P is for Puppy

Let me start this post by saying that I saw Dancing Gabe running along the sidewalk again.

There, now that we have got that out of the way, I want to tell you about a little puppy.

So, we are standing around the kitchen in Riverside, and Chase looks out the window and says, "Who's dog IS that?".

This is a strange thing to say out of nowhere, especially to people who are not looking out of the window.

But, look! There IS a dog outside the window. It is of a medium-little size and white with medium-long hair. Some say it is like a Shih tzu while a detailed report claims it is a Pomeranean. I remain agnostic.

It is raining outside, and this dog is VERY wet. In fact, if you would have tried to dry off by using the dog as a towel after a shower you would have been more wet than before!!! I swear! So Chase let's this sopping thing into the house and spends almost half an hour drying it off. Now it is happy. So it stands on its tip-toes and rests its head against Chase's leg, like a little baby bundled in a papoose. You should see it, all leany-headed like that!

Then we wish to feed it something. There is some of grandma's meatloaf left over from supper. So, we put it on the floor, and--sure enough--little pooch loves it! This was a cute moment. But...
Mom goes to buy a few cans and bags of dog food the next day at the Co-op (being careful to avoid Iams). But when she puts them in doggie's plate, he won't eat!!! It turns out the ONLY thing doggie eats is grandma's meatloaf!!! So I think she has to make a meatloaf every few days in order to keep the dog from starving.

It gets better!!! We don't know how long little puppy was wandering the wilds for, but it turns out that somewhere along the way he found a travelling companion--an orange cat! Whenever puppy walks from grandma's house to ours, little cat follows behind. What's more, puppy seems to have some sort of romantic interest in cat. This is problematic for several reasons:
1)Puppy is a Puppy
2)Cat is a Cat
3)Puppy is a Boy
4)Cat is a Boy

Oh boy!

PS. Does anybody have any name suggestions?
PPS. I rented a banjo. I can play it for you sometime.

Thomas Hardy and a Man Named Harold

So, maybe it's time for a little more substantial post...

Sorry for the long while, my friends. Yesterday, a small bottle of unmarked powder fell off of my shelf onto the floor during the night. This is how I feel for neglecting you.
(The shelf is far from my bed.
Things on the shelf fall off about once every three months.
Things on the shelf move on their own.
I found the unmarked bottle years ago, in a wooden box, in somebody else's barn.)

Honestly, you have not missed much about my life. At least nothing you couldn't piece together from other people's blogs. I saw a few concerts (JOC, the Hip, Blue Sky Addicts, etc.). I ate a few letters off a Toblerone bar, and will one day eat more. I have read many, many plays (my favorites: Titus Andronicus, The Country Wife, Tamburlaine, The Spanish Tragedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream (read it again!!!), The Way of the World). I memorized a poem. Let me share it with you:

A Night in November

I marked when the weather changed,
And the panes began to quake,
And the winds rose up and ranged,
That night, lying half-awake.

Dead leaves blew into my room,
And alighted upon my bed,
And a tree declared to the gloom
Its sorrow that they were shed.

One leaf of them touched my hand
And I thought that it was you
There stood as you used to stand,
And saying at last you knew!
                                                  - Thomas Hardy (1913?)

I don't think this is Hardy's best, but it does have a certain aura of mystery about it.

Recent Things:
It was a fun church service today. We played a galloping version of "Nothing but the blood of Jesus". Some of the youth ran on stage licking bowls of ice cream. A young man from the Lumber River Quartet had a low voice. It was all the talk. A man named Harold told a funny story about lawn mowers. Then we went downstairs for a fundraising dinner. Cody and I serenaded the audience and took personal requests. We played Feliz Navidad for the Lumber River Boys. Apparently, Canadians know Spanish better than Americans. I jest, I jest! Another highlight was Cody and Todd's duet from "High School Musical". Good stuff, boys. Todd has his arm in a sling. (Why I am I telling you this? Because it is a segway.) I had not played Monopoly with a man with only one functional arm until yesterday. 
TK was gracious enough to host a Monopoly party, where he properly trounced the rest of us. But's that's okay, because I beat him in at least one game of computer Jeopardy, and I think Alex Trebek is way cooler than Rich Uncle Pennybags.
Looking back, I realize that I posted about Monopoly two posts ago. I marvel at the incredible symmetry in my blog.

Is Judge Judy Perfect?

Or is she hiding something underneath those robes?

A gun?
An Illegitimate Child?