In this world, there are cat people and there are dog people, and while we can usually get along with each other, there are some fundamental personality differences. One thing we all have in common, however, is that we love our pets, and we love it when our friends get pets too, so that they can know the pleasures and joys of having small furry creatures running around.

I am a dog person, and one thing that drives me crazy is when people adopt dogs that are completely unsuited for their lifestyles. You do not, for example, buy a shepherd and then keep it in an apartment with nothing to herd. Yes, they can be great pets, but they’re also working dogs who were bred to their jobs. Without a purpose, they can be moody and destructive.

For this reason, I’m a big proponent of researching dog breeds before you ever visit the adoption center, the pound, or the breeder. One new site for this, that presents the information in a friendly manner is Great Dog Site. It’s a new-ish site, still finding its rhythm, but it’s already got a great collection of breed information.

As a Chihuahua owner, and a fan of the breed, one thing I like about the site is that they include the information that Chihuahuas are not toys to be carried, but dogs to be walked, and that they should never be overfed. I’ve heard my vet comment more than once that we have the only Chihuahua in their client list who isn’t overweight.

GreatDogSite.com allows users to submit pictures of their own dogs, or suggest additional information for each breed article.

I like the site because the information is well-presented and useful.
My dogs give it two paws up. (Each.)

Thirteen Things about MISS MELISS Things that Begin with S Sailboats: While I’ve only been sailing a few times, I have a great affinity for the romance and wonder of wooden boats. One of my fantasies is to sail as crew. One of my favorite things to do when it is rainy outside is brew strong tea, and curl up with books that chronical sailor’s voyages. My all-time favorite is Tania Aebi’s first book, Maiden Voyage. San Francisco: Tony Bennett isn’t the only one to leave his heart there. I’ve poked all around the city by the bay, and never once has the city touched me with anything but positive energy. Fuzzy and I had our second kiss in San Francisco. Sharks: While I learned to like hockey because of the novelty of living within walking distance of the arena where the San Jose Sharks played, it is the animal, not the team, that makes this list. It should be no surprise that I am fascinated by these big fish – after all, I devoted an entire Thursday 13 entry to them during Shark Week 2007. Side Order of Life: This show premiered on Lifetime TV a couple weeks after Army Wives, which I love, and quickly became one of my favorite shows. Watching it every week is much like a continuing live-action chick-lit novel, and I’m still enjoying it for escapist entertainment. Siesta: While I’ve never really been a fan of napping, working at home has put me into a pattern of working from morning through mid-afternoon, then breaking for a few hours to rest and read, and then resuming work when the sun is beginning to go down. I’ve always been very nocturnal, but this way, I’ve been able to keep a daytime shift and still indulge in the late nights that I love. Singing: I started singing when I was little and have barely stopped since. When I’m working, I hum or sing, and when I can’t stare at the computer screen for another second, I get up, blast music, and dance and sing around the living room until I feel energized and my head feels clear. Skating: I grew up in the seventies and eighties when skating parties at ice and roller rinks were all the rage. Cheap, innocent fun. With music. I prefer ice skating, and have nice skates that I almost never use, because none of my friends skate, and skating alone isn’t fun. Sky: The stars, the moon, the planets…I love to gaze up at the night sky, and wonder, or dream. When the night is dark enough, I reintroduce myself to the constellations, and one of my favorite things to see is the moon in daylight, because it reminds me of fantasy planetscapes. Sneakers: I love shoes, especially sandals and boots, and I have quite the collection, but for comfort and happy feet, nothing beats a pair of sneakers. My walking sneakers these days are a pair of white Reebok freestyles, but I’m loving the pink Converse All-Stars Fuzzy gave me for my birthday as well. I once said that I only wanted jobs where I could wear sneakers to work. I have one now. Starbucks: While they do not have the best coffee in the world, they have brough espresso to almost every neighborhood, which makes me incredibly happy. Also, there’s something to be said for a consistant product. Finally, the folks at my neighborhood Starbucks always compliment my hair. Sushi: I could eat sushi every day and never get sick of it. Sashimi, sushi rolls, nigiri, I love it all, except the octopus. I can’t stand the texture of octopus, and I don’t like the concept of eating an intelligent creature. Stationery: I love the texture of paper, the feeling of linen fibers beneath my pen, the colors and styles and engravings that are used to personalize it. In my desk, I have a box just of single sheets of stationery (and envelopes) left over from favorite sets that are otherwise gone. I can never have too much stationery. Swords: Fuzzy really cemented my love of swords because he collects them, but really, what’s not to love? They’re beautiful, and carry such history, and I like the notion that in order to kill someone with a sword you have to be connected to them, through steel, even if it’s only for a moment. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

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When good friends of ours spent time in the Virgin Islands last year, I have to admit I was more than a little jealous. I mean, I am all about the island vacations. Sun, sand, surf, and sleep are the perfect combinations for me.

Fuzzy, on the other hand, hates the beach, and is afraid of the water, which is why I’m psyched about finding http://www.caretbay.com. What’s so special about this site? Well, is specializes in renting out St Thomas Villas, and not just any old villas, either, but villas with swimming pools, beach access, and luxury appointments.

In fact, the villa currently being spotlighted, Villa Nicolette, offers an eight-person hot tub, your very own Tiki bar, plasma televisions, computer access, and wifi.

Wifi in paradise: I ask you what more does one need?

What’s really great about these villas, as the website makes clear, is that while the rental fees change depending on how many bedrooms you choose to use, the entire villa is yours. (Presumably, they lock off the unrented bedrooms to save cleaning and laundering.)

Don’t get me wrong, I love hotels. I will always love hotels, but if you’re spending a week at the beach, having your own villa is definitely the way to go.

I bet even Fuzzy would agree.

Because people asked about the moon picture in my last Wordless Wednesday post:

It was taken from the rolling chair in my living room, looking up at the very top row of windows that form the back wall of my living room. The top of the window is about 18 feet off the floor.

The misty quality is because we have light-filtering screens on all our windows.

The blur is because it’s really difficult to stay perfectly still in a rolling chair.

Thank you all for your favorable comments. I’m still returning visits.

I have a friend whom I haven’t seen since before I got married, and whom I still owe a visit. She lives in England, and we used to plan elaborate vacations where I’d stay in one of the best London Hotels and we’d go clubbing and see theatre, because really, what is a trip to London without taking in a show? It just as wrong as visiting New York without spending a couple of hours in a darkened theatre on Broadway.

We recently reconnected through IM and FaceBook, so in case you were wondering if the latter is of any use, it is.

She heard her accent on my answering machine once, and thought she sounded common. I think she’s rather uncommon – baudy, funny, talented – she always made me laugh, and pushed me outside myself.

Writing about her accent reminds me of the time I had to chase down mortgage clients by calling a bunch of Glasgow Hotels, when there was a problem with their loan closing. I finally bribed a concierge by promising to FedEx money for him to take his partner out of a night of pub hopping. Yes, I really sent it, and yes, it was a business expense. And yes, after said concierge tracked down the borrowers in a toney restaurant, the loan did close.

While we’re on the subject of hotels, let’s add Edinburgh Hotels to the mix. I found a mystery novel set in one, picked it up, then put it down without buying it, and now cannot remember what it was, though the description of the story is sort of haunting me.

I like expensive hotels. I like them so much, in fact, that the narrator in my first NANO Novel, Illusions of Motion was named Zoe, after a character in a movie who lived in a hotel and had a famous musician for a father.

Continue reading →

Dinner is simmering in the crockpot and the pool vac is burbling in the back yard. Fuzzy is still at work, and House just started on TV. It’s a rerun, one of the last from last season, but I don’t remember paying much attention to it at the time it was on.

And let’s face it: there’s no such thing as too much house.

There are fifteen things I should be doing:
I should be working on my book instead of blogging.
I should be folding laundry.
I should be writing letters.
I should be reviewing One Dance In Paris for the bookblog.

I should, I should, I should…

But what I want to do is clean the bathtub, and then find a good book, and get into a tub full of hot water and citrussy-spicy bubbles, and just forget about everything external for a while.

Tubs should totally clean themselves.

I am sitting today at my favorite wooden desk with the sunflower drawer pulls, staring through the bar window at the family photos on the side of the fridge. Why the side? Because the front isn’t magnetic.

Among the pictures are cousins at Sioux Falls, friends in Arizona with their young son, and Fuzzy’s family: nieces and nephews who are tall, blond and athletic (he is only blond). His family is so affectionate and relaxed that their picture makes me want to put a couple soccer goals out on the front lawn and invite all the neighborhood kids to join of pickup game.

I don’t actually own any sports equipment.

I have, however, been browsing http://www.soccergoalzinc.com because even though I don’t actually participate in sports, I like the equipment, and I’ve got fond memories of playing badminton over the chain-link fence in my grandparents’ back yard as a kid, or breaking out the whiffle ball set or playing stickball, and I miss those days.

SoccerGoalz, Inc doesn’t actually sell badminton stuff, but they do have portable Soccer Goals (go figure) that you can use on the lawn, or bring to the park, and they also have equipment for street hockey. Better yet, their prices are reasonable, and their shipping is only $10.

If you have a family of budding athletes, or just a big lawn screaming for weekend soccer games, SoccerGoals Inc has popup goals, and portable goals, to fit your budget.

Soccer balls, however, are not included.

I’ve been leaving a pan of birdseed out at night, and in the early morning, to sort of atone for the grief my younger, larger dog, Miss Cleo, gives the birds and geckos in our yard.

The first night I put it out, I found footprints in it just a few hours later – not bird-feet, but something obviously mammalian. I’ve suspected that we have a resident possum for a while, because I’ve heard barking, and seen a shadow about the size of my chihuahua, but definitely a rodent, shinnying up the back fence.

Fuzzy was away the first night I put out the seed, and it was nearly dawn when we finally connected via IM, because he’d been in the air, and then had no battery left on his phone.

“I love you,” I said to him in text. “I’m glad you’re on the ground, and I hope you sleep well. I’m going to bed now. There are footprints in the birdseed.”

It’s really cool to have a spouse who doesn’t think you’re completely batty when you make statements like that.

185 kangaroos walk into a bar in one of the best Sydney Hotels… Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke right? Well, maybe I’ve watched too many specials on Animal Planet, but I’ve always wanted to visit Australia, especially after reading about a friend’s vacation there.

Reading actually has spurred a lot of my vacation fantasies, but some of my favorite novels did take place in Australia. The most obvious, of course, is The Thorn Birds (the movie was great, but I prefer the book) but I also loved Spearfield’s Daughter and All the Rivers Run, especially the river boating scenes in the latter.

While it’s true that none of these books talked about the Sydney Opera House, or offered details about Melbourne Hotels or Brisbane Hotels, they did instill within me a fascination for a country that shares a pioneering spirit and rugged outlook with my own.

I confess, I want to see Ayer’s Rock, and even though I’m not a surfer, I’d be willing to try for a taste of Australian waves.

I wouldn’t even mind if the only place I see a kangaroo is in the zoo.