Happy Lunar New Year!!

I wonder how many non-chinese asians get miffed that it's called "Chinese New Year" and not Korean New Year or other asian country.

Anyway... maybe this is why i've been obsessing about getting a Dog even though i'm working too much to really spend enough time with it. (sigh) Pictures will have to do for now. :)

A new way to get songs stuck in your head...

I recently joined a Members only Message board group for a Boston Terrier Rescue organization. Yes, yes... i'm still obsessing about getting a dog but not being ready for one... yada yada...

But a member shared a video of her Boston playfully attacking a vacuum cleaner. The site she shared her home video on was a FREE online video community... and so I HAD to check it out.

So far so good. Besides the scary aspect of your video somehow catching 'popularity' and being broadcasted on a news channel for one reason or another - if you can hide your videos in the obscurity of hundreds of other videos - than it's a great free service for you to show videos to friends any time you like. :)

It even has a way to embed your videos! So here's my attempt for my new "Turducken" video.

Spontaneous L.A.

Los Angeles keeps getting more and more crowded. Traffic seems to get backed up more than it did a few years ago. More and more mega housing structures are sprouting everywhere to further pack in the mounds of folks coming in. What's the big deal?

It's BECAUSE THERE'S SO MUCH that L.A. has to offer -- and everyone who has a chance to find the gems that make this place so great -- know that there's just no going elsewhere. :)

Today's a great example of a gorgeous January Sunday with the sun shining and the air a crisp 60 degrees or so. Niki calls up and suggests a hike. 3 hours later we were hiking in pasadena/altadena area - around the JPL buildings. (It didn't take 3 hours to drive to the hike, mind you... about 2.5 hours of that was procrastinating to get ready and 30 minutes to go and then find parking near the trail head...) Gosh if only i had a Dog to WALK there! :)



L.A. just has so many places that feel like they should be somewhere else... but they're all here!

Be the Pack Leader

Okay, so yes, i'm still in Doggy Mode - and i think my behavior is becoming obsessive and when you don't stop the obsession it leads to ...

Wait... i'm starting to talk like Cesar Millian from the "Dog Whisperer". I am not sure if it's only because I have TIVO now and I can scan my channels better and record 'season passes' - but this show seems to be growing in popularity. His presence with dogs is amazing and I feel so much more empowered to maintain a dog's behavior - just by watching it! If you haven't seen it, check it out. He's based in Los Angeles and in one episode, we recognized a house that's in our neighborhood!

Anyway... So my pet-sitting experience was an eye-opener, but I think instead of pushing me away from getting a pet... it seems to be making me a little more anxious to research and take further steps to get one. Why? Probably because I feel like I know a little better what the 'bad parts' of owning a new pet feels like, and I might be able to handle it better. Of course.. 2 nights is NOTHING to a dog's lifetime... but that's why i'm not going out right now and adopting the first cutie to come along.

But yes - i think i have decided to adopt versus by a puppy. Ideally, it's said that you should be able to take a new puppy to go out to do their business every 30 minutes. That is insane! It's insane that there are people that can do that! I guess stay at home parents or folks that work from home. WOW! I know i can't do that... and I don't think I'm ready to deal with a teething puppy that wants to nibble at my walls. So a mature dog, with a personality that's somewhat set and predictable... is what i'd be looking for.

My initial sense from rescue groups is that I'm not an ideal candidate. Work full time... No yard... Even if i came home for lunch everyday (which i'm trying to will myself to want to do) there's still good blocks of time that it will be on its own. One option is getting TWO dogs - but that's a little crazy too. It's like buying a 5 room, 2 story house as your first home. SO... a lot of food for thought, and hopefully something will happen to make things work out... whether its a rescued dog that is on the calmer side and with enough play things could be quite happy roaming a comfy air-conditioned home.

Plus, I should start thinking of the other benefits of a dog... How about helping move heavy furniture?

Just Kidding!

I think.


Today's "Buy Me" Item

The Puppy Experiment

I don't know why when i mean to say "Dog", I feel I have to say "Puppy". Dog seems like such a stiff term, like calling a person a Human or your mom as "Mother".

Anyway, thanks to Sonya leaving for the weekend, she made the great suggestion to petsit Mikey for a few days and try out what it feels like to LIVE with a furry four-legged friend. Mikey is a lovable 8 year old Maltese, but don't let the age fool you. His youthful energy and constant need for attention makes him just like a PUPPY. :) However, he is housetrained (thank goodness!) and he doesn't run around chewing or scratching things. (At least not anymore...) :)

The first night was probably as close to an experience of living with a baby as it could get. Mikey would whine and bark if you were out of his sight for more than 2 minutes. Because my home is mostly UN-puppy-proofed, I tried to keep him in the kitchen area (floors are easiest to clean there) and barricaded the entrance by flipping a foldable table against the wall. It's about a 3 foot 'wall'. Following the 'Dog Whisperers' advice of being Calm and Assertive and giving Dominant Commands to Go To Sleep - Mikey would be quite for short bouts, and the second I was almost asleep he'd start whining and barking and probably waking my neighbors too. (Not the thickest of walls here in this condo.) So i made a few drowsy trips to the kitchen to scold Mikey and he'd quiet down for a bit before starting up again... it lead to scolding him by yelling from my room because i didn't want to get up anymore... and somehow I got about 4 or 5 hours of sleep before he woke up and started crying at 5am the next morning.

Ah, the joys of going outside in the cold to take your puppy out, while looking lavish in your pajamas and bed hair. But not as great as scooping the warm poop up with plastic bags before heading back into the house. :)

Other than an additional 'peed on my backpack while at the park' (I learned never leave your stuff unattend in pee-ing distance) and him escaping the kitchen while I went out for dinner and discovered a minor mess when I got home - Mikey was a great puppy that - as long as you compromised with his needs - things were great. But you're constantly worrying... constantly planning around what he can and can't do with you... unable to do things because he couldn't be there... it was definitely a realistic learning experience.

At some point, I'd like to think that if i got my own puppy - it would eventually be trained JUST as I'd prefer... but i'm sure it takes YEARS before that happens. And time! The ideal situation is to be HOME all the time... but how many people want or get to do that and still afford the bills?

Yes, this Puppy Experiment (a whopping 2 days) definitely let me 'feel' what I'd only read or heard about. I think if i petsitted Mikey in the future, it'd probably be a lot more enjoyable because I can apply what i learned from the first time around. AND it definitely helps to have help... Single parents - I commend you EVEN more.

Talking like Kermit

Sonya says I don't update my site enough, so here's my latest post.

I've been sick for DAYS and i usually NEVER get sick.

I'm back at work, but i'm still coughing and my voice sounds froggy.

Happy New Year!

So our New Year's Eve plans transpired over Christmas Eve's get together. Byron told Herman about a place called Temple Bar in Santa Monica - and that one of their favorite bands, Breakestra, would be the New Year's Eve headliners. Small place... sounded like a hip spot... so a handful of us decided to book tickets online that night.

Fast forward to New Year's Eve... (last night) and the event turned out great! The rain stopped just long enough for us to enjoy a crisp chilly L.A. winter night - and although our first choice for dinner, a peruvian restaurant called Don Feliz, had CLOSED on us at 8:50pm (mind you, we had confirmed reservations for 9pm) - our backup location turned out delicious: a cute place called Thai Dishes. We had everything from Coconut Soup to Honey Roasted Duck... and the company of giant tropical fish, one of which we lovingly named "Cheeseboro" because he looked like a swimming block of yellow cheese.

Temple Bar was a very snazzy and cozy hangout, and the crowd was pleasant and mellow. As expected, it did get extremely crowded and extremely hot as the night got closer to midnight. As amazing as the band was, I must say that i can probably only handle 'sweat-while-crammed-next-to-strangers' events like these once a year. :)