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)

We're Talking Major Pizza Attack Here, Dudes!

This is one of my favorite people in the entire world. He loves dogs and Duran Duran, so how could we not get along? I'm not sure when exactly this photo was taken, but it was around 20 years ago.

It blows my mind that my brother Scott turned 27 years old today. What? How did that happen? I chatted with him on the phone earlier and we quoted the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie (or "Turtles 1" as we call it) and laughed. He had a great birthday and I miss him like crazy.

Cosette, I Love You Very Much!

Cosette, our American Eskimo Dog, was born 17 years ago today. It was also a Friday the 13th. She came to live with us on January 3, 1993. I was so reluctant to get a dog at the time, but E was really missing the two out of three he grew up with who were still living with his mom. For the holidays, I gave him a "Certicate" I printed up on the computer and presented to him, complete with the misspelling. We still joke about that to this day. It was good for (1) American Eskimo Puppy. Within a week and change, an 8-week old ball of fluff joined our family.

Cosette is responsible for my love of dogs being rekindled after it had been soured in high school. As is common with her breed, she has always highly intelligent and trainable, agile, and protective. She's definitely a "daddy's girl," positioning herself to be the alpha female of the household. We'll just let her keep thinking that, okay? And it might sort of be true.

We moved across the country with Cosette when she was not quite two years old. She reluctantly let Little Guy join the clan several years later (once she put him in his place) and became a mom to Rusty when we adopted him later. Cosette has survived mammary cancer nearly five years ago and came through a bought of Old Dog Vestibular Disease a year and a half ago.

There's no denying that Cosette is OLD. Among other things, she's deaf, has arthritis, sleeps a lot, is very skinny under her fur coat, and is not quite as sharp as she once was. If you go by the old standard 1 dog year=7 human years, she'd be the equivalent of 119 years old! However, veterinary research has shown that the correlation can be related to the size of the dog. Going by the standards I've found, she is more like a 92-97 year old human. Okay, so that's still pretty geriatric!

I have no idea how much longer she'll live, but I'm not going to dwell on that. I appreciate every day we have with her and let her know that the best I can. Tonight, she and her brothers will have cake and ice cream and if they tolerate it, wear party hats to celebrate a long, beautiful life!

Here We Go!

I received 10 cards for my birthday last week.

• 8 feature one or more hamsters

• 3 of the cards play "The Hampster Dance Song"

• 1 of the cards speaks when you pull a tab on the hamster's chin

I can understand if you are shaking your head and questioning your friendship with me. Well, hey, two of the hammies have cupcakes and that's cool, right? I know...*sigh*...I know...

♫Dit-a-dee da de-de do do dee-ba-dede doe...Dit-a-dee da de-de do do dee-ba-dede doe...♫

Happiest (Birthday) Place on Earth

I took advantage of the free birthday admission to Disneyland yesterday. I really hope anyone who can has done this or will if your birth anniversary falls in the latter part of the year. Since we couldn't really swing buying E a ticket when we'll be buying our annual ones for Thanksgiving, I got my friend, Jenn, to agree to brave the heat for a few hours since she has a pass. And since we hadn't hung out in ages and thought it would be a fun way to get together!


Since I go to Disneyland in November every year, I get to experience the wondrous Christmas decor, but had never seen how they do it up for Halloween, which is actually my favorite holiday. It is AMAZING. If you know me at all, you know I love, love, love pumpkins and the color orange. Both were everywhere! I'm going to try to post more photos soon, very soon.


It was lovely spending time with Jenn until she had to go and pick up her kids. She was happy to ride a couple of things that she just can't do with the youngsters. Being a frequent visitor, she also had a lot of insider tips, like a good, shady place with lots of open tables for lunch and what gift shop had G-Force merchandise. I had to splurge on at least one gift for myself! : )

Once Jenn left, I spent several hours there alone, which I thought might be kind of weird. I actually had a great time, riding a couple of rides, such as my favorite Indiana Jones, again and walking around taking photos without making companions wait around for me to get the perfect shot. I stayed for the special Halloween theme pyrotechnics show, which was pretty much the standard high quality Disney fireworks, but with lots more, like projection, actual fire and Zero the ghost dog flying around near the Castle (you may have seen Tinkerbell there!). Amazing!

So, if you do go, make sure you wear your birthday button proudly. All of the cast members say "Happy Birthday" to you (I'm pretty sure it's required of them), as well as lots of strangers, especially others celebrating the day too. There were TONS of October 1st babies in attendance, which makes sense. Count back to New Year's Eve. Uh huh.

Milestones

In the next week or so, there are a few important markers of the passage of time.

• Tomorrow, October 1st, my precious Little Guy turns 13 (well, that's our best estimate anyway). I suppose we should be doing a Bark Mitzvah, now that he's a(n) (old) man-dog. However, I think that kind of thing goes along with the mother's background and I'm not Jewish. Not that any of that stopped me from dressing Cosette up like it was her quinceañera, or caninceañera, because apparently I'm Mexican. So, perhaps I will throw a yarmulke on his head and snap a photo. I imagine he will protest.

• This Friday marks the 15-year anniversary of our arrival in Los Angeles. E, Cosette, who was almost 2 at the time, and I were packed into the Honda Civic I had at the time and had spent four days driving across the county, with a brief little side trip to the Grand Canyon. To this day, when I drive west on the 134 and curve around the hillside while descending toward Glendale with downtown glimmering in the distance, I recall that day and doing the same drive. With nervous excitement, we checked out our Burbank apartment, which we hadn't even seen. I don't think I knew at the time how much I would fall in love this city*, the place I've lived far longer than any other in my lifetime, and that I'd be proud to call it "home."

• Next week, I will celebrate my 15-year anniversary at work (and a little over 17 in my career). It's difficult to comprehend, with some days feeling like I've been here forever and others still mistakenly thinking I'm one of the newer staff. While I'm not necessarily exactly where I'd hoped to be at this point professionally, I have accomplished quite a bit and am proud of the job I do. In these tough times, I am very lucky to have fairly stable employment. For various reasons, I don't discuss details of my work here, but I'll say I'm very happy and honored to affect young lives, in a positive way. What I do might be small in the grand scheme of things, but it often feels huge when taken down to the individual human level.

*We only lived in Burbank for a couple of years and now do live in the City of Los Angeles, for whatever that's worth.

I Can't Believe I Gave My Panties To A Geek

Cosette celebrating her Sweet 16 with a pupcake from Three Dog Bakery.
Sorry, I wasn't able to swing the pink convertible she requested.

It's My Birthday Too!

So, Little Guy and I shared a birthday last week. I got lots of birthday wishes and some FABULOUS gifts from a variety of people.

I also got a couple of very generous and already-spent gift cards, a lunch with co-workers, cupcakes, and ice cream cake. I feel fortunate & loved.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Fluffy Butt!

Now that Little Guy is 12 (since he didn't turn 12 last year, as I originally thought!) he is showing his age. Hence the twice weekly trips to the vet for joint juice injections. I wish I was kidding. Luckily, it will taper down soon.

No matter what his age--we don't really know and the controversy has reared its ugly head again--nope! Solved again by the paperwork...he's "12." Who knows really, as he was found wandering the streets of L.A.

Little Guy is a neurotic, anxious dog, much like his mother! He is really sweet, as long as you are a person. If you are a squirrel or another dog then you can forget it. Sure, he's stinky, but he's soft as a bunny and a great snuggler. Here's a new tag I got him recently as an early birthday gift.

Here's to lots more birthdays with Little Guy, my Middle Guy, Petite Guy, Gaius Baltar, Pupworth J. Crumpet, Payaso, Junior, Geechy Guy, etc. I could go on and on with the nicknames, but I won't!

They Say It's Your Birthday, We're Gonna Have A Good Time

As I mentioned before, this past Friday was Rusty's birthday. Since we were visiting the program where he works as a therapy dog, I proposed having a little celebration that the staff was all for. We pulled it off and had a fun party for 1 dog, 22 children, and 4 staffers. What does it take to do this?

• Cupcakes for the humans. Much to the chagrin of certain friends, I was not about to bake for that many people. I ended up getting them at Ralph's, a local grocery store, and they were quite tasty.
  

• Cute doggie themed plates, napkins, tablecloth, and party hats. I didn't get a photo of the hats and tablecloth. Party America came through for me with an entire selection of dog themed party supplies. That store has been good to us lately.
  

• A pupcake for Rusty from the Three Dog Bakery.
  

• Goody bags for the kids, with stickers, tattoos, and candy.

• A #8 candle and doggie party hat.
  

• Rolling in the grass and belly rubs from some of the kids.
  

Ella Tiene Quince Años

Back in November, I mentioned that our American Eskimo Dog, Cosette, turned 15. Not too shabby, especially considering that she had a pretty extensive cancer a few years ago. In spite of being pretty deaf and a bit arthritic, the old girl has plenty of spunk left in her. Leading up to her birthday, I thought it would be fun to take some photos of her at the Mullholland Fountain on Los Feliz near Griffith Park.

For years when I've worked my once-monthly or so Saturday, I've driven home past the fountain and it's usually still been daylight. On sunny weekend afternoons, there are usually one, if not several, groups of people in fancy dress getting photos taken. At first, I assumed they were wedding parties. Doing a double-take, I realized they were usually comprised of kids. Teenagers mostly, but kids nonetheless. Latino kids. It slowly came together that these were not brides, but girls who were celebrating their Quinceañera.

So, you can see where this is going and yeah, I dressed Cosette up and took some photos of her by the fountain. If I'd done it properly, and had about ten others to help me, I'd have had a slew of young, male dogs to pose with her. Oh well. I also didn't dress her in white, as most of the birthday girls do, since she has white fur. And if you hadn't guessed, we're not even Mexican, so this was just all for my amusement anyway.

Yes, I have become one of those people I used to make fun of! I didn't go so far as to rent a Hummer limo for the 'Caninceañera', but just wait until you see what I'm cooking up for her Sweet 16!

Blow Out That Cherry Bomb

So, we're winding down on the birthdays around here. We had a good time celebrating E's transition to the next decade this past weekend, in spite of me getting sick toward the end. We hit an artsy street fair in Burbank and chowed on some Hawaiian food Saturday afternoon. Then we went on the Neon Cruise, which was fabulous. At some point, I'll be posting photos, but I haven't downloaded them yet.

On Sunday, we got a later start than hoped, but enjoyed running around the Rose Bowl Flea Market for a couple of hours. E had a conversation with someone he had met 22 years ago and also picked up an old game from his childhood. I found a $3 pink dress for Cosette to wear when I get around to doing some photos for her 15th birthday, which is today.

After that, we ran a couple of errands then headed home to get gussied up for the Magic Castle. The night there was a lot fun as we celebrated with 10 of our friends. I'd heard the food has vastly improved since we'd eaten there before and it's true. Now, I've never eaten a fancy gourmet meal like Jenn and Nanette have, but I do appreciate a good filet mignon from time to time, which is what I ate. It was one of the most tender steaks I've ever eaten. We also had really good performers, so the evening ended with great entertainment following the fantastic meal.

Unfortunately, I'm still under the weather and will be heading back to bed now. I hope you, my loyal three readers, are all better than I feel.

Sign Of Rain

We may actually get a drizzle today (they are calling it a "storm" on news reports, but only .02 inches are predicted). That won't put a damper on E's birthday festivities though, dammit. I'm hoping this cold that I'm starting to develop won't either. Ugh. Bad, bad timing.

So, I'm interrupting this blog post-which honestly was going nowhere fast-to chant today's mantra over and over:

I will not get sick. I will not get sick. I will not get sick. I will not get sick. I will not get sick. I will not get sick. I will not get sick. I will not get sick.

The Weekend Of The Big 4-0 Is Upon Us

We are celebrating the 40th anniversary of E's birth this weekend. Well, I'm forcing him to celebrate and he's going along with it, sort of groaning all the while. Yeah, getting old sucks, but it certainly beats the alternative. Last night, we saw Blade Runner: The Final Cut. We could be more like the Replicants and only have a four-year life span, you know?

Tonight, we'll be freezing our asses off on enjoying a three-hour open top double decker bus neon tour of Los Angeles. Yes, we sort of did this before, but it was for a private party and therefore, abbreviated. We've been wanting to experience the whole thing. I just have to dig out my hat and gloves. While the days are still quite pleasant and warm, the nights are getting to be a little chilly. I'm still sleeping with a fan though. Go figure.

E's actual birth date is tomorrow, Veteran's Day. Weather permitting, we plan to go to the Rose Bowl Flea Market early in the day. Later, we have a group joining us for dinner and magical good times at the "world famous" Magic Castle. My goal is to prove to E that you can be as old as dirt, but still get out on the town and have a great time. Ha!

Dog Tired

This photo pretty much represents how I'm feeling right now:

This is Rusty, crashing after our third mountain hike in two days.

I am happy it's October. It always starts out good, being that my birthday is on the first. I kind of wanted to do something similar to last year, meaning take in a movie at the Arclight and eat some chicken 'n waffles. Well, the latter part of the plan worked out and may just become my yearly birthday tradition. I can't really see eating like that more than once a year. Well, I can, but I shouldn't. It's been seven years since I had a big party for my birthday and probably even longer since I've had a smaller gathering, so maybe next year I'll do it up. Or wait a few years for THE BIG ONE.

I love autumn, pumpkins, candy corn, Halloween. It was lovely to see the leaves starting to turn this past weekend. It's going to be a very busy month involving family, cleaning, friends, music, film, art, volunteer work, and of course sweets and costumes. One thing I don't have to stress about is either of my costumes this year. We are doing something at work that we did about 10 years ago and I still have the key elements. E and I will be wearing costumes we devised for another occasion earlier this year. I'm just hoping mine still fits. I guess I'd better lay off the candy corn.

12, 12, 12, 12, Let's Sing A Song Of 12!

*Update: BIGGEST DORK EVER!

We go through this every year. The debate over Little Guy's age. He is 11 today, not 12. I pulled out the original paperwork from the shelter that estimates he was born in 1996. Of course, it's all just guess work. For all we know he could be 15 or 8. It doesn't really matter. I just want him to be around for many more years to come.

I went ahead and left the original post from this morning below.

How many is 12?

Apparently, it's how old my Little Guy is, as of today. I've been saying all year that he is 10 and would be turning 11 today, but once again, I am very wrong about this. I'm not sure what it is about his age that I can't get right. I guess I'm just in denial that he's getting up there in years. Being 12 explains the increased problems with his hips this past year, including his need to start using steps to climb onto the bed. He's not as stubborn as 15 year old Cosette, who just doesn't bother getting up on the bed anymore. Little Guy needs to be with his humans.

When I got home from my mountain getaway with Rusty last night, Cosette could not have cared less. She just stared at me, but happily took the special treat I brought for her. On the other hand, Little Guy greeted me with an enthusiastic happy dance and then proceeded to hop up on my lap (no stairs required) and nuzzled his bunny soft head under my chin. If you can get past his dragon breath, this move is sure to melt your heart.

P.S. It is my birthday today too and I definitely know how old I am. I felt it while hiking in high altitude this weekend for sure!

Happy 24th Birthday to my older younger brother, Scott!
I hope he gets to go to a lot of 80's hair band concerts this year.

You Can Never Really Have Too Many Hamster T-shirts

Yesterday was quite eventful, for a Sunday. I got up early to bake cookies, two things I normally don't do. Not only did I win a prize for said cookies at a party, which you can read about here and here, but I finally got around to exchanging beleated birthday gifts with Ren. I love my gifts, which include:

We've been looking for these for quite sometime. I have a bottle of Anisette (also from Ren) that we've been waiting to drink from little chocolate cups.




An "Everybody Loves Hamster" t-shirt! This is the design Ren created for one of the buttons we sold at Comic Con. She sort of apologized, saying she'd made it before I got the Swazzle shirt. I then went on to exclaim that, "You can never really have too many hamster t-shirts!" (which is true). Ren and her husband both laughed. I think they knew I'd say that.


Okay, now the pièce de résistance:



An Ami racer tote bag!!! Ren is not happy with the color and is still working on this, but I love it! As you most likely know, my hamster Ami is a champion racer. I think it's the helmet that really does it for me. I love it!

Coming soon: Even more hamster gift goodness!

Happy Belated To Me!

It's really fun to come home from work and find that a belated birthday present has arrived in the mail! A couple of my buddies from Swazzle sent me a t-shirt with Tinker, the hamster-in-a-ball puppet character that was modeled after my own adorable hammy Ami.

Now I don't feel so bad that I'm so late giving Ren hers. It's not as late. Yet.

Packrats R Us

Today is E's 39th birthday. He's not thrilled to be entering the last year of his 30's, but he's dealing. I want to publicly wish him a Happy Birthday. He's a brilliant, funny, nerdy guy who is also a very loving and supportive husband. I know that I drive him far crazier than he does me, and I really appreciate that he puts up with me after all these years.

We've spent most of the day cleaning out our garage. It's actually a pretty good feeling to throw things out. Our recycling bin is so full now that I tried to move it and it almost tipped over. We still have a ways to go. It's a cycle:

• Clean out the garage.
  
• Move crap from the house into the garage.
  
• When the house becomes full again, purge the garage.

A neverending cycle.

E's in the shower now and I think we'll go out to dinner. We kind of had a birthday dinner last night and have some fun things planned for tomorrow. It's weird to think that next year, he'll be in his 40's and my parents will still only be in their 50's (the early half for my step-dad).