Wokkel

So to keep yourself from going completely mental from jet lag after a 30 hour flight from Sydney to Amsterdam, I recommend getting a kitten. Not the teeny tiny ones that can't function like a proper cat yet and need constant care, but one that is a little bit older, say about 3.5 months. This is what we did, and it worked pretty well for us.
We've had our 2 older cats (Darwin and Vrutsel) for a while now, but felt that Vrutsel was getting pretty lonely during the long days that we are at work. Because Vrutsel herself is still pretty young, we thought getting a kitten might help her because she would have company during the day, and maybe even someone to play with. The parents of a friend of mine had a nest of kittens, and we picked a black-and-white (Frisian cow style) one. It turned out to be a tomcat; we would have preferred a female but once chosen there was no going back. We decided to call him Wokkel, after the Wokkel crisps (by Lay's, it appears that these are only sold in the Netherlands). His (half) brother with very similar pattering is called Tictac and his sister is called Sisi, so we decided to stick with the food theme. My friends older sister would look after our cat and her own while we were in Australia, and we picked him up the day after our return.
Wokkel turned out to have grown quite a lot, and looks more like he is 6 months old rather than 3.5. His ears are gigantic compared to the rest of his head, and his paws are also relatively big, so he will probably keep on growing until he is a kitty force to be reckoned with. It is a very friendly cat, who likes to cuddle and purr and be amongst people (and other cats). He is still very playful, but he is also quite cheeky and inquisitive, which has led him to some tight corners. Vrutsel is very scared of him, as she is of almost everything, and yowls and hisses when he comes near. Wokkel is less than impressed, but they are getting along better and better each day. Darwin on the other hand, has accepted him outright, and they will share a lap if everyone sits quietly. However, Darwin is already pretty old, and can have his grumpy moments (which leads to tail swishing, which leads to Wokkel jumping Darwin's tail, which leads to more grumpiness). But all in all, Wokkel appears to be very happy, the other cats are mostly also content, and we were happy to have the distraction on our jet lag mangled brains.
So now we are five, with Wokkel not quite fulfilling the companionship role we had in mind for him, but still having taken up his place in our household smoothly. If only he could stop pushing all his toys under the couch...

Cat cards

I like cats. You might even go as far as to say that I am a 'cat person'. However, I don't consider myself very extreme in my cat love. Okay, I am wearing a shirt with a cat on it at the moment, but it's one of only 2 I have (the other one says "Are you kittin' me?") and it's very cool, and not something like 'Jesus was a cat'  or a pastel-coloured pencil drawing of a kitten in a basket of flowers or something.
Which exactly exemplifies the two groups of 'cat people' that you can find in the world, in my opinion: the ones that focus on the cats independence and coolness, and the ones that focus on the cat's prettiness and fluffiness.
Now this is not something I think about on most days (ah, what a quiet life I would have if I could...) but today I received two cat postcards that got me thinking about this. Let me present them to you:

Exhibit A:

HK-221737 received 13 March 2014

And exhibit B:

DE-2903757 received 13 March 2014

Do you get what I mean?
When I ask for 'cat postcards'  on Postcrossing, I'm talking about type A: pictures that show off a cat's independence, stubbornness, innate relaxedness, just how they are as solitary creatures. Picture B to me shows a scared, fluffed-up, cuted-up baby that can't really think for itself.

And that has nothing to do with me not liking long-haired cats, because you can have the 'majestic independence' in those types of cats too:

FI-1853936 received 15 September 2013

It's mainly the 'deer in the headlights' look, or the combination of cats with other cute things, such as roses (as in this card, and here too), bunnies (here, although this cat does look like it has a mind of its own, and the bunny knows it) fishbowls (here) and vacant expressions (here).
So somehow, it is pretty rare to get a cat-card that shows the cat the way I think they are. Maybe that proves my cat-worldview is faulty, or maybe it proves that cats do not photograph easily (which I can attest to personally), or don't really want to show themselves on camera. Whatever the reason, but when I do get one like the first card above, it makes it extra special, which is nice in a way too.