The Next Dark Age
We're in it Now
Back to Juggling
I’ve been thinking lately about revamping the blog. It was created, you might remember, early in my graduate program as a class assignment. I was rather worried about how I was going to get it all done and still manage to be an active volunteer.
Then I finished school, folded in the 50 Book Challenge stuff I’d been doing on LiveJournal and talked a lot about traveling for work and getting my finances together.
Not the theme of the blog. Last night, though, I had a moment.
Sigmund, my Foster Grey, has spent a few days with another volunteer (more on that later). It didn’t go very well and she and I agreed that she would bring him back to my house in the morning. After we hung up, Kay said:
“Why don’t you just go get him now. It’s still early.”
My answer was:
“Because I tomorrow night, I am going to the Refuge to pick up Joker. Wednesday, I am going to the Refuge for my regular night. Thursday, I am going to the close down the Refuge and go to the Library. I have two meetings on Saturday and am leaving town on Sunday. I would like to just sit here. “
And make a Project Linus blanket, but whatever.
But that is when it hit me – I have a lot of balls in the air right now. And I am managing them. But seriously, there is nothing like a puppy to make you look at everything and feel tired.
Too Much Yarn
The Project Linus people, and my own mother, will tell you that there is no such thing as too much yarn. ‘Cause we’re going to use it all, right?
Just like I am going to read all of these books “sometime”.
Yarn is overflowing from its designated storage area in my house. I have officially implemented a double-discount purchasing rule – I will only buy yarn when it is on sale and I have some other discount on top of that. My first “scrap yarn” blanket has become a “scrap and clearance yarn” blanket. It is going to be much prettier, anyway.
However, since I’ve been buying all of this yarn I have spent rather less money in other places. Such as:
- I have not purchased a single handbag in all of 2011.
- I quit buying DVDs (although I really want to pick up True Blood Season 3 right now).
- I haven’t been in a bookstore in over three weeks.
- I even blew off the last book sale at the Arlington Heights Library (although I did go to the Borders clearances a non-zero number of times, so this one probably doesn’t count).
- I’ve stopped the random toy shopping for the nieces and nephew. They have enough stuff.
Adopting the Puppy
As I mentioned, we went nine days without a dog before we cracked.
As a rescue volunteer (albeit with exotic parrots), I am committed to pet adoption. I also understand that my home is not the best for every dog. What with the cat and an African Grey parrot. Not every dog can manage with other pets.
There is also a question of adopting a puppy or an adult dog. There are pros and cons with both. We just went through end-of-life with a senior dog, so I hope you won’t judge me for wanting a younger dog, but I have also had great experiences with adopting an adult that was already housetrained and could adapt quickly to my home environment.
I went to the Internet. Petfinder.com is a great website that pulls together information on adoptable animals from shelters across the country. It allows searches by type of animal (cat, dog, bird, etc.), size, approximate age and even breed. There are profiles on the available pets including any information the rescue has gathered (like whether a dog is known to be good with kids) and pictures. Most also have links to the rescue’s website.
I talked with two different rescues about different dogs and decided to go with Wright Way Rescue, which has an adoption center in Niles. Wright Way rescues dogs and cats from downstate shelters with very high euthanasia rates, including an awful lot of puppies.
On the day of the appointment, Wright Way asks for a good 60-90 minutes of your time in order to meet the pet and go through their orientation video, with time for questions. In my case, the questions were about crate training, which I have never done before. They also have a supply shop onsite, with proceeds going to support rescue efforts. It is worth noting that Wright Way has lost the lease on their building in Niles and is raising funds to purchase a permanent facility.
At the end of the appointment, I had adopted the puppy.
There are lots and lots of rescues out there doing great work. There is a huge need for volunteers, fundraisers and foster homes. And I hope you will consider pet adoption as your first option.
Adapted Post for Patch.com
Spooky and the Puppy
(I know, I owe you the adoption story, but this is important. Ish.)
Last night, I brought Gibbs upstairs at bedtime. I placed him on a blanket on the floor. Spooky the Cat, age 20 (who sleeps in my bedroom), saw him for the first time.
If a cat can roll his eyes, that was the reaction. Spooky sauntered to the edge of the bed for a better look. “Disdainful and imperious” were my words for it yesterday.
Then I put the puppy into the crate and the nightmare began. Every combination of crying, yelping, howling and flat out barking. Spooky came and went several times during the night, as he is just too old for crying puppies.
I have no idea where that cat has spent the day, and I had no idea where he was when I came upstairs tonight and put Gibbs back in the crate. He cried for about 10 minutes and settled down. He was lying down quietly when Spooky came out from under my bed.
I don’t know how long he was under there. He approached the crate and the puppy started to growl.
If I hadn’t been thinking, “Oh, how cute,” I might have intervened. But I am glad that I didn’t since I generally feel that as long as neither animal can get hurt, I should let them work stuff out among themselves.
Do you know what that cat did?
He. Sat. Down.
Right in front of the crate. Right in front of that little growling puppy’s face. Just long enough to make his point before jumping up on my bed and sitting down next to me.
Cats, man.
Introducing Gibbs
I will have stuff to say about the adoption experience soon, but now I am tired. Because I have a puppy. Kiwi the Grey seems pleased. Spooky the cat is looking imperious and disdainful. Sigmund the Foster Grey doesn’t understand what the fuss is about.
France Since 1871
France Since 1871 is a course at Yale taught by John Merriman. The lectures are posted on Academic Earth, and I just finished them.
- I like history classes.
- Everything I know about France is through the lens of American (or perhaps British) history.
- In France, the suburbs are where “unwanted” people live.
- All roads lead to Paris, which is kind of a pain in the butt.
- Regional identities, including other dialects, have disappeared at an alarming rate. As Paris has taken over the French universe.
Blankets 24 & 25
I managed to do these in DC while watching the rest of that course on Academic Earth. Finally.
When I came home, the newsletter from my chapter of Project Linus was waiting for me. It had a note that we donated 50 blankets to kids in Joplin, Missouri. I appreciated that.
Both the fleece and the yarn for these blankets were from Penny’s stash. The yarn was K-Mart’s house brand, which had to have been ancient, but worked really well. I forget what the color was called. I did three rows around the purple one and two around the blue and white. I was afraid I would run out of yarn before finishing a third round.
But that reminds me: Penny also had a note in the newsletter that the stitcher-type ladies made, collected or finished 70 blankets at last month’s Starbucks Night. Normally, there are about 30 – so that rocks, too.
Something I Have Never Seen in Washington Before
I’ve mentioned that every time I am in Washington, I try to notice more. Not always easy when my purpose is work and I always stay in the same hotel. But I made my pilgrimage to President Lincoln and look at what I saw:
No, Dude. Not the Washington Monument. Lower. That is the reflecting pool. With no water in it. I have certainly never seen the reflecting pool with no water. And there is some kind of construction equipment in there, but I didn’t really check it out.
I also saw a rat on my way back from the Metro the other night, but that wasn’t exactly new and I didn’t take a picture. It was a lovely day for such a hike, I am going home tomorrow and there is a puppy in my future. I am happy.
Another Totally Unpaid Product Endorsement
http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=leartojugg-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B001E96LIG&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifrBand Aid created these awesome bandages specifically for blisters.
My feet were pretty torn up after Day 1 at Disney last week. I used one of these on my little toe and walked over 24,000 steps the next day with no pain. The fair warning is that I hadn’t properly covered the entire toe, so the blister expanded in a direction I didn’t expect. But I felt no pain.
These are meant to last several days. I don’t like to go more than two. By the time you get through Shower #2, the bandage gets a bit funky.
So here I am in Washington DC, the only city in the U.S. where one is I am likely to do more walking than Orlando. And my toe is just fine.
If only I could do something about my work shoes.
Note: I am still using these Amazon Associates boxes, even though Amazon has killed its contract with Illinois bloggers. They don’t want to mess with the Internet tax laws established by the state. I will not be receiving any compensation if you make a purchase with these links. I just like them because they are easy access to pictures of whatever I am talking about at any given moment. You don’t really want my cell phone pictures of Band Aids, do you?
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=leartojugg-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0385341008&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifrBook 32
This was a book that my mother kept telling me to read. Then she lent her copy to someone else and never got it back. Good thing the library had an audio copy.
Seriously, because I am not a fan of the novel-told-in-letters genre. (Is that a genre? Maybe it’s a “form”. Whatever.) But the audiobook had different voices for each of the many characters and that helped a lot.
So. England, right after WWII. Juliet is on a book tour promoting a compilation of articles she wrote during the war when she receives a letter from a man on the island of Guernsey. He purchased a second-hand book about Charles Lamb that had her name in it as the previous owner and wanted…something. Another book rec? I forget. Whatever. Correspondence ensues.
Juliet wants to hear all of the stories of the people on Guernsey, which was occupied by the Germans. Eventually, she thinks there is a new book in it and goes to visit them.
Nothing that happens in the plot of this book is remotely surprising. But the characters are beyond charming and they have a lot to say about surviving Bad Stuff and finding some peace.
So yeah. This one is a winner.
The Next Dark Age 