For us Cat Bloggers the Carnival is a chance to discover blogs we might never have heard of, on subjects of all kinds!
Submissions can be sent to: carnivalofthecats(at)gmail.com
The Carnival Home Page, with an archive of past Carnivals, the Line-up for 2013, FAQ'S, and more, is HERE.
Hello, felinity assembled!
Nikita, here and and boy do we have a show for you tonite!
In the Winter of 2003/2004, cat blogging was barely in its infancy, but it's early stirrings were gaining some attention that even daddy, & I didn't know about when he discovered the Carnival of the Cats...
April 4, 2004 -- Daddy Kiril on our original blog, retired in 2007
Cat lovers rejoice!
There is a new event in the bloggerverse where you can share your best stories about your cute widdle pussy.
If your pussy is a big one, or you have more than one, you can share that.
Laurence Simon, of Amish Tech Support, is famous for posting pictures of his cats, and for his CatCam.
Now he has begun The Carnival of the Cats and, with this weeks edition it is up to 3.
As he says in the intro to #2:
"Unlike other carnivals, where people are challenged to find their best or worst posts of the week on a particular subject, instead we turn to the most important thing anybody could blog about.... their feline friends."
It first began being hosted by others with edition #6, as daddy told our readers at the time..."Nikita says every dog gets its day, and it's about time cats did too, or something to that effect, and he reads this carnival every week."
A long time ago, in a year far away, an idea was born:
"Its purpose is to provide a non-political respite from the vehement echo chamber that the blogosphere spins itself into during the week, demonstrating that even the mightiest and meekest of pundits have a love of cats in common."
Those words were written by one Laurence Simon, a mighty blogger with a love of cats that knows no bounds, and a talent for creative writing that, to this day, brings out the best of all who encounter his efforts to encourage their creativity (He even inspired me to try something new!).
In
2004 cat blogging and the Carnival of the Cats became so well known
that Laurence was interviewed by Time Magazine about the carnival (we
were unable to locate this online, anymore).
An
October 2004 NY Times interview with Mr. Simon, and a few others,
including, most importantly, a Mr. Kevin Drum, the inventor of what was
known as "Friday" Cat Blogging (Who once had his own blog, then blogged
for Washington Monthy, and now blogs for Mother Jones, where he STILL blogs about his Cats on Friday!), can still be enjoyed.
On Fridays, Bloggers Sometimes Retract Their Claws
On July 3rd, 3005 I submitted my 1st contribution to the carnival (#69), along with 39 others contributers.
My first time hosting was with #211 on March, 31, 2008, and there were 42 entries.
This was almost 2 years before daddy finally thought to give me my own blog!
As the
years went by I began to host more, and more, often, and believe,
strongly, in the ability of the Carnival to help spread the word of the
joys of being a cat, or 2, or more, living with a human, or 2, or more
(& even a dog, or 2!).
This carnival is one of the oldest continuing carnivals online, not to mention the oldest animal related one, and is proud of it!
Yes, felinity assembled, there once was a time where Carnival got lots of entries.
Check out Life From a Cat's Perspective, from 2007 for further proof: 35 entries!
Some were from names familiar to all of us still today, but many hosts, and submitters, were people, and cats, long forgotten, who may not even be blogging anymore.
This celebration of #500 is as much for them, as it is for us who carry on the legacy, and hope to encourage new contributers.
Thanks to Laurence,, whom Daddy Kiril had the honor and pleasure to meet at this years Houston Cat Show (see above photo), Kevin, and all who followed, in those early years, what has evolved into a varied pet blogging community began to take shape.
In 2008 Susan Strong, of iMeowza, and iInfidel cat blogs, took over the reigns of the Carnival and, the other day, shared her story of how this came to be.
Susan has long maintained a wonderful website dedicated to the Carnival, with archives, and about page detailing the history and a blogroll listing links to the blogs of past and current hosts.
The Carnival is a volunteer effort.
The
people and kitties who are the Carnival Hucksters are volunteers. There’s no advertising, so no one
is making any money off it.
We do it because it’s fun and we love cats. Join us weekly to have fun with cats.
Bloggers who normally post about politics, or whatever, are welcome to submit catblogging posts. Blogging cats who always post about cats are welcome to submit catblogging posts.
We need your help!
For
the love of your pussycat, and pussycats everywhere, would you, dear
reader, consider volunteering to host an edition of the Carnival in
2014?
As regulars know, Elvira and I have hosted a lot, every year, and I will be hosting many times, next year.
It is our hope to return the Carnival to its former glory when participation was...a lot. ;-D
The Cat Bloggging Community has evolved since the early days, in so many ways, but one thing has not changed: It is made up of cats, and their humans, who care about, and support, each other in our passions for all things neccessary to keep us kitties purring for all our 9 Lives.
Want to share your blog with the world? Want to see what other are blogging about?
Here's your chance, one way of many, I know, but if it was not for all the inspiration brought about by The Carnival, our niche in the worldwide Blogosphere would be a very different place indeed.
OK, let me get off my Soap Box, my arthritis is acting up, and this old geezer is fragile in other ways, as has been reported in recent weeks. I need a nap!
I will turn things over to my young protege, Elvira Mistress of Felinity, to share the rest of the Carnival.
Good evening felinity assembled! This is Elvira Mistress of Felinity, the sassiest lady cat on the internet!
This edition of the Carnival of the Cats is dedicated to the memory of a legend among cat bloggers, who recently made the journey to Rainbow Bridge, Cokie the Hollywood Insider.
A special needs 19 yr. old Ragoll whose blogging did so much for spreading the love of cats, he will be missed and there will never be another like him.
Nikita wrote a tribute to him, here.
It is with great joy that I can report that Kristen Dewey, his human companion, has announced she will continue Cokie's blog herself:
Thank You For The Days
I want to share a couple of tributes to Cokie:
Over at Jan's Funny Farm, the Funny Farm Felines pay tribute to Cokie, with a few remarks and then a link to their awesome Mousebreath interview with Cokie.
Over at The Anipal Times, Editor-in-Chief Brutus the Dane writes a "fond farewell" to one of the original founders and former holder of his position and Kristen shares a heartfelt response in a comment.
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Over at Life From a Cat's Perspective we have 3 submissions, this week:
A celebration of their 6 years of hosting 19 Carnivals! As they proudly state, they "were the first bloggers to use pictures in our Carnival posts!"
Travels With Mr. Tigger, An M.I.A. Memoir is a fun-filled romp of a tribute.
The Saturday PhotoHunt This Week Is Plant with Samantha and Clementine has a couple of cool photos.
Over ar Nerissa's Life....someone was chasing wild geese! It is quite the entertaining adventure!
Over at Create With Joy...an informative essay about "How to care for your aging cat".
Over at StrangeRanger...Maddie is recovering her health, as this report shares, and the photos are cool proof.
Animal Shelter Volunteer Life is a Pettie Award winning blog and here are a pair of posts submitted for this week;
Eight awards from fellow bloggers!
While Moosey enjoys a snooze, there is some cool news! The blog was featured in a Pet Parade post!
As for me....I give a cocky roach what for!
Don't Sass ME You Little Bug!
Wonderful Carnival Kiril. Nikita & Elvira!! We enjoyed it very much!! And here is to many more to come!!
Your TX furiends,
Posted by: Samantha, Clementine & Maverick | October 15, 2013 at 11:11 AM
Thank you for such interesting and comprehensive reportage about the Carnival of the Cats, Nikita! Such history!
Good job compiling this week's Carnival, Elvira. We loved that it was dedicated to Cokie, who we all love and miss so much.
Posted by: meowmeowmans | October 15, 2013 at 04:22 PM