Bowie is a gentle little dog, who is scared of cars and traffic. So dog walks were limited to our little dead-end street. We were trying to figure out how to get her to get beyond her fears either with lots of treats, or from lots of little trips towards the busy end of the street, one step at a time if need be. Hopefully culminating in Bowie enjoying walks to the park, downtown, and on trails.
Now Bowie *loves* people and other dogs, and Sunday, our friend Jacquie and her dog Mixx were the catalysts to a doggie breakthrough. Meredith met up with them and used the lure of doggy-comraderie to get Bowie out onto Sebastopol Road and down the railroad tracks with no problems!
Monday, July 09, 2007
If you like This American Life..
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/
TAL featured one of their stories this last week, so I googled them up and started listening to episodes. It's very good, with a greater focus on science and psychology than TAL does. I highly recommend checking it out. You can listen from their website, or subscribe to their podcast, or download mp3s.
TAL featured one of their stories this last week, so I googled them up and started listening to episodes. It's very good, with a greater focus on science and psychology than TAL does. I highly recommend checking it out. You can listen from their website, or subscribe to their podcast, or download mp3s.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Bowie: toys
Day 3: She's really perking up now, she romping around the yard and chasing flies with abandon. Or quietly hanging out under the patio table while we garden. Today we had several firsts: first introduction of new people on a walk, first toy-action, and first sit behavior. She's very good with strangers, and kids. And as soon as I finally convinced her to mouth one of her toys, she dragged it off under the bed (her den for now) and came out and started chewing on the rawhide bone! Very exciting, as she kept trying to use shoes for chewing (but never succeeding). Her ears are perked most of the time, and her submissive behavior is gradually diminishing. Huge improvements in just 3 days!
Friday, June 29, 2007
What a day....
Today is our first day as a dog-having family. Fargo would come visit for a while but he was always 'my' dog or 'Laurel's' dog. I had resisted getting another dog for months for specious reasons. I didn't want to replace Fargo, and I didn't think our landlady would go for it. Once I sat down and really thought about my reasons for stonewalling Zelia's many, varied, impassioned pleas for a dog, I realized I was wrong. So I started perusing various dog agencies, and got the approval from our landlady. Yesterday I stopped by the Sonoma County Animal Shelter on my way home and the pretty dog in the photo caught my eye. She was really perky, engaging and funny in the cage, but her larger brother kept hogging all the limelight. But I only had eyes for
Today, it still seemed right, we knew we would have some challenges. She's a border collie mix and has had a seemingly tough life so far, but the bones are there for a great dog.
I'll write more about her first day home (it's been filled with little triumphs, and interesting observations) but I'm recovering from teh flu, and it's been a BIG day. So I'll leave with this for now:
Her name is no longer Coco (she wasn't very attached to it) and it is now Bowie. She went from being scared of her crate to settling down in it with almost no coaxing from me in about 4 hours. She's very gentle and sweet. Zelia, who had been spending the day at a friends house broke out in tears when she saw Bowie. And later ran down the street yelling "Attention everyone! Today I got a dog!!!!"
Friday, June 22, 2007
Rancilio Silvia
Rancilio Silvia: I've been borrowing my neighbors Silvia for the last month. It's a great home espresso machine. If you are serious about espresso, but can't or won't spend a grand on a machine, get a Silvia. It's very sensitive to grind and water temperature, but once you get yours figured out, it's easy to get great tasting espresso and well frothed milk. I've completely stopped going to Flying Goat since I set this up.
It's also hackable. For the geeks, it's the espresso machine equivelent of a WRT-54GL router. Put a PID temp controller and a open portafilter on it, and you can get better espresso than you'd get from almost any cafe.
Downsides: The length of time between when you pull a shot, and when it's ready to froth is too long, and the espresso cools off if placed in an unwarmed cup. Also, it'll make you wish you had a good grinder, and you'll start thinking about roasting your own beans to have total control over your coffee.
It's also hackable. For the geeks, it's the espresso machine equivelent of a WRT-54GL router. Put a PID temp controller and a open portafilter on it, and you can get better espresso than you'd get from almost any cafe.
Downsides: The length of time between when you pull a shot, and when it's ready to froth is too long, and the espresso cools off if placed in an unwarmed cup. Also, it'll make you wish you had a good grinder, and you'll start thinking about roasting your own beans to have total control over your coffee.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Old enough to rediscover..
I used to be a huge beatles fan. Acutally, I've always been a huge beatles fan, but I haven't listened to them since maybe 6 or 7th grade. But from about 4th grade until early 7th grade I didn't want to listen to anything else. Most of my classmates were much the same, to the extent that one of our plays was a mashup of The Wizard of Oz and The Yellow Submarine. We called it "The Ballad of Dorothy and Ringo" and I played Ringo in one of my only starring roles as a school-play thespian. I wonder why the Beatles were so big in our class. It was a 100% Trend.
But I digress.
The point is, I burnt out on Beatles really early, the songs had lost their power and my ears couldn't 'hear' them anymore. So, I have not let myself listen to them since for fear of turning burn-out into loathing.
But a couple of weeks ago, while going through my records I threw on disc 1 side 2 of the White album. Wow. These guys were brilliant! I wanted to hear more, but unfortunately the other albums, and tapes I had haven't survived with me all these years.
So off to the local music store to see what remastered CDs I can find....
But I digress.
The point is, I burnt out on Beatles really early, the songs had lost their power and my ears couldn't 'hear' them anymore. So, I have not let myself listen to them since for fear of turning burn-out into loathing.
But a couple of weeks ago, while going through my records I threw on disc 1 side 2 of the White album. Wow. These guys were brilliant! I wanted to hear more, but unfortunately the other albums, and tapes I had haven't survived with me all these years.
So off to the local music store to see what remastered CDs I can find....
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
She's got a 20-sided die, I've got a +5 mallet of geek
Meredith has been sick with pneumonia, and after weeks of 'taking it easy' she was bored out of her mind with sitting in bed. So I convinced her to try a little bit of World of Warcraft. Meredith is not a computer gamer (The Sims and wii, notwithstanding), but I figured it would help pass the time.
Warcraft is powerful magic for making time pass.
After climbing the initial learning curve, she took to it quite strongly. Almost too strongly. I fear we'll be having this conversation soon.
Warcraft is powerful magic for making time pass.
After climbing the initial learning curve, she took to it quite strongly. Almost too strongly. I fear we'll be having this conversation soon.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Aquarium!
We went on the school camping trip, but only just barely. M has a bad cough (bronchitis or something) and as feeling pretty lousy, so drove to Sunset Beach, just south of Santa Cruz, and set up camp. Then Meredith and I drove to a nearby hotel and got a room. The kids got to camp with their friends and she got a nice warm, dry place to sleep. The following day we packed up and went to the Monterey Aquarium and saw lots and lots of really cool stuff. Otters of varying types, jelly fish by the hundreds, and of course, fish. Photos to follow...
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Vroom...
Brief note: Today was I took the kids on the back of the motorcycle for the first time. Just a little ride, up and down the street. They both loved it. :)
Two notes: Zelia fits Meredith's gear pretty well. Sylvan it too big for it. Kids grow fast. Especially ones that eat as much as they do.
That reminds me. Last night while we were cooking dinner, Sylvan decided that ten minutes was too long to wait. So he made a PB&J sandwich. Five minutes after that, he was hungry again so he made another. Then he sat down to dinner and ate more than anyone else (after Zelia). I need to start buying primate chow in 150lb bags and just shoveling it into his computer room.
Two notes: Zelia fits Meredith's gear pretty well. Sylvan it too big for it. Kids grow fast. Especially ones that eat as much as they do.
That reminds me. Last night while we were cooking dinner, Sylvan decided that ten minutes was too long to wait. So he made a PB&J sandwich. Five minutes after that, he was hungry again so he made another. Then he sat down to dinner and ate more than anyone else (after Zelia). I need to start buying primate chow in 150lb bags and just shoveling it into his computer room.
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