Birdwalk

Thu, 11 Dec 2003 00:41:39 GMT

After much deliberation...

Well, I've given it a lot of thought and I'm not going to kill the blog. But I am going to move it. I will now be able to blog from work, which will put a dent in my productivity but allow me to blog more frequently. I still can't post photos, but at least this one's free. Here's my new URL. Bookmark it, please. See you there!

http://birdwalk.blogspot.com (note no www.)

Wed, 22 Oct 2003 01:35:10 GMT

Don't look now, the holidays are coming

There's not a whole lot on my mind lately. Work is...well...work and really not worth wasting keystrokes on. I'd love to really expound on some of the stuff that goes on at my job but I'm afraid I'd get fired. Suffice to say that I've learned that "friendly", "inclusive" and "effective" are adjectives that I will make sure apply to my next place of employment. But there's one thing that keeps creeping into my consciousness over and over...it's...the holidays.

I'm thinking about Thanksgiving. My mother is having 20 people again this year and as usual I'm going over there the day before to help out. This year, however, we're putting the Mick in the kennel to avoid another nasty episode like last year's infamous Turkey Incident, in which Mickey dragged an entire 20 pound turkey carcass off the table by himself in front of 20 guests (not all of them dog lovers.) Shenanigans like that make for good stories but I have a miserable time and I'm very much looking forward to focusing on helping my mother and eating a nice meal rather than chasing a crazy dog around.

I'm also thinking about Christmas. We've graduated to the "picking names out of a hat" stage with both my aunt's family and my husband's family, which dramatically decreases the sheer numbers of gifts I have to choose and purchase. This is a load off my mind, because I take gift buying very seriously and really put a lot of effort into finding The Perfect Gift for people and it's really starting to wear on me. It's very nice to focus on fewer people. Plus, this year we're really trying hard to cut down how much we spend, plus I'm trying to spend as little time in the mall as possible. So right now I've got a huge stack of catalogs next to me and I have about a bazillion pages earmarked. I'm optimistic.

You will note that I have not mentioned ENJOYING these holidays and there's a very good reason for that. I don't enjoy them. They're stressful, exhausting, and the family stuff just makes me crazy. I turn into a real jerk around the holidays and I'm not proud of it. The holidays feel more to me like a set of very involved chores that need to be completed than a warm-and-fuzzy love and peace-fest. Isn't that sad? But I suspect lots of people feel this way but are too ashamed to admit it. At least I cop to it.

Tue, 07 Oct 2003 01:54:51 GMT

Blog thoughts

I've had this blog for almost a year, and I thought now might be a good time to sit back and take stock.

I certainly don't blog as often as I'd like. It's not for lack of desire, but there's just too much else to do and sometimes at the end of the day I'm just plain exhausted. And the truth is that I'm not sure that anyone has any interest in reading my random ramblings about stupid things. They're not funny. They're not insightful. They're not even written that well. Some bloggers really work hard on their stuff, and they get like thirty, fourty comments on a post. I just blab on about stupid stuff that happens to me that really doesn't matter to anyone. Not even me, frankly. So maybe I'm thinking that the blog should just slink off into oblivion.

Also I'm frustrated with my utter inability to get Radio to publish photos, which would really add a lot to the blog and make me happy. I think if I were more technologically knowledgeable then I would be able to figure it out but I don't have time to blog sometimes, I certainly don't have time to figure out why Radio won't upload a stupid photo. Also, it's hard to only blog from home. If I do continue the blog then I'd like to find something that would allow me to blog from other locations other than my desktop, whenever the spirit moves me.

But here's my big concern. I thought that I would be able to use this as a creative outlet for my own fictional works, and I just haven't. Partially it's because I write at least based on real things, real events, real people. I've felt very paranoid about basing a story on someone or a situation I've been in and then having them read about themselves and recognize themselves (even though I'm very careful not to use names or other identifying details.) Several times I've actually written the thing and then gone back and deleted it out of sheer paranoia. So that's part of it. But the other part is that I spend all day writing. It's my job. Then I sometimes come home and spend more time writing as part of my freelance business, or as part of the volunteer work I do. And at the end of the day the absolute last thing I feel like doing is writing for fun (as opposed to profit.) And that makes me really sad because I'm afraid I'll never write another short story again. Plus it's ironic that the writing I get paid to do actually makes me not want to do the writing I love to do. A few years ago I would have said I was good at it. But now I'm not even so sure about that. So do I really want to keep this blog alive just as a vehicle for my own pathetic little musings, while all the time its very existence serves to remind me of what I should be doing, but am not?

Tue, 07 Oct 2003 01:37:09 GMT

Arf

So I went to the Montgomery County (PA) all-terrier (dog) show this weekend. Yes I am a big loser. It was rather an eye opening experience for me. Now, I did see Best In Show. But the thing is I kinda thought they were kidding. Nobody could really be that strange. Now I know they weren't kidding.

These dog people are crazy. Really fanatical. You would not believe the number of people I saw sporting dog-specific items of clothing. And I'm not talking about just a tie with a random dog on it. I'm talking about hand-painted t-shirts with a specific dog on it. Not a specific breed of dog. A specific dog. On your shirt. Some women had dog tshirts, dog sweaters, and were decked out in dog jewelry -- all at the same time. I didn't even get around to ruminating over the Glamour No-No aspect of that sort of theme dressing, because I was so focused on where the hell they FOUND a fox terrier gold-and-enamel pendant in the first place. Who sells this stuff? (And...where can I get one???)

But then I guess I am just as strange because I actually recognized the handler of the Westminster Best-In-Show winning Kerry Blue Terrier from 100 feet away. (He made eye contact with me and said, "Hey, how are you!" as he passed, as if he knew me. I couldn't remember his name and for once in my life kept my mouth shut instead of stammering, "Hey! Your're...that guy!".) I was as excited as if I'd just spotted a celebrity.

We also stayed at a rather fleabag-esque hotel. It is a big chain hotel, but I guess I might have been expecting too much for rural Pennsylvania, becasue you could literally see through the towels. They sent me up an extra blanket that was just riddled with cigarette burns. The carpet in the room was also studded with cigarette burns. And we had a non-smoking room, so go figure. All the lights were those money-saving flourescent fixtures. The eggs at breakfast were powdered. Powdered eggs! I haven't had those since college!

Nonetheless it was an interesting weekend, and if nothing else it was nice to be on the road and pet all the doggies. I came home with muddy pawprints all over me and dog slobber on my glasses.

Wed, 24 Sep 2003 02:37:25 GMT

I'm no Martina

Played my first game of singles tonight. Boy that's a lot harder than doubles, isn't it? I lost five games to two. I had fun though.

Midway through the game the sun went down so we pressed the little button for the lights on the court. Exactly an hour later, with no warning -- click! -- the lights went out, leaving us standing in the middle of the court in total darkness. We had to collect the balls in the dark. It was actually kinda scary because here we are in the middle of nowhere, two women with nothing to defend us but tennis rackets, and all of a sudden the lights go out. It was like some kind of strange tennis horror movie or something.

Tue, 23 Sep 2003 02:21:21 GMT

Well, that was nice

I just returned from a desperately-needed, albeit too-brief vacation in lovely Provincetown, Massachusetts. It was touch and go there for awhile, what with nasty ol' Isabel the Big Scary Hurricane bearing down on us the evening before we were supposed to leave...we did get lashed severely with wind and rain but the morning of the trip it was dry and still. My husband -- bless him -- drove the whole five hours, and we arrived at the B&B at 2 pm in the afternoon and proceeded to have a lovely, very relaxing weekend. My brother and his girlfriend (for lack of a more dignified term) Lisa were already there, and his friend Morgan, his lovely wife and members of his family were also staying at the same B&B -- my husband and I were sort of horning in on a family reunion of sorts and although they didn't have to Morgan and his family were very gracious and welcoming and really made the trip that much nicer.

On a personal note I really, really, really needed a vacation -- it was so nice to be taken care of for a change. The B&B folks were really good at anticipating your every need and I just wallowed in having nothing to do for three days except eat (lots of carbs) shop and sleep. I didn't even realize how much I needed a break until we got there.

Sun, 07 Sep 2003 23:59:26 GMT

Um...never mind

Blood pressure is back to normal. I have no idea why. Now I'll have to find something else to worry about, I guess.

(Note: I pressed a wrong key and messed something up...the comment below belongs to a post that seems to have evaporated and now the comment is clinging to this entry for dear life. Sorry.)

Thu, 21 Aug 2003 02:13:01 GMT

Pass the Puppy

About a year and a half ago, when Mickey was about 16 weeks old, we enrolled him in Puppy Kindergarten. This is a class that helps new puppies get socialized with people and other dogs, and gives them the basics of obedience. It's really a must for any new puppy owner, in my opinion, gets you and the dogs off on the right foot. Anyway, one night in Puppy Kindergarten we played this game called Pass the Puppy. There were twelve or thirteen other puppies about Mickey's age in the class and, in order to get them used to being held and touched by people other than their owners, you were supposed to hang out with your puppy for a little while, then hand him to the person to your right, after introducing the puppy. So I played with the Mick for a few minutes, then when the teacher said, "Switch!" I turned to the person to my right, and said, "This is Mickey," and handed them my dog. I, in turn, got the dog to my left. And that's how it worked.

I know it's stupid, but that ten minutes where I was handed one squirmy, licky, furry bundle after another was truly one of the happiest moments of my life. I'm not kidding. I cannot think of anything better than someone walking up to me and saying, "Hello. This is Jasper." and handing me a ten week old golden retriever with feet way too big for his body who will lick my face energetically, flop over on his back for a tummy rub and maybe get a treat or two. I am an absolute sucker for dogs of any age, but I lose my mind completely when it comes to puppies. I'm kinda girly that way, I guess.