My velvet furboy and the inherent rightness of doggie philosophy

Dogs really know how to live. 

I woke up about 4 am to find Chuy asleep with his head on my arm. I petted his ear leathers, scratched under his collar and his suede little chest. He is so soft and cuddly. It's different with each one, but I feel a profound connection with all my dogs, and Chuy on a soulful level. 

Given the opportunity with secure environments, I think all dogs can be lovey doveys. Chuy loves to love and be loved.  He is not perfect and any defect in his behavior is my fault, but he is so very dear to me. 

Did you ever notice that dogs never hold their breath?  They wag, eyes sparkling and tail going ninety-to-nothing, never indulging in the folly of trying to hide their enthusiasm. Good on them!

Praline has laser-like focus. She is a loving little girl who is so eager to please that I am very careful not to rebuke her rare transgressions because she feels naughty far too easily.  Mochi larks about with a glee you'd never expect to find in one so neglected/abused in early life: her exuberance is defiant of what would tell her to be sad in life. Excellent!!!  Then of course, there is my little Chuybaby, who will stand by the bed to be lifted up, because it's a bit of ritualized sweetness. 

All these lovely little instants make me remember to savor life and not hold my breath but to take in deep draughts of air and appreciate the moment. 

Thanks to my doggies, I'm daily reminded of the sweetness of life. 

On hauling coals to Newcastle:

I've seen this in pop-up ad several times online recently and I just had to share it here.

I saw this image and thought WOW! What a holster! You've got room for knives, your tactical spork, all kinds of crap!

Is ossum.

So I clicked on the link and it turns out it's called a Beauty Bottom Lift. 

What is wrong with people? What's wrong with that bottom just going though its life, doing bottom things, being a bottom, and appearing in the shape of the bottom it was genetically coded to be? People need to stop messing with things.  That bottom did not require lifting.

Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking: we don't want to see that thing on a bottom that has taken an earth-ward trajectory, and I quite agree.  How about one just cover their saggy bottom entirely? 

Of course, this is not meant to be outerwear (I hope), but it does look positively Lara Croftian, dunnit?  And you could sure strap a lot of gadgets on it.  Still, I'm not looking to pay $200 for a neoprene holsterish carry-all.

Please be kind if I'm a mess.

Cigarettes and chocolate milk
These are just a couple of my cravings
Rufus Wainwright





Okay, I'm craving neither cigarettes nor chocolate milk, but the chocolate in Homemade In The Shade by BlueBell is a frequent flier, and I have thought wistfully of nicotine patches of late.  Love love love this superb composition by Rufus Wainwright about things for which we long that are maybe a little less than entirely healthful. 

About 8 or 9 years (or 10???) ago I quit coffee cold turkey.  I was addicted.  I would drink a whole pot and clean like a domestic fiend.  Yes.  Cold turkey.  My house has turned for the decidedly messy these intervening years.  Went to an Italian eatery with Himself a couple of years ago and the lovely North Italian waiter brought us a complimentary café Italian with our dessert.   This turns out to have been a gateway coffee, as I've been off the wagon and consorting with the demon bean ever since to varying degrees.

Yes, I'm drinking so much coffee lately that I'm referring to it as the demon bean.

Um. I sort of have to.  I have metric butt-tonnes to read and do for school, and still working one day a week at the salt mine.  It's sort of not a question of whether or not to drink coffee.  I do try to stop at noon.  The first couple of weeks with school, insomnia was a problem, but I seem to be settling into a bit of a routine and sleeping more soundly and for more of the night.  When I feel I have my mud in more of a ball (after the 3 tests I have next Monday and Tuesday), I'll return to yoga and that will surely help.

For now, though, I'll keep fires on the shrine of the demon bean burning.

The song above is one of my all-time favorites.  You can see the absolute mastery of Rufus' playing.  Rufus is obviously a classically trained musician, and both his parents are famous singer/songwriters in their own right, as is his sister, Martha.  One startling thing about Rufus is the exquisiteness of his voice production, an absolute rarity in the non-classical realm.  You can hear that his voice is very even, and you can always tell it's the same voice from the top to the bottom of the range, and this is a hallmark of good quality singing. In fact, I expect that if he lives to be geriatric, he'll be able to sing in this sublime manner well into old age.  This is why you have many opera singers performing well into their 60s and 70s - the instrument is well cared-for and properly used.

On the songwriting, this number is structurally superb.  The minor modulation and oom-pahpah underpinning is almost like a carnival calliope, giving the song a sort of melancholy sweetness. Nostalgic.  Each new passage of the melody climbs a beautiful arpeggio to leap to a top interval that astounds and is tonically delightful, wonderfully unexpected.  This is, in my opinion, one of the finest songs composed in my lifetime.

So... I'm getting through my days, trying to concentrate on what I have to learn, but I am sustained by coffee, ice cream, the attendant talisman of beautiful perfume and the thought of music which delights me. 

Here's to coping mechanisms. Long may they keep us waving.

Rather tuckered out...

School seems going well, though it is generally quite tiring. 

Most of my classmates could be my kid. 

Here's to late bloomers, eh?

I love my Velcro puppies...

...but why must Praline hook her claws into my calf in the middle of the night?

Oz, The Powerfully Grating

Saw the recent Oz movie on DVD this weekend. James Franco only ever plays James Franco. From the Judy garland film, we already knew Oz has feet of clay, but JF is so abidingly unctuous and weasel-like that I sometimes longed for this to be a stoner comedy. 

Great job on effects, and Mila Kunis was great as the green witch. Nice touch with the acid tears burning her hide. She was less one-dimensional than you'd expect. 

Defeating the witches without bloodshed, though?  On second thought, maybe this was meant to be a stoner comedy. I wouldn't try listening to Dark Side Of The Moon to it, though. 

China Girl was particularly adorable. Colors were rich and beautiful, and the soundtrack was excellent. Worth seeing if you like that sort of thing. I am thrilled to report it's not a musical, either. 

Oopsie!!!

Happy late birthday to my handsome young nephew. I was so excited about the weekend that I lost track of dates. 

I'm very proud of this fine young man. :)

"Why are you so cheerful?"

Went to work at the Salt Mine yesterday, on the phone all day as is my duty.  The 24 year young woman in the next veal cube sounded openly disdainful that I'm so cheerful on the phone to customers and vendors as she asked why. I patiently explained that I'm determined to have a good day, and to be kind and helpful to all I can be. 

Is that so difficult to understand?  I'm not trapped there forever. I'm moving forward with my life and working hard to achieve my ends.  Even if I were in that job the rest of my life, though, what does it serve me to be sour or touchy to people who depend on me helping them?  That would only ruin my day, and this is a precious day of my one life here.  There's enough nastiness in the world to go around without me generating more.  My day is mine and I choose happy.

Holy crap, I've got SO much to do-- it's affecting my sleep.  I've been frantically rushing from one assignment to the next because my pre-ordered books came in late and one class started with a big project due today.  It's been many years since I had 4 classes at once, and I never had 4 such demanding classes at one time, so the time management issue is a major challenge.  I'm going to get a working schedule for my study time structured within 24 hours and no more of this rushing-about. 

And still, I am cheerful.  It's going to be a great day!

Um, maybe McDonald's workers DO need a raise...

The customer is always ri--  wait.  On second thought...

[profanity alert]
I hope this is fake.  The audio doesn't sound right to me, but the video looks real.



McNugget Rage.

Wow.

People say and do pretty terrible things to folks working in customer service.  Living in the future is a little ironic, because since I was a tiny kid, Dad always said "don't ever do anything you'd be ashamed to have on the front page of every newspaper in the world."  At that time, of course, such a thing was absolutely not possible, but it was a very valid rule of thumb: don't do things you'd be ashamed to own publicly.  Period.  This video won't end up on any front pages, but I hope that people who know this woman call her out on her bad behavior.  There is no such thing as anonymity, and odds are, any acting out you do IS being documented in some way. 

We live in a graceless age.  There is a good possibility the woman in the video would not be ashamed if confronted with this video.  She was having a bad day over something, and I can guarantee you it wasn't the McNuggets, but the minimum wage guy at the window or the woman at the laundrymat or the disembodied voice at the end of the phone is a great place to dump a lot of baggage.  I've been angry about something before, but I've never felt entitled to abuse another person who was just trying to do their job. People should think twice before they say and do hateful, horrible things to other people.  I think the big brother thing of cameras and recordings everywhere is creepy, but that's another issue.  People who behave in monstrous fashion should be held accountable.

I hope that McDonald's is prosecuting.  They must have her license plate in their surveillance archives.  I know it's unlikely, but I hope this woman is ashamed of herself. 

Surreal.

Sleeping fitfully. 

Bleary eyed, something flashing under the cover. 

Am I dreaming?

Tiny firefly. I deliver him from the folds of the coverlet as Mochi looks on. 

Odd. 

Had a generally productive weekend...

But I'm having some frustrations with the material/technology on one course. I'm sure ill be able to get it sorted tomorrow, but for now, it's slightly vexing. 

Made a 93 on my first quiz on pathophysiology, then failed to learn a lesson there and got tripped up on more trick questions on the second, and made an 82 there. Oh well. 

Fibrin mesh

So cool!!!

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: pup me in the morning

I debated showing this one in all my morning glory, but Mochi was so sweet. I think it's a result of

all the time she spent alone as a pup, but she obviously wants full body contact when she sleeps. Yesterday morning, I snapped this photo when she was asleep ON me. Sweet baby. Love her so much. 

11 PM and all is sweltering...

About 90F here and I have a puppy glued to my back. I think it's a lingering effect of all her time alone, so I can't shoo Mochi away, poor baby.