Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Daisy is fine


The growth removed from her face was benign!
And the cyst removed from her neck, while large, was not even biopsied it was so obviously nothing to worry about. But the incision is rather nasty. And she can't wear a collar, so while we are waiting for her harness to arrive we have been walking her without a leash and she could not be better behaved. What a girl!
This picture was taken shortly after the surgery last week. Now, unfortunately, the stitches have disappeared and the wound is more open, but she will be fine, vet visit tomorrow.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Good to see you, Tina

It was great to see Tina Fey again doing the news on Saturday Night Live. When it comes to the two Democratic candidates, I'm still changing my mind from day to day, but Tina threw me back into the Hillary camp, at least for a while.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Wonderfully Wordy Playwrights

Fascinating article in today's New York Times about two of my favorite playwrights, Tom Stoppard and Edward Albee. Unfortunately I have yet to see productions of so many of their plays, since I have been living here in Tampa for the last couple of decades. I'm thankful that Jobsite Theater has been doing some provocative stuff in the last few years and this spring they are even doing Stoppard!


Good thoughts for a good dog

Daisy will be having surgery tomorrow. She will have a mole removed from her face; it's been growing and it needs to be biopsied. And she has two rotten molars that will be extracted. Hopefully the mole is benign and hopefully her breath will improve.
Think positive thoughts for our girl and for us.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

We really don't need the networks anymore

Hopefully the writers strike will be over today or tomorrow. But here's what some wild, crazy, and creative writers have been doing in the meantime.

Free parties in great museums

Yet another on my "Why I want to live in NY again" list.

Deserving dogs

Recently Jen and Leigh gave our dogs each a toy that is shaped like a football but it's rubber and very open net kind of design. You can put treats in and they need to work a bit to get them out. Even Dylan, who normally disdains toys, is enjoying his (due to the treat aspect, of course), and amazingly Daisy has not yet destroyed any of them. Most interesting, as always happens when we give the same toy in different sizes to Daisy (70 plus pounds) and Marley (a steady 14), Daisy loves the tiny toy, Marley loves the big one.

Daisy's new bed just arrived yesterday. I ordered her another bed from Earthdog. They make wonderful stuff for dogs from hemp, we have their beds, collars, harnesses and leashes. One of Daisy's quirks is that she has destroyed bed after bed after bed. Mark has built beds, we have bought expensive, cheap, every different shape and material and she has quickly destroyed all of them. We have no idea why since she clearly loves laying on her beds. I tried a crib mattress which she did not destroy but clearly found uncomfortable -- she was too heavy for the cheap springs. Then we found Earthdog. They make the pillows out of recycled cotton and it washes lumpy but just fine and evens out when they lay on it. The cover is hemp and it washes beautifully. They all love the beds and Daisy has thus far not even gnawed on a corner. She's had her bed for over a year now. So I ordered her another so she would have one in the bedroom as well as the living room. I hoped she would love it enough to sleep on it at night.

She loves it. But she still got in bed with us last night.

So did Marley. He feels the chill and can't wait for us to get under the covers.

Those orange and blue pillows you see on the bed are the Earthdog beds that belong to Dylan and Marley. Mark and I like to use them as back pillows when reading in bed, they are supportive and comfy. Here's what's even greater about Earthdog -- they actively support fostering and rescuing dogs. You can see pictures on their site of the many dogs they have adopted and named their designs after, and other dogs who are available for rescuing. I love a do good company that sells good stuff.

Happy Valentine's Day!


This is
the card
we received
from Jesse,
Thom and
Jasper
yesterday!
Ours was
personalized,
but since I
don't have
my new camera,
I just grabbed this
from a favorite website
of Jesse's, etsy. I love etsy too.

New camera

I bought a new camera yesterday. Only my second digital camera and nothing is wrong with the first except that I cannot tolerate the shutter delays before and also after taking a picture. I went to look at it yesterday but then ordered it online last night (amazingly just hours before the sale price disappeared!) to get more amex points so I don't have it yet.
I'm excited about getting to know it, hope I can make myself actually read the book.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

A Dark Book

A thoughtful, affective, unusual op-ed piece from the St. Pete Times, worth taking a couple of minutes to read. You might need a tissue.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Beautiful and Brilliant



It sometimes may seem like we have just two adorable little poodles living with us, Dylan and Marley, our Poodle Rescue boys. But I want to call attention to my big and smart and pretty girl, Daisy, who has mastered the English language like no dog I have ever known. And who loves to pretend that she just can't see those little poodle boys. And those tiny toys just must be hers, who else could possibly want them. And who still can jump on the bed every night, even with her plastic tendons. She's ten now, but I still remember the day our vet, who had come to my library for a Pet Week program, told me that she had been holding onto a dog that had been found wandering in a supermarket parking lot on a dark rainy night for two months because she knew that this dog belonged in our family. Our precious Patty dog had died the day before Daisy was found, and the vet knew we wouldn't be ready to hear it. So she waited the two months, and then two more when I said no. And then I said yes.
And, while I don't think of myself as much of a birdgirl, these are my children too (though they are really more Mark's kids). Halle is our very noisy African Grey. We are her fourth family, and I would like to say we are her forever family, as I do with all our other animals, but she will likely outlive us.
Jules is the cockatiel who flew into our lives while we were sitting in a park in St. Pete waiting for a play to begin.