All About Alice

A Thoughtful Day.

2011-09-11T20:32:00.001-04:00

I’m tremendously behind on blogging, but I have a good story that seems very fitting for today.

On the Fourth of July this year, The Human Male and I took Alice to the Dog Park first thing in the morning. It was an exceptionally lovely day, so we let Alice play for a while in her beloved river. There were a ton of people and dogs playing in it, and with all the dogs running around like hooligans, it was fun to pick out which human belonged to which dog.

There was a family there that, after some watching, we discovered were owners of a yorkie and a malinois—a funny combination when you really think about it. While tough guys with tiny girly dogs aren’t totally uncommon here, we just sort of assumed that maybe one was the mom’s dog and the other was the dad’s. The yorkie enjoyed the water at first but then spent most of her time on the shoreline, and the malinois couldn’t get enough of chasing balls through the water. They left and we played with Alice in the river for a little longer.

On our way out of the park, we spotted the family getting ready to leave as well. The dad put a leash on the yorkie and a harness on the malinois.

There was writing on the harness, a very clear message: K-9 Unit.

That’s when the situation became clear: the yorkie was the family dog, and the malinois was the dad’s partner.

Living in DC, police and military bomb dogs are a fairly common sight. But it’s pretty easy to see them working and think “Aww, they’re so cute and have jobs—isn’t that precious?” But that’s where the thought ends. This instance pointed out, very clearly, that they are so deeply loved beyond their work. They are valued members of families, have favorite games to play, and love tennis balls—just like your average, everyday dog. It’s just that working dogs spend their time protecting civilians, saving soldiers in war zones, and helping people in atrocities when they’re not begging for treats and tearing apart their fuzzy toys.

It’s truly extraordinary. And very much appreciated for so many reasons.

SOMEONE in DC ticked Mother Nature Off.

2011-08-27T14:59:00.001-04:00

Hello from DC! As I’m sure you’re aware, it’s been Natural Disaster Week down here. It started on Tuesday, when concerns if Irene would run out weekend plans for dog park visits/marathon training runs/Wags N’ Whiskers festivals would be washed out by Irene were run out by a 5.8 earthquake. Let me just say, if I’m never in another earthquake, it’ll be too soon. Tuesday afternoon was one of the scariest days I’ve ever had. I was at the office in the time, and right as the earthquake hit, there was a fire truck going down our road. I work on an extremely busy DC road, so it’s not uncommon to have them tear down and shake our building a bit (my office building isn’t in the best condition). But the shaking kept on, so my first thought was that the building under construction next to us was collapsing… and then that the Metro got bombed… and then that I was having a seizure… and that MY building was collapsing. It wasn’t until someone that the call I was on shouted “We’re having an earthquake! I’m hanging up!” that I realized what was actually going on. It’s so strange to me that what I THOUGHT was happening was more realistic than what was actually happening. I’m from the Midwest; I’m far more mentally-equipped to handle tornadoes and blizzards than earthquakes.

When we left for work Tuesday morning, Alice seemed like she was sick or depressed. I now wonder if she expected something, like the animals and that National Zoo did. When we got home, she was extremely happy and made lots of new friends from the people—clearly freaked out—that went out in our neighborhood Tuesday night to drink with friends or take their kids out in Disney princess costumes to let them know that all would be well. Such a fascinating (and effective!) coping mechanism.

We’ve fortunately been pretty calm since then; there’s been about seven or so aftershocks since then and only one real one that was felt up here—although we slept through it and didn’t know it happened until the next morning. I guess Ms. “Barks at Dust Settling” can’t be bothered to alert us to 4.5 aftershocks. Alice did wake us up the next night, apparently to bark at… the fact we have a patio? She so quirky.

So now were in the beginning stages of Irene—which fortunately we’re only skirting with a tropical storm warning and not getting a direct hit. We’ve packed up the patio, made a last trip to the dog park, said our prayers, and went to our beloved neighborhood pub Beckett’s for a “beer-and-Pimm’s brunch”. Alice is a little frightened and we’ll very likely get soaked and have some wild winds, but we’ll live. It’s just funny when you’re reminded that the control you have over your life is pretty much a façade; the powers that be can laugh at the plans we make any time they want. I’m appreciating DC’s oppressively humid days so much more now. The alternative kind of sucks.

Sending love out to all of you in Irene’s path, experiencing fore/aftershocks, tornadoes, or just having beautiful days. We’ll get through this.

Pups at the Park!

2011-07-25T23:03:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite summer activities is going to a baseball game. I grew up in Chicago and Minneapolis, both good baseball towns, and my fam went to a lot of games and watched even more on TV. After a brief hiatus out of ball towns, I was thrilled when I moved to DC and had a team to watch again.

Okay, so the Nationals aren’t the best of teams. But I was born, raised, and will die a Cubs fan, so it’s not like winning’s THAT big of a deal. Going to a ballgame is all about the experience: the cheering, the cheap beer, the sunstroke, the greasy food you probably shouldn’t be eating. Watching the game is secondary. The Nats are champions of putting on a great show. They have an absolutely fantastic state-of-the-art stadium (and I say that as a fan of old-school stadiums), great between-play entertainment, and superb food choices. And sometimes they even win, which is like a cherry on top of a hugely fun day.

So when I heard that the Nats were doing an event called Pups in the Park—where you get to bring your pooch to the game—I jumped on it. For $20 plus a $5 ticket for your dog (which a donation to the Washington Humane Society), you get to enjoy America’s pastime with your dog. Our tickets normally tend to run in the $30 zone, so it was like giving us a discount for something even better.

The day could best be described as controlled chaos. Nats Park has this semi-enclosed picnic area for families above a section of seats which they used for the dog attendees. They had plenty of water, dog watchers if you wanted to go get food, little bags of treats, and my favorite, rolls of sod for pit stops.

Inside the picnic area and seats, dogs were everywhere—hair flying, barking, jumping on people, stealing food and licking beer bottles, sitting in seats, howling to the National Anthem. It was fabulous.

Alice behaved like a proper bleacher creature and tried the best of ballpark food: cheese fries, a hot dog wider than her leg, a pretzel, a burger, and even a capful of beer. By the time we got back to the car to go home, she was completely wiped out.

All in all, having dogs there made a typically fun time even better. I’d definitely do it again—and I’d recommend that if you ever have a chance, take your pup to the park, too!

Homecomings with Dogs.

2011-06-15T18:51:00.002-04:00

I just got home this afternoon from a business trip to Pittsburgh. My previous experience with Pittsburgh had been driving around its outskirts, well outside of the view of the city on our way home to The Motherland for Christmas. It was mainly just a point on the map, with the notable distinction of once being a beacon of light for a night when Mother Nature was wildly hormonal. I am so glad I really got to experience it this time. I feel like I met everyone in the city and felt so welcomed—from the great crowd at Pittsburgh’s Pride Fest, to the phenomenal staff at the gorgeous Priory Hotel (seriously, go there!), to the kindhearted concierge at the Convention Center, to a dad and son team on their way to the Pirates game on Sunday that would melt your heart, to the kind neighbor I bumped into while taking pictures of Pittsburgh’s gorgeous skyline. And the food! And the beer! And have you ever seen Pitt’s campus? Mind-bogglingly gorgeous! Pittsburgh, I’ve got one mean crush on you. It’s an East Coast town with a Midwestern soul—one of my very favorite combinations. I can’t wait to go back.

It took a bit for me to get back from BWI, which was slightly surprising but not entirely unexpected—DC is a spectacular place to visit but a difficult place to live. It took me three hours, two buses, and three trains to do the 40 miles between Baltimore to the Alice Palace, and I tweaked my trick back while carrying my heavy suitcase up and down bus and Metro steps. Still, Pittsburgh was great enough that I was feeling pretty good when I got home. And I was greeted at the door by my favorite little furry face.

And then the smell hit me. When you’re gone, your house always seems to smell differently than you remember when you get home. I figured that the house would smell like Eau de Chien et Homme when I got back, but this did not smell good at all. Like…

The merde.

Alice is not the best with change. She doesn’t like it when either The Human Male or I leave town (or even the house, for that matter). She pouts and stares out the windows, and sometimes she won’t “do her business” for a couple of days. But ooh, boy, did she do it today! Definitely not what I wanted to deal with upon walking in the door. I started cleaning up the mess immediately and threw the filthy paper towels into the toilet.

After three years of living here, I learned something new about the Alice Palace plumbing today: our toilet doesn’t do paper towels. In the span of five minutes from walking in the door, I managed to royally flood the bathroom, too.

Okay, so this wasn’t the homecoming I imagined. I expected Alice to be super excited to see me, do her little parade, then we’d go to the Dog Park. Afterwards, we’d sit on the patio with a book and some wine. Not quite. I immediately put Alice in her crate so she wouldn’t drag her toys through her mess, and once I got the inch of water toweled up from the bathroom floor, I went to the fridge, grabbed a beer, and laughed through cleaning the carpeting. Even when I accidentally dropped the carpet cleaner’s container of dirty water and had to plunge the hairball out of the tub drain, I was still smiling.

Life is far from perfect. I spend a lot of time wondering if all the hectic-ness of my life has to do with choices that I've made, or if adulthood just totally blows (in which case, Mamala and Popsy, can I come home?). But I feel like when the chaos involves a dog, a lot of the foul, stupid, aggravating things that could bother you just become comical. It’s easier to deal with the merde—sometimes literally—when it comes in a cute package.

Sexy is as Sexy Does.

2011-05-20T13:33:00.001-04:00

I’ve made no attempt to hide my love for the Arlington County Fire Department. They spend a good amount of time in my neighborhood, and it’s always a pleasure to see them. They’re really pretty, plus they’re nice to Alice.

There was a house fire in town today, so they couldn’t hang out in my ‘hood and let me ogle them. But the charming studs they are, they made up for it.

[Source]

What’s that picture? Oh, it’s just of the adorable orange cat that they saved. From a burning building. Who’s fine and safe now. No big deal.

(Props to AWLA’s Animal Control for helping out, too. They’re also pretty studly.)

Good Running Boy!

2011-05-19T23:30:00.002-04:00

This weekend, The Human Male and I ran our first half-marathon, the Marine Corps Historic Half. It was AWESOME. I could talk about it for days. Marine Corps races are a hoot—so well organized and hot Marines along the course. Can you ask for anything better? Fredericksburg, Virginia is a very cute, fun town. We ate at a great restaurant called Capital Alehouse (the fried pierogies were insane) and found a fantastic wine store called The Virginia Wine Experience that not only had fantastic staff, but two wine cats. How cool is that?

We also had a lot of fun with people along the course—from the house with tequila shots (I did indeed take one—mine was the 98th they gave out), a tiny horse for petting, kids passing out Twizzlers on the course, and a pack of therapy dogs singing, it all still makes me smile when I think about it. I can’t wait to do it all again.

On the same day as our race, the Maryland Half-Marathon was happening. And there was one very special first-time half-marathoner in it.

That’s Dozer, a three-year-old goldendoodle. Apparently Dozer’s house was on the course, and he thought it’d be a great day to go for a run. He did it in great time, too—he clocked in at 2:14, which was quite a bit faster than mine (not that I'm supremely jealous or anything).

It sounds like he may have turned around and went home afterwards. He’s now back and safe, and has started a fundraising page (he’s already got more than $1,500!) and was going to receive a finisher’s medal.

While I do wonder why no one stopped to think about why a dog was running alone on the course, I still love this story. Wouldn’t it be fun to be running along and see a dog pacing you? And listen to how the cheering gets louder when he gets closer to the line—how much fun would that be to watch?

Though we didn’t do the same race, I’m really tickled that Dozer and I met the same goal on the same day.

How about some good news?

2011-05-16T19:38:00.001-04:00

Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote about Lucy and Lillie, the pug mixes available for adoption at my neighborhood shelter? Well, have I got a story for you!

Lately I’ve really had the urge to get a second dog. Maybe it’s my birthday looming on the horizon and the reluctant acceptance that I’m now well into my thirties, so I need something exciting to compensate. Maybe it’s a switch-out for The Human Male proposing (no, he still hasn’t). Maybe it’s the old biological clock cultivating itself not in “I want 2.5 kids” but rather “I want a mastiff that weighs the same as 2.5 kids”. I don’t know, but I’m feeling the itch. And I had a feeling about Lillie. So a couple days after I posted, The Human Male and I went over to the shelter and checked her out.

And she. was. AWESOME. A tiny little lump of a dog, she jumped into my lap in the playroom, and that was it. Truthfully, if you asked me what she looked like afterwards, I’d tell you that the top of her head was round and she had cute wee bitty feet. I never really saw her face. But I loved her. One of my criteria when we were looking for Alice was that I wanted a dog that would sit in my lap—which Alice did, and it won me over.

My concern, however, was how Alice would react to her. Alice is bold, hyper, and bossy. Those are all quirks that I love about her and no problem if you have an only-dog, but I wasn’t sure how Alice would react to a dog that was so mellow. Would Alice terrorize Lillie? Would Lillie mellow her out? The Human Male and I left that day with the agreement that we’d think about it. A hard decision as it was, it became harder when we walked in the door that night and Alice ran to the door as we opened it, ricocheting off my belly and parading around the house with a toy at Mach 5 speed.

So we thought about it. And thought about it. And decided that if in a week she wasn’t adopted, then we would fill out some paperwork. And then decided to wait a little longer.

Then last weekend, I saw a posting from the shelter on Facebook. And who was in the picture, but Lillie—with her new girl named Shay.

Lillie was adopted by a family that has an adorable little girl. A girl with a big, beautiful smile, who wears sweet outfits and appears to carry a bright pink bag. A girl who just met her best friend in the world, and put her in a pretty collar before she left the shelter—as the write-up said, already treating her like a princess.

I think I’ve mentioned before that from the time I was 1.5 until 17 years old, I had a pet pug named Muffin. She meant the world to me. For her nearly sixteen years, I told her my secrets, I dressed her up, I had elaborate pretend stories involving her, I wheeled her around in a baby doll carriage. I also terrorized that dog, as only a kid who doesn’t know better will. And Muffin took it, with a smile on her face—literally. Muffin was really stupid, and the best friend that a little girl could’ve ever hope to have. And I’m pretty sure that I was Muffin’s best friend, too.

The first thought that I had when we met Lillie was that she reminded me of Muffin, and was part of the reason why I loved Lillie so much—they had the same smile in their picture. But because a dog reminds you of one you loved in the past doesn’t mean that you’re the right people for your dog. By no means could we have offered Lillie what she got. Yes, we could’ve provided her a safe and loving home for the rest of her years, but by no means could we have provided her the same quality of life, the same adventure, the same unbridled adoration, that her new girl Shay can.

Lillie absolutely won the jackpot. Things got quite dusty in the house when I saw the picture—absolute tears of joy. Lillie flat-out won at life—she went from having no one to having the absolute best situation possible.

Okay, so maybe this whole being in my thirties thing isn’t so bad. Maturity can teach you some pretty cool lessons.

Alice’s Celebrity Boyfriend.

2011-05-09T00:41:00.000-04:00

A few months ago, The Human Male and I started watching the show Veronica Mars, which is about a teenage detective with a bad attitude—picture Nancy Drew with a taser. It first came on in 2004 and lasted three seasons. Such a shame, it’s an absolutely fantastic show and ended with sooooo many loose ends! But I guess that’s the best way to end a show—solid with a ton of potential, rather than to wear out its welcome.

On the show, Veronica has a dog named Back-Up, a burly brown pit bull. He’s super adorable, and we always got excited when he was in an episode.

A couple months back, I put on an episode and it featured Back-Up pretty substantially at the beginning. A few minutes in, I noticed that Alice was pulling her bed and toys into a pile in front of the TV. She then flopped down in the pile and stared at the screen. She was actually watching the show!

I had a good laugh at the time, and The Human Male and I still sometimes tease Alice about her celebrity boyfriend—but we figured it was a once-off thing. Then we popped on Veronica Mars again about a week ago, and sure enough, she jumped on the couch and started watching again!

Does your dog watch TV? Have any favorite shows?

The Dog Therapist.

2011-05-08T19:41:00.000-04:00

Recently The Human Male and I had a doozy of a fight. The yelling kept flaring up for several hours, even after we’d both left separately to cool off.

Alice doesn’t like loud noises. If our voices get too loud, she starts jumping around and barking in high-pitched howls and peeps. Considering we live in an apartment and don't want to be "those neighbors", we use her as a signal that we’re too loud and need to simmer down. And as it got later and our issue wasn’t getting resolved, I thought some space and sleep would do us some good, so I decided to pull out the air mattress.

Well, that was just too much for Alice to handle. She laid on the regular bed for a while, curled into a tight little ball, then ran to the air mattress and stole all the blankets, pulling them into a pile. After The Human Male and I calmed down a bit, I flopped onto the pile of blankets Alice made.

And the pile was wet.

At some point when The Human Male and I were bickering, Alice took it upon herself to end the fight by weedling on the air mattress. I have no idea when she did it, but I must’ve been sitting right there when she did.

And darn if her little act didn’t call a truce and cause me to abandon the air mattress that night!

I wish I knew what Alice was thinking when she did it. I’m sure it was something like she was angry or confused as to why she couldn’t flop on both of us as she slept, and her little brain short-circuited. But I’d like to think that she put more thought into it. “Well, my first attempt of screechy-barking didn’t work this time, so let’s see if this brings the humans back together,” she said, then scribbled her findings in her little therapist’s notebook, making plans to pull her notes into an article and deciding which journal to send her research for publication.

No matter her what her intention was, it's safe to say that that little dog knows a thing or two about human nature.

Military Dogs.

2011-05-08T00:28:00.001-04:00

So it’s been a momentous week for the U.S., huh? Let me tell you, Monday was quite an interesting day in our neck of the woods—especially heading into our train stop, the Pentagon.

Later in the week, reports started coming out that a dog might’ve been involved with the operation to get bin Laden. The last thing I’d heard (it’s been a few days since I’ve searched, though) was that it wasn’t confirmed, but that it was completely within the realm of possibility.

I’ve mentioned my love of the Pentagon’s bomb dogs before, and it’s made me quite happy how much attention’s been paid to military dogs this week. They’re really hard-working and play such an important role in security. Plus you can tell that they really enjoy having jobs.

I stumbled across a great photo essay called War Dog on the Foreign Policy Website, which has fantastic pictures of military dogs at work. It’s really moving, and it makes you really proud of our four-legged soldiers.

Belly rubs all around!

(Not to be outdone, Slate put together a very funny slideshow called The Cats of War. Quite entertaining.)

Cuteness Squared.

2011-04-19T07:11:00.001-04:00

I was doing my regular “Wouldn’t it be fun to get a second dog?” peruse of our local shelter last night and found THE CUTEST little girls.

This is Lucy:

[Source]

And this is Lillie:

[Source]

I think I speak for everyone when I say, EEEEEEEEE! Look at those faces! Aren’t they adorable?! While it’s probably not the best idea for us to get a second dog yet/ever, I’d love to see these sweet girls and snuggle the stuffing out of them.

Some background on them, they’re about four years old and are very well adjusted. Lucy is 24lbs, and Lillie is 15lbs—GREAT sizes! They don’t have any medical problems (though the both need to be spayed, which will likely be done before the shelter will let them go home) but probably have the pug penchant to overly enjoy food and treats, and they can go to separate homes. They also make all of those great pug noise—grunts, snores, sneezes.

If you or someone you know lives in Virginia, DC, or Maryland and has a pug-mix shaped hole in their lives, Lucy’s information is located here, and Lillie’s is here.

Let’s help find these girls new homes!

I Return from the Depths for Berdina!

2011-04-06T21:50:00.002-04:00

Well, hello!

I've been a bad blogger. I knew it'd been a while since I last posted, but... um, how was your February and March?

Part of the reason I haven't been writing is because life has gotten in the way. We lost another person on my team at work and it's taken many, many hours to keep our projects afloat as we readjust our staffing. I also decided to run a marathon, and my pre-work morningtime is spent pounding the pavement. This seemed like a good, fun idea when I signed up for it in February. It really did. Today my foot is sore and I'm thinking competitive eating would be a better hobby.

The main reason is that Alice has been super lazy and boring. She hasn't enjoyed the cold winter and has let us know her displeasure by laying in bed and grunting at us. Not a very scintillating topic. Even right now, she's flopped out on a blanket pile, watching TV. And it's not even a new show, but a rerun.

I figure I'd wait until spring really starts and we can enjoy going outside again and do things to share some stories, but I got a note today and felt it was time to write again.

Remember a couple of years ago when Alice, The Human Male, and I went searching for Berdina, a foster dog who escaped on a walk in DC and was suspected to be hiding out in Maryland? Then remember how nearly a year later, she was found? Berdina was quickly adopted by her foster dad and life was good. Unfortunately, her owner passed away unexpectedly last week, and she's now back at the Washington Animal Rescue League and looking for a new family.

There are no words. I can't believe the past two years this dog has had-- and who knows what happened to her before then. Needless to say, Berdina needs help. WARL is hoping to find her a new foster or home to get her out of the shelter, and quickly.

If you or anyone you know, anyone you don't know, anyone you've ever passed by on the street or heard through whispered rumors, has a Berdina-shaped hole in your/their home and life, please contact Mary Jarvis at mary.jarvis |at| warl.org for more information. Berdina's Website will also be updated with new details, too.

Let's help find Berdina a new place in the world!

Good for an irreverent, slightly inappropriate smile.

2011-01-28T20:40:00.000-05:00

I stumbled across a website today called HelpJoey.com. It’s an absolutely hilarious website about a guy (Joey) who’s concerned with pet overpopulation and has made it his mission to keep dogs and cats from having “the sex”. I’ve been laughing at the posts for a good chunk of the evening.

In this video, Joey’s speaking with a “Catenese” expert to learn how to tell cats to abstain.

This is one of the tamer videos on the website. Let me say now that they’re worth watching, but probably not suitable for work. At least without headphones.

Puggle vs. Radio Waves.

2011-01-25T23:24:00.001-05:00

Nearly three months ago, The Human Male and I got rid of the cable. Honestly, I hardly miss it at all. The only thing I wish we still had is the playback feature. It didn’t occur to me how often I’d rewind the TV because I wasn’t listening until I noticed how often I automatically grabbed the clicker and tried to figure out why our DVR was broken.

As an alternative, we get our TV shows via the internet and use a digital rabbit-ear antenna for the major/local channels. The internet works great. The antenna’s okay—good enough for us not to go back to cable, but we’ve found that there are certain times and places in the house that take out some of our local stations. Sometimes all it takes is moving your hand over an inch, other times you’re just not going to get that channel that particular night.

Tonight, Alice was acting up. She jumped on our coffee table to lick our dinner plates, pounced on our heads, howled and swore in puggle-speak, and drooled stringily all over the arm of the couch. So she went to her crate.

And wouldn’t you know it, Alice sitting in her crate killed our TV reception. It chopped it so badly that we finally changed the channel because it wasn’t going to improve as long as she was in there.

Now, I’m no physicist, but I’m pretty sure that her ability to take out radio waves has something to do with her curly tail. How can something that silly not have some sort of magical power? I drew a picture to demonstrate this fantastic phenomenon.

Puggle, Chackhussell, Schnauzermin.

2011-01-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

While looking for a picture of an pug-Italian greyhound mix to compare to Mr. Puggle’s post last night, I stumbled across a super adorable photo set on Martha Stewart’s Pet Website. It consists of pictures of interesting dog mixes from a book called A Breed Apart by Amanda Jones, who's a pretty awesome canine photographer.

And guess what? It includes a puggle!

I love the names Jones gives the dogs: Jackodauzer, Pit Bullet, Spanden, Borgi. So fun!

Kind People are Everywhere.

2011-01-24T22:45:00.001-05:00

There are a lot of bastards in the world. It’s just a fact. And it’s super easy to let them get you down. But every once in a while you hear a story about someone doing something so inexplicably kind that it really makes up for the jerks.

I read a story today about a family who had to put their dog to sleep. Understandably, their four-year-old daughter was having a hard time with it, and so she decided to draw a picture and mail it to her dog Jack in Heaven. She and her mom ran into their mail lady, and the girl gave her the letter. The next day, another mail lady told them that they’d be getting some special mail soon.

A few days later, a postal supervisor showed up at their door with a package—from Jack in Heaven. Inside was a letter written by Jack, a book called Dog Heaven, and a stuffed dog toy.

Seriously—try to read that article without noticing how dusty the room is. Can you believe how kind it was of those postal workers to put such effort into a gift like that? They didn’t need to do that. The first mail lady could’ve just thrown that letter out. The workers didn’t need to put the box together and get the special book. They didn’t need to deliver it.

But they did. And in the process, they brought smiles not only to a family mourning a big loss, but to a lot of other people in the world.

The Internet is Awesome!

2011-01-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

Remember last year when I went berserk over Jake, the chug from the Puppy Bowl? Oh my goodness, he was so cute! I even looked up his rescue (All Star Pet Rescue) to see if he was still available for adoption. He wasn’t—he’d already found his family.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a blog comment from Jake’s human. Can you believe it?! She says that he’s doing quite well and has a bro dog named Miles Kirby. She also mentioned that Duncan, that adorable little beagle, was also doing well and has a great family.

Getting that note absolutely made my day. I’m so happy that they’re all doing well and very, very loved. Thanks to Jake’s human for the wonderful update!

Alice’s new BOYFRIEND!

2011-01-18T22:17:00.001-05:00

The always fun L.A. Times Unleashed blog posted the keeee-yooooutest dog on their website today. His name is Robinson and he’s up for adoption in L.A. The first thought I had when I saw him was “It’s Alice’s new BOYFRIEND!” She hasn’t shown too much interest in boy dogs since Rocco moved out, but I think she and Robinson have much in common. Look at that perfect underbite!

If you have a mutt with an underbite-shaped hole in your life, he’s available for adoption at L.A. Animal Services’ South L.A. shelter. He’s ID number #A1177355. Someone, please bring him home!

Newsflash!

2011-01-12T21:21:00.001-05:00

Our local news had a great story tonight: iPad apps for cats. They went over to the Washington Animal Rescue League to report on it.

Can you get over the little pouncing?! And the reporting of their scores, ohhhhhhh, so precious! This absolutely makes me want to adopt a cat. Then buy and iPad.

Toys in the House: Bathroom Rope Bone.

2011-01-01T22:14:00.001-05:00

One thing that I really love about having a dog is the unintentional comedy that comes from having one living in the house. I love the interaction with toys. Alice’s toys end up in the oddest places: a tennis ball shoved in the sofa cushions, a hedgehog in the kitchen, a Santa under the staircase. You get used to having toys around, but every once in a while, I wonder why Alice dropped a toy there. And how long it’s been there and I didn’t notice.

Today, I found her rope bone by the toilet.

I wish I knew why this was in here. She does follow me into the bathroom; maybe she keeps it in here in case things get dull.

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T20:34:00.001-05:00

Alice has squished herself on the couch between The Human Male and me and is snoring. This will be our station for the rest of the night.

I couldn’t hope for a better night. My favorite New Year’s Eves have always been spent at home with my loved ones.

Wishing you a wonderful and safe New Year’s, and a 2011 that’s at least three times better than 2010.

Happy Four Days after Christmas!

2010-12-29T09:32:00.001-05:00

Whoops, I missed posting on Christmas. Chalk this up to “time flies when you’re having fun”! We’ve had a really nice Christmas in The Motherland. Alice, The Human Male (who flew in on Christmas Eve), and I are driving back to DC tomorrow.

Hope you all had a great Christmas, too!

Festive Alice!

2010-12-23T11:12:00.001-05:00

The great blog Dog-Owned Life is posting pictures of festive pets this week in honor of Christmas. I sent in a picture of Alice, and it was posted yesterday. Yay!

I highly recommend going through other Dog-Owned Life posts to look at other Christmas pictures. They start the afternoon of December 21st. The pictures are just adorable. I love seeing people so excited about their pets at Christmas and how they get them involved. And the one with the little girl just makes me smile. Look at how proud she is!

Mark’s still accepting pictures. If you have any good holiday pictures of your dogs and pets, his contact information is in with the picture posts. Send them along!

What I’m doing on my Christmas Vacation.

2010-12-21T10:13:00.001-05:00

I’m officially on Christmas vacation. Alice and I drove to Reading, PA to meet up with Popsy on Friday, and then the three of us drove to The Motherland on Saturday.

We’ve done some fun stuff so far, which will come in later posts. But one thing that I wanted to share right away is that I bought Alice a sparkly little hat. She looks mahvelous.

The most important flow chart you’ll see today.

2010-12-15T07:11:00.001-05:00

I haven’t lived in Albany, New York, in a few years, but I like keeping up with what’s going on up there. It’s a really interesting city full of characters and lots of really unique opportunities, and I’ll always have a soft spot for it.

Besides talking to my Urban Family regularly, one of the best ways to keep in the know is reading All Over Albany. AOA’s run by Greg and Mary, who used to have a really fun radio show on the local NPR station.* They’ve since moved to the blog world, and it’s been dreamy. They know everyone, are really interesting themselves, and they write well. And the people who read AOA for the most part leave really nice, funny, thoughtful comments. Reading it’s a great way to take a break during your day.

AOA is pretty dog-oriented (they have a dog on staff named Otto), so their postings occasionally are canine-centric (like pictures from a pug party, or where to get a good dog sundae). Today they posted one of the best dog posts I’ve seen on any blog.

The title of the blog post is “It’s winter. Your Dog has pooped. What now?” Intriguing, right? Very much so. On the page, they’ve provided a flow chart of how to decide when to pick up after your dog and when it’s okay to leave it. Clearly they’ve put a great deal of thought into this.

Our neighborhood is pretty dog-centric, and there’s a strong sense of being a responsible dog owner. But our dog area turned into a battlefield during our blizzards last winter, and there’s one side of our complex where people NEEEEEVVVVEEEERRR clean up after their dogs—even though there are two garbage cans with poopy pouches right there. For crying out loud, if your dog goes right next to the can and you’ve got bags right there, just pick it up. It probably won’t kill you, and it’s not going to magically fly into the can on its own.

I’m planning on printing this off and sticking it to the cans, and then take one over to the Dog Park. I’m sure our local dog folks will get a kick out of this.

* Secretly, I appeared on a few episodes in roundtable segments and read an essay on how to speak New York if you’re a Midwesterner. Seriously—the ALB’s a town of unique opportunities. And doing radio’s really hard.

Pouty Puggle.

2010-12-13T21:15:00.001-05:00

My good friend $-Money was in town for a work training last week and stayed with us. The Human Male and I absolutely loved having her here. I think our excitement, though, was eclipsed by Alice’s.

Alice is pretty good with people, but sometimes she finds someone that she looooooves. When she sits on your lap and gives you kisses, that means that you two are married.

Well, Alice and $-Money committed themselves as one last week. Alice snuggled up with her, took naps with her, and had no problem stealing her food. Big time love.

$-Money went home yesterday, much to all our chagrin. Alice was very unhappy. She looked around the house with her pouty face, then jumped on $-Money’s deflated air mattress, clearly waiting for her to come back.

It’s kind of sad, but her indignant little pout (and glowy little Jawa eyes) is way too funny to take seriously.

If you hear about dog bites today, it’s probably my fault.

2010-12-11T09:15:00.001-05:00

In the part of my life that pays me, I do a lot of writing. E-mails, reports, contracts, proposals, web copy, notes to myself reminding me to write something else tomorrow. Occasionally my work involves writing research articles.

One that I wrote was recently published is getting some mainstream pick-up (which has been weird, exciting, and pretty neat to tell my folks about). Two of my favorite animal blogs covered it this week, so I felt it was probably time to mention it here.

The article discusses the number of emergency department visits and hospitalizations related to dog bites and characteristics for these encounters. The numbers are wild—more than 316,000 ED visits and 9,500 hospital stays in the US related to dog bites. Now, we’re not talking all of them; these are just for the people that sought medical help for their bites. Can you imagine how many there actually are that DON’T go to the doctor? That number’s got to be astronomical!

The article can be found here. By format definition, it doesn’t go into reasons why this is happening or make any conclusions or recommendations to prevent the situation. But WE can discuss it here.

My recommendations would be take your dog to training school to prevent certain behaviors, approach dogs you don’t know carefully (both those that are pets and strays), and don’t harass agitated/nervous dogs.

Also, my inner 10-year-old would like to suggest not trying to catch an aggravated Dachshund in a box for fun, even if your friend’s grandpa’s done it a thousand times.

Alice’s Glamour Shots.

2010-12-04T20:10:00.001-05:00

Today we took Alice’s picture for our Christmas cards. We went down to our neighborhood’s Christmas tree. Here are some of my favorite outtakes.

Alice is not a hat-wearing kind of girl. I had to tie that bad boy on so tightly, then we bribed her with treats. And wouldn’t you know, it worked!

One unrelated picture, but well worth sharing. Typically our Christmas tree is in the middle of our main street, placed on top of a fountain. This year they moved it to our hood’s plaza and did something spectacular to the fountain. Whoever made the decision to switch things up is a freaking genius. Our neighborhood looks gorgeous.

November’s a wash. Come on, December!

2010-11-28T17:34:00.002-05:00

Okay, so posting in November’s officially a lost cause. Things have been pretty crazy with work. I’m not sure how the first couple of weeks of December are going to fare, but we’re making our annual pilgrimage to The Motherland for Christmas and I have hope for holiday blogging.

I hope you all had a very wonderful Thanksgiving that included life’s three best F words: family, friends, and food. And now we’re officially into the holiday season—decorations, music, and even more food. What a great time of the year!

Is it November already?!

2010-11-02T07:15:00.001-04:00

I don’t know where October went. It was a busy month of work, giant meetings, Oktoberfests, roller derby, parties, races, cheese-stealing, Transformers movie shoots, and a few scary moments in DC. But… there are 31 days in October still, right?

I currently have 272 pictures on my camera, most of which involve Alice. Hopefully I’ll catch up with the stories this month (in particular, the cheese thievery). Until then, I’ll leave you with one picture.

This past Sunday was the Marine Corps Marathon and 10K. I really love this race. The Human Male and I did it last year, but we didn’t sign up in time for this year’s run (the 10K. Neither of us are marathoners yet/ever). We did the Army Ten Miler a week ago and I was reminded how fun and motivating it is to see dogs along the side of the course, so we dressed up Alice in her Halloween finest (she went as a Fall Fashion Plate this year) and took her over to cheer on runners.

I’m really glad we did. We parked ourselves just past the Mile 23 marker in the Crystal City neighborhood at a place where the course looped in time to cheer on the 10K runners (its course the last 6.2 miles of the Marathon course) and we saw a lot of smiles and heard several “Look at the dog!”s. You could tell a few of the runners really needed the boost right then. One girl actually stopped running to pet Alice. She’s a pug owner. :)

We sat around for a little while to drink coffee (we parked ourselves between a Cosi and a Caribou Coffee semi-intentionally), shake our cowbells, and watch the handbike marathoners and the lead marathon runners. The runners began trickling in, and about 10 minutes after the first runners, we saw the first female runner (Janet Cherobon). She torched a couple of the guys and as she passed our spot, a group of 30-50 year old ladies a few feet down started cheering and yelling “Run, girl! Run!” It was so cute. I noticed one of the ladies had a stroller with her little daughter. It was one of those moments when I just felt so good to be part of the girl club.

Alice was interested in the runners at first and stared at them, craning her neck to figure out why they were running and she wasn’t and what the people yelling, banging on pots, and ringing their cowbells on the other side of the course were doing (and if they had treats). She then found herself a warm spot on the street and laid down to watch the runners pass by.

We stayed to cheer on some of the sub-4 hour marathoners and headed home. Along the way, we passed a few other spectating dogs. Two were too cute not to post.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Off topic, but a relevant issue in the Alice Palace.

2010-10-08T14:43:00.001-04:00

A few months ago, The Human Male made the suggestion of dumping the cable and going to internet-based TV. His argument was that most of what we watched was online—and what wasn’t, we could get off of iTunes. The Human Male’s one of those “up on technology” guys, so I thought it was his attempt to be cutting edge and cool. I didn’t see much point, since it would require buying a ton of new equipment (my TV was circa Time when in-set VCRs were High Tech), and we don’t watch much TV to begin with. Plus I love the DVR—all the shows I want, automatically in one place, and I can watch them whenever I want. It’s like having all your entertainment chicks in one basket.

And then I stumbled across the cable bill.

In our house, we divide the bills—The Human Male pays cable and internet, and I do water and electric. I thought it was even. I was very, very wrong.

What happened is that over a year ago, we decided the bill was too pricey for how much TV we watched, so we got rid of the super-duper digital cable and went down to basic digital. It took a giant chunk off our bill, and we didn’t miss the channels at all. But it ends up that the price I thought we were paying was a special deal. So when the year was up, we got the “pleasure of being a long-time customer” increase. Which ended up being $30 MORE than what we were paying for the special channels we got rid of.

I. WENT. BALLISTIC. Honestly, I thought The Human Male had missed a bill, it was so high. But no. Apparently what I thought was his effort to be technocool was actually an attempt to save well over $1,000 a year. Considering we could get everything we needed and still have a ton of money left over for that price, cable was dead to me instantly.

That weekend, we bought a new, high-tech TV and started planning our switch to internet-only. We signed up for Netflix, started researching antennas, and talked about getting a video game system so we could access Hulu Plus/Netflix without having to hook up my computer (it’s very important during football season that I have access to some form of entertainment that’s not football related). Over the past month, we’ve gotten a pretty good set-up.

Except that I’ve discovered a problem. A BIG one.

I’ve had some problems using the video game controller (which works as a remote for it). Apparently there’s a button on the back that pauses things. So if you go and set it down, it pauses. You pick it up and press play and it’s fine, but the second you set it down again, pause. I didn’t know this until I started crying because I couldn’t get a show I really wanted to watch (and was bumped off the DVR the night before for some stupid boy show) to play, and The Human Male had to sit me down like a preschooler and explain the technology to me (he also may have given me a cookie to calm down).

I thought after he showed me that that I’d be able to use the box, no problem. So today, a half-work-from-home/half-vacation Friday, I thought I’d throw on some girl shows and listen to them as I went about the day. I clicked on the right source and hit the video game console’s on button—only to find that it was already on (machines being left on is a HUGE pet peeve of mine). So I look at the screen, and there’s no picture. Just a message saying that the TV won’t play that resolution, and to change it.

Okay, what? What’s actually wrong, and how do I change it?

I figure it has something to do with it being left on all night, so I turn it off. And I turn the TV off. And then I cut off both power sources. I unplug things and replug them in. I try games, DVDs, the Netflix disc. Nothing. Same stupid, idiotic, vague message.

And then I realized what happened: my TV was set up in Malevision.

I think women know what this is—where you try to use your TV, DVD player, or satellite and you find you need a Y chromosome to figure out which series of buttons you need to hit—and in what magic order—to get the thing to work. I feel like I’ve been cautious in preventing this—I know my parents’ bedroom TV is set up in Malevision and there’s a TV show on every once in a while about the subject. I’m aware of the issue and vigilant, and feel like I lived alone long enough to identify when things are about to Go Boy. For example, when The Human Male was trying to figure out which antenna would work best, he devised a “radio tower” that consisted of one of our counter stools (from the opposite end of the apartment) placed in front of our bedroom door, with our patio door opened and the antenna cord stretched wide. When I said there was no way that was going to fly, he picked it up and held the antenna over his head, then turned hopefully to the TV. I kicked him out of the house after that. Anyway, I feel like I’m good at spotting when things are about to go nonsensical to anyone with two X chromosomes, and yet, here I am.

To you ladies out there, have you had this happen? How did you fix it? At the very least, can you tell me how to turn on the TV? And is there any recourse I can take except to load up the Netflix queue with the girliest movies known to mankind? And do you have suggestions for titles?

Shana gets her bandana.

2010-09-30T00:10:00.001-04:00

It’s been a trying few weeks in DC’s dog community. There’s a lot of fear over if our dogs are safe in our streets since Parrot’s shooting (and another in-home police shooting of a dog shortly after). There’s anger over what happened. There’s cynicism if anything will be done about it. And of course, there’s sadness over what was done.

A recent posting on Parrot’s memorial blog was from one of his event handlers. Her tribute to him breaks my heart every time I’ve read it. This boy beat all the odds: he beat a rough start and a kill shelter. He was rescued, saved, looking for his home. He was supposed to be in the clear. And yet, this happened. After everything he’d been through, he died at a festival. Someplace that should’ve been fun and safe.

I’ll admit it, it’s been easy to feel blue over this. I’ve gotten weepy a number of times over Parrot. I’ve actually felt a little guilty for what happened to him—I’m part of the species who gave him a rough start and ended his life. And I feel guilty and angry that it happened on my home turf. It’s irrational, but the feeling’s there. He didn’t deserve what happened to him. He didn’t get the chance to have a long, happy life that he deserved.

But a few days ago, the endlessly and wonderfully cheery Dawn of Lydia and Pugs retweeted something from the Ellen Show that gave me a good little “Aha!” moment. Ellen was commenting on a news report of a dog who was dragged behind a truck and was—thankfully—recuperating. Linking to the report, she wrote “As an animal lover, this story broke my heart. As a human, it makes me want to help. You can help, too.”

My goodness, what a wonderful reminder that we can compartmentalize. As a dog lover, DC resident, and human, Parrot breaks my heart. As a dog lover, DC resident, and human, it’s my job to act and support the things that will work to make sure this never happens again, not on our watch.

The letters will continue to be sent to the police (who responded to mine with not the typical form letter that went out) and to the soon-to-be mayor (DC’s current one never responded—and then lost his primary two days after the shooting. Coincidence?), the donations to preventing animal cruelty and breed discrimination will continue to be made. And the successes towards making this place world safer and more secure for all dogs will be celebrated.

The first item on that list? Shana.

Shana’s an American Bulldog (a great breed—our neighbors just got one named Roxy and she’s the keeeeee-youtest character) and the first of “Parrot’s Pals”—dogs who are rescued using funds from the Parrot Fund. She was rescued in South Carolina just days after Parrot’s death and arrived less than a week later.

At events, Lucky Dogs wear green bandanas. In the early pictures before she arrived, Shana was wearing a red polka-dotted one. In more recent photos, Shana has a green one.

[There are more pictures of her on Petfinder. Please go view her page and share it.]

It’s bittersweet and heartwarming. That look of hope and happiness in her eyes makes genuinely want her to have the all the toys, treats, beds, love, snuggles, tennis balls thrown, adventures, and years that the world can offer.

So very , very much so.

Happiness is…

2010-09-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

A couple of weekends ago, Alice, the Human Male, and I decided to have breakfast at Founders Park in Old Town, one of my very favorite places in the world.

The thing that I love most about Founders Park is that it’s everyone’s park. Every person that walks by, every bench they sit on, every spot on the lawn where they throw a blanket, is theirs. And yours. I don’t know quite how to express it in words, but if you ever end up there, you’ll understand. It belongs to everyone.

That feeling isn’t limited to people. As The Human Male and I sat on our regular bench, we noticed a black lab that was play in the grass behind us. His owner had let him off his leash (while not fenced in, it’s considered the “dog” part of the park) and he was playing in the sprinklers. He bounced through them, tried to bite the water stream, and rolled around on the soppy ground.

I can’t think of the last time I saw such pure joy.

Surf's Up!

2010-09-24T07:18:00.000-04:00

Free Kibble's linking to this super cute article and videos on a surfing dog competition today. Worth a read and a watch. The bottom video has lots of cute surfing pugs, and Abbie's winning move (which is pretty fantastic) starts around minute 9.

Barrel Oak Winery.

2010-09-23T07:00:00.001-04:00

The Sunday of Labor Day weekend, Alice, The Human Male, and I went to the Barrel Oak Winery. It's located in Delaplane, Virginia, about 55 miles outside of DC. I'd originally heard about BOW a year or so ago from a Kissable Canine newsletter about dog-friendly places around the area. More recently, I'd heard about rescue fundraising events being held there. After finding out they were having an island-themed celebration, we decided it was time to check it out.

It was so much fun. There were dogs everywhere-- in photos in the bathroom, playing all over the lawn, sitting at the tasting bar, even sitting on a stool inside.

Alice wore her finest lei to the party.

We tried some samples of the wine, which were unbelievably fantastic-- I highly recommend the Seyval Blanc and Traminette. The Human Male and I ordered some wine, sangria, and some snacks, then went and sat on the lawn to admire the view.

All around, Barrel Oak is a wonderful, wonderful place. It was dog-friendly, kid-friendly, family-friendly, person who could use a glass of wine and escape from life for a couple hours-friendly. I'm so excited to go back!

Found/Missing/Found/Missing: A Tree!

2010-09-22T07:00:00.002-04:00

I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree on the blog before. By our house we have a planter that had a sad looking pine tree in it. Since the day we moved in two years ago, the tree has been losing more and more needles. We thought it actually made it through our Snowmageddons, but it quickly went downhill early this spring. By the beginning of June, there were seriously only about five needles left on it. The rest were on our patio.

One Work-at-Home Friday in May or June, I heard some people talking in our courtyard. It was a couple of people from our front office and a guy who seemed to know a lot about landscaping. They fawned over some trees in other planters, then walked over to ours and said matter-of-factly, "So, this one's dead."

I immediately texted The Human Male to let him know that we were finally getting a new tree.

I took one last picture with Charlie Brown:

While I was in Portland, they removed it:

And then they put in a new one:

After a couple of weeks, we noticed that New Tree wasn't doing so well. Shortly afterward, we found a very similar yet healthier one in its place.

The tree seems to still be doing okay (although the sprinkler system in the planter went berserk this weekend and now shoots a 10 foot flood of water against our patio door at 3:30 in the morning). It's losing some leaves, but I don't know if that's a sign of trouble or Autumn. Fingers crossed this one holds up!

Dogs + IKEA stuff = The Best Song You’ll Hear this Week.

2010-09-22T00:14:00.001-04:00

I heard some rumblings this week about the new OK Go video. OK Go is a band from Chicago (all the best ones are!) that writes ridiculously catchy songs and are known for their wildly creative videos that tend to be done in one take. I’m way too old to care about music videos, but I still get stupid excited when a new one comes out.

I thought their last two videos (This Too Shall Pass and End Love) were spectacular and hard to top. Alas, they managed:

Three and a half minutes of dogs and stuff from IKEA.

There’s so much to love about this. My favorite parts are the high shelves, the rainbow boards, the red stools, and the high-five dog. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t say I oogle over those round desk chairs each and every time I go to IKEA.

And did you notice the screen at the end? Most of the dogs in the video were rescues, and the band is donating a portion of the proceeds from their video downloads to the ASPCA (here’s their posting on the video). How cool is that?

I’m hoping that they’ll soon expand it out to the song or album. Like I said, I’m old and don’t have too much use for videos, but I do like a good beat that I can bug out to now and again.

The Best Kind of News.

2010-09-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

Remember last January when Then Human Male and I met Matt Damon? The Lost Dog and Cat Rescue announced today that he was adopted this weekend!

So, so much happiness! Matt’s such an awesome, charming boy. I’m so incredibly excited that he’s been adopted. That is one tremendously lucky family.

Okay, I’ll admit it: I’m the teeeeensiest bit sad. The Human Male and I had several discussions (or potentially I talked at him and he was in the room) about adopting him. I really wanted him. But honestly, Matt wasn’t our dog—his family was out there, and now they’re finally together.

Welcome home, Matt Damon!

Pool Party!

2010-09-20T22:49:00.001-04:00

Our building’s pool closed for the season yesterday, so for the last few hours, management invited dogs to play in the pool.

Quite a few dogs took them up on their offer.

It was so precious. Some of the dogs were afraid of the water, including Alice.

Others, like Alice’s friends The Danger Twins (two rambunctious lab mixes), were not so shy to belly-flop right in and swim like it was their job.

Despite her hesitancy, it seemed like Alice wanted to jump in and play.

But she did swim when we pulled her into the pool.

I love how her tail sticks straight up when she swims.

It struck me that she thought of it more as a giant bathtub and less of a rectangular river-- but I do think she enjoyed it.

I know we did.

Found: A Whale!

2010-09-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

Another wonderful prize we found in Mystic, Connecticut. Alice was not so thrilled about this guy.

Found: A Store for Alice!

2010-09-17T17:00:00.000-04:00

It was a pleasant surprise to find a Black Dog store in Mystic. We went to one in Martha's Vineyard on a family vacation twelve years ago, and I loved it. I'm not a big fan of branded things (a funny attribute of someone who does marketing), but I'm a sucker for Black Dog stuff. First, it's a dog, and second, it was originally used as a way for Martha's Vineyardites to identify one another when they were on the mainland. How cool is that? I just had to have my black dog taken in front of their sign.

What was super cool is that they were completely fine that Alice came in the store-- which meant I bought more. I bought a couple of wine glasses with black dogs etched on them and a new girly collar for Alice. I couldn't resist. Alice's regular collar is extremely special-- it's a skull and crossbones collar that was given to her by my friend Lindy as an adoption gift. It's pretty beat up now, but to "replace" it, the new one had to be tremendously fabulous. Alice's new one is made of a preppy pink and green-striped ribbon with little black dogs on it. The color looks great on her-- we can now see her from outside when she stands in the window. I also think it's funny that it has black dogs on it, plus we're still keeping with her nautical theme.

Anyone heard of overnight fostering?

2010-09-17T09:31:00.003-04:00

I don’t think there’s any secret that I’m feeling the urge to get a second dog. The Human Male, being an unlikely voice of reason, has made a very valid point that we shouldn’t. I know he’s right, so I’ve thought about doing volunteering and getting my fill of dogs that way.

Last night I was tooling around some local rescue group websites and found that one does overnight fostering. Basically, if a transport comes in and the foster can’t keep the dog the first night (out of town, prior commitment, etcetera), you bring him in—basically give him dinner, a bath, and a bed for the night.

This definitely got my feelers up. I think we could have an extra dog for a night every once in a while, and that short of time wouldn’t be a huge commitment and would alleviate concerns of getting too attached. We definitely have a ton of questions before we’d consider signing up, and I’m just wondering: has anyone done this or know anyone who has? I’d never heard of this before and it’s intriguing. I’m very curious if it’s as good as it sounds and what the potential downsides are.

Technorati Tags: A home for one night.

Found: Mystic Pizza!

2010-09-17T07:00:00.000-04:00

On our way home from Providence, I saw signs for Mystic, Connecticut. Living in New York, I heard a lot about Mystic Seaport-- apparently it's a normal school trip who live in the state. I'd never been there and was curious about it. Not only because it's a seaport (I'm a sucker for water and tiny seaside towns), but because of the fabled Mystic Pizza, a la the 80's girly movie.

I drove the first few hours back and took a detour when we saw the turn-off for Mystic, much to The Human Male's chagrin (though not really a surprise).

In short, Mystic is FREAKING ADORABLE. In the 20 minutes we were there, it just seemed like the perfect little seaside town. We got there and my brain immediately started screaming "Don't make me go back to DC!" I started thinking about how much vacation time I had left and how expensive it would really be to keep our rental car for a few extra days. We did end up driving back home that day, but I really want to go back. Now.

What I did on my Summer Non-Vacation, Trip #5: Providence, Rhode Island.

2010-09-16T17:00:00.001-04:00

After getting home around 8P on Wednesday from Ithaca, we left for another trip on Friday evening. This time it was to go to my coworker friend Lauren's wedding in Providence, Rhode Island. I was particularly excited about this one because I'd never been to the state and have heard wonderful, wonderful things about it. After pricing airline and train tickets to Providence and the cost of boarding Alice, we decided it was most affordable-- and the most fun-- to rent a car and bring Alice along with us.

I was so burnt out from traveling at this point that I tried my best to ignore that we were on the road, living out of a suitcase, and sleeping in another hotel (I'd been to three that week alone). But the trip through Connecticut and Rhode Island, along the coast of the Atlantic, was so pleasant. And Providence was FANTASTIC. We stayed at the La Quinta in Warwick, which I'd recommend to anyone traveling in that neck of the woods-- they were wonderful and more than accommodating to Alice. Our little dog quickly made herself at home.

We were extremely lucky that the night we were there that WaterFire was happening after the wedding. WaterFire is a summer art installation in which they place bonfires in metal baskets in the rivers that run through Providence. It was so cool, and Alice loved it.

Our stay wasn't long, but it was great and I can't wait to get back and spend more time in Providence. And Alice is looking forward to it, too!

What I did on my Summer Non-Vacation, Trip #4: Ithaca, New York.

2010-09-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

For my fourth trip, I went to a conference in Ithaca, New York. I was pretty burnt out from traveling at this point, and I had to drive up there (a 7 hour trip up, 8.5 hour trip back). So I won't get into details on the trip. Overall, though, Ithaca was great, the drive through Pennsylvania was GORGEOUS, Cornell's a beautiful campus, and I found a spectacular local wine from Six Mile Creek Vineyard (the Seyval Blanc).

I saw this cool piece of a railroad car right along the border in Pennsylvania. I can't for the life of me remember what it represented.

One interesting thing that I will mention is right outside of Harrisburg, PA, there's a replica of the Statue of Liberty in the Dauphin Narrows section of the Susquehanna River. It was completely unexpected and supremely cool. I guess she's 25 feet tall and made of wood, metal, and fiberglass, and built by local Harrisburg residents to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. I wasn't able to stop and take a picture of it, but if you're heading in that direction, keep your eye out for her.

I was so, so happy to get back home to Alice. There's nothing like coming home to a dog.

Run, Alice, Run!

2010-09-15T17:00:00.001-04:00

On June 19th (not long after I wrote this post), Alice did something she's never done before: she ran in a real 5K!

The Red Cross of the National Capital Region had a 5 and 10K fundraiser, and the 5K (3.1 miles) allowed dogs. I love the Red Cross-- they helped out a friend after she had a house fire a few years ago, and a good friend of mine used to work there. When we heard about the dog-friendly race, the Human Male and I jumped on it.

Here's Alice picking up her number at the Alexandria Red Cross Chapter:

And here are some action shots. I'd like to say that they're blurry not because I was jiggling the camera, but because we were going sooooo faaaaaassst. Really, I swear!

Each race I try to find someone that I'll finish before/close to/not far after. This was Alice's-- the teeniest, tiniest chihuahua ever. He was seriously four inches tall.

Halfway point!

And here she is crossing the finish line!

I was so proud of her. Her official time was 39:34-- awesome for a little 22lb dog, especially on a very hot morning! The wonderful crowd cheered whenever a dog crossed. It was so sweet.

After the race, Alice was barely winded.

I'm so proud of my little runner!

Found: The Best Tea Shop Ever.

2010-09-15T07:00:00.001-04:00

While we were in New York for my friend Karla's wedding, we made a stop before we went home at a place called Alice's Tea Cup. I'd read about it maybe a year or so ago and have been itching to get there. Since I was going through Alice withdrawal, I thought it'd be as appropriate a time as any to go.

It was a bit different than I anticipated. We went to the one on West 73rd (Chapter 1) and it was definitely well-loved. It's fancy enough that you feel like you're somewhere doing something special, but it's in a state that's great for kids to spend time without worrying that they'll ruin the seats. Looking at the pictures of the two other locations, I think those might be fancier. One thing that I was a bit disappointed with was that I thought you could borrow fairy wings while you were there, but alas, you had to buy them.

That being said, Chapter 1 was whimsical and charming. It was in a little brownstone storefront, with keyhole-shaped door windows in the back and absolutely adorable tables made of old sewing machine stands. More importantly, the tea was spectacular. We ordered a pot of Alice's Tea, their signature tea made of green and black tea, vanilla, and roses. Ohhhhhhhh, it's HEAVENLY! We brought some home and have made many, many pots of hot and iced tea with it. I'm so in love. I can't wait to get to New York again and pick up a boatload of it.

If you find yourself in New York and would like a special cup of tea, I definitely recommend stopping in. Just BYO Fairy Wings.

What I did on my Summer Non-Vacation, Trip #3: Long Island, New York.

2010-09-14T17:00:00.001-04:00

I got back from Portland around midnight Thursday morning, and by 5A Saturday, we were on our way on another trip. This time we were heading to Long Island for my friend Karla's wedding.

I love going to New York. Anywhere on to the Eastern side of the state feels like going home. Getting to see college friends made it that much better.

This trip was different than any other one we've taken: it was the first one that we've gone on without Alice. We debated for a few weeks how we were going to handle it. At first, we thought about taking her over to Fur-Get Me Not, one of our neighborhood boarders/dog schools (it's where Alice went to school). They do an open-cage kennel, and I even took her to "audition"-- they have dogs spend about 15-20 minutes in their kennel to see how they react to the other dogs in their daycare. Alice passed with flying colors. Well, she actually just stood there, watching the other dogs play. She didn't move the entire time-- which gave their staff a pretty good laugh.

When we started thinking about when we'd leave and when we'd get back in accordance to their office hours, we realized that our one-night trip would result in Alice being boarded three nights. That was way too long to be sans puggle. So we opted instead for Fur-Get Me Not's in-home pet sitting.

In short, it was fabulous, fabulous, fabulous. Our sitter's name was Jennifer, and I absolutely love her. More importantly, Alice loved her. Jennifer called when she got there, sent me text messages throughout the night and next morning to let me know how she was doing, and wrote up a little report card when she left. One message Jennifer sent was that she and Alice had been playing and she was giving lots of kisses. Alice doesn't kiss just anyone-- her list is pretty short (only about four people). So I figured if Alice was kissing her, things were going well.

I had a feeling that I was more upset about leaving Alice than Alice would've been about us leaving, but I didn't know just how true it was until we got home. We got back home and let Alice out of her cage... and she walked out.

Alice doesn't walk. Alice tears out, runs in circles, jumps up and launches herself off our stomachs, runs away to find a toy, and does more laps around the house at hyper speed, chirping the whole way. We can be gone all day or gone for 30 seconds taking out the garbage, it's all the same. But no. Alice walked out of her cage and said "Oh hey, hoomies. Nice to see you again. Can I have a treat?" That was it. Meanwhile, I was running in circles, happy to see our little dog again. Go figure.

I love traveling with Alice and will continue to do it more often than not, but it's so great to know that we have options that not only make us comfortable leaving her, but also with whom Alice can thrive.

The Granny Panties.

2010-09-14T07:00:00.001-04:00

I'll preface this one by saying it was late, I was packing for my third trip in roughly two weeks, and we were about to leave Alice alone for the first time. I was wicked punchy.

Alice has this thing about laundry. If we're folding it, she feels the compulsion to step/lay/unfold it. It's not even like she's trying to be bad, but rather an inherent puggle trait, passed down through the generations. She does it as if it's essential to her very survival.

Alice is particularly drawn to unfolding underpants. She's attracted to skivvs like a magnet. She doesn't run off with them, she just walks blindly over them so many times that whatever stack you made is destroyed like Godzilla trounces buildings.

While I was packing late the night before for Summer Trip #3, I started getting a little punchy with her laundry walkabout. So I put the skivvs I wear to go running on her.

I'll be the first to admit that these bad boys are not attractive. But they stay in place and they don't get hot. And they fit a puggle like a dream.

The Parrot Fund

2010-09-13T22:06:00.006-04:00

This afternoon, Lucky Dog Rescue announced that they’ve started a fund in memory of Parrot, the shar-pei/pit bull mix that was shot and killed by a DC police officer yesterday. An early posting said that the fund would go to rescuing more pit mixes and educating the community on the breed; currently it’s saying that it’ll go to giving more dogs safe homes in his honor. Both are great reasons, and I will be donating.

After seeing more pictures of him and hearing him called a shar-pei mix, we realized that we didn’t just know him from the website, but we actually saw him at the Wags ‘N’ Whiskers festival two weeks ago. Parrot was a very neat looking dog, and there were a number of other dogs around him—no inkling an incident could occur. Parrot didn’t deserve this.

If there’s any good to come out of this, it’s that there are a ton of witnesses coming forward and very angry animal lovers that are taking action (including Philip Bump, a pit bull owner who kindly posted contact resources). Letters have been sent to DC’s Mayor Fenty and police chief Cathy Lanier (who owns five rescue dogs herself)—including my own. Lucky Dog knows that they and Parrot are loved and supported (they’ve also issued a statement/update on the situation and police report—I’d recommend reading it only if you’re either an emotionless robot or don’t care if you cry. It’s distressing). Hopefully Parrot's foster pop knows that many people have his back, too. A blog was started for Parrot. National news sources are picking up on his story. And DCist, my favorite local blog, did what they do best in sad situations and posted a gorgeous picture of a dog named Oz to cheer everyone up.

The Washington Post had a wonderful picture of Parrot today that I wanted to share. It's a priceless example of a dog and his boy.

[Source, courtesy of Aaron Block]

We cannot let this happen again.

Technorati Tags: Not on our watch.

What I did on my Summer Non-Vacation, Trip #2: Portland, Oregon.

2010-09-13T17:00:00.000-04:00

For just about forever, I've wanted to go to Portland, Oregon. I've heard such fantastic things about it-- that it was fun, funky, and full of wonderful people. In more recent years, I've heard the food is to die for.

I can 100% attest that the rumors are not only true, but greatly understated.

Last year I went to a conference in Buffalo for work. The trip was less than stellar. One night to get dinner at a restaurant literally one block away, I was propositioned five times (once by two undercover cops), saw an on-duty hooker, and watched a drug deal go down. When you're used to being able to run around your metro area with no one even acknowledging your existence (to a fault, even-- can I tell you how many times people walk into me on a daily basis?), it's pretty uncomfortable. When I heard the conference would be in Portland this year, I put on a pretty big campaign to go. And fortunately, it worked out.

This is the farthest I'd ever been from Alice and The Human Male. I was fine with it until my second flight took off from Midway Airport in Chicago. I came very close to crying and felt so trapped on the plane, like I was running in the wrong direction and couldn't stop. While I live far from them, my immediate family and closest friends are all in the same time zone. I just felt like I was getting so incredibly and needlessly far from all of them. I had to reassure myself that it was not forever, just for a few days (and admit I will likely never be a West Coaster).

Portland has a lot to offer, so I was able to distract myself by sightseeing, eating (if you ever go, DEFINITELY hit Mama Mia's Trattoria, Eleni's Philoxenia, and Oba. I had the best meal of my life at Oba. Honestly, had I died on my way home, I would've been fine with it), and taking pictures of my "Flat Alice" at Portland locales.

First, here she is at Dulles Airport:

And in Portland:

This is in front of the cool Made in Oregon sign:

I can't remember the name of this fountain, but it's along the waterfront:

At Frontier Plaza:

Portland has a great light-rail system:

There are A TON of food carts in Portland. I liked the name on this one:

And this place's name made my inner English Literature major crack up:

There's street art EVERYWHERE in Portland. I liked these fountains in particular:

No visit to Portland is complete until you visit Voodoo Doughnut. I don't even like doughnuts and I waited in line for about 20 minutes.

I loved the name of this restaurant at PDX:

And for all my Chicago friends, this Bud (at Midway)'s for you:

I got home a few days later and was so happy to see Alice and The Human Male. Growing up I always wanted to travel a lot, but Dorothy had it right: there's really no place like home.

What I did on my Summer Non-Vacation, Trip #1: Reading, Pennsylvania.

2010-09-13T07:00:00.003-04:00

I mentioned a while back that I took a whirlwind tour of the US this summer. Part of it was pleasure, part of it was for work. I saw some great places and love the US even more than before-- we're freaking full of wonderful people and special locales. More than ever, I'd love to take a great American road trip and see it all.

Our first stop was Reading, PA. We went there for Memorial Day weekend to visit my folks, Harry, and Izzy for my birthday. Remember when you were young and you went on a family vacation, and you couldn't wait to get back home and hang out with your friends? Yeah, I'll admit I was an idiot back then. Hanging with my parents was awesome, and I cannot wait do it again.

We went to a bunch of vineyards (Pennsylvania has a fabulous wine country. Two of best we tried are Calvaresi and Pinnacle Ridge), a fantastic farmer's market (my birthday cake was a spectacular rum cake), the Pagoda, and an art studio/school called Goggleworks, which is housed in an old goggle factory. We fed a feral cat family living in the brush next to my parents' hotel. Ooh, and we also went to ULTA, which I'm pretty sure is what heaven is like. We had a lot of fun.

Being a trip, our visit wasn't entirely without incident. First, Alice tried to eat Izzy. Like, eat her. They got into a tiff and The Human Male picked Alice up, and Izzy came along for the ride, too-- Alice was biting on her harness. Needless to say, she was yelled at profusely and sent to dog jail for a good hour. I think Alice got the point, as the next day we caught her snuggling up with Izzy.

I wish I knew what Alice's problem is with Izzy-- Alice can get so mean to her and I'd like it to stop. Mamala's been extremely understanding and still lets Alice visit, but I feel like I'm testing her goodwill.

The second incident was that my mom fell while we were at a park and broke her foot. Not only was she in pain, but she felt like she ruined the day that we were there. Other than her hurting herself, it was actually my favorite day of the trip-- we went back to the hotel and watched DVDs, drank wine, and ate pizza the rest of the day. It was so much fun and low-key.

The third interesting thing that happened is that our last night there, there was a fire alarm. Apparently some idiots on the third floor decided it'd be a fabulous idea to disable all of their smoke detectors and light fireworks off in their rooms. Fortunately everyone was okay, and the guys were arrested and taken to jail on federal charges.

Despite the bumps, it was such a great birthday-- one of my favorites, ever. I had a great time with my folks. I can't wait to get back up to Pennsylvania and do it again!

This has got to stop.

2010-09-12T19:55:00.006-04:00

I typically try to keep this blog apolitical and light, but something happened today in DC and I need to comment on it.

I was having a really lovely day today—my friend Miss Heather and her friend Caitlin were in town from New York, and we’d had a great day doing brunch and visiting the American History Museum. On my way home, I checked my Twitter feed and saw from a local blog that cops shot a dog at a neighborhood festival. I won’t link to the article, because reading it absolutely ruined my day. If any of you want to read the gory details, it’s Googleable.

The short version of the eyewitness reports is that two dogs (a pit bull mix from Lucky Dog Rescue—a great local rescue group out here) and a poodle got into a tiff. Police reported to the scene, and something transpired, which ended in a cop throwing the pit bull over into a stairwell (approximately 10ft below) then walking down and shooting him from only several feet away.

I’m absolutely shocked, horrified, livid, saddened, and disgusted. I knew of the dog—Lucky Dog was at a pet festival in my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago and I went looking to see who they had on their website and saw him (he had a distinctive name-- Parrot). Even if I didn’t, that is absolutely no way to treat any living creature, especially when it sounds like there was absolutely no reason for the cop to act in such a way. You do not physically throw someone or something to injure them, and then go down and kill them.

I feel awful for the dog—I can’t imagine what horror and pain his last moments were like. I can’t imagine how traumatized the onlookers must feel—and there were many. I can’t imagine that many rescued dogs wouldn’t try to defend themselves if they were feeling threatened—I know Alice absolutely would. I can’t imagine what kind of mental state the cop would have to be in to make this decision. I’m not a fan of guns by any stretch of the imagination, but I do believe in tasers. If an animal’s really out of control, subdue it. Don’t freaking throw it down into a stairwell and then shoot it. Enough damage was probably done when it fell 10ft.

On top of this, there’s the fact that cops are shooting dogs is becoming increasingly more prevalent. It’s happening all over the country. Some of the stories even include cops raiding the wrong home and shooting the dog when it reacted.

And I think it needs to be noted that it’s always a “pit bull” early on in these situations. In many cases, it’s found out later that the dog was a lab, a boxer, a mutt, a bulldog, what have you.

Needless to say, this story has hit way too close to home for me. I’ve already cried for the dog and for Lucky Dog, and I’m scared to death right now of taking Alice to a festival—like we’ve done many, many times before—for fear that she may look at a cop wrong or bark at something and face a horrible, needless death. I’m even scared that our apartment will get accidentally raided and she’ll do her natural thing and defend us. And honestly, I fear for my reaction if that did happen—I can 1,000% guarantee I would not act like anything remotely resembling a lady. And I wouldn’t feel even remotely remorseful for whatever I did. You don’t mess with my dog.

I understand that cops have tough jobs—I would never want to be one. And I also understand the majority of cops aren’t dirty. But this has got to stop. Because you have a gun and the power to use it doesn’t mean that using it to neutralize a situation should be the first reaction.

And honestly, the early reports are saying that the poodle was biting the pit bull’s face. What dog wouldn’t react to that? We have got to stop vilifying pit bulls and assuming that they’re always the aggressors. Any dog can be the aggressor or the victim.

If there are any calls for an investigation, protests, moves for legislation, fundraisers, what have you involving this situation, I’ll be involved. As a dog owner and lover, I cannot sit idly by and allow this to keep happening.

My heart goes out to the poor sweetheart, Lucky Dog, to the witnesses, to pit bull owners, and to every dog owner. I wouldn’t wish this situation on anyone.

Technorati Tags: Who would want to live in a non-dog-friendly world?

Two Wonderful Years.

2010-09-02T07:00:00.002-04:00

Today is an extremely special day: it’s Alice’s second Adoption Day! And being September 2^nd, it’s golden.

I can’t believe that she’s been with us for two years already. Two years seems like such a long time (though I still worry about losing my job and not being able to take care of her like it was the first week we got her).

There’s a very good chance that’s at least half of her life. Having adopted her as an adult dog, that sounds so weird to me.

We’ve done some fun things this year.

We traveled to some interesting places, like Virginia Wine Country:

To a national park high above the Hudson River:

To a pagoda in Reading, Pennsylvania:

To WaterFire in Providence, Rhode Island:

And to an 80’s movie landmark in Mystic, Connecticut.

We walked 1.8 miles of a 2,000 mile trip:

She played in a blizzard or two:

She won a prize for her special curly tail:

And she ran her first official 5K:

She even went to a dog yoga class, and we left her alone with a dog sitter for the first time.

“Flat Alice” had a couple of first-times as well. Here she is in Portland, Oregon:

And Ithaca, New York:

While the “first times” are always fun, it’s equally as exciting to have something not be the first time. We’ve now made three trips to New York for holidays, three to Michigan, two (and soon to be three) trips to the National Book Festival, and two of the Wags ‘N’ Whiskers festival. We have traditions.

I remember the scrawny little monster that I brought home that Tuesday afternoon, so afraid she’d immediately chew on the cabinets and weedle on the rug and everything would smell like dog. I remember that first night when we sat down to dinner on the couch and she sat quietly by, her eyes filled with fear and hopefulness that we’d share our food with her. I remember the first time she got the reverse sneezes and how she ran around me, desperately wanting to be comforted and to remind me that she’s a good dog, but so afraid that I’d hit her. I remember how proud I was when she got her Dog 101 graduation diploma. I remember how around a certain time at night, she’s stealthily sneak up on the bed and pull herself into the tightest ball possible, as if to say “I’m very tiny; you won’t even notice me if you let me sleep on the bed with you.”

I think about these things now when I see my healthy, shiny, still gremlinesque dog running around, the only victim of destruction being my TV cabinet (which now just looks shabby chic). I think about it when she takes a flying leap for my plate while I’m eating and sneaks around the back of the couch to get to The Human Male’s dinner. I think about it when she gets the reverse sneezes and now runs to me to “fix” her. I think about it when I consider signing her up for agility classes, knowing that she’ll succeed. I think about this when I crawl into bed to find her sprawled out and snoring on my side, her little drooly head on my pillow.

She’s come such a long way. And I think we have, too. Dog hair on everything is now just an irritation, not a crisis. We know how to travel with a dog and see it as an adventure—and perhaps even the way to travel—not a hindrance. We support businesses that are dog-friendly and involved with rescue organizations, especially in our area. We’ve become smarter, learning that when we take her places she’s an ambassador for dogs and that what might be easier for us isn’t necessarily best for her (like flying with her or leaving her in the car to run into a store in the summer).

Most importantly, I think we’ve become far more compassionate to animals, and have made a conscious effort to have our actions align with our beliefs. We go to events and make donations to organizations that support animal welfare. We keep an eye out for lost pets. We do what we can to let people know that shelter pets are not damaged goods, and that there are so many pets out there that will make the best pets if someone just gave them a chance. We make sure when we see pets at events that we give them some love so that they know they’re worthy and deserving of a good life.

I credit Alice for all of this.

I had this fantastic "Aha!" moment about five years ago while doing my grad school internship. I went with my supervisor Libby (the president of Communication Services, a marketing firm that works with non-profit organizations) when she gave a “career day”-type talk to a small group of undergrads at my university. She spoke to them about marketing and working with non-profits, and she closed her speech with “You know, I could be making more money working with bigger businesses. But at least I can sleep at night.”

I know that, because of Alice, I’ve made decisions about my life that help me sleep a lot better at night.

I love you so much, little Snugs. Happy Adoption Day.

Love makes a huge difference.

2010-09-01T23:56:00.001-04:00

The L.A. Times Unleashed blog posted a wonderful follow-up today to a story they published last October about a dog named Nico, a deaf Dogo Argentino that was picked up in L.A. and saved by a slew of Facebook users. He's now living with his family in Indiana and clearly extremely happy and loved.

I'd love to write some kind of comment on Nico's story, but I'm at a loss. The pictures say everything that needs to be said. Maybe just go give your pooches a snuggle afterwards, okay?

I've found my next calendar for the rest of eternity.

2010-08-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

It's called Hot Guys and Baby Animals. It contains pictures of hot guys holding baby animals. Otherwise known as The Best Thing Ever.

Even better, they have a blog and a Tumblr. The blog's good because they write on it. The Tumblr's awesome because you can SUBMIT PICTURES OF HOT GUYS HOLDING BABY ANIMALS TO IT.

I'm so happy right now.

I really like The Golden Girls and was planning on getting the Betty White one, but I'm pretty sure if anyone would understand why I'd go with the other one, it'd be Betty.

Memphis needs a home!

2010-08-20T13:12:00.001-04:00

When I'm in a bad mood, I like to look at the dogs up for adoption at my local shelters. Without fail, it always gives me a smile.

Yesterday I was in quite a snit, so I looked at the Animal Welfare League of Arlington's Website and found this little ray of sunshine:

[Source]

This gorgeous girl's name is Memphis, and she's a pit bull mix (shelter ID A032386). She's four years old and really tiny-- just 29 lbs.

Here's AWLA's write-up on her:

Memphis is an energetic, confident, and happy girl. She is pretty easygoing and tolerant, nothing really seems to bother her. While she is pretty laid back she does come alive for toys. She gets super excited in play and chases toys, shakes 'em, and doesn't like to give 'em up unless you have another one to offer. Toys should always be used in play, because if not available she may use your arm as the next best thing. If you want to adopt her, you will have to buy her a nice, fluffy dog bed as she couldn't get enough of the one in the evaluation room - cuddling and rolling around in it.

Memphis will need a firm, confident and consistent owner to provide rules and boundaries in her new home. If owner does not take charge, she may not hesitate to do so. Pit Bulls are generally not for first time dog owners. We look for experienced, no-nonsense responsible dog owners only who have owned their own dogs as adults. If you do not meet this requirement, we may direct you to adopt a different dog. She will do best in a home with children over 8 yrs. old.

Look at that sweet face and her neat eyes! And check out the gorgeous new picture they posted of her today. Those ears are priceless! If my building allowed pit bulls, she'd be home right now. I am madly in love with her. I desperately want her to find a good home.

If you live in Arlington County, VA or have exceptional experience with pit bulls in other parts of Virginia, DC, or Maryland (or even know of a great rescue that could be a stopping point to her forever home) and have a Memphis-shaped hole in your life, please please PLEASE call the Animal Welfare League of Arlington at 703-931-9241.

A year late, but still just as good.

2010-08-10T22:58:00.004-04:00

Last year the band Weezer* released an album with a FANTASTIC cover:

[Source] [Source] [Source]

Can you believe that picture?! Jason Neely, the photographer, got one of those magical once-in-a-lifetime shots.

Just today, I stumbled across a blog posting on Spinner about a photo contest they sponsored using the dog on the album, Sidney. Some people used album covers, other did pop culture-reference pictures. So many of them made me laugh out loud. They're too good not to share.

My particular favorite is the one of him jumping over the pyramids, but the Lion King, shark, and Vick ones crack me up, too. Which ones do you like?

*I saw Weezer play in 2001 and they were phenomenal. Such a fabulous show! If you ever have the opportunity to see them play, do it!

Everything's coming up noses!

2010-08-08T19:39:00.002-04:00

I recently read a post on BAD RAP's blog and in The Bark about nose work. Basically with nose work, you hide a treat and have your dog find it. You start off easy (like hiding it in the same room or in a box in front of them) and build up to a real challenge (like hiding it in a box in another room).

Alice was still pretty hyper today after we came home from the park, so I pulled out her little Zuke's Minis (which really are the perfect training treat) and decided to try out nose work with her to see how she liked it. I wasn't sure how well she'd perform-- she's super nosy in the sense that she likes to dig through things and has the instincts to track things down like a beagle, but she regularly glosses over good smelly things that fall on the floor.

And she performed like a champ! I made her sit and walked into another room, hid the treat next to or on top of something, then called her in. She sniffed around the room and found her treat within 30 seconds each time. And it was so much fun to watch! She made a funny little sniffy sound and her ears flopped forward like Snoopy's as she circled around and around until she found the treat. Once she'd found it, she'd come running over with a big goofy grin on her face, ready to try again. She enjoyed it so much that we're going to start making this a daily game.

The best part of it is that she's been fixated on me ever since we played earlier this afternoon. I even gave her a bath today, and she's still following me around and flopping on me. I think this will work out out well for both of us.

Walter!

2010-08-04T21:28:00.001-04:00

Mamala sent me a fantastic video today from the Today Show. It's about a dog named Walter, a pit bull puppy who was abused and abandoned on Easter in New York and left to die. A guy walking down the street found him and decided that Walter was his (and his friends') dog.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Look at how happy he is. And look at how much he's improved! It's absolutely stunning-- I dare you not to watch this and end up with a big smile on your face.

I think we can all agree that the world is full of... well, let's keep this PG and call them raging, horrible jerks. But I feel like this makes the case that for every flaming bastard, there are (at least!) five fantastic people who will drop everything and do the right thing.

A different kind of Dog Run.

2010-08-01T19:09:00.001-04:00

The Human Male and I went to the grocery store yesterday and found something very cool: the September 2010 issue of Runner's World has a huge section on running with your dog!

The cover is actually a pull-out with a number of dogs running on it. It's precious and cute-- they all look so happy. The pictures of runners and their dogs in the magazine are quite sweet, too. The articles range from a story about finding a stray dog that loved to run, the debate of on- and off-leash running (a very large, passionate debate), the best running gear for dogs and their humans, and suggested breeds for the distance you like to run.

I mentioned briefly a few weeks ago that Alice ran her first official 5K race, a fundraiser for the National Capital Region Red Cross Chapter. I'm hoping to post something on it in the next couple of weeks so I won't go into it too much now, but I absolutely agree with their assessment that beagle (-ish type)s are good for shorter, faster distances (like a 5-10K). Being a puggle, I don't really want to test if she can go any farther than a 5K (3.1 miles), but she ran it like a champ. She also speeds up my mile time like mad-- easily 45-60+ seconds less than I run on my own. I love running with her, and I'm looking forward to doing more races.

It doesn't look like the articles are online just yet (considering it's the September issue and it's barely even August), but I'll post a link if it goes up. And if you like running with your dog, I do recommend checking it out.

Do you run with your dog, puggle or otherwise? Have any suggestions on good gear?

Puggles: Smarter and more awesome than babies.

2010-07-31T08:00:00.000-04:00

A few days ago the L.A. Times Unleashed blog posted a fantastic video of a parent trying to teach their kid to high-five. Look who makes an appearance.

The next time I get asked if I ever plan on having kids, I'm going to whip out this video and say, "No need to worry about that now. I've already got a puggle."

No, really-- we're still alive!

2010-07-30T14:39:00.000-04:00

We're still around! I just finished Trip #7 (Minneapolis) since Memorial Day. All the traveling has been draining. On the upside, it's kind of fun to have home be something novel-- can I tell you how fun it is to get to cook dinner and bake bread? It's the first time in my life that I've actually been happy to see dirty dishes.

I have one last trip planned for this summer (and a fun one at that), and then things should go back to normal. I have a bunch of little Alice stories and pictures to share, and am hoping to get them all posted in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, I just got an e-mail from Noah's Arks Rescue in Okatie, SC. I've mentioned them a few times before-- the group takes in some seriously horrendous abuse cases, gets them well, and finds them forever homes. They're doing something truly fantastic. Today's e-mail was about a sweet pug named Yoshi. She's just adorable. Her back legs aren't working, and they're funding her treatment to get her going again and to find her a new family. The thought of a pug not able to run around and get into trouble truly bums me out, and I wanted to share her story with everyone. I'll be sending in a donation.

I hope all is well with all of you, and I look forward to catching up!

Help Find Chamo and Cooley!

2010-07-08T21:50:00.000-04:00

We have two missing dogs in our area: Chamo and Cooley. They've been missing since June 8th, but they have recently been spotted together. Chamo's a black lab and Cooley's a black chow/lab mix. Both are adorable and need to go home.

[Source] If you see them, please call the numbers on the flyers!

They were last seen in Alexandria, VA near South Van Dorn and Franconia intersection, adjacent to Thomas Edison High School. If you're in the NoVa/DC/MD area, please keep an eye out for them.

Their owners have a great website with lots of resources-- flyers, business cards, pictures, and a Facebook page. It's located here: http://www.findchamocooley.com/.

Here's hoping Chamo and Cooley make it home soon!

Happy Fourth of July!

2010-07-04T17:43:00.001-04:00

Wishing you, your friends, and your family a wonderful and happy Fourth of July!

Touchdown!

2010-06-29T07:06:00.001-04:00

I'm finally back from a busy four weeks of traveling. Five trips, two coasts, ten states, five hotels, New York four times in two weeks... I'm tired. It's been rough but survivable, and I now have three weeks to spend with Alice until I leave for my next trip. It's good to be home.

My camera is backed up with pictures-- 305 photos two trips ago. We have Alice on two trips, Flat Alice on two, a story of our first trip without her, her first real 5K race, her visit to an 80's movie landmark, the coolest art installment any of us have ever seen, a visit to my favorite-named teahouse, Alice's new collar, and... well, Alice in Granny Panties. Lots to write about once I dig out at work (funny how you can accumulate work while working more than normal).

In the meantime, I wanted to share something that The Human Male sent me yesterday. Occasionally we have a middle of the day Cute War, where we send one another pictures of cute things (ducks, kittens, baby horses) trying to one-up each other on the "Awwwww!" scale (it's a unit of measure, I swear). Yesterday he sent me an e-mail and a link to Andrew Sullivan's dail Mental Health Break, with the message that it was a good thing he didn't declare Cute War on me because he'd be the ultimate winner.

After seeing it, I'm compelled to agree. And wondering if Alice is a pug-beagle-AT-AT mix.

AT-AT day afternoon from Patrick Boivin on Vimeo.

Radio Silence.

2010-06-11T16:44:00.001-04:00

Hello, friends!

I'm amidst a crazy month of traveling. In the past two weeks I've been to Pennsylvania and Oregon, and in the next two weeks I'll be in New York twice (both downstate and upstate) and Rhode Island. May and June are typically busy work conference months for me, plus it's a heavy wedding season this year. I'm fending off a mild case of the plague on top of it, so I've come to terms with the fact that this month's going to be a flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants blur. Hopefully I'll get back in action with blogging regularly in July. Or even better, maybe we can get someone to fill in while I'm away. I'm talking to you, The Human Male!

I'll have lots of pictures from my trips and will post them when things die down. Until then, I read a terrific article on my flight to Portland last weekend about a Marine named Jacob who came back from Iraq with PTSD and received a dog from the fabulous Puppies Behind Bars program. I will say that the plane got very dusty while I was reading it. It did for other people, too-- a guy sitting in my row asked if I'd read the article, and we had a pretty lengthy discussion on the program and a buddy of his that came back from war with severe PTSD. It was clear that this was a light bulb for the guy, and that he was going to go home and tell his friend about it. It's pretty disheartening that only 20 percent of soldiers who apply end up with service dogs. Hopefully this will change.

One thing I particularly liked about this article is how they focused on Laurie, the inmate who trained Jacob's dog Mya. The writer portrayed her with so much respect, and I thought it was pretty cool that they didn't focus on what she did to get into prison, but her good qualities and how well she did in training Mya and documenting it. Alice was probably only a little bit older than Mya was when we got her; it would mean the world to me to have puppy pictures of her and to learn how she became the dog I love.

If you'd like to read the article, it's located here. I recommend not reading it in public, before you go out, or if you're wearing mascara.

Alice's New Hero.

2010-05-28T12:53:00.000-04:00

I heard late on Tuesday that Miss America was going to be doing an appearance at a shoe store near our house. I immediately thought that it would be AWESOME to have Alice's picture with Miss America. My thoughts turned to Alice getting to wear the crown, answering questions with "Alice thinks that....", and wearing a little swimsuit. Alas, Miss America didn't check with me before they scheduled and I had plans that evening. It was never meant to be.

Thursday rolls around, and the thought of the missed Miss America picture was still in my mind, when a great news story came on about Miss DC.

Over the weekend, Miss DC was having a night out in Georgetown and some men were acting ungentlemanly to her at a bar. It sounds like she put up with the first two, but when the third one struck, she blew up and slammed him against the wall. SLAMMED HIM!

Okay, I'm not condoning violence, but that's FANTASTIC! Good for her putting a jerk in his place! And in the report I heard, she said she was worried about the repercussions from the Miss America Organization. They were entirely supportive.

So while it would've been fun having Alice's picture with Miss America, I'm kind of thinking Miss DC's the way to go.

Vincent.

2010-05-25T06:00:00.001-04:00

If you watch Lost and haven’t watched the finale, then please go to Cute Overload and don’t read ahead.

Okay, for those of you who have seen the final episode or just don’t care, hello. I have mixed feeling about Lost in general. I’m of the camp where my main concern about the show is why there were polar bears on the island, how they were transported onto the island, and where they all went. My second concern is if the writers would be kind enough not to kill off Hurley (my favorite character; Charlie was another favorite and I stopped watching regularly after they killed him off) and how much I love Desmond and Penny (SO MUCH). The whole mythology thing... eh (seriously, you expect me to watch every week for six years to find out who a skeleton was from the first few episodes that I completely forgot even existed?!). But The Human Male loves it and since he watches Dancing with the Stars and America’s Next Top Model with me, I throw him a bone and watch it with him.

The finale ruined me. RU-INED. Part of it was that it dealt with beloved people dying (something my way too Irish heart can’t handle), and the other was the final scene with Jack laying in the bamboo, taking his final breaths, and then Vincent, the ridiculously happy lab owned by Michael and Walt that was on Oceanic 815, came tearing out of the jungle to lay beside him as he died (if you must watch, it's at about 1:43:20 online, but be prepared to be really bummed out for days). I actually said “Ohhh, noooo!” out loud and started bawling when that happened.

The Human Male reminded me that Rose and Bernard were staying on the island and Vincent lived with them, and of course there was no way that Hurley wouldn't feed him, so Vincent wouldn’t be alone when Jack died. So that made things a little better. He also reminded me that shot was how the show started, but blah blah blah (seriously—how DID they get the polar bears on the island? Plane? Helicopter? Airlift? Time travel? Were they born there? And how many lived on the island? And how did they get collars on them?). But my first feeling has stayed with me.

Isn’t it so like a dog to tear over to you and lay down when you really need them? They may lick your face or bark at you to cheer up, but so often, they’ll just lay down next to you. It’s like they know that the best thing to do is to just be there. They don’t need to do anything else. Sure, it brought the story full circle (except for the whole polar bear thing), but on a highly-dramatic show where nothing was realistic, that moment with Vincent was as real and raw as it gets.

It was haunting and beautiful and heartbreaking, and such a kind way to remember that not everyone you love is human, but it means no less to have them around. It was so lovely that on a show that dealt with losing loved ones, they brought Vincent back to say goodbye as well.

I’m not doing the scene justice, just trying to get my feelings typed out. If you’re feeling as bummed, please take a look at that Cute Overload link and smile.

A Change of Routine.

2010-05-21T17:00:00.001-04:00

The Human Male was out of town last weekend. One of his sisters graduated from college (congratulations!) and he went up to watch. So Alice and I had a girl's weekend.

Apparently, however, The Human Male did not ask for Alice's permission first. That little dog pouted aaaaaaalllll weekend long.

First she'd flop by the couch and sigh. Then she'd flop on the bed and sigh. Then she'd stare out the window and sigh. Then I'd give her a treat and she'd poo-poo it and sigh. She was so dramatic.

Besides the sighing, she was just kind of off all weekend. She'd tear over to any male we passed wearing jeans or khaki shorts-- apparently Alice has no idea what The Human Male looks like from the knees up. My arms were pretty sore by Sunday from her yanking on her leash and dragging her back to me. At the park, she yelled at a rottweiler and pit bull who were vivaciously play-wrestling with one another (which truthfully gave all the owners a good laugh). We went down to the river to play with a tennis ball (one of her very favorite activities) and she would only wade over to it and, yes, sigh.

Alice was a total piece of work the whole weekend. The only time she was truly herself was early Sunday morning, after I wore her out on a long Saturday night run. She was great until about 1P, when she pulled her bed out of her crate, positioned it in front of the door, and started sighing like it was her job.

When I went to pick up The Human Male from Union Station, I decided to bring her along. I don't think we'd brought her over there before, so I thought both the adventure and getting to see her boy as soon as possible might be just what Princess Sighs-a-Lot needed.

I swear, when she saw The Human Male waiting, music started playing in her little puggle head. If she could've done a slow run, she would've. Instead, it was more of a high-speed, drag-your-owner scramble to him.

I wonder if she didn't know that he was going and if he told her ahead of time, she would've been less mopey-- or if she's just going to be pouty when one or the other of us leaves now, no matter what. I'm going to be gone at least half of next month-- including our first trip where we won't be taking Alice-- so we'll have a chance to investigate.

Does anyone else's dog get down when you leave?

Stamps to the Rescue.

2010-05-15T08:00:00.003-04:00

Okay, so I'm about two months late on writing about this.

The US Postal Service released a new book of stamps called Stamps to the Rescue. They came out at the end of April and feature dogs and cats that were available for adoption (and found homes) from a Connecticut shelter.

I picked up a boatload of them the day they came out-- and they are freaking precious. I wish they were like the Breast Cancer stamp, where they cost a little extra and the money was donated, but there's a pet food company that's donating meals to shelters to celebrate the stamps, and they're bringing awareness to adopting (which is better than nothing). USPS is also doing a sweet little cancellation all this month that touts adopting. I've gotten three letters this week with the cancellation. It was such a treat! The only letter I've gotten this week that DIDN'T have it was one from Lydia & Pugs-- and she used the stamps (I got Willow).

Animal adoption is such a huge issue for me, and I just love having something in "the real world" where I can support and share that, if that makes sense. I don't enjoy paying my gas bill, but I do like the idea of sending it out sealed with something I do.

I've found another joy in having them: deciding which pet's going out on my letter. Even better, watching The Human Male decide. He sent out a letter last week and spent a good two or three minutes deciding who should go out on it. He eventually chose Teddy-- and then tilted him sideways so it looked like he was peeking around a corner.

Talk about cute.

Run, Puppy, Run!

2010-05-14T08:21:00.006-04:00

Sometimes I pretend I'm a runner. I'm not fast, my endurance kind of sucks, and I definitely don't get out as much as I should if I want to really claim that descriptor. But I do sign up for races, train for them, and then show up and give 'em a go.

Besides buying running gear (sooooo much fun), one of the best things about running is reading about it. Serious runners tend to be a goofy and wholly lovable bunch. There's one writer named Mark Remy who absolutely destroys me. He wrote a book called "The Runner's Rule Book" that's hysterical, and he also does Runner's World's blog.

A couple of days ago, he wrote about a woman who recently ran the Lehigh Valley Half- Marathon with her formerly-abused shelter dog. From the pictures to the story to the video, it's all so touching. I urge you to read it and watch the news report.

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video.

Every once in a while, I'll take Alice out for a mile or so. A couple weeks ago we actually did a sub-10 minute mile-- and at the end, while I was huffing and puffing, she just stood there, no panting in sight, and gave me a look that clearly said, "Okay, what do we do now?" She's like 22lbs of pure power. Oh, to have four legs!

Found: Rugby!

2010-05-12T07:00:00.002-04:00

While we were at Bluemont Park this past weekend, there was an action-packed rugby game going on. A good number of people on AWLA's Walk for the Animals stopped for a bit and watched the game. Alice included.

A Stray in Haiti.

2010-05-11T07:56:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I read a great blog post on The Bark about a dog named Maggie that's been getting loved up by US troops helping with recovery efforts in Haiti. I strongly encourage you all to read it. It's located here. It'll definitely make you smile.

I know soldiers aren't allowed to have pets while deployed, but I love, love, LOVE the stories you hear about it-- and the programs like Baghdad Pups that works to bring the pets home to the US.

Found: A Caboose!

2010-05-11T07:00:00.003-04:00

Okay, so from this angle, it looks a little more like a trailer, but I swear it's a caboose. See the printing on the wall? The one that says you can't stand on the roof of the caboose? NOT a trailer!

Anyway, this caboose is along one of the paths at Bluemont Park. Truthfully, I don't know why it's there. I was too concerned with getting Alice's picture on it, then trying to figure out how to make it not look like a trailer in photo form that I forgot to read up on it. Guess we'll have to go back!

AWLA's Walk for the Animals.

2010-05-10T07:00:00.002-04:00

Our local shelter, the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, had their annual Walk for the Animals fundraiser this weekend. I love this event. It's held at a the great Bluemont Park and there's a three-mile loop or a one-mile stroll. They bring over some of the dogs currently at the shelter and call them the Walk VIPs.

The weather report for the walk was ominous-- the graphic iGoogle was using was a thunder cloud with a question mark on it. Not really the most detailed description, but it makes the point that it's not looking good. The view outside didn't help much, either-- on the short drive over, it looked like the sky was about to explode in a violent storm, and we got a couple sprinkles along the way. But wouldn't you know it, about fifteen minutes before the walk the clouds broke and we had a beautiful, cloudless blue sky the rest of the day. God must be a big fan of animals.

At the start/finish area, they have booths set up and local vets, dog stores, and other vendors set up exhibits.

Our area has a crazy fantastic parks department, and we have roughly a gajillion miles of beautiful biking/running/walking paths. The Walk utilizes a couple of the path systems. What's cool is that it's a short distance on roads between two path parts and the County actually shuts off a lane of a very busy street to give the walkers a bit more space. I feel awful for the people who have to drive on the road, but hopefully the sight of hundreds of dogs trotting along makes up for the traffic frustration.

Alice, as always, was a little trouper. She played with a couple of dogs before the walk, and then walked what we were calling 21 dog miles with a grin on her face. We told her at the end that she won. I think she liked that.

Lost: Alice!

2010-05-09T07:00:00.000-04:00

When I work from home on Fridays, I run the laundry and pile it into our chairs for later folding. Alice LOVES curling up in the clean laundry, but she typically prefers The Human Male's pile (it might be because I use her "Work from Home" chair for his stuff).

A couple of weeks ago, looked up from my computer and noticed that Alice wasn't in her normal chair. I looked around the house for her and couldn't find her anywhere (though I knew she had to be somewhere in the house). Then I walked by my chair and heard a grunt. She had camouflaged herself in my laundry-- only her head and tail were sticking out.

Found: Shark!

2010-05-08T07:00:00.001-04:00

On our way back from Reading, we took a slightly wrong turn and ended up in the parking lot of a place called-- no lie-- That Fish Place. It's an aquarium store and they have the best awning ever. Having Alice's picture taken in front of it was a must.

Found: All Along the Watchtower.

2010-05-07T07:00:00.002-04:00

Not too far from the Reading Pagoda is the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower. It was pretty foggy the day we went, but I think it made the tower look kind of neat and spooky. I'm hoping to get back there again-- maybe on a third Saturday of a month and get inside!

Lark Tavern.

2010-05-06T22:08:00.001-04:00

On my way out the door this morning I did a Twitter check and saw some messages regarding Tess’ Lark Tavern, one of my very favorite places in Albany, NY. Sadly, there was a huge fire there this morning and they’ll be shut down for a while.

This is a big blow to the city and Center Square neighborhood. Yes, it’s a bar/music place, but anyone who’s been to Lark Tavern can tell you that there’s something about it that just makes it so special. You’re not a stranger when you walk in, and you have a strangely comforting sense that you’ve been there a thousand times, even if it’s your first visit. I think a lot of that has to do with Tess, the owner. She’s a super terrific lady and loved by so, so many. She’s inarguably one of the people that makes Albany the special place it is. She gives so much and makes it a great community. People who’ve talked to Tess today are saying that the concerns she's expressing are getting her employees into new jobs and hosting PAWS benefits for the Albany Damien Center.

There’s already been a ton of outpouring of tears, love, and calls for help. Tess’ was going to be supplying most of the food and drinks for a big fundraising event tonight called Champagne on the Park, and already restaurants in the area are filling in. Two funds have been set up—one by friend and fellow Lark Street restaurant owner (Matt Baumgartner of Bombers, the Biergarten, and Friday Puppy), and another by Marketplace Gallery, who had a fire last year and Tess threw a fundraiser for them.

How great is that? One thing that drives me nuts but I still love about Albany (and New Yorkers in general) is that if you ask them to help ahead of time, they’ll waffle or find some excuse not to. If you have an emergency, you instantly have 8,000 people there to lend a hand—friends and strangers.

I’ll leave you with my favorite story involving Lark Tavern. When I was in grad school, my friends and I started a gang (because if you can’t start a gang in grad school, when can you?). We called ourselves the Cobras. Our gang wasn’t overly selective; basically if you were in the Communication Department (or a friend of someone in it) and we asked you to join, you were in. All told, I think we ended up with at least thirteen members.

One night my friends Karla, Jules, Ali, and I went out to Lark Tavern for a drink and some music. Karla, a newly-minted Cobra herself, decided that Ali should join the gang, but that he needed to have a tougher initiation. She taught him the snake-fanged gang signal (not something we had before but became standard practice afterwards) and told him that if he wanted to join, he had to yell out “Cobras rule!” in a quiet part of the set. Ali, being the suavest urban Brooklyn-Pakistani on the planet, looks at Karla and says in a monotone, “Yeah. All right.” Clearly like “Yeah, you girls are idiots if you think I’m going to sink low enough to do that. I’m already too cool to be out with you.” A couple songs pass, and the musician stops to fiddle with his guitar. Out of the blue Ali shouts out, “Cobras rule!”

The guitarist looks up, laughs, and says, “Yeah, they do!”

Found: A Pagoda!

2010-05-06T07:00:00.002-04:00

One of Reading, PA's pride and joys is their gorgeous pagoda. It's so unbelievably cool and sounds like it has an interesting history. It sits on a mountain overlooking Reading. It was pretty foggy the day that we were there, but the view was still beautiful. I can't wait to go back and explore it more.

Found: A Train.

2010-05-05T07:00:00.000-04:00

The yard at The Wertz Ice Cream Cone has a ton of fun stuff-- little frog planters, a line of little wooden kid cut-outs with mirrors for faces, and a giant train. Alice was less than amused with the idea of riding the train.

Ways to help Animals in the Nashville Floods.

2010-05-05T06:00:00.001-04:00

With the Times Square idiot and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the news is not spending too much time on another huge issue-- the flooding in Nashville. It's really, really ugly.

I haven't been able to find much, but I have read that a couple of groups are trying to help out animals and pet owners and are seeking donations. One is Metro Animal Care and Control. Another is at the Nashville Humane Association.* Anyone else heard of any other efforts?

* And of course for people, there's the local Red Cross chapter.

How I Know Alice is my Dog.

2010-05-04T22:52:00.002-04:00

We have a fire station about two miles from our house, and the firefighters spend a good deal of time hanging out in our 'hood. Like most red-blooded women of Earth, I have a thing for firefighters. A BIG thing. And these guys are hotter than the average firefighter, if you can believe it. I'd totally buy their calendar. Heck, I'd MAKE the calendar.

The Human Male takes Alice for a walk each morning while I'm getting dressed and reports back about who she met and the funny things she did along the way. Today he came home and told me that I'd be proud of Alice.

This morning the firefighters were down in our neck of the woods getting coffee and generally making the neighborhood a more beautiful place, and Alice ran over to them to say hello. The studs cooed over her and gave her pettings.

That might be the absolute enviable thing I've ever heard.

Alice can do a lot of neat tricks, but now I'm thinking that her best skill is that she can spot a hottie-- no pun intended.

Found: A Giant Ice Cream House!

2010-05-04T07:00:00.002-04:00

While we were in Reading, my folks took us by a great ice cream place they'd found in their exploring. I'm pretty sure it's called the Wertz Ice Cream Cone and is in Wernerville, PA. While trying to track down the exact place, though, I found out that there are quite a few Twistee Treat buildings around the country. Have you ever seen one along your adventures? I'm so ready to move into one!

Found: Irony.

2010-05-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

Ever since last Christmas' epic blizzard drive, I just can't stop in Maryland. We had our first pit stop right after we passed into Pennsylvania. This sign was at the rest stop.

Alice is a pro at pouty pictures, but this one makes me giggle more than most.

Found: Izzy!

2010-05-02T16:54:00.002-04:00

After calling Mamala for an entirely different reason last weekend, I found out my parents were doing time in Reading, Pennsylvania. We had no other plans last Sunday, so Alice, The Human Male, and I drove the three hours up and spent the day with Mamala, Popsy, and Izzy.

Reading is a great area-- we only spent about six hours there, but we saw so many terrific things. I can't wait to go back! I'm going to be sharing a number of "Found" pictures this week. Get ready!

Dear Steve Jobs: Please cut a deal with Verizon.

2010-04-30T07:00:00.002-04:00

After Alice, my family, The Human Male, wine, The Urban Family, and America's Next Top Model, one of the things I love the most in my life is my iPod Touch. Honestly, I'd date it if I could. If Verizon got the iPhone, I'd give up my BlackBerry (which I love like an appendage) in a hot millisecond. Love it.

So recently they've been playing an ad out here that involves dog adoption. It's so cute. You can watch it here.

Apple, you kill me! Please, please, pleeeeeeaaaase cut a deal with Verizon! The business you'd get from me alone will keep you in business for years!