In Memorium

If I had made a resolution to "be on time" or "stop being late" for 2011, I would have already failed. The lateness of my "year end" post here is only one example.

I can't say that I'm too sad to say good-bye to 2010. Yes, some very good things did happen this past year. Unfortunately, there have been some not-so-pleasant personal things and a really sad recurring theme. In the last twelve months, family, friends and I all lost dear pets. We were "lucky" in many of the cases in that our precious four-legged friends were old and lived very long, very full lives. While somewhat comforting, that fact does not diminish the losses. So, my year-end wrap up blog post is not meant to be depressing, but is a tribute to some of those we had to bid farewell to in 2010.

Jetta and Rex, both of my parents' German Shepherd Dogs passed away within about a month of each other. I took this photo when I last saw them six years ago. Jetta had just come to live with them at that time. Rex was with my family since he was puppy. They were good dogs and I was really sad not to see them when I visited at Thanksgiving. 

Bryce was a good friend of ours. We've known his dad since college and met Bryce, also known as "The Mooch," shortly after we moved to California 16 years ago. This sweet, adorable little fuzzball peed on our old tv, but I can't blame him. Prior to that, when we took Cosette to his place, she took all of his toys and was so bossy that he hid under the bed. I was embarrassed, but we did laugh about that for years to come.

Audrey the cat was the most recent to leave us. For several years, I looked in on and fed Miss Audrey while her parents went away for the holidays. We sort of had a love-hate relationship. I tried, I did, but I'm not really a cat person and Audrey knew that. I smelled like dogs and accused her of "wagging" her tail. I shot the above video while trying to make nice with her. It fully demonstrates my ignorance of the inner workings of a cat's mind. Overall, she was pretty tolerant of me and my camera (which she did not like). The old, wise feline definitely taught me some life lessons and will be greatly missed.

I know that I have some photos of Bailey, a friend's German Shepherd Dog, but can't find them. He was a beautiful, smart and gentle dog. He was quite a faithful companion.

I never knew Peter, Electra and Sophie as I did the above animals, but I care about these cats' owners and was sad for them having to experience their losses.

A day hasn't gone by in this past year with me thinking of our sweet Cosette, often with tears. I still miss my Puppy Girl so much and know I always will.

Growing Old is Mandatory; Growing Up is Optional...

Last weekend, I turned old. I'm okay with it, for the most part, and honestly don't feel much different than I did in my youth a mere week ago. So, the gray hairs and wrinkles suddenly seem far more prominent, but I think I was just in denial about all of that before.

I had quite a fun, yet somewhat low-key, Birthday Weekend, which was just about perfect. After acting my age and taking a couple of naps on the actual date, I blew out my left ear at a rock 'n roll concert. Older, yes. Wiser? Obviously not. But did I have a blast? Oh yeah and I'd do it again! Few things thrill me as much as seeing favorite bands and musicians live.

Jody Porter (Fountains of Wayne)

The weekend continued with a day of seeing several good friends. I hung out with some at a friend's toddler's birthday party and others who joined me for a nice dinner. It was great to catch up and laugh---even at my own expense when my dinner turned into a roast for a bit.

Piglet at the L.A. County Fair

Everything wrapped up with a trip out to the closing day of the L.A. County Fair, an annual favorite. I had 3 objectives, which were 1) Eat chocolate covered bacon, 2) See baby farm animals, and 3) Enjoy OK Go in concert. All were achieved and I was happy. Old, but happy.

OK Go performing "What To Do?" on handbells. 

Photo shot off back of screen from my vantage point backstage.  

(Here's a video of this from a different show, in case you're curious. It's unique and worth checking out. This was where I first saw them perform this at USC in November 2009)

A Bolt To The System

It's hard having old pets. I know some of you who stop by here from time to time understand that from experience. You either have or have had senior animals. Just like with people, diseases and infirmities come with old age. Since most of our critters have relatively short life spans, it can seem to hit all of a sudden. Granted, an old dog (or whatever) with a few issues, but good quality of life, certainly beats the inevitable alternative.

Almost four years ago, Cosette, now 16, had major surgery for breast cancer. She came through brilliantly and is aging graefully. Sure, she's deaf as can be, sleeps quite a bit, and has some creaky joints, but when she's awake, she's pretty perky. Especially if you have food that she wants. And there there is Little Guy. There was an update recently about some of what he is going through. It seems to be hitting him hard and quick.

When the movie Bolt first came onto my radar, I got really excited. I saw the trailer in front of Wall-E initially. O.M.G. Not only was a movie coming out with an adorable doggie as the star, but one of his sidekicks was…a HAMSTER. O.M.G. In the time between seeing that and the movie opening, I had a lot of inquiries about how excited I must be to see a movie with a HAMSTER!!! O.M.G…a HAMSTER!!!

[insert sound of loud, cartoony brakes here]

Um, yeah. I had intended this to be more of a review of Bolt. I really loved the movie. Yes, Rhino, the hamster was cute and very funny, but it was Bolt who got to me. He reminds me of my Little Guy and watching the cute cartoon canine leap and run around on the screen made me a little sad. I'm sure I'm one of the only people who shed several tears during the film. Not only is Little Guy small, nearly white, and snouty with pointy ears like Bolt, but he's spunky and incredibly loyal too. Every morning when I get out of the shower, Guy is lying right outside of the bedroom door waiting for me. We have a special bond, just like Bolt and his girl Penny.

I'm doing what I can to help Little Guy, and all my pets, live good lives. For now I'll even refrain from shaving a little lightening bolt into Guy's side.

The only Bolt merchandise we found at Disneyland. When I took this photo, I didn't even realize my own Little "Bolt" Guy snuck into it!

Next Best Thing

So, I didn't get to hang out with my Mom today. However, I did get to enjoy watching the antics of unlikely BFF, a large dog and a small rat.

Urban Nature Redux

I've mentioned the prevalence of wildlife in my city, yard, and occasionally even my house before. This past weekend, we saw four very skinny, hungry looking coyotes close to the road. (I don't understand the people who had parked by them and let their dog out of the car without a leash. Idiots.) Later, as we walked with Rusty around the Silver Lake reservoir, it started getting dark and we were treated to a chorus of coyote howls.

Last night after a trip to the market, I encountered this critter on my porch:

Baby possum, just outside my front door.