somniloquence

My birthday party with the steampunk cake was last night. Aside from the fact that I ended up with way too much cake and way too much food and I completely forgot to put out the giant Costco bunch of grapes I'd bought, it went OK. A lot of people canceled at the last minute -- I think there would have been a lot of cake left over regardless, but that put it into the nearly half the cake realm. I'm freezing a lot of it for the next bash, even after taking it to the adoption event today. My trainer said when I told her a lot of people I know won't step outside their routine to come down for the party, "Fuck 'em! They don't deserve your wonderful cake!" I LOLed. To all the wonderful people who braved the shitty weather to come by: thank you so much. I had a great time!

Pics of cake (the pics really don't do this justice -- the light level was just very problematic, so it's either too orangey or too dark brown, it was lovely sparkly purples and wines and golds and coppers):




But before the party started, I got like the best surprise birthday present I could never have imagined: brynnmck tweeted Hugh Dillon about the Flashpoint vid I did a few years ago to one of his songs with the Headstones (Come On). And he said he really liked it and used multiple exclamation points, and tweeted the link! Look, proof:



My shrieking was in the range of sounds only dogs can hear. Hugh!!!! Liked my vid!!!! ::flaily Kermit arms:: It was such a cool thing for her to do (I'd made it for her back then as part of a fannish gift exchange among some local fans) and it just made my whole year. Even if it's just fan service, which everyone insists it isn't because Hugh's not that kind of guy, I choose to believe he liked it and I still want to kidnap him and marry him.

And I got some lovely pressies, as well, from a couple people (even though I said no presents!): belmanoir and mrs_laugh_track gave me a robot tea infuser, something I'd posted on Tumblr ages ago and that I never got around to getting for myself but always wanted, a Mo's Bacon Bar (chocolate bar with bacon), and this really cool weights and measures exchanger cup thingie that I had never seen or heard of before, but which is so cool and unusual that now I can't imagine how I ever lived without it. feochadn brought me these really cool flowers that fit with a steampunk mode perfectly. She also concocted a drink for me (which had elderflower liquer in it, so she called it an Eldergwyn) that was incredibly tasty and that I want more of. And finally a couple people made donations to Motley Zoo Animal Rescue in my name, which was aces -- that's the group I foster dogs with (see below for cute current doggie). (I have a post in the near future about them, actually, since we're critically low on funds at a time when we're critically overrun with animals.)

I was really fucking drunk on only two drinks, but I realized afterward, when I was trying to sober up, what was going on: I had the beginnings of a migraine. By the time I went to bed, it was pounding in my head and right eye was visionless, and I spent the rest of the night fighting the pain or fighting throwing up, which exacerbates all the rest of my problems -- the restless legs, the hot flashes, the constant need to pee. I finally lost my battle about 8 this morning when I let the dog out and then promptly started puking in the sink. This has happened a couple times recently when I've had booze. Obviously something's triggering my migraines -- and it's not red wine, which used to be the culprit years ago, because I haven't had any of that. I'm trying to figure out if it's vodka or gin, or something that's in the drinks...and it doesn't happen all the time, either. I remember drinking quite a bit in Hawaii and nothing happened, but there've been more than a few times lately when I've drunk liquor and then got this freight train of a migraine.

I had plans to come home from the adoption event today to work on my Yuletide story, but I'm still kind of ragged around the edges. I didn't eat all day, just tried to infuse as much caffeine into my body as possible. But Buffy got her pic taken with Santa, and everyone who met her just adored her. I wish that someone would take that extra step, of course, but maybe if enough people fall in love with her, the odds will increase she'll get a forever home. She's such a love bug and so cute and happy.

Isn't she adorable?


And now it's Sunday and I spent way too much time trying to figure out how to get my @#$#&)! photos off my camera onto the new iPhoto on the new computer. Gah. I wish to hell I'd never upgraded. But cake! And Hugh! And doggies with Santa!

Things have been weird and hectic the past week. I got a new foster dog named Buffy (seriously), and she's been pretty neglected/abused, so it's been hard getting a handle on things -- plus the fact that our rescue group had a huge intake of kitties from a shelter in Eastern Washington, as well as more dogs in care than we've ever had before (there are over 100 animals in foster right now), so I wasn't getting much information or help on dealing with her. But I had to take her in for an evaluation and to figure out what to do about this growth on her foot, and they said she had mammary tumors as well, and a heart murmur (she also has cataracts, and they were figuring there would be teeth extractions). Poor kid. She lost most of the fur on her back due to a flea infestation/allergy. She's kind of a wreck.

But she had surgery yesterday, and I brought her home last night. I actually thought she was going to die last night; it was a long night. She was so listless and seemed to be suffering so much. I finally was getting into bed when she popped up and came over to me, so I let her have a little water and then we went outside for potty, which she was surprisingly good about. I put her "Adopt Me" shirt on and get her back into bed and covered up with a blankie, but she wouldn't take any food. Cut to this morning when the cleaners came really early and she was out there barking and dancing as they came in, seemingly quite hale and hearty. The blood seepage has stopped, and she seems quite fine. I have to very gingerly pick her up with all the sutures and stuff, but she wanted to go on a walk this afternoon, so things are looking good. Wow, she hates the cone of shame. I'm really afraid a senior dog in this condition isn't going to get any adoption applications, but...we'll see.

I was pretty stressed out about the surgery, but I went out with friends Tuesday night to the most amazing dinner at a restaurant called Copperleaf, in the most unexpected place -- down near the airport, kind of a class-free zone for most of my life. kerithwyn was in town and suggested it, as it's her favorite place, and so a bunch of us met up and feasted the evening away. I really needed that, because I'd been kind of making myself ill with worry.

Not just about the dog, either -- I had talked to my friend Keith and found out that in the past couple of months he'd had a kidney transplant and pancreas transplant. I mean...he never called to tell me that, and I had made him swear he would tell me when he got the call about a kidney, and he's been in the hospital twice for dangerous unexplained fevers, which scares the bejesus out of me. I was all set to fly out so I could take care of him, too, and I just... It's very hard to be far away from someone you love when such a monumental thing is happening. And he's far from out of the woods, so we have to wait a while and see how everything is taking, and hope for no more reactions.

I had talked to him right after I was vibrating with upset, too -- I got a new iMac a few weeks ago and finally started getting it set up this past weekend. I found out, though, much to my horror, that I cannot install Final Cut Studio 2 (FCP 6) on the computer. It won't install PowerPC discs, I guess, and so that meant I could not vid. I don't have the budget to buy a new version of FCS either. I found out that people have been able to get 6 to run on Mountain Lion, but they had to do either something with Rosetta from the Snow Leopard install discs (which I don't have) or command line stuff in Terminal (which I am not competent to do, and they warn people it's dangerous if you don't know what you're doing). In order to complete my Festivids, I'm going to have to keep my old computer up and running, but that upsets me and stresses me out.

I have always kind of felt borderline OCD, and I think I could easily tip over into that. My issue is having clutter and space -- it panics me when there is too much stuff around me, when it's disorganized. I'm typing this on my new computer, in fact, and I'm crammed over to the side of my desk with these two huge monitors looming at me, and cords everywhere, and it just kind of makes me twitchy and sick in my stomach. People I know sneer at me for my needing white space issue and make fun of me about it, but it's a very real stressor for me. I know keeping both computers around is the easiest solution, but it's very upsetting right now. And I honestly don't know what to do about this vidding thing.

I also found out, after the fact, that Apple no longer provide iDVD with the Macs. Fuckers. They believe that everyone's doing cloud sharing, I guess. There are so many FAIL issues with that I can't even. I wrote a nasty letter about it but I'm sure I'll never hear back. On the forums, people are so angry, but at least I found out that some people are buying iLife11 and getting it to work with Mountain Lion -- I hope that's true because right now I'm pretty fucked, and I have to make DVDs for things. I'm so filled with rage at Apple right now, and I've been a lifelong loyalist to them, even in the dark years. I get wanting to push the tech forward, but this idea that cloud use is the only future is just bogus bullshit. (And don't get me started on the whole issue of keeping your own content, service providers disappearing and lost content, and all that shit.)

So yeah, I was in a predisposed state of unhappiness when I talked to Keith, and then finding out he came pretty close to croaking...arg. I guess his kidneys (he has type I diabetes, and he's been getting sicker and sicker the past few years) were so bad that he was constantly sick and was a few weeks away from having to have dialysis. Scary shit, that.

To bring this around to obligatory day of thanks here in the US: I'm thankful for the foster dogs that have crossed my path this year, for the few friends I actually have left who keep me from taking a long walk on a short pier (especially for some of my friends I've met through fandom here, like killabeez and sdwolfpup, belmanoir and kerithwyn, you guys are the best (and I said this the other night to melina123, but if it wasn't for Killa, I don't think I'd even be vidding or doing much fannishly, at this point, she has saved my life so many times with this stupid hobby). I sometimes don't know what I'd do without all you people and my friends list at large. I am thankful, as well, that someone cared enough to be an organ donor so that in a time of tragedy and loss, someone else could get a future they wouldn't otherwise have had and stay in the world where they are loved and cherished.

I really battle depression most of the time, but this time of year it's especially hard. This is the first Thanksgiving I've gone through with all of my family gone, and I feel really lonely, even though in a few hours I'm heading up to have a gourmet dinner at killabeez and mr. killabeez's place. It's just hard to come to terms with the fact that they're all gone, and I'm the one remaining, the least competent to deal with it.

I think tonight when I get home I might, eschewing my Yuletide responsibilities that I haven't even begun yet, just watch some found family entertainment like Community and Firefly. Cuddle up with Miss Buffy and try not to be too sad.

Here's a pic, btw, of Miss Buffy (before I gave her a bath and cut some of the mats from her fur, so she's a little scraggly).

So, say you were to wish to make a vid about people doing brave or heroic things or trying of making the world a better place, discovering their inner superhero. Stuff with more of a fantasy element than a horror/faced with trauma but sticking it out kinda thing. What would you want in that vid?

I'm thinking Star Wars (the originals, duh), Harry Potter, Star Trek movies, ET, prooooobably the Avengers movies in their discover phases but not totally sure, and I can't decide about Lord of the Rings. And here's what else I can't decide: whether to go for TV because then one gets Buffy, Firefly, Angel, but one also has to deal with the nightmare of aspect ratios for the 4:3 shows mixed with movies in the 16:9 and of course the widescreen tv in between. Or, also, whether to include animation in it (such as the Pixar films).

This hypothetical vid is going to take the better half of a year, I just know it, and I can't start until I stop dithering. Help.

I plan to write about Vividcon here at some point. I finally got the last of the books kicking my ass off on Monday and am now trying to catch up on the new books that are less ass-kicky but still need doing. I haven't had any time at all to deal with con reports. It will be so long gone that it won't matter, but I still want to write it down for me.

I've also been dealing with a difficult foster dog -- a chihuahua named Gizmo, who's pretty much the tiniest dog I have ever seen and a real sweetie, but who was peeing FOR DAYS on my coffee table and my very expensive rug I bought for my birthday last fall before I found out. I did at least see the poop every day -- even with the door open and him able to come and go as he pleased, he would come inside and crap on the rug. Every. Single. Day. And unbeknownst to me, also peeing. The Fuzzy Wuzzy Rug Co. (seriously, wouldn't you hire a company called Fuzzy Wuzzy? I mean, I ask you) came and took it away this week, but they said it's unlikely the yellow stain will come out completely. I am bereft. I love that rug, and I'm just sick at having it be ruined before it's even a year old.

So I got some homemade belly bands from one of the rescue people, we call it his panties, and put a maxi-pad in it. He does not like wearing it, but it seems to be doing the trick -- the other day he actually went and stood by the back door, so I took it off and he went out and peed AND pooped outside. I was very proud -- it's so sad that my life revolves around a thing that isn't even two pounds, and whether it goes potty. Getting him to go potty is just...an ordeal. Every night we go through this ritual, and now I have to put him on the leash and take him outside the back yard to get him to go before I gate him up in the kitchen. He hates that too, or being put in his crate when I go away, but I can't trust him even with his panties on, so... I think he's starting to understand that the house is not for potty, unless it's on the piddle pads -- this morning I got up later than usual and he'd actually peed on the piddle pad. Progress comes in small steps.

My friends are always going on about how they'd never have female dogs, blah blah, and I will say that I have never had a female foster pee in the house unless it was on a pad, and they've only ever pooped as an accident and made sure to do it on the tile. THe males have consistently been the ones who have chronic accidents and marking behavior, and it really enrages me when there's no reason -- door's wide open, they can go outside and mark to their heart's content. Gah. This makes me more intent than ever that I'm getting a female when I finally settle on one dog (she said, after falling in love with two of her male dogs).

I had my official assessment last week on my fitness training. It was...depressing. I haven't budged one ounce on weight, and only .07 on body fat. The numbers for the breathing test and my blood pressure were a lot better so they're trying to encourage me to focus on that, and I might have lost one or two inches in fatness size, I don't know. They keep hammering on the eating aspect. I know this is a big issue. I don't eat often enough and when I do it's often not the right thing I need. they recommended this service called Chef by Request, where they focus on the right nutrition for people in fitness programs and bring you all your meals, plus snacks, but the bastards haven't bothered to call me back and I kind of thought, fuck it, if I'm going to pay that much money for basically a personal chef service that's not entirely personal, why not just get a real personal chef.

This has actually turned out to be harder than I thought, as every time I found someone who sounded good, they don't come to my neck of the woods. I'm going to call a guy today who might be a possibility. I couldn't possibly feel more like a douchebag than to hire a personal chef, but...I'm losing the war with my nutrition/eating, and I know that, and I may not make the kind of real progress I'd like if I don't do something. I can cook, but I'm often so drowned in work and so stressed out that I can't, and I'm a sucky cook who's afraid of complicated recipes so I stick to things that might not really work for what I need to do. And I've been trying to do a lot of things for other people with my dad's money, so maybe I should try to do something for myself.

I also called a housecleaning service and they came last week and did a deep clean, and will be coming every couple weeks. This was a hard thing for me to do -- I like everything just so, and they put stuff back in the wrong places, etc., but I can't even take the time to clean my house and I'm a neat freak. It's just gotten to a place where I want to cry all the time looking at how shitty everything looks, and I'm scared because there are spiders everywhere from the fact that there are cobwebs everywhere because I can't find the time to clean under and around stuff. At some point you have to ask yourself if your OCD is more important to you than having your house livable, and if you're working to live or living to work. Like they always say, no one ever said on their deathbed that they wished they'd worked more.

I'll see how it goes, but boy do I feel like an assface for having a housecleaner and a personal chef (maybe). I'm an old, single, fat, freelancer with no social life, but hey, someone comes to clean my house and make me food! ::dies of shame:: My mom would probably be rolling her eyes in a Tony Stark-level face, but my sister and dad would probably go, good for you. I never know which ghost to listen to. It's hard to let go of "things I can do for myself" and think more in terms of "things I don't do for myself but I should."

I'm also in the middle of trying to remodel/redecorate. It took me until this year to figure out that whenever someone I love dies, I go into remodeling mode. I did it after mom, I did it after my second mom Mrs. O, I did it in a huge way after sis_r, and now after dad_r. I don't know why I didn't see the pattern before, but there it is.

Maybe when all this is done and I've settled into being a douche who hires people to do things she can do, I'll have more time to write fic and...gasp! real writing, and vid. If I can ever figure out how I want that vid to go.

Have another Hawaii pic. I think, though am not entirely sure, this may be a peach palm.

OMG, this video just made me cry and cry. I know it's because I have rescue dogs a lot, but I think I would cry regardless -- happy endings for suffering animals always makes me cry. Make sure you have Kleenex at hand.



Now I'm off to the vet with Mr. Blues -- he has a lump on his chin and I am very worried. He seems fine, but... lump. I don't know.

Anyone have Skype who'd be willing to be called/call me so I can test out this new headset microphone I need to use for a webinar in a couple weeks? I asked a friend but he didn't have it and wasn't willing to DL it, the rat bastard. I figure someone here should have it. You can e me privately at gwyneth at drizzle dot com.

In other news, Bodie the adorable dog has gone to a new foster home, which makes me really sad. He needed someone who could deal with his bad behavior, and there was a person who specializes in bad Boston behavior, and they figured it was the best thing for him, which of course I agree with. But damn, I liked having him here, and it was cool to have a dog named Bodie, you know? He was such an adorably goofy little guy. Hopefully the biting will get controlled and he'll find a fantastic home that appreciates him and doesn't dump him.

The rescue group was on a local morning show last week, and Vlad, the darling dog I posted about a couple weeks, was on, walking his new three-legged walk. Poor little dude, but apparently he's so much happier and bouncier having the dodgy leg gone. I wish we could have brought Bodie but there was no way with the biting. (And if you might have a buck or two to spare, Vlad's ChipIn page doesn't expire for two more days, and they've only raised less than a quarter of the money needed for the leg surgery, the kidney stones, and the trachea problem -- we would love you for your donation if you could make one!)

Today I went downtown to the Pike Place Market for a few hours; I realized it's been way too long since I just went and putzed around. I stopped at my favorite informal restaurant there, the Crepe de France, and had a lovely ham and cheese crepe and read a book on my Nook Color, then picked up some marrons glace (glazed chestnuts) at DeLaurenti's for the marrons glace ice cream I'm going to make. Also picked up some tea and tea supplies at Market Spice. Fortunately I did not have much cash, so I avoided buying baby donuts and unusual pastas and the lard-based cakes and pastries at the Mexican sisters' shop, but I did not avoid buying a ginormous bouquet of purple and pink dahlias. Anyone who's been to the Market knows you can get these amazing bouquets there for like $5 or $10, which are the size of a small child (seriously, my arm ached by the time I got back to the car from carrying it).

While I was eating, I remembered that a couple years ago, I was sitting in Crepe de France and looking out at the tourists bumbling around outside it when I saw someone who looked familiar. He was standing there for a while, looking around, trying to decide if he would go in or not, I think, and then I realized it was minotaurs. I was about to get up and go talk to him, even though I kept thinking, no way, he lives in San Diego, it can't be him, but then my crepe was ready and by the time I looked back, he was gone. It was only a few weeks later he died so unexpectedly, and I found out he'd been looking for work before he moved up here. I was just so shocked by his death that I forgot seeing him for a long time, and now I regret not having gone after him that day.

I seem to be thinking a lot of melancholy thoughts right now. Thinking a lot about Sandy, and missing her so very badly, and as the weather gets crappy, I'm feeling my sister's loss so much more. This is the time of year when we usually planned for her visit home for Thanksgiving and our birthday. It's just so depressing.

I got a request today from someone to translate my Fast and Furious fic into Chinese, which is kind of a kick. Who knew it was a huge fandom over there? I've kind of lost track of the languages some of my stuff has been translated into -- it's not a lot, but I just can't remember which ones except for Japanese. I have to admit, it's really exciting when someone asks to do that.

I signed up for Festivids. This may be a huge mistake, but I'm going to give it the old college try. I requested all 8 allowed fandoms, but I'm sure I won't be matched on MDs, Catch and Release, or Buckaroo Banzai, but probably more like Justified, Middleman, or Contact, Charlie Jade's kinda iffy too. But I signed up to do a shit-ton of fandoms, a mix of safety and series fandoms. I'm taking the cumulative advice of others that the more you sign up for, the easier it will be. Who knows? It's weird how intense the '80s nostalgia is in the fandoms listed. I don't have that, since I was all growed up by then and it seems a lot of people who are younger than me have a strong attachment to the things they saw then, when they were younger.

And now I feel really stupid that I didn't nominate Case Histories, the detective series Jason Isaacs did this past year on BBC. OMG so good! I finally caught up on the discs I ordered a couple months ago, and I need to write up a long Men Who Make Me Happy post about him, and about the series. I pray that he will do more Jackson Brodie things, but with his new series on American TV, Awake, coming up, I'm not sure he'll have time if it's successful. (Flail! Jason Isaacs on my TV every week.) But that's a subject for another post.

This is why I love my neighborhood: This garage is on the alley next block over.



And a couple blocks up, we have the Psychic Barber, which sdwolfpup featured on her Tumblr page recently. (The story is that there was a psychic shop next door to the barber, and both had their neon signs done by the same guy. When the psychic went out of biz, the barber bought her sign and added it to his.)



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On the other hand, some bad things happen walking the dog: Bodie bit a young girl last night when she ran over to try to pet him. And then today bit both the facilities guy at my dad's place, and the head of nursing. He was fine with the nurse's aid. I think he's scared when people bend over to pet him on the head, or sees it as a threat. So far he hasn't broken skin, but... it's pretty upsetting. I was horrified about the girl. I think he was in a bad mental state, overexcited because the family's chihuahua was barking maniacally at him.

The parents were OK with it and not angry at me, and said it was a lesson for her not to reach out to pet unknown dogs, but I kinda thought, um, well, there are better ways to teach that than having a crazy wall-eyed dog go "rawrrawrsnarl" and bite you. It's making me feel dismayed about him finding a home. The pooping issues as well. He can be really cute, but also pretty awful.

I have a new foster dog who came to stay here yesterday. I think it was kismet. His name is Bodie. SRSLY. His name was already Bodie. He's been up at the PAWS animal shelter, but they felt he wasn't showing well because he just kind of sits and stares, so they asked Motley Zoo to find a foster for him.

He is utterly redonkulous. He's wall-eyed in both sense of the phrase: he has one blue eye and one brown one, and they face opposite direction. He has that goofy Boston Terrier grin, though I think his head's a little malformed. He loves his crate, but he keeps taking the crate pad in and out of it. He drools a lot. So far, he's completely silent, and he doesn't seem to snore all that much, and snorts only a little bit.

I think it's clear he's never really been trained. We're having potty issues: he will wait to pee till I take him out, but he doesn't squat when he poops, he just walks around with poop popping out and dropping wherever, which is a problem because I not only can't tell when he needs to go and I need to stop for him, but he also seems to feel free to do it in the house. This morning when I brought him in from peeing, he promptly when and pooped all over the hallway, and of course, he's largely oblivious to the fact that he's pooped, so he steps in it. I... honestly don't know what to do here. He's pretty clever, I think, but he's not getting commands at all, and it's hard to figure out how to housetrain a five-year-old dog who doesn't seem to have been trained or know he's going potty. It's a good thing he's so hilariously cute!

Purebreds are always unusual in rescue, so it's interesting to me that someone would abandon him -- he was found as a stray, and no one ever claimed him. I kind of wonder if someone didn't just give up on him and dump him. But he's got a good heart. He's largely uninterested in the kitties, except when they try to race past him, so there have been some bad dustups with Blues and Bodie, because I think he thinks kitty wants to play. Blues is just scared to pieces by him, is all. We're working on walking as well, because he has no manners yet and already ripped the leash from my hand to chase after a runner and attempt to extort affection from her.

If any dog folks have any good advice about the poop thing, I'd love to hear it. I really don't like cleaning dog crap up, ever, so having it on my floors and rugs is the worst thing ever. I'm not sure he'd even understand wee-wee pads.

( Pics under cut )

Brutus got adopted today! At least, I hope so -- I'm waiting to hear how the meeting went. It was fairly unusual -- the daughter of an elderly couple up in Sequim saw him in the newspaper and sent the clipping to her folks. They fell in love and so she arranged to get him and bring him up there. They have excellent references, both the daughter and parents, and they have had rescue dogs for years, so they're familiar with some of the behavior issues. He tried to nip her, which he has never ever done, and I was kind of freaked that he flipped out so bad, but we figured out it was her white baseball cap that was causing the trouble. He has difficulty meeting strangers because of his vision problems, and that just tipped him over the edge I guess. But when they drove away, he was on her lap, and seemed quite content. He was afraid of me when he met me, too.

We're hopeful that the donations we've received so far might help fund some surgery for him, but we're going to have to see how everything goes. I miss the little dude! I got so used to him clinging to me all the time, and going for walkies. He loooooved to go for walks. I know he'll be really happy though, and he's got a wonderful life ahead of him. Thank you so much to everyone who's helped out. If he gets the surgery, it's going to be the bestest thing ever.

Class finished for the quarter on Thursday, and I feel a huge weight off my shoulders. It's funny that the last year I plan to teach it, I finally get a class who appreciates me and gives me good evals. Oh well. Now it's on to planning my all-day workshop for the program in a couple weeks. I haven't done a damn thing on it.

I broke down and decided to get HBO since there are so many programs I want to watch, but I missed the second and third Game of Thrones eps, and they are not repeating them at all. I'm so frustrated by that, and that they're not repeating the first two Tremes, either, which I got HBO too late to get. I know I can DL it, but it just doesn't look as good in avi format as it does on the TV from the satellite.
( Unpopular opinion ahoy )

Speaking of reading. I've been considering getting an e-reader, even though I hate them on general principle, because I think it would be nice to be able to carry my reference manuals around with me when I use the laptop in other places like visiting my dad, as well wondering if it would help me get back to reading more books. I don't read books at all anymore unless it's for work, and that really saddens me. I'm much more attracted to the Nook color, because it handles graphics and you can borrow books. But every single person I know here has a Kindle. Once I saw how badly that handles graphics and PDFs, I decided that wasn't for me. I would love to hear from any of you who have a Nook Color what you think, and if you feel it's worth it. One of the big things for me is being able to read outside, which is something I can't do with my laptop and I hear the iPad is terrible for. I'm getting landscaping for my backyard, so I think I'll be outside a lot more in the future and it would be great if the Nook is good for that. Would love to hear your opinions!

So, I'm out walking the dog, and I see this green plaid truck parked on the street emblazoned with Men in Kilts and the hilarious tagline "No Peeking!" They do gutter cleaning, pressure washing, windows, and so on. The front of the truck was what cracked me up -- they have the No Peeking line run backwards, so you can read it in your rearview mirror. You can see it here -- I thought they might be wearing Utilikilts, but they were more like a traditional kilt than I expected (although it looked like they had pockets and such).

One of the things about having extreme vertigo problems as I do is that some of the house upkeep gets pushed aside -- I can't get on ladders without the danger of falling, and it's really hard for me to look up without losing my balance and vision and falling down. I know I need to get the gutters cleaned, especially on the addition and the new garage, but I've put it off for a long time. I think I know who I'll be calling.

Speaking of walking the dog. I have a new foster dog who's really been through the ringer. He's losing his vision from bad cataracts, and his family gave him up because it makes him flinchy when people move toward him and they had a toddler, then he was in a shelter for a while but that was hard for him with his vision problems. Motley Zoo, the rescue group I am involved with, took him to a foster home, but she had a family emergency, and they needed a fast backup, so I stepped in even though life is really chaotic right now. He had just had his cast off from surgery for a luxating patella (kneecap). Then this past week, he ended up in hospital again when he became violently ill, which turned out to be pancreatitis.

He is really freakin' cute, as a lot of the Seattle crowd can attest to. He has some behavior problems, some of which are caused by his sight impairment and some because I think he used to be a very pampered pooch, but we're working on them. He looooooves to go for walks, and he's not like a lot of little dogs who are afraid of wet grass and stuff -- he just gets right in there. He's a Pomeranian mix with a Papillon (called a paperanian, of course), and he's just the sweetest little guy. Once he gets past being skittish, he's your bestie for life.

I'm trying to raise some funds for the group to go toward possible eye surgery for him -- they can remove the cataracts, but it's very expensive and the group has had a truly incredible amount of leg surgeries recently to deal with on all their fosters (they are solely a foster network, no brick and morter shelter). Some of the stories are just... they're too upsetting to even discuss. It makes me hate people so much; I don't know how people run these groups without going postal.

Anyway, his name is Brutus, which is a terrible name for him (I wanted to rename him Tanner, after the character Clive Owen plays in Second Sight, where he's a detective who's losing his vision, but no one else will call him that, and it would be hard to retrain him to it unless everyone's on board), and here are some links in case you might be able to donate toward his surgery. He's only six, so he's got a whole half of a lifetime ahead of him when he finds a forever home.

You can donate here or directly through Paypal here. Tell them Brutus sent you! He and I will be very grateful, but we understand, though, that times are pretty hard and there have been a lot of natural disasters lately that people have already given all their money to. But anything's appreciated, and if you want to pass along his story, please feel free! (Or if you know anyone looking for a loving small dog who's a master of the adorable head tilt, let us know!)

Here's a few pics:

Sadie got adopted today. There was a nice young couple who live in a 4th floor condo in Greenwood who liked her mug, and we met up at a Petco in Redmond today (the one good thing about going out there is stopping at British Pantry!). I was very happy to have her go off with someone who seemed incredibly smitten with her, but I'm kind of worried in that they obviously had never had dogs before, and I worry a little about some things. She is pretty high maintenance, and could very easily become quite a tyrant if she's not dominated by a good strong pack leader and kept in check. I told them as much as I could without trying to break the deal; I especially emphasized making sure she's quiet and relaxed before heading out on a walk, and pushing her back from the door and waiting until she's calm before leaving.

Anyway. I had a meltdown the other day with her, so I know it's for the best. She has become increasingly difficult to feed, and I don't know what's going to happen in that regard. The group really emphasized dry food and they left with a large bag, but she just won't eat it. It's a myth that dry food helps with teeth, but there's not much I can do in terms of trying to correct that assumption to other people and not look like a dick. I have been putting cottage cheese in with the wet food, but today she wouldn't even eat that. Chicken broth, cottage cheese... the only thing she would eat without hesitation is the most expensive food I can get, Tiki Dog chicken. The cats love their Tiki Cat food, but they don't eat that much of it, so I don't feel like I'm going broke feeding it to them. I couldn't even get her to eat other food mixed in with it. It just became this ridiculous contest of wills, and I lost every time. The cats would start to eat her food, so she'd waddle over there (she has a really cute waddly walk) and try to take it back, but then she'd leave it uneaten.

I'm at stress DEFCON level 4 right now, so when I had gone through 3 cans and the last of the cottage cheese and she hadn't eaten for more than 24 hours, I just started crying. I wanted her gone. And then she kept rushing the fence and going nuts on passing dogs, and going ballistic if she saw large dogs on walks, and it was just too much. It was not a good situation to be in, for her or for me. The funny thing was that on walks, even the craziest, most maniacally hostile dogs barking right in her face from behind a fence didn't faze her at all. She was a complete angel. Today we took a super long walk before going to the Petco, and met a couple dogs, and she did really well, and again at the store. But there are certain types of dogs who set her off, and sure enough, the most hilarious, huge English bulldog came into the store and she started getting her back up. And I'm still in so much pain I can't sleep well, and caring for her just makes my back worse and worse all the time.

So, I am happy she's found a couple, so she can get the love she needs. She really is the sweetest dog I have ever met save for Alex's darling Georgie. But she needs more people around her. And they want to have kids, so she will be perfect for them, because she's an utter angel around kids. I hope it works out, and nothing bad happens. I wasn't ready to foster her and it kind of got sprung on me, but at least I know now that the cats won't die of anguish, and I can be a pack leader, and I know what kind of dog will work for me.

I did enjoy these pics, though -- Olive was busy washing herself on her little princess pillow, and Sadie was right there sleeping next to her, and everything seemed right in the animal kingdom.

( Olive is such an awesome cat )