (Watch on YouTube)

"" (Watch on YouTube)

I'm afraid the chaos and insanity grew even more intense when I returned to my own humble apartment after Christmas. As my parents' place was one of the targets for this year's Doctor Who Christmas Invasion, I ended up with some tiny new friends. I'm sure fans of the show will recognize these familiar faces:





I tried to control the Dalek. I really did. However, he had to go and pick a fight with K-9. Fortunately, for our favourite metal dog, the Dalek was quite smitten with him and asked K-9 if he could adopt him. When K-9 informed him that his mistress wouldn't like the idea, the Dalek was quite put out. He might have exterminated K-9 on the spot if K-9 hadn't been such a fine piece of robotic engineering.



The Dalek next faced his most powerful nemesis ever: giant radioactive Sherlock Holmes. He never stood a chance. Luckily, the Great Detective decided to spare the Dalek because he'd just begun writing a monograph on the subject of salt & pepper shakers.



It was only when the Dalek came upon the Enterprise NX-01 that he was successful. He exterminated Captain Jonathan Archer and took command of the bridge. Porthos travelled back in time to London to live with Sarah-Jane Smith and K-9.



Okay. Nearly there. But first I have to show you a picture of my miracle plant. This impatiens not only remained alive through the fall and winter (as did the other impatiens on my balcony), but it grew flowers in January! Frickin' January!



Lastly, here are a couple of pictures I took from my balcony a couple of weeks ago when Ontario was hit by a ton of snow. Okay, it doesn't look so bad in these pictures, but this was before the full 30-odd cm had finished falling.



For those of you who actually made it through this entire post, I thank you for your extreme patience, courage, and indulgence. I think I'm going to go lie down now.

Comments

[eldanna.livejournal.com]

If you ever want flowers in January that aren't restricted to the outdoors, move to southern England. They've been blooming constantly since the roses started before xmas. I love this country.

My parents keep sending me pictures of the snowstorms. I'm not sure if it's to make me feel guilty for not having to shovel it, or to remind me what I'm not missing. But I like your pictures, with the trees and lights in the background, they are very pretty...even with all the snow. :D

And Minerva is adorable!

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Wow. I can't even fathom flowers growing outdoors at this time of year, though I know that the climate in southern England is pretty mild in some areas. I seem to remember hearing that there are palm trees in Torquay. In any case, if your parents are trying to convince you to return to Canada, I don't think sending pictures of snowstorms is the wisest tactic. It must be a guilt trip. *g* Still, the snow can be very pretty -- when you're indoors and know you don't have to go out in it for a while!

I'm glad you think Minerva is adorable. I don't think I've come across anyone who hasn't fallen for her charms. :-)

[sorne.livejournal.com]

Snow, cats & daleks - why anyone wouldn't LOVE to look at these pictures is beyond me!! I haven't seen a single snowflake this year - there's a global conspiracy to only have it in places where I *nearly* am!

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm so glad you like the pictures! :-) If I could I'd send you the snow that's falling outside my window. I'd also send you all the snow that's on the ground and piled up in snowbanks. I'm really trying to sympathize with someone who hasn't seen a single snowflake, but all I'm managing is envy. I'm pretty sure there are millions of people in North America who would love to trade places with you right about now! *g*

[njc2007.livejournal.com]

Minerva looks really adorable. I love the way she washed Hamish's face by holding his head down. lol

I would say your picture taking abilities are really good, especially for a beginner. Your pix are well balanced compositions. And I didn't see a single finger on the lens. That's what I generally do. *g*

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your kind words about my pictures! I have to confess that the ones I posted are among the best ones I took. Some of the other ones were pretty blurry. I'm still trying to get used to using my cell phone camera. I seem to get the best results when I go right up to an object and take a picture from very close up. And I've also taken pictures with one of my fingers on the lens -- both with the cell phone camera and other cameras as well. *g*

Minerva is certainly a handful. And she has absolutely no fear of the boys, even though they're bigger than she is. She'll often attack Hamish or hang off his neck, and he generally puts up with it! Of course, she was holding him down when she was washing his head in that one picture, but it wasn't as if Hamish was struggling!

[espirk.livejournal.com]

I am surely impressed with the impatiens blooming in *January*! Wow! And out on the balcony too!

The cats are adorable!

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

I KNOW! All winter I've been expecting to find them dead or dying, but they seem to be thriving! It's very strange! The only thing I can think of is that my apartment building has what I would call senior citizen heating, and the impatiens do get a lot of sun coming in through the windows. And I just realized...I failed to mention that I have a closed in balcony! Uh, that probably makes a difference too! *g*

I'm glad you like the pictures of the cats. I think they're pretty adorable too. :-)

[tazzles.livejournal.com]

Cute cats!
Love the Dalek and K-9. Can't blame the Dalek for liking K-9, he is the best thing from that show ever!

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Although I'm obviously biased, I think the cats are cute too. :-) And, yes, despite being a cat person, I absolutely love K-9. The Dalek and K-9 are my favourite action figures in the whole set.

[dubghall.livejournal.com]

I love the pictures of the cats! They're the only family members who pose nicely for us, so we have tons of pictures of them.

I'm happy to hear of the continued existence of the impatiens. I tried to keep some alive inside over a winter once, but they didn't make it. It must be pretty happy to be making flowers.

I wish we would get some more snow. Except for when we were trying to travel at Christmastime, we haven't had a good blizzard yet this year. I want a day where I can't get anywhere, and can just curl up with a book and hot chocolate.

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

I'm happy you like the cat pictures. :-) I know you were hoping to see some pictures of Minerva, so it was good to finally be able to post them.

I'm still not sure how the impatiens have survived this long. I'm wondering if they're some kind of mutant alien breed. I've been careful not to cut my finger near them (or have any similar accidents) just in case. *g*

We're expecting a possible snowstorm tomorrow and I don't want it. Maybe I'll finally call in and say I can't go to work. I've braved every other snowstorm this winter and gone in. Unfortunately, I think I might also be coming down with a cold, so sickness might be a legitimate excuse! *g* Well, I hope you get your snow. Maybe the snowstorm will skip past Toronto and head for Minnesota instead.