Swayze the Brave

And you thought you had a rough week! Swayze had surgery a few days ago to have a tumor removed - here he is showing off his stitches. After the surgery, the vet said he felt optimistic that it was benign, but the test results won't be back for a week or two. On top of that, he has ring worm on his head, which is apparently a bacteria thing (no actual worms).

We've been trying all sorts of tricks to get him to take his pills. Just throwing it in with his food worked for a while, and after that the old mix-it-with-tuna trick worked once or twice. Now were on to the tried and true method of Dave holding him down while Rae jams the pill down his throat.

Apparently guards the trash cans...

Came across this guy (gal?) in the back yard near the trash cans. Yikes!

I was so impressed that I took a few pictures. I wish I would have taken one with me holding up a quarter next to it so that you could tell how big it was. Of course, that would have involved getting closer to it.

Snacks

In case you're not in the know, these are really yummy. Did you know you can buy cookies at amazon.com? Me neither. You can bet they're on my wishlist now though.

I got a box for the office, and also a box of the standard milk chocolate ones. Rae bets they'll be gone in a day. I'm hoping each box will last a week. So far, one day, three cookies. But the day is not over yet.

This American Life

I have decided that This American Life is the greatest radio show ever. Produced at WBEZ in Chicago, hosted by Ira Glass, it airs weekly on NPR.

One of my personal favorite episodes is Know Your Enemy. Act two in this episode features Jello Biafra, who should be one of your childhood heroes if you're between 30 and 40 years of age.

Spanish Scooters

I was captivated by the scooters in Barcelona. There are thousands of them everywhere. Folks were riding small motorcycles too, such as the BMW F650GS.

In Barcelona, scooters are treaded much as bicycles are treated in the U.S. Traffic laws are applied loosely at best. Parking a car in Barcelona is like parking in Manhattan, but parking a scooter in Barcelona is as simple as pulling up on the sidewalk and turning off the engine.

I got a kick out of the businessmen riding (scooting?) to work in their suits.

Barcelona!

Holy smokes -- I'm in Spain!

I arrived in Barcelona on Saturday morning. So far, I've seen one million scooters, drank espressos, come close to trying to pet a pack of feral cats, had terribly irregular sleeping patterns, and explored the downtown/port area.

It took all the restraint I could muster not to pet the cats. They were so cute! But there were a bunch of them, and none of them had collars. Then I noticed that they were eating food off the ground (folks here apparently leave piles of cat food on the street for the feral cats to eat). I asked the guy at the hotel if the cats were wild.

Hotel Guy: "Wild?"

Me: "Do they live with people?"

Hotel Guy: "Oh, no, they are wild."

Me: "So I should not pet them?" (with accompanying hand gesture)

Hotel Guy: "It would not be a good idea."

This is the Port de Barcelona. I brought my camera, but I forgot the cable that connects it to the computer, so I'll have to wait until I get home to post pictures of my own.

Having trouble falling asleep? This is sure to knock you unconscious -- read about the conference on computational plasticity I'm attending.

Greatest Picture Ever?

I was looking through my digital photo archives to pick out an image for my profile when I came across this gem. It's from Halloween 2003.

In case you don't know me - yes, it's a costume. The muscle shirt really completes the look if you ask me.

Saved by the Mandles

I'm talking 'bout man candles, not man sandals (a post in their own right).

I'm at my work apartment last night, showering up after a trip to the gym -- and the power goes out! At first it was on-again off-again, and then it was just off. There are no windows in my bathroom...it was so dark I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.

Okay, so I manage to bathe in the dark. But then I'm trying to get ready for bed and I can't see a damn thing. Then I remember -- I have mandles! They're right there in the same spot where I put them a year ago when I moved in. Lit twice in the first week, then expelled from my mind altogether.

Matches? No problem. I keep them stacked OCD-style on my cigar box, right there on the dinner table.

Once I got everything under control with the mandles, I took a look outside. Sure 'nuf, the whole neighborhood was blacked out. Eerie! I was glad it wasn't a fuse in my building, because I might have actually had to deal with that myself.

Added bonus: no power means I couldn't set my alarm clock, so I got to sleep in!

Illustration Invitation

If anyone is inspired to draw illustrations for Rose or Froggy, go for it!

Too bad you can't post images in a comment (please correct me if I'm wrong about this!).

I guess you could post them on a different blog and put the URL in a comment. That would work. Or just e-mail me if you have my e-mail address (which I don't want to post for fear of the spam).

Snail Tale

It was hide-and-seek time! Rose the snail left her garden work behind and ran to the grassy patch. She looked for places to hide while she waited for Sally and Peanut to arrive. Rose saw the dandelion where she had hidden last time -- what a great spot that had been! Today, she thought, her hiding spot would be just as good.

Sally and Peanut finally arrived. "Ready to play?" they asked. Rose was ready indeed. "Let's play!" she shouted, "I'll hide first!"

But Peanut found her behind the round stone almost immediately. Rose's hiding spot in the tall flowers didn't fool her friends either. Why was Rose having such a hard time at her favorite game? "I'll try harder this time," she thought, "they'll never find me in the mossy log." But they did find her, and quickly. "No fair!," shouted Rose, "you peeked!" But Sally and Peanut had not peeked. It was Rose's shell that had given her away; it stood out against the green moss on the log. "I quit!", said Rose, "I've had enough hide-and-seek."

Rose felt unhappy as she headed home. She was tired from all her work in the garden. She was frustrated because her hiding spots had been discovered so quickly. She was worried that the vegetables she planted might not grow.

Rose went to her garden when she got home. As she looked around, she saw a familiar face -- it was Betty the Butterfly! Betty had flown over from her home in the apple tree to help with the tomatoes and cucumbers. "I thought you might need some help!" said Betty.

Rose and Betty spent time together, working in the garden. Betty was concerned about her friend. "Rose, you look so tired! How much time have you been spending on your garden?" When Rose told Betty that she had spent many hours working in the garden, Betty had an idea. "Why don't you take a rest in your snail house, and I'll finish up with the tomatoes? Then we can have our supper together." Rose didn't want to take a break, she was worried about the plants and wanted to keep working in the garden. But Betty the Butterfly insisted, "you go have a nap," she said, "I'll be finished here in no time."

When Rose laid down for a nap, she fell into a deep sleep. She dreamt of ripe red tomatoes, and of all the wonderful hiding places near the grassy patch. When she finally awoke, Betty had finished the garden work, and together they cooked a tasty dinner. As they ate, Rose thanked Betty for her help.

"Best of all," said Rose, "you gave me a chance to take a rest. I didn't realize how tired I had become working in the garden. I was so tired that I behaved badly when the game of hide-and-seek didn't go my way."

The garden didn't seem so overwhelming, and hide-and-seek didn't seem so frustrating, now that Rose was resting in her snail house with her good friend Betty.