It's Electric

Friends, I spotted the elusive electric wookie today, for as hard as these pic were to get- you'd think they would be better. These do not capture the extent of the sequins, or were they rhinestones, no matter, I risked my life to bring you these. The winged animal on the back was absolutely glistening and yes, those pockets are studded. Enjoy.

And natch he was looking at jewelry- despite being the glitz equivalent of falling off his barstool. hearts, k

searching

You love it.

*L

taking indecision to a whole new level

...ugh
...You can vote and choose whether we abort or keep our unborn child. For the first time, your vote on the topic of abortion can make a difference.


for the first time? If they have the baby, it'll be awesome s/he learns of the blog.

*k

parking enforcement

*L

.....they could have hired the Cleveland tourism guy
...remember how everyone in ny was from ohio? makes sense now ;)

And you thought Baltimore was bad....

Wyomissing

Finally: The tapeworm's moment in the sun!

This is just too hilarious to be true. Yet it is. And so close to your humble states, ladies. ;) j

Source: http://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/initiatives/people.aspx#1069

Assigned Number: 1069 Filed: 02/01/2010 Sponsors Mr. James E. Vaughn Public Contact Information: 14416 168th Street Orting, WA 98360 Phone: 253-241-9634 Fax: 253-444-3820 jvaughn50@comcast.net

Ballot Title Statement of Subject: Initiative Measure No. 1069 concerns the state seal. Concise Description: This measure would require the Washington State Seal to depict a tapeworm attached to a taxpayer’s intestine, encircled by the words: Committed to sucking the life blood out of each and every taxpayer. Should this measure be enacted into law? Yes [ ] No [ ] Ballot Measure Summary This measure would require the Seal of the State of Washington to be changed to depict a vignette of a tapeworm dressed in a three piece suit attached to the lower intestine of a taxpayer shown as the central figure. The seal would be required to be encircled with the following words: “Committed to sucking the life blood out of each and every tax payer.” The illustration would be selected from submissions submitted by taxpayers. View Complete Text

BB & B

So, as you both know, generally you can bring dogs everywhere in NYC. This being the case, Asa brought Quentin to Bed, Bath and Beyond last week. Apparently BB&B has a "dogs in carts" rule and has special doggy shopping carts for them. Soooooo, all 110 pounds of Quentin had to go in the cart. Somehow Asa hefted him in there and, well, you can see the results. Asa said the looks on people's faces and the comments were amazing.

Every time I look at this photo I cannot stop cracking up. Every time. J

Brando cat typewriter

Still got one more application essay hanging over my head... Young Brando here makes typing on a laptop seem so damn cool. I'll take the inspiration where I can find it.

Photo credit: Murray Garrett/Getty Images

*L

The Best, See?

The dog bed is a good place for a nap

He's so smooshy and sleepy. I love his big head.

Well, at least there's always Tiffany's when you need 'em

LOVED this, as I'm sure the NY Times Ad copy people did too. J

I'm on a roll today

That's right folks, its that day again. The second most special day of the year. The day when my heart starts beating a little faster. The day when I wake up on a Sunday morning excited, nervous, hopeful, hungry for buffalo wings. The day that can make or break hearts; destroy or build dreams.

I don't even have the words

Asa found this. Don't even ask how. You don't need to know. All you need to know is that it is amazing. A mazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTtnvTaTK2c

heart

To fulfill your cute quota for the day:

This is my neighbor's cat, who has quite possibly the most adorable markings a cat has ever had. You can only see the heart when she sits just so, of course. But the triangle/arrow is also there to help focus your attention.

*L

Pile of Higher and Deeper

Congrats, Dr. J!!

Photo of a different Dr. J by Larry Berman.

*L

stunning

Ah, the vagaries of life. Rarely do we experience actual moments that we can point to and say, "That is when everything changed for the better." But I may have just had one yesterday... LSAT scores are finally out, and in the interest of avoiding the false modesty that I dislike in others, I'm just gonna say it straight up: I kicked the LSAT's feeble little ass. I scored much, much higher than I anticipated, and now my entire picture of my future has changed, opened up, brightened, even! I am still in disbelief...I'm mostly sitting around, staring into space today, too stunned to really think.

It's now actually quite possible that I could find myself living in Cambridge, Mass or Palo Alto, CA in another year or so. Of course, there's still a lot of work left to get myself there, but the biggest hurdle has been successfully jumped. The thought of finding myself in school with the 23-year-old super geniuses that usually attend these places has been amusing me too... Kinda picture myself a little out of place, not completely unlike Reese Witherspoon above. I've never seen Legally Blonde, but somehow I know that she gets into Harvard because of a surprisingly high LSAT score...

AHHHHH! I'm a bit overwhelmed today.

*L

'nother one bites the dust

Another Hollywood Video closed and we scored a load of super cheap movies. We were in the car and saw the breadcrumbs signs leading to the carnage, er, closing. If they had Black Adder it would have been perfect. No foreign section that I could discern- hallo?- that's why you went out of business. Well, no. But a few months back, I stumbled into another (Blockbuster?) closing and cleanup up nicely; they just don't have the best range, but I was happy to replace to replace some favorites that I had on vhs (of all things).
We did some weeding and dropped several of these. -k

Grassilism

...this just lasted one day, we had a punky grass the result of some sort of a mechanical error (or ..?) it was mowed uniformly the next day. boring.

On the way to class in Main Building...

The trip to NYC this time really inspired some nostalgia! Or maybe this obit would be of interest to me either way... the end of (the designer of) an era.

*L

Image via NY Times

P.S. Does "Main Building" have some titular sponsorship yet? The name always seemed very un-NYU...maybe they're just holding out for the big big bucks.

happy happy

*L

Grammar is Good

Dear Driver:
Argh. Yep, those apostrophe things can go anywhere just plop 'em (see!) in and that's (ha) that. Like the scarf of grammar. Actually, no. I doubt you made the huge freaking bumper sticker that advertises your disdain for subtlety and grammar- but you did put it on your car, so you're guilty. Also, I don't know why, but I am dying to see your hair and make you use peruse in a sentence.
Ok, feeling better better now.
Thanks for indulging me l, j.

Ps- I am pretty sure drivers give you wide berth- have you noticed that?

best,

kc

!10days!

Who's High Verbal?

Me. How cute is this? This is hangman with a 10 year old I tutor. She started with my hair, cause you do not want to end up bald. No ma'am, I do not.


k

ruby

This has been all over the Internets for the last week, but I figure that doesn't mean J has seen it! And maybe not even K. Whether you like the song or not, a Rube Goldberg contraption is always fun. And this one happens to have been located in a warehouse about 5 minutes from my house, I hear. I like it best towards the end...

May be best viewed here, where the screen doesn't get cropped.

*L

wiry

I dawdled and took my sweet time with it, but some months ago I finally finished all five seasons of The Wire. Saying goodbye was hard, but I figured that, as with other changes in life, it would just take some time. But days like today, when I'm home sick, a bit too tired to read for long, yet longing for something worthwhile to fill this sudden free time with...

....sigh....

*L

Pug in a blanket

aw...

Isn't Greece Suffering Enough?

Ok, what oh what is with the yogurt ads? I just think this looks well, kinda gross and silly. I like yogurt. But something about this ad is just so so unappetizing. Like rabbit droppings on yogurt. The authentic font is nice tho ahem. And why do I expect it to say fruit in the rear or something equally immature? Fail.

*k

ah, kids

In keeping with the canine theme of late...

Take note: apparently all it takes to be defined as a hipster are some plastic glasses. Now, I love a dog-in-glasses photo as much as the next gal, but it's really the captions here that win me over. I think Raven might be my favorite...

Image via hipster puppies.

*L

Rent-a-dog

Fine. Fine! If you are both going to tease me with pictures of your adorable canines, I'm going to show you some of the awesome dog whose poop I don't even have to pick up:

So he sometimes likes to remove a plant or two so he can stick his face in the dirt and take a nap. Who doesn't?

And there's always this little ball of fuzz:

*L

Luke invades the dog park

Kind of a perfect Saturday morning- no rain first off and Luke at the dog park. Luke (yellow puppia halter) particularly enjoyed sniffing the bum of a 215 lb great dane. Luke is super fast and wants nothing more than to be chased and a chance to use his moves- lots of fast breaks and darting. Kind of the anti-Forrest.

Got a wee bit of snow today

Well. This is what I woke up to this morning. It sure is lovely. Unfortunately, since this is Baltimore, I am not going to be able to leave my house for at least 4 days. Seriously. On a high note, the snow really makes my neighborhood look a lot classier than it really is.

This last photo is from a smaller snow storm we had last week, but I just wanted to show it b/c he looks so awesome and I'm so proud of his sweet jumping skills. I'm a loosah. j

I hate my vet (that means you Falls Road Animal Hospital)

This is my rant against Falls Road Animal Hospital in Baltimore, MD. Until last Friday, this had been my vet for my beloved dog. NO MORE!

I could give you the whole back history, but here are some helpful nuggets.

We'll focus on this last vist, as it was the worst. I brought Quentin in to the vet b/c he has had mucas and blood in his stool and I was worried that he may have swallowed something he shouldn't have. I also figured that while I was there, I would use the opportunity to address a staph infection he has had on his skin.

I made an appointment and was assigned to Dr. S. I had seen him once before and did not enjoy the experience as I find him arrogant and indifferent, but I foolishly accepted the appointment b/c it fit in with my work schedule.

So we went and were put in the examining room. When the doctor walked him, I explained to him the issues.

Response to the staph infection: brushed it off, said it could be fleas and if it is staph, it will just keep coming back so I should have him on a good food and omega oils and just deal with him having flaky skin. I explained that he already is on such a food and such oils and he said that that was great and I could try bathing him more. I said that I've always understood that bathing dries one's skin out more. He just smirked and said I could use a moisturizing shampoo or put some oils on his skin. He claimed he would give me info on these oils, but never did.

Now, as you know, I am a scientist and have an excellent understanding of biology. I also grew up with animals and horses and have a pretty good understanding of vet care. I know for a fact that flea bites do not look the same as the staph lesions my dog has and I also know for a fact he does not have fleas. He had no interest in my assertions that he doesn't have fleas and I wanted to treat the infection.

Response to blood and mucas in stool: I had brought in a stool sample and he ordered tests done on that. He did not do a rectal exam or any other obvious exam except touching his stomach. He said I could wait in the waiting room for the results of the stool test for giardia. I asked what he thought it could be if not a parasite b/c I was worried about him having a foreign body in his stomach. He said we would address that after the exam results. I then waited for well over a half hour. I was then called to the desk where there was a bottle of antibiotics, bags of powder and my receipt. The receptionist was ready to ask me to pay. I asked her what the diagnosis was and what was going on. She didn't know and went to find someone else. That took another 5 minutes or so. Another woman came and said that the giardia test was negative and they were going to send out the stool to get a complete battery of parasite tests done. In the meantime I could give him the medicine (antibiotics for diarrhea and powder for parasites). I asked what the doctor thought was wrong if it wasn't parasites. She didn't know and left for a bit. Someone else came back and said that the doctor wasn't worried about an obstruction. I said that I wanted to get some info on what was wrong if it wasn't for parasites. At this point the receptionist butted in and told me, in a very rude tone, that switching a dog's food is very dangerous and should never be done without vet supervision (I'm guessing she read my chart that I has switched food recently). I then informed her, very testily, that I had slowly switched his food over a month, that he had been switched to an adult for sensitive skin food to help his skin issues (this had been suggested to me in a previous vet visit) and that his old food's formula had just been changed by the company that makes it and had started making him ill. She just stared at me.

The other woman said nothing in response to my questions about what it would be if not parasites. I then said I didn't want either medication if they didn't even know if he needed them and I would just take my bill. The receptionist informed me it was about $130. When I asked why it was so expensive, she said that the in-house test giardia was about $40 and the out of house test for all parasites was about $40. It clearly said on the bill that the out of house test also tested for giardia, so I asked why double tests were ordered. They gave me a ridiculous, non-answer. When I said I didn't want to pay for a test that wasn't necessary, the other woman asked me if Dr. S told me that he was going to do the tests. I said that he told me he was sending the stool out for testing and would do an in-house test for giardia but did not inform me of the costs nor did he inform me that the in-house test wasn't necessary and I could have just waited 24-hours for the results of the other test. She informed me in a remarkably rude manner that I had authorized the tests and there was nothing she could do.

I let her know that I would never be coming back to falls road animal hospital and did not want the other test sent out, so in the end I only paid for one. I find it disgusting that after a 5 minute exam, I spent 45 minutes in the hospital and at no point did Dr. S (or any other vet) have the time to come out and give me his diagnosis, discuss treatments or talk about possibilities for what could be wrong. I just called Aardmore animal hospital and, though I've never been there, was put through to a vet immediately. She listened to what has been going on with my dog, explained the various things she thought could be going on based on the phone conversation and what treatments she would suggest if I decided to come in. Not one thing she discussed was mentioned by Dr. S or anyone else. She was friendly and thorough.

Though I'm sure many people are lucky enough to have an average experience, I guarantee you that Falls Road Animal Hospital gives sub-par, over-priced, careless and arrogant animal care. Every dog owner I have ever met in Baltimore (and that is over 50 people) has a negative story to tell about this facility and none of them use it. If you go look at any website that rates vets, you will hear similar and more awful stories over and over. I wish I had done that. I went for the same reason most people do: it is well-located, has emergency service and advertises, advertises, advertises.

Obviously, I am now changing vets. I'm posting this here to vent and also hoping that maybe some google search, some day, will stop an unsuspecting person from going to this horrible place.

j

Thanks but no..

Really just how cute is this litter? I am telling you, Portland is that charming. I found this on the last doggy walk this evening. Luke and Forrest were impressed, (full disclosure they each had one). The fries were cold btw, next time maybe timestamp that shit.

K

Luke! and the other one

Finally, I am able to get pictures of Luke- apparently he requires a Nikon slr, fancy brat. Something about his marled hazel coloring and scruffiness requires 12 megapixels.

Oh, and Forrest has discovered blankets.