Off and On Kilter

[rax]

For the past week I've been feeling either a step behind or a step ahead, but generally at a fifteen degree angle to the rest of the world. I still can't place why, and it's been very concerting. But a trio of amusing interactions this morning helped make it better. I had a doctor's appointment this morning, which wasn't actually terribly helpful for the whole off-kilter bit, but I took the train there, and on the way home I got into three separate conversations about my cat hat.

First: I'm standing on the platform at Park Street, reading Make/Shift 5 (good so far!), when a girl walks up to me and says "Excuse me, did you make that hat?" I take out my headphones and say "Not this one, this was a gift, but I've made things like it in the past. Why?" She says, "Well, I have this friend who is making a hat like that, and I think she'd be really happy if I took a picture so I could let her know she's not alone." I said "Sure!" and got photographed in a cat hat. She said "She's actually making a whole costume to express her inner cat or something." I said "People do that, yeah. I've got this dress and gloves and ears combo I wear to parties sometimes." She said "Wow, she's going to be so happy!" and then basically ran away.

Second: I get onto the train and sit down. A guy walks up to me and says "Excuse me, I'm just curious, what kind of reactions do you get when you wear that hat?" I talked to him about the girl who just asked for a picture, and how I get various reactions, mostly good, including little kids pointing at me and shouting "It's a kitty!" (I think half of my largely dormant Twitter feed is "I just got this odd reaction to having a cat hat.") Apparently he and his ex-girlfriend used to have the same exact hat, but they were always afraid to wear them in public. We also talked some about how people don't have conversations with strangers enough in the US in general and on the East Coast in particular. THen he got off the train.

Third: The girl next to me turned to me and said "That's a really awesome hat." We talked some about how wearing cats ears gets different reactions from the cat hat and I suspect but don't know that it's because the hat is more viewed as a functional object. Then she said, "Also I'm glad to hear you wear a helmet when you bike, that saved my brother's life." I said "I don't know that it's ever saved my life but it's sure never harmed it." She nodded. Then she said "You should get cat ears for your bike helmet! Like, you can get them for ski helmets, I bet you could work something out." We talked about how to weatherproof cat ears on a bike helmet until I got off the train.

I feel maybe only twelve-degress off now... and like maybe I want to stay at least two or three. :) I love my cat hat.

Comments

[oonh.livejournal.com]

You have teh Cat-Hat-Fu.

I've been hovering around pi/7 radians from the rest of the world for a bit.

[damerell.livejournal.com]

"When did you repeat the experiment with a control head?" :-)

[postrodent.livejournal.com]

Your bike helmet does not, repeat not, need cat ears.
[beat]
It needs to be a bike helmet which is _designed to accommodate cat ears_. Little plastic cones sticking up, protecting the delicate kitty ears within!
If all goes well, it is not outside the scope of possibility that I could make something like that, in a year or too... but wait, I'd be very nervous trusting your life to anything I made. So maybe your helmet can just get some careful aftermarket modding that doesn't disrupt the protective structure.

[rathdei.livejournal.com]

Hey, is everyone in Boston that nice? Or only when you are wearing a cat hat?

The only people who talk to me when I'm walking around are people I know or bums asking me for change. I guess I'm not exactly a sensationalist or a very warm person at first glance, though.

[wormulus.livejournal.com]

These are such great stories.

I get all sorts of people asking me about my piercings. I don't even feel like I have that many compared to a lot of other people in NYC! Why me? I don't know. Maybe I look friendly?

I always thought you looked friendly. Maybe that's why people talk to you? Plus, I'm sure the cat hat is adorable.

[mollishka.livejournal.com]

AWESOME

[rabidfangurl.livejournal.com]

And people wonder why I wear my Stitch ears and Tsume hat in public.

[blushingflower.livejournal.com]

I would argue that frequently people talk to strangers far too often on the train. Especially when the stranger is me, and I'm trying to get to work.

[yakshaver.livejournal.com]

This made me smile.

[lhexa.livejournal.com]

Those are very heartening stories. :)

[cyborg-kitty100.livejournal.com]

Tell me more about this cult of yours...