Your (cat) name here

We did a lot of stuff this weekend, much of it very fun. [Big aside here: the Ferndale Art Fair, which was very cool. But what is it with hip parents and their slippery aloofness? I was so happy to see all these people out with their kids, listening to music, perusing art, letting their tattoos and wild side of parenting hang out, but they were such islands! It's like when I was living in Thailand, going days sometimes without seeing another foreigner and would catch a glimpse of one across the market and want to run up and say "Hi, how are you? Isn't this amazing or weird or wonderful or awful and can't we just say some words to each other in English and be happy for one minute before I go back to eating pumpkin curry and fish paste and trying to understand the difference between 'Glai mai ka and gleye mai ka'?" But invariably they would diss me, allow their eyes to skid past as if seeing another white person in a small town on the border or Thailand and Burma was about as orginary as seeing a gecko or a rat. Maybe I'm wholly ignorable no matter what the context, but I was so bummed to be near so many hip parents this weekend and exchange not even a knowing glance. Honestly, the mom-jeans moms were more friendly and encouraging of my own sweet Clementine who wanted to desperately just to dance and frollick with other kids. I guess I'm just a loser, but why oh why oh why is it so hard to get to chatting with other parents?]

Anyway, in all the hubub of hanging out, doing our weekend shopping, catching up with friends here and in Ann Arbor and just generally enjoying each other, we decided to adopt a cat from the litter next door, which is quickly heading to the Humane Society if no one steps up. We have been sad without Kitty since we had to put her down, and since Clementine LOVES cats and sits at the window saying "Hi!" to all the strays, it just seemed like a good idea. Isn't he cute?



But as we are trying to name him ('cuz "Lion," the name he came with, just isn't cutting it for me), I'm realizing I may not be a pet person. I mean, I loved Kitty, but now that she is gone I feel more guilt about her than true honest-to-goodness missing her. I feel like we didn't take care of her, that she was suffering from lack of affection, that we could have helped her prolong her life. All of this is silly--it was her time to go--but now that I've got a new cat in my life, I'm starting to see some patterns. For one, I can't give the damn thing a name and can't bring myself to call him anything but Kitty. We've tested out lots of names, but none of them seem right, or, if they do, I forget about them right away. It's odd. I even called my niece last night to get her help (she names all Clementine's dolls, which is how we've ended up with Whatti and Clyde and Zach), and after conferencing briefly with what I can only assume are the spirits, she whispered to me, "Auntie, I think his name is Maygo or Taygo or Raygo...maybe Shaygo." She could not be swayed, and neither could I. I tried Maygo, but really it just came back to Kitty. My sister called back with another Abby selection: Manny Maygo, but I am still not able to just pick something and move on.

Am I are creeping, feelingless pet owner? Am I unable to form attachments to animals? What's going on?

I should report that Clementine is over the moon with her latest friend, and they have great fun dining together and playing on the floor. He even likes to supervise her bath time:



But, Internet, let me get to the point: what should I name my new cat? Can someone help me find a name that sticks?