Read No Thoughts I Didn’t Think Myself
At 1975, Gentle Giant released ‘Free Hand’. It was an album of wild experimentation, even if it’s considered ’softer’ compared to some of their earlier stuff. It’s one of my all-time favorite albums, too. Complex vocal harmonies, crazy arrangements and some of the most thoughtful lyrics. Here’s an example.
“Make me someone else, put me up on a stand.
Something that I don’t really want on my hands
Use me, idolise all you can understand
Don’t you see that I’m just doing what I want to do
Nothing more and nothing less than you
Read no thoughts I didn’t think myself
Just the same as anybody else“
—-Gentle Giant, ‘Just the Same’
That lyric is stuck in my mind ever since I first heard the words. The ‘read no words I didn’t think myself’ part is what fascinated me the most: it’s such a inverse way to describe what causes many, many problems in today’s society — judging others based on only your personal experience, feelings and thoughts of who they are and what the heck they’re doing. That’s the position I’m at, today. So here goes.
Both of my cats, Psaroukla and Mpatsa gave birth to kittens: six for the first, and four for the latter. Beautiful, clumsy little furballs, meowing and climbing on things, hiding under my chair or chewing my lan cables for one more time. Since the two mothers, who both stayed at a friend’s house at the time were fighting one another, Mpatsa moved into my room — the kittens too. That caused way too many problems, with my mother being allergic to cats, and me trying to cope with moving back to my parents’ house after 5 or 6 years, a new job, no time for play, et cetera.
Anyways, me, my fiancee and the kittens bonded well. I’ve photographed every phase of the kittens growing up, from being bloodred unrecognizeable little gremlins with their eyes shut, to full-grown almost a month old kitties that want no more but play, eat and sleep all day long. I love the little bastards and they love me back.
The kitten in the photo in question, ‘Mini Maou‘, is Gkriniaris. Gkriniaris in Greek means Grumbler. That’s the closest translation I can provide. He’s almost a month old and he’s my favorite of the bunch: he recognizes my voice, and the minute I step into the room comes running towards me in the most clumsy, funny, kittenish way. His favorite activity is lying on the carpet, upside down, and chasing invisible flying mice with his tiny claws. That, and climbing on my chair, or lying on me and showing off his belly — like, ‘come on dude, you’ve got fingers, a’ight?‘.
From the description provided, and the photos, you’ll hopefully be able to tell that this is not some kitten I’ve found on the street and on a monstrous, inhuman drive, I’ve decided I can be famous on an ‘artistic’ community by causing harm to it. Quite the opposite.
If you were expecting apologies for holding Gkriniaris by the tail, you will certainly not see any of them here. I’ve seen his mother, Mpatsa, grabbing him and dragging him around by the tail more than once, and, most importantly: Gkriniaris is fine — the shooting lasted two fucking seconds, after which he went straight back to having fun with his brother and two sisters. A couple of minutes after that he was climbing my chair trying to reach me for some more of that belly-rubbing he loves.
But that’s not all; not yet. What’s left to say is thoughts I’ve had after the whole boom that photo caused on deviantArt. It’s certainly not the first time I feel that a photo of mine that isn’t technically excellent, or thought-much, gets too much attention compared to other of my works which were days in the making and/or refining — I’ve been around deviantArt for a few years, 5 to be exact. I’m grateful for the attention guys; don’t get me wrong. It’s just that I feel that the attention isn’t focused on whether or not the photograph is a good one but rather on if the kitten was hurt or not. Even if it was, and I was the animal-hating inhuman beasts some of you would like me to be, do you honestly believe that by writing 200 ‘OMFG OHNOES YOU HURT THE POOR KITTY!’ you would change my mind?
That leads to another interesting discussion: I’d like to know what age you guys are, if you’ve ever raised a kitten or two in your life, and whether or not you believe that by being ‘politically correct’ in such a hurtful and disrespectful way you earn something. I know that politically-correctness is a big deal in America and in many ‘civilized’ countries of Europe too, but there’s no good in renaming things and doing no further work, or attacking others in the name of harm that could or could not be done. I’m not sure if my English are making any sense right now, so I’d rather epitomize on this: fuck your political correctness. A’ight?
That last paragraph leads me back where I’ve started: read no words I didn’t think myself. Have a nice day. Love yourselves.
that makes perfect sense to me, and my cats did the same thing with their kittens.
those pictures are adorable too.
2:55 pm - August 2nd, 2009Mh fwnazeis kale moy an8rwpe O.o’ Diabasa ta comment (etsi apo periergeia) sto mini maou (to opoio einai mia kataplhktikh fwtografia, apo polles apopseis) kai eida mia genikoterh anhsuxia gia to zouzouni pou kremases anapoda
To 8ema tou politically correct den ete8h toso poly,kai autoi p epa8an amok k se bgalane ka8iki einai ligoi re, mhn trelainesai. Den nomizw oti egine mia genikoterh epi8esh pros to proswpo sou, htan apla h anagkh na akousoume oti to gati zei kai basileuei, kati to opoio prokuptei oxi kai toso paraloga, dedomenou tou ti exoun trabhksei alla zwakia gia xarh ths “texnhs” (blepe demeno nustiko skuli se ek8esh sthn italia an dn kanw la8os etc)
3:07 pm - August 2nd, 2009H όποια epi8esh egine, den egine kan logw ths photografias (apo oti katalaba) alla logw ths arnhshs sou na apanthseis sto megalo erwthma “OMFG IS THE KITTY OK” kai “OMFG DID U EAT THE KITTY”(rofl, merikoi an8rwpoi) Dld kyriws apo thn tsantila tous pou den epairnan apanthsh arxisan to ranting kapoioi. Kai egw exw gataki, enan antrakla pou me basanizei alla ton latreuw. Ki o dikos sou, polu mourh re paidi moy :3 Les oti h fwtografia elabe polu megaluterh prosoxh apo alla pragmata poy exeis kanei kai sta opoia exeis analwsei poly perissotero xrono kai skepsh, auta omws einai gousta. Emena mou aresei to au8ormhto tou mini maou, oi sthmenes photo den me elkuoun toso polu. H hlikia mou einai 22, kai to profile sto dA ivvi-qol. Auta. A’ight :3
Γειά σου Αφροδίτη,
Υπάρχει μεγάλη διαφορά ανάμεσα στην έκθεση με τον σκύλο που αναφέρεις ως σύγκριση ή ως αναφορά.
For the record, τα αρνητικά σχόλια ήταν καμιά 150άρα. Αρκετά ώστε να δικαιούνται απάντηση. Τα 100% ‘άντε γαμήσου, τι κάνεις στο γατάκι, είσαι απάνθρωπος’ ήταν 3-4, στα οποία και απάντησα. Σε έναν τυπά συγκεκριμένα που δήλωσε ‘that’s disgusting’ απάντησα πως η μαμά του είναι disgusting. Οι υπόλοιποι -υπέθεσα- πως δικαιόντουσαν μια πιο πλήρη απάντηση.
Και ναι, τα υπόλοιπα είναι μια μεγάλη συζήτηση. Για εμένα το πολίτικαλι κορέκτ έχει μεγάλο ρόλο στα σχόλια που ακολούθησαν τη φωτογραφία…
3:12 pm - August 2nd, 2009Δεν το χρησιμοποιησα ως αναφορα, ουτε εκανα καποια συγκριση, για ονομα. Το εγραψα για να δικαιολογησω την αντιδραση μερικων, που φοβηθηκαν οτι ισως ταλαιπωρηθηκε το γατακι προκειμενου να βγει η φωτογραφια. Υπαρχει ιστορικο κακοποιησης ζωων στο ονομα της τεχνης, αυτο εννοω. Οχι οτι κακοποιησες εσυ το γατι -.-’ Χαιρομαι που απαντησες, ηταν οντως πολλα τα σχολια, αλλα…Τι να σου πω, δεν τα διαβασα ολα. Μεχρι να αλλαξεις σελιδα ειχαν προστε8ει αλλα τοσα. Διαβασα ομως τουλαχιστον μια 150αρια, και δεν ειδα να ειναι τετοια η αναλογια. Στο κατω κατω, σκασιλα σου (για να το θεσω κομψα). Παντως επιμενω, μπορει να ειμαι ηλιθιωδως ρομαντικη, αλλα νομιζω οτι ηταν ειλικρινες ενδιαφερον για το γατακι, και οχι εκφραση του politically correct. Φαση ειχε ενας τυπος που ειπε οτι εφαρμοσες την πολιτικη του διαιρει και μαζευε pageviews. Kαθενας με τον πονο του.
3:41 pm - August 2nd, 2009well, I will agree with you….its always the one picture that has the OZMG element that gets all the attention…no offense but there are sooo many people doing exactly the kind of work that you do for the bulk of your photographs that while the art is your love child, not everyone sees it that way when theyre looking at a whole line of pictures of similar stuff. So in many people’s defense, the photo was just THAT DAMN CUTE
i share your pain. coming on three years and I still have yet to hit 10k views, next to those who are sitting pretty on 100 million. It’s just cuz they have the wow factor on their side.
And yes, we americans strive for political correctness. But we also have shows like Animal Cops and kitten farms and documentaries about the house that had almost 2000 shit covered, emaciated cats in it. So those who sit in front of their tvs all day and have never touched a blade of grass or an animal in their life are instantly OMG. then there are those of us who have 5 cats, have raised about 7 litters, and volunteer with Angels for Felines (me) who are just worried about the adorable little kitty hanging precariously over the mouth of a giant scruffy greek guy.
So my retort: you know half of them are little teenagers anyway, don’t get your panties in a bunch over it.
Maybe say thanks to everyone for the 20k views you have on your account, and the i dont know how many new watches you have…now your other work will get more exposure.
11:22 pm - August 2nd, 2009Here a wealth of information here. Thanks! I’ll be back for more
12:41 am - August 3rd, 2009It’s kind of like how I would holy a kitten by the skin of their neck, but not when they get older. Different weight proportions!
4:52 am - August 3rd, 2009re aei apo edw k esy k oi politically correct apanthseis sou sta kitty fan clubs..!
11:52 am - August 3rd, 2009aesyria, Necklaces & rdert: thansk for your time.
thick: woof & barf, in your face!
1:05 pm - August 3rd, 2009Absolutely adorable pictures of the kitties. I knew you weren’t hurting it when you shot that picture on DA, and anyone crying about it should be smacked upside the head. My friend used to yell at me when I picked up my kitten by the scruff of the neck…
Some people seem to think that animals will break if you poke them wrong. I roughhouse with my cats and they love it and come back for more
6:35 pm - August 3rd, 2009I have 3 cats. Usually people that never had a cat has different thoughts on anything related to cat, and most of them couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Love the picture on dA, and love the ones here. Heck, I’m a cat lover myself.
7:40 pm - August 3rd, 2009*facepalm* amazing what a photo can do to mistaken society, eh?
holding the kitten by the tail wouldn’t hurt it =__= unless it grew into a huge, fat, cat, and by THEN it might hurt. The same thing with picking up a kitten by the scruff of its neck.
I love holding kittens in my palms though :3 it makes me feel like holding a soft fur ball.
And *w* Your kittens ,sir, are SO VERY adorable.
7:57 pm - August 3rd, 2009LiveFox, kat, sora-h: thanks!
9:55 pm - August 3rd, 2009Hmm, I figure it’d probably be easier to comment here.
I really liked your photo on DA, it really made me smile and kittens are so precious at that age here!
I see but don’t see why people complain about the photo though. I think that up to a certain age it should be fine to hold them like that, but once they really put on some weight as they head for their teen years or adulthood it when one should be careful, though I haven’t researched it yet.
I do know if not handled right in general though that grabbing a cat by its tail is very bad, but what you did definitely doesn’t fit there as explained above. I know one of my cats doesn’t like it if you just put your fingers in a ring (no pressure applied) around her tail, probably because the original owner yanked on it often; I don’t remember how we discovered it actually.
Like I said though, I haven’t researched it so this is based on opinion.
I hope you have some fun with your new buddy! Its so much fun watching them grow up. and since you have photos, try comparing your buddy to his photo when he’s at three months (or older) of age.
My little boy doesn’t even look like the same cat when I compared it myself! Maybe I’m a little lame, but I’m rather amused by the differences.
5:52 am - August 4th, 2009Hope you have a good day and I hope some folks in the world will learn to think a little.
I think that picture ‘Mini Mauo’ is awesome! xD
I’m sure the little guy didn’t like it much,
but you didn’t hurt him, right?
Your opinion makes sense.
6:42 pm - August 5th, 2009Your kittens are adorable.
That’s all I have to say.
^_^
Just send this to the people that flood you with Peta bs. http://www.petakillsanimals.com/index.cfm
1:29 am - August 9th, 2009It should get them to tone it down a little.
The shot was amazing, and I know the little guy wasn’t hurt. =]