Shortly after the turn of the false millennium, or early in
the year 2000, I was cruising a favored Apple computer forum
and chanced upon the picture you see to your left. That's Frankie,
the progenitor of the Infinite Cat Project, admiring the beauty
of a flower. (Major kudos to Paul Hamilton, owner of Frankie,
for kicking this whole thing off.)
Not long after that another visitor to the same forum beheld
his cat growling at the picture of Frankie and summarily posted
an image of that event. I thought this sequence held promise
and had my own cat, Poozy, join the queue, a progression that
now boasts over 1500 cats.
There's always room at the table for one more kitty. So join
us, won't ye?
Sir Duke
Meet the New Toms, Queens, Kittens, Felines and Felinettes.
And ye olde Infinite
Cat keeps on a-rollin' along. Everyone say hello to our newest
Infinauts: Fuzik, Angus, Ninja
and Sir
Duke.
Welcome one and all!
The thumbnail images for all the kitties on this site are arrayed
in 25-cat groups for the convenience of those who wish to start
elsewhere other than the begining or the end. Choose the group
of your choice and have fun! BTW, if you
don't see "Select a cat group" below it means you
need to install the free Flash plug-in. You can download
it here.
"How Do I Make My Feline Buddy
A Star On the Infinite Cat Project?"
I'll be happy to add your kitty to the ICP but even rinky-dink
web sites like this one have standards to follow, so click
on the link
to the left to check out my minimal mandates and
to get a few good tips on achieving the best Infinite Cat
image.
January 7, 2009: "As far as the laws of mathematics
refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as
they are certain, they do not refer to reality." - Albert
Einstein
Today's
Gratuitous
Dish O' Kute
Kittiness
"Run! Save yourselves while I hold it off!"
The Cat
Tales archive is growing by leaps and bounds as it now
features over thirty-five strange, funny, heartwarming stories
about our favorite furry friends. Stop in and peruse a few, won't
you?
Kitten
Claws Way Into "Dewey" Author's Heart
Associated Press
January 4, 2009
DES MOINES, Iowa - Vicki Myron intended to wait a year or two
before getting another cat.
Her best-selling book, Dewey, The Small-Town Library Cat Who
Touched the World, was keeping her on the road most of the
time and she didn't have time for a pet.
An orange and white kitten found on a snow-covered road changed
her mind.
"
I fell in love instantly," Myron says.
The little tabby was found Dec. 16 by Sue Selzer, who works
for the school district in Myron's northwest Iowa hometown
of Spencer.
"
I was out and about and met a truck that swerved in the road," Selzer
says. "I saw something and thought it was some garbage
or something but when I got close I saw it was a kitten."
Selzer pulled into a parking lot, then walked into the street
to pick up the cat.
"
It was snowing quite heavily and she was covered in snow. She
had ice chunks hanging from her. She had twigs and leaves tangled
in her fur," Selzer says. "I took her back to my
office and dried her off, put some warm water on her and cleaned
her up."
Two days later, she took the cat to the Spencer Public Library,
where Myron was meeting with a Japanese television crew working
on a show about Myron and Dewey.
Myron's book (written with Bret Witter) chronicles the life
of Dewey and the Iowa farm town of about 11,000, where Dewey
had served as house cat in the library ever since Myron plucked
him from a book deposit bin on a frigid January morning in
1988.
Dewey Readmore Books, named after the Dewey Decimal System
used by libraries to catalog books, quickly became famous in
Spencer and attracted attention worldwide. He died Nov. 29,
2006. A granite marker sits outside the library, where his
ashes were buried beneath the lawn.
Myron named the new kitten Page.
"
That was from a fan whose son suggested that name because I'm
turning over a new page in my life," says Myron.
The library, where Myron served as director for about 20 years
before retiring last year, has decided not to adopt Page as
its new boarder. Kay Larson, the library's current director,
says the board will discuss getting a new cat at its Jan. 8
meeting.
Myron said that since she took Page in, the kitten has thrived.
"
She's a sweet, loving cat, very affectionate, very easygoing," she
says. "She's definitely a girl but eats like a pig, probably
because she was a street cat that probably had to fend for
herself."
Although her book, which reached No. 1 on The New York Times
list of nonfiction best sellers last year and remains at No.
2, has kept Myron on the road promoting her work, she didn't
hesitate to take the kitten.
"
I knew if the right one came along at the right time I'd get
one, but I was hoping it would be a couple of years down the
road because I'm not around much," she says. "But
here she is. We kind of found each other."
Do you like to sew? Do you like cats? Do you have a wall that
needs decorating? Are you lactose tolerant? Then you've come
very close to the right place as a good friend of the ICP has
just released this adorable new wall-hanging pattern featuring
those fab felines. Click here
for more details and a larger view.
Where
Do We
All Come From?
Since
first erecting this web site I was amazed by how many of its
visitors live outside the parochial boundaries of the United
States. Now, thanks to feedjit.com, I have a visual map of the
last 100 visitors to the ICP. Just mouse over the little red
dots on the map to your right for extra details on our foot-traffic.
This is a wonderful tool but it tells me I'm in Arlington, Texas,
rather than Dallas, Texas. But that's close enough.
Captivating
Cat Crapola
Collection
While
I don't seriously expect anyone to actually buy any of these
questionable items, I've slapped together a startlingly
goofy collection of cat-related commercial goods
to be found on the backwaters of Amazon.com.
Oh yeah, plus a link to cafepress.com
where you can find official Infinite Cat Project ephemera.
Consider yourself warned.
Not
an ad...
Honest!
Need
a web site that's attractive, fast-loading, Google-friendly
and a great value? Then see my friends at X-Site-D Web Creation.
Tell 'em Mike sent ya!
Sign
of
The Times
If
you're interested in placing a graphic link on your web site
back to the ICP, here's the very thing you're looking for:
Click the
Paypal
link above and
help support the
Infinite Cat
Project
"My Infinite Gratitude"
The following is a list of those who have contributed in support
of the Infinite Cat Project. In lieu of listing the names
in any intelligent way I decided to post them alphabetically.
It's not a perfect system, those of you of Polish descent
get the shaft again, but at least it helps me keep the names
straight. If I've missed your name or misspelled it, please
let me know.
The green colors indicate donations in excess of $10 while
the single listing in orange is for one very exceptional cat
lover. You know who you are and I want to have your children.
I thank you, the cats thank you, and my web host thanks you.
M.
Adam, S. Adams, L. Aimone,
S. Almaguer, G. Ancell,
M. Axtell, A. Bachman,
K. Berenson, H. Bielefeldt,
T. Blassingame, P. Blassingame,
A. Bolt, R. Bruner, J.
Bullas, A. Chiang, M. Cogen, D. Conlin, M. Cracauer, M.
Dawson, J. Delton, T. Devrick, J. Diamond,
T. Dixon, C. Dofer, E. Dorfman,
B. Dutton, E. Fitzpatrick,
B. Fonteboa, E. Foss, B. Friesner, G. Garcia, M. Gordon,
A. Gunn, J. Hamblen, B.
Harper, T. Henry, D.
Herbert, A. Hertz, A. Hilbert, K. Hildebrandt, A.
Hoger, P.
Houser, V. Huston, , J.
Ikeda, S. Jowett, W. Lee, M.
Lufkin, C. Lewis, M. Knight, K.
MacKenzie, M. Mcgann,
J. McGinnis, M. Mckercher,
S. Melhuish, T. Miles, D.
Morse-Kahn,
A. Neduha, A. Nelson, L. Nevins,
C. O'Brien, A. Ocean,
www.oldamericancentury.org, K. Orman, Pinky
& Bunny,
R. Owens, J. Pavlov, R. Perry, C. Phillips,
H. Pirani, C. Plant, R. Poletto, D.
Rakowski, R. Redman, R. Riitala, M. Ryan,
W. Ryngwelski, D. Sanders, M.
Schluter, H. Sherwood-Taylor, J.
Sokel, S. Somero, M. Stabile, F. Street, J.P.
Thompson, D. Thoms, G. Toland, C. Ullrich,
J. van Luyt, A. Walls, J. Weisenfeld, K.
Welles, B. Wilkinson, J. Williams.
The following merchant
has the Infinite Cat Seal of Approval