I Wish...

I'm amazed by technology. Last night I called my Mom to wish her a happy birthday. The things I had that made it possible: my yota device, which provides me with internet access wherever I go, a laptop with a built-in microphone, and skype. Basically I could have been sitting anywhere in the world and called my Mom without a telephone. And international calling to landlines or cell phones on skype is only $6.99 a month for unlimited minutes. Isn't that kind of unbelievable? What makes it all more unbelievable to me is that I can clearly remember when none of these things were possible, and I'm not even that old. Technology blows my mind. I don't understand how any of it works, but I'm certainly grateful for it.

If you're interested, my sister put together a slideshow for my Mom's birthday, and has now posted it on her blog, here: http://alisonhelquist.blogspot.com/2010/06/june-2nd-happy-birthday-mom.html

My Mom is awesome, just so you know.

In other news, I'm reporting back on the cat. As a refresher, here is the cat I'm talking about.

I discovered that there is actually a second cat, opposite this guy, on the other side of the street.

The history is less interesting than I had hoped. The first cat was put on the building in January 2000 and is named Yelisey, because the ledge he sits on is attached to the Yeliseyevsky Department store. The other cat is his girlfriend, Vasilisa, and appeared in April 2000. People throw change at the cats because if you get it to stay on the ledge your wishes are supposed to come true. This has no historical basis or anything, though. I was secretly hoping that there would be some literary connection, like maybe he was supposed to be the cat from The Master and Margarita, though that novel takes place in Moscow, not St. Petersburg. Apparently little bronze sculptures of animals are in vogue in St. Petersburg these days, and that's all. As for the wish granting, I think people just like to throw small change at stuff.

As further evidence of both of these things (statues in vogue and people like throwing change), there is a 5-inch tall statute of a bird perched on a tiny ledge inside one of the canals where nobody would possibly notice it without already knowing it is there.

Again, if you can get your change to stay on the ledge your wishes are granted. The sculptor said of his little statue that "Chizhik Pyzhik helps students to get through unhappy love-affairs and get around on public transport without having tickets." What? Does this make any sense? I'm assuming this is a really poor translation of what he actually said.

This statue has been stolen several times, so now the local museum has several ready-made copies for quick replacement in case it happens again. We wouldn't want to be without our chizhik pyzhik statue. How else would we get our wishes granted?