Cabinet of Curiosities

A while back I posted an image of this great find I came across at a yard sale. I believe someone demanded pictures once it was full of oddities.


While not as odd as I had hoped (still in the market for a two headed ostrich fetus), here it is. Most of the items are from my time abroad.


A 'Lucky Cat' given to me by a student along with a 'Oni' bell, a gift from a co-worker at a make-shift birthday party (see Snoopy shot below).


A few objects are from my childhood. This is a statue given to me by my Opa, at one time a well-known family physician in Fairport, NY. I'm fairly certain I wasn't more then a few years old when he gave it to me.

Also from my Opa, though rediscovered just this past winter in storage-


Yes, it's a walnut, although I think my dad said it was called a 'Fairy Nut' or something like that.


Basically, every Christmas, my Opa would gather some walnuts, stuff them with strange, random knick-knacks (my brother got a vintage California State pin) and hand them round at dinner.


The Snoopy dates all the way back to 1968 and still (barely) plays. The most sentimental object housed by my cabinet?


My cat Titus' ashes. I'm hoping to find a nice jar to transfer them to, but for now I'm kind of enjoying the charm of a simple tin box.

He is Not a Monster...

June 2000. I had just ended my first serious relationship and was about to graduate. Holly Howe's cat had a litter of kittens, most of which had already found homes. She was worried the last, a small black ball of fur, would head to the shelter if no one took him.

My family was already supporting two cats, but being the headstrong, rebellious teen I was (not), I decided to take him home that night. My parents eventually accepted him.


I gave him the name Titus after one of my favorite Shakespeare plays (I wanted to call him Saturninus but my mom forbid it).

I'm sure everyone believes this of their own, but he was the best cat in the world. He'd greet me when I came home, watch me from the driveway when I went to work in the morning, sit on my lap when I sang, roll on his back for rubs, lick my hands (even when they weren't covered with human food) and even bring me half-eaten rabbits.


He was 9 and died this past Tuesday of FIP (I had to look it up). There will never be a better cat. As my brother once pieced together from bits of newspaper clippings:

Titus- He is Not a Monster, Love Him.

One of us!

Seems like all I've been posting these days are excuses for why I don't have better posts or pictures. Today will be no different.


This past Saturday, I got to see Cirque de Soleil for FREE. How? My cousin Fritz is part of the show. No, he can't spit fire or sit on his head. But he can play at least ten different instruments and had to in order to ace the auditions.


Unfortunately, circus folk don't like cameras so I had to rely on my camera phone (which makes the whole 'No Camera' policy seem somewhat silly), hence the bad exposure and graininess.

On top of the free tickets, we got to stick around afterward and get a backstage tour. Not as glamorous as it sounds considering it's just the Prudential Center in Newark, but still neat to see some of the performers hanging out and exercising in the back to Russian rap music.


And then there's all the masks.


And costumes.


And washing machines.

Fritz is touring with the Alegria show, which is all about birds, apparently.



Between that and the planes landing nearby, we couldn't help but strike a few ridiculous poses before saying good-bye.


There isn't too much of a resemblance. Maybe it's just the pure awesomeness we Kraai's radiate.