I really do NOT mean to be an off-topic Magoo, but I wanted to share these items to give you (my loyal readers) some insight into my career. And, be sure to watch for the Border Collie on the cover of National Lampoon in the music video by Bill Dyszel. The second item explains 5 Myths of Freelancing. It’s written by a writer I “know” through an online community. Her name is Jen Miller. …
Fellow writer and blogger, Charmian Christie over at Christie’s Corner (a food blog) recently posted a great ginger cookie recipe. She wondered aloud about holiday cookies we cannot live without. My answer? Wine cookies and pizzelles. It’s snowy and very cold (below zero) here today. It’s a perfect chance to make cookies. So, here’s a little lesson on how to make a couple traditional Italian cookies. Full credit to my great grandmother, my grandmother, my mother and my aunties who taught me to cook. …
Our neighbor Tim is home from college. He used a spotting scope and his camera to take these great photos of a couple of night herons who visited the trees near our pond last week. Yes,
that’s snow on the ground behind them. Yes, there are not yet leaves on the trees. …
I know today’s post should be about something GREEN, but a woman here in CO recently got in trouble for turning her poodle pink. The Boulder Valley Humane Society, where we adopted
Lilly, received calls of concern about the pink dog. They made a site visit and delivered a warning. When investigators returned a month or so later, the white poodle was still pink. They issued a
$1,000 fine. The case is going to court. …
Tom, my hubby and Lilly’s most excellent daddy, was voted 2007 firefighter of the year. Since he joined the fire department 5 years ago, he has won 3 big awards, including rookie of the
year and firefighter of the year twice. I’m always proud of his hard work, but it’s especially nice when others recognize it too. It’s super-duper nice when other firefighters (yes, men) go out of
their way to tell me how much they think of Tom. …
I had a good long cry on Sunday when I read in TIME magazine about the death of the famous parrot Alex who wowed researchers for so many years in their studies of learning and language. Alex was 31.
Over the weekend, we babysat a parrot. Despite early success at befriending him, it turns out the bird hates me. It sounds silly, I know, but it really hurt my feelings. After all, I’m pretty good with smart, sensitive animals, right?
…
I often write about our training struggles, which truth be told feel like big, fat failures . So, today, I’m going to brag just a bit on myself. I had another article published yesterday by The New York Times. The piece, called “Lady Luck as Bridesmaid,” is my fifth for the SundayStyles section, which is a big, BIG deal. It’s hard to convey, but imagine you trained for 6 months for one run at one of the biggest, invitation-only national trials. Now, imagine the feeling of crossing the finish line with a clean run that millions of people saw. That’s how I feel today. (Well, that, and grateful the piece is finally done.) If you’d like to read what I really do for a living, I pasted the text of the article below.
Devastating grief compells me to go completely off topic today. I’m sad to report the suicide of a long-time friend. She was a brilliant, funny, most excellent woman, and I (and many others) are crushed by her loss. As my way of coping, I often draft a list of lessons I’ve learned from friends and family who have died. Here’s my list from Jody:
