(memorial weekend)

i think ya'll can tell i took a bit of a writing holiday over the holiday weekend...aside from the aesthetic adjustments here i took some time off on the prose front.

my weekend accomplishments included the following:

i ran sixteen miles.
i acquired a bottle of Laphroaig Quarter Cask single malt scotch.
i drank a bit of that scotch. while puffing a cigar. like a grandpa.
branner peed on my bed.
i rearranged my home to give branner more floor space to run on.
and i capped it all off with pizza and a six-pack with chalise and her boy G.

other things happened too.

i missed summercamp, which at times was hard (i found some nice updates on the festival at music for ants...go check 'em). when the flaming lips came on at the bar i was at friday night, i mentally jumped to the festival and felt a longing for the weekend in the woods. having made the right decision for a lot of reasons, all in all i was alright with a long, open weekend in chicago.

this weekend my neighborhood's having a festival of its own...and if you're planning on attending you better let me know. i'm hoping to have a bit of an oper house policy this saturday, so please holler if you'll be nearby.

(puppy spray)

branner, my new vizsla puppy, has a few different moods that are becoming consistent.
the predominant mood is a mix of curiosity and shark.

basically while branner's feeling like a curious shark he's focused on biting the things that he can see. when the target of this chewing fights back or or yells, "NO", it's interpreted as encouragement. if the subject of this mouthy attack just moves across the room and ignores branner, he will most likely bark. i usually just respond with, "bark with your purse, sissy."

that mood has subsided a bit over the last 72 hours, and it's been replaced with a much preferred, much sweeter demeanor characterized by a lot of laying around and running into mirrors.

that audacious vizsla puppy in the mirror (i have a mirrored wall in my bedroom*) is STILL taunting branner and in order to establish dominance he's taken to hopping into the mirror with his teeth out only to be smacked in the face by the...mirror.

there's light barking involved, but the other puppy seems to be playing the repeat game right on cue.

the only other consistent mood we've seen here at Casa del D and Branner is dead tired.

which is obviously when most of the pictures are taken of said puppy**, and which usually includes a sort of exhausted moan on every exhale which seems to suggest something along the lines of, "do you have ANY IDEA how much WORK IT IS TO BE ME?"

or, "could i get a massage or SOMETHING because i'm SO TIRED...did you HEAR how TIRED I AM because if not I'LL CONTINUE MOANING."

i'm combating the less desirable moments (involving sharp puppy teeth) with a little of branner's own medicine, moaning dramatically at the same time that he does so he knows how TOUGH MY DAY WAS TOO.

it confuses him, and if you hadn't heard; confusion means QUIET in the world of puppy.

i'm not, as you might assume, biting back when the little guy is in shark mode...

no, i'm not quite as confident as to whether i'd win that battle outright.

instead, i've attained the upper hand in our epic battle for APLHA DOG del Casa by employing a mix of yelling and SPRAYING HIM INTO A CORNER with a water bottle.

which branner would prefer NOT EVER EVER EVER HAPPEN AGAIN.

*bawmp chicka bowwwwow.

**in the interest of, you know, still having a camera.

(fun with picasa)

camera whore.

(little dog on back)

i've learned a few things over the past few days and weeks.

there's stretches in which you only seem to hear bad news. there's stretches when you only seem to hear good news.

it's important to treat both with a level head, and to give people in your life the attention and support they deserve, even when things are kicking ass.

it's harder to convey love when things get hairy.

there's lots of downtime between the experiences and decisions that really shape your life in major ways.

usually those big, important times don't knock before they come in, don't wipe their feet, and sure as fuck don't care whether or not they got an invitation.

i have learned that as of late i've been frustrated with the pace of my life. i've felt like a hamster on a spinning wheel for a few months, and finally feel like that wheel's hit the ground.

it's a nice feeling.

but it's a lot more work than running in place.

oh,

and puppies loooooove to be petted.

but the phrase 'don't bit the hand that feeds you' is laughable in puppyspeak.

(yellow ball)

branner got a shiny yellow ball from daddy, which he ignored until this morning.



when it became the awesomest.

(puppy pix)

i've just resurrected myself from almost 40 hours of bedridden sickness, so i hope you all had a better weekend than that might suggest.

i have a few things to share, all of which are of major substance, and all of which shouldn't come before puppy pictures.

(sister's puppy)

my sister nancy is smarter than i am.

and now, she's also much more efficient at acquiring puppies than i am.



welcome to the family, shiloh!

(more puppy pics)

(puppy pics)

(the vizsla)

yesterday i rather archaically announced that i've not only decided to get a dog, but i have pictures of the little pup, who was born on february 8th.

i didn't mean to be so absent as to detail on the whole thing, but yesterday was one of those days that i very much treated like a vacation. from everything.

now, this little piece of puppy-ful news is something i've kept a lid on for quite awhile.

i actually found my breeder of choice a few months ago, before chicago became an ice bowl of wintery mayhem, and due to a very lengthy waiting list and my personal desire to wait until warmer weather, i'd really only paid my down payment and stepped to the sidelines.

all i knew until last friday was that i had first dibs on the first male pup born in 2008.

until friday morning, when i got an email from linda busch, a nationally known vizsla breeder in illinois, with the three pictures you saw yesterday and a promise to send weekly photographic updates as the little guys flop around their new world.

i spent a very long time thinking about the idea of a dog, and what type of dog i'd get if that day were to come. i asked lots of dog owners how they felt about their breeds and their experiences.

perhaps more useful (i'm hoping) was my attention to how my days were spent, and whether each day was amenable to having a dog at home...which i think is when you start to realize you're really considering going through with it.

i tried to give myself an honest assessment as to where i spent my time, how much i was home, and what changes i'd have to make to account for a furry dependent.

and while i harbor no doubt that i don't completely realize how much of a change this will be (and how challenging it will be), i do think it's a set of changes and sacrifices that i want to make.

i chose a vizsla because of their loyalty and gentle nature. they're incredibly friendly, adaptable, and smart. they like to be trained, they're playful, and they're freaking beautiful.

i also wanted a dog who'd go running with me.

the little guy will come home at the end of march, roughly, and won't have a name until then. i'm a bit uncomfortable at naming him when we haven't met, and i generally prescribe to that notion for both pets and children...of course i'll think about it (constantly)...but i think a name is more meaningful and concrete when there's a living, breathing thing associated with it. it's less up for debate.

although suggestions are welcome and encouraged.

i'm all for ideas.

so we're down to the wire. the puppie's been born. life's about to change.

tell me i'm not crazy.

(baby boy)

I'M GONNA BE A DADDY!