Beast
May 25th, 2009 by admin
I promised to post this photo forever ago, and here it finally is! I hope to never see this look on my son’s face other than on a roller coaster.
Changes
May 16th, 2009 by admin
I’ve been lax about posting photos lately because the upload process, frankly, sucks. Unless I work from Chip’s house, the pics only halfway load and the process takes forfreakingever. Therefore, these photos are a little old, but still worth posting.
Chip and Kory ran the Sugar Maple 5k … Chip went on to run the mini, so this is kind of anticlimactic, but it was still an accomplishment.
Right after this shot, Kory turned to me and said “Oh dear God, this hurts.” He hadn’t run in a while.
I took the smart route and walked. That hurt too.
Later that day, Chip enlisted the help of my friend Anna to give him a new ‘do, and let me tell you, she enjoyed it.
If you can’t tell, my friend Anna is kind of a badass. She’s a three time cancer survivor and she’s committed to helping cancer patients, so Chip’s tail went to make hair for someone else.
The beard went too, and here’s the new Chip!
I’m only guessing that enough people have seen him now that I’m allowed to post these. If not … sorry Chip!
Kismet
May 10th, 2009 by admin
Some of you may remember a dog I had a while back. She was a solid white Great Dane named Ella, and she was the primary reason I became involved with Great Dane Rescue. Ella’s time with me began when I worked at the Kentucky Humane Society and I came in very early one morning to do a TV spot. I heard a horrific howl coming from one of the offices, so I opened the door to find a terrified 110 pound creature staring up at me. From that moment on, Ella would not let me out of her sight. I got in trouble for bringing her to meetings, taking her to television interviews, and keeping her next to my desk. Ella was deaf and had been bred within an inch of her life, which had been spent in cages, for the most part.
Over the course of 7 months, I fattened her up to a semi-healthy weight for a dog of her breed and size – a whopping 160 pounds. She still suffered from separation anxiety and hated to be away from me for any length of time.
I was renting a house at the time, and my landlord decided to check in at some point (to this day, I have no idea why he was trying to get in the house at all, but that’s creepy speculation best left alone). He caught sight of Ella and was terrified, as she was a large and imposing animal. He told me that if I didn’t get rid of her, I’d be evicted. I’d mentioned to him when I moved in that I worked for the Humane Society and that I might foster animals from time to time, but he didn’t seem to remember that conversation.
Heartbroken, I took Ella back to KHS. I sat outside crying for ages because I simply couldn’t imagine that she might bond with anyone the way she had with me, and I was worried about her health.
Three days later, I was at Cherokee Park with a friend. I spied a couple who had a pair of Great Pyrenees with them, and I struck up a conversation while their dogs submitted to excessive petting. As we were talking, the couple’s daughter came over and said something about “Ella.” I asked if she was, by any chance, talking about a white, deaf Great Dane. She was. We talked, and she ended up adopting Ella. She changed the dog’s name to Duchess (and really, what did the dog care – she was deaf anyway) and I helped her and her husband with the transition of taking this large, very dependent dog into their home. I even got to visit every so often. We lost touch after a while, but I knew that this incredible dog had found her way to a wonderful home.
When I was caring for Ella (Duchess), she was well into her fourth year. Great Danes have a life expectancy of roughly 9-11 years, and that’s if they’re healthy. I figured she passed away a couple of years ago – she wasn’t in good health at any point, really, and I figured she lived out the rest of her life happily.
Tonight, while walking down Bardstown Road, I spied a pair of Great Pyrenees. They’re hard to miss. I immediately recognized them as the same dogs I saw in the park so many years ago, and I asked their owners if they might, by chance, have a daughter who adopted a crazy, white, deaf Great Dane from the Humane Society. It was the same couple, and they assured me that Duchess is still with us and doing extremely well. She weighs about 180 pounds now, and while she has had numerous health problems, she is 11 years old – several years older than I ever expected her to be. Her “mom” is still completely smitten with her, and she has, obviously, ended up precisely where she was meant to be.
I call that kismet.
Fill In the Gaps
May 2nd, 2009 by admin
I’m ripping off a project that another blogger ripped off of another blogger who ripped it off of someone else. Or something like that. I found it here, and I’ve been intrigued with it ever since.
As an English major, I am utterly annoyed when someone quotes or mentions some great piece of literature and I have to respond “I haven’t read it.” Similarly, when great contemporary works are mentioned I feel as though I’m falling down on the job if I don’t keep up. I realize I can’t read every influential piece of literature in existence, but I feel that attention should be paid to those works which have formed the basis of the literary world. The contemporary works that continue the tradition of great literature are even more impressive, for they manage to recreate age-old plots in ways unique enough to astonish us all over again.
The idea is to read 100 books in 5 years that are all “important” pieces of literature – to “fill in the gaps” in one’s literary background. Obviously this is a subjective matter, and I have yet to compile my entire list, but I’m soliciting suggestions. Meanwhile, I’m picking up books like Pride and Prejudice whenever I can so I actually have the books to read when the times comes. I figure this way I have something to read at all times, and the things I read can contribute to this list rather than to the deterioration of my IQ. As some of you may know, I have a tendency to read junk when school isn’t in session.
Aside from all that nonsense, the quarter is plugging along and SOS is gaining members thanks to the t-shirts, so thanks to all who donated! I’m writing so much for school this quarter, blogging is difficult to fit in, but I will try to be a little more diligent with updates.
In the mean time, you can check out this link if you’d like to see some truly adorable photos of Vicki and Joslyn crossing the finish line for the Derby Festival Marathon. Huge congratulations and admiration are due to Vicki for running the marathon, and the same to Chip and his l’il bro Joe for tackling the mini!
S.O.S
April 2nd, 2009 by admin
Meet my group.
Last year, I asked my Women’s Studies instructor if there was a group on campus for survivors of sexual and domestic violence. She said there was not, and she didn’t seem very happy about it. I told her I might be able to change that and, since then, I have. I started this group with her help, and it has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. The women I have met are amazing. They are strong, powerful, incredible forces of nature, the likes of which I have never seen.
I don’t ask people for much (I don’t think) but Sexual Assault Awareness Week is coming up, and I want to make my group’s voice heard. We have designed two t-shirts, one for men to wear and one for women. We have to raise the funds from private donors to make the shirts, because we choose to keep ourselves separate from the “university-approved” counselors. Therefore, I have set up a paypal account and I would truly appreciate your participation. Know that the funds you donate will go toward raising awareness of violence against women!
If you can help, in any way, please click below. If you can’t, just send us your kind thoughts as we endeavor to make the world a better place.
Because You All Want to Hear About My Weekend …
March 16th, 2009 by admin
I had a very nice weekend in Louisville, where I got to have a girls’ night, host a baby shower, and see my beautiful niecii. There are three now, in case you weren’t keeping track.
I don’t have photos of girls’ night, but I had a wonderful time hanging out with Laura, Melanie, and Julia. I didn’t even mind the fact that they made me watch U of L play – it was a good game, and I’m glad the Cards pulled it off.
The shower was for Kory’s cousin Matara, who doesn’t much care to have her photo taken, but I told her she’d thank me later. Little does she know I’m a photo addict and can’t help taking pictures, no matter who the subject is. (Yes, I just ended a sentence with a preposition. I’m almost done with the quarter, so deal.)
Anyway, the best photo I have of Matara refuses to upload properly, so I’m using the second best.
And here are all of the lovely ladies who attended:
Maybe it’s me, maybe it’s Chip’s house (where he kindly allowed us to host the shower) but I really like that photo. Everyone looks great.
My absolute favorite photo of Riley also refuses to upload properly, so you’ll have to settle for this:
If you didn’t already know what cute looks like, that’s it. For further proof, see the following:
I would also like to point out that Riley has gone from this:
To this:
Goofy dog.
The Tot Returns
March 11th, 2009 by admin
Tatie, aka Tater Tot, aka Slim Tatie, etc. has finally joined us at the new abode. He stayed over with Chip for a while so that I could sneak him in after my landlord made some repairs (since I MAY have neglected to mention that I own a cat when I moved in. If you knew what they were charging for the dogs, you’d understand). At any rate, he’s quite happy to be back with the menagerie and even seems to be coping with the fact that I cut him off from wet food, cold turkey.
Riley was ridiculously happy to see him … she keeps dangling toys in front of him as though he’s going to grab on and play tug-of-war, but all Tatie does is look at her disdainfully, as if to say, “Dude. I’m a cat.”
Welcome home, Tot.
Housecicles
March 3rd, 2009 by admin
I’m hoping that by posting these photos, the cold weather will take its leave for the season.
It was actually quite funny – I was standing in front of Chip’s house trying to take artsy photos of the massive icicles that hung from the gutters. It was ABSURDLY cold out, and no matter what I did, my camera wouldn’t take the shots I wanted. At first I thought it was the time of day – too much light, not enough light, shooting into the sun – something. I played with the manual focus, auto focus, white balance, f-stop, whatever. No matter what I did, the shot wouldn’t snap until I was just about fed up with standing there pressing the button.
Figure it out yet? Yeah. The self-timer was on. Therefore, if any of these shots are even remotely good, it is purely by accident.
(I recommend clicking on them to zoom in – the detail in the ice is kind of cool)
Home, Sweet Home
February 13th, 2009 by admin
Here are a few pics of the new place. I’d love to write something pithy or creative, but this quarter is kicking my ass in a way that I thought it would not. I expected to coast through, but I neglected to account for 19th century British authors. They are some seriously verbose people.
At any rate, here’s the new house:
It’s actually quite nice, although the exterior needs some work. Luckily, I’m only renting for the moment.
I own appliances for the first time in my life. It’s a little weird.
Do you like my knife holder? It’s my favorite kitchen apparatus.
We stay insanely busy, and I haven’t made it back to Louisville in entirely too long. I intended to come this weekend, but my son has THE PLAGUE. By which I mean, chicken pox. We’ll see how that works out.
And, We’re Back
January 20th, 2009 by admin
Sort of. The shuttle where my puny little blog lives died a painful death a few weeks ago, probably from a lethal dose of crappy blog entries. Rest assured, I will not let you suffer the same fate!
I’ll post something new as soon as I know we’re back up for real. In the meantime, go watch TNT’s new series “Leverage.” Highly entertaining.