New York City Window Cat

This peeping tom is no perv.  Nice half 'stache!

Thank you my favorite Mikey.

Walter!

Parkdale + Cats + Books = Heaven.

The River Trading Company opened up in Parkdale this summer.  This was amazing in itself because I had previously been hauling ass to the Annex to buy my crumbling old paperback Agatha Christie's.  Books!

1418 Queen St. West

 I was dumbfounded with delight when I drunkenly stumbled past the new store one night and saw a pretty silver tabby baby sleeping on his princely pillow in the window.

I did a little research and found out that the owner of this store, David McGowan, took this stray sweetie in to live in the store, and named him Walter!

Some people say cats and dogs don't belong in retail stores due to potential customer allergies, but to those people I say : don't be dumb!  These angels are way more important than your sniffles!  If you can't take a Claritin, go to Chapters!

Steph and I went to visit Walter and found him cuddled up in all his Christmas glory!

 He just loves sleeping in his sleigh on his red quilt with his angry bonnetted baby and sweatered teddy!   

i've got squinty little eyes and a big furry head from my rough life on the streets until i got this sweet bookstore position. 

I love my baby.

Sickest xmas window display i've ever seen.

Happy Holidays Walter!  I hope Santa Claws brings you a big fat cat nip blunt and a can of wet food.

Tang? or Mikey? You decide.

Went into my favorite cat convenience store, Tang's Market, this weekend.  It's a family run store, and there was a nice little lass there playing around.  Their cat, whose name I by default consider to be Tang, was full of love and following me around the store as I collected my Diet Coke, weaving between my legs and mushing me any chance she got.

Then the little girl dropped an info-bomb on me - 1) Tang is a boy! 2) Tang's name is Mikey!!!!

Wearing a pink collar?  Flippin that gender script one kit at a time - I love it!!! Why did this Asian fam give kitty the whitest name ever?  But I kind of like it.  This cat is so brooding, so serious, so dignified.  Mikey is truly an un-dignified name.  But he doesn't pay no mind.

A day in the life of Mikey.

"It's no walk in the park running a business... such is life..."

"This top shelf is getting pretty sparse, but as you can see I always keep the most important shelves (below) fully stocked. But is my work appreciated by my family and the community at large?  Of course not!" 

"God, look at the price on that raisin bran... Marx must be rolling in his grave... Capitalism meow...."

Intimate Encounter.

 

Look at who we stumbled upon on Queen West! A beautiful cat loaf in full tuck in the window of a store!  Despite the glass wall between us, she could tell we were meant to be together and gave me a bewitching love look (see above).

Me: "Oh kitty, you needn't get up!"

Kitty: "It's okay lady, I just want to be closer to you."

 

 

Me: "Um, are you feeling what I'm feeling?" Kitty: "Fur shurr."

I am a ball now.

Tang, I hope you're happy living on that freezer with only the ya man brand jamaican beef patty poster for decoration.

making the best of what we are given

I work with my family in a variety store in Parkdale called Tang's.  I sit on top of this freezer filled with frozen sausage patties and pizzas all day.  My family loves watching Asian Soap Operas on the TV they installed in the store.  They are so engrossed in these sensational dramas that they can barely acknowledge their customers as they serve them.  Is it any wonder that they don't have time to give me affection? 

They do give me good food though, and whenever the Cat Lady of Parkdale comes in to withdraw money from my ATM we have a heavy-petting session on top of this freezer.  I am a black beauty.  I look pretty depressed in these pictures, but it was just a bad day. Usually I'm pretty happy, I think.

Professional Kitties

Aside from guarding houses and chillin’ on porches, kitties have historically been treasured for their amazing mousing abilities.  Here’s a can-you-believe it story: my Father never cared for cats until, as a young man, he developed a horrifying mouse situation in his apartment! Along comes my Mom, a farmer’s daughter, who made him get a cat, Louie. Before he knew it he’d gained a mouseless crib, a Baby Mama and a life-long love of cats!  Cats are natural hunters. I personally hate to think of a little mouse getting ixnayed in a trap, but if cat kills mouse it’s just nature, right?  King of the Jungle, Baby!

One of the many great things about Toronto is that every Mom and Pop variety store worth its salt has a working kitty on-site!  It provides amazing cat-seeing & touching opportunities because these cats are extremely personable from years of retail experience.

YO, CHECK OUT LOTTO CAT!  He’ll guard you from the evils of gambling and promote temperance with his adorability and big soft paws, all while vanquishing pestilence* in your local convenience store!

Lotto cat says: “Don’t waste your money on lottery tickets! OLG capitalizes on the desperation of the poor that it helps to create! Pet ‘meow’ instead!!”

Photo by Kalim Baker.  This kitty lives and works at a delightful convenience store on Queen St W on the corner of West Lodge.  His owners love him very much.
* No offense to mice!