Aamused in Austin, TX

Last weekend, she was WORN OUT! The excitement of the party preparations, the party itself, having Shiny there visiting was almost too much for an old dog. Sunday morning, Shiny and I sat having coffee and relaxing before our 4.8 mile walk about Berkeley and N. Oakland. Dottie was exhausted. She was in the living room because we were but she was snuggled up on Shiny's sofa, bed and sleeping even as we caffeinated ourselves.



This weekend, she's more alert. The good Doctor took a photo of her on Friday. Her winter coat is definitely coming in and her long blond curls are back!



He also managed to catch the Frankenkitty still for five seconds so he could snap a picture of her and her little white boots.

This cartoon illustrates a typical exchange between the dork dog and the franken kitty:


EDITED:
(from http://www.sinfest.net)

* Thank's lifehiker I had it wrong. RedIsADipChit

Whew, our Primaries are done. Maybe now these godawful political commercials will come to a halt for a few months!!

True to form the Great State of California lost my re-registration I mailed in when I moved. It occurred to me, somewhat belatedly--like yesterday afternoon at 2pm, that I had not yet seen my new voters registration card. I called the 800 number to find out what address I was registered under. I was still under my old address and so at 3:30 I announced I was shaving my head bald, donning yellow robes and going to the Hare Krishnas. And I did--well, some of it. My polling place is/was the Hare Krishna temple on Stuart street. I had not been there since the last election. Our electronic voting machines are history thanks to the Diebold scandal. I stood there with my sharpie and my paper ballot carefully marking each item.

I'm well aware that I'm not just voting for myself I'm also voting for the Enigma. He has no vote, he's a resident alien still in queue for citizenship. Of course he's a homeowner, a business man, a tax payer, and often grouses about taxation without representation. I let him grouse and we discuss and debate issues, propositions and candidates. Most often we agree, rarely we disagree. If I'm fence-sitting on an issue or a person I swing my vote in his direction so he has some kind of voice at the polls through me.

I'm not entirely happy with how the Primaries turned out, but I'm not surprised either. After Absentee votes are counted we will likely face a run-off for mayor of Oakland. While I don't live in Oakland (Berkeley's mayoral race and local issues are on the November ballot) I am interested in how the politics go. I work in Oakland, we're on the Chamber of Commerce and as such we have a vested interest in Oakland thriving. There may or may not be a run off for Democratic candidate for governor. I'm not a fan of Angelides, but it looks like he may have it over Westly. Jerry Brown, our exiting Oakland Mayor, easily won Attorney General for the State. That man is addicted to politics.

My biggest dilema was Proposition 82. The idea of the prop is a good one to provide universal preschool to all California children. Unfortunately it was also poorly written. I'm one of those really annoying citizens. I'm one who doesn't listen to the ads, tally up the list of endorsements, or just skim the pros and cons that come in my election ballot guide. I get online and pull the entire text of the Proposition and I READ it. Cures insomnia, let me tell you. I did that in this case and it sparked one of the rare debates between me and the Enigma about voting for or against. In the end we agreed to vote against even though it rankled because we both agree it is a very worthy idea, however this particular proposition is not the way to codify that idea and put it into action. I see in this morning's results listing that it was soundly defeated. Apparently I'm not the *only* one who dug a little deeper and looked at this thing.

On my way home from voting I took another long walk down hill to my house. The day was gorgeous and warm. We're now into our 30 degree temperature swings from morning to evening. I have to wear a microfiber jacket in the morning or I freeze while catching the bus. That means I have to CARRY the thing in the afternoon when I'm swealtering in 80 degree sunshine! By 6 o'clock, however, the fog has rolled in and we're back down to 50 degrees. Not wearing the jacket in the mornings will get me a cold, carrying it about in the afternoons will not. So, I am doomed to carry it.

I stopped in at Walgreens and picked up a few essential items and one non-essential one. Dork doggie has a new toy! It's a soft, fuzzy, squeaky, pastel colored lobster. We named it Rock. I brought it home and she seized it in her mouth as soon as I showed it to her. She growled at the cats if they got to close and carried it around in her mouth for a good ten minutes before I could get her to drop it so I could put on her leash and take her for a walk. She even turned down a peanut butter treat biscuit to keep it! While we were walking the Berkeley Free Market (aka a box on the curb of junk) yielded some small stuffed animals. I picked up a Wile E. Coyote with the tag still on for me and a 3" tall yellow Pikachu because Dottie dived into the box nose first and grabbed it. So now she has two new toys. She's a happy dog and very spoiled.

The cats have a new toy too. I discovered yesterday afternoon that someone, probably Frankenkitty, had managed to pull the tie string out of my workout pants. I found her and Sammy on opposite ends pouncing on the string and playing tug-a-war. That was a very entertaining sight!

Tonight, drinks with Dr Strangelove at Spats, tomorrow lunch with the Enigma. But for now--it's time to get to work. Oh, and have more coffee of course!

Ciao for Niao

there is next to NOTHING a Dork Dog WONT do for a Scooby Snack!

She sits, she heels, she potties, she waits at the corner, she doesn't tug on the leash, she smiles, she prances, she inhales the damn thing in between gulps. Of course now that we're back home she's trying to turn herself inside out for a 'walkie-treat'. All she's getting is 'good girl' praises and pettings. She only gets snacks for behaving on her walks. She's very food motivated, which is helpful in training. Strike that. She's food OBSESSIVE. Which means using food or treats as a behavior modification tool sometimes backfires on me. The snacks are high up on top of the fridge. Even the cats aren't prone to jumping up that far. Besides they'd rather gnaw off their own leg then assist that other species.

I've had Dottie a year now. Only in the past few weeks has Frankie decided 'screw the damn dog; I'm getting on the bed with mom ANYWAY.' Last night I even saw her walk right over the top of Dottie to climb up to where I sat. She curled up at my right hip, while Sammy slept curled against my left hip and the Dork dog flopped across my ankles where my legs were outstretched. The cats are currently fluffy, furry balls of snoozing lumps (in Sammy's case a snoring lump) over to the left side of my full size bed while once again the dork dog flops un lady-like across my ankles. At least she's keeping my feet warm.

They all look so cute, so sweet, so cuddly.


Little demons!

Dork dog you should learn, if you follow mom everywhere and constantly make yourself a pest, eventually it is going to back fire. I don't know where you got the idea that I need your watchful eye and assistance every time I go to the bathroom anyway. Its not my fault you were sitting on my feet and obsessively chewing on yourself for the NTH time in the past several days. So yes, you wound up in the tub with stinky anti-itch soap and hot water.

Mean ol' wicked mommy.

Meanwhile, washing a dog is really a lot like washing a car. Its all over once it rains and you're outside. Now, pardon me while I go clean her feet and wipe up the muddy dog tracks.