The ladies have been fed, given their monthly frontline and heartworm (I held off for a week on Lily until Rosie got the green light), and run into the ground at the park, the master has been given his tuna and gently furminated, the plants have been watered, and the garden is being watered as we speak. All living things I am responsible for are taken care of, for now, at least, and I am having a glass of wine.
Talk amongst yourself.
*** Update ***
Some action shots:
Those two have such different personalities. Lily is this delicate flower, an absolute angel, and every time she looks at you convinces you that you are the most wonderful person in the world and the only thing she wants to do is be on your lap. Rosie reminds me of a spastic kid on a sugar high, and every time she looks at you she reminds you that you should be doing something fun! And exciting! And involving Rosie! Like throwing a ball! Or treats! Or a walk! I’m flexible! The park is cool! Scratch me! And treats! Is there a ball around here? I hear there are rabbits and cats outside! And places to pee! You really don’t just want to sit there, do you?
*** Update ***
Y’all are weird. I have no idea why there were so many demands for pictures of basil, but here are the herbs on the back porch by the kitchen- tons of basil, thyme, rosemary, chives, lavender, and some other things I am sure I am forgetting. The blank spaces are from the cilantro, which went tits up a couple weeks ago:
And I still have not redone the damned rail.
demo woman
Miss Moxie has decided that it is not safe to go outside after 5 or 6 pm. That appears to be the time that fire crackers started going off in celebration of the 4th. Instead she has been waking me up at 5 am to go out. Although I have a fenced yard, I did put the leash on her and we walked around a little bit. Time heals all wounds, so they say, but knowing her, this will continue until next June.
salacious crumb
some funny cat news
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/england/hampshire/10555266.stm
General Stuck
No heartworm to worry about here. Only a yearly rabies and parvovirus shot. I remember when heartworm first arrived in Ky, I had to give my dogs daily doses with a horse pill. Always an adventure to administer.
It warms the cockles of my heart to know the blog owner has trouble with grammar, also, too.
Ross Hershberger
That reminds me it’s time to feed the turtles. Cauliflower for Porky the Eastern Box and earthworms for Barney the Twistneck.
lamh32
O-bot checking in, but this was too cute not to mention:
Obama Calls Malia’s New Braces Good ‘Because She Was Starting To Look Too Old’
cmorenc
@John Cole:
But are you really sure the basil in the garden is happy and well-tended?
lamh32
And a little funny courtesy of Steve Carrell and Stephen Colbert. Last night Steve Carrell dropped by “The Colbert Report”:
Carrell Corral
The Return of Even Stevphan
Corner Stone
How can a dog with so much energy be so … poojhay?
Corner Stone
@cmorenc:
I agree. We need pics to be sure.
Chat Noir
Pictures! Those two ladies are sooooooooooooooooooo adorable! Scritches and love all around. And glad that Tunch is A-OK. All this canine and feline deliciousness is helping my brain that is hurting from all the bad news and stupidity that seems to be the current state of our nation.
John, you are a mensch for adopting Rosie (and Lily last year). Love the critter updates.
PurpleGirl
JC — that description of Rosie had me in tears, I was laughing so hard. Are you trying to tell us, Rosie has a touch of ADHD? Good pictures, btw.
ETA: Chat Noir is right… the critter picture and stories (and readers comments) so sooth and calm our souls from all the bad stuff we have to deal with. Thanks, JC.
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh32:
That was a cute Malia anecdote, but what’s up with Tapper and the “duel fundraisers”? Checkbooks at dawn on the meadow, twenty paces? PayPal as his second?
Sly
I think we should go back to talking about econom… SQUIRREL!
Brian J
A few random things, mostly LeBron related:
1. What happened with the rumor that his lawyer changed his tax information to a Chicago address?
2. What about the rumor that he’s joining the Obama administration to help push for more stimulus efforts–you know, the one I just made up?
3. What are the chances that he announces he’s for higher taxes on the very rich, like himself, at this press conference?
4. Why is Blockbuster’s CEO going to get paid millions regardless of what happens to the company? The stock is being de-listed, and yet he will probably walk away with millions? I don’t see how anyone can defend that.
4. I don’t have truly serious back problems, so would a deep tissue massage be a bad idea? I am always sore, especially near my shoulders, and oddly enough, in the quest to make my upper body strength something besides that of a teenage girl, I find that lifting weights every other day helps. Still, I’d like to have my back abused to the point of it hurting like hell for the moment but eventually feeling great once he or she is done massaging it. I want someone to just go wild, like you see in the movies, but I kind of feel like deep tissue is for something serious. Is that right?
Lesley
You are a lucky man, John Cole.
I love Lily’s wombatish eyes.
Rosie is quite adorable, too.
Re the master has been given his tuna and gently furminated. I’m picturing Tunch in a smoking jacket at the Club.
Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)
@SiubhanDuinne: I was smiling reading that until I got to the comments. A comment in the thread about cousin Cheney made me gag. I’d forgotten that Obama and Darth Cheney are related. Back to forgetting…
Allison W.
@lamh32:
Dang, 5’9? she’s taller than me.
Cat Lady
Can we send you Lindsay Lohan for rehabilitation and a gentle furmination? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you. She was soooo cute in Mean Girls.
ellaesther
You how I said in an earlier thread that I love it when you’re funny, John Cole?
I confess I love it even more when you’re funny and sweet at the same time.
This made me smile.
ellaesther
@General Stuck: I am perfectly able of talking among myself. My mom always said that I only need to worry if I start getting answers.
ellaesther
@lamh32: I say “but I digress” all the time! Barack and I should totally be friends! Much as I no longer look at this POTUS with stars in my eyes and a catch my throat… I still really wish I could be his friend.
I’d settle for Michelle, though. Totally.
Allison W.
Another O-bot reporting:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/07/no-guessing-how-gop-will-govern-obama-says-at-carnahan-fundraiser.html
Those are just snippets. Read the article in the link.
stuckinred
Miami,
Oh, and hi Corner Stone, been reading any blogs lately?
JGabriel
I’m in an 80s mood tonight. Remember when music used to come through the Airwaves instead of the Intertubez?
.
SiubhanDuinne
@Felanius Kootea (formerly S&FGBP): Ooh! Ugh! Cheney cooties! Get them OFF!!
Corner Stone
MIAMI HEAT!
Oh wait. I actually don’t give a shit.
CynDee
John, it is so beautiful to see both these doggies free to flourish as their true selves. It’s written all over them. Rosie’s expression is transformed — and in such a short time, just as Lily’s was last year. And how pretty they look in their collars — rainbow for Lily and sweet purple for Rosie. Such dears.
These are just breathtaking portrait-quality photos. I know Rosie’s type so well. We had a sweet JRT for nine years. They just want to DO — with YOU! How well I remember and love that persuasive, insistent stare of an incredible little Being. So glad that you have such creatures in your care — and thereby are a creature in their care. This is what everything is all about. This. Everything else is details.
Except I do hope we get of pic of basil in its most placid state.
SiubhanDuinne
@JGabriel #26: I’m in a 50s mood tonight Remember when music used to come on platters that you played on the turntable?
CynDee
@ellaesther: No disrespect to your mother, but nonsense; you’re the best one to answer. You’re a very good person to listen to!
Let’s all talk among ourself! For one thing, just by Rosie’s photo you can see that she talks among herself; it’s the thing to do.
SiubhanDuinne
@ellaesther #23: I do a fair amount of public speaking, and one line I use that always gets a perplexed laugh is (during Q&A): “I’ll evade that question in a minute, but before I sidestep, allow me to digress.”
Vero
http://www.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=1
Obama speaking live in Las Vegas…
James Hare
@Corner Stone:
sorriest line i heard:
Michael Wilbon:
First of all, LeBron: Congratulations on making your decision.
This was not sarcastic. I honestly believe Wilbon was congratulating LeBron on making a decision.
Brian J
@Allison W.:
He needs to say this stuff, oh, fifteen times per hour, every day, until the polls close in November.
SiubhanDuinne
@Rosie looks like the live model for Blue Dog.
Efroh
Lily has such a cute little snout, I want to kiss it! (And I’m a cat person and don’t swing that way normally.) Glad the Tunchinator is going to be ok.
ellaesther
@CynDee: Thank you! I think!
(I think her point was that if you’re getting answers, then you’re hearing voices not your own, at which point, outside help might be necessary. But wait – I’ll ask myself and get back to you).
(She has also always said: “You have a point there! But if you combed your hair differently, no one could see it…”. She’s a font of wisdom, my mom!)
stuckinred
@James Hare: No, he was congratulating him on making a gazillion bucks!
MikeJ
@Allison W.:
Countdown to wingnuts complaining about Obama’s attack on Bush’s alcoholism which he got over because of the noodly appendages of the FSM?
ellaesther
@SiubhanDuinne: That’s brilliant! I’ve done some public speaking myself, and trained others to do same, and I wish I’d had access to this piece of brilliance before now. I’ll have to scare up a speaking gig just so as to work it into the Q/A…!
JGabriel
More songs from the 80s:
Stay – The Blue Nile
You’re The Best Thing – The Style Council
When All’s Well – Everything But The Girl
.
eco2geek
So, John. You’ve got a faithful group of wimmen folk here, admiring your pet pictures and discussing how much of a gentleman you plainly are.
(I’m ignoring my wife, who’s telling me to leave this subject alone.)
Have you ever been tempted to get to know one of them better?
WereBear
Love the pics. I always say, for the real fun, have more than one.
Their interactions are great.
SiubhanDuinne
@John Cole:
*And I still have not redone the damned rail.*
You do know you’re going to fry in hell for your negligence, don’t you?
Comrade Mary
Great pictures! I was especially tempted to make that gorgeous shot of Lily my wallpaper.
When you say the cilantro went t*ts up (yes, I do not trust your censorware), did it die completely or did it get all stalky and flowery? If the latter, you should know that cilantro goes to seed beautifully and will make your curries very happy in the months to come. I find that I can chop off a bunch of cilantro for a curry, then watch it grow leafy and green again. But once it starts going to seed, I let it get to the point where the seeds are dry as hell before I harvest them and finally dig up the plant.
JGabriel
@SiubhanDuinne:
Yes, they still did that in the 80s too, at least in the first half.
Radio Free Europe – REM (Live, Lettterman, 1983, First REM TV Appearance)
I Love A Man In A Uniform – Gang of Four
World Destruction – Time Zone (feat. Bambaata, Lydon, & Ronald Reagan)
TaMara (BHF)
Love the pictures. I was looking on PetFinder today and one dog really caught my eye – but it was clear that his entire body was saying: throwtheballthrowtheballthrowtheballthrowtheball. Definitely not the dog for me, but someone will love him for sure, he was adorable.
Anne Laurie
Hah, this is why there are “toy dogs” going back as far as there have been dogs (and why some of the oldest breeds still extant are toys). Anybody who doesn’t think making people feel good about themselves isn’t a “real job” has never had to do it!
JGabriel
He’p Me! I done been modereratered!
.
debit
After scouring Craigslist for a used (and therefore inexpensive) Burley type bike trailer, I finally said, “fuck it” and ordered this today. I hope Chloe likes it.
jwb
Remember how if the poor folks hadn’t bought houses they couldn’t afford, we wouldn’t be in this fix? The rich folks are outdoing them.
“Whether it is their residence, a second home or a house bought as an investment, the rich have stopped paying the mortgage at a rate that greatly exceeds the rest of the population.”
jwb
@JGabriel: Everything in moderation.
John Cole
@Anne Laurie: Shut up ANNE! This one is different and really does love me and it is not just genetics!
SiubhanDuinne
@jwb #51: Win. So very win.
SiubhanDuinne
@John Cole #52: Is it remotely possible that the front-pager we know and love as “Anne Laurie” is actually John’s ster Anne? ‘Cause tthat comment sure did sound fraternal!
ellaesther
Ooookay. Let’s see if this works if I don’t include the link….
Over at my place, I’ve asked a question of people from the south, on the theory that if you’re from the south and read the blogs I read, then you likely contradict a bunch of the stereotypes I’ve heard my whole life (I’ve never lived south of Chicago. So, yeah – north). I would very much like to learn about those contradictions.
So, if you’re a Southerner and would like to add to my cultural learnings, please do click on my username to go to my blog, read the post and leave a comment. I’d love to have you!
Cat Lady
@JGabriel:
My husband (with my blessing) is patronizing this young lady and her music. There’s a whole new world of music since the 80s, and the musicians now are struggling to get visibility since the world of record producing got turned upside down. She does a killer cover of Blondie’s song Dreaming, and has a great voice and writes kick ass catchy popular tunes. We think she’s about to break out. Mark my words.
A sample:
Johnny.
Like your local organic food growers, pet rescuers and farmers markets, support your local musicians!
ellaesther
Whoot, that worked! (See #55).
What is with the intertubez today? They’re all clogged up and working funny! TNC’s place went to hell in a hand-basket, this joint won’t accept my comment if I dare to include a link…. One more blog commenting section goes funny, and I’ve got a bona-fide trend on my hands!
Ooh, and I’d be the common denominator. Never mind. Nothing to see here.
eco2geek
@John Cole:
[Lucy] Or Snoopy.
[CHARLIE BROWN] Or Sn-
Wait a minute. Snoopy likes me.
[LUCY] He only pretends to like you because you feed him.
That doesn’t count.
– The Doctor Is In, from You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown
Calming Influence
Glad all the 4-leggers are doing well – Tunch will heal quickly and will forget just as quickly that outside is where the butt-ripping took place – vigilance!
Disputation in re: “tons of basil…” Tons of basil means 3 or 4 garden rows of basil. Tons of basil means you can decide at the last minute to make pesto for twelve, and the limiting factor is pine nuts. Tons of basil is when your neighbor asks if he can borrow some fresh basil, and you rip 3 plants out of the ground without a second thought.
Tons of basil is Nirvana. What you’ve got is some basil.
JGabriel
For SiubhanDuinne, an 80’s song about 50’s music – the Penguins, the Moonglows, the Orioles, and the Five Satins:
Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War – Paul Simon
What the hey, here’s a coupla 50’s tunes too:
All Your Love (I Miss Loving) – Otis Rush
Lullaby of Birdland – Sarah Vaughan
.
SiubhanDuinne
@ellaesther #55: Thanks for the question. I just posted a long, rambling (likely semi-coherent) response over yonder to your place.
Nice blog. I’ve meant to say so before, and I still haven’t spent nearly enough time prowling around over there, but I enjoy your well-reasoned and very funny and deeply human posts.
tams
Cole ~ That is one of the beat pictures I’ve ever seen of Lily. She looks so happy. I showed Sam the picture of Lily and said ” Sam, who’s that? Is that Lily?” and she immediately started barking. She misses her friend and barked (which is her way of asking) for you to bring Lily for a visit to the Patterson abode sometime soon. Shed like Rosie to come as well. Sam wants to work on their relationship.
Good night Juicers!
SiubhanDuinne
@JGabriel #60:
Groovy! Thanks!
SiubhanDuinne
@tams #62: Oh hai :-). Night to you and Sam too!
luzilli
Sweet girls!
Ya know, it might be best to separate the the frontline & heartworm doses by a few days. I try to wait at least a week between different meds with my dogs, just so they don’t get too much stuff at once. (I should disclose that two of them are my delicate little flowers. The big goofy mutt doesn’t really care.)
asiangrrlMN
Cole, this is the sweetest pic of Lily. She is just such a little love. And, yeah, I can see the “Come play with me now, ok, how about now?” look in Rosie’s eyes. They are a great pair of girls.
@eco2geek: What, you want him to pull an Ann Althouse and marry a commentator? Ha. That would be the funny. Any single ladies from the WV region in the house?
Anne Laurie
@John Cole: Of course Lily loves you, John. But she’s lucky enough to have the genes that let her express her affection most effectively, too!
Anne Laurie
@SiubhanDuinne: Ha, I thought the comment just made it clear we’re both first-borns. (Besides, I’m old enough to be John’s mother, technically.)
RedKitten
Yeah, the eyes on Lily would melt the hardest heart. Such a dollface.
And Rosie…just quivering with the need for love and attention.
And hey, ecogeek, why would John need to marry? He already has all of us nagging at him about his health and his bedsheets. As long as he goes out and gets some every once in awhile, he’s good to go.
Randy P
@JGabriel: Not only do I remember when it came over the airwaves, but I remember the concept of rock music transmitted in the AM band, which was all that the portable “transistor radios” could receive.
Now retailers have decided that I want to hear not only the great stuff, but the absolute crap from those days (mostly ’68-’72 for me), stuff I haven’t heard of or even thought about in decades. So when I shop I am getting flashbacks and FSM help me, earworms, that take me back to my AM Top 40 listening days.
Will you all join me now in a rousing chorus of “I’ve got a Brand New Pair of Roller Skates” sung ever so slightly off key?
And @our host: Cilantro. Well, if you can’t grow it in your rain forest, I feel better about all the cilantro I’ve killed.
Ab_Normal
@JGabriel:
1) I’m so proud of myself for calling it before I clicked on Youtube to confirm. And, yes, I squee’d (I believe Golden Age of Wireless was the second album I bought for myself, New Traditionalists by Devo being the first.)
2) Thanks for the earworm.
Salient
<3, but how in the hell does cilantro go "tits up"?
I mean, if your cilantro is growing tits, you have a serious problem on your hands *long* before it dies. Though given my lack of knowledge of plant mammary-anatomy, maybe tits-up on a plant means alive and well. ???
Steeplejack
__
God, I love this. Laugh-out-loud funny. But coming from love. Cole, you are the man.
bago
War. War never changes