Couple Things

***July 2006***

If dogs are the coolest animal, then flies are the worst.

One time I walked home from the coffee shop near my house, only to realize a bit later on that I'd left my car there.

Big fish eat the little ones.

And everytime this song comes 'round on me IPod, I think Oh, no, I can't possibly listen to this song again, ever again. By the time it's over I think, "What a thooper-fun song!"

Post 100

***Day 246***

What a hand gesture that was, so obvious, easy for you to know what to do. It worked, small cool dots now on my lips, cheeks, in my eyes. Maybe you, yes you, can see me some, some at least I hope. In front is black. Canopy now overhead, darker. Blacker. Such noise from above. You can't see me. I see you. I wish you'd go away--not you but them . . . it. Eyes back to black. My back so hot, the rest cool. Breezy. Warm, sticky, feels much like home. Down I go if I find a hole. But now you light my path, yes you. I feel free, fast, more free. Stay back, over there, not too close, never too close. Not far no more, pretty much made it now. Quiet back here. Peaceful. Slow. Very close. Who is up there? I used to know, but time has passed. Over the top, in my sights. I'm here now, but you are not. When will you? Quiet, dark, alone, now I am home.

Circles

***Chicago Daily News; June 18, 1965: Patricia Ann Morgan, a model, poses for photographers after she was acquitted by a New York judge of the charge she was wearing indecent shorts in Riverside Park. The judge ruled Miss Morgan's shorts were kind of short but not short enough to violate a Park Department ordinance.***

Why the hell are lawnmowers so loud? I guess a lawnmower's response might be, why the hell are you sitting in your backyard with a computer on your lap, geek? Anyway . . .

When I bike to work, which makes my mind and body feel oh so yummy, my path takes me through the University of Minnesota campus. It's my favorite part of the ride, at least during the school year. Lots of traffic and tight riding, perfect for the urban explorer idiot. So the point here is, on my ride home from work today, it was clear that this was little freshman show up and stuff all your crap into your stinky dorm day, welcome to your new home dork day. Upon realizing this, which really wasn't so much the fault of the silly new students in their senior high wear as much as that of their punch-drunk parents' wicked driving, my thoughts turned to circles. Then, because I'm strange, they turned to U of M President Bob Bruininks, whose son I went to Sweden with while we were in grad school though that has nothing to do with anything I am typing here, and I wondered if this first day of fall freshman madness made him feel like he was riding a train at the zoo--you know, it just goes in circles, you pass the same flippin' stops over and over, time after time if you stay onboard. Bruininks has been president for the better part of a decade, and I wondered whether today triggered thoughts of time flying by in cycles of one year, four years, something like that. Me, I don't like circles. I prefer to jump off trains.

Time is a weird thing, so I relate rather well to it. In the relative grand scheme of things I won't, and neither will you, be around much longer. Yet I, maybe it's my spirit, generally feel immortal, which of course in reality makes no sense and entirely contradicts what I admitted in the previous sentence. So, the photo and caption here, 44 years old, certainly offer an illustration of how times have changed, circles replaced by points no one of the past would have expected. People are comparitively naked now days when it comes to shorts, except for basketball players. A short, no pun intended, article in the same Daily News edition reported that people on public aid--which I interpreted to mean welfare--could now be given information about birth control with their aid check, but only if they requested the information. I wonder where that law stands today, and I wonder where it will stand tomorrow, when our time is up. Circle or zig-zag? As well, though you think shorts can't possibly get any smaller than today's, 44 years from any day always lurks right around the corner. So shorts, circle or zig-zag? From this day to the year 2053 means 44 more freshman classes, 44 more years of punch-drunk parents on campus. The zoo train, of course, will still stop at the same spots. Circles.

Chanel

By VIRGINIA BYRNE, Associated Press Writer – Mon Aug 31, 10:54 pm ET

NEW YORK – A wire-haired dachshund that held the record as the world's oldest dog and celebrated its last birthday with a party at a dog hotel and spa has died at age 21 — or 147 in dog years.

The dog, named Chanel, died Friday of natural causes at her owners' home in suburban Port Jefferson Station, on Long Island.

Chanel, as stylish as her legendary namesake, wore tinted goggles for her cataracts in her later years and favored sweaters because she was sensitive to the cold, owners Denice and Karl Shaughnessy said Monday.

The playful dachshund was only 6 weeks old when Denice Shaughnessy, then serving with the U.S. Army, adopted her from a shelter in Newport News, Va.

Along with her owner, Chanel spent nine years on assignment in Germany, where she became adept at stealing sticks of butter from kitchen countertops and hiding them in sofa cushions in the living room,Shaughnessy said. She also liked chocolate, usually considered toxic to dogs, Shaughnessy said.

"She once ate an entire bag of Reese's peanut butter cups, and, you see, she lived to be 21, so go figure," Shaughnessy added.

Karl Shaughnessy nominated Chanel for the title of world's oldest dog after noticing the Guinness World Records book had no record.

Guinness World Records officials presented Chanel with a certificate as the world's oldest dog at a Manhattan birthday bash hosted by a private pet food company in May.

Chanel loved the party, especially the cake, which had a peanut butter flavor and had been made for dogs, Denice Shaughnessy said.

Chanel exercised daily and ate home-cooked chicken with her dog food, but good care wasn't entirely responsible for her long life, said her owners, who attributed God.

"Dogs are God's angels sent here to look out for us," Denice Shaughnessy said.

A dog from New Iberia, La., named Max, is vying for the record of world's oldest dog. Owner Janelle Derouen said Max marked his 26th birthday on Aug. 9. She said Guinness World Records officials were reviewing documents to authenticate his age; a Guinness World Records official in London didn't immediately answer an e-mail from The Associated Press requesting confirmation of that.

When asked the secret to her dog's long life, Derouen said she was shocked he's still with her.

"I have five kids, and all my kids are grown and gone," she said. "Now my grandkids are playing with this dog."