If only...?

Last night I dreamed that the live show kinda sorta happened and then all of a sudden it was done. A Kerry Blue won it all (which, as I'm sure everyone knows, is the breed that won in 2002). A Doberman won the Working Group. A Sheltie won Herding. I couldn't for the life of me remember who won the rest. Maybe a Ridgeback took Hound. Mostly the dream consisted of me wandering around saying to people, "Can you believe it's over? I'm in so much shock I can't remember a darn thing about it!"

So, while the experience is exhilarating and fun in many ways, it was pretty nice to know it was done, and without a hitch.

Duets: Frank Sinatra and Winston, Together At Last

1. Can I Steal a Little Turkey?
2. Every Day I Love Food
3. That's Ball
4. When I Was Seventeen Months Old
5. Send In the Bones
6. The Kennel With the Fringe On Top
7. When Somebody Loves Shoes
8. Ain'tcha Ever Comin' Back (and Feedin' Me)
9. Guess I'll Lick Those Tears You Hung Out To Dry
10. Fly Me to the Dining Room Table
11. Hugo Be a Lady
12. MY WAY! ARF ARF ARF DID YOU HEAR ME? I SAID MY WAY!

...and, of course, wrong Sinatra, but...

13. These Boots are Made For Chewing

Last night I dreamed about zombies.

Current mood: sleepy
Category: Life

I don't remember much of the dream, only that it was scary (** good God, speaking of scary, Winston just growled like a freaking Rottweiler for about fifteen seconds straight... I don't know what he was growling at, but let's hope it was the cardboard box in the living room and not a zombie). Anyway, the zombies were mean and hungry and we were all at one of the cathedrals we went to in Dublin, only it was dark and scary inside (and outside). It was also some kind of hotel or shopping mall, and I vaguely remember wanting to stay in my room. And I was late to get back on the tour bus, but I figured they owed it to me to wait.

Maybe that's why I hate leaving my house. You know, zombies.

What a horrible place the world would be if there were zombies wandering all over the place. I did enjoy the movie "Shawn of the Dead", kind of. We had to watch it with subtitles, because the accents were so thick. And before watching that movie, I didn't know that in addition to sounds I can make when things are funny, and sounds I can make when things are scary, I have a completely unique sound for things that are both funny and scary.

In other news, if I don't start working on my Christmas quilt soon, it's going to be a very odd Valentine's Day quilt.

Winston is like the world's living teddy bear. I love how people at work just come in and want to be near him. And he's so sweet to them. It's so comforting to have him around.

I'm sleepy.

Writing and other forms of torture.

Current mood: pensive
Category: Writing and Poetry

I'm just kidding, of course. If I didn't love writing, I wouldn't be a writer. But there are times when it feels like plowing a fallow field. And there are times when writing for the dog show comes like water from a faucet and writing for myself comes like water from a cactus. It's in there, but it hurts to get it out.

First drafts hurt my brain. Revising is fun. But you can't revise until you have a first draft. And if you go so long between writing in your first draft that you have to reread the whole thing before you can write more, this is, naturally, highly counterproductive. And that's where I am. I'm still rereading so I can write.

Rereading is also a funny beast. It's super fun to cruise along and be like, "Wow! I get it! I like that! This is cool! That part is cool! That part -- wait. That part sucks. And so does the next part. And it looks like everything from here on out would be better used as the wrapper for some greasy fast food." EVEN if that would mean printing it and wasting paper just to devote it to that purpose. You must, because you must bring the universe back into balance.

No, seriously. Luckily I'm a total narcissist and I secretly still think even the terrible parts have something worth rewriting. Luckily that, because the alternative would be...

I don't know, making more dog clothes.

What would YOU do...

...for 1/16 of a Wheat Thin?

Kayli's blogs are funnier than mine.

Current mood: tired
Category: Pets and Animals

(First of all, this here is a link that must be followed: Genius)

Kayli always blogs these mind-blowing little blurbs about punching people and having hallucinatory poultry experiences. Okay, maybe not the punching people part, but for sure the poultry.

I wish I had something more meaningful to contribute to the blogosphere. At least I could be one of the people those bitter celebrities talk about or write songs about. Ain't nothing a celebrity likes less than world hunger. Oh, wait, I mean, people who talk smack about them on the internet.

Winston is behaving a little oddly since we picked him up from his ten-day jaunt at doggie daycare. He's very submissive. It's like he thinks he has to earn his way back into the pack. Also, he licks a LOT. And not sustained licking. Just if you happen to get your face near his, there's going to be a tongue on your cheek. Or up your nose, or in your eyeball. I'll only say this once -- I don't encourage it because I know where that tongue has been (the euphemism is "nosing around in the junk drawer"). But some people just love to let him lick all the moisturizer off their faces (cough - Sharkey - cough), and who am I to stand in the way of that? Besides, I let him sleep on my pillow.

I'm starting to worry that all I talk about is dogs. On the plane, I read a book called "The Truth About Dogs", which is partly fascinating dog physiology, and partly depressing "your dog doesn't love you, he's just using you and you're falling for it" thinking. The author kept saying, "Don't get me wrong, I love my dogs, I just don't think they love me back" or something. He kept qualifying himself and then contradicting that and acting like the major appeal of his dogs is that they're little biological capsules running around the place.

But I know Winston loves me... right? Otherwise he wouldn't try to stick his tongue up my nose with such fervor.

Haunted Hotels and Escaped Sheep

Current mood: awake
Category: Travel and Places

Back from Ireland. We managed to stay awake until 7:30 last night and I was up 100% at 6 am. So maybe the jet lag won't be so bad. It didn't get to us at all on the trip over.

Ireland was wonderful. So green, so fun, so much food and cider. Saw a lot of truly beautiful things, climbed around on castle ruins, got a real sense of the flavor of the people and place. We started out in Kinsale, a little town on the south coast in County Cork. Were there for three or four days and moved on to tour the Ring of Kerry, the scenic circle that shows you a lot of the craggy coasts and beautiful views Ireland is famous for. Midway through the Ring of Kerry, we stopped at the Butler Arms Hotel in Waterville -- totally haunted. Felt just like The Shining.

From there, on to the interior. The nice lady from the Butler Arms, when she wasn't saying things like, "You'll get lost up there," under her breath, hooked us up with her friend who managed a castle hotel called Dromoland Castle in a town called Newmarket-on-Fergus. So we spent one night there, very nice.

Over to Dublin. I suppose I must be a country girl at heart, because Dublin as an environment didn't do it for me. Also, I woke up with a terrible, terrible, terrible headache the first day and spent the whole day in bed. The next day, we did the hop-on, hop-off bus tour and saw the sights. Very nice. A little depressing, I must say. The revolutions and uprisings in the early 1900s still feel very fresh, and you get a real sense of the misery of that time, which is cheering.

From Dublin, home. And home means... WINSTON!

Winston Winston Winston Winston Winston. I missed him SO much.

And that's all I'm going to say for now.

Sea Legs and Other Things

Current mood: exhausted

I didn't get motion sick on the cruise at all, but now that I'm home on solid ground, I feel like the house is undulating (3 point word) beneath me. If that were really the case, my rolly chair would be a-rollin' and it's not. So it's all in my head. Among other things.

I don't know how Mormons do it. I skipped my cup of coffee this morning and I feel like I need to sleep for three days. I'm scarfing down chocolate cookies and Diet Coke with a desperation that is both sad and beautiful.

Anyway... writin' about dogs. Dogs dogs dogs. Winston was excited to see me today and Hugo was excited to pee on my suitcase. Then they were both excited to sleep allll day, just to make me jealous. And tonight I need to go shopping and buy some size 438 jeans to wear in Ireland, where it's COLD and RAINY and there are NUNS and ALCOHOL and NO BIKINIS.

PS - I'm moving to Ireland. In my heart.