Lovekevins: Private Life of a Cat

Noah Takes A Photo...

I've always had a minor obsession with dark, melancholy piano music. It may have began with Beethoven's "Piano Sonata #14 in C Minor (Op. 27)," also known as "Moonlight." In Interview with the Vampire, there's a scene where Lestat (Tom Cruise) is sitting in a mansion in with his bright blue eyes and blond hair and dead white skin playing that dark sonata and it's beautiful and heartbreaking and just slightly creepy. Makes the hairs on the back of my neck stir.

I recently stumbled across another, similar piece that is just as moving, if not more. The stunning revelation came when I discovered that no, this wasn't a Haydn or Beethoven, it was much, much more recent. The artist is not only still alive, she can't be too much older than I am. If she's older at all. And, there's a video that accompanies it, making the work of art touch more than one sense at a time. The video is titled "Noah Takes a Photo of Himself Every Day for 6 Years." The title explains it all, Noah Kalina did just that and sequenced the photos into a rapid succession video:



The video went viral and has now been viewed nearly 5 million times. It's an ongoing project that Kalina, a photographer, will likely never cease. As for the music, titled "Every Day" by Carly Comando, it unfortunately cannot be downloaded from the Carly Comando MySpace page. But it can be streamed.

I remember the first time I watched Interview with the Vampire back in the mid '90s. I had a similar reaction to the concept that Daniel Malloy (Christian Slater) has in the film; I was fascinated. What would it be like to view the world through the eyes of a fictional character like a vampire? For that matter, what would it be like to view the world through the eyes of a different non-fictional species? Like, for instance, a cat...

As human beings, we tend to be so focused on the past or on the future that we often seem to forget the now. Even when we're enjoying ourselves we're thinking about a different time. I tend to think man, I'm going to look back on this and say it was amazing, rather than think this is amazing! It's somewhat sad. Such a rarity it is, enjoying life for the moment.

Music often triggers nostalgia. I talk about this often in my reviews for FensePost. Yet, rarely do I mention how a song brings me into the present, making me enjoy life for the moment rather than think keenly re the past. And this is sad, because there is plenty of music out there that is so relaxing and heartwarming, bringing me close to shedding tears of joy. Music that is so good, you can't turn it up enough. Music that allows you relax at the end of a stressful day or provides you with a keener awareness of your surroundings.

"Private Life of a Cat" is one such song, removing the nostalgia and allowing me to enjoy the moment and the present for what it is. Why care about what it's like to see through the eyes of another? My eyes are fine, thank you!

Lovekevins: Private Life of a Cat (mp3)