About a month ago, I snapped a picture of Odin as he woke up from a nap. Imagine my surprise when I got my film developed and discovered not an adorable shot of a sleepy cat nestled in blankets, but this:
No, Odin did not have collagen injections. No, I was not playing in Photoshop. And no, he's not puckering up to kiss me (though he is quite the kisser). I simply had the luck--or misfortunate, depending how disturbing you find the picture to be--to snap the shot just as he curled his tongue out over his upper teeth.
But all that being said, I'm not so sure Odin wouldn't enjoy seeing this image of himself. I've long suspected he has secret dreams of lip gloss and high heels (two items he has little hope of finding in this household).
For Odin is, well, not your manliest of cats. You often think of orange tabbies as those big, jowly yellow tomcats, 20 pounds of pure feline testosterone ready to pounce on every queen in heat in the neighborhood. Not Odin. Queen means something different to him.
I always knew in my heart that, despite his name, Odin is not so much a Viking god as a Finnish fairy. But it became clearer as I looked over boxes of photos in order to create this Web site and couldn't help but notice some striking resemblances:
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Perhaps it was the earlier neutering. Perhaps it is being the only son of an overprotective single mother. Or perhaps he was just born that way.
What I do know is that he's not the only one. Ben, for example, likes to dress up in women's lingerie (I'll have a photo to prove it as soon as Marel Trout sends me one.) And there must be enough cats like Odin to create a market for a whole line of Dress 'n Drag dogs. These catnip-filled cross-dressing canines have helped many a male cat discover the queen within. (See exhibits A and B).
| Exhibit A: Ziggy & Big Yellow Bob | Exhibit B: Ben & Swanky Ken |
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In the end, all I can say is that I love Odin just the way he is and wouldn't have him any other way. Just so long as he doesn't get into my nail polish.
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