House addict

I've been aware of House, MD since it premiered in late 2004, but I think the show's timeslot always conflicted with other shows on my watch list. After all, I only subscribed to dvr service in 2009, so I seriously used to be a slave to scheduling.

I don't recall for certain what recently turned me on to setting my dvr to record reruns of House on USA and Sleuth, but I am now a full-fledged addict. I love every show. It's so much less "soapy" than shows like Grey's Anatomy or ER. One can easily view episodes of House completely out of sequence, and remain intrigued by the case at hand. There are ongoing relationships that minimally drive the plot from episode to episode, and are therefore subtle enough that I haven't been lost after viewing episodes from season one followed by episodes from season five with almost no backstory provided.

Honestly I don't think all series should strive to attain the same seamless storyline, but for House it is the perfect formula. Even more individuated than episodes from the X-files, House has the ability to draw in viewers at any stage of any season.

Of course others may completely disagree with my "diagnosis" of this show, but the reruns I've been recording are in no particular order, yet I've lost nothing from the stories of the regulars (doctors) or the patients. In my opinion it is a great show - one that has proven to be compelling for more than 7 seasons now.

Renewed for an 8th season, I can only hope that House will live on!

Puppies!

The local rescue group that I am affiliated with (BFPA.org) has some of the cutest puppies and dogs I've ever seen. I know I'm biased towards marketing Rusty, but if you want a puppy, check out the bios of these 100% sweethearts:
I've met all of these cuties and they are to die for. All legs, sweetness and puppy breath. You can view Jackson's profile here, and find the others on the BFPA page.

Jordan - Jackson's brother - is pictured below.

I love Tommy Gavin

Ever since I started watching "Rescue Me" on FX I've been drawn to Denis Leary. As far as my "type" goes, he only has height on his side. Nevertheless, I just love Tommy Gavin. Maybe it is his youthful appearance. I mean really - how many 54 year olds truly have a full head of blonde hair?

I'm pretty sure I've never met an adult who truly has "blonde" hair that doesn't need an extra dose of blonde dye to keep it on the lighter side. (There's clearly a significant amount of denial floating around the heads of "blondes" these days).

When I brought up my attraction to Leary to a co-worker, her response was, "yes, he is disgusting." That was not my offered attitude or opinion and still isn't no matter what anyone else thinks. There's just something about his personality that makes me love him - or at least want to befriend him.

I'm sure I'll never meet Leary, so I'll remain an admirer and I'll still think he's hot in a very whacked out way.

Reading that the series finale of "Rescue Me" is scheduled to air the week of September 11th is a bit disappointing, because even those of us who STINK at math can figure that the time table adds up to less than 10 episodes for the final season. Hello? Angel season 5 cut-off anyone? Let's hope that's not what is in the works.

The unchained dog

I can't explain how much happiness I glean from participating in Sunday morning fence builds for the Coalition to Unchain Dogs. I think it's likely something that has to be personally experienced, or should I say "evidenced" for those who really don't put much thought into the happiness of our 4-legged companions of the canine persuasion.

There are all kinds of situations that can lead to an unfortunately chained life for a dog: random houdini acts; uncooperative landlords; financial restraints (inability to build appropriate containment areas for dogs), etc. Many chained dogs are very much loved, but the owners just don't have the wherewithall to unchain their dog(s) on their own.

As a volunteer and active foster home for a local rescue group, I am very aware of the limited resources available for the ever-growing overpopulation of dogs and puppies. Therefore I can attest to the fact that working to keep these dogs with their owners who love them is without a doubt making a difference.

Working with the Coalition is by far the most fulfilling activity to which I have dedicated my time in a very, very long time.

Below: Coogi and Tora, taking a cool drink from a bucket inside their new fence on Sunday, July 17th.

Blue Mystique

I picked up one of these orchids last night as a thank you gift for my brother's family for agreeing to keep Zoe in the fall. It's a "Blue Mystique" orchid from Silver Vase (sold by Kroger).

Being a Tar Heel fan, I had to get one for myself, too!

Magic bubbles

Dinner with sweet kids and their fab mommy last night. Daddy was out of town so when mommy got a call from daddy I took the kiddies out in the front yard where they kept me RAPT with more information than I ever wanted. Trust me, you'd rather not know, so I'll just point attention to the most adorable kiddies ever.



I brought them each a bottle of "magic bubbles" with which the three of us managed to blow a gazillion bubbles before bed time. See Sydney here with her "magic" wand.

Go Green

I just picked up these adorable stamps at the post office. You might have to click on the 2nd image to be able to read the information from the back of the sheet. I am a huge recycler, but I had no idea that recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a computer for three hours!

Apple lessons

This is likely not particular to Macs as I suspect, but I recently shot myself in the foot. I have a white 13" Macbook, purchased in October 2006.

A few months ago I used it to print a document on my printer upstairs. I have since been a stranger to the 2nd floor of my house. Fostering dogs, reorganization and laziness have all contributed to my rather quarantined 2nd floor.

Anyway, 10 weeks later my Macbook battery died, so thoroughly that it could never be recharged again.

$129 spent, I have a working ancient laptop that I still love and a bit of sound advice to boot: Keep your Macbook battery out of the red zone my friends.

Forever cichlid

My first endeavors as fish-owner were horrifically unsuccessful. I'd begun to think that any fish that landed in an aquarium of mine was automatically sentenced to death.

If you read the post "No longer empty", you'll remember my orange cichlid, who remains nameless (perhaps the only reason he's still breathing).

I realized Monday night that I hadn't cleaned his tank much less changed his water since March. On Tuesday night I set aside the task with the promise to vacuum the gravel, clean the tank and decorations and change the water.

All successfully done, I still half expected to find poor orange cichlid belly up the next morning. Nope.

Screw all those damn goldfish I had to flush. This feisty little cichlid - who will forever remain nameless - has an iron soul!

Summer storms

As I've mentioned before, I grew up swimming year-round. Summer meets were held outside and the weather always played a part in whether or not races went as scheduled.

To my parents' chagrin, I wasn't a happy swimmer beyond the age of about 14, but that didn't stop them from keeping me in the competitive swimming world. I prayed for thunderstorms ALWAYS - to keep me from having to practice, to keep me from having to swim another race, etc.

I particularly remember a meet in Raleigh, where I was scheduled to swim the 400 IM in the evening finals (something I severely dreaded), and the father of one of my friends was standing nearby. There was a storm approaching, so of course I was praying for it to arrive in time to prevent my race. Said father leaned over and told me, "I'm an avid golfer. I can tell when thunderstorms will hit. You will not have to swim that 400 IM tonight."

He was right and I was elated!

I'm sure it's sad to some that I have such a fond memory of that night, but in saying so I hope my parents would realize how unhappy I was in spending so much of my childhood in a swimming pool.

Don't get me wrong, my parents are amazing, wonderful people. They've given me my life, my education and happiness. However, even in my adulthood, I don't agree with their forcing me to swim when I felt I was done with the sport. Perhaps they thought I would agree with them by now. I don't.