Devil in disguise.

Winston has gotten kind of agro over the past few days. I know he's just testing his boundaries, but he sure does enjoy being a pain in the neck. A friend advised me to try squirting him with a spray bottle (of water) to divert him from doing things... Apparently you're supposed to hide the spray bottle and not let him know it was you who did the spraying, because I got barked at by a very indignant dog.

Four weeks until he gets his third set of shots and can go for walks. Burn off a little energy. We're going to have to work on fetching in the backyard, because he's really got quite a lot of verve.

What else... Can't wait for him to meet and play with Hugo. Learn a little about what it means not to be top dog.

I do love puppies, but I'm awaiting his adulthood with bated breath.

He's a good boy, though. He slept from 11 pm to 7:30 am. I was afraid he'd be up for good with the husb at 5:15, but thankfully he fell back asleep. Didn't even get up when I woke at 7:15 -- just condescended to haul himself out of the crate for breakfast! Snob dog indeed.

But seriously, folks.

So that's Winston, feeling a little braver today. We've had a pretty active afternoon, punctuated by naps (Winston's, not mine).

Back on topic, I haven't been writing this week, but I don't feel awful about it. Maybe I'll write a thousand words or something this afternoon. If I can tear myself away from Dr. Phil, where this horrible delusional woman wants to marry Brad Pitt. She's insane. I hate her. I want to smack her. And she looks like an alien. Seriously, if this doesn't get her a restraining order, nothing will.

Sick.

Puppy's still asleep. You know, I can't even get any writing done in my blog. This is getting ridiculous, I'm going now.

Winston vs. Writing

I have to say,

*blog entry interrupted because puppy made noise - had to go check on puppy, try to lure him away from nap in crate, then give up and take pictures. blogging will resume once pictures have been imported to computer... maybe.*

So you see, that's the basic problem.

The happy dance.

Yes, I am doing the Happy Dance, in fact, thank you for asking. Why? Well...



Wouldn't YOU be doing the Happy Dance, if this puppy were coming to live at your house this Thursday?

Most everyone who knows me knows that I have been obsessed with dogs for quite some time now. Probably due to the fact that all I do all day at work is think about dogs and write about how wonderful they are. So Chris and I decided to bite the bullet, take the bull by the horns, um... I guess I'm out of cliches... and make this puppy a part of our home lives. We emailed the breeder, went down to visit, and paid for him yesterday. I'll go pick him up Thursday, and then I intend to spend all my free time staring at him and kissing his little puppy head.

Five Reasons This Dog Rules:

1. This breed (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) is known for its melting expression. When you look into the eyes of a Cavalier, the message you're supposed to read in them is, "I love you I love you I love you oh please just let me sit here and look at you oh my God you're my favorite person I love you so much." Granted, I get quite a bit of this from Chris, but sometimes he has to get up and go fix me a drink or something, and during those times the dog will make a satisfactory substitute.

2. He will be small enough to carry onto a plane, but large enough that if we stumble, we won't crush him. He will be sporty and like to play, and like to swim. He will also like to lie on the pool floaty. (And we're hoping that someday he'll take up bartending.)

3. The feet on these dogs... you could die. They look like little puddles of adorable dog foot.

4. Now I can go to the dog park without seeming creepy!

5. He gives us a reason to get up off our duffs and stroll around the neighborhood. So hopefully the aforementioned duffs will shrink a little as a result.

Seriously, I am so excited. And I haven't even touched on the fact that I get to go shopping and buy him DOG STUFF.

On an unrelated note:

1. Why do the dying smoke alarm batteries only beep in the middle of the night?
2. Last night I dreamed that I cut my eyelashes off. It was weird. Any theories?

In conclusion, WINSTON! (Edited to add: "Winston" is the dog's name.)

Zombie Bait

Last night we took Miss A (visiting sister) out to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for what is known as a cemetery screening, sponsored by Cinespia. We saw "To Have and Have Not", starring Bogie and Bacall. What dialogue in that movie! The pacing throws you, but the zingers keep flying and it's really something.

Interesting setting. There must have been somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 (live) attendees. These screenings are apparently facilitating a renovation and restoration of the cemetery itself, including reopening some areas that had been closed off since the Northridge quake in '94. We sat on a large, open lawn and watched the film projected on the side of a mausoleum. You're not allowed to wander the cemetery, although they do encourage you to come by during the day sometime and have a look around. It's the first cemetery I've ever seen where so many gravestones have likenesses of the dead on them.

If you can believe the man who runs the cemetery (and I don't see why you can't), there were lawyers prowling, taking photos, and trying to organize a class-action lawsuit over the whole thing, for the infliction of emotional damage.

This is ridiculous to me. First of all, while I do respect the grief of those who might still be hurting and might be stung at the thought that Granny's final resting place is only a few hundred yards away from a (graveless) lawn where 2,000 people come to hang out and have a nice quiet Saturday evening... Hollywood Forever was in shambles until they started doing this. Their endowment had been embezzled and squandered and the place was in ruins. Now they collect about $20,000 a week through the entire summer, money that goes primarily to keep the place looking lovely.

Second of all, class-action lawsuits are completely sleazy to me. Entirely in existence for the lawyers to collect their 40% of the take.

Third of all, it's not like it's a rave. It's a subdued, respectful, and almost reverent event attended by people who like classic movies. I rather like the idea that when I am dead and buried, people might stop by wherever I happen to be and enjoy spending an evening under the stars with me. And Bogie and Bacall.

So phooey on people who haven't got a sense of the lightness of being. And phooey on litigious lawyers who haven't got anything better to do than sue the pants off everyone.

Things I don't want to watch TV shows about.

1. The supervolcano (and all earth-shattering disasters).
2. Jack the Ripper (and all terrible violent criminals).
3. Rappers' homes.
4. Any kind of disgusting surgery.
5. People being attacked by sharks.
6. The Mafia.
7. Charlie Sheen.
8. Doctors, lawyers, judges, or police officers.
9. People eating horrible things.
10. Women screeching their way through any kind of birth. The more familymembers standing around with camcorders, the worse it is to watch.

As you can imagine, I have a hard time finding anything to watch these days.


TEN SHOWS I WOULD WATCH IF THEY WERE ON RIGHT NOW (AND IF THEY EXISTED):

1. Dr. Phil: The Man Behind the Myth
2. The Secret Lives of Nuns
3. The Dog Whisperer 19-Hour Special
4. Oprah Realizes She Is Out of Touch With Reality: Live
5. Why You Can't Bring Yourself to Stop Eating Like a Pig (Katie)
6. This Old House in This Awesome Gentrified Neighborhood
7. Disney Channel Presents Scary Movies Edited to Remove Scary Scenes
8. Horrible People Get Sat Down in Chairs and Lectured
9. Lesbian Music Festival: Indigo Girls and k.d. lang Together At Last
10. Watch and Be Fit

That's all.

First day off.

Today is my first day home on this lovely break... Started off the day bright and early with a visit to the doctor, to make sure I don't have an ear infection. Apparently I don't, because what I ended up bringing home was nasal spray. This stuff blows. It makes the inside of your nose smell terrible, which is very sad because there's just no getting away from that.

Also, the doctor was a little mean. She was just kind of harsh. In fact, I'm sad that this new (to me) facility is so ridiculously close to home, because the other one is soooo much better. The people who work there are nice, and they're nice TO you, and they're nice to each other, and to other patients... not sure where I'm going with this. I felt a little like I was in a free clinic or something. And the nasal spray...! Oh, the nasal spray...

No plans for the weekend. That will probably change.

Early Wednesday

Headed back to the VO session for Harrisburg, bright and early. Everything went well last night. It was such a relief and a joy at the same time.

I also managed to get about 700 words down in 7S. I'm right at the point where it feels like dragging a one-ton weight, but it will be fine... just keep telling myself that... just keep going. Always time later to fix the idiotic mistakes and terrible choices.

Okay, better go.