Thursday, December 6

Elf Yourself

So far I am finding the nifty Elf Yourself endlessly amusing. Yesterday I spent a good part of the morning making friends into elves and then sending the link to them. Today I made one of me and my boys and it cracks me up every time I watch it. Rocky makes such a handsome elf! So go check out our dance and then make your own! Feel free to post a link in my comments if you do make one.

Happy Elfing!

Monday, November 19

Los Gatos

Rocky and Simon went to the vet this morning for their annual check-ups and shots. Rocky was quiet as a mouse and looked rather forlorn. I think he recalled that he was just there last week and that it wasn't such a fun place. Simon cried the whole five minute ride and cried a good bit in the waiting room. He was angry about being in a cage. And boy, you should have seen how wide his eyes got when dogs passed by. I can only imagine what he was thinking! In Pittsburgh they had a house call vet so it's been awhile since they've had to deal with an actual clinic.

Anyway, Simon got a good report. He's gained about an 1/2 pound since last year and weighed in at 13 pounds, 6 ounces. The vet didn't comment on the weight gain so I guess it isn't a big deal. He's bulking up for the winter. And he's just a big boy.

Last week they weighed Rocky and came up with 13 pounds, 3 ounces which was totally shocking to me. He weighed 16 pounds, 4 ounces last year so that's a little too much weight to have dropped. But today when they put him on the scale he weighed in at 14 pounds, 6 ounces which sounds more reasonable to me. The vet said the scale may have been off last week. At any rate, because of the heart murmur, she was concerned about the weight loss. Rocky had to stay at the clinic for about an hour and it nearly broke my heart thinking of him back in the lab, wondering what the heck was going on. He had x-rays and an EKG. The vet said that his heart is on the large side and while she's not super concerned about it, she would like us to get blood work done and an ultrasound in the next 3-6 months. (Total cost about $450.00) We'll probably get it done sometime in January, after we recoup from today's visit! AND both cats were told that they need to have their teeth cleaned in the next year or so, a procedure that costs about $300 per cat. Holy moly!

So yeah, we're going to be spending more money at the vet for the cats health than we do on our own health, but that's okay. We don't have kids. The cats are our kids. And they are worth every penny. I suspect that Rocky is fine, but you know, I'd rather know for sure. If he isn't fine and needs to be on a special diet or heart medication, I want to know that now, not when it is too late. He's my baby boy and I can't imagine life without him.

And for the record, Rocky used to weigh twenty pounds. He did not like living in NYC so much.

rocky

He's done a great job of slimming down.

Rocky in the window

Pretty crazy, right?! He looks so good now and he's so happy. The vet also said it was fine to keep them on the R/D for now...but really, I don't think Rocky needs to slim down much more.

Thursday, November 15

A Little Quiet In Here, Please

I've spent most of my life with a lot of noise in my head. It peaks when I have a bout of depression and all I do is ruminate about negative and/or totally inane things. And it's not fun. All the noise takes up so much space in my head sometimes, it doesn't leave room for anything else. Love, creativity, fun. Nada.

Our lives in New Mexico are fairly quiet and peaceful so thankfully, my head has also been fairly quiet and peaceful. I have my moments when I find myself thinking about something, trying to figure *why* these things in the past happened, things that I have gone over so many times, it's kind of pointless to go back again, but the thoughts fade more quickly now. It's good. (Of course my favorite thing to ruminate about, "what am I supposed to be doing in my life", is still hanging around, especially now that I am growing a wee bit tired of my current job choice.)

Anyway, I'm reading this book right now and in the second part, the narrator goes to India to study with her Guru. Now, I'm not particularly into that sort of thing, and I have pretty mixed feelings about the book itself, but the whole trying to quiet the mind is pretty interesting. The narrator is struggling with meditation because her head won't shut up. I don't meditate, but still, reading about the process of learning to quiet the noise of one's mind has drawn me into this section of the book.

A monk tells her one day, "The resting place of the mind is the heart. The only thing the mind hears all day is clanging bells and noise and argument, and all it wants is quietude. The only place the mind will ever find peace is inside the silence of the heart. That's where you need to go."

I like that. So then, yesterday morning, I find my weekly horoscope in my inbox and this is what it says:

"Dear Rob: I have eight distinctly different
voices in my head. There's a hurt, oddly puffed-up voice that complains
about everyone who has ever done me wrong. There's an hysterical voice
that nags me with the thought that nothing I could ever do or say will
make any difference to anyone, so why bother. Then there's the still,
small voice. It has more gravity and feels more honest. It gives me useful
instructions about specific things I could do to live a more meaningful life.
The only trouble is, the other voices always blabber so loud I tend to
neglect the only one that's actually helpful. Any advice? - Drowned Out."
Dear Drowned: Set aside five minutes each morning and five minutes
before bed. Whisper "Shut up, all the rest of you!", and then listen
reverently to the still, small voice.


I find it interesting that all paths are pointing to the quieting of the mind this week. I take it to mean that I should pay attention to this message from the universe. Perhaps I can clean some of the junk out of my head that still gets in the way of living from time-to-time. Wouldn't it be nice to have one of those things that Dumbledore had? I forget what it was called, but he could just pull the excess out of his mind and put it in a pot for later.

Tuesday, November 13

Heart Murmur

rocky under my dresser using my running shoes as a pillow

Will took Rocky to the vet this morning to get his chest wound checked out. He got it last week and it wasn't bad so we let it be. It started to scab over, but then yesterday I noticed that he was licking and licking and licking. All the licking re-opened the wound and it was looking really raw so we decided we better take him in. No swelling and no infection fortunately. The vet put him on antibiotics so the cut will heal more quickly and he got one of those cones things to wear if he keeps licking. Poor guy.

Anyway, while he was at the vet, she checked him out a bit and apparently he has a heart murmur. Will called me at work to give me the report and of course I freaked out immediately. But apparently it's not that uncommon and it does not always lead to congestive heart failure. Rocky is in good health, his appetite is fine, he runs around a lot...so hopefully everything is fine. We're supposed to take him back in for x-rays or an ultrasound or something so that they can determine what exactly is going on. Guess I am going to be spending all my Christmas shopping money at the vet! Anything for my boy Rocky though.

So yeah, it's not necessarily anything horrible, but nonetheless, I am worried about him. The sooner we can find out more, the better.

Friday, November 9

Working For The Man

Working For The Man by Jeffrey Yamaguchi is another book that I am planning to purchase and you should too, particularly if you have an office job. You can get a sneak peak here. I love this page...there are so many times that I felt that way at work. I actually don't have an office job at the moment, nor am I working for the man, but I am sure I will be again one of these days. That's why I need this book. I'll be ready for the monotony.

Jeffrey is also behind the 52 Projects website and the book of the same name. The book explores creativity and is "a way of turning the ordinary into the extraordinary, and finding a flash of inspiration in our everyday lives." I find all of his work to be incredibly inspiring and he's a nice guy to boot!

flickr faves from this week


1. yelloworangeredvioletgreencyanblueblack, 2. Three, 3. Untitled, 4. a look, 5. nov 5, 6. One More.....

I believe that I have said this before, but I'll say it again, if you are a pola fan, you should check out polaroidjesus. His photos absolutely blow my mind.

Wednesday, November 7

The Kept Man



A short film inspired by Jami Attenberg's forthcoming novel The Kept Man, which will be published in January 2008 by Riverhead Books. The film was conceived and created by Jon Stuyvesant of Milk Products Media. Find out more information at jamiattenberg.com.

This a beautiful film short and will only take about two minutes out of your day so check it out. I can't wait for Jami's new book! You can pre-order it at amazon.com or request it at your local bookstore.

Wednesday, October 31

Frida Kahlo dollhouse

A mom made a Frida Kahlo dollhouse so that her daughter can learn about the Mexican artist. Super cool!

[via]

Monday, October 29

not lions and tigers and bear

but praying mantis and grasshoppers, oh my!

A few weeks ago, while pulling weeds, some mating praying mantises latched onto my pant leg. Freaked me out a bit, but I got them off and then ran for the camera:
praying mantis

A couple days later, I found one while I was cutting the deadheads off the dahlias:
another praying mantis

Then there were the scary mutant alien grasshoppers:
these grasshoppers freaked me out

And finally, yesterday evening, I found these two on our front porch:


What next, I ask you?

Sunday, October 28

me-n-my star quarterbacks

In the past few weeks, I've had two dreams about Dan Marino. I don't remember either clearly, but the first one involved going over to his house on Sunday to watch the games on his flat panel big screen television. The second one involved a party in the basement of my brother's house which happened to be full of hot tubs. (For the record, my brother does not have a basement or a room full of hot tubs.) I know, sounds risqué, but Dan was more like my BFF. Then last night, I had a dream about Peyton Manning. Again, nothing risqué, but I'll admit that we were involved in some sort of courtship. When I told Will this morning, he said, "You and your star quarterbacks..."

Methinks someone just might be watching too much Total Access and Inside the NFL.

Saturday, October 27

on any given sunday

on any given sunday

Last Sunday I was watching football, of course, and I got up to do something in the kitchen. When I got back to the couch, this is how I found Rocky, remote and all. Cracks me up.

Wednesday, October 24

stuff you didn't know

A random and interesting list of stuff you didn't know...or at least of stuff that I didn't know! Lots of things about words, but lots of other stuff too like:

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain.

Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.


And:

Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have
about ten.


(I think I have heard at least one hundred of Rocky's vocal sounds at four o'clock in the morning.)

[via]

Monday, October 22

people do the coolest things with polaroids

This Polaroid slideshow is totally awesome. I don't know what the French blurb says, but just click the arrow to get through the series.

Saturday, September 1

trompos! simon!

It's been awhile, hasn't it? I was without my computer for three weeks which made posting a wee bit difficult, plus I just don't know what to do with this space anymore. Maybe I just need to change the template so that things seem fresher around here.

Here in Santa Fe, Evo Gallery currently has an exhibition up by the video artist Manuel Angel Rios that is all about trompos. This past Thursday, Manuel brought some folks together to play trompos at the Plaza. Will and Garret were two of the players and I went down to take some pictures. And wow. I had never seen the game played before; it is super fast-paced and I really didn't know what was going on most of the time, only that it was the black tops vs. the white tops. Tops were flying, ropes were flying, arms and legs everywhere. Garret breaks down the rules in his post. And then yesterday, there was an article about the event on the front page of New Mexican and yours truly is in the photo on the front page, albeit standing in the background. I'm a star! Ha, ha. Kind of neat though. Click through all the pictures and maybe you can spot Will and Garret as well. Trompos!

As most of you already know, my tale about Simon has a happy ending. Thank goodness.
simon
Two Monday nights ago, he went out as usual...but then, not so usual, he did not come home. We were absolutely devastated. The cats are part of our family and without Simon, there was a giant empty hole in our lives. We checked with the animal shelter regularly, we posted fliers, we ran ads in the paper and we walked around looking for him day after day. It was hard to keep hope. Everyone has a story about how a cat disappeared for days, weeks, months and then returned. Hell, I had cats that would disappear for weeks when I was a kid. But still, Simon has never been gone for even 24 hours and this is Santa Fe. Mountain lions make visits to the Plaza! And then this past Tuesday night (well, Wednesday morning), I woke up at 1:00 AM because I heard a cat crying. It didn't sound like Rocky so I got up and checked the porch. It was Simon! Home at last! We were so thrilled and relieved. He was very, very hungry, but otherwise fine. He was also very, very tired and slept for about a day and an half straight. We have no idea where he was, what happened, nada. It's so frustrating. I wish that he could tell us about his adventures. He was gone for EIGHT DAYS. He is quite happy to be home so we kind of think that his disappearance was not completely intentional, but we'll never really know.

Tomorrow is my birthday. To celebrate, we're going on a hike. I think that's a good birthday activity. And that's really all I have planned.

A happy Labor Day weekend to you!

Monday, August 6

odds and ends

I'm on a borrowed laptop (which is *tiny* and hard to type on) and borrowed wireless because my new computer is now on its way back to the manufacturer for the second time. It may not be dead, but it ain't in good shape and I am hoping to receive a spiffy new black box sometime at the end of next week. So in the meantime, no photography fun online. I have a load of pictures from yesterday's hike too...so many mushrooms! I can't wait to show you. All the different kinds blew my mind. Red, yellow, orange, white, gray, brown and on and on. All shapes and sizes.

I also can't wait to share my best ever Pola double exposure. One of my nieces stayed the weekend with us and we had a good photo shoot.

Hike on Sunday was about 9.5 miles and took about 5.5 hours. My dad pretty much killed all of us (myself, Will and Caroline). A shorter and less strenuous hike than the last one we took up to the top of Baldy, but for some reason, it did us all in. Well, except for my dad who went home and mowed the lawn, etc. We went out on the Borrego Trail and returned on some random loops that my dad picked out. It was rather hot and humid so maybe that's what wiped us out.

Oh yeah, the humidity...we moved here in part for the drier climate and so now of course it has been very humid here. Still not like the NE, but man, too humid for me.

Lee Hazlewood died today. He is one of my all-time favorites and if you don't know his music, you should definitely check it out. He has a huge discography.

Steelers won last night and we missed seeing it happen. Ugh. I tried to convinced myself that I could live without football but no can do. Reading about the game in the paper made me squirrelly. Must not miss the entire pre-season. Unacceptable. DirectTV here we come. Maybe.

I am *finally* working and while I really like my job, I am still adjusting to this full-time schedule. When am I supposed to fit the rest of my life in? How do all you people do this? I miss the more leisurely days of part-time, but I have to say that I think what I am doing now is good for me. A good learning experience, a good way to meet folks in Santa Fe and it keeps me busier than some of the office jobs than I have had in recent years. It's not an office job and while I hate coming off secretive, I am not going to tell you what or where because sometimes I don't want to be found. If you know me, you know. I also love that I get to ride my bike to work.

We have quite a bit going on the next couple of weeks and it is good, but I am looking forward to relaxing again someday. Maybe that's what I'll do for my birthday this year...RELAX. Nah, I'll probably end up hiking or something. (You like that birthday hint, no?)

Oh and so nice to have money again. Today I finally bought the new Spoon...still need the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but I couldn't find it today. Also picked up the new Haruki Murakami book which I cannot wait to read. I think I am going to have to lay off Hemingway for a little while. Need to find some cute new skirts but no luck so far and I have to say, life without H&M kind of sucks. Half of my favorite clothes are from there. Perhaps I shouldn't admit such things, but it is true.

On the people front, ran into my roommate from college the other day on my way to work. Not totally shocking as I knew she wanted to move back here, but still, kind of bizarre. If I hadn't gone to the P.O. on the way to work, it wouldn't have happened. And we finally met Mr. Dangerousmeta and his lovely wife the other night. We had an excellent time with them and I am very excited to have some friends in Santa Fe who aren't my parents. Or my parents' friends. And who don't talk about crystals.

Okay, enough with the babbling. I've got to go finish the laundry and maybe chill out for a few minutes. Hope you enjoyed this random update. And pardon any typos, I am telling you, this keypad is a bitch. Or whatever you call it.

Stay cool and have a fab week.