Another Best Kind Cat Named Luca · Week 29
By Luca Bonafede · July 19, 2026 ·
A lot can happen in a week.
“I have known you for two months.”
That is what a girl told me on Saturday night, in the middle of a packed party, and I had absolutely no idea who she was.
Let me explain. And somewhere in this story, there is also a cat named Luca. Wait for it.
Through the years, I have used this quote over and over, and I am going to use it again: “Nobody looks back on their Life and remembers the nights they got plenty of sleep.” It still feels as true as ever.
Life gets busy: work, studying, the gym, and everything else Life throws at you. Then there is whatever extra you can squeeze in, and somehow, that is often what makes you feel even more alive.
This week, the extra was Sensual Saturday at The Space, on Harbour Drive. Unlike the last party, I had planned this one, and I had even arranged to have Sunday off. I went with several friends and colleagues, and it felt like the whole city, or at least the part I know, was there. The very best part of the place is the walk to the bathroom. Remarkable. I will say no more. You will have to go and see for yourself.
I was definitely drunk, and in my defense, the pre-party did most of the work: the drinks before were far more than the ones at the party itself.
And that is where she found me, the girl who had known me for two months. She had seen me at the gym, she said: how I train, how I interact with people, how focused I am, even the way I dress. I did not remember her at all.
That is all the proof I need that when I work out, I work out. I socialize later.
Her words took me straight back to New Zealand, 2013, when I was training really hard for my very first bodybuilding competition. I was completely focused. And trust me, women were watching.
A small parenthesis, for anyone who needs to hear it. When you are at the gym, do your workout, and let the women around you do theirs. If someone is interested, she will find a way to come to you and let you know, or Life will bless you by making you bump into her somewhere else. It has worked for me for as long as I can remember, and I see no reason why it wouldn’t work for you. Don’t be a creep. Train.
That is what this week reminded me of: always be yourself, and give your best in everything you do, at work, in your workouts, and in your interactions with people. You never know who is watching, and sometimes it is a stranger at a party who has been paying attention for two months. More importantly, people remember consistency over time.
Then came Sunday, the day I had planned off, and a sunrise over the Narrows so beautiful it was ridiculous. A small note on how I count: my week ends on Saturday night, or whenever I finally go to sleep after it. So this sunrise belongs to this week, even if the calendar insists it is already the next one. A bit of every week always spills into the following one. The sun does not ask whether you slept. It only asks whether you are there.
I chose “Addicted (feat. TIMID.)” by Naarly, Daytona, LEWS and FIRSTCLASS (2025) as the song of this week, and not for the reason you might expect. The music at the club wasn’t really my type, but I loved this song, because it reminds me of evenings by the beach that I will hardly ever have here. It doesn’t fit the location. It fits the vibes of the week completely.
Loving my time here in St. John’s. You guys are really “best kind.” I remember my first working day on the boat, when people kept saying “best kind, best kind,” and I started asking myself why I had never heard this expression in my life. It took me a minute to understand it. In Newfoundland, it means great, excellent, in the best possible state. It is how people answer “how are you?” and how they describe a good person, and I love it. I have many favourite Newfoundland slang words, but that is for another post.
Now, the cat. In 2015, in a club in Sydney, I told a girl my name, and she burst out laughing. Not at me. At the coincidence: she had a cat named Luca. This week, eleven years later, I found another cat called Luca, and by Newfoundland standards, a best kind one. The universe, apparently, enjoys a callback.
Another week worth living.
A lot can happen in a week.
Thank you, and ciao for now.
Luca Bonafede
St.John's, NL, Canada 🇨🇦