Life With Dogs

If you were on the fence, get off the fence and get one! Plus, look at all these cute little cartoon dogs, ha!

Graphic from: http://www.lifewithdogs.tv

A Poem For A Monday

the mississippi river empties into the gulf
Lucille Clifton

and the gulf enters the sea and so forth,
none of them emptying anything,
all of them carrying yesterday
forever on their white-tipped backs,
all of them dragging forward tomorrow.
it is the great circulation
of the earth's body, like the blood
of the gods, this river in which the past
is always flowing. every water
is the same water coming round.
everyday someone is standing on the edge
of this river staring into time,
whispering mistakenly;
only here. only now.

I kept a journal for many years, and in July 2003, I recorded this poem and wrote: "We're really so insignificant and time is so insignificant and it has all happened to someone before. All of it is essentially still here and always will be."

And here we are again. So much of us heavy with the past and still slogging ahead. Yet contrary to what I usually feel about my inability to savor the present, the narrator seems to imply that the present is worthless and overvalued; time is moving and circulating amongst us in ways that it has for hundreds of thousands of minutes, hours, days, years. To acknowledge that a slice of a moment can be unique and savored and be ours would seem futile. I like the idea of relating ourselves to what has come before and what will follow, but without those slices, without reveling in those tiny moments, I don't think we would be us.

Happy "Birthday" Merwin!

Merwin turns three today. He probably actually turned three at some point in August, but we have designated the day we got him as his birthday. So it has been two years of Merwin-induced mania in our household and I have to say that I'm not sure how we survived without him. Also, three=twenty-one in dog years, so I predict a wild evening of drunken debauchery with Merwin and his buddies tonight. Or a new stuffed raccoon and a doggy confection. I'm seriously a lunatic.

The scene is set.

Not so sure about this...

Warming up to the idea.

Yup, totallllyyy into this.

Fall TV Report

I didn't originally list "TV Watching" as an alternative to my hockey fandom but now that the NHL lockout is official, I will turn to more traditional methods of entertainment. The fall seems ripe with some good TV, and here's my take on the weekly calendar of what to watch.

Hell on Wheels--Sundays, 9pm, AMC
The main character resembles Henrik Lundqvist of the NY Rangers. That's enough for me. If that's not enough for you, Hell on Wheels takes place amidst the drama of a post-civil war United States and is all about building the big old railroad. I'm not sure I made this clear, but it also features a very, very attractive male star...

Revenge--Sundays, 9pm, ABC (Premieres September 30)
Yes, I realize I've listed two options for the same time slot. So either DVR one or decide that you're going to give into your inner desire for soap opera-esque drama with complicated webs of high-society betrayal, secrets, lies and of course, revenge.  Revenge has it all and then some.

Major Crimes--Mondays, 9pm, TNT
This one is a bit of a disappointment but I can't pull myself away yet. As the spinoff to an all-time favorite show, The Closer, Major Crimes is inconsistent at best, but the main characters we came to know and love continue to play big roles that will keep me tuning in a bit longer.

Revolution--Mondays, 10pm, NBC
This is curious. Created by the producer of Lost, Revolution takes place in a post-apocalyptic United States after something mysteriously wipes out electronics--no more machines, electricity, internet, cars, coffee makers (!!) etc. It opens with a brief scene showing the moment it all goes down and then fast forwards 15 years where we're introduced to the new reality. It shows promise and we'll see where it goes, but I wanted a little more examination of how this new world works.

New Girl--Tuesdays, 8pm, Fox (Premieres September 25)
It really surprised me that I liked this show so much when it debuted last year. Featuring Zooey Deschanel and an odd assortment of characters, the sitcom chronicles the life of a recently-dumped thirty-something girl who moves into a loft with 3 dudes. It may just be my strange sense of humor, but I really think this is one of the funniest shows out there.

Justified--Tuesdays, 10pm, FX (Premieres January 17---ughhhhh)
Love Timothy Olyphant, just love him. We became acquainted when Simon and I were Netflixing Deadwood, another great "wild west" drama that ended too soon for my liking. But Justified is excellent, if at times slightly complicated to follow.  Olyphant plays a US Marshall who grew up in the southern stix and now mans the area, dealing with former high-school buddies entangled in crime and family-members who, unlike Timmy, chose a different path.

The Office--Thursdays, 9pm, NBC (Premieres September 20)
Classic, still funny, and in its last season. Get it while you can!

Glee--Thursdays, 9pm, Fox
I hesitate to even include this one. I feel as though I may be over it, but this Thursday's episode features the music of my all-time favorite pop star, Britney Spears. If that's not enough to sell you on it, gee, maybe unlike me, you actually have brain cells.

Happy coach potato-ing to you and yours!!

Answer to the World's Problems

Not at all, but I think I've discovered a nifty solution to take care of Merwin's separation anxiety. We need to get him a gmail account. Gmail has a built in "chat" function, which is how I stay updated with the lives of my brothers and friends, chat with Simon about what he's making for dinner, and correspond with my life coach about fashion. If we could get Merwin to type, he'd have an open line of communication to us while home alone! No more squishing himself under the couch or anxiously staring at the door for hours on end.

This is what it would be like:

Kelly says: Hi Merwin.
Merwin says: Woof (Hi crazy lady that brings me furry things that squeak even though I have too many furry things that squeak and just really want to have a squirrel that I can chase around the house and rip out its insides which may or may not squeak but I don't care.)
Kelly says: How is your day going?
Merwin says: Woof (I ate and pooped. I saw seven squirrels on my walk but whenever I get close they run up trees and you never let me run up trees.)
Kelly says: Oh, wow. That's great.
Merwin says: Arf (Give me a treat.)
Kelly says: Well I'll be home a little later.
Merwin says: Squeal (That's great. I'm going to get really excited now and wag my tail and wag my butt and run laps around the house and squeal like a pig. What do you mean, "later?")

On second thought, I'm glad he doesn't talk or type.

Solitary Confinement

Simon has been away on a business trip for the past week leaving Merwin and me to fend for ourselves. We've achieved many impressive feats including cooking our own dinners, chasing the tennis ball around on an open field without one of us running away, and driving our own car. (Yes, I said "impressive." Deal with it.)

We've also achieved some not so impressive things like actually taking 1.75 hours out of our lives to watch Mean Girls 2 and realizing our fly was halfway down during our entire 40 minute rendezvous with Nordstrom's shoe department. Speaking of shoes, these are now mine and miraculously my legs don't look like twigs in a barrel while wearing them.

We miss you, Simon!!

Labor Day Weekend...Literally

What a kickoff to Labor Day weekend! Baby Claire joined the world Friday night and I'm ecstatic to be an Auntie for the first time. She's adorable!!!

 Photo courtesy of Uncle LP