My New Notebook Warmer

I am obsessive about naming things. For a while the names were Pixar-inspired, then Buffy, then I moved into an extended Harry Potter phase. My first laptop was Neville. My iPod Touch was Pigwidgeon. (iPig for short.) My Tivo was Fred, my iPod NaNo was George. My first MacBook was Minerva, and my current one is Fawkes. My iPhone is Hedwig. (It carries messages for me, so that seemed fitting.) I can spend hours debating a name for a minor character in one of my novels, and they aren't even real!

So if I am this neurotic about naming inanimate objects and fictional characters, imagine how I obsessed over naming an actual living thing. A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I finally got a cat. After much discussion and Twitter polling, we'd narrowed it down to four names by the time the cat actually arrived, having agreed that we should actually meet him before finalising anything. Once we heard him meow, we ruled out Beaker, since we both agreed that a cat named Beaker should have a meep-y sort of meow. He rolled around on his back in a rather Hobbes-like fashion, but somehow he didn't quite seem like a Hobbes. We liked Winston, but it lacked the orange kitty element to it that all of our other choices had, plus I like pop-culture or literary names.

In the end, we decided that an orange cat in a house full of redheads (my hair was very red as a kid and is more of a strawberry blonde now, but Jamie's is extremely red) needed a very red-headed sort of name. And so, I am very pleased to present to the blog one Weasley the Cat. He fits in very nicely with my other belongings, and Weasley is a very satisfying name for putting into songs. (Current favourite: "Oh Weasley Cat" sung to the tune of "Oh Christmas Tree.")

Weasley is very fond of napping on my desk, preferably on top of my notebook (as pictured), and he is partial to pouncing on balls of yarn and carrying them around in his mouth. (This is not a fine quality in a cat who lives with as much yarn as Weasley does.) However, he makes up for these slightly less than charming qualities by also liking to lie in your lap with his paws waving around in the air while you rub his belly, and by licking your toes when he's happy to see you in the morning.

He's definitely learned his new name. He's sitting in his favourite spot right now, on the ledge next to the low window in the extension where my office is. I just called him to see if he would respond to his name, and he immediately trotted over and flopped onto my notebook, where he is now happily purring and batting periodically at my keyboard while he gnaws on a pen. (So far he hasn't managed to hit "send" on any emails, but I figure it's only a matter of time.)

I think everyone who works at home needs a cat. I can ask him to cover for me if I want to go get lunch, or send him out for a snack if I'm in the middle of something. He doesn't do any of that, of course, but it amuses me. And it's nice not being home alone all day. Plus, come on, look at that face. Who could resist him?

Are you obsessive about naming things? What are some of your best names? And how can I convince my husband that our next cat should be called Mr. Tumnus?

– Sarah