" I think cancer is going to kill our dog!'

The above sentence was uttered by Rhonda 10 minutes ago.
Already mischievous by nature, Buddy has been dabbling in some especially dangerous behaviors these days. Today he attempted to eat an organic dark chocolate bar, two days ago he got into the ambien. He won't eat his food in the kitchen anymore, but instead scrambles away with it as though we are trying to steal his kibble. He is feeling our stress deeply, and we are having a hell of a time keeping up with him.

As one friend wrote, "Poor, neurotic Buddy!"

August 13th

Today is Buddy's 5th birthday. Kinda.

We know he was born in the month of August in 2003. So, as convenience or tribute, I decided to assign him the 13th as his birthday. It seemed auspicious as three of my favorite people were born on this day.

Mr. Gabriel Foster, enemy of all bugs and recent transplant to Atlanta:


Mz. Tonja Santos, amazing lap-dancer & Rio-mamma:



Mz. Giorgia Aiello, Colorado State professora and Goodwill maven:



As a birthday tribute to these three amazing people, and as a testament to why people should never try to capture their dog's tricks and/or strange behaviors on film, I give you the video below. Felicidades!




P.S. - that is a dirty towel to be thrown in the laundry. Not like I will reuse it after that, anyway. I swear.

Buddy Behaving Badly

I have been spending my days and nights with a crafty beast who seems to think that Rhonda's absence means anything goes. He has barked nonstop at the squirrels; this is not an unusual behavior, but is marked by a drastic increase in pitch and repetition in the past days. He has also taken to doing strange things that he would NEVER even attempt if Rhonda were around.

the pictures tell all.









I told him that if he keeps it up, I am going to the animal shelter to trade him in for a cat.

generosity

I have recently been the recipient of an amazing gift. Gaby, whose work and photography projects can be glimpsed here, had an older digital camera sitting in her closet. As Gaby is an amazing artist/photographer, her equipment is quality, and even her older camera is pretty fabulous. Perhaps in response to my earlier complaints about trying to document our rural lives with a point and shoot (found here), my dear friend oh-so-kindly sent me her old camera.

It has been a funny thing to be the recipient of such a nice gift. I feel as though I am deeply indebted, and I am worried that I might not live up to my ability to "make photographs", as G would say. So, we are embarking on a photography course. As luck would have it, the entire content of a digital photography class Gaby taught at Berkeley is online. I have only gotten so far as reading the syllabus and reading about the first practices, and the textbook she used in that class is on its ways from another UW library. So, very soon, my dear friends, you will be subject to an onslaught of photos. However, for the time being, there is a smattering of new stuff on my flikr page, and I will show a few of my favorite new pics so far.

Spring. Break.

I have been quiet for a while... trying to finish a load of stuff before spring break. I am so excited to have a week off. Why don't we do this every semester? I still have to do lots of grading and such, but at least I get to grade in my pajamas.

I have also been busy with a whirlwind of house stuff. Suddenly I feel like doing lots of house projects again. This week stripped wallpaper and primed and painted. The far wall in my office is going to be *green*. Though, I have discovered that painting paneling is a pain in the bum. I stripped the paper, primed, sanded and painted, and I am sure it will require at least two more coats. anyway, that is a boring topic...

What else? Buddy had his anal glands expressed today. The very nice (very gay!) vet was incredibly helpful and explained how we can do this at home (it s 24 bucks per gland expression ). He used all kinds of formal, veterinary language until he described the "upwards motion towards the butthole." His assistant said " hmmm... butthole. Is that the technical term?"

What else are we going to do during the week of break? Sand, paint, plan a garden, play with the dog, have friends over, play Life and Monopoly, cook, sleep, and grade some stuff. Oh, yeah, and then we are going to Minneapolis for a few days to see Emily and Elizabeth. Hooray!

Finally, I want to say congrats to the many of you who have recently accepted jobs. It is really exciting to hear the stories, and even more exciting to not have to actually do the work of looking for a job. It is a sad state of things (in the PhD job market) when you have a 50/50 chance of *ever* getting a job. That makes your various successes even more exciting and hard earned.

More soon.... A

victim of our frugality

we are on a pretty tight budget. We are living on one salary while paying a mortgage and a ridiculous amount of student loans. So, it goes without saying that we have to watch our pennies. anyone who knows us well will testify to the fact that living within a budget is harder for me than it is for Rhonda. (You may recall an earlier entry in which she-who-is-less-thrifty splurged on a vintage chip and dip set.)

Living on a budget means making a series of choices. This much I have learned. We cannot have it all, and in fact, we cannot have many pretty, shiny things that might attract my eye. We have been trying to find a balance between living comfortably (heat at 68? No way! too high!) and living within our means. This means that we can no longer afford to take Buddy to the groomer regularly. That usually runs 40-50 bucks per visit. Instead, we decided to do it ourselves. But we had the added hurdle of buying good clippers; we tried the cheap ones and they were crap. Expensive clippers can cost hundreds of dollars. So, we settled on taking Buddy to the amazing Marinette Farm and Garden store where you can wash and clip your dog in their facility. Less messy than doing it at home. And it only costs 15 bucks.

Today we went to give Buddy a much overdue cut and wash. It took us an hour and a half of coaxing, distracting, and immobilizing to give the damn dog a haircut. It is really hard. And despite the professional grade equipment, these non-professional hands did not render a show-worthy 'do. In fact, Buddy looks like a raggedy little dog that no one wanted. Poor, neglected dog left to fend for himself in the great North Woods.

Rhonda was very encouraging throughout the whole experience, saying things like "its really not SO bad, He looks fine, etc. " It was an hour or so later, when Buddy was dry and fluffy, that I took a look at him from the front. I almost fell out of the kitchen chair laughing as I realized that we had cut Buddy's front legs entirely different lengths. It now looks like we have a little disabled dog whose left leg is atrophied from all of the time spent starving in the woods. Or, perhaps it is a war wound. The great budgetary wars of the Lesbinger household.

Rio!

My friend Tricia and her new, beautiful, baby-girl, Rio Shanti, arrived on Thursday. We are having so much fun just playing and talking. The only thing that would make it better would be having Tonja (Rio's mommy) here with us.

Buddy liked Rio a lot, at first. But then she got some special treatment, and she didn't leave soon enough, and it was like a call to war. Buddy spent much time (after this photo was taken) asserting his dominance and protecting me from Rio.

sleepy peoples

I woke up this morning at 4:40 when I thought I heard the flapping of furious wings over my head. It turns out that it was a dream -- just a grand finale to a night of strange restlessness. It doesn't help that I was sleeping in between two of the warmest beings known to the planet earth. The heat generating unit known as Buddy is generally not allowed in the bed. However, when you are sleeping on a futon on the living room floor, there is little you can do to prevent little dogs from snuggling up to you in the dark of the night. Buddy is clever in that he waits until we are both fully asleep, and then he moves from his little doggy bed (made of corduroy and cheap filler) to our bed (lined with nice, soft, cotton sheets and a down comforter).This habit of mid-night migration has lead to many a confused morning in which we are all slightly rearranged. Yesterday morning, Rhonda sat up, looked around, and said "where's Buddy?" with genuine perplexity. Then, as if called forth by magic, a very rumpled looking dog-face emerged from directly between our heads. We had been so asleep and comfortable that we didn't notice that Buddy had wedged himself directly between us in the middle of the night. Good thing I didn't roll over -- he would have been one smashed dog-pancake.

back to black

Here is a funny thing. When Buddy lived in Pennsylvania with my parents he had a black nose. Soon after moving to Seattle two years ago, Buddy's nose began to change color and become a lighter, pinkish color. It was a mystery. My dad said there was something in the water. A guy I met at the dog park (whose dog was similarly pink) said that he was told it was sun exposure. I was even told I could try putting sunblock on his nose.

In the two weeks since we left Seattle, Buddy's nose has become significantly blacker, returning to its original hue. See: pink nose in photo above, black nose in photo below. Any thoughts?