The Origin

I should start by explaining Dead Betty, who is actually not pictured with me in my profile pic but is the tuxedo cat in the picture below. Betty is a stray cat we began feeding about 18 months ago. Originally, he was skittish and distrusted humans. But I hated for a harmless kitty to be hungry, so I sat out some food for him. He would wait until I was in the house, and then he'd come to the patio to eat. If I tried to open the door, he'd scoot. So, I really had no empirical knowledge of his gender, I just assumed that because he was small and scared, he was a female.

Months after I began feeding him, he began to let me pet him. When he realized how nice that was, he was glued to me whenever I stepped outside. And then I realized Ole Black Betty had balls. We tried numerous other names, but we couldn't stop saying Betty.

One summer day, I came downstairs to see Betty sleeping on the patio, muscles all limp, and I said, "Oh no, we have a dead Betty!" My voice woke him up, but the name stuck. Now, when the cat sleeps, he assumes all manner of deathly poses, transforming him to Dead Betty.

Sometimes I wish I could be Dead Betty for a few hours. Life is hectic. My to-do list for just today contains enough things to fill up my planning period for the entire week. If only I could just crawl into my bed, relax, and become Dead Betty.

Instead, I refresh myself with this blog.