I have a new cat named Vartan. I didn’t name the cat. It was Jeff Ryan’s cat that he use to keep in Nungi at the studio and he named it after a veteran potter named Vartan.

Vartan is a good cat (actually still just a kitten) and will take turns staying in my house and in my other house were we are having a little problem with mice.

As for Vartan the potter, I’m not sure how he feels about having a cat named after him and I sure hope my uncle Vartan would not be too offended that I have a cat that shares his name.

It reminds me of when I was a little kid and Aris Srpazan gave us a puppy named Koko. My father made us change the name since his close friend was named Krikor (we use to call him Koko) and my father didn’t want his friend to be offended that we could have a dog with the same name.

I did suggest to Jeff that we change the cat’s name since it seems a little bit rude to give a cat the name of someone you actually know (remembering my dog) and he said that he heard it would be bad luck to do that. I don’t know if I'm buying his reason since this is a guy who deletes chain e-mails that say if you don’t pass the e-mail on, you will have years of bad luck.

One thing that Vartan the cat and Vartan the potter have in common is that they seem to both be attracted to getting inside of things that are made of clay.

Hey Hagop, how am I doing on the picture front? Anyone have a special request?