And here is Luna pointing while basking in the morning sun:

Both of these photos were taken with the latest lens and film options I got for the Hipstamatic app on the iPhone.

Another Hipstamatic photo on the theme does veer into the realm of highways. Here is one of several studies I did with the freeway entrance shield for the Bay Area’s infamous Interstate 238 for an upcoming article on the highway. It has the customary downward pointing arrow of freeway entrances in California.

Tomorrow (Sunday), we at CatSynth will be hosting the weekly Carnival of the Cats. If you have a feline-themed blog post from the past week, you are welcome to participate. Just visit the handy BlogCarnival submission form or leave a comment below.

Weekend Cat Blogging #350 is hosted by Kashim, Othello and Salome.

The Weekly Photo hunt theme is Point.

As stated above, we are hosting the Carnival of the Cats tomorrow.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Here Luna poses with a heart-shaped kalimba (thumb piano).

Luna peers at the iPad, which displays a plot of a cardioid. We used a mathematical function that produces the heart-shaped figure when plotted with polar coordinates. The formula for the cardioid is: r = 1 – sin(θ), where r is the radius from the center of the plot and θ is the angle sweeping around the center. The best way to visualize polar coordinates is using one of those old circular radar screens where the plotter sweeps in a circular motion.

The photo also features one of Luna’s favorite toys, a heart-shaped plush toy with the word “kitty” inscribed on it. We have had it for years now (indeed, it was featured in a WCB/Photo Hunt back in 2008).

Weekend Cat Blogging #349 (Valentines Day edition) is hosted by Meowza.

The Saturday Photohunt theme is Heart.

The Carnival of the Cats will be up this Sunday at Meowzings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

This is actually an E flat, if one assumes that this staff has a treble clef. If it’s a bass clef, it’s a G flat. If it’s an alto clef, it’s an F flat, which is really an E. So it’s probably not an alto clef.

Appropriately for a photo featuring Luna and the iPad, these were taken with the iPhone Hipstamatic app. Although I have the new version and some new lenses and films for it, I still go back this particular black-and-white setting quite often.

Weekend Cat Blogging #348 is hosted by pam at Sidewalk Shoes.

The Saturday Photo Hunt theme this weekend is FLAT.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday by Meowza at iMeowza.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Luna is technically a short-hair cat, but in the winter her fur gets longer and thicker, and is more visible when she rolls around instead of one her more staid poses. Of course, it’s nothing like the “floof” one sees on some cats.

These photos were done with the “big camera” – the iPhone (either straight or with Hipstamatic) is too slow to capture the detail of Luna’s fur.

Weekend Cat Blogging #347 is hosted by Salome at PaulChens FoodBlog?!

The Saturday Photo Hunt is up. This week’s theme is fluffy.

The Carnival of the Cats will be up tomorrow at Friends Furever.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

As stated yesterday, we at CatSynth are stepping in at the last minute to host the round-up for Weekend Cat Blogging #345.

And we did get a few entries, so let us continue with the round-up.

First up, we have this very sweet image of Jules and Vincent together at Judi’s Mind Over Matter. They share brotherly love, and body heat.

Napping appears to be the order of the day (isn’t it always), and Meowza has staked out a good spot, on his human’s lap. But it’s mutually beneficial. Human acts as cushion and cat acts as space heater.

At Jan’s Funny Farm, Percy and the other cats decide to get a nice gift for Jan. Fortunately, they have sense not to select a cat bed.

At Animal Shelter Volunteer Life, they are celebrating the gifts of new homes for many of the cats, including Diamond pictured above. The PAWS shelter has been able to place a great many cats into new homes in both December and January!

At Pam’s Sidewalk Shows, the crew invites readers to submit their own captions for this week’s picture (shown above). Be witty, be creative, and leave them a suggestion.

Truffle and Brulee are taking it easy this Sunday, and have some advice for their mom that spending time with them will be healing. We at CatSynth agree that time with cats been be very good for one’s health.

And a bit of “WCB Apocrypha.” Susan St. Clair is a regular visitor for Wordless Wednesday and the Weekend Photo Hunt, which was part of yesterday’s post. But her photo hunt image is too cute not to include in this round-up.

We will continue to update through the end of Sunday, Pacific Standard Time, so if you would like to participate, please leave a comment below.

For Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt, we present this photograph of Luna with the Luna II microphone from M-Audio. The Luna mic has a very distinctive circular shape, and combined with the stand and the beanbag chair support this week’s Photo Hunt theme of Circular

The Luna is a recording mic (i.e., for good recordings in the studio and not for amplifying voices/instruments during band practice), so it only comes out when needed. I was setting up to do a recording for a collaborative project and Luna came and planted herself on the chair. Which is quite reasonable, as it is undeniably her spot.

Weekend Cat Blogging #345 is hosted by…well, it looks like it is hosted by no one. So we at CatSynth are happy to step in and if you would like to leave your entry in the comments below, we will append an impromptu round-up to this post.

This week’s Saturday PhotoHunt theme is Circular.

The Carnival of the Cats will be up tomorrow at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Luna is all grown up compared to the youngster in the original photo in 2006, but she still has the same fur and eyes.  And she still favors this particular beanbag chair as her own.  Indeed, it’s a favorite napping spot here in the studio area:

I didn’t realize until looking at the original against these photos how similar the windows look, even though the original was in a completely different place.

The studio is a currently a focus of attention here at CatSynth HQ in that I am trying to further make it into a better organized laboratory for musical and visual creativity.  And it also has to continue to double as the office, the place where the computers sit and where I pay the bills.  I expect that Luna will continue to spend lots of time here as well.

Weekend Cat Blogging #344 is hosted by Mog with assists from Meowza and Ritzi at Mind of Mog.

The Carnival of the Cats well be hosted by Kashim, Othello and Salome in Vienna.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

[Click to enlarge.]

It was a bit of a challenge to decide what to put in, as there were so many this time. But I think these are particularly representative. And it’s also significant that it is more colorful than previous end-of-year images.

The first few days of this year were quiet and a bit dark. That changed quickly, with tumultuous events around the world, and new experiences close to home. It’s the year I finally had a photography show, and by the end of the year I had several. There were new surprising types of performances and the costumes to go with them. I deepened my connections back in New York with friends, music, art and the landscape. And I no idea what I would have the chance to participate in something like the Occupy movement . There were many sad moments as well, with the loss of friends.

In all, 2011 has been particularly rich and productive, if sometimes a bit chaotic. If one had told me at the end of 2007 or 2008 (or 2001 for that matter) that this is what life would be like now, I would have been pleasantly surprised. There is a sense, however, that the patterns of this past year are not sustainable. This will have to be part of the plan for 2012, in particular getting organized, staying healthy and trying to make good choices. We will see how that unfolds as the new year progresses…

Happy New Year and thank you for all the support and warmth from those who read these pages!

Luna inspects the iPad-based menorah after the fourth night (which happened on Friday). The iPad app is from an Israeli studio, and has simulated oil flames rather than candle flames. It has the traditional prayer in Hebrew, which I cannot read particularly well – growing up, we either said it in English or from transliteration.

We do have a real menorah as well, but Luna is not allowed near it. You can see it in this post from the past.

Luna did get some new toys to play with. She is quite fond of the catnip-filled variety.

Weekend Cat Blogging #342 is hosted by Jules and Vincent, at Judi’s Mind Over Matter. Check out their great black-and-white photos.

Carnival of the Cats will be hosted tomorrow by Billy SweetFeets.

The Friday Ark is off this week for the holidays.

The windows featured a theme this year that appeared to me as a series of gears and old machinery.  It turns out that the theme is in fact “Make a Wish” and the machinery represents a “wish factory”.  Clearly the wishes here are for loving homes for all the adoptable animals.

The program is always popular with visitors to busy Union Square.  And it has been quite successful, placing many animals in homes and raising funds for the San Francisco SPCA’s many other programs.

The holiday windows continue through January 1, with different animals rotating through each day.  If you are in San Francisco this holiday season, I encourage you to check it out.  Those who aren’t going to be in the area can still enjoy the displays via the live video feeds.

You can find out more about Macy’s SF SPCA Holiday Windows at this website, including hours, volunteer opportunities, and donation information.

Weekend Cat Blogging #341 is hosted by Billy Sweetfeets Gingersnap.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday by the always hard-working Nikita and Elivra at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.