Alley Cat Allies advertisement seen on the back of a Metro bus. Yay! For folks who expressed interest in my visit to Best Friends a few months back, the second season of Dogtown, which focuses on the dog section of the sanctuary, premieres Friday night on National Geographic. I saw a preview of the episode; it's on the rehabilitation of the Michael Vick pit bulls (the "Vicktory dogs" as Best Friends calls them). The series in general is a lot darker than Best Friends' "All the Good News" philosophy, but I think that's because of how the television trope for "rescued animal" works (i.e. they feel like they have to show the horrible original state as part of the "how far the animal has come" story). I found myself crying at a point in this one, so be forewarned if you're used to the "we're not about the sadness" philosophy Best Friends espouses. But it's wonderful to dedicate a half hour each week to a great place like the sanctuary, so I'm all about all the television coverage they can get. Plus, now I can point at the red sand and the dirt roads (and the amazing caregivers) say, "I've been there!"

And it's just to share that the dude in front of me has crazy scary nose hair. Good, solid costume. Hirsute breathing apparatus. *shudders*

The time when the blog is filled with shots from the Maryland Renaissance festival. ;)

Rowling came in to work with me today. She's currently hiding in the cardboard we put up to keep her *away* from the cables. Ah well. Oh, and we found out she's not fond of dogs. At least in her small exposure to Cisco, local alpha dog.

Nice day to chill around the pool. ;)

Just that it's an awfully nice day here.

So I logged into eHarmony this weekend and saw I was matched with a Glen from Quahog who spends his leisure time "trying to get some ladies to come and party with me!" Yeah. 29 dimensions of personality, my ass. I got matched with a fictional character whom I find repulsive (and, yes, funny, but not in a "His sense of humor is what attracted me to him" kinda way). That takes speshul skillz.

Mom and I attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Suffragist Memorial in Occoquan Regional Park. It's envisioned as a brick wall with informative plaques and benches for resting, due to be completed in 2010. I was afraid Mom and I might be some of the few attendees, but there were more attendees than parking spaces or seats (both of which we scored), so yay. And I'm glad I didn't know there were going to be reenactors, cause I would have had to dress the part and this weather is not amenable to it.

Spaghetti cake by Jen. She's got mad cake skillz.

My maternal grandmother passed away Sunday morning. I'm really glad I got to know her; my other grandparents passed away when I was too young to have many memories of them. I have amazing memories of Granny.

Unfortunately, the notification of her passing in the local newspaper provides an excellent opportunity to offer some tips on writing an obituary.

1) It's important to get not only the time of the service but also THE DATE correct. 2) If unsure, ask someone else for the spelling of the deceased's husband's (in this case the author's father's) name. 3) Children of the deceased who spent time in her uterus trump step-children she met 15 years ago in the listing of survivors, even if the step-children have a Y chromosome. 4) If you're going to list survivors' locations, first find out survivors' loations. 5) The survivors' list is an excellent place to employ the semicolon. However, if you go with the semicolon, it's not okay to randomly substitute commas.

Finally, if you're unaccustomed to writing an obituary, have someone who's been through mortuary school or runs a funeral service do it for you. That person has the necessary expertise to.... er. Never mind. Strike that.