September 30th, 2012

There seems to be a new craze …dog shaming.  My inbox and Facebook page are filled with pictures of these poor misunderstood creatures.  These are dogs posed alongside signs stating their offenses. The looks on their faces are heartbreaking.  Why doesn’t anti-bullying legislation protect these animals who cannot defend themselves? They have no thumbs for writing or, in most cases, internet access to use in their defense.

I suppose I could join this long line of bullies.  Chloe has stolen the mates to 6 pairs of shoes and has hidden them beyond my ability to find them.    But I prefer to treat my girls with respect and refer to them in uplifting, confidence building ways.  I appreciate all the help they give me under the guise of attention seeking behavior.

In the past I have had Skye terriers who helped me by throwing themselves on the mop pad and adding their coats to the strings so that I could reach greater coverage, and theoretically be finished faster.  SossDog always made laundry day a breeze because she gathered the dirty and fallen clothes into her crate, thereby simplifying the gathering process for me.

Today my girls aid me in different ways.  Since my doorbell cannot be heard all over the house, Molly runs to tell me someone is at the door and is there to act as greeter, should I open it.

It is even my own fault that I cannot find my missing shoes.  Chloe used to gather them under the dining table until I complained that it was hard to reach them.  I am sure the new gathering places will be much easier to reach, once I find it. I don’t know how I would keep the wastebaskets empty without her help. She also moves their beds from room to room making it easier to clean the floors and even removes the covering on my sofa since I obviously don’t know that the cover less attractive than the sofa itself

Surely there are other helpful dogs out there if their owners only praised and encouraged them more. Do you think she would have become the hero she was if she had been photographed, shamed, and her likeness posted on the internet with the caption “Lassie, shut the heck up!”?

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Fall Resolutions

The stifling hot days of summer that had me lying around the house like a lizard baking on a rock are gone. The crisp cool air and bright blue sky made me want to get up and move. Coupled with the ingrained “back to school” mentality, I made my fall “New Year’s Resolutions”.

Suddenly with this new burst of energy, I wanted to clean house, join a gym, take my dogs on long walks in the woods, make Christmas presents for everyone I know, have a beauty make over, take a class, and write a book in a month.

Writing the list of all the things I wanted to do used up that burst of energy and I sat down to watch the gag reel of my newly purchased Supernatural Season 7. I then fell asleep, forgetting to turn off the lights or walk the dogs. I woke up the first day of Autumn with a list to narrow down. Once I had my iced mocha latte, I was determined to make a few of those changes.

I examined my list. Will I:

• Clean the whole house, top to bottom? Unless I hire a cleaning crew, that’s probably not going to happen. But I can declutter, do some basics and make room for holiday decorations.
  
  
• Join a gym? How about if I buy a good exercise mat and do some exercises at home?
  
  
• Take my dogs on long walks in the woods? Maybe I will drive to the park with Molly and start there. Chloe was so traumatized by her last walk in the park that she was sick for days.
  
  
• Make homemade Christmas presents? Why yes, I think I will do that for a select few. But only because I enjoy doing it.
  
  
• Get a complete ‘beauty makeover”? How about a haircut and a manicure? And maybe set up a schedule so I don’t forget.
  
  
• Take a class? Check! Enrolled in that already.
  
  
• Write a book in a month? Every year I vow to do Nanowrimo, national novel writing month. But it is in the middle of the holiday season so I lose the whole week of Thanksgiving and feel like a failure. And I am not allowed to work on my current book. Maybe I will do the 100 word challenge this year instead. One hundred words a day has to be more manageable than 1700.
  
  

So, reframed goals in hand, I am looking forward to fall, to witches and goblins making way for pumpkins and turkeys marching toward snow and winter, which is, of course, REALLY my favorite time of year.

"Lost Girl" has lost me.

I have watched this program from the beginning.  I understand the program is about Bo;  the premise is that she is searching for who and what she is.  The premise was also that she would remain a free agent as she decided to work to protect humans rather than side with the fae.  The problem for me is that each episode seems to "jump the shark" for me

Last week was no exception.  Bo suddenly announced to Trick that she knew he was her father.  My reaction was ‘What?”  Bo answered that question with “Why else would you care so much about me?”  That isn’t enough.  What clues brought her to this epiphany? Every week I feel like I need to go back and watch every episode again because I must be missing something.  Now, out of the blue, her blood has some magical property.   That’s a little deus ex machina for my taste.

I accept that Bo is a succubus and uses sexual energy.  I have trouble when she feels guilty because of it, and in fact, seems to fall in love with every person with whom she has sex.   This seems limiting for a succubus.

Moreover, Bo is supposed to be a free agent.  But she only works for the light fae.  If she only works for one side then it seems that she has indeed chosen a side to join. The last episode proposed that since she is not aligned with either side, she can bring the two together to work as a team.  So she did what she always does, stormed  into the domain of a dark fae, unhindered, and made deals to obtain objects without knowing what the result of her actions would be.  As usual, she then had to correct her mistake--and on and on.  Usually the show ends with the rest of the cast of characters rushing in to rescue her.

I still don’t understand why Kinsey stayed with Bo instead of going with Nate unless she is in love with Bo; it doesn’t make sense.  But I am glad she stayed because Kinsey is the only character in the show who really has the balls to get things done. Where would the show be without Kinsey circumventing fae protocol?  Last week when everyone ran from the Garuda, it was Kinsey who went back and saved Dyson.  This week she stood up to another “big bad” to get Dyson’s love back. And thank god for that because I was really tired of Dyson—a werewolf AND police officer--wandering around like a wimp.

I know that with the paranormal we are asked to leave reality behind.  But once the world is created, I expect it to remain consistent and sustain believability within that world.  Every week I find myself more distracted by the inconsistencies than the plot line they are posing.