Hot or Not -- Fergalicious?

I like Fergie as much as the next person. I mean her songs are silly and bubblegummy but she's got a good attitude and tries despite having slightly old face.

But this???? ---->

I dunno, it's not very hawt at all, in fact it may be anti-hawt.

What's with the challenged expression? She look like she about to burp.

Player

B.R. 9/26/08

The baby popped out of bed this morning, mostly because I'd startled her by popping out of bed myself when I realized that I had a little over an hour and fifteen minutes to play, feed, shower and dress for work. Sounds like more time than it actually is because that's factoring in the 30-45 minoos on the train (and lately, due to some stupid track work the commutes have been on the long side). Anyway, the baby and I hustled, and thanks in part to her for doing all her business in a timely fashion I made it out of there in time for work. I've been pretty busy at work the past couple of weeks and I think the baby is starting to catch on that when I leave it's likely that I won't return for a while. This morning, although she was excited for her "find the treat" game, she kept a very close eye on my location at all time. Sadly for her, I left anyway.

She was therefore quite surprised (and a little overjoyed) when I made it home before the sun had completely set -- a first in recent memory. Though I think I must've interrupted her feeding frenzy (she'd been eating all or most of kibbles the past few days), because while we were playing fetch she had a moment when she threw up a lot of kibble on her bone. O_O It was gross and unexpected, especially when the baby took the opportunity while I was rinsing out her bone to slurp her regurgitated kibbles back up. Some times I forget she's a dog, and then these things happen. O_O

And then we watched the boree-est debates ever. I think that for the next debate we should play a game of getting one treat each every time McCain said the word "veteran". We'll be sure not to eat dinner, or actually any meals, that day.

Live update: Now the baby is sleeping because she was so bored by the debate; and I'm stuffing my face with veggie booty. Whut.

Done!

B.R. 9/21/08 -- Coinkydink

After a morning of lazing about, the baby and I ventured into Manhattan for some fall/winter clothes shopping. The goal was this boutique around the Flatiron; but due to the MTA's rerouting of the trains we had to switch up our usual approach by taking the F. Since we were taking this line I figured that we might as well just hop off at 2nd/Houston and take the 103 up to Ephanie's and Enn's.

Where's the bus?

Getting in line:

What's funny is that I saw the lady in the second pic again earlier this evening. This was a rather rare event as I hardly ever run into anyone that I've seen, know or recognize around the City. Anyway, around 8ish, I spotted her arriving at East for dinner with her partner. The baby totally called that one.

B.R. 9/20/08 (so far)

The baby and I have been looking forward to today for some time. She's been excitedly looking forward because it's been a while since I've had an unencumbered Saturday to spend with her; and I've been excited because I really missed sleeping in. That said, how has it worked out so far? Well, I think the baby is enjoying her day. We played lots of fetch and have been working on her battery of tricks, as well as engaging in a couple of rounds of hiding-the-treat. As for me, the baby graciously let me sleep in (kind of). She loves curling up right next to me as I'm sleeping. Unfortunately, sometimes her aim after doing her circle, circle dance isn't that great so she ends up flopping her body weight onto my head/face/etc. It's a good thing she's only 6lbs. That said, it's still somewhat disturbing when 6lbs is unexpectedly plopped down on one's head while one's sleeping. Hmm.

Showin' A Little Leg

Quite literally.

(Times are tough, a hamster's gotta do what a hamster's gotta do.)

B.R. 9/17/08

I don't know was up with the baby this morning. Normally she's pretty content to sleep in with me until 7 a.m. or so before she decides that it's a good idea to wake up (and me along with her). She's been pretty reliable in this regard, which is why I thought that perhaps I'd slept through my alarm when she started jumping on my head and licking my face. Being the blindy that I am, I didn't bother trying to find my glasses to ascertain the time on the alarm clock. I probably should've, because when I stumbled out into the living room I realized that it was still dark out! The baby had tried to rustle me out of be at 5!!! She didn't even sinkle!!! Needless to say I got my azz back to bed. Sure the baby tried to get me out of bed again, but I hid my face and ignored her. She must've sensed that it was futile to try to get me up at that point because she left me alone and disappeared into the living room.

When I finally did get out of bed about 2 1/2 hrs later, I saw that the baby had eaten all her kibbles from the previous evening and made a little sinkle. As a reward I played fetch with her, even though I was still a little annoyed (and sleepy) from her earlier trickery.

It's probably because of the interrupted sleep that I'm feeling so googly-eyed. Also the fact that I've spent the past 3 days working more than I have all summer. Reading 9-pt font all day is no way to treat one's eyes, esp. poor, abused eyes like mine. Anyway, I'm feeling a little better after 30+ ounces of Coke. And the baby is feeling much better now that I'm home, or maybe she's still giddy from her yump party from earlier this evening when she liberally sprinkled skittle-sized yumps all over the b-room.

Munchkin

Pretty self-explanatory, no?

B.R. 9/12/08

The baby had a rough morning.

I woke up a little before 7 a.m. when the baby woke me with some really loud retching sounds that made it past my earplugs. In the few moments that it took me to organize my thoughts and focus my eyes she had already finished throwing up on the bed. Luckily for me, it was clear -- no foodstuff from the previous evening. After cleaning and scrubbing for a bit, I went back to bed for a few more minutes, but alas, the baby started back up with some more retching and again threw up some clear liquid. Sensing the futility of going back to bed, I roused myself and upon seeing this the baby bounded into the living room with her tail wagging. Per usual, she got down in a play pose beside her bone. We played for a bit before I went into the b-room to brush my teeth. However, while brushing, I heard a now familiar retching sound coming from the living room. Upon entering, I saw the baby throwing up some foamy white mess. If she didn't look so pathetic I'd probably have taken a picture because she looked like she had a little white beard due to having 1/2 of the foamy throw up sticking to her mouth and lower lip. By this point, she no longer looked playful but rather sad. After I cleaned her and the floor up, I returned to the b-room to spit out my toothpaste; but it wasn't long before I heard some more retching sounds. This time the baby was seated on the couch and looking quite sad. While I cleaned her up, her body started convulsing again but nothing came out. I tucked her into her blanket because she'd started shivering.

All throughout I'd been googling her condition to see if it was indicative of something serious. One of the postings said that dogs sometimes throw up because their stomachs are empty. I've definitely experienced this with the baby, so I started to prepare her breaky. However, when the time came to eat she didn't interested at all; her ears hung back as she continued to shiver. The only thing she seemed to want was for company. We sat together for a while as I tried to figure out if I could do my work remotely. Today was a very bad day in terms of deadlines, but with the baby looking as pitiful as she did I didn't want to leave her alone. Luckily, with remote computing and my cellphone I think the day went ok.

The baby did eventually eat a little chickum a few hours after I first prepared her breaky. I'd been trying to get her to drink some water by wetting my hand for her to lick. As a general matter, I do worry about dehydration and hypoglycemia when she doesn't eat and drink regularly because she's so little. Anyway, while trying to get her to lick my hand I noticed that she seemed to be sniffing it which indicated that she might be hungry. She didn't seem interested when I put her food bowl by her, but she did eat the bits that I fed to her by hand. She seemed much better after eating some food, so much so that soon thereafter she began licking my toes for attention. After unsuccessfully stalking me by sitting directly underneath the computer desk and looking straight up at me, she retired to the couch for a nap -- which is where she is currently.

Hot or Not -- the new 90210

Btw, anyone else think that the new rich bitz Naomi looks a lot like Elizabeth Berkley's character from "Showgirls"???


Just imagine her after a stint in rehab plus a couple more times around the block.

Is it a coincidence that Elizabeth's Berkley's character's name was "Nomi" while the 90210 doppelganger is named "Naomi"? Think about it.

Likes and Dislikes -- food edition (updated)

Follow up to Likes and Dislikes -- food edition

The baby loves:

hormone-free, organic chicken
freez-dried beef liver
cheese -- mozzarella, cheddar, parmesan
apples
chickpeas
rawhide chew sticks
non-fat yogurt
free-range organic egg yolks
onigiris
dried seaweed
peanut butter (esp. in the form of a pbj sammich)
oranges and tangerines (but only if slightly masticated)
wellness pure rewards jerky

The baby likes:

kibble (depending on the day)
cherries
almonds
pears
soy cheese
peaches & nectarines (slightly masticated)
bananas (mushed and pulp-ed up)
blueberries (skinned)

The baby dislikes:

kibble (depending on the day)
Milk Bones and most dog biscuits
peas
spinach
carrots
onions
grapes (thank goodness, despite Enn's best efforts)

What the baby loves but can't have:

popcorn (allergic reaction -- lots of ensuing itchiness)
wet dog food
whatever I happen to be eating

Post-shower Scene

I'm coming out of the shower and hearing all this honking, and wondering what the hell is going on -- thinking perhaps that the rain from Hannah had started and that people were just being the idiots they usually are when there's any sort of precipitation. Out of curiosity (and mild annoyance because of the CONSTANT honking) I took a look out the window and see a lot of cars backed up on Schermerhorn because police tape had blocked off Boerum Place. At first I thought that there was roadwork; because of the near constant roadwork (tearing up the street, paving, tearing, repaving, repeat). Then taking a closer look up the street, I saw that the entire box around Livingston/Boerum Place had been blocked up because of this (click picture for a larger image):


I hope the cyclist is ok. That intersection really is the intersection from hell. It's simply too big for a pedestrian or a cyclist to feel safe while crossing. I'm surprised more accidents do not occur there. Since living here I've seen lots of near misses with pedestrians, a few fender-benders, one pedestrian who's actually been struck by a turning car, and now this. I hope that with all the roadwork that someone at the NYC DOT will fix this -- doubt it, but I do hope that something happens.

UPDATE: It turns out the accident was fatal, and the victim was an 8 y.o. boy. I couldn't see it, but it seems that the kid's bike was underneath the truck. The bike that I saw in the far corner was his dads. So sad.