Puppies are due on November 5th or 6th.  Of course with all pregnancies we have to wait it out and hope that everything goes well and that the delivery is uneventful.

We are very excited about PJ's 1st litter and we hope they are beautiful and healthy.   Updates as they happen.

Pip and Polly also added another set of letters to her name, Pippin now has her AXJ agility title too.

Ok maybe not really relaxing but since I've spent the last month either working or traveling on the weekend any weekend at home is relaxing and it will be my last for awhile.

We started the day by participating in Onate Trail Dog Fanciers Association's AKC Responsible Dog Owner's Day.  We had a booth at the El Paso Country Fair, an event that is held each year as a fund raiser for at risk children.  We talked about responsible dog ownership, did a meet the breed demo and just hung around and chatted with folks.

[caption id="attachment_429" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lindy on a Haybale "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_430" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="PJat the duck pond"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_431" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lindy at the duck pond"][/caption]

After I left RDO I hurried home so I could help load up and head out to our tailgate party.  I'm a huge college sports fan and tonight we had UTEP football.  Our little sports gang set up our tailgate and relaxed in the parking lot before the game.

[caption id="attachment_434" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Mom, Cody and Jess tailgating"][/caption]

We had a good time tonight as UTEP broke it's 9 game losing streak by beating C-USA defending champs UCF 58 - 13.  It was FUN to be the winner.  Our kicker even kicked a 64 yard field goal which broke school and conference records and is the 2nd longest FG in NCAA history.

[caption id="attachment_435" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Go Miners!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_436" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Go team!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_437" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Not the 64 yarder but it was good"][/caption]

Now back to your regularly scheduled dog programing..............

Good news from our doggy family, Kathy's Missy who is our Candy's sister was WB for 2 points down south, Leslie's Pem girl Phoebe was Best Veteran and Herding Group 2 today in Tennessee and Miss Pippin and Polly competed in Agility today and finished their AXJ title.  We hope Pip is a "working mom".

To be honest my first "dipping of my big toe in the pool" came when I participated in Maryland's 23 Things program. I then went on to try blogging more of personal with my blog about our family vacation to the land of my husband's birth - England. Then I tried to continue with a more personal blog about things going on in my life, Something More Than Long (taken from "My Corner of the Sky" from the Broadway musical Pippin). But I didn't seem to keep up with it and that blog died in March of this year.

Maurice knows the answer to how my latest blog came about - peer pressure! It started during the Computers in Libraries 2008 conference. Prior to the conference, I had had the pleasure of taking an 8 week online course about online training and Maurice (and Julie too) were in the class. Finding my fellow trainer soul mate in Maurice (this man loves technology and good music as much as I do) we made plans to meet up at CIL 2008. While walking to lunch or chit-chatting between sessions Maurice had the pleasure of my outgoing personality and opinions of open source vs. proprietary software. He dubbed me "The Open Source Evangelist" but I had to tell him that title was already taken by none other than Nicole Engard of Liblime. He kept nudging me to blog.

Even after the conference when I ran into Maurice virtually he'd put in a plug for me to start blogging. But what finally got me to cave in was being tagged for another meme by Michael Sauers. It was an interesting meme - teaching the next generation about your passion (which for me was open source). The flood gates opened from there.

Although my blog isn't always about open source, quite often it is. I try to stick to some topic that comes from my experience of working 25 years in libraryland. My current slant tends to be more technology based but I tend to include rants about fashion (Project Runway), politics, and music (help with FineTune playlist). For those that read this blog I hope I provide some insight, some fun, a bit of humor and an occasional question or two to make you think.

That's the rest of the story.....now I want to know yours - Michael Sauers, Bobbi Newman, Joshua M. Neff, and Marianne Lenox.

Gondor ist belagert. Merry und Dernhelm, töten den Anführer der Schwarzen Reiter.
Eine Abteilung marschiert zu den Toren von Mordor um dort Saurons aufmerksamkeit auf sich zu lenken.
Frodo und Sam sind fast an ihrem Ziel, doch Frodo zerbricht fast an der Last des Ringes, so dass Sam ihn den meisten Weg tragen muss.

Die Abteilung vor den Toren Mordors, kämpft ohne zu wissen ob Frodo erfolgreich sein wird und nur ihre Hoffnung hilft ihnen dabei stand zu halten.
Im entscheidenden Moment wird ach Gollum noch eine wichtige Rolle zu teil und Sauron muss feststellen dass er seine Gegner unterschätzt hat.

Link zu Amazon.de

Gee, I don't think I've gone this long without posting ever! But I've got a really good excuse; I haven't had a computer. You see, we just moved from right near Houston in Texas, up to Nebraska, only a short drive from the South Dakota border. Yeah, it was a long move. Traveling with us were nine goats, all due to kid in less than a month, and one big horse. So, as you can guess I've been very busy, and even though we've been here about a month, our internet service was finally installed yesterday. Oh, and if any of y'all from IG Post are reading this, that's why I haven't fulfilled my promise to let y'all know about the Iggy sweater pattern. Since it's been so long since I posted at IG Post as well, I've lost my active status. *sigh* So, I'll fix all that as soon as I am able. Whew.

Anyway, Pippin was pretty good, actually I can't think of anything he did wrong, and he always likes riding in the car, thank heavens. And yes, all our goats and the horse rode safely and there were no aborted kids. Now all the goats have kidded, except one, and we think she didn't get bred anyway, since she's kind-of old. All are healthy, even the preemie triplets we had. Now, they're growing and thriving, and they're such sweet babies!

We unloaded some of our stuff into a storage building right here on the property, to keep it out of the way until we needed it. When my Mom was ready for some of it, my brother and I would take a Mule to get it. We usually took turns driving it. Sometimes, there would be room in the back for the non-driving individual to sit down on the way back, otherwise we just stood up. But when we thought there'd be room, I took Pippin with me. Pippin decided he really liked riding in the trunk of the Mule. At first, I was rather afraid he would dislike the bumping and the sliding around on the metal floor, so I held him when I rode in the back. But no, he liked it, so I took him with me even when I went by myself and there was nobody to hold him. I could even drive full speed and he wouldn't mind! So when I got down to the metal building, I would climb out and say to him, "Stay there Pip," and walk into the shop, as it is better known. When I came out, arms full, Pippin would still be there, looking around with pricked ears, or sniffing the air. He moved out of my way when I set the heavy stuff down and waited while I went back to get more. He's such a great companion! I couldn't help but laugh at him skidding around in the back as I went over the bumpy ground, or when he bounced off the floor when we hit a rather hard lump. I just knew he'd crack his little leg on the metal frame and knock all the enthusiasm out of him, even when I was really careful like I was at first, but no, he never did. It really makes me laugh when he shows so much toughness (comparatively), because he likes to pretend to be so vulnerable and innocent.  Well, sometimes, that is.  And, it makes me laugh how much hardiness he can display when there's something he really wants.  For instance, there was the dewberry incident...

In our old house, before we got goats, we had a lot of brush.  For the most part, the brush was in the way and scratchy and just begging to be got rid of. Notice, I said, "for the most part". That's because in some places, the brush was dewberry vines. Sweet, wild, fecund, dewberry vines. So my siblings and I, accompanied by the Pip-ster, would go out there and pick dewberries. We, of course, ate quite a few of the dewberries while we picked, and Pippin sniffed around and sunned himself on the soft sandy ground. However, all of Pippin's by-himself activities ceased when somebody, I can't remember who, either me or my youngest sister, gave him a dewberry. "Ooooh! yummy!" cried Pippin, and then he was at our feet, hoping for more. We gave him a few, but not enough for his liking. I don't know how he figured out where we got the dewberries. Maybe somebody showed him, but I'm pretty sure he watched us reach gingerly into the thorns and pluck the juicy berries and put them into the buckets. The next thing I knew, Pippin was wading in the thorns, and eating the dewberries right off the vine! He would gingerly poke his nose past the thorns and carefully pull the berries off and eat them! We were all laughing at him, and then we started showing him berries that were rather old, or had been partly eaten by bugs, in general ones we wouldn't eat ourselves, so he could eat them. But he found plenty of good ones himself! So, for the rest of the afternoon, all five of us picked dewberries together. Later, at dinner, we told our parents the story, Pippin fast asleep on his rug, worn out. But when I picked him up after dinner, I made a discovery; Pippin's pink, nearly hairless chest (I call him "macho man" for it) was covered in criss-crossing scratches from the vines! And the dog who screams at the sound of a hand clap when he has a guilty conscience, the dog who claims that a lightly trodden on paw is the end of the world, the dog who must be comforted after his "wounds" have been taken (says he), hadn't made a sound!! What "sacrifice"! rofl! It's amazing what he's willing to do for food! lol!

For these reasons, I call Pippin my Posh-Dog-Gone-Country, and it is hilarious to watch this "posh dog" do things like a "country dog" and see the effects. So, now we'll just do it all in Nebraska, and we call ourselves "transplanted Texans", or the "Texas embassy". =D hee hee! See y'all later!

We hung around and watched the runs and visited with our friends.  PJ got to get out and visit but Miss Pip had to stay in van.

We also saw Carrie Burns and the fabulous ChromaDanes.  Orion and Voltaire were bred by my friend JP of ChromaDane and their wonderful handler Carrie brings out the best of them.  See the talent Danes at www.chromadane.com.

When we got back to the room PJ and Pip decided to have some afternoon delight.

Then they were done for the day.

Actually they were done for the weekend.  Dr. Barb came by this morning and checked them out and we are hoping we got a good breeding and will make some pretty puppies.  Stay tuned for news on our success.

I left Albuquerque and high tailed it back to El Paso in time to join the tailgate party in progress at the UTEP - UT game.  UTEP got whooped on but we had a fun time. 

Lindy was thrilled that PJ was home!

After a restful night PJ and Pip needed a little distraction so Polly and I loaded them in the Van and took a little Honeymoon trip to the town of Madrid, NM.  This is an artsy town where the movie "Wild Hogs" was filmed.    Polly and I had lunch at the Mine Shaft which is the "biker bar" in the movie.

We had blue corn enchiladas with NM green sauce.

We thought about having the kids wedding photos done here but decided to pass. 

 We walked around the town and looked at the galleries and shops.  The town people were very nice and invited the dogs to check out some of the local attractions. 

[caption id="attachment_299" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="We think we can get to the bottom of the bowl"][/caption]

They wanted to know if they were in:

More fun and games tomorrow!

We will let you know how it goes.

Now for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of this extravaganza I will explain.  You may recall, those of you who have the great good fortune to have parents who enjoyed classic British comedy programmes, a jewel in the crown of light entertainment known as Open All Hours.  It starred Ronnie Barker as a skinflint corner shop owner, David Jason as his errand boy and a lady whose name escapes me who was red haired and extremely buxom and who was the love interest, known as Nurse Gladys Emmanuel.

Now, Nurse Gladys has in recent years metamorphosed from buxom nymphette and top totty to being Aunty Mabel, star of the ravishing childrens' programme Come Outside.  Aunty Mabel is as mad as a hat, wears very sensible shoes and lives in a small bungalow with a dog called Pippin.  In her spare time, despite the comfort of her footwear and her unassumingly beige life we are led to believe, and indeed to see that in her spare time she is the pilot of a small, spotty plane which she and Pippin fly round the country.  Aunty Mabel has all sorts of fascinating adventures with Pippin in her plane.  Sometimes she finds out how to make teapots.  Sometimes she finds out how to make crisps.  Today, when Oscar was watching it, she was doing something unspeakable with petunias, hanging baskets and vast acres of snails.  She often sings songs to the crisps and the tea pots, and today was no exception as she clutched a snail in her paw and crooned at it, before setting it down, stunned and upset, amongst its snail relatives.

As she was heading back across the lawn to her cottage, she spied another dog gambolling up the front path to check out Pippin's new kennel.  Apparently, and this is where I was reeling, positively reeling I tell you, Pippin has a boyfriend and this is he/it.  I was so stunned I nearly dropped my Tuc biscuit, and I totally forgot to pay attention to the name of Pippin's boyfriend.

I am shocked because a) I have spent the last nine years thinking that Pippin was a boy (which in these days of Queer as Folk, he may well be and never let it be said that I am homophobic against gay dog love.  I am not, I just default to heterosexuality in the main) b) Pippin must be extremely old by now and far too sensible for this type of malarkey unless statistics about dog sexuality are currently running true to statistics about human sexuality and the reasons why the twenty somethings are having such a shocking time is because the sixty somethings are having all the hot sex; and c) Aunty Mabel was flirting with him outrageously.  She winked at him as he came up the path, and she turned gaily on her heel in a frankly risque manner as she minced off to mind her petunias.

My world has been turned upside down.  You potter along for nine years safe in the knowledge that some things, such as Aunty Mabel and her doings are somehow sacrosanct, much like taking comfort in the fact that no matter how bad your hair is, you can always stand next to Amy Winehouse and be confident in the wedding photos, and then something like this happens. 

And on that bombshell...

8/11/08 - I made it!  My journey was a little hairy though--the mailman misread the address on the envelope and put me in the wrong mailbox!  I was there for a few days before the mistake was rectified, but Jen tried to make it up to me by providing me with some Lexie cuddles.  They're quite refreshing!

8/13/08 - This was kind of a sad day, because I had to say good-bye to my new friend, Texie.  Texie's older brother, Tex, is traveling in the same round robin that I am; Texie's in Traveling Teddy #8.  But at the same time it was pretty cool, 'cause Texie was headed to my house!  Yep--my family's in TT#8 too, and my fellow bear Gallifrey is also traveling the U.S.  By chance, the rotation worked out so I headed to Texie's home first, and she's headed to mine.  So I let her know all about California, and she's really excited!

8/14/08 - I am so excited--I'm going on my first flight!  My host family is traveling to Indiana, and they've invited me along.  My new friends Lexie and her big brother Jeffrey have a cousin who's turning a year old, and we're going to her birthday party.  There's also a trip to Chicago planned, so I get a bonus city to visit!

8/16/08 - Happy birthday, Stella!  Isn't that a pretty cake?  I really wanted to take a quick taste, but Jen caught me right before I managed to dip a paw in to the pink icing.  She did share her piece with me later, and it was as tasty as it looked!  I also got to watch the presents being opened and all of the little kids playing--the party was so much fun!

8/17/08 - Helllllloooooo, Windy City!  Who says city traffic is that tough?

Wow!  They make 'em tall in Chicago, don't they?  I loved getting to walk around and look up at all the skyscrapers.  I couldn't see Sears Tower from where we parked, but I got a good luck at it driving in.  It's really a cool looking building!  It wasn't too windy in the Windy City today, but we got a nice breeze that kept it from being too hot as we went sight seeing.

We weren't there just to see the sights, though--we were there for lunch!  The ladies (my hostess Jen and buddy Lexie, Lexie's cousin Stella and Stella's mom Meghan, and Lexie's and Stella's Dain (grandma)) went to the American Girl Place for a luncheon and I got to go too.  For a place that serves lunch to little girls with dolls, I was surprised at how sophisticated the food was.  Jen and I debated a bit but finally decided on the cranberry quiche.  It was so tasty!  I also got a cool new black-and-white headband that matches my fur perfectly--it was a gift to go with the lunch.

After lunch we walked around the American Girl Place.  Wow, are there a lot of dolls there!  The dolls that you can get that look just like the little girl are cool, but my favorites were the historic dolls.  Jen's favorite was Kirstin, the frontier doll, but I preferred Samantha, the colonial doll.  The coolest, though, was when I met my first Olympian.  She's a gold medal winner!

Hey, check it out--I'm a tavern owner (apparently).  We just happened to see Pippin's Tavern as we were driving past, so we had to come back to get a quick picture.

8/19/08 - Meet Billy T-Bear Blake!  He's traveling for TT#8 like Texie, and get this--he's from Chicago!  We bonded immediately over stories of his hometown.

We were all set to head out into Corpus Christi to see the sights...but the weather wasn't cooperating.  At best, it was a steady light rain, but at various intervals there were downpours so loud it was hard to have a conversation in the house!  Billy and I were pretty bummed, but we found something to do.

I surprised Jen, who didn't know that I knit lace.  But I'm a panda bear from China, after all, so what else would I work on but her silk yarn on the bamboo needles?  She did make me promise not to munch on the needles, and she added a lifeline.  No fear--she got her scarf back with the same number of mistakes it had when she gave it to me!

8/20/08 - Woohoo!  Despite some threatening skies, Jen packed up Billy and I in her knitting bag and Lexie in her backpack carrier to do Corpus Christi!  We did drive through a bit of rain, but it was gone before we got to Corpus Christi, and the sun was even shining by the end of trip.

Our first stop was USS Lexington (CV-16).  In Corpus Christi they call her Lady Lex; when she fought in World War II, Tokyo Rose called her "the Blue Ghost" because the Japanese reported they'd sunk her four different times and yet she kept coming back for more.  She's the longest serving carrier in U.S. Navy history.

Before we got up the carrier, there were a few cool things to look at.  That propeller was huge...and it's smaller than the one actually on USS Lexington!  Billy and I were tiny in comparison.

I actually got to sit on one of the guns that the onboard gunners would have used to fight off kamikaze pilots!  I bet I would have been a really good one, too...if I could have reached any of the controls.  Jen told Billy and I about her grandfather, who was a fire controlman in the U.S. Navy in WWII (he was a destroyerman), and would have worked on guns like this.

We had to choose what we wanted to see on the carrier because it's just so huge, so Billy and I had a quick discussion.  It was no contest--we wanted to see the planes!  So Jen headed up to the flight deck, which was three decks (floors) above the hanger deck that we entered on.  They call the stairs on ships "ladders," and we could see why--they're really steep!  No wonder Jen insisted on the backpack carrier instead of the stroller we suggested to make toting Lexie easier.  After all, she was the Sailor, not us.

Naturally, we wanted to start with the Blue Angels plane.  It's Jen's favorite too.  She's seen them fly before, and they're just so cool.  Billy and I really wanted to get in, but of course we couldn't.  So Jen took our picture in front of it...and then surprised us with a photoshopped picture of Billy and I in the cockpit!  I'm just not sure how I ended up in the back seat...especially since the F/A-18 the Blue Angels use doesn't have a back seat!

There were all sorts of signs everywhere, and Jen told us that they were very important to read.  This one must have been super important, since the letters were actually bigger than me.

These signs were added, but they were really cool.  All the way down the (non-working) escalator that took us back to the hanger deck were signs about USS Lexington.  I could see that the flight deck was big, but I didn't realize it was that big!

Before we left, Billy and I posed for pictures with the ship's bell.  Jen told us about the tradition of christening in the ship's bell--Sailors who are stationed on board a ship can have their children christened onboard, using the ship's bell as a baptismal font.  The names are then engraved inside the bell.  Lexie was christened on her daddy's ship...although that bell was a lot smaller!  (We were hoping to get to visit her daddy's ship, but it's in the shipyard right now so we can't.)

After we left Lady Lex, we headed to the Texas State Aquarium.  Jen had a feeling I'd love it, since my backpack has a fish button on it--and she was right!  We got to see all sorts of fish located in the water off the coast of Corpus Christi.  I think my favorite were these colorful fishes, since they set off my black-and-white coloring so well.

The big fish tank was awesome!  It had pylons like you'd see around oil rigs, and it was full of really big fish.  Jen told us that some of them were new, like the pretty silver and copper colored fish in the picture.  Billy and I could have sat there for hours watching the huge fish go 'round and 'round...until the shark came around the corner.  After we fell off the bar, we suggested we move on to the next area.

Our last stop in the aquarium was the jellies section.  They were all really neat, but Billy and I agreed that our favorite were the comb jellies.  They have twinkling lights that run down their sides in several lines.  Jen apologized for the picture--she had to take it without the flash so the jellies showed up--but we thought it was cool to have one.

Before we headed back home, Jen climbed up to the observation platform on the top of the aquarium.  The view from there was outstanding, especially since the skies had cleared.  I loved getting to look over downtown Corpus Christi and out over the water.

That's going to be all for my visit to Texas.  I'll be leaving tomorrow, and I'm a little sad to go.  But I'm also really excited for my next adventure!  I'm headed to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and Jen told me all about it (she grew up nearby and loves Gettysburg).  She also said I'm heading to visit a really nice person--Tex was there already and had a great time.  I think by tomorrow I'll be just excited, since that's when I'll be heading out on my new adventure!

Congratulations to Team Pippin on their recent AX and VCX titles!  

If you aren't familiar with the titles the are AKC Agility Excellent (AX)  and the VCX is the CWCCA's  Versatility Excellent Certificate (VCX), a Cardigan must obtain a title in three of the five areas listed  Conformation, Obedience, Tracking, Herding and Agility with one at the Basic Level or higher, one at the Intermediate Level or higher, and one at the Top Level.

As you can see by the many letters behind her name, Pip is a very smart girl and Polly is a very smart trainer.  We are proud of our friends and are looking forward to the planned breeding with PJ.  Should be some pretty and smart puppies!

Screamin' Cutie's Italian Greyhound

Sweater Pattern

Materials

Yarn: 440 yards of worsted weight yarn (somewhere around there)

Circular Needles: 9 & 6 us

Double Pointed Needles: 8 & 6 us

2 Stitch Holders and markers

Gauge

4 sts & 5 ¾ rows over St st with largest size needles: 1 ins

Sizes; S, (M, L)

Neck

1. With yarn doubled, cast on 40 (40, 42) sts using size 8 dpn. Work in the round in k1 p1 rib for 2 ½ (3, 3 ½) in, or however far you want. You can make it shorter, like a crew-neck, or you can make it so it covers the ears like a snood. It's all up to you. Just remember that you'll need to adjust your yarn requirements accordingly. Increase 16 (30, 44) sts evenly across last row, so you'll end up with 56 (70, 84) sts.

Chest and Shoulders

2. Change to larger size needles. k 3 rounds.

~ Starting at M, k 4 (4, 5), " WST, P 3, WST ". K 14 (18, 18). Repeat " to ". Finish round. K 1 more round ~.

Repeat ~ to ~ until piece measures ½ (1, 1 ½) in from base of neck, or end of ribbing.

(~ Then, starting at marker, K 4, "WST, P 4, WST") K 16 (20, 20). Repeat " to ". Finish round. K 1 round ~.

Repeat ~ to ~ until piece measures 2 ins from end base of neck. Then, repeat ( to ). K 8 (11, 14). WST. Purl 24 (34, 40). WST. K to round marker. Repeat ( to ). K 9 (12, 16). WST Purl 26 (36, 46). WST. K to round M.

Leg Opening.

3. Next round: Bind off 4 sts, k 8 (12, 12) sts. Then put the other sts on a holder, for now you will be working on only these 8 (12, 12) sts flat, still in St st.

Work on sts for 2 (2 ½, 3) in, ending with a right side row. Place sts on a second holder. Cut yarn.

4. Rejoin yarn at the left hand base of your "tab" and bind off the next 4 sts. Then work around to the other side of the first bound off sts. Cast on 4 sts. Then, take the "tab" off it's holder and k those sts and cast on another 4 sts.

K 3 rows. Starting at M, K 21 (27, 31). WST.

P 24 (35, 42), yes you will pass your marker. Don't sweat! Once again, you're making short rows. WST.

K 23, (34, 41). WST.

P 22 (30, 40). WST.

K to marker. K 1 round.

K 18 (25, 27). WST.

P 21 (31, 38). WST.

K 20 ( 30, 37). WST.

P 19 (29, 36). WST. K to M.

Body

5. Continue on all sts until piece measures 4 ½ (5, 5 ½) ins from base of neck, measured on the back of the sweater. But this is the time to adjust for your dog ‘s length if you need to. For a Girl Iggy, the issue of length isn't an issue at all, but for a boy... well, you know. Check out the measurements for each size to see if you need to adjust length.

Change to size 6 circular needle. K2 p2 around. Continue until piece measures 6 (7, 8 ) ins from the neck.

Tail shaping

6. Change back to size 9 needle. K 2 sts, then bind off 12 (14, 14) sts. Finish round in P2 K2 (K2 P2, P2 K2). If you want to, you can remove the marker because you will now be working flat again and you will not work in the round until you do you tail border. Stop working the ribbing, just do St st.

P 1 round. At the beginning of each row thereafter, s1, ssk or s1 p2t, whichever needed, until you have 28 (30, 32) sts. Make sure that you end with a right side row.

Finishing

7. Tail border: With the right side facing, using the smallest circular needle, pick up and knit however many sts you need to lie flat around the perimeter of the sweater, and I'm talking about ALL of the perimeter. The sides were you slipped the sts, the bound off sts, everything.

Now, work in k1 p1 rib for ½ (1, 1) in. In every other (every, every) round, decrease 2 sts at both of the low corners (those being the ones beside the bound off sts). Also decrease in the middle of the sts that you picked up on top of the bound off edge. And decrease 2 sts over the back of the sweater, the part by the tail. That's 8 sts decreased total. Then bind off the sts loosely.

8. Leg bands: Pick up and k 18 (20, 22) sts with the smallest dpn and work in k1 p1 rib for 2 in, or however long you want! Make it so the Iggys' wear long sleeves, if they'll let you! Repeat for other leg.

Hooray! All done! My last bit of instruction? Put

your sweater on your beautifully shaped and well

loved dog and admire the fit!

Abbreviations:

dpn; double pointed needle

K; knit

K1 p1; knit one, purl one

M; Marker

P; purl

p2t; purl two together

ssk; slip, slip, knit

s1; slip one

St st; Stockinette stitch

st/sts; stitch, stitches

WST; wrap stitch, turn

I'm sorry it's taken so long. This is my first pattern though, and to be entirely honest, I'm not completely confident that it has no mistakes in it. When I re-knit the sweater, it was very hard for me to follow my instructions and not work from memory. I usually (and unfortunately, I must add) subconsciously guess what a pattern's intent is anyway, and will just knit away on my own judgment without following the details. Most of the time I'm right, but then again, I've also messed up several projects by doing that. :-D So, my point is, I'd love to hear what kind of results you get when you knit this up, and if you find any mistakes, or don't understand an instruction, let me know and I will fix it to the best of my ability! Thanks, and enjoy!

As soon as I walked into the museum, I was surprised at the number of people already there half an hour early- a good sign. I quickly got my tickets, as well as a flyer for next week's show when the saleslady found out that Avenue Q was my favorite musical (supposedly they have actual puppets!) Now that I think about it, Avenue Q is sort of a less-censored version of Pippin. That's probably the reason I like Pippin as well.

I was very surprised when I finally walked into the theatre. It was fairly small and oddly designed. Being one of the first to go in, I took a seat in the second row just a few feet from the stage. Little did I know that that would make all the difference. Another thing that really surprised me is that the play actualy started on time! I'm not used to that in theatre. Or anywhere else for that matter.

Shortly it occured to me that there was no set on the stage. Does nobody actually come to these shows? And if so, why was the theatre almost full? Then, the musicians came in- and there were only two of them! That was a bit shocking as well, but by the time I got to realize the shock, they started Magic to Do without even an overture.

If there is no curtain, where are the actors? Oh, there they are, right behind us. It was really uncomfortable to turn around to watch just their hands. So I didn't. Finally, they get up on stage. My first thought is, is that Taylor Hicks wearing a crown?

The leading player is a very good actor- fairly like how I imagined him to be in the head of Stephen Schwartz or whoever that guy who wrote the play was. The "masks" are quite nice as well. though I found trying to figure out what the little symbols on them were a bit distracting. Anyway, my only criticism is that they look a bit clumped together- perhaps the front seats should be moved back and the juggler and the guy who did something with a scarf should be standing in front of the stage at the very least.

Fast forward to Corner of the Sky. This is a very important number, as it tells us a lot about Pippin. I don't think the actor sung it to his fullest potential. It is a number that should be sung with a lot of emotion. The way it was done, it made me think Pippin was overwhelmed rather than hopeful.

Hey, there comes Taylor Hicks in a crown as Charlemagne. He played his part excellently (sorry for verb tense switching so much). I have no complaints whatsoever, and I really look forward to seeing more of him. And there comes Fastrada with her son. She looks like a wicked witch (and that's a good thing) and her son acts like he is 5 (also good). Fastrada tries to break the fourth wall with limited success.

Then there's War is a Science. The dancing kind of started to annoy me. The music was a bit too loud, so I couldn't really tell what Charlie was saying. Pippin danced the scene pretty well though. Moving on to Glory where it was a fairly funny fight scene, though perhaps a bit boring.

Fast forward to the grandmother. That scene is my favorite from the play, and I was fairly excited for it. The girl had a pretty good singing voice, but did not make a very convincing old lady. True, part of the point of the song was staying young, but I would not have guessed from her appearance, actions, and voice that she was 60.

Well here comes the "orgy" scene everyone around me couldn't wait for. The first time I saw the play I had no idea what was going on. This time I not only saw what happened in it, but the scene was so brilliantly put together that it came close to replacing the grandmother scene as my favorite. Pippin is one lucky guy.

So then Pippin decides to become king. I was upset there was no Obama joke. You set it up perfectly when you said "time for change" but never followed through. Avenue Q has a Bush joke as part of its script! Anyway, no other complaints.

So then comes Spread A Little Sunshine. I admit that the first time I saw this play I couldn't make out a word of the song. This time, I could. I would have found it really boring if not for the son. I especially enjoyed that bit with the crown getting stuck on the leg. I couldn't tell whether or not it was intentional, but if it wasn't, I suggest you make it intentional.

As for the scene where Pippin kills his father, I felt it was not dramatic enough. Wikipedia tells me Michael Jackson recorded a version of Morning Glow. Based on this scene, I find it hard to believe. Pippin seems nervous- and I'm not talking about the actor. It doesn't match up with the certainty in his voice as he is talking to his subjects. BTW: "Up thine" is probably my favorite line from the whole thing. Anyway, we go to quasi-finale and end the first act.

During the intermission I picked up the flyer for Rent. Rent is my second-favorite musical and I would totally do it if I could sing. I don't know what it says about the play, but in a few seconds, the song stuck in my head went from "We've got magic to do, just for you" to "Dying in America at the end of the millenium." I've got to remember to come watch it.

Anyway, act 2 begins with Pippin rather sad and the player trying to cheer him up, but of course, this is still not Avenue Q and so he fails (Act 2 of AQ starts the same way, except it works).

Aand here comes Catherine. Finally here's someone who sings with some emotion. Just for that she probably deserved someone better than Pippin. Sorry guy who plays Pippin for all of these criticisms, but you'll be happy to know that the next several scenes make up for it all. Especially the sex scene. And Prayer for a Duck. Speaking of the duck, that is one nice duck they've got up there. In fact, it completely overshadows the role of Theo himself. Even after it dies. Ooh spoiler. Take that society. There'll be more to come.

So of course, after a few great performances, Pippin leaves Cat. I Guess I'll Miss the Man has so much emotion that it could win American Idol. However, at that point it seems that the leading player loses some of his emotion (and his obsessive-compulsive disorder) and speaks so softly that it seems like he's a background singer for her.

Finally on to the finale. Remember at the beginning when I said the seat made all the difference? Well the first time I saw Pippin I hated the ending. Mostly because I really didn't get a word of it. Now, it made so much sense, that it even got me thinking about the sun. I love the look on Pippin's face when they tell him that his is going to be "for real".  Now, just to add a bit of my opinion, Pippin made the wrong choice. In fact, if they made a Pippin 2, I am sure it would end with him calling back the cast and begging  to do the finale. But hey, we're two different people.

So then he sings Magic Shows and Miracles. It's probably his most passionate number of the whole thing. Then suddenly the music goes back up again, and Theo starts singing Corner of the Sky. That's a very nice ending compared to the other production I've seen (ends on MS&M). Then the play ends with Theo picking up the torch. Now isn't he like 10 or even younger? Isn't it a bit too early for him to feel suicidal? Ehh, who am I kidding, children these days probably start at like 5.]

You know what ending I really liked? That one from youtube. They finish singing MS&M and Catherine asks him "So Pippin, how do you feel now?" to which he replies "I feel empty and vacant... Which is probably a perfect ending to a musical comedy!" Or something like that.

Anyway, sorry for making it so long, but if any of the actors read this, I hope you get something out of it. Good luck in your future careers!

It seems a long time since I had any deep or profound thoughts. I guess my time has been taken up with bootcamps, organising cruises, meditation groups, the occasional romp with P and being hyperaware of B's every move. Not exactly deep and meaningful stuff is it?

For some reason I have song running through my head: "everything has its season, everything has its time". It has always been significant to me and I identify strongly with the lyrics. I think it was from a musical (Pippin?) I'll have to google it now to find out.

Everything has its season
Everything has its time
Show me a reason and I'll soon show you a rhyme
Cats fit on the windowsill
Children fit in the snow
Why do I feel I don't fit in anywhere I go?

Rivers belong where they can ramble
Eagles belong where they can fly
I've got to be where my spirit can run free
Got to find my corner of the sky

Every man has his daydreams
Every man has his goal
People like the way dreams have
Of sticking to the soul
Thunderclouds have their lightning
Nightingales have their song
And don't you see I want my life to be
Something more than long....

Rivers belong where they can ramble
Eagles belong where they can fly
I've got to be where my spirit can run free
Got to find my corner of the sky

So many men seem destined
To settle for something small
But I won't rest until I know I'll have it all
So don't ask where I'm going
Just listen when I'm gone
And far away you'll hear me singing
Softly to the dawn:

Rivers belong where they can ramble
Eagles belong where they can fly
I've got to be where my spirit can run free
Got to find my corner of the sky

Now why that should be going through my head all of a sudden I don't know. I am not particularly preoccupied with freedom or purpose at the moment. My mind is running to far more earthly pleasures and interests.

We are excitedly waiting for a call from Polly in Colorado.  The beautiful Pippin is expected in season in August and this will be PJ's 1st breeding.   We are hoping for some lovely puppies.   You can learn more about both dogs and the upcoming litter at our website www.solsticekennels.com.

Friday to Wednesday - 1:00, 3:00, 5:00

Get Smart -- Rated PG-13, 1 hour 51 minutes

Friday & Saturday - 7:00 only

Sunday to Wednesday - 7:00 & 9:10

Emperor's New Clothes  a live production brought to you from Plaza Productions

Friday at 11am only $10 per person includes popcorn and soda.

Cannibal The Musical   a live production brought to you from Frantic Fran's Theatre Troupe

Friday & Saturday at 10pm only  $18 per person or $16 with current student ID Card.

Pippin  a live production brought to you from Plaza Productions

Thursday July 31st at 7:30 pm

Like most of Colorado, the high country west of us got a great deal of snow last winter and spring; it's still quite wet up there. Upside: wonderful flowers. Downside: skeeters like you wouldn't believe.

One of the greatest things about camping is VERY happy (and tired) dogs. A July snow bank can be a complete amusement park:

A hike up through the forest (no trail, just bushwhacking) led us to a gorgeous spot.

That's looking south toward Rocky Mountain National Park and the Mummy Range. And this is the way life should be:

It's all about getting in touch with your less civilized side. Getting dirty is a big part of the fun.

We got out the Huge Cube to test their archery skills.

Legolas wanna be's.

Is that Merry in a tree?

My little Pippin.

We got tons of trading cards for cheap at tolkeintown.com & let the boys spend some time trading. This was perhaps the most popular activity, much to my surprise - eleven year old boys! Anyway, I got a kick out of the fact that after the flurry of trading, one lone card lay forlorn & unwanted. No one would claim this "kissing card" - EWWWW!!!!

Water balloon battle at Helms Deep.

Truly, the Lord of the rings!

Frodo & Samwise?

Espen Hammer (ed.): German Idealism: Contemporary Perspectives, London, Routledge, 2007, pp. 339. £18.99 pbk. ISBN 0-415-37305-0.

Update: I've taken down this post as the review is now forthcoming in the British Journal for the History of Philosophy in early 2009. Look out for it there...

6 AM: The alarm that I forgot to turn off wakes me from a dead sleep. I curse.

8 AM: Awaken from a dream about work. Strange. Discover the cat is asleep and snoring in the laundry basket...not just asleep, but rather BURIED under all the laundry. Perhaps he was cold--wonder why. Roll over and go back to sleep.

10 AM: Drag my butt out of bed after having spent the last 45 minutes staring at the ceiling and daydreaming. Cat still in the laundry basket.

NOON: Showered and dressed, internet sufficiently surfed for the morning, I decide to get some coffee.

12:30: Arrive at Pete's Coffee by Greenlake. Order my Cuppa Joe, and settle into one of the vacant leather chairs with my Kindle. The thing I like about Pete's is that they don't have obnoxiously loud music blaring over their speakers, the CD's of which they are also trying to shove down your throat by the register. (Uh, can someone say "Starbucks"?) I read in peace for an hour.

2 PM: Back to the condo, after having sufficiently drained my wallet at the pump. Settle down for some grilled cheese (I feel 5 years old again) and a couple of episodes of the X-Files.

4 PM: Consider watching Oprah. Consider also stabbing out my eyes and ears with a sharp object. Opt for some more Internet surfing instead. Updated Facebook page, did some cyber stalking, and read the remainder of the latest Scientific American that I bought last weekend. (No I DON'T understand what they are talking about half the time. Yes, reading it DOES make me feel smarter. Sure, I'm half convinced it boosts my 'geek cred'...but whatever.)

5:30 PM: Here I am. Writing this whilst nursing a caffeine headache and wondering where the day went. And what to read next. Hmmm.....any suggestions?

As temperatures soared well into the 80s this past weekend, temps in the condo got a little uncomfortable as well, despite the fact that we really don't get any direct sun during the day. With no airconditioning, it's all we can do to keep the air circulating with fans and cross breezes--and even then, it zaps the life out of you. Clothes come off (oh stop it, sickos), popsicles get eaten by the dozens, and life's pace creeps to a slow c-r-a-w-l. So imagine what it might be like for poor Pippin, covered in all that fur:

Needless to say, I needed to take steps to make things a little more comfortable for Pip, so we went for a little car ride. Normally a big fan of rides in the car, if he had known what fate awaited him at the end of this particular trip, I'm sure Pip would not have been so eager to tag along. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves (roll over the pics to read the captions):

So yes, Pippin got his first haircut...and it was quite an ordeal. The first ten minutes were ok, as he was caught quite off guard and didn't really know what was happening or what he could do about it. But once he figured out what was going on, he was PISSED! Hissing and growling and thrashing about, it got harder and harder to keep him still so we could make his new 'do' even. But in the end, we prevailed...a MOUND of orange fur littered the floor, and Pippin wouldn't look at me.

So what does he look like now? Well, skinny and wrinkly with a LOT of loose skin...kinda like a lion. See for yourself:

I AM a good mother....

Oh, and a BIG shout out goes to Co-Worker's Roomie...a vet tech with clippers (and Pippin's new Nemesis).

What happened exactly? Well, I recall being about thirteen or so, completely ostracized from the group of friends I'd once had, and was a painfully blossoming nerd. The glasses, the sweaters--I was a postergirl for early 90s fashion nightmares, and was growing a rather sulky personality to go with it. I had just finished a stint reading Stephen King, mostly The Stand twice through, and though I knew I liked fantasy as a genre, had no idea where to go.

It was my high school librarian who suggested LoTR. They didn't have the first installment, but figuring it was like the Narnia series, I just picked up the Two Towers and ran.

First impressions:

• I had no idea what an Aragorn was. With no context, he was all slinky and secretive. I figured, if he was hanging out with an elf and a dwarf, he must be something as equally impressive. I imagined him like a nicer version of Gollum, a being with large eyes and green skin who could see long distances and had a remarkable way with people. Boy was I surprised when I figured out he was... well, just a guy.
• Merry and Pippin are the whole show! I didn't get to the Frodo and Sam stuff for a while, but I was really intrigued by the terrible twosome. They were funny, friendly, and boy could they eat and drink. To this day, I simply adore Pippin, moreso than is really warranted. But, you know what they say about first impressions.
• Kickin' the Rankin-Bass. Unfortunately, prior to reading the series, I'd seen both Rankin Bass films--the adapted Hobbit and its Return of the King follow up (cringe). It had been about eight years though, so as far as plot and theme were concerned, there were no big spoilers. What took me forever to get rid of however, were the huge, sparkly, luminous eyes and terrible songs. For all the care that Tolkien put into the poetry of the series, I imagine hearing that warbling bard was enough to send him to his grave again.

--

It became an obsession for me very quickly, this hobbit series. It was all-encompassing. I had never read a book so voraciously before, nor had I ever loved characters as much. I remember reading RoTK, and one of the chapters describes Pippin being smooshed by a troll then "his eyes saw no more." I of course, thought he was dead. I burst into tears. (Thankfully, being a fan of George R. R. Martin, I am now a little more hardened to this stuff).

Over the next few years, I absorbed everything Tolkien I could. I read all the books in the series, multiple times. I researched the genealogies. I joined a MUSH. Yes, I ultimately "met" the man I married five years later there, too (but that's another post, I imagine). It makes sense. Michael was as in love with the hobbits and the Shire and Tolkien as I was. It's really that. It's love. It's the highest sense of love you can have in the world... except it's with a piece of art (I feel a Pygmalion reference coming).

There had never been anything--and there may never be--that impacted me on the level Tolkien did. This crotchety old man from England who really only wanted to frolic with trees and write a novel to put his own languages in, somehow changed my life entirely.

Years of internalization, and it eventually became apparent in my own writing. It's not that I want to re-create Tolkien's world; truly, in the years since I've learned to both love and critique his work and realize it's not all perfect (there was a time that anyone who uttered such a word in my presence would have been called a blasphemer, but hey, we all grow up). What I want is simple: to tell a good story. I want my stories to move people even a modicum of the amount Tolkien moved me. I want to continue in the storytelling tradition and help people understand themselves better, even if it's just through a fictional character.

How did Tolkien do it? I suspect is has something to do with the intimacy of writing, especially fantasy writing. Unlike fiction that takes place in this world, fantasy requires a huge amount of trust on the part of the reader. You are turning your imagination over to the writer and letting them describe things to you that you have never seen; they speak in languages un-uttered, of creatures uncreated. And, fickle as we are, we tend to cling still to the things we understand most: the people. In the end, Frodo's decision to claim the ring for his own is the greatest heroic disappointment of all time, because, I think, it's the same one we'd all make. He's not better than we are, like so many gilded heroes. He's as flawed as the rest.

All peripheral philosophy/religion/criticism aside, a great writer takes their readers on a journey; they show them danger, heartbreak, despair, joy--but always, always, they create a window into someone's soul. That's the deciding factor. That's why people continue to pick up LoTR, or Shakespeare, or Updike, or any writer that maintains the ability to be relevant as times change. We often know characters in novels better than we ever will people in our real lives.

That's quite astonishing, I think.

"Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens." - Gimli