rustydog

Don't jump in front of a train or your cartoon body will get stuck that way.

2014-09-27T04:03:38Z

For nutmeg3 and sunbrae, who wanted to know more about Eufaula the cougar. Behold:

I think the problem, other than the poorly evocative face, is that they overstuffed her so that her legs are sticking out at crazy angles from her body instead of in front of her, as with most quadruped mammals. She's a cuddly mess. Regarding the name Eufaula, I was searching through names of hunt goddesses and I thought I'd found it there, but now all I can find is what I already knew, there's a town by that name in Oklahoma. One of the many things lost to my inability to stay awake longer than 10 minutes once I sit down on the couch in the evening, I guess.

In other fake animal news, I ordered Monkey Brewster a monkey Halloween costume. I am going to keep splashing her on Facebook as often as I can stay awake long enough. What I need now is a video that would go viral-wish, right? Or at least time to take her in public a bunch of places. If she's with me long enough I'll take the Canine Good Citizen class with her.

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P.S.

2014-08-05T22:48:05Z

I don't have phone/TV/internet at my new place yet, and because of a scheduling snafu, I won't until August 12. Any internet-ing I do that uses a lot of data or requires a bigger screen has to be squished in after work, before I leave campus. I can still get emails and Twitter on my phone, I'm just trying not to check them as frequently.

I'd been hoping I could get back online a little more than I've been in the past month, but I've got to wait a bit longer!

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Morning glory vines and a wet sunset

2014-07-24T04:35:00Z

I had to let water drip off the roof onto my head and stream down my face to get this shot. In the end it was kind of a thrill, as long as my camera was safe. I do love the little world of my balcony.

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But especially in summer

2014-07-19T15:51:37Z

Having a dog is always good. It forces me to do this

even when I think I'm too busy and tired. And he trots along ahead of me, farting happily, and makes me laugh.

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Litha

2014-06-22T15:09:26Z

This is one of the tomato plants on my balcony with the morning sun starting to come through the trees. I'm a bit late for the Solstice... crazy week. I hope you all are enjoying or surviving summer so far. *love*

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A conversation with my dog

2014-06-11T20:58:42Z

Memphis: Why is the toilet lid closed? I'm thirsty!

Me: You have a water bowl in the kitchen. I put it there just for you. It's full of fresh water.

Memphis: It's not cool, cool porcelain with frequently running water.

Me: It has an antimicrobial surface!

Memphis: Seriously. You just watched me lick a cat's bottom, and you're going with "antimicrobial."

Me: The water is perfectly good. And it's always available to you.

Memphis: And...?

Me: You know, you won that water bowl by dressing up as a cowboy and doing tricks. You were the best dog of them all.

Memphis: And yet you don't let me drink out of the best dog bowl of them all!

Me: I can see we're going to have to agree to disagree.

Memphis: Can I have a treat?

Me: NILIF, dude.

Memphis: I JUST HAD A CONVERSATION WITH YOU.

Me: Touché.

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Happy place

2014-05-31T14:21:49Z

I'm feeling sore and out of sorts this morning (though tea and a heat pack are finally helping) so I thought while I have a few minutes before I have to be anywhere, I'd share my happy place. With a week of rainy weather, my balcony herbs and flowers have really started getting lush.

You can see three kinds of sage, three kinds of basil, lavender, rosemary, coleus, marigolds, bee balm, a couple of tomatoes, a pepper, oregano, some morning glory seedlings, and my Dallas fern and maple tree. Not pictured: spearmint. It's not fancy, but it feels nice and garden/jungley, which is a good thing to have here in the city. I decided this year to concentrate mostly on plants that I know from experience will be favorites of bees and hummingbirds once they're blooming.

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Sunday night not lesson planning

2014-04-07T03:21:49Z

End of the Weekend Remorse Time! I've spent at least a third of my time this weekend doing things to stave off the dogs' boredom, which means some fun activities for me too, but drastically lowered productivity. On top of that, all the hiking and exploring make me more tired, so I lose time resting. On Saturday, I actually *reclined* on the couch and watched three backlogged sitcom episodes in a row (two Parks & Recs and one Big Bang Theory). I don't remember when I last did that. I felt good about it at the time, but now my taxes still aren't done and my kitchen still desperately needs organization. Self-loathing! Woe!

I feel like a heel complaing though. We took a nice, easy hike with the local dogwalking Meetup group and met some nice people and dogs. Also we explored the Presidential Park wetlands, the dogs smelled many exciting smells, didn't ingest any chicken bone shards, and I saw some nice birds.

And good news, Sochi may have an adopter! I'll post more when things are finalized.

The main reason I'm posting is to work out a dog training dilemma that's been eating me emotionally for a few days. I think I've figured out that it's an issue with one particular club trainer, whom I like but who maybe has some older ideas about dog training. I feel like I'm being pressured into a method that I'm not comfortable with, and in what I think was supposed to be a pep talk, she actually insulted me and the training I've done with Memphis so far. This is not a mean lady, but I'm new to this formal obedience training, and I didn't realize there might come a point where I wouldn't agree with the advice of a trainer.

So in the moments when I was thinking "What am I doing here? Do I even want to continue with this?" I ended up making a list of why I'm taking these formal training classes with Memphis. That way I can check in with it periodically and make sure I'm still on track.

Enrichment -- to give Memphis something stimulating to do regularly. There's class every week, which is exciting for him and also good practice staying (somewhat) calm in an overstimulating environment full of bottlenecks, lots of dogs, humans and treats. Then there's practice at home, which is also fun (because treats) and it's not just a game we repeat, it's a learning process in which we both develop with time and work.

Bonding -- to be successful at all, we have to practice communicating with each other both in body language and explicit signals. We have to try to be in tune. (Realistically, I have to try to keep his attention.)

Socialization -- the human kind. Being a member of the club, training with others and volunteering often, I've been able to contact with some of the same people on a regular basis, and this is how friendships can develop.

Fun -- especially for Memphis, and this is a deal breaker. I may have fun often but get frustrated occasionally, but I like the overall process and I find the work personally meaningful. It's intellectually stimulating because I've always been interested in animal behavior and animal+human interaction, and this provides rich opportunities for observation, intimately with my own dog and broadly with many, many others. But for Memphis, it just needs to be fun. If he stops having fun, I need to fix the situation or we need to move on to something else.

So, true to my nature, I am going to try to find a way to compromise in the current training situation. I also want to find a way to get the perspective of some other club members without pointing a finger at this trainer. I need to keep Memphis in mind all the time and if he doesn't enjoy it, worst case scenario I'll switch to Rally classes (which I wanted to do eventually anyway) and make sure and have a conversation with the trainer before we start, to try to minimize any surprises about training philosophy.

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Ostara

2014-03-20T12:46:58Z

Test post

2014-03-09T17:17:19Z

Test post, a photo by Little Dog Laughed on Flickr.

I'm trying to see if I can post a photo to LJ using only my point-and-shoot Nikon and my iPhone. It involves connecting the Nikon to the phone with what they call "wifi" but really isn't, using a dedicated app to transfer the photo, then emailing the photo to an address set up with Flickr to both upload it to Flickr and post it to LJ at the same time. Fingers crossed!

Dear friends,

2014-02-14T23:09:13Z

Dear friends,, a photo by Little Dog Laughed on Flickr.

Happy Galentine's Day! You too, fellas.

(*Almond butter or the treenut or seed butter of your choice may be substituted for peanut butter.)

Ice

2014-02-05T02:15:18Z

We had a snow day today which was, as usual here, actually an ice day. I got the campus alert text at 5:45am, five minutes before my alarm would have gone off, and I vaguely remember actually doing a fist pump before going back to sleep. I didn't spend all day in my pajamas -- doggy needs his exercise -- but I did manage to not put on a bra all day, so that's a win. Also for the win, YakTrax! I made it down our steep, icy hill without skidding once.

The prettiest thing was probably the glassy trees under the street lamps after dark. But there are also three-inch icicles hanging from the power lines, and I imagine the folks without power don't think it's that pretty.

It seems like most folks are tired of winter, so I'll also wish you a happy Imbolc and offer these, which I discovered yesterday before the ice.

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Through all this world

2014-01-28T13:00:27Z

I woke up slowly this morning, in the grip of an unusually bad dream, so I am not handling this Pete Seeger news with my usual stoicism. When my students ask me one of the questions in their textbook, "Who is your hero?" Seeger is often who I say.

Rest in peace, old man. You've ably passed on the banjo to the young ones.

with the Rivertown Kids
by himself

Quite Early Morning
Don't you know it's darkest before the dawn
And it's this thought keeps me moving on
If we could heed these early warnings
The time is now quite early morning
If we could heed these early warnings
The time is now quite early morning

Some say that humankind won't long endure
But what makes them feel so doggone sure?
I know that you who hear my singing
Could make those freedom bells go ringing
I know that you who hear my singing
Could make those freedom bells go ringing

And so keep on while we live
Until we have no, no more to give
And when these fingers can strum no longer
Hand the old banjo to young ones stronger
And when these fingers can strum no longer
Hand the old banjo to young ones stronger

So though it's darkest before the dawn
These thoughts keep us moving on
Through all this world of joy and sorrow
We still can have singing tomorrows
Through all this world of joy and sorrow
We still can have singing tomorrows

Words and Music by Pete Seeger (1969)
(c) 1969 by Fall River Music Inc.

Three things

2014-01-16T03:20:10Z

1. Cutest ESL mistake of the day:

Me: How old are your children?
Student: Ten o'clock and eight o'clock.

2. Mark your calendars, SFF fandom folks. Today is the day an NPR reporter mentioned Wincest by name on the air. In a positive story about fan fiction. I may not be a Supernatural fan specifically, but I feel like we've passed some sort of milestone in the perception of fandom subculture generally. I'm not surprised that it roughly coincides with social media and the ability of networks to turn fan engagement into data for (potential) business purposes. Still, as the NPR story concludes,

Fan engagement gives color and volume to dry data, such as ratings, but the question remains, how do you quantify depth of feeling? Writing a story takes longer and means more than hitting a "like" button or re-blogging a picture. How do you measure a kind of success that, by its very nature, is completely resistant to metrics?

3. Yesterday I saw a promo for the new motion picture about the Monuments Men, who hunted art during and after WWII, trying to save it from the Nazis. The existence of the movie made me feel unexpectedly annoyed, because I never wrote the fic I imagined several years ago with Torchwood agents posing as Monuments Men in order to recover museum and collectors' pieces that were actually alien artifacts. (Now it's obvious to me that this would also work perfectly as a Warehouse 13 fic.) Sigh. All the stories that could have been.

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Got mah puppeh!

2013-12-24T17:42:48Z

Got mah puppeh!, a photo by Little Dog Laughed on Flickr.

Because he was boarded for six days, he automatically got a free bath on the seventh day. They sent him to the grooming suite where he ended up decorated with a scarf and sparkly bow. Hee.

It's great to have him back. I think my dad was as happy to see him as I was! Now we're on our way to the Farm, the last leg of our journey.

Winter

2013-12-21T06:34:56Z

I'm a few hours early, but tomorrow is going to be busy, so... Merry Yule!

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It'll be okay, young doggy.

2013-12-19T14:49:48Z

It'll be okay, young doggy., a photo by Little Dog Laughed on Flickr.

Ridiculous as it may sound given the evidence, I'm still trying to post every day. This is my farewell photo of Memphis, taken while I was packing. He looks depressed, but he was actually ecstatic when I dropped him off for boarding. He loves the Pet Palace. I, on the other hand, miss him a lot.

I made it to the Farm yesterday, and after the expected four hours of my dad dawdling, we got on the road and made it to Springfield MO. I survived many hours of him talking non-stop, and he survived whatever is annoying about me during travel.

I got a lot of knitting done while he drove! I recommend simple patterns for travel, because you can keep right on going after it gets dark. K120, turn the work, K120, and so on.

Today I'll be driving and he'll be studying, so I expect more peace and audio drama listening. :) Various relatives have warned us we'll be driving into bad conditions later in the day. Hopefully that won't happen as predicted.

Brigitta

2013-12-14T01:02:20Z

Brigitta, a photo by Little Dog Laughed on Flickr.

Today I drove our old chow mix, Gitta, to the vet to be euthanized. She was fifteen, blind, deaf, a bit lame and only had two teeth left. She had to feel her way around the yard and got confused and afraid if another dog bumped into her. She just had so little quality of life. Yesterday I visited her in a patch of sun and petted her for about half an hour. When she found my hand or face, she would lick me with a flopping, slobbery tongue. Today at the vet, I had my arms around her the whole time and petted her until the end. One of the veterinarians was a family friend of thirty years, and it was nice to have her there. My dad didn't want to be there, which I understand. I'm good at this sort of thing. I only cried a little, but I feel worn out now.

Gitta (Brigitta) was a shelter puppy named "Gas" or something because she'd had mange and someone, following a wrongheaded old remedy, had tried to treat it with a refined petroleum product. So she was practically hairless. I don't even know why my mom went to the shelter -- she was always the one eventually *relenting* when others wanted a new pet. But somehow she chose this poor, scraggly pup. Of course the hair came in eventually and was quite thick and glorious. She had a very friendly personality. More than anything in the world, Gitta loved going for walks. The dogs have plenty of space to run in the yard, but she wanted variety. When she saw me with the leashes, she would go wild with excitement.

So, Brigitta, thanks for your many years of sweetness and doggy-ness.

Winter Sunsets

2013-12-13T14:04:31Z

Winter Sunsets, a photo by Little Dog Laughed on Flickr.

No internet at the Farm, but I think I can do this on my phone. If you can read it, I've succeeded! (I'm sending it Friday morning because I fell asleep Thursday night in the middle of the attempt.)

I had an emotional morning so I'm counting happy things:

1. The Christmas tree. I wasn't sure if getting it out of the attic would make me feel better or worse, but setting it up required some very therapeutic organizing, cleaning and especially pruning of potted plants.

2. Peanut butter balls. I made a batch on Monday to give to my Tuesday dog obedience class trainers. Since I had some left, I wrapped them up for the friendly lady in our apartment office. When I took them to her, she jumped out if her chair and came around to hug me. She said she had *just* told her daughter on the phone how much she needed some sugar (not metaphorical) and then I came in with peanut butter balls.

3. Unexpected Muppets.

4. A gentle and compassionate farrier who cares about our lame, geriatric horses and does right by them.

5. Will Ferrell.

6. That amateur YouTube video of a five-year-old interpreting her school's holiday concert for her deaf parents. I love her. (Can't get a link right now but it should be easy to find in a YT search.)

7. Kittens and hot showers. I mean separately, not kittens *in* hot showers. I just didn't want to have eight items in this list.

Family togetherness is great, but...

2013-12-05T05:14:33Z

In case I don't manage to post tomorrow, I'm going to share something now. Inexplicably, my dad gets a catalog from the Pajamagram company. The first thing we noticed is that they now offer jammies for the WHOLE family.

I think that even if you look like this model, if you're going home and dressing your cat in pajamas, you qualify as a crazy cat lady. (Please note, as a future and perhaps present crazy pet lady, I don't mean that disparagingly.)

I can't help but think that cat HATES the fact that he's been put in a matching outfit with the dog.

This one is the best. That man in his footie pajamas thinks he's THE STUFF. And the cat is wearing a plush robe. Please note: pink for girls, blue for boys. We wouldn't want to defy tradition when PUTTING PAJAMAS ON OUR PETS.

0.o

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Side Door shadow

2013-10-25T12:06:03Z

Side Door shadow, a photo by Little Dog Laughed on Flickr.

I've been swamped this week with meetings, activities, medical maintenance and work. Yesterday I worked 11 hours, mostly to catch up on stuff I should have finished Tuesday. I'm scheduled to go to the farm this weekend, so I'll probably start next week even further behind. But maybe after that I'll get my life under control. It could happen.

This photo was taken in the "airlock" of one of the buildings I teach in this semester. Much like a beginner's language classroom, everything in the Engineering building is labeled. Since they're so close to the art department, it's a pity they couldn't recruit some help making the place more pleasant while they were making it safe!

Pets' lives of leisure

2013-10-17T03:31:42Z

Pets' lives of leisure, a photo by Little Dog Laughed on Flickr.

I am pretty jealous of these guys sometimes. But (despite my best efforts to stay awake, including coffee) I had to put my work away for awhile this evening and curl up with them on the couch. The rain has finally brought cooler temperatures, so it was a cozy rather than sticky experience. Nice.

Tiny Triumph: after two years of occasionally shopping at the mega-Kroger down the road from the dog daycare, today by chance I discovered the European imports aisle. And they had McVities chocolate digestives. Including the DARK chocolate ones. *drool*

Footnote to a previous post

2013-10-11T23:23:32Z

Now I need to plan a post about how great the walrus is.

Here's a clue about my favorite wild land animal:

Yellow sulphur butterfly

2013-10-07T08:28:22Z

Yellow sulphur butterfly, a photo by Little Dog Laughed on Flickr.

If I'm going to wake up at 3 a.m., I might as well share something. Here's a butterfly I stalked in my dad's zinnias, which have revived beautifully with the rains in the past couple of weeks.

I'm too lazy to complain in detail about the work thing, so here's some food.

2013-10-04T04:06:32Z

It's a good thing I have a project deadline at work tomorrow, or I never would have spent all that time cooking a meal for myself on a weeknight. And since the meal went well and the work was still hanging over my head, I went ahead and made a double batch of a dessert I invented yesterday.

I had some overripe bananas and wanted something more decadent than banana bread, so I used my smoothie blender and things I found in my fridge. It was SO GOOD. I have to apologize about the "recipe" below because as usual I didn't actually measure. The amounts are approximate, but they can be easily adjusted to taste.

Chocolate Banana Goop
* 2/3c greek yogurt
* 1 very ripe banana
* 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
* Milk of your choice (I used almond milk)
* Honey (optional)
* Chia seeds

1. Puree yogurt, banana, and just enough almond milk to enable blender to work. (If you have a food processor you might not need the milk to loosen it up nor the chia seeds to re-thicken it after.)
2. Pour into a dish or mug. Stir in 2-3 Tbsp chia seeds.
3. Let sit in fridge for a couple of hours. If too runny, add more chia seeds & wait longer.

It's got to be pretty healthy as desserts go. No fat, natural sugar, lots of calcium, protein, and even fiber, plus whatever good stuff you get from dark chocolate.