|
Ruth Lebowitz - Calicocatgirl! |
 |
|
Greetings and salutations to all of my friends in both the real and the virtual world. Happily, these days I find those worlds overlapping, which I find quite congenial. To those of you, who have not yet me, please allow me to introduce myself. I'm Ruth Lebowitz, a woman of wealth and taste. Well, if truth be told, my state is a penurious one, although I have been told that my taste is impeccable. If my name if unfamiliar to you, perhaps you know me better by my cyberspace nom-de-plume of "Calicocatgirl". My claim to fame is that I am the abject slave of four cyber-celebrity kitties, Ditzy, Milo, Alison and Otie Lebowitz! These publicity-crazed kitties all have their own websites, and have attracted quite a cult following on the net. I am the drudge responsible for answering their fan-mail, editing their websites, and catering to their every whim and desire. In case you are curious as to how I became the endentured servant to these megalomanial kitties, it happened like this... All my life, I had been an animal lover, but had never had a cat, or rather, been owned by a cat. I considered myself a "dog-person", and thought kitties were independent and aloof, and had no desire for feline companionship. Then one fine day, I found myself unceremoniously booted out of my home of many years, and in an acrimonious separation that made the "War of the Roses" look like "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, I found myself exiled to a shabby one bedroom apartment on the wrong side of the tracks. Even worse, I lost custody of my beloved doggy, and desperately needed the unconditional love that only a dear pet could bring. However, my building had a "no dogs" policy. So, I listened to the entreaties of my friends, and adopted a kitty - a sweet tiger-striped tabbie named Alison. She was such a loving kitty, who literally dogged my every footstep. Before I knew it, I was defintely a "cat person". Before I knew what had happened, I adopted three more kitties, Milo, Otie and Ditzy. There is no zealot like a convert. One day I decided to try my hand at writing for the internet. I wrote Alison's story for the Purina Cat Chow website, and it was well received. Thus encouraged, I wrote three more World Wide Kitty Pages, so all of my cats would have their own pages. Then, I wrote my first website, with Ditzy, my calico kitty as its subject. "Purrfection" was a great hit, and was followed in rapid succession with websites for Milo, Alison and Otie. Much to my amazement, these sites attracted quite a loyal following and the kitties found themselves feline cyber-celebrities. As their fame grew, so did their demands. My days were measured out not by coffeespoons, but by how much of their fan-mail I could answer in an hour, and how much shameless promotion of their websites I could accomplish in one afternoon. Yep, I was no longer Ruth Lebowitz - I had become "Ruth Lebowitz - Calicocatgirl"! Ditzy, Milo, Alison and Otie have churned out websites of their own, which they consider far superior than the articles I wrote for them. Their fan-clubs continue to grow. My role is that of the behind-the-scenes stage-mother, who is the star-making machinery behind these popular cyber-celeb kitties. As for the kitties? There days are busy ones. They go online and order 8 X 10 glossies, which they autograph by pressing their paws on a stamp-pad. They go online and edit the webpages that I have written. Their sites have been featured in such venues as Webbie World, Soprano Connections, and I-Love-Cats. What started out as a whim, has become a Lebowitz Kitty cottage industry. Do I mind being the abject slave of Ditzy, Milo, Alison and Otie? Why, not in the least - I thrive on it. There are worse things then being a "cat-lady". Just take it from me!.......
|
|
|
|
