Saturday, March 24, 2012

Name That Cat: We Have a Winner!

We had a brisk discussion of what my new cat's name should be and came out with a winner in what can best be described as a "dogfight." Or something close. Here are the entries:

  • Katie Jones (a dog trainer in the military): SkippyJon, WillieJack, FriskyPants
  • Roni Sutton: Mr. Mistoffelees
  • Cheryl Crowell: Moonshine
  • Anne Piedmont and Jill Elswick: Beethoven (Jill was first)
  • Jill Elswick : Radical
  • Bobbi Hoffman: Simon
  • Michelle Bennett: Shine or Egg
  • Dean Browell: Blank? (The question mark is Dean's, not mine)
  • Janeson Keeley: Curtis Pride, pro baseball and Kenny Walker, pro football; Eb (the lead character in my novel CLOG!) Let me note here that in 1905, the New York Giants won a world championship in baseball with a star pitcher named Dummy Taylor who was a deaf mute. "Dummy" was a common nickname for deaf mutes in those unenlightened days. A wonderful novel, Havanna Heat by Darrell Brock, weaves a marvelous story around Taylor and a young Cuban pitcher who is deaf.
  • Jody Warnke: Habibi (حَبيبي) is an Arabic  word whose literal meaning is "my beloved" (for a male object of affection; the feminine form is "habibti" or "habibati") and that originates from the adjective "habib" ("beloved"). In addition to its literal meaning, the term can denote any of several less formal relationships and can serve as a term of endearment at the corresponding level (e.g., "friend" or "darling"). (Note: Problem here is that I ain't callin' my cat "darling.")
  • Laura Purcel: Poe
  • Becky Mushko: Eddie Tor (doncha love puns?). From Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," there's Tybalt, which meant "king of cats." Tybalt, from a Latin-American origin, also means "he who sees." Since the kitty doesn't hear, he's going to have to rely on sight a lot more, so the name Tybalt would be appropriate. Some names that imply "white" are Gannon (fair-skinned), Wycliff (white rocks), Dwight (white, fair), Gavin (white hawk), Elgin (noble, white) and Finnian (fair). I'm partial to Finnian.

    And the winner of lunch at Noah's Cafe at the Taubman Museum in downtown Roanoke is:

    Bonnie Bradshaw: Pooka, a fairy spirit in animal form from Celtic mythology, a wise but mischievous creature. (He was James Stewart’s invisible, 6-foot-tall, rabbit friend in “Harvey," a movie and play I've adored for decades.)


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