Musings & Confusings

A Lovely start to The Halloween Weekend with Friends!

dielorelei — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:09:40 GMT

Couldn't ask for a nicer evening, even with all the mess from the bridge closure. Started out the evening rockin' out to Rush and pulled up to the curb tonight with The Beatles. Nice! I never get to spend enough time with Tammy so I was thrilled that she was able to join me for the closing performance of The Heidi Chronicles! It was totally worth driving over two bridges and the traffic jam. The play was awesome. The cookies were yummy!The cruise back was a breeze! Tammy! You did look fabulous and classy in those leather pants! You rocked that look girl! Especially nice as I saw both opening and closing nights! I love doing that! Thanks Dan! Chilling with cast & crew after, as always was great fun! Nice to meet Juliet too! Driving through the city at the start of Halloween weekend was amusing. Thanks for the great storytelling on the way home Tammy! Dropping Tam off at home in Richmond, I must admit I was a little disappointed that I did not get to see the Hos on Ohio Street. They must have all gone to bed. It was cold out there. I dressed up as a hooker for Halloween once. Do hookers dress up as something else for Halloween, I wonder? Coming home to my purring kitties hits the spot! I'm so lucky to have friends that I adore & are such good company! Happy Halloween / Samhain everyone!

I'm geuinely perplexed!

dielorelei — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:24:55 GMT

Lorelei: Wonders why people make things more difficult & painful than they need to be. Wonders why some people won't take responsibility for their own actions. Wishes people could discuss things honestly without all the subterfuge! Wonders why people feel they can't support person A and still care about person B. Why is it all or nothing, with or against? Wishes people would make up their own minds instead of going along with whatever side their little circle is telling them the status quo is. Wishes people would base their opinions on their own experiences with someone instead of believing gossip. Is disappointed in & ashamed of a number of people right now. Is proud and grateful for good friends who can make up their own minds! Here's to my true friends! You know who you are! Thanks for the support! I cherish you now more than ever!

FREAKY FRIDAY

dielorelei — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:22:39 GMT

Originally posted Friday, September 23, 2009 Great! Just as I was starting to heal up I took a header today that would have made Chevy Chase proud! Nothing like going flying through the air and skidding across the parking lot asphalt! Ow! My knee is huge! Boy do my hand and face hurt! Aries Mars strikes again! Have to blame my clumsiness on something. So much for all the stuff I needed to do this weekend. Verve & I did manage to get out tonight after all to see a viewing of Antero Alli's, "Tragos." It was great, but there was a suspicion that it would have been even better if I had been in an altered state. Dinner at Crepevine. Verve as usual, making the guys all tongue tied just by existing. Bar hopping to hand out flyers for a benefit. Made it to Van Kleef and Radio before hanging out at Baggy's with Friends. Night ends and next day begins with a strange, pleasurable and truely unexpected surprise! Finally fell asleep with an icepack on my knee! *Photo is from Antero Alli's, Tragos

What a Tuesday!

dielorelei — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:13:46 GMT

Originally posted Tuesday, October 20, 2009 How did my Tuesday go? Not much sleep last night. No surprise there. Merph the marvelous snuggler made it very hard to get out of bed! She was all purry and cuddly this morning. Dr. Appointment at NAHC. My doctor rocks, but I wish she had better news for me! My head is healing very slowly & again she reminds me how lucky I am to be alive. A little harder or a little different spot & I'd have been toast! Tip: Try your best to avoid someone slamming your head against ANYTHING, especially a solid door! Some good news, however, I’ve lost more than 30 # in the last month which explains why my pants won’t stay up. The "Stress Diet!" It's a marvel! Long wait at the pharmacy. but mission accomplished. At least I managed to get through a few more stories in F. Scott Fitzgerald's, "Tales of the Jazz age." Mixed reaction to what I'm reading so far. Cheese enchilada w/ mole sauce for dinner! Leftovers for tomorrow. Yum! Found out my sedate old bunnies are not so sedate & can still be naughty. Max & Dori escaped from their pen and nibbled this and that! They aren't too happy that I shrunk their pen! I'm sure I'll find more nibbled things I didn't see the first time! Brushed of enough inertia to do a decent amount of housework & am ready to collapse! Whew! Tonight’s ultimate question… Will Verve call me at the last minute to go out or will I put my jammies on & watch, "The Good Wife." So, nice to see Julianna Margulies on tv again. I wasn't expecting this show to hold my attention, but she's terrific! Tonight's Ultimate Conclusion: Date with television & a few zzzs.

I have to say, the Penisula Humane Society is pretty awesome!

dielorelei — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:10:57 GMT

Originally posted Wednesday, October 7, 2009 I'm grieving the loss of my Jezebel. She survived lymphoma as a kitten and stayed healthy until this year. I was forced by circumstance to euthanize her today. If you have an animal euthanized & can't afford to have your pet buried or cremated, they don't just dispose of the remains. They pay for a communal cremation at Pet's Rest in Colma where all the ashes are spread in a meadow that you can go visit! Until the remains are picked up by Pet's Rest, they are kept in a morgue PHS refers to as, "Heaven." The staff was really kind & let me take all the time I needed. I took a long time, believe me! They were locking up when I left. The process was kind of interesting. Unlike many vet hospitals they do not give a sedative first. They did it at my request, but afterward I realized it wasn't necessary.Because they didn't deliver the injections through a vein, there wasn't that sudden shock of death. It took a long time. In Jezebel's case, about 40 minutes & they had to administer a second injection. This is very different than what I'm used to. It's time consuming, but an incredibly peaceful transition. I highly recommend it if you want to hold your animal in your lap and let go slowly. It's been so long since I had to end the life of any of my own animals. I've regularly assisted with many animals I loved dearly that belonged to other people. I'm used to being stoic & supportive and grieving later in private. I'm still grieving over the loss of my dear friend, "Little," who is the cat I'm holding in my profile picture! I almost forgot how badly it rips your guts out when it's your baby! I'm blessed despite the sadness. A friend insisted on paying for the cremation so I'll have the ashes at home! I guess it's true that there's always a rainbow somewhere, but the next few days will be extra tough. So many things I need to attend to, but I don't think I'll accomplish much! http://www.peninsulahumanesociety.org/

FRUSTRATED ARTIST!

dielorelei — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 04:26:18 GMT

It's sooooo ironic that Ganesha is on my calender this month! I don't usually blog about being depressed or serious personal poopie! I'd much rather vent about the trivial, yet incredibly absurd stuff in my life in public. Tonight, however, I'm feeling the need for some volcanic spewing so I'm just going to let off some typographical steam! Most of you never get a chance to see my darker side. My friends see me laughing most of the time. Despite that, some of you know that I've been dealing with a lot of "CHALLENGES" in the past year; chronic pain issues, heavy personal/family stuff, job issues,car problems, money problems. You name it; the stuff of, unfortunately, MY life! One of the things that has always kept me going were the creative outlets. For most of my life I've been lucky enough to be successful creatively. I've made money selling art. I used to do a lot of theater & little film parts. As a singer, I paid my rent with my music for many years. Having an artistic venue for my emotions has been a great help when times were tough. Now, I appear to be at a standstill creatively!Most of what's blocking me has to do with those two devils, time and money! I've started to do a little art again, but since my ex took or destroyed most of my supplies a few years back, I'm really limited in the kind of projects I am doing. Would you believe both my manuel & digital cameras are messed up too?I've done a little extra work but I'm not in the union,and I have no agent or professional head shots, and my stage work resume is OLD! I was doing a lot of writing on my laptop (The portability of a laptop is really terrific for someone who has a lot of pain by the way!) until it croaked on me!Of course I hadn't backed anything up either! It's all so ridiculous! Mostly, I want to sing! It seems like everyone wants to hear something first and I don't have a way to transfer any of my old recordings to MP3 files from cassette right now. I've had people tell me they can do this for way too much money and a couple have offered to do it for free, but then they flaked. You can't be too mad at someone for flaking when they were oferring to do it for free can you? Andy even offered to give me guitar lessons a couple years ago, but he's never had the time. Again, only FREE is in my budget right now so I must wait! Anyway, after a number of emails back & forth to musician ads all wanting me to email them some recordings or see my "MYSPACE" music page, I want to scream, kick the virtual dog, and bang my head against the wall. I'm sure it'll all work out & the creative block will pass, but I hate those feeling so boxed in! I know it sounds CRAZY, but it's times like these that I really envy those with the self-destructive gene! I wish I could drown my sorrows in a bottle 'til I pass out, swallow mass quantities of narcotics until I'm dizzy & numb, go out to a nasty singles bar and have really angry sex with a stranger, or even go sing karaoke.....Aaaagh, that's going too far! Those kind of things have never appealed to me though or at least NOT when I'm depressed. I wish I could say, I feel all better now, but at least I got it out! Happy Friday night all!

Halloween/Samhain/Dio de las muertos

dielorelei — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 01:35:56 GMT

Wow! This is the first year in quite some time that I have done literally NOTHING to celebrate one of my favorite times of year! I missed Spiral Dance, the local Day of the Dead fun, avoided the kiddies begging for candy and didn't even do a Samhain ritual, solitary or otherwise, this year! The only thing I did do is turn to my sweetie at midnight and say half-heartedly, "Happy New Year!" I guess I half to admit that I am slipping into some sort of limbo here. Everyday feels like quicksand. It's not all bad. There's just not a lot happening. What is happening likespreading molasses. (Sigh) Well, it's not written in stone. I can still do something about it. Happily, I did not have many honored dead to honor this year. For me, it's all animals, Agamemnon( Aggie) & Katie. both cats & Winnie the Australian Shepard will be dearly missed!

If you have to ask......

dielorelei — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 09:35:12 GMT

Tonight, The Professor reveals he had a nice first date over the weekend. Yippee! Cool! Happy for him & all that! Keep in mind he doesn't know this girl well yet or much about her interests. He asked me if I thought it would be appropriate to invite her to a party for their second date. So far so good. Sounds lovely. Then he tells me that this is the party where: A) There will be a bunch of role playing gaming going on. Well, I say, unless she's really intrested in that, it might be a bit overwhelming. B) This is also a party where a bunch of naked swinger people cram into the hottub! I suggested that might be a little off-putting for a second date. He reluctantly agreed, adding that perhaps a second date was too soon to introduce her to all his friends anyway. Sometimes it is really that funny around here!

Oakland CRIME WAVE Continues!

dielorelei — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 09:15:38 GMT

How many times have I been told, "Don't open your door to anyone you don't know!" How many times have I & other neighbors done it anyway? For a seemingly intelligent person, I often have dubious judgment. Oh, well it all turned out alright! Pan-handlers & scam artists aren't always that clever, but they know how to grab a cliched story & run with it. Try to poke holes in it & they just come up with another line. Preying on the goodness in people, they count on your desire to want to help & to want to believe. When your gut tells you they are full of poopie your well meaning conscience says, "What if they're telling the truth, what if they really need help? I don't want to discriminate. I don't want to call someone a liar! I don't want to be mean!" We set ourselves up by being night owls with our lights on. Around 1230AM our doorbell rang. My first thought is that The Professor, my housemate, had lost his keys again, my second was that one of our neighbors might be in trouble! Our front door has a window in the top and I lifted the curtain to see who it was. There on the porch was a twinkly-eyed old black man, fence-post thin, with teeth begging for a dentist, reeking of tobacco, casually dressed but in good clothes. "Can I help you?" I said suspiciously, through the door, of course. I kept thinking that he resembled a fellow we used to chase out of the cafe I used to work at because he was a pick-pocket! "I'm really sorry to bother you," he said sincerely enough, "You're one of the only neighbors who still had their lights on." I gave him my best puzzled, "who are you?" expression. He introduced himself as "Mr. Charles Crawford," a neighbor a few houses down. When I tried to pinpoint exactly which house that would be he mumbled, "you know past the stucco house, mumble mumble, next to mumble mumble." He let his voice trail off in those key moments. "Anyway, again, I'm very sorry to bother you, but I have a bit of a problem. I've just been at the grocery store, you know Albertsons, down the way and when I came home, I locked my keys in my truck and now I can't get in my house. All my groceries are just sitting on the sidewalk." (He points down the block. "I called a locksmith, but I don't have enough cash on me to pay them, do you think I could borrow $40.00 from you? I'd pay you right back." *It dawned on me later that $40 is REALLY cheap for an after hours locksmith. "I'm sorry," I said, "I'd really like to help you, but, where did you say you lived again?" I know most of my neighbors at least by their face and I was pretty sure this guy was just pan-handling. "I don't remember seeing you around the neighborhood!" "Oh, that's because I mostly work nights. You know my next door neighbor, Mr. mumble mumble, you know mumble, don't you? He tried to help me break into the house, but we couldn't get the window open. my wife's working at Kaiser & she won't be home until morning. "Oh, well, there you go," I suggested that his neighbor friend, "Mr. mumble mumble," could take him to Kaiser to get this wife's house keys. "Oh, she doesn't have keys to my truck." "no, but you could borrow her house keys & surely you must have an extra set of keys to your truck in your home!" Here began a tit for tat dialog where I poked holes in his story while trying to signal my sweetie to call the cops! Evidently, Mrs. Crawford worked in some special part of Kaiser where she couldn't leave her station to give him keys and he couldn't go in. And evidently, she wouldn't be able to give her keys to someone else to pass to him either. Evidently there is a top secret "mumble mumble ward" at Kaiser Oakland! "Gee, that sounds really frustrating! I really wish I could help you, but I just don't have any cash. You know, I've lived here a long time and I know most of my neighbors, including the ones who live in the house it sounds like you're saying is YOUR house. DO you have your ID so I can just see your address?" "oh, well, you see, you see, that's the thing, I don't have it on me, I put everything in my truck, went to put the shopping cart back, and realized everything was locked in the truck, my keys AND my wallet." "Well, that really is a bummer," I said, "I thought you locked your keys in the truck AFTER you got home. I'm a little confused." Again, I said, "I'm really sorry, I can't be of more help. I just don't have any cash, Really." I have to admit. I was sort of enjoying how long this had played out. It was fascinating! "Hey, anything would help, even if you've got some pennies. The lady next door only had $3.oo, anything, really." "Oh, really?" I said incredulously, "They gave you money, next door? Who exactly, gave you $3?" My next door neighbors are no dummies. They'd have seen through him too. Everyone in the neighborhood knows them & they know everyone too so if he truely was a neighbor he'd have been sitting in their living room waiting for the tow truck. Besides, their dogs weren't barking which meant everyone was upstairs for the night. "So, who did you say gave you $3?" "You know, the lady...mumble mumble" There sure seem to be a lot of people named, "mumble mumble" on my street! At his point, I realized I was going to have to break it off & call the cops myself. Besides, it was getting boring. I told him, "I'm sorry, but I just can't help you." Then Andy, uncomfortable, and always full of kindness, slipped a $5 bill through the cracked window hoping to get rid of the guy. Our "neighbor" gushed about how he'd pay us back. He'd put it under our mat tomorrow. I told him, "Please don't. Just keep it" Just then, I see two police cruisers coming up the block with their spotlights on. My "neighbor, Mr. Crawford," suddenly got very uncomfortable! I said through the cracked window, "Oh good, maybe these nice policeman can help you out!" But, Mr. Crawford didn't seem to thrilled about having their help. He stopped on our walkway and bent over pretending to tie his shoes which conveniently put him behind a bush! He had his back to me & his eye on the cops. I leaned out the window so the cops could see me and pointed to him with both hands. They pulled over and after a brief conversation & after checking the ID that was in his pants the whole time, cuffed him. Turns out he'd been knocking on doors all over the neighborhood and that a someone a few blocks away had called the police. He had a $5,000 misdemeanor warrant out for his arrest so they were happy to take him away. The policeman said he was harmless, and while appreciating that I'd kept him busy so they could catch him he had to chastise me for cracking the window. "He could have been carrying a weapon!" Always ready to add a little unintentional amusement to any situation, our housemate, Professor Inappropriate, arrived home at that very moment. Upon seeing the two cruisers out front, he was certain some major crime had occurred! A home-invasion, a stolen car perhaps, a murder? Perhaps someone had stolen the crusty dishes from his room or (gasp!) his role-playing books! "What's going on!" he demanded after slamming the door behind him, not for punctuation, but because he always slams the door! "What happened! Why are the cops here?" He blustered, without giving us a chance to answer, "What happened?" When he finally left a pause, I couldn't resist, "Andy farted," I said with my most serious face, "And someone called Homeland Security!" The Professor glared at me, then looked at Andy," What happened!" So, since he has no patience & no sense of humor, we told him the condensed version. When we got to the point about the warrant, he shook his head, "Well that was stupid!" "What do you mean?" Well, if the guy had a warrant out for his arrest why was he out trying to scam people? He should be laying low, not committing more crime!" We cracked up. "Are you serious? That's what criminals do. They don't think they'll get caught!" Evidently he was serious. "Well if I had a warrant out for my arrest. I wouldn't be stupid enough to go out and commit more crimes!" This from Mr. "I grew up in New York. I have street smarts! I can handle myself!" Andy & I just lost it at that point which sent him stomping off to his room! If he'd answered the door, he'd have probably invited the con-artist in, offered him a brandy and worked out a loan with payment plan!

Oh No I didn't! Sometimes I let my inner bitch out!

dielorelei — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:57:01 GMT

Sometimes I feel guilty for being such a bitch, especially when I enjoy it! First I have to say, that normally I am a kind person. I realize there are some people in this world who are just "special." They live in their own little universe and no amount of discussion or argument will challenge them to think differently. I feel this way for example, about right wing conservatives. Even if the other person is rude or insensitive, hurling insults in return, although they might be witty insults, is just plain mean. Sometimes it's just better to think of them as sufferring from some sort of brain damage. You just have to overlook their flaws, smile, and pretend you don't speak english! Our housemate is (Thank Goddess) not a right wing conservetive, but sometimes he comes off just as "wrong" & he has a penchant for doing it at all the wrong times. While he usually has good taste in movies, in general, The Professer is not a big TV or movie person. He's a bookworm, a gamer & seems to fancy himself as a combination nerd/intellectual snob. Often, we will be watching a movie he's not interested in, but he will come in & comment anyway. He'll either say something really insulting or something really vapid about what we are watching. Or having not bothered to watch it from the beginning come in in the middle and ask twenty questions about it. Usually he becomes bored with it rather quickly & goes to his room to read or do computer stuff. It's a bit like living with someone from another country who misses cultural references in jokes. Here's an example: One night, we were watching the classic Cosby/Poitier comedy, "Uptown Saturday Night" in which the Poitier's character's wallet, which contained a winning lotto ticket, was stolen during a robbery at a nightclub. To complicate matters they'd BS'd their way into the exclusive club in the first place and lied to their wives about where they were! They try getting the word from the street & even hire a fraud of a PI played by Richard Prior, but they can't go to the police for all the "obvious reasons," including not being able to trust "the man" of course. Now, it wouldn't be as funny, and the movie would be really short, if they didn't get into one convaluted mess after another, trying to avoid going to the police. Naturally, The Professer comes in and watches for a few minutes and finding no humor in what he sees comments (just after Cosby says, "We can't go to the police!" ) "Why don't they just go to the cops?" and leaves the room. Aaaagh! Once while we watching Jeff Corwin, the herpetologist, made famous by his Animal Planet & Discovery Channel specials, he corrected Jeff's pronunciation of a snake's scientifc name! Aaaagh! Ok. Perhaps you have a small glimpse of our pain. This weekend, Andy & I went on a movie binge. After watching, 2 Michael Moore films, "Roger & Me," and "Bowling for Columbine," we had to set them off with some lighter fare! Nothing cheers us up like a film full of fart jokes so we put on Eddy Murphy's, "The Nutty Professor I" & followed it up with, "The Nutty Professor II, The Klumps!" I love seeing Eddie play multiple characters & in these he plays the lead role & his whole family. It's silly fun & in childish bad taste. So, in the midst of it all our hilarity, "Professer Inappropriate" wanders into the room with his big buddha belly loudly slurping what smelled & sounded like noodle soup & says in a tone laden with condescension & disgust, "Hmmm. So, I guess Eddie Murphy is playing all the FAT people." There was a moment of silence and then I blurted out a zinger, "Yeah, except for YOU!" Then I mumbled something of a sort of offhanded apology joke. After all, I am not exactly svelte either but gee, let he or she without a little extra padding cast the first stone, eh? It's not the first time he's made rude comments about other people including ME, being fat! Anyway, he stomped off to his room which is what he usually does when I confront him about anything and we enjoyed the rest of the movie. Still, I feel a bit guilty. I try to be a kind person, but there are some people who just bring out the MEAN in me. I guess I should go give myself 20 lashes with a wet noodle & try to be a better person!

'Tis the season!

dielorelei — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 06:45:27 GMT

One final salute to the weenie dog! So,here I am, be-latedly finishing uploading the posts from Paloma's diary! She stayed with us this summer while Samantha & Drew were at Burning Man. P-Doggie kept a diary for them to read when they got home because she knew how much they'd miss her! It took me a while to decipher her handwriting and my Tribe logins are sporadic at best. While hunting for images to add to the posts I ran across a few extra Daschund images that I couldn't resist posting. What the hell, nobody reads this stuff anyway! I thought this one was especially cool and appropriate with Halloween coming up!

The real Paloma! Superstar!

dielorelei — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 06:39:09 GMT

We were really bummed that we didn't have a working camera during the time Paloma stayed at our house. The flash quit working which makes the shutter speed impossibly slow! Things come out blurry & dark! Of course Paloma did something cute about every 5 seconds the whole time she was here! Here's a picture Andy took of her a few months ago when the flash was still working!

Daschund Weathervane

dielorelei — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 06:28:40 GMT

Ran accross this photo while searching for pictures to put with the Paloma blogs! In real life, I don't think a doxie would appreciate being on a roof!

Fun Weenie Dog photos!

dielorelei — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 06:27:06 GMT

Some more cute weenie dog picts! This is so clever! Grill your hot-dog with a hot dog holder!

P-doggie diary-going home, my last day! Just click your paws together three times & say, There's no place like home!"

dielorelei — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 06:00:19 GMT

*(These entries are from August & September, but I just got around to posting them. It took some time to decipher Paloma's handwriting. She has trouble holding the pencil with those stubby little doxie paws!) It's Labor Day, whatever that means. I'm a dog, I don't understand these human holidays. Let's face it, everyday is kind of like a holiday to me. And, I'm so cute, I should be on a postage stamp! Lorelei won't be here when my parents get here so I made sure to give her lots of kisses this morning when she left. She told me how wonderful I am & that she hopes I will come visit her again soon. I know everybody was surprised at just how well it went, everyone, but me! I bet even the housemate will miss me. He'll never admit it, but he'll be a little sad without my waggy brand of happiness in the house. It's going to be a long ride home. Luckily, my feet won't reach the pedals so I'm off the hook for driving! I'll just get to relax and smell all the interesting scents Mom & Dad bring back from the desert. Until next time, Oakland! P-Doggie out!

P-doggle Days 7 & 8 It's September! A picture would be worth 1000 barks!

dielorelei — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 05:54:08 GMT

*(These entries are from August & September, but I just got around to posting them. It took some time to decipher Paloma's handwriting. She has trouble holding the pencil with those stubby little doxie paws!) Oh, the anguish! The injustice of it all! The flash on Lorelei's digital camera has died and despite all my glorious cuteness, there will be no pictures of me during my summer camp adventure. No postcards! No souvenirs! It's so unfair. Here I've been doing nothing but cute, adorable, fabulous things and there's not one picture. There's no photo record of how much fun I've had with Stella. (Or of how much cuter I am than Stella! Stella has her own photo album on flickr!) I don't even have any pictures of my looking dignified despite the housemate stereo-typing me! I hope they all will remember how adorable I am! Mummy & Daddy are coming to pick me up tomorrow. I will miss Andy & Lorelei, but I am excited to see my very own special humans again. I'll need to comfort them because while I have been having fun they are probably at their own vet getting shots or at the dentist having a root canal. After all, they would never leave me to go do something fun! That Burning Man thing is just a cover story so I won't worry!

More P-Doggie diaries! Paloma's artistic side! 08/30 & 31/07 Day 5 & 6

dielorelei — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 05:47:11 GMT

*(These entries are from August & September, but I just got around to posting them. It took some time to decipher Paloma's handwriting. She has trouble holding the pencil with those stubby little doxie paws!) Well, seeing as I am at summer camp, we really should be doing some arts & crafts. We are doing our best to express ourselves by ripping the stuffing from toys and peeing in the house, although that's mostly Stella at this point. (She's an Italian Greyhound, it's what they DO!) I'm definately doing my best to beautify my surroundings. I look splendid draped accross the bed or artistically arranging myself on a pillow. Stella & I make such a pretty pair prancing & gliding down the sidewalk. And there is nothing more delightful than my wagging tail! That's pretty good for arts & crafts, I say, since making necklaces out of macaroni is out of the question with my fabulously plump paws! That's me; Paloma, Weenie-dog-ARTIST!

Why Oh Why?

dielorelei — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 03:33:06 GMT

am I so crabby lately? Is it the heat? My aching back? My annoying roommate? Too many bills and not enough money? (And no, I'm not PMSing!) The last few days I have not been letting things slide like I should. I just want to bite everyone's head off! Now, if I can just find someone with a head made of chocolate!

Imagine this!

dielorelei — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 03:22:27 GMT

Maybe I'm just in an empathetic mood 'cause I'm spending so much time with the furry people. I came across this listing on eBay for a set of those old pressed butterfly coasters. Nowaday's most specimens are farmed and gassed which I suppose is still not terribly humane but at least it spares endangered insects. But imagine back in the 70's which is when these things were popular...... La La La La.... A lovely butterfly has just emerged from her chrysalis and embarked upon her meaningful but short life! Before she gets her first taste of flower nector or has a chance to meet a cute boy butterfly and procreate; WHOP! She's swept up in a butterfly net, stabbed with a nasty pin and once she's dead she gets squished flat & glued onto a background, covered with acrylic and is sold as a coaster in a set with 5 other unfortunate butterflies! She then protects a coffee table from someone's ice tea glass. The bottom of the glass covers her up so you can't see what a pretty butterfly she once was! (sigh!) Then she becomes "outdated" decor and ends up on eBay. Eventually some collector of kitch will put his beer on top of her. Ah, the cycle of life......

P-Doggie Diaries: Day 4 of my Captivity......A Hot DAY for a HOT DOG!

dielorelei — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 02:55:20 GMT

Paloma's Summer Camp Day 4 (Wednesday) Boy! These people really have a stupid sense of humor! They laugh because my poop is "almost as big as" I am! Just because my plumbing works is no cause for amusement! Imbeciles! Then there's all the "labeling" and "name calling." The Professor, who I have come to realize is quite "special" in his way never calls us by our names. He walks around the house, "Hi Cat, Hi bunnies, Hi roommate, hi dog." Must we be referred to as the "badger hound" and the "sight hound?" Pahleeeze. And just because Stella, the Italian Greyhound and I get along so well, (as long as she lets me have all the toys, that is) must we be referred to as "the Kraut dog and the Dago dogo," or worse Little Miss Hitler and Little Miss Musselini." Obviously, there's no political correctness in this house. Ok, Ok, I'm making it sound HORRIBLE here. I am having a tremendously good time. Last night we sandwiched the dog loathing housemate between us and he had to admit it was "quite nice." He had to pet us. Ha! We win again! Today I made him feel important by running out the door when he came home and then let him "rescue" me. Geez, how many times has he been told to be careful that their are dogs on the other side of the door who might get excited! And we are getting cuddled a great deal, going on walks past the houses where the rich dogs leave their pee mail, I have read and responded to some very interesting posts! Stella & I do manage to take up most of the bed and Lorelei and Andy just kind of put up with it. Lorelei lets me walk all over her. She says it feels good when I stand on her back. She does however draw the line at sneezing in her face. Oh well, you can't have it all. It's a dog's life, and a pretty good one after all!

P-Doggie Diaries. Gotta share the Glam!

dielorelei — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 05:10:04 GMT

Paloma’s Summer Camp Folly Lolly la la la la woof! Further Adventures of a glamorous weenie dog diva! Day 3 (Tuesday) Everybody went outside early this morning to watch the eclipse. They left me in the house. It’s shocking, I know. How could they leave without me! So I howled until they finally caved and brought me outside on the leash. I don’t know what the big deal was. I was much more interested in the possum that was rustling around in the bushes than some rock in the sky! Today, there was a little earthquake. I got very quiet right before it happened. Then I started whining. The whining was mostly because Lorelei had to do some things and I couldn’t come. Stella, the Italian Greyhound is here. We’re getting along pretty well, but I don’t want her to play with the croissant because I now consider it MINE! The cats are pretty disgusted. I think they’re just jealous because we are such cute dogs! I’ve been very good and I only pee inside when Andy comes home from work. I just get so excited. (He’s hot! For a human…)

Another entry from the P-doggie Diaries! What I dog on my summer vacation!

dielorelei — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 05:08:29 GMT

Paloma’s Summer Camp Follies continue.... Adventures of a glamorous weenie dog diva! Day 2: (Monday) Andy went to work and I had Lorelei all to myself. She brought out some cool stuffed dog toys for us to play with, but she wouldn’t let me play with them unsupervised because I wanted to chew the stuffing out of them! Well. Duh! I am a Daschund! Even when she hid them, I tried to figure out how to get in and retrieve the toys. Then! I discovered the cat toys are fun to play with too! Guess Lorelei will have to hide those too! Hee Hee! My favorite toy that it’s ok for me to play with anytime is a fake croissant. It looks real and has a fabulous squeak! I met a couple of the neighbors today and they fussed over me. I'm so likeable. Their housemate, the Hobbit, HATES dogs, but is trying to make a bit of a show for house guests tonight of how he adores me. He also tried to impress them by telling them that Daschund means, “Badger Hound.” He squeaked the croissant a bunch and talked in a high pitched baby talk. It was sort of amusing, but I wish he’d just give me the damn toy! He was annoyed because I kept him from sleeping all day by whining when Lorelei left for a few hours. That'll teach him to snooze all day without inviting me to snooze with him!

P-Doggie Diaries! Paloma’s Summer Camp Follies!

dielorelei — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 05:05:04 GMT

Paloma’s Summer Camp Follies Adventures of a glamorous weenie dog diva! Day 1 (Sunday) My wonderful parents dropped me off at Auntie Lorelei and Uncle Andy’s place today. They love me so much that they took the time to go over all the important P-doggie information with my doggie “camp counselors” even though they had not had their coffee yet. They really, really love me! (Like, how could they not! I am soooo adorable!) I was so busy sniffing around that I didn’t notice that they were leaving until the car started to pull away! “Hey! I’m supposed to be in there! That’s my car!” But I quickly got over it. I’m going to miss them, but they are going to something for human’s only called, “Burning Man.” It’s really hot there so I don’t think I’d like it anyway. (Although, one would have to concede that I’d look fabulous in costume.) But I dogress…Anyway most of my first day was spent sniffing around and trying to persuade the cats to cuddle with me and trying to eat their food Lorelei set up an open crate in the living room so I have a den! I hopped into it right away and dragged a few toys in. Tonight, I am going to see how much bed I can hog!

Saturday night home alone-spoooky!

dielorelei — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 06:03:21 GMT

Wow! Today was just one of those WEIRD days! Despite all the insomnia, pain and general obstacles to trip over of late, I’ve managed to be pretty darned productive. (Thanks Ganesh!) I’ve been slowly, very slowly, starting to do yoga again and get back into physical therapy. I’ve been carving out ME time; “studying” every night, reading, catching up on movies AND housework. I’ve been on a roll and feel pretty good about it, darn it! Despite running on about 5 hours of fitful sleep I thought today was going to be a good day. I even stopped for a nice brunchy snack at Artist’s café on Park Blvd this afternoon. I made it through all my kitty visits in a reasonable time. Driving was bearable in the mild heat today! I returned all my client calls like a reeeel perfessional! Then it was home for a refreshing shower, necessary since a kitty peed on me when I cut her nails, topped off with 30 minutes of the ice pack on my shoulder! That’s when the pain started to kick my ass! I was supposed to go to a party tonight but with my neck and shoulder hurting so badly and the sleep deprivation, I have about as much strength as a piece of wet tissue paper! Tonight I opted for having the house to myself. It hasn’t been a total loss. I’ve piddled around on the web, worked on the text for some new eBay auctions, and stupidly listened to an audio file as I worked on some house stuff that was supposedly (I say supposedly because I honestly don’t know and don’t think it’s my place to judge unless a story is blatantly ridiculous.) a spirit speaking through his granddaughter’s body, oh and I guess there was an aunt hanging out in there too. The Grandfather was threatening the woman who was "normal" and demanding she give something back that belonged to him, the aunt wimpered and cried. They both kept blowing out the candles everytime Dee Dee (the "normal" person) would light them. So, here I am in my old house alone going about my business with this audio file on as basically curious background noise. I'd listened to some of Dee Dee's other audio files on her eBay listings and they were usually more entertaining then scary. She has a sense of humor about the paranormal, that's for sure! She wrote an advice guide for buying "haunted" dolls on eBay warning about shaken doll syndrome! It's hilarious! Haunted dolls on eBay are all the rage evidently. But I digress... So here I am doing this and that listening to this file which is going on and on and on (like my blogs) and it's not quite as entertaining as others I've listened to, but it was sort of intriguing. It was only mildly creepy for the first 15 minutes, however, in the middle of it was an unexpected bloodcurdling scream and I about had a coronary right there. If only the scream had had the side benefit of a nice adrenaline rush so I could get more done! Oddly enough despite the high volume on the speaker, the scream and subsequent creepy noises did not scare my cats. My gasping, and jumping however, really disturbed their naps. Why do I creep myself out with stuff like that? Too close for comfort. I have a past with creepy stuff like this which is one reason I always give people's tales the benefit of the doubt even if I also take them with a large grain of salt! Anyway, it was over an hour ago and I'm still a little jumpy! I think it’s time to watch a movie and wait to crash until people are home again. This will keep my active imagination from hearing voices and screams! Besides, the Professor will come home around 2Am, dragging my boyfriend behind him I hope, and slam the door so loud the house will shake! That door slamming should scare off any ghosts within a 10 mile radius!

Vick You're a Dick!

dielorelei — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 08:17:39 GMT

I’m really angry right now. It’s been building for a long time! Please indulge me while I spew! Dear Michael Vick- I was pleased to hear today that the NFL was brave enough to suspend your sorry ass indefinitely. I’d be a lot more pleased if they made it permanent. You shouldn’t be allowed to make another dime from your fame as a football player or as a dog-torturing thug! Granted, today’s sports heroes aren’t the role models we’d like them to be, but please, you take the cake; the rotten, slimy, moldy, stale, sittin’ in the fridge too long cake! Despite your football record, you are not a winner. You are a loser in every definition of the word. You sir, are a coward, a murderer, a torturer, a liar, and a lousy human being! You are a disgrace; a disgrace to dog owners, to young men and men in general, football players, to your family, celebrities, African Americans, humanity, and your fellow “Hokies,” (haven’t they gone through enough this year!) You think we should go easy on you because you didn’t actually place bets on the dog-fights you bank-rolled. You say you didn’t get any of the winnings. Besides the preposterousness of those statements, (If you bankrolled other people’s gambling, then YOU gambled buddy.) what then was your motivation? If you didn’t get any money out of it, what did you get out of it then? Enjoyment of another creature’s suffering? We’re supposed to think it’s NOT THAT BAD to facilitate the torture, abuse, and murder of innocent animals who have no choice about being used for bait or for fighting. When you were hanging and drowning those dogs that were too wimpy or too nice was that humane? Was that sportsman-like? Was that manly? Were you proud of yourself? Even if we forget about the dogs that have been harmed/killed in the past by your little venture, over 50 more dogs who have been confiscated are going to have to euthanized because of what you’ve done. They never had a chance at a happy home. That’s a lot of fine work to show for yourself at the age of 27! Perhaps someone should have drowned or hanged you as a child because you weren’t “worthy of the pit” or “didn’t perform well” as a compassionate, thoughtful, empathetic human being! Unfortunately THAT would have been illegal and what a fine example of humanity you turned out to be for it. So now you apologize for your “poor judgment.” Poor judgment? You think? You say you “realize” you “should” never have been involved. Yeah, easy to say when you get CAUGHT! This lapse of judgment evidently went on for about 6 years and would have probably continued if you hadn't been caught. Was it a lapse in judgment when you let your friends deal dope out of YOUR truck a couple of years ago? I suppose they had a similar lapse in judgment when they got caught? I suppose it was also a wee little lapse in judgment to sleep with women knowing that you had genital herpes, but not telling them. Oh, if only no one had contracted it from you. I suppose that was their lapse in judgment for being starry eyed enough to be bamboozled into having sex with you. Was it a lapse in judgment that resulted in a $10,000 fine and another $10,000 donation to charity when you flipped off the fans, with a double bird no less, at a game last year? What a class act! You want to try to wiggle your way into the low end of the suggested sentence; 18 months! I hope the judge slams you with the maximum 5! (Let’s face it, being famous, and because you have no previous prison record, you will probably not be stuck in with the worst of the prison population. You’ll probably get out early for good behavior.) Of course 5 years is atrocious for mistreating and murdering an animal. It’s just a DOG. It’s not like they really suffer. It’s not like this kind of behavior says so much more about someone’s character than say, stealing a bike or smoking some dope. I can only hope the terms of whatever probation you get afterward involve working in shelters, helping rehabilitate abused animals and scooping up their shit, lots and lots of shit! Kudos to NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell for stating publicly, that your conduct was "not only illegal but also cruel and reprehensible" and regardless whether he personally placed bets, "your actions in funding the betting and your association with illegal gambling both violate the terms of your NFL player contract and expose you to corrupting influences in derogation of one of the most fundamental responsibilities of an NFL player," and "You have engaged in conduct detrimental to the welfare of the NFL and have violated the league's personal conduct policy," Shame, shame, shame on R.L. White, president of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP for his verbal support of your reprehensible activity. What a stupid, un-substantive, thoughtless man he makes himself out to be by saying things like, "In some instances, I believe Michael Vick has received more negative press than if he would've killed a human being," White said. "The way he is being persecuted, he wouldn't have been persecuted that much had he killed somebody." Well, you did kill “somebody.” Whether they were dogs or not, you murdered them! If you were casually able to murder dogs yourself or encourage their torture and death through fighting what would give you qualms about killing a human being. After all, you could just say you regretted it and made a mistake, right? And since dog-fighting is related to drug activity, which is what the original raid was about who knows how many deaths you indirectly caused with that association. People get murdered over drug deals every day! Mr. "Asswipe," oh excuse me, I meant Mr. White, also says he doesn’t understand the “uproar” over dog-fighting, when hunting deer and other animals is “perfectly acceptable.” Ok, aside from the fact that on the one hand hunting is a cruel sport, it can be done to actually FEED someone. And whatever happened two wrongs don’t make a right. I know I shouldn’t go there but there were people who justified slavery as perfectly acceptable too. Why do people who want to improve their own situation and preserve their own civil liberties only care about things that affect them directly? I suppose I’ll take a rash of shit for being white and criticizing Mr. White. Perhaps one good thing will come of this. You have certainly helped bring attention to the cause of stopping dog and other types of animal fighting. The American Humane Society even sponsored a contest via You Tube of messages against it. Some of them are moving and amazing. Kudos to people like Rochelle Steffen, who expressed her disgust with your behavior by allowing her dogs to chew up her collection of your trading cards and is auctioning them off on eBay with the proceeds going to the humane society. I noticed others are getting in the spirit. Hopefully, they are not cashing in on people’s outrage against you and just saying they will donate the money. “The Atlanta Humane Society has also reported former Vick fans mailing in jerseys -- often accompanied with financial contributions and letters of outrage over the charges. Those former fans have suggested the Falcons jerseys become animal bedding or rags to help scrub up the messes those dogs leave behind.” Rock on! I think you need to spend some real time in prison and think about what you’ve done. However, as much as I loathe what you’ve done, I don’t want you just to rot in there. I want you to rehabilitate yourself. I want you to learn from this; really LEARN from this and come out a better human being. Good luck with that. -Lorelei A few pertinent quotations: "The question is not Can they reason? Nor can they talk? But can they Suffer" ~ Jeremy Bentham "Anyone who has accustomed himself to regard the life of any living creature as worthless is in danger of arriving also at the idea of worthless human life". ~ Albert Schweitzer "Animals cannot speak, but can you and I not speak for them and represent them? Let us all feel their silent cry of agony and let us all help that cry to be heard in the world." ~Rukmini DeviArundale "Cruelty has cursed the human family for countless ages. It is almost impossible for one to be cruel to animals and kind to humans. If children are permitted to be cruel to their pets and other animals, they easily learn to get the same pleasure from the misery of fellow humans. Such tendencies can easily lead to crime." ~Fred A.Mc Gran, 1895 "To educate our people, and especially our children, to humane attitudes and actions toward living things is to preserve and strengthen our national heritage and the moral values we champion in the world". ~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy "The truest measure of a society is how it treats its elderly, its pets, its children, and its prisoners." ~Gandhi I feel much better now!