Some thoughts about cats and dogs

All about the mindset huh? Now I understand why no one appreciates my humour. I thought I was going to get some snacks for being in the corner.

Good job Apicius, you are really trying to be fair with this issue.

Ok, explain this. www.parfumo.com/Users/Florblanca/PerfumePictur e/14741 how can this picture be rated so low? I would give this a 80 to 90.

When I posted the above link, the picture only had 1 rating of 10%

www.parfumo.com/Users/Florblanca/PerfumePictur e/14741

On the afternoon that I spent hours rating, this photo would have gotten 100% from me.

A. The bottle is well photographed and all fine print is showing.
B. The package is well photographed and all fine print is showing.
C. The background is creatively staged.

I admit that rating photos objectively is not an easy task.

I see that by now, the rating of that photo has gone up again.

If Don creates new features here at Parfumo, things can always be done in one way or in a different way. Personally, I share some of the criticism that has come up against the rating of perfume pictures as it is at the moment.

Don will surely have a close look at the feature again, and after some time has passed and some experiences are being made, who knows, maybe there is a change or some further development.

I do the same thing, only rate the most beautiful on the current page. My photos are just pictures of the bottle, nothing creative.

Since joining and winning Flacounner's December contest, I have been working on training my nose and writing a decent review. I don't know or care how the points are calculated, I never even look at how many points I have.

Cats don't bother me. Actually, I know someone with a lot of fancy cats, all adopted, and I asked him to email me photos so I could show them off to my "friends online" His cats are all different breeds and they are all really beautiful and fancy. I think just about everybody knows that I do love beautiful things!

A propos of points:

I cannot believe that anyone even talks about them!

If they were redeemable for perfume, or could be turned into missing miles for frequent flyer awards (lol), that would be one thing, but as far as I am concerned they serve no purpose beyond quantifying one's OCD.

They are a way of filling one's days, I suppose. To each their own, I guess.

True dat.

I agree, and I hope we all relax now and let sleeping dogs lie......cats too

My thoughts exactly.

So the anger about cats stemmed from the possibility that points were awarded when comments are made about cat photos??? If someone here is 9 years old (mentally or otherwise) and is in it for the points, they should log out and play a video game. Jeez.

So, was your original post meant to be sarcastic or tongue-in-cheek and it just went over my head? (It wouldn't be the first time that's happened to me, though I'm usually the one doling out the sarcasm.)

I hope so, because otherwise you are reeeallly over-thinking the cat-hating, right?

I think cat haters just have deep-seated jealousy of cats. Their beauty and athleticism, their aloof independence, their ability to make their own fun out of thin air. They are miniature lions and tigers, for god's sake. When Mother Nature created cats, big and small, she must've stood back for days admiring her work, speechless at her own talent. As Sherapop once said, the Divinity of Felinity. Amen.

Hee!

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e19_1353933084

I am learning so much more here than mere notes! I love it!!!!

That's a good one!

Dulcemio, first, thank you for that beautiful soliloquy on our furry and fantastic friends!

Second, I'd like to offer a bit of exegetical help in understanding Apicius' opening post to this thread. I do agree with you that he may have gotten a little bit carried away with his animal fantasy. Obviously, cats are not vibrators. And what in the world did the sheep-sodomy story have to with the question of cats? To be honest, I'm not at all sure. Maybe he can connect the dots for us at some point. But I do think that Apicius meant well, his uninhibited stream-of-consciousness writing style notwithstanding.

He was talking about a phenomenon with which I am familiar because my sister's husband used to be wildly jealous of her relationship with a male cat. It's crazy, I know, but the cat was not allowed on the bed in his presence for this reason!

I agree with you Dulcemio: the jealousy goes much deeper. Such people recognize their own weakness and pathetic nature when they confront cats. But the way the cat haters process all of this is through twisting the interpretation to make the cat into something dirty and even evil.

So my best guess is that Apicius was talking about people who find cats too sensual and get grossed out when they think about seeing a cat on their bed. Actually, come to think of it, I have another example.

Our beloved HRH Emperor Oliver originally lived with one of my former colleagues who began spending half the year in Berlin for a program she was administering, so she asked me to care for HRH while she was abroad. Naturally, I accepted and was even honored to do so!

One time this woman told me that she was grossed out because one night she found that HRH was sleeping on the bed right next to her, basically as a husband would! She felt that there was something sick about it! I was taken aback and even shocked at the time.

Needless to say, such procrustean no-cat-on-the-bed rules do not apply chez moi. My view, as you can see clearly from many of my perfume photos, is that cats belong nowhere more than on the bed! But think of all the people like my brother-in-law who probably cringe whenever they see HRH all snuggly on a down comforter, which is clearly on a bed.

I think that Apicius was gently (although some of his examples were admittedly pretty graphic) attempting to remind us that not everyone sees cats the way we do! Sad, but it's true!

Sherapop,

I hear ya, sista.

And I believe cats belong especially on the bed.

I've known several people throughout my life who were either cat-indifferent or cat-disdaining until they had an opportunity to bond with an individual cat or two. I suppose this type of hate from afar is responsible for all sorts of bias and prejudice in this world of ours.

Thanks, Sherapop, for helping me out of this situation.

Actually, my phantasy led me too far, this text is not appropriate for Parfumo. I wanted to write something witty, but I obviously overstepped the mark. I should have given it a second thought, but then it was too late to delete it. I hope you accept my excuse.

My intention however has not changed. I simply want to make clear that cat haters may have their reasons for their agressiveness or their sneer. But since they hardly state them in a comprehensive way I can only assume that these reasons are on a deeper level which we can neither discuss nor solve here at Parfumo.

Since we cannot garantee you that you will not eventually encounter some unpleasant reaction by those who do not like cats, we can only appeal to your composure.

For me, the starting point for this discussion was the rating of perfume photos and the fact, that perfume photos with cats got some low votes. Since this feature has been changed now, I think we also have settled the cat haters topic for now. There do not seem to be any on the international site anyway.

In a larger sense PARFUMO deals with beauty. Perfumes are an art form. Music is an art form. Paintings are an art form. Poems are an art form.
What I am trying to say is that among us perfume lovers are people with a certain sensitivity and appreciation for fine things.

With a delicate understanding of animals that share our world.

I love this poetic passage (about cats), so I'd just like to highlight it for anyone who missed it:


Brava, Dulcemio!

Awww, thanks Sherapop. My miniature panther and tigers at home thank you too.

You know, I actually understand why some people don't like cats, because many cats are not affectionate like dogs are (whom I love equally as much as cats) and don't express emotional need the way dogs do. And some people simply need to needed by their pets. I get that.

And some people have only met the super aloof kind of cat, and then made up their minds about the whole species. (Just like some women have bad luck with a string of scoundrels and then decide that ALL men are shit.)

But lots of cats ARE very lovey-dovey and affectionate toward humans (and not just at mealtime!). My experience has been 50/50. The gorgeous beauty on the left side of my album was a super lovey-dovey girl, and my little tuxedo girl at home is the sweetest thing on 4 legs. But I love my aloof babies just as much. My old guy likes to be near me, but never ON me, and doesn't like to be held. But he greets me and talks to me all the time and obviously feels a bond with me. We just accept each other for who we are.

In any event, no one should have to explain or defend their love of any animal. And if in the course of our communing here about perfume some of us share our enthusiasm for our pets, what the hell harm could that ever, ever cause in a million years?

Oh yeah, right . . . the points.

Personally, I prefer this type of animal ...

... Spit roasted preferably … and not “a la Apicius”, for they may enjoy it a lil too much.

My only issue with cats AND dogs is allergies. I can only tolerate a handful of non-shed, low dander dog breeds and I'm not aware of any cat breeds that are hypoallergenic. If anyone knows of one, please tell me.

Well, crap. I hit "submit" expecting to only see my own post and I get Dolby's brilliant wit, which would have been great if I hadn't swallowed a corn chip the wrong way and almost choked.

Oh nooo ... Are you ok? x