MissMeliss: Escribition

Dogs in Yard

Originally uploaded by MissMelysse.

Even though I walk our dogs most days, most of the time when I’m home, the back door is open wide enough for them to go in and out, so they can chase birds, sniff things, attempt to catch geckos, and generally hang out and indulge in serious doggie Zen.

This is fine, except that our back yard hosts the cable drop for much of the network, which means we often have workers traipsing in without bothering to tell us first, and while our dogs are relatively harmless, an open gate is a ticket to exploration, even for a chihuahua.

When I was given the opportunity to review one of these cool from beware of dog signs from DogInYard.com, then, how could I refuse? Their products are so much nicer than those cheap plastic-laminate black and orange things from the grocery store, after all, and come in fashion colors, with the right hardware for your fence (screws for our wood fence, cable ties for folks with link fences).

Not only that, but I had a response within five minutes of my order, stating that they’d received it, and confirming my address, and that they invoice - invoice! Can you believe it? - and that mine would reflect a zero balance (it being a review product and all) - the regular price is under $20, however, and these signs are totally worth it - they even offer a choice of DOG or DOGS in the lettering.

DogInYard.com ships before you pay, and ships quickly. I don’t think it even took a week for my sign to arrive, and the only reason it’s not actually ON the gate already is that Fuzzy came home from Hong Kong with a badly sprained ankle, and I’m afraid of our drill. Their invoice reminds you that fast payment is good Karma, and these folks are so nice, I really hope ALL their customers pay on time.

In any case, the sign is lovely, and I’ll feel better about leaving Zorro and Cleo out there on the odd afternoon, once it’s up.

We were late getting on the road as both Fuzzy’s work and my work intruded upon our day off (granted, we allowed it to), and then, I was feeling too hormonal and blechy to want to do mini-golf or Dave & Busters, so we went to Dallas to the Purple Cow Diner for junk food, then to the mall where I bought earrings and an oil burner, and Fuzzy did not buy anything at the game store, and then to Fry’s, because how could we not make a pilgrimage to Geek Mecca?

We came home, and I napped for an hour, then spend three putting the web calendar php application on one of my not-often-used sites so that I could make a colleague happier. At least I hope it has that effect. I’m a list person, not a calendar person, and don’t generally have tasks that are around long enough to NEED to be calendared. But, whatever. It’s not very pretty, but seems to do the job.

By the time either of us realized we were hungry, it was after ten, so more junk food (but not a LOT or anything), and I must confess, I have an addiction to baked potatoes now. We watched I Am Legend while eating, which I’m sure will give me nightmares despite the hopeful ending, but it was good. Much less grim than Matheson’s original novel, at least.

I’d already written one of the articles I had due for tomorrow while Fuzzy was out fetching dinner. I just completed and sent the other one. I’ve gotten into the habit lately of writing late at night for the next day, which means I can sleep late with no guilt. Or not much.

Wednesday I go to the dentist. I don’t want to.
But it must be done.

Every so often, it’s good to unplug the computer, step away from the mass of CAT5e cables that wend their way through our house, and spend a few hours being completely girlish.

Today, Natalie and I bleached my hair all the way out to platinum, or most of it. She didn’t take the ends all the way out because they were pretty saturated, and she didn’t want to melt my hair. Of course, the very ends ended up on the floor, as we cut off five inches, leaving me with a sassy, flirty atomic pink bob.

To me, it doesn’t seem that different, except under fluorescent lights, when the very top is kinda purple. but not really. And yes, I know y’all want pictures, but I don’t generally put identifiable pictures of me on my blog, so those who desperately need them will see them via email or a locked LJ post.

After I get my eyebrows waxed.

It must look pretty cool to other people, because when we walked into Sushi Zone for dinner, the woman at the next table said, “Oh, my god, you have the best hair. You must stop and let me stare at you. You’re beautiful.”

I’m not, of course, but it was cool to feel so for a bit.

Also, the sushi was excellent, the service was great, and we’re so going back.

In other news, I bought four bras and a pair new pajamas.
Never underestimate the importance of good bras.
Or pretty pajamas.

It was an odd Saturday, all things considered. I went to bed before one AM for a change, but half-woke when Fuzzy came to bed, enough to realize who he was and why he was stealing the cool part of the bed, and to tell him to set the alarms for 11:00, in preparation for my planned 1:30 repinking appointment.

The phone rang shortly before ten, however, to inform me that Natalie, my stylist, was out sick. After much back-and-forth, I have a new appointment NEXT Saturday at 11:30. So…freshly pink hair for Easter. I can live with that.

I’m still coughing, and my throat is tight, as the five people who heard my practice vocal track for a podcast audio drama I’d really love to be part of heard when I sent them copies. I can speak okay, but in the words of Ms. Eclectic, when I sing it’s the “pack a day” version of my voice. For this reason, I’m not entirely upset that I got to stay home and nurse my voice a bit, so I can make the official recording on Monday (this is just the singing part, the speaking tracks were already sent). To that end, I’ve been alternating water with lemon, and throat coat tea with honey, all day, with the exception of one nonfat latte this evening. As I type this, I’m sipping a hot toddy, made with the same tea, honey, lemon, and a healthy splash of bourbon. There are very few things that a healthy splash of bourbon cannot help.

The bourbon, by the way, marks the first time since we moved here that I’ve had bottles of decent liquor in my house. Oh, we always have beer and wine, despite the fact that Fuzzy doesn’t touch alcohol, but I’m hardly a heavy drinker, and honestly, until we asked Deb, we’d been hitting the grocery store, Cost Plus (World Market), or stores in Dallas for such things. So, thanks to Deb we now know that the closest liquor store worth visiting is Majestic in Kennedale, which is about nine miles from here, but they were very friendly, greeted us at the door, and hooked us up with their rewards card so we saved $9. (We also bought vodka, cointreau, peppermint schnapps, and Godiva dark chocolate liqueur, and I’m making of list for future visits.)

The rest of the evening was low-key: Lone Star Comics (for Serenity: Better Days #1), the Italian place at Highlands of Arlington because I wanted comfort food (I had grilled scallops on a bed of spinach gnocchi, baby spinach, and grilled sweet potatoes; Fuzzy had spinach tortelloni with spinach, cheese, sundried tomatoes and grilled chicken), Tom Thumb for a few forgotten items. (Damn! STILL forgot Mayo.), Starbucks, and CVS (for bubble bath since the grocery store had none I was willing to purchase).

We came home, cuddled the dogs, napped a little, and then watched a couple of episodes of Angel over dessert (pie for me, a Reese’s Klondike bar for Fuzzy). We talked about going to the auto show tomorrow, but honestly? I just want to read the Sunday paper, catch up on correspondence, and not do much else.

So, I bought something today. No, not a back rack, because while they’re useful things, they don’t really work on Subaru Foresters.

No, what I ordered today was the latest offering from Brent Spiner. It’s called Dreamland, and it’s a CD, but it’s more than just music - it’s also a radio play and a stage musical (albeit without the actual, you know, stage).

I’ve listened to some of the clips from the CD that are available online, and, a couple of weeks ago when I was stuck in bed sick, sat through the intro video that is running on his site and on YouTube (and is embedded below, because I’m all about spreading the geekiness around), and I’m really looking forward to the physical disc.

And yes, I sprang for the personalized, autographed copy.
Because if you’re gonna geek, you should go all the way.

Oh, and, to make it EVEN GEEKIER…many of the characters are voiced by Mark Hamill

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