Year of the Cat: Insanity, Brilliance, or Something Else?

I made a joke last New Year’s about resolutions and how I should make a completely silly one. Off the top of my head, I began to develop a concept that very quickly became ‘Year of the Cat.’ The idea was to post a picture of a cat for every day in 2014 provided I was the photographer for each of these pictures. On first glance, it seemed like a fairly straightforward task.  I should probably mention that I don’t actually have a cat. Ah yes, the level of difficulty just increased.

I am a huge cat fan so I had a few cat pictures that I had already taken. This fact could buy me a little bit of time before the primary subject of this developing ‘catnado’ would get her first photo-shoot. Boots, is a beautiful Maine Coon cat who luckily lives with my Mom. This was great for the cat and also for my Mom as it meant more visits. I fully expect her to suggest a Year of the Dog next year to keep the visits regular. She has a gorgeous Sheltie named Katie who is also very photogenic.  

When I began Year of the Cat, I was not sure if I actually expected to very far as I was certain there wouldn’t be a lot of interest in my silliness and  I expected that I would lose interest in it. It didn’t happen that way. I received just enough positive responses early on to continue to push forward through the winter months.

I posted a cat picture for everyday except for April 1st. I posted a dog for April Fools day. There were also a few loophole days where I posted a picture of a stuffed cat and a picture of a cat that I had drawn.  I am actually pretty proud of my drawing as I am not really that sort of artist

In the summer, I really noticed Year of the Cat taking off on Google+. In fact, It is easily responsible for 100,000 views of my profile and I may be estimating on the low side. Year of The Cat is a Social Media success. It may not be a viral success, but it is a low grade fever. The ‘catnado’ will continue right up until the end of the year and I hope you all drop by to check in on the feline phenomenon as it continues to unfold.

If you want to see the full specticle of ‘Year of the Cat,’ here it is:  Year of the Cat

Candace Mountain