Moving On

When you're moving your whole world becomes boxes. That's all you think about is boxes. Boxes, where are there boxes? You just wander down the street going in and out of stores. Are there boxes here? Have you seen any boxes? I mean it's all you think about. You can't even talk to people because you can't concentrate. Shut up I'm looking for boxes. Just after a while you become like really into it you can smell them. You walk into a store. There's boxes here. Don't tell me you don't have boxes. Dammit, I can SMELL them. I'm like I'm obsessed. I love the smell of cardboard in the morning. You could be at a funeral. Everyone's mourning crying around, and you're looking at the casket. That's a nice box. Does anyone know where that guy got that box? When he's done with it do you think I could get that? It's got some nice handles on it. And that's what death is really. It's the last big move of your life. The hearse is like the van. The pale bearers are your close friends, the only ones you could ask to help you with a big move like that. And the casket is that great, perfect box you've been waiting for your whole life. The only problem is, once you find it, you're in it. - Jerry Seinfeld

I'm moving. You got any boxes?

Someone Handed Me A Sword

Okay, so I started this draft about.. oh.. two months ago. I'm determined to get a post out tonight and I know that you all will love this one, so two-month old story revamped it is.

My mom will be the first to tell you that I never was a big fan of change when I was little. The stories that are always told about me at family reunions are the ones about me crying over change. The most commonly referenced involves my Nanny Vassie, my bed, and lots of tears. I've been told the story hundreds of times, I'm sure, but I feel that it's best she retell it, so I'll leave that thread there. The thread I really want to run with in this post is how I used to hate trying new things, was completely unreasonable with change, and would take forever to do anything unusual to me. I use "used to" because these days, it seems I want to try it all.

Anyone who knows me knows that I like an adventure. I love packing up and heading out and just.. disappearing for a little while. I've been in the Bay Area for almost a year now and I'm going crazy without a real move (more on that another day). One of the reasons I think I haven't completely lost it, tossed the girls and some clothes in the car and headed for Seattle or beyond, is because the Bay Area has a lot of random stuff to do. It's a big city with hundreds of various sized ones surrounding it. There's all kinds of indoor and outdoor activities just within a gas tank from my door. Just between you and me, I want to learn and do it all.

On that note, I'll quickly get into why and then explain the title. See, I have this theory that most people just.. aren't prepared for whatever comes their way. And the best way to be prepared is to learn and practice the skills you might need. Like snowboarding. I love skiing, but you never know when I'm going to be stranded on a mountain with bad guys (seriously, bad guys) chasing me and all I have to get away on is a snowboard. I might not be amazing at it, but if I know how to at least get down the mountain, I'll have more of a chance than those skiiers that refuse to learn boarding. Same thing goes for learning to jump out of a plane, surf, ride a motorcycle, fly a helicopter, bungee jump, so on and so forth. With this theory in mind, I present to you.. fencing.

Shaun really likes fencing and used to be on the team at his college. He was looking to get back into it a couple of months ago and found a gym with an open floor night. Curious to see if anyone wanted to join him, he asked our group of friends. I was the only one that not only jumped for the chance, but was available. We spent about 3 hours in this sweaty loft teaching me the basics, exercising, and just generally poking me with sticks. I wasn't very good, at all. But! One. They let me use a sword. Two. I got to "stab" Shaun. And three. They let me use a sword!!

Swaptastic

I did it again. I signed up for another swap! Now, while I'm super proud of what I made for my partner, I've already written up the post about what I got.

"I received!! FINALLY! I had Meleriffic send to my office instead of house and while it's definitely more secure (last package I had sent to my house was stolen from my doorstep), it takes a lot longer to get through the office mail. ANYWAY! OMG! Image overload, coming your way.

When I opened the package I was talking to a coworker and both of our reactions were immediately "Whoa". Meleriffic, you out did yourself, completely. I was a little overwhelmed, still am really, but I love it ALL. I'll start with the group shot:


So I had to explain most all of this to my coworker, but then a fellow geek walked by and threatened to steal most of it. Let's see how much you guys can recognize without the explanations.

First up! The dice bag! I play DnD and while I already have a dice bag, I know this one won't go to waste. It actually is the perfect size for a crochet project bag, so my cat get at the pieces. That, or I will actually need a bigger dice bag soon. I keep getting more somehow. The quote on it is from Discworld, which I LOVE and i laughed so hard when I read it the first time. More when I read the note explaining everything.

Out of what looks like the same sweater she made me arm warmers for at work (someone refuses to let it get above 60 in here). I put them on and haven't taken them off since. It's been a super stressful week and "Don't Panic" in big, bold, friendly letters on my arm is exactly what I need right now.

Melerific did a lot of research on my DnD character and I think one of the things to come out of that research is a completely adorable set of dice hangers. It's a D4 and D8 and while I can't put them in the car cause the dog will eat them.. they're on my monitor as I type.

So this is amazing. My DnD character, Ed, who is a wizard with a thing for pirate hats and fire, in all her glory, embroidery style! The detail on this is amazing and I already have may too many places I want to put her. I could put her on a quilt, on the back of a hoodie, frame her, make her a pillow.. the possibilities are endless and I LOVE THE DETAIL! It's exactly how I imagined her! The material is a bit creased from travel and I didn't have anything to really stretch it out, so this picture just doesn't do it justice.

Onto the Mario goodness! First off, stitch markers! These are completely adorable. I never actually have had stitch markers before, I always end up using bits of yarn and I hate it. But now.. my knitting projects are going to be done in style! Woot!

I would have to say that this one is in my top 5 for this swap (I can't decide on a number one..). It's a Rubix cube with pictures from my favorite animes of all time. I've already had it wander off in the hands of various coworkers. It's got Cowboy Bebop, Gundam Wing, Trigun, Totoro, Full Metal Alchemist, and Howl's Moving Castle pictures for the sides. I refuse to let anyone mix it up.. I love it too much. They can mix up the normal one I already had at my desk, heh. I'm going to definitely copy this idea for a future swap, hehe.

If I had to pick one thing that just made me completely squeal from this package, this would definitely be it. I can't stop hugging it and grinning wildly. She made me my own Poporing from Ragnarok Online. I can't tell you how many of these adorable little guys I've killed to get their rares or exp from.. and how many I had as pets in game. I know I mentioned them in the questionaire, but not this specific breed of one.. and it is by far my favorite in the game and she made it perfectly! He's in my lap right now and I still can't stop hugging him! I'm spamming my old guild mates with images of it now to make them jealous.

Okay this next one is just amazing and I've had to beat off a few coworkers to keep it at my desk. It's a Mario castle with figures from the games. The effort that went into this is amazing and it's completely perfect. She burned into the wood to give it a real brick look and texture. It's the right scale for the figures and I really want to play Mario now, damnit! It's now perched on the file cabinet above my desk.

Okay, I just have to pause and say Melerific really did out do herself. Just completely. I really want to finish everything that I started and didn't have time to finish and ship it to her.

Okay, two more. More Mario! (I really love Mario.. like really. The midi files from the original are all my ringers and alarms and stuff.) I was in love with this box before I even opened it or knew what it was. And then I opened it and a few other wrapping and learned it was a Zen garden! With an amazing Mario scene painted on the inside of the lid. I'm really hesitant to open the sand and put it in there (I knock things off my desk a lot), so think I'm going to use it as a candy/goodie box instead. I hope that's okay? Either way I LOVE it.

Okay, I'm saving the most amazing one for last... the picture! She had her friend draw my DnD character for me and then framed it in this amazing frame. It's EXACTLY what I described and pictured Ed as, down to the letter. Just completely love it. I'm going to take it home and put it in my library, front and center so I get asked about it.

This package was too much and I LOVE it all. I dare say that this is the best swap package I've ever gotten. She nailed me exactly and I really want to hustle up and finish all the other stuff I started for her now, hehe. Thank you sooooooooooo much Melerific!"





Love, Peace and Mario Madness!
Tar

Yes, I Do Own a Dress

And heels too.

Cisco was added to the Dow Jones recently to replace GM. To celebrate my friends and I decided to dress up and hit the town in style. When I mentioned to the organizer that I was planning on attending and would have to pick what to wear, he said something along the lines of "Oh, I mean, don't worry too much about it. I mean, do you even own a skirt?" The only reply to this was, of course, to glare and vow that I would not only show up in a skirt but I would do him one better and arrive in a dress. Accessories, as well. He used this knowledge to fuel other people to dress up as well, stating simply "Even Tiffany is wearing a dress!" Now to the pictures.


From left to right: Shaun (coworker, Donovan's twin, one of "the boys"); Stephine (Virgina's roommate); Ben/Lodi/White Ben (coworker, one of "the boys"); Virgina (coworker, photographer, friend); Me; Dennis (organizer, coworker, friend); .. some guy.. Alex? (coworker, I think).


This is my (and most everyone's) favorite picture of me from the party. She took it when I wasn't paying attention, obviously, and the funny thing is the one right after it where I posed was HORRIBLE. It's now my profile picture a lot of places.



We went to iHop afterwards for the after-party and "omg I'm starving" get together. I've never been to an iHop with 18 people cramming into seating meant for 12 before. It was hilariously fun. My camera was one of the only ones left by this time and it got passed around a bit. When I got it back and took the pictures off, I was pleased to find gems like this one. This is my favorite picture from the whole iHop adventure. Brian (just met him that night) is the guy right up in the shot and Venkat (softball "manager") is standing. I think I asked him something about ties to get him to turn and look at me.. I'm not sure, but I do know that sometime near when this picture was taken, we all stole the guy's ties and practiced tying them. I was the only female who had some prior knowledge.


No, I did not wear those shoes the whole night. I drove, as usual, and was smart enough to toss my flip flops in the back of the car before we left. I wore heels most the night.. my calves were sore the next day/that day (I didn't get home until 4:30). There are a lot of awesome things going on in this picture. All I have to add is that yes, Shaun is most always that amusing.


Last but not least, that picture. I have no idea what Josh (Sonia's husband & my Yahoo! softball teammate) was telling Ben(/Katie/Asian Ben, coworker & one of "the boys"), but I do know that I couldn't not take a picture of him telling it.

So I just realized that I mentioned a LOT of stuff that you guys may or may not already know. Like I have a group of guys that I hang out with that I refer to as "my/the boys", that I play on a Yahoo! softball team, that I rarely wear skirts (okay, you knew that already), or that I got a new tattoo (did ya notice it in one of the pics?). I'm going to try and get better, I swear, about updating. What you don't realize is that I've been writing bits and pieces of blog posts and saving them as drafts to come back to later. I just never seem to come back to them.. I'll try, though.

Peace, Love, and thank you Aunt Jeannie for turning me on to White House/Black Market!
Tar

I Meet the Most Interesting People

I’m not sure if it says something about me that I tend to attract interesting people. My friend Dennis believes without a doubt that I have the widest and most diverse group of friends out of everyone he knows. I can’t seem to have a conversation with him without him remarking at how amazing this fact is. I’ll admit that I do have a wide berth of acquaintances, spanning across most (if not all) typical genres and groups of people. I always had assumed that this was somewhat typical of someone that travelled and moved around as much as I did (and hopefully will do again, soon). A recent encounter on an airplane has adjusted my view of myself and relationships, so much so that I felt the need to write this post up instead of work while on the shuttle to Fort Collins. This is an interesting post for me because, you see, I’m writing it now but won’t be able to post it until Saturday, at the earliest. It wasn’t going to be my “I went to Colorado, Surprise!” post, but like I already said, I had an interesting encounter. I won’t get into the details of the trip I’m currently on, as that isn’t what I’m really itching to get down. I’ll save that all for another post.

No, this post is going to be able me and the interesting people I tend to find myself surrounded by. I’ve always known that my friends are a bit different, each one unique and special (and maybe a bit crazy) that makes them stick out from the swell of the general population. A couple may have something in common but it’s not rare for me to have several friends that’s only connection in the world is me. I’ve discussed with Shaun (co-worker and close friend in San Jose) the difference between my way of finding friends and his, and I think that a brief summary would help explain what I’m going to be diving into. Shaun and I both joined Cisco at the same time and with the same group of new hires. His approach to finding friends in that group was to hang out with them all, mine was to concentrate on only one or two people. I find that people natural group together into genres and “clicks” on their own and that I always seem to be floating between a couple of those natural divisions. Shaun was the starting point for one of those groups, inviting anyone and everyone he could to outings and events, letting people drop out on their own from the group. He’d use the outing to learn more about people and then decide who to pursue more one-on-one friendships with. Me, on the other hand, decided to start with exploring one-on-one friendships right off the bat. Typically this lands me fewer contacts, but the ones I have are stronger and more meaningful, in my opinion. I also tend to end up forging friendships with people in different groups, meaning I have access to a much larger friend base then the people that stick to just one group. This explains the strange set of friends I have in Fort Collins, and why I have to spend today and tonight juggling 4 different groups of friends I’m obligated (and extremely looking forward to) hanging out with. (Hmm.. I think I’m starting to use parenthesis and commas incorrectly, again.) I’m a bit critical when it comes to establishing meaningful friendships and I guard certain levels of information from people until I learn on what level I can trust them. I’d like to think that I’m not overly rude but if you don’t interest me and I don’t feel a connection, I don’t feel much reason to talk to you beyond what is required. If it takes me 4 introductions to remember someone’s name, it’s probably because I’ve met too many of them and they’ve all blurred together. This summary of how I pick friends really doesn’t explain how interesting people tend to find me, though. It just explains why I pick interesting people. I’ve decided the reason for the prior is because I am, in fact, interesting. At least, that’s what I’ve been told.

The most recent person to tell me this was the gentleman I sat next to on the plane today. I knew he was a bit different (him and his wife) when they asked to sit next to me and he took the center seat, his wife the aisle. He was a shorter man, balding, Indian, and wearing those ultra UV-protection sunglasses. He had no problem talking to me and asking me questions people tend to feel are too personal and I was glad to have sat next to someone as refreshingly open as myself. I wasn’t aware how different this couple was for about an hour, though, as I immediately fell asleep before we even pulled away from the gate. It was a 7:15am flight, I had gone to bed at midnight the night prior and gotten up to take the train at 4:10am. Did I mention I’ve been working 18 hour days this week? Yeah.. I deserved a good pass out. I was enjoying it, too, until my Indian friend accidently knocked his nearly full can of Diet Coke onto my leg during his own enjoyable slumber. His wife waked me, apologizing profusely, and offered me the airline snacks I missed during my nap to make up for it. Not a lot got on me and I wasn’t too concerned, not after that blissful hour of sleep and was drifting off again when I realized the little girl in the seat in front of me had been dropping nearly all her toys on the floor and they were sliding back to me. After a lengthy and complicated retrieval process (crayons are more difficult to pick up with your toes when you’re knees are restricted by the seat in front of you), I was suddenly asked by my Indian friend about my lip ring. I’m very rarely asked by anyone under the age of 30 about the piercing and was please to answer, more so when his wife became very interested in it. She continued to drill me about it and the pros and cons of other piercings, as if she were interested in getting one herself. He, I learned, slips in and out of sleep very easily and would make comments or ask questions occasionally. Eventually she decided that I just must have him read my palm and shook him until he blinked enough sleep from his eyes to take my hand and start studying it.

Now, I’ve never held much stock in these kinds of things, though I understand that to some people they hold a lot of weight. I’m not completely against the concept of palm reading, just wary of it. Nonetheless, I was amused by the entire situation and realizing I was too awake to get back to sleep, let him continue. He studied both of my hands for a very long while, sometimes slipping back into the slumber world only to be shaken out of it by his wife. He only asked me which hand I wrote with and then started to mumble to himself as he kept studying. After nearly a good 20 minutes of study he turned to me, pushed his sunglasses to perch on his forehead and asked me my name. I smirked and told him and then he remarked with what I’m assuming to be wonder “Tiffany, you are a very interesting specimen” and then immediately went back to studying. His wife’s eyes asked with intense interest what he said and when I told her, she literally clapped her hands in glee. She leaned across him to tell me with a very serious tone that he very rarely spent this much time reading anyone’s palm and that I should feel special for what he told me. I was amused, for sure, and enjoyed the swell of ego that came from both their statements.

He ended up studying my hand for just over an hour and demanded that I let him do charts for me. It turns out that he comes from a long line of priests and that he was chosen as the priest for this generation back at his family’s temple in Indian. He was raised as such and when the time came for him to take the position, he refused the title and came to America instead. I truly believe that this is in-fact his true past as everything he told me about myself I agree to be true. He told me that I was very self-confident but never could seem to find giving myself to anything completely. He said that I’m very nice and make a lot of compromises for other people but refuse to let them do the same for me. I need to be wary of trusting people that will take advantage of this and because of this, should put off marrying as late as I possibly can, when I’m sure I’m not compromising. He said I refuse to let myself grow attached to anyone or anything and until I learn to do more for myself, should continue to do so. He said that I’m a “free spirit”, unable to stay in one place too long because I can’t seem to get attached to anything. He also said that I should embrace that while I’m young, as well as find a job that allows me to do so, as well as is what I really want to do. He said that if I let myself, I could easily become a manager within a year or so, but probably wouldn’t because I don’t like where I’m at. He also said that while I’m fantastic with kids, I shouldn’t have some for a long while because I won’t be able to really become attached to them.

When he and his wife learned that I live in San Jose, they were insistent on having me over for dinner sometime. This is actually the second time I’ve been asked to come over for dinner to someone’s house that I met on a plane. The last flight I had, actually, I met a woman who demanded I let her take me to my apartment from the airport instead of taking the lightrail (I politely refused until I realized that I would have to wait an hour for the next train). She was a nanny and we talked about her charges and my experience with Caitlin. Interesting people, indeed. I think that it’s happening more often on recently flights simply because I’m flying Southwest, which lets you pick where you sit when you get on the plane, as a first come, first seat choice system. Makes sense, when you think about it, that I would pick interesting people to sit next to, and they me.

Anyway, we’re nearly Fort Collins and I have to start packing up. I’ll post this Saturday and then write another one on Monday or so.

Love, Peace, and I really wish I had my car,
Tar

A Day of Firsts (for Ichi, at least)

This is most likely going to be a shorter post because I need to get back to work so I can get home, but I wanted to get it down before I got lost in my own stuff again. This week is going to be crazy busy. Just insane. Anyway, this post isn't about that. It's about Ichi's day of firsts.

Saturday I had big plans. Plans that Ichi decided weren't all that thrilling to her. First I was going to take her to the dog park, something I know that she would have enjoyed, and then I was going to get my allergy shots. The order reversed from a normal Saturday, but I was planning on going to my Dungeon's and Dragons game at noon, so it made more sense this way. The game was going to end at 6 and from there my buddy Ben and I would head up to Oakland to catch The Shins in concert. I knew, however, that these plans were going to be out of whack as soon as I rolled out of bed.

My little puppy girl has become an adult dog, everyone. That's right, Ichi's had her first heat as of Saturday morning. While this is a exciting (if not a bit messy) event, it also means she can't go to the dog park for at least a month. Walking her is a little bit more of a challenge, as well. Le sigh.

This post isn't really about that, though. No.. this post is about Ichi's first chocolate bar. Hopefully, her first and last chocolate bar. Not sure how many of you know this, but chocolate is poisonous to dogs (and cats). The purer the chocolate, the worse it is. And Ichi decided to make her first chocolate experience a good one. It's really my fault for leaving the bar on the coffee table. It had been there for nearly 6 months, half eaten and open. Buried under fabric and books. Didn't stop the bored puppy. Nope, not at all. I was in the shower, totally unaware. She was apparently having a morning snack. Why she did it now after 6 months is completely lost on me.. but anyway, back to the chocolate.

I'm lucky I noticed the wrapper, otherwise I would have never known she had eaten it. Not until it was far too late. We're talking I was going to leave her home alone for 7 hours too late. After I noticed the wrapper, I called the emergency vet and talked to them about it. They recommended I bring her in, so I went ahead and did. We weren't 100% on if she had in fact ate the bar but it's always better to play it safe in these situations. More so when you consider Ichi had a pretty empty stomach. They went ahead and drugged her and emptied her stomach of what little there was in there, and sure enough, a very decent and deadly amount of dark chocolate. She's fine now, completely back up to par. Aside from a few spots on the carpet from making sure she really had an empty stomach when we got home and a dent in my back account, there was no harm done. I'd like to say she learned her lesson.. but I think, really, I'm the one that learned something.

Love, Peace, and is it really 3am?!
Tar

Quilting Time

I signed up for a "I want to learn (blank) swap" on Craftster.org and got a quilting kit from my partner, donniesgirl. I remember helping my Grandma Edith do a couple of quilting projects when I was younger, but I've never really learned (or just don't remember) the finer points of the craft. When I moved to California I stole the sewing machine from my mom's garage in the hopes that I could pick up this craft again. Swaps like the ones at Craftster are fantastic for giving you an excuse to learn a new craft and this one in particular was a huge motivation. The best way to describe it is that if you have the motivation to sign-up and send a kit to your partner, you're going to have the motivation to actually do your craft when you get your kit. I think I proved that point as I did this quilt in two sittings of about 8 hours each and just finished it this weekend. Now I just want to brag about it. So yeah. First quilt. Woo!

It was supposed to be a log cabin quilt that was just 2x3 squares, but I decided to take advantage of the fact I was sent a ton of fabric and make it bigger, as well as tweak the pattern to something more me. I made the squares per instructions from my partner and then winged the rest based on my favorite quilt from Edith. (I still have fabric left over to make more squares.)

On a side note, my dining room/library/nook-of-awesome really lived up to its name and was turned into a quilting cove for the last two weeks. It will probably be a scrapbooking cove soon, after I get my next round of knitting projects done, that is. I really need to come up with a better system for storing all of my different craft stuff.. that will be a project in and of itself. Back to the quilt.

I don't really have a large flat surface to lay things out on, aside from my floor. So this quilt has spent a lot of time on the floor, something that Ichi has been enjoying thoroughly. Ichi just wouldn't leave it alone. She's been laying or playing on the fabric since it was in jelly roll form. Laying it out to pin was apparently an open invitation for her to take a nap on it. She finally got the hint and started laying on the edges (until I wasn't looking, of course). There's something about this thing that just draws her to it.. no idea. Maybe my partner had something interesting in her house which had a very interesting smell.

The colors are very warm and I'm glad I decided to make it bigger, as well as put the brown strips between the squares. It was a LOT of extra effort and I was pulling my hair out by the end. Naturally a couple of mistakes were made and I've fixed them all but one, so far. By the time I finished I was just fed up with working on it. I still have to get myself to fix one seam and then wash it. Who knew cutting straight strips was such a pain in the butt? Not having a large flat surface to lay the fabric out doesn't help matters either. The jelly roll strips for the squares were precut and I didn't realize how easy I had it until I went to cut the strips for the brown between the squares.

I still can't get over how much I love these colors and patterns... they're very busy, but I don't care. They're perfect for me. I wasn't too sure about how the strips would all work together. There's a lot of different patterns in that one jelly roll. I tried to group them into "heavy" and "light" pattern categories and build the squares based on that. I didn't really get a division I liked until around the 4th square, though. I can't even tell you when I caught the hang of it, they're all just so chaotic. That and I was exhausted for most of the square making. I did them all in one shot one Saturday after softball practice and DnD, not wrapping up until about 1am. Even considering how tired I was whenever I worked on it, I think I only messed up once or twice when making these squares. And even still, I can tell you the screw ups were just cause I was tired or too into watching Abby play in the fabric.

Both the girls were very into my project. Abby spent most of her time laying on the scraps or my felt "ironing board" on the table. She would watch the needle on the machine when I was going and I was always a little worried she'd try and swat it while I was working. She was very good otherwise, never getting in the way. When I needed to move her, she was more then happy to comply. Ichi, on the other hand.. was a pain in the butt. She kept trying to lay on the fabric when I had it laid out, taking naps and playing with her toys whenever she had the chance. When I had it pinned and was sewing the edge on, she followed me to the machine and laid on the part of the quilt that had overflowed onto the floor. While I was sewing the edge on. I didn't realize it until it was almost too late and nearly ripped a hole in the layers. I'm lucky I didn't break the needle.

Ichiko's excitement about the quilt being done makes mine look insignificant. She followed me around when I carried it and tried to lay on it whenever it was one a surface that was flat-ish. I kept the quilt to myself for awhile but she just literally would not stop trying to lay or be on it. I finally gave up and let her have it all to herself. I don't think she minded much. Because of this, I was only able to get one shot of the edges. I used the tie-dye looking strips for it and just absolutely love the extra "pop" it adds to the quilt. I was eyeing the leftover strips I had when I was pinning it all together. I really wanted to add another row of squares so it'd fit on my bed.. but I didn't have enough backing. So it's destined to be a couch blanket, which just means it gets more exposure.


So yeah. Just showing it off, cause I'm proud of myself. I should be, right?

Love, Peace, and Here's the forum post,
Tar

Weekend Adventuring

I didn't realize when I moved to "Sunny" California just how sunny it would actually be here. I'd heard stories of the "perfect day", obviously, but I could only remember the warm summer from my internship here and the chilly winter I just experienced. Granted, it was sunny for most, if not all of those seasons, but nothing to make me want to send hours upon hours outdoors. And then Spring happened. I couldn't remember days like that in Colorado. Maybe I'd spent too many of my final days there indoors, hunched over a keyboard. Anyway you slice it, though, the "Perfect Day" is the only way to describe my Saturday and Sundays recently.

I use the term "Perfect Day" because I was recently asked by Rob (aka Fish, if you remember him) what my "Perfect Day" would be. I couldn't really give him an answer he wanted at the time because I could only think of days I'd recently had. Even with the small changes I would add to make them even more perfect than they were, they still weren't the far off dream day that he was aiming for. They were packed, exhausting and left little room for anything to be added, sure, but that's why they're so perfect. You should all know by now I like to keep busy and my "Perfect Days" are no exception.

This brings me to my next and main point. I think you really have to experience this point first hand (as much is allowed), so I'm going to try and do my best to give it the 3rd person perspective I think the people in the store would have had when this conversation took place.

---

It's around 6 o'clock on an oddly warm Sunday. The sun's been shining non-stop since around 8 this morning and you're enjoying the cool breeze the A/C units in the grocery store are pushing out nearly non-stop. It's a relief from the almost suffocating heat outside. You weren't expecting a day like today until the summer. It wasn't exactly welcome.

You're cruising the meats and cheese in a half-hearted state of focus while idly wondering how the petite Vietnamese woman in front of you expects you to get around her, her cart, and her three children when a laugh interrupts the quiet grocery shopping murmurs. It's loud and full of energy, unusual for a Sunday shopping trip, so your automatically drawn to the source. That's when your confusion doubles, I'm sure.

About ten feet to your left and coming this way is what appears to be a couple. The man is who was laughing, at the young woman it would seem, who was asking a question about her "hat". The term hat is applied loosely to what she is wearing because it is in fact a grocery hand basket. She has it turned over onto her head, set slightly off-kilter with the handle hanging under her chin like a bonnet tie. It is hard black plastic with "Safeway" painted on the rim. A standard issue grocery hand basket. She's carrying in her hands a package of hot dogs and a bottle of seasoning salt, things you think would be better suited to be in the basket in place of her head, but apparently she doesn't agree. Both the man and the woman are flush and slightly sun burned. Their hair is wet but wind and sun blown, and there are wet splotches on their clothing. They seem to be ignorant of their surroundings as they discuss the fashion sense of the "hat", only to weave around people and their carts like they're part of the scenery, talking over and through them. You tune into their conversation.

"You can't really complain about it's comfort, though, seeing as it was originally meant for something else." The man. He's taller than the woman by almost a foot, lanky with shining dark eyes. His smile is soft and the lines in his face imply that it is far from uncommon. Even his voice is filled with it, almost as if he speaks in smiles.

"True, but I can still whine about it. Where the heck is the hamburger meat?" The woman. Her smile is wider, taking over her whole face, cracking through the slight burn on her cheeks. She seems a little old to be wearing braces. "Dude, what is with these shoes? I swear, they just refuse to stay on my feet. Oh, wait, hang on, pre-made patties or no?"

"It's cheaper just to get the normal ground beef. Just take them off. Here it is." He gestures to the open freezer in front of him.

"I don't have enough hands to carry them. Hmm.. how much do you think?"

He chuckles. "I think your hat might help with the carrying. I think a pound would be enough. Ooooh.. now I'm craving hamburgers."

"Pound it is. You could always stick around for fooding. Just tell Heather to come down." She's staring at the meat and shifts around a few packages of ground beef before selecting one, removing her hat and transferring all her goods to it. She turns and skips back into the main aisle. Literally.

"She's not feeling up to it and I told her I'd cook for her. You said they carried Sunshine Wheat?" They're making their way towards the bakery. You turn to follow. You had to get sandwich bread anyway.

"I always stumble over it here. Dude, so I think people would get the wrong impression if they met me right now. I mean, really, they'd think I was freaking nuts."

No kidding. His laughter seems to agree with you. "While this is true, I think they would find you crazy if they met you at any point. They would have to experience a whole day to begin to understand your Tar-ness."

"So are you saying that I should require anyone interested in knowing me follow me around for a day? That'd be a first date they'd never forget. 12 hours of Tar. It has movie rights potential.."

This guy's standard response seems to be laughing. "A Day of Tar.. hmm, it does have a ring to it. I think a full 24 hours would be best, though. You don't run a typical timeline."

"Given. But I don't think any day would do. It'd have to be a day like today."

"Why today?"

"Okay, so think about it. I got up at 8, cleaned my kitchen and watched the cat chase the Roomba. Went to softball practice at 10, puppy in tow. Spent most of practice teaching girls how to bat, a guy how to field and discussing positions with the manager. Glomped you in the parking lot of Red Robin, where I proved to the waiter I did have the menu memorized, as well as the birthday song. We spent 10 minutes maneuvering your bike, my puppy and a hamburger patty into the car. We then spent 10 minutes after arriving to my apartment discussing biking swim-wear, possible biking trails, the science of hitchhiker towels. Biked to the mall where I bought discount softballs and we practiced bat twirling to psych out the competition. How's your toe, by the way?"

Another laugh. "It's tender."

"Sorry. What next? Oh yeah, rode our bikes through a railroad car lot-"

"That was awesome. I still wish I had my camera for that. We need to go back."

"Yeah. Send the ones you took with your phone to me on Monday, though. Anyway, railroad car, then getting lost in various neighborhoods until we got the Shaun's. Kidnapped him-"

"He was too willing for that. I'd say 'gently convinced'."

"True. 'Gently convinced' Shaun to join us. Went to get boba and talk about technicalities, then rode through random neighborhoods until we found Ben's house, on accident. Harassed him for ten minutes while playing musical bikes. Continued on to ride along the highway and then finally arrive at the pool. Convince a stranger to let us in, where we quickly removed our street clothes and jumped in. Get accused by a 5 year old of stealing his dolphin-"

His laughter's been slowly growing throughout her rant and it spikes again at that moment. They've been grabbing items here and there as they've gone, now they're paused in front of the buns. Looks like they're grilling.

"Are there no hot dog buns left or am I blind?"

He points at the back of the bottom shelve. "Blind, but justifiably so. Too close to the project."

"Thanks. Jump out of the pool dripping wet and bike here in swim wear. I still can't get over how gorgeous it is today. Cram two bikes into your car while drip drying in the parking lot. Then we come in here and I put a basket on my head. It's only 6, too. The day's barely began!"

You've followed them to the self-check out and you're starting to make your way to a cashier yourself when hear him ask her about a steak and if she thinks 14 miles is enough to defrost it. You've lost them.. though you're not really sure you ever really had them.

---

Love, Peace, and I know a really amazing steak recipe now.
Tar

Why I do It

This post is really not a post but a ranting. I was sharing with a friend the few pictures that I had taken with my phone while standing on the top of one of the many mountains surrounding Lake Tahoe. He made a comment and I felt the strong need to elaborate and build upon it.

"John: Damn.

John: Thats beautiful stuff.

Me: I took those pics with my phone camera

Me: Imagine the direct view

John: Yeah, it's lovely.. I always loved going into the mountains.. it makes you feel secluded, isolated.. from the world outside.

Me: And then...

You give out a cheerful yelp.. born in the bottom of your gut, built up over hours and hours of a haggled existence behind an artificial window into the infinite world of our digital subconscious.. and push yourself over the rim of the wall of snow you stand on. Gleeful screams lose themselves in your throat as you streak down the mountain, snow and pure joy trailing behind you, kicked up in a dust as the planks of wood you've strapped yourself to glide over this most beautiful expression of nature's nectar...

That is what you do in the mountains. That is what you do when there's nothing but pure white softness surrounding you.. cold and clean air, burning your lungs with it's complete lack of pollution.. That is what you do on a mountain. No matter if you have to drive two hours or ten, that is what you do.

You stumble and fall, roll and sink into clean wet bliss. You fall and laugh, getting up with your face red and stinging from this most pure expression of starting anew. You wipe yourself off, brush yourself clean and then you grin and shove off.. just to do it all over again.

You pause only to catch your breathe.. either because of the absurdly gorgeous thing that you're so utterly blessed to experience.. or because you're completely exhausted from making sure you experience it to your fullest. By the time your knees shake and your thighs burn, your eyes are hooded and the smile on your face is plastered there. You won't worry about how to get to sleep tonight. You'll just worry as to whether or not you'll make it to your bed, your bedroom, your house, your street, your town, your state.. before your body loses it's grip on the slim edge of this world's existence. That is why you do it. That is why I do it. So I can wipe myself clean, start renewed and exhausted.. the grin on my lips intense, yet slowly fading.

Until the next time.."

So it's random, and long.. and overly dramatic. But I felt the urge. I didn't know what I was writing for.. but now I realize I was writing to express what I always wanted to express when standing on the edge of a mountain. Writing to try and capture in my horrible attempt what makes me feel like I'm flying. Why I always want to go back, even if I'm sore and broke, or have to drive there and back for a total of 8 hours. I spent more time driving yesterday then skiing.. silly, but true. Next time, I'll make sure that that statement is reversed.

Love, Peace, and Happy Trails,
Tar

Lessons at the Dog Park

I took Ichi to the dog park this weekend and she had a blast. Her playmate, however, did not fair as well. That's Ichi and her favorite dog park buddy, Moniko, pictured on the right. I'll tell you before I dive into the story that Moniko is okay, just a few stitches, pain pills, and no playing for a while.

Taking your dog to the dog park is a treat for both you and your furry friend, but it's not someplace you can just let your best friend run wild. A dog park is like a playground, kids of different sizes and dispositions running around, playing and fighting like any other park. The key difference is that they can't understand you when you tell them no, and usually, other people's dogs won't listen to you anyway. You also have to be a lot more aware of the situation, watching for the signs that something bad is going to happen. Most owners don't understand their dogs, or how the interact with others. They separate innocent playing in fear of it being a real fight, they shelter and comfort the scared, driving those instincts further. This is something particularly dangerous, as it makes an animal more vulnerable to attack, like Moniko was. People also tend to overreact or get very hyped up and emotional when it comes to "emergency" or "scary" situations, which doesn't help our pets, who sense and pick up those emotions. I'm not a dog expert, but I can tell you my hypothesis as to what really happened at the park on Saturday, based on my classes at PetSmart and the few episodes of the Dog Whisperer that I've seen.

Ichi and Moniko are watching two pit bulls in that picture, waiting to see if they'd be coming in the park or not. The pits arrived at the park leash-less with two men trailing behind them and were extremely excited(1). Moniko's owner had told me earlier in the afternoon that she'd been attacked by a pit a couple of weeks ago and was telling me as I took the picture that one of the pits at the gate was the one that attacked her. Ichi and Moniko were in the large dog pin, something that's fairly common when the dogs in the large pin are particularly calm and easy-going. We decided when the pits showed up that we would move our small pups to the small pin, picking them up and walking to the back gate(2). This is when one of the men let the pits into the pin(3).

The pit that had previously attacked Moniko immediately ran to her and her owner, jumping on the man and grabbing at her exposed back side(4). The man was trying to knee the dog away and was panicking, the other dogs coming to crowd around him and jump at him as well. The pit got his teeth into Moniko and pulled her out of her owner's arms, tossing her to the ground. At this point the other owners were running to Moniko's aid, pulling dogs aside and yelling. I dropped Ichi into the small pin at this point and turned to step in(5) when I saw Moniko go flying about four feet from the ground. Her owner had picked her up again and the pit had grabbed her once again, shaking her and tossing her through the air. Someone had managed to grab the pit and was using all her strength (the dog could have easily weighed more then her) to hold him back as Moniko raced toward the exit(6), where she was snatched up and dropped into the small pin by another owner. A young man then grabbed the two pits and dragged them to the small enclosure between the pins, where he was quickly screamed at by various enraged women.

Moniko lost a decent bit of blood, considering she'd only 8 pounds to start. She had some deep puncture wounds in her thigh, but her owner seemed much more relaxed about the situation when he left a message on my phone a couple of hours later. Anyone that knows me in emergency situations knows that I tend to run unnervingly calm, and this one was no exception. I talked to the young man and got his information and then asked him to go put the attacker in his vehicle while I called animal services(7), assuring him that I'd watch the other pit. He didn't have any leashes for the dogs and had to literally drag the beast away, a feat that would have been impossible if he had to drag both of the large males. The young man had to walk the pit all the way home, as it turns out the dogs got out of the house and made their way down to the park without his (or the "owners") permission(8). While waiting for the man's return, I talked with animal services to explain the situation and get a better understanding of the steps we should be taking. The owner was still rather shaken and somewhat stunned, but I was luckily able to convince him that I would handle things there and he could take Moniko to the vet.

The rest of the story is rather boring.. filled with me waiting with the other pit, idly playing with him while Ichi had the time of her life being adored by two teenagers and their puppy. I gave a witness statement to the animal services officer, talked to her about what was going on, assured the young man I wasn't going to have him arrested, and tried my best to contain the other owner's fears of the remaining pit bull(9). The young man gave the officer his information and promised to pay for any vet bills, obviously distraught by the events. He claimed that the dogs weren't his but a friend's, and they had gotten out when he went over to see if his friend was home (he wasn't, and we're still not sure if this friend "exists" at all). It was commented a few times by the officer and other owners that I should consider getting a job at Animal Services, something I laughed off with knowing glance at the officer. The situation could have been a lot worse then it was and we were lucky that Moniko survived and the pit didn't attack anyone human. I don't mind taking the lead in emergency situations, but it's not something I want to do daily. Animal Services officers have one of the toughest jobs, in my opinion. They have to see and deal with a lot of very painful things for animal lovers and happy endings are extremely rare. The fact that the young man stuck around instead of disappearing was almost unheard of, and still amazes me. Their job is not one I take lightly, or envy.

So I know this post is getting huge, but I wanted to go ahead and highlight a few points.

(1) Cesar Millan will tell you that this is a bad thing, right off the bat. Excited dogs entering a dog park is extremely dangerous. They're more likely to attack or be attacked because they disrupt the playfully calm environment of the park. This is the thing that made me really wary of the pits, even before Moniko's owner told me that one had attacked her before.

(2) Picking up your dog is something that you typically shouldn't do. It teaches them things about when you pick them up, like it's okay to be afraid or to seek shelter in your arms. In this case, both Ichi and Moniko were still excited and were more annoyed that we paused playtime than they were "afraid". I carried Ichi like I do when I pick her up to play, not holding her to my chest or as defensively as Moniko's owner. I think this is one of the reasons the pit went after Moniko instead of Ichi, even though he had to run past Ichi and I to get to her. I radiated calm, Moniko's owner radiated fear and nervousness.

(3) The man that let the pits into the pin wasn't their owner. He was a neighbor to the dogs and knew them well, but he still shouldn't have let them in. They were off leash and extremely excited. He should have waited and looked for their owner, at the least.

(4) This one's very much my opinion, but the way he was carrying her made it rather easy to grab her. It's unfortunate, but none the less true. I walked close to the fence, ready to drop Ichi into the other pin if necessary. He walked about ten feet from the fence, unable to do anything but try and fight off a very eager pit bull.

(5) This was stupid, I know, but I felt obligated. Most of the owners at the park don't really understand how to act in this kinds of situations so my minor knowledge from classes at PetSmart and watching the Dog Whisperer (poor excuse, I know) is only better then theirs. I don't recommend stepping into a scenario like this willingly unless you're sure you know what to do.

(6) I just want to say that the woman that held the pit back was extremely lucky that he didn't turn on her. There's nothing else I can say to that, just that we were all lucky.

(7) Animal Services technically doesn't have jurisdiction in dog parks. The unusual fact that the owner wasn't around is the only thing that let them get involved. Dog parks have rules that clearly state that you're responsible for your own animals and any incidents that occur are a civil matter that must be settled between the owners, not with Animal Services. The fact that the owner of the pits wasn't there and that he'd attacked Moniko outside of the park before made it possible for Animal Services to get involved.

(8) We're still not sure if the young man was the owner or not. He seemed to have trouble remembering the owner's name when asked.

(9) Pit bulls have a bad rep, and it's incidents like this that create that. They're strong animals, both physically and willfully, and owners that don't know how to handle them are more to blame then the dog. The pit that remained at the park was a sweetie, completely submissive and calm, no threat unless provoked. I felt completely comfortable entering the pin with him and petting him. The other owners at the park were shocked and yelled in concern, something I can't really blame them for after seeing what the other pit had done. It's a shame that these dogs get profiled like they do and it's a trend that will continue if people treat them like the other owners did. The attacking pit bull is an exception in the world of pit bulls, not the standard. This doesn't mean you should go up and pet any passing pit bull, not in the slightest. You still need to be wary of them and give them the respect such a powerful breed demands, just don't expect them to be monsters, otherwise they'll become one.

Alright, that's taken all morning to write. Time to actually work. Oh, as a side note, I think Abby was trying to make it extra clear that a cat's life is the best when we got home.


Love, Peace, and Safe Dog-Parking,
Tar

What My Puppy Has Taught Me, Part 3

This is Part 3 in what seems to be a never ending arch.

Playtime
Anyone that has watched the Dog Whisperer knows how important exercise and playtime is to a dog’s happiness. Without a proper outlet for all her energy, Ichi can get pretty destructive to my apartment (and cat). She doesn’t listen to commands, runs circles through furniture, barks at anything, and chews on everything. Playtime.. is a life saver.

When Ichi was still in puppy class, I made a point to take her to the dog park after every class. She ran and ran and ran until I dragged her back to the car, where she passed out for the rest of the day. I haven’t had the motivation recently to take her, either due to my own thing or because of the dreary weather, so she’s been stuck at home with only a small track to run through all my junk. Her frustration is also starting to show through her obedience.

This is the issue I’ve noticed with myself for a long time now. If all I do is work work work, I get bitter about it. I snap more readily, roll my eyes almost constantly, and pretty much turn into a bitch. LIfe isn’t just about work. It’s not just about playtime, though. It’s a balance act, like most everything else in life. Movie and video games every once in a while goes a long way when you’ve spent hours at work. That’s another benefit about having a puppy, though. Ichi is often my reason to leave work. Before I got her I’d be at work from 9 to 8 most days, sometimes later, sometimes earlier. And what better thing to do at home but not work? Well play with the puppy, obviously.

Peace, Love, and Tennis Balls,
Tar

P.S. - If you have some time, read my post on the events at the dog park this weekend.

What My Puppy Has Taught Me, Part 2

This is the second part in a multi-part arch.

Consistency
While consistency is a huge part of raising any type of creature, it's also helpful with life in general. It's setting rules, for yourself and your puppy. If you declare that your puppy must always sit before she's allowed to say hello to people or other puppies, you have to be consistent. The same goes for tricks or basic commands. You have to use the same signals and words for each trick and command. You also have to give rewards consistently, whether they're treats, affection or toys, you always have to give them something.

I very quickly learned that these same principles are used within my everyday life. I have to be consistent with how I interact with people, and with myself. When someone does something that helps me out, I have to thank them, and give that same kind of thankfulness to everyone that helps me out. Obviously things that require more rewards are given what they deserve, but all in scale. I give the same rewards to myself, when I do something particularly difficult or deserving. I also give myself rules that I have to follow. Like always brush my teeth at least once a day, don't let people underestimate me, always give everything I can to a project, so on and so forth. Realizing that the skills that made my puppy awesome could also make me happier and eventually, more awesome, I started to be more strict with myself on being consistent. It's led to some very good results, but those are another post entirely.

Patience
Puppies aren't geniuses. I mean, yes, mine is very close.. but it still takes her awhile to realize what I what. It also takes awhile for her to learn a skill to the point that every time I say "down," she lays down. I have to be extremely patient to teach Ichi a new trick, build it up piece by piece, give her enough time to realize what I want, and then keep repeating the process. I also have to be patient when walking her.. living without a backyard is probably the best way to learn patience. When Ichi was still being potty trained, I had to walk her out to the patch of grass across the way every hour or so. And even then I had to stand there and wait for her to find the perfect spot. Sometimes she found it, sometimes not. Eventually I could wait to take her out every two hours, three, four, until now we're at about 5. Which is very convenient.

Learning patience is probably one of the most valuable skills that Ichi has taught me, so far. I'm more willing to wait, more able to wait. I build up to things piece by piece instead of trying to just jump right to building the final product. That can be applied to building anything, from material goods to financial status to relationships. It's an obvious concept, often overlooked.

Love, Peace, and Puppy Kisses,
Tar

What My Puppy Has Taught Me, Part 1

It’s been said that if you raise a puppy from full-out puppydom to hard working adult you’ll have learned a lot of the skills that come with raising a child. First time parents that have raised a puppy aren’t as stressed and react more calmly when something happens. They understand the importance of scheduling, consistency, and a good carpet cleaner. Waking up at the crack of dawn for diaper changes and feedings is easier than waking up to find Fido chewing on your down comforter and peeing on your pillow (or, god help, pooping on your pillow). Oh, and don’t forget the ability to speak in baby-talk. That’s something that you learn very quickly with a puppy.

There’s some advantages that raising a puppy has over raising a child, and some obvious disadvantages. I think my favorite advantage is the speed. Accidents and potty training lasts for only a fraction of the time, as with midnight wake-up barks and destruction of prized comforters and pillows. They don’t understand what you’re saying, though.. so you can’t eventually have a talking companion as with a child. They’ll never leave you, like a grown child would, which may or may not be a bad thing depending on the dog and the child.

So in raising my bouncing Corgi Ichiko, I’ve learned and practiced a lot of skills that will help me in my “full adult” life, which is to say “when I have kids.” I’ve compiled this list, that's broken up over several posts, for all those wishing to have a little insight into the life of a single chick living with a cat who thinks she’s a dog and a dog who thinks everyone and everything was put on this planet to play with her. Or, you know, if you just want to have a laugh.

Scheduling
I never was a stickler for keeping a tight schedule, even when I was in college and trying to keep 5-6 jobs from not crashing into each other. Try as I might, I was never able to stick to a schedule for more than a week or two. Enter Ichiko. I learned very quickly that if I didn't get her (and myself) onto a schedule, I'd be getting way less sleep and way more accidents then I bargained for. I had to feed her at relatively the same time everyday, let her out every couple of hours, make sure she didn't get food or water however many hours before bedtime, and get her to sleep at close to the same time every night. If I didn't follow this schedule well enough, she'd be crying at 3 in the morning to go potty.. and once she was awake, she was AWAKE.

So I soon learned that the best thing to do was stick to a schedule. She taught me that unless I kept her up past 11, I'd be getting up before 7. Getting up at 7 actually is nice for work, so I decided that I'd keep her with her natural clock and just adapt mine to her's. Now I am exhausted and looking for bed at around 11 every night and up and at them no later then 8 every morning. On weekends, when I used to sleep in until noon, I now wake up at 9. Not only has picking up my dog's schedule helped balance my life between work and play, I feel more energized throughout the day.

So the moral of this story is: Stick to a sleep schedule. You'll feel better about yourself and once you get really into it, you won't need 4 alarm clocks to wake up in the morning. Just a cellphone and a puppy.

Until next time,
Tar