Misc

I know we said that if we adopted a 3rd cat, we'd skip getting a kid. Oh well.

This year Ila joined us and, as if all stars aligned, it was the perfect set to create baby Jesus' birth. My grandma (bless her) would've been proud... ;)

The cats as the three kings, Joseph and Maria, and of course, the baby.

Every year we have a few cards getting lost (or at least we're not getting a confirmation they made it to their end destination -- many cards head to Europe, USA, Australia, Japan, Singapore, etc. I figure tons of mail must get lost all the time). And those that make it, tend to be damaged or dirty

Mumu (née Mullet) officially joined us in the 2021 card.

While he was alive and well the year before -- we hadn't decided to adopt him yet -- so not officially part of the family just yet.

His mummy and 2 brothers got adopted shortly after Christmas, and we decided to keep him as a nice memory. And what's one more cat?

We figured, it would be him or a kid... We decided on a cat.

Right in the middle of Covid (linking to the Wikipedia article because 20 years from now this will be but a very distant reminder).

With all the lockdowns and travel restrictions, all our travel plans in 2020 (and most of 2021) were cancelled (yes, I book flights sometimes a year in advance). Trips to Paris, Portugal and Stockholm were cancelled, as well as the regular visits to Belgium.

This meant we had to celebrate Christmas in Singapore (and Christmas in Singapore isn't very... Fun -- the vibe is really missing, and it's way too hot). Everything here feels rather fake, and Christmas is truly just to buy shit you don't need. Nonetheless, we did our best with a small (and illegal) assembly, playing board games and enjoying some finger food.

This year, Taro joined us. Taro was an abandoned cat that we found the day before we moved out of our condo in Potong Pasir.

To this day, Taro is the scared one, although he doesn't shy away from bullying Tofu.

After this, we figured two cats was enough.

As our family grew, we had to start including more into the card. This year, Tofu was introduced.

Tofu was a 6-week-old kitten when we got her. She was likely abandoned by a breeder for her crooked tail. She lacks some social skills and has quite the temper. But nonetheless, she's our Tofu.

Every year, we, Shan and I, send a Christmas card to people we care about (so yeah, sorry if you didn't get one ;)).

The idea is quite simple: bad photoshopping meets something relevant and/or funny.

I just realised we never posted these online, and so maybe it's time to create an archive.

In the coming days I'll be posting, one by one, our previous cards. Front and back. Hopefully this can inspire others to come up with good ideas.

Last week, an Australian climate protester, who blocked a lane of traffic on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, was sentenced to up to 15 months in prison under a new anti-protest law. It was one of many recent disruptive climate protests that seem to do little else than annoy and inconvenience everyone.

Our knee-jerk reaction to seeing someone throw soup at art or glue themselves to trains is usually contempt and anger. But I think when teenagers, grannies and scientists participate in activism that puts them at risk of going to jail and becoming the target of public scorn, it’s worth digging a little deeper.