Stella Meets Santa.

Stella and I met Santa (aka John Woestendiek ) last Saturday for a "South Baltimore Christmas" photo in Riverside Park, complete with lawn chair.

John had an eventful day, best illustrated by photosets starting here and here. Or you can just read his blog entry- he's quite charitable. Not surprised he's not doing it again on the 6th in Federal Hill- but if you didn't get your pups picture you should! It's only $5 and benefits BARCS' Franky Fund, providing medical care to sick and injured animals

Stella liked Santa just fine, and happily took some treats from him, but was confused by the whole posing thing. This is her puzzled face.

Also? My hair is way too long. I need to stop being lazy and get it cut.

B-More Dog!

Are you a member?

Hobo Times A-Comin'.

In the light of current economic trends, I think that hobo times are upon us.

I therefore claim one of the 700 hobo names described by John Hodgman in his treatise The Areas of My Expertise.

#538: Shanty Queen Elizabeth Regina

Let it be known throughout the land.

wtfpalin

Atomic is the coolest store evar- proof is in the wtf.

wtfpalin
Originally uploaded by sugarfreak

Free handbags, whoohoo!

So I'm all about the free. And all about the bags.
Anyway, you should try and get a free handbag!
HandbagPlanet is giving away 24 bags in 24 hours to celebrate their launch on October 15, 2008 so try it out!

Research

This is my favorite comic strip of all time, Dilbert, perfectly describing what it is like to be a Researcher sometimes. If only I could be like this guy!

Good Pit Bull (Hell, DOG) Owners...

Stella at 5 months- hiding from paparazzi

1. DO NOT alter their animal's appearance for unnecessary reasons. This includes ear and tail docking.

2. Crate-train their animals. Veterinarians and trainers agree this is the easiest way to potty-train an animal, as well as prevent separation anxiety and destruction caused by teething and a puppy's natural chewing impulses, which often don't begin until a puppy is older.

3. DO NOT strike or otherwise physically punish a puppy. This is counterproductive and will eventually come back to make the puppy aggressive.

4. Socialize their animals early, and often- so they do not fear things. Before your puppy is 12 weeks old, make sure it has met other adults, children, and babies, as well as people of other races. Also make sure it has met dogs (that you know have had ALL VACCINATIONS) and cats, if possible. Take your pup for car rides and walks so they experience different sounds and smells.

5. DO NOT take their puppy to a dog park or dog "common area" before they've had all their vaccines (usually 3 months). This exposes them to parvo, a devastating virus that is often deadly.

6. Exercise their puppy regularly- one hour of walking/heavy play per day is important once the puppy is past three months of age unless there are health problems.

7. DO NOT give their puppy adult food before 6 months of age. Puppies need the extra vitamins and fats in puppy food. Make sure the puppy only eats the amount recommended. Do not feed dogs people food!

8. Spay/neuter their dog when their vet recommends. Breeding dogs should be left to licensed breeders, and fixing your pup means they will live longer and be less aggressive.

A happy dog is hard work but well worth it!



Originally posted on the Sugar Network

Last weekend.

There was a storm. Like few I've ever been in. The thunder was so bad I gave up sleeping at 5 am and laid down on the couch with Stella so she would stay calm. And the lightning! It was like there was a flash constantly going off outside the window. I actually turned on The Weather Channel to make sure there wasn't a tornado coming.

When I let Stella out around 6:30 it was foggy. At least that's what I thought at first. And then I smelled it and felt my eyes sting. Like I was at a big old bonfire. I had heard sirens earlier in the night but that's not uncommon- I live near a fire station and a highway. But the sirens got steadier and steadier... Stella was freaking from the noise so I thought I'd better take her for a walk. And I could see what was going on. As soon turned onto Keswick I knew something had happened.



As I started to walk up Keswick fire engines went by, one after the other. Then I realized they were just sitting there. From Field Street all the way up to 33rd. I kept waiting to see a house on fire, a person being loaded into be an ambulance, something. Then I got to the corner of 33rd and Keswick (about three blocks from my house).



The Mount Vernon United Methodist Church was on fire. More appropriately, it was smoking. You can't see the number of water jets aimed at it from my cameraphone picture but there were several. I watched the steam and smoke rise off the building in disbelief. It was apparently struck by lightning.

It's hard to stand still when big things are happening. I walked Stella up to Chestnut south of 34th street (also filled with fire engines). Standing with the other early-morning dogwalkers and other lookers-on, I watched people who had been evacuated from their homes, stand in fear and panic while firemen tried to keep them calm and make them comfortable. I saw shingles go flying off the roof as they were hit by enormous streams of water. I have never seen that many fire trucks in my life.



They took down the steeple soon after- it is boarded up and fenced off. Lots of people have stopped by to take a look, to snap a picture, to think. The church itself is stone, over 160 years old. But with the inside destroyed to the tune of $5.5 million, much history has been lost and a lot will be needed to restore this already-struggling little gem, site of weekend yard sales and corner chats.

Baltimore Sun coverage

fun with flickr

OK, so I found this on Queering Domesticity (a GREAT blog). She got it from Robyn of craft & found. It is so cool I wanted to pass it on! The idea is to make a flickr mosaic that represents you.

Here's mine:

1. For My Friend Jo Ann, 2. Shellfish symphony, 3. Spaulding Fibre, 4. Blue Sky and Clouds, 5. Russell Crowe DSC_6788, 6. Gin & Tonic, 7. Dublin City, Ireland, 8. Moonstruck chocolates, 9. I don't know the answer, 10. yiayia mom stella 1948, 11. Loyal North Lincoln Militia, Old Barracks, Burton Road, Lincoln, 12. blue steel

The idea is that you go to the Flickr search box and type in the answer to each of the following questions, find your favorite pic off the main page, and enter the url for the photo into the Mosaic Maker.

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you attend?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10.What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your Flickr name.

Thanks, Meaghan!

Brooke Hogan said WHAT?

"You know what? I am actually not that much into voting. I think it’s kinda crazy that a woman is running, because I think that women deal with a lot of emotions and menopause and PMS and stuff. Like, I’m so moody all the time, I know I couldn’t be able to run a country, ‘cause I’d be crying one day and yelling at people the next day, ya know?"
—Brooke Hogan, when asked who she's voting for by a potential roommate on her series Brooke Knows Best.
-on E! Online

OK, where do I start with why this bothers me?

Is it the fact that we seem to celebrate stupidity by giving people like the unelectable Ms. Hogan, Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie, etc. TV shows? Not to mention shows like The Hills or Krappy Kardashians or whatever it's called. I can't even keep track of them anymore.

Or is it because a 19-year old woman would actually think like that in this day and age? So, what- women are OK to raise the next generation of leaders, just not BE one of those leaders? Or men don't have emotions?

Or is it that this was even reported, and therefore pissed me off?

Don't worry, Brooke Hogan (or whatever your name is). You will never run a country. You will never run a borough, population 14! As long as you open your mouth and just let words come flying out without any thought, you will never run anything. NO ONE takes you seriously. And if you want to know why, just re-read what you said and realize that you know less that nothing. If you knew nothing, you would have kept your mouth SHUT.

Hampden has a killer Walk Score!

Another reason why I love Hampden-

It's WALKABLE! My address got a 74 out of 100 and I live on the south edge.

Not that I'm always taking advantage of that, of course. But I can. And I am going to even more now that I'm reminded of how lucky that is!

Now it's true, I'm still gonna drive to get groceries (too heavy) and prescriptions (I love my CVS) but I forget sometimes that most things are just so close and I get rushed. But soon my work will be moving to within walking distance and that will be EXCELLENT!

What's your Walk Score?

http://www.walkscore.com/

Stella plays it coy

What could I possibly add to this?

Where do you fall on The Political Compass™?

Well lookie here! I'm on the left!

In other words, I'm a stinking liberal. No bones about it. Not a big surprise.


Apparently I am somewhere between Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, and the Dalai Lama. Quite flattering, actually.

Is anyone else disturbed that Bush is more "facist" and more "right" than any other current leader?

Take the test for yourself! The Political Compass™
I'm curious to hear how other people do on this test- I get the feeling that many of the bloggers/ twitterfolk I am in touch with are also going to be on the left.

Straight Talk Express, page 1

Straight Talk Express, page 1
Originally uploaded by Mobtownshank

Mobtownshank is bringing the truth to the people. Fight the power, Benn!

Fashion Can Kill

Bradley Bayou has figured it out. But at what cost? I wish there was a way that men could mentally experience, just for a day, what women go through. The hatred of the body, the shame, the humiliation.

Still, he is trying and did a brave thing. Let's hope it wakes people up.

Down in the Hole

-OR-
My real estate situation is paining.

So for the last 5-6 years (who knows?) I've lived in an unusual, character-filled 1800s house in Stone Hill, a very old neighborhood in Baltimore that I consider part of Hampden (although I'm quite sure the people who paid $350K-$1M for their homes do not). The house is quaint- 6 and 1/2 foot to 7 foot ceilings, three floors, "chimney" staircase- so the rent is cheap. I'm one of only a few renters in the neighborhood and my house is the smallest and not in the state my neighbors would prefer. I get criticisms about the landscaping (I try to keep it neat but I'm no gardener, sometimes there will be weeds IN MY YARD), if my car bumper is in front of their property, blah, blah, blah. We live in a city, not the suburbs.

And, frankly, over the last two years the place has fallen apart. I currently have an exposed duct heating system in my kitchen (rather than in the wall) because the wiring is so old that it would have been too expensive to hard-wire it. There is a large section of my kitchen floor that is plywood because it started to collapse a few months ago and had to be replaced. Last week I had no electricity for a day. Oh and the bathroom and third floor aren't insulated.

So I'm looking for a place for under $1,000 a month in Hampden. For two people, that's not a shoebox because it's my brother living with me still and we need some space.

HA! NOT LIKELY.
So I'm stuck in this cold collapsing shack surrounded by snotty neighbors FOREVER.
WAH.

What's your theological worldview?

What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Classical Liberal You are a classical liberal. You are sceptical about much of the historicity of the Bible, and the most important thing Jesus has done is to set us a good moral example that we are to follow. Doctrines like the trinity and the incarnation are speculative and not really important, and in the face of science and philosophy the surest way we can be certain about God is by our inner awareness of him. Discipleship is expressed by good moral behaviour, but inward religious feeling is most important. Classical Liberal 75% Emergent/Postmodern 75% Modern Liberal 71% Roman Catholic 46% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 43% Charismatic/Pentecostal 39% Neo orthodox 36% Reformed Evangelical 11% Fundamentalist 4%

99.9% « The Website of Unknowing

99.9% « The Website of Unknowing

Thanks to DiSnazzio for showing me this site! Carl McColman's Blog on "Cafeteria Catholics" (those who choose to be Catholic while differing with the Church on issues of doctrine) was amazing.

“Cafeteria Catholic” and “the cafeteria is closed” are insults, typically used to imply that conscientious dissidents are traitors — disloyal to the church.I find it odd that the traditionalists would dare to accuse others of being traitorous, since Christ suggested that the one who calls another a traitor will answer for it in hell fire (Matthew 5:22).

Meanwhile, statements like “one cannot be 99.9% Catholic” are forms of judgment. So anyone who says something like this appears to be disobeying Christ’s command as laid out in Matthew 7:1.

Definitely check out the rest of the article if you are interested. I found it a relief to read what I somehow knew from a young age, that it's OK to not agree with everything "The Church" tells you, that you can believe it's a good thing without believing everything they say, that the sum outweighs its parts.

My baby goes under the knife- on tv.

This was definitely the most interesting Valentine's I'm likely to ever have (since I'm not particularly fond of the day, single or no)!

Stella got spayed.

You're gonna do whaaat?
Aw hell to the naw.

But as a supermodel!
Well, that's different. I accept.


The Maryland SPCA here in Baltimore City opened a new low cost spay/neuter clinic and she was the "model" pit bull puppy for the procedure- since all their puppies are fixed before adoption they wanted a community pit bull to use as an example.

Now, the fact that she has a heart on her chest, and that she turned 4 months old, all on Valentine's Day?

...and is not afraid to pose nude?

All a coincidence- it's all about who you know and the wonderful man who adopted her mother (a shout-out to Vince C!) knew the Development Director at MD-SPCA and suggested Stella.

More surprising- we ended up being featured on two local newscasts as part of the story: WJZ (CBS) filmed part of her surgery (don't worry, no gross stuff) and WMAR (ABC) was really funny. The opening was also covered in the Baltimore Sun although we weren't mentioned.

The MD-SPCA people did a fantastic job- everyone was so nice and just perfect, really. Stella is doing wonderfully (although cranky that she can't be as active as usual) and I couldn't have asked for a better experience.


I can has sticks AND chewies again?

Baby, I'm a Star.

My puppy is a star! (And I am a stage mom.)

The Maryland SPCA is opening a new spay & neuter clinic for low-income eligible pet owners here in Baltimore- hoping that it will encourage owners to get their animals spayed/neutered without as much of a concern for costs. They wanted to use a pit bull/pit bull mix puppy both to educate about the breed and to encourage people to spay/neuter their pit bulls and other popular "city dogs". Since they spay their puppies before adoption they were looking for one in the city still needing to be spayed- and my sweet Stella fit the bill.

Not only will my puppy with a little heart on her chest be celebrating Valentine's Day by getting "fixed" but I just realized that the 14th will be Stella's birthday (4 months old!) That is a whole lotta coincidences, yes?

If you (or anyone) is interested, there are pictures of her here (lots of new ones):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/annrc/sets/72157602744958902/

This is Stella at 7 weeks. She is twice as big now at 12 weeks but I've been so busy being with her I haven't had a chance to post new pictures. I will soon, I promise!