Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter

Wednesday, March 29, 2006



I stole this from Garrison Keillor's "The Writer's Almanac" :

It's the birthday of Eric Idle, born in South Shields, Durham, England (1943). He's one of the six founding members of the British comedy group Monty Python, famous for its movies and its long-running television show, Monty Python's Flying Circus. Idle often played old ornery women, as well as creepy old men and annoying talk show hosts. Monty Python's first movie was Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), in which Idle plays Sir Robin the Not-So-Brave, who wets his armor at the first sign of danger.

I grew up watching Monty Python, and some of those skits are still the funniest I've ever seen. I'd have to say they remain among my favorite shows...
So Happy Birthday, Eric!

Happenings on the home front: An eventful week with my cat Pablo "exploding" suddenly into teen angst and attacking the other two older cats in the house. Something had to be done immediately, before he became established with the spraying. So right now he's had an overnight stay at the local vet following surgery and we pick hime up later this morning. I'm really hoping (with fingers crossed) the other two will forgive him of his earlier indiscretions. Time will tell. So a shout out to Pablo here as well as the other two, Taz and Sock. May they all find a workable truce in the coming days.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Some Meandering W.I.P.

I was up before daybreak
now there's coral in the sky
that can be seen through
these still skeletal arms and
fingers of trees bronzing
upward into the blue
while out of the blue comes
a streak across the airspace
heading west toward Philly
International.

I'm at the place where thoughts
grow ragged en route to the written
page, that fearsome blank space
that begs for even the simplist
font.

So many times they've flown ahead,
urgent as road rage and drive-by's
- impossible to be caught within this
daily routine.

Sunday, March 26, 2006


You do NOT want to see this coming at you.
Yeah folks, its that time of year again. The time where no matter what route you take, there's always a pair of geese camped out along the way. Right now they seem to be scoping out nesting places, and if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, you'll see the full wrath of at least one of the pair. Twice in the past week I've been approached in such a way. This last time was a few days ago, when I saw two geese standing at the bus stop. I didn't bother asking when the next bus was due, instead I made a wide circle to avoid them. I thought I was safe, I thought I was well past them... but when I heard a noise behind me I knew I was in for a load of trouble. I ducked down in time for one of them to fly just over my head and land directly in front of me, honking angrily as soon as he touched down. So I had no choice but to go even further out of my way. But I made sure he knew I was just as angry by yelling back at him as I left, haha. Really, there's no doubt in my mind that if I hadn't ducked when I did, he would have scored a direct hit at my back. So be careful out there folks, if you happen to live in the area, they like to claim territories near stores and businesses, around the Mall's parking lots. Just a heads up, be on the look-out for overprotective birds, it's a Goosy jungle out there.

A few other items this week, I've been toying with electronic gadgetry on the web, audioblogs, podcasts, and the like. I love to search things out. I just discovered this nifty little item on Odeo.
Bukowski Remixed
And then there's this little item, which is already one of my favorite sites...
Blue Things Poetry
An audioblog of my favorite poet reading some of his work.

Finally, a story on what happens when animal welfare law works like its supposed to: 120 Days In Jail.
I have been waiting years for a story like this. My only complaint in this particular item is that you can tell they are trying very hard to be sympathetic to the criminals.

So far since the official beginning of Spring it has flurried snow twice here in south Jersey. The temperatures have still gotten down to freezing on some nights. I'll be glad when it finally does warm up a bit, which should be by next week.

Friday, March 24, 2006




You Are Coke



A true original and classic, you represent the best of everything you can offer.

Just the right amount of sweet, just the right amount of energy... you're the life of the party.



Your best soda match: Mountain Dew



Stay away from:Dr Pepper



Mountain Dew? Ewww! Everybody knows how I feel about Mountain Dew :P

Wednesday, March 22, 2006


Curse you, Red Baron!

Now for a switch from a little levity to something pretty cool...
Poet Laureate Ted Kooser

And a little something I've been meaning to try for a while now...
Click here for something completely generic

Read my lips, no new dogs.

There was a huge snowstorm yesterday out in Kansas where some of our breeders are. so that means there was a huge delay in getting half the puppies in. See we were supposed to get six puppies and five cats yesterday and four more dogs in today... Only now we're getting them all at once, so its "Arrgghh! Cute pet overload!" Its gonna take me forever to get them all weighed and temps taken. Not to mention comforting the ones who are extra scared. Well they all come in scared usually, its all strange to them. New place, they don't know what to expect... especially after the flight and the drive in from Philly. But you know me, I'll get it done however long it takes. You've got to have some empathy to be in this kind of work.

First day of Spring and there were brief flurries of snow... didn't last long. Second day, still didn't feel like Spring. But you know its that time of year when the geese are primed for attack. You'd think the cold would put a damper on their action.. but Noooo! There were two in the parking lot on my way into work yesterday morning. One of them took flght and headed straight for me... and here I'm yelling at him to "Stop.... Stop!" As if he's really gonna know what I'm saying, lol. But he landed right in front of me, so I ended up taking a wide circle around him...
Then coming home from the store yesterday I noticed a guy on the sidewalk ahead of me and two more geese across the street (which was full of traffic) making all kinds of noise. I swear if I didn't know any better I'd say they were actually pacing that guy from the other side of the street to make sure he didn't cross over into their territory. Could be. They get very aggressive this time of year, protective of their nesting sites. It just seems that there are even more of them around than last year, so there's really gonna be a problem with people getting hit by a bird... or should I say "goosed"?

We finally saw the movie The Village, from M. Night Shymalan. I love the twist to his movies.. they always make you think on the possibility for the next few days. Excellent movie, I really enjoyed it. Also interesting is when I looked him up on the http://imdb.com I found his next project is the screenplay for a book I just finished reading not too long ago, The Life Of Pi by Yan Martel. Hmmm... I was kind of disappointed in the reading.. it left too many unanswered questions, but plenty of opportunity for some of Shymalan's famous twists. So I'd be interested to see what he does with it.

We watched the Capote movie last night, got the DVD yesterday. I'd have to say it kind of reduced my respect for the man himself. All those manipulative tactics, the use of any means necessary to get what he wanted. And then when it looked like the plan backfired, he got all immersed in some little self-pity party. "They're torturing me... it's torture.." But, at the same time he did introduce a whole new genre in books. Too bad he never wrote another complete book after that... It was a good movie though, Phillip Seymore Hoffman did an outstanding job with the character.
I just wonder how many people remember the actual book In Cold Blood (and then the movie of the same name). Like I said before, when I watched the original I was surprised the State of Kansas still used hanging as a means of execution as late as 1965.

Update: This time a happy ending -
Remember Rosie, the severely emaciated Wheaton terrier that was surrendered to the Michican ASPCA after one of the owners couldn't figure out why she was in such poor health...
Video: Rosie's New Home

Friday, March 17, 2006




Ahhh... there's nothing like this in the world
This has to be my favorite day of the year.

A little treat for the Irish in all of us and the Scots in some of us!
Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band

Wednesday, March 15, 2006




You're 70% Irish



You're very Irish, and most likely from Ireland.

(And if you're not, you should be!)

I've been updating my webpage for the past couple of days... It's nothing fancy, no screaming bells or whistles, no incredible flashing graphics... just some backgrounds, photos, text and links. Check it out if you want, here's the link:

Bailey's Home Page

Sunday, March 12, 2006

*WHOMP* It sounded like someone dropped something heavy on the floor. Someone did. I looked up from the kennel cage I was cleaning and there was the Tia at the door with a laundry basket full of wet towels at her feet. "How come you keep doing this to me?," she sputtered. "Doing what?", I replied. "Leaving me all this wet laundry!", she bellowed.
Oh. It was on now. It was definitely on.
I had fair warning with enough advance notice to be ready for anything when the Tia started her shift. I was told she was on the warpath the previous night, moaning and complaining to anyone within earshot about how I must be personally trying to vex her for some reason by leaving loads of wet laundry to be dried.
The problem is the dryer, which is not keeping up with the washer on par levels. So instead of leaving buckets of dirty towels laying around from the kennel, I've chosen to wash them. Its more sanitary and the way I see it, leaves less work for the next shift.
The Tia doesn't see it that way.
She thinks its better for poopy towels to contaminate and stink up the area than to just go ahead and have them clean. You would think she'd appreciate the "less smell" factor.
Wrong.
The Tia would rather risk the smell of dog shit wafting through the air, than deal with the smallest possiblity of mildew.
Like I said, it was definitely on. And we went back and forth a few minutes with me finally saying, "You really expect me to change the way I'm doing this because YOU have a problem with it? That's BULLSHIT, Tia!" Needless to say some of that was heard in the store, just outside the kennel area.
I went outside to cool down and have a smoke, while she went crying to anyone who would listen near the registers... Sulking and pouting, the two things she does best. But I'm amazed, she's so good at it. And you know, I can laugh about it all five minutes later, just as I'm laughing now... but there's a down side. I'm just hoping she wasn't tempted to take her anger out on any of the animals, after I left for the day.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Et tu, SPCA?

This story ran in the Inquirer today, an update on the unfortunate fiasco that took place at a local ASPCA... the one that needlessly killed a 14-year-old family pet that was lost during last month's snowstorm.

ASPCA Coverup

I am so glad this woman has decided to press charges against those two individuals responsible. If she hadn't, I would have publicly urged her to take a legal stance. After all, we need to think about who is watching these organizations. I trusted this one in particular not to make such an avoidable blunder. But to cover up your mistake in such a way is unforgivable. Absolutely unforgivable.

I will be watching very closely from now on.

Who's with me on this?

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Last night I fell asleep trying to finish reading The Life of Pi by Yan Martel... I don't suppose the background music from the weather channel helped keep me awake in the least. Lol. I guess I must have really been out, Robert said he couldn't wake me.
Anyway, I finished the book this morning, there wasn't that much left. This is a strange one... It kind of ends too abruptly. I really hate when that happens. I'd have to say I'm not all that impressed with the book. Too many unanswered questions.

We've had a total of 10 new dogs in this week. Still no cats. And I'm really hoping the Doc came last night to clear them all, cause there's one or two that really need the attention and freedom to run the length of the kennel. Especially the new Siberian Husky, who's been so scared the last few days that all he does is find something to crawl under and cry. Beautiful dog.. blue-eyed. I think he's gonna go home with someone really quick, once he's in the window.
Still missing the St. Bernard who went home the other evening. Good thing I got pictures before she was sold... and the Corgi.. oh, the Corgi. He's been there at least three weeks now, and soo dominantly hyper. And nippy. We've been working on addressing his alpha issues, lol. The trick now is to effectively address Tia's alpha issues, double-lol. (cough, cough... did I actually say that out loud?)

Movies. I strongly recommend Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Awesome. We picked up the DVD last Tuesday when it came out and watched it that night. I haven't yet read The Half-Blood Prince, but I plan to soon. Although the big revelation in that book was completely ruined by someone I know on Xanga, (Curses to Nick Pick, btw) I still plan to read it. I just know that when the next one comes out, I'm absolutely staying away from blogs in general until I finish reading the book. That way there will be no surprise spoilers. Ha!

Monday, March 06, 2006

Ok here's an update that doesn't include a link to some upsetting animal abuse story...

I watched (part of) the Academy Awards last night, and I have a few questions.

Did John Stewart make any new enemies in Hollywood? Nah, who cares?

What was wrong with Lauren Bacall? Was she having a stroke or was it just trouble with the teleprompter? There was a lot of hesitation in her intro about film noir last nignt... What was up with that?

Why did I fall asleep in the middle of the award for best film editing? As a result I missed what movie won for Best Picture... Oh I know NOW it was Crash, but dammit I'm always falling asleep trying to watch something when its on late like that, lol.

I'm really glad Phillip Seymore Hoffman won for best actor... I've been wanting to see Capote, and judging from the clips, he's done a really convincing job.

I suppose now, I'm gonna have to see Crash too, but at the moment I'm more anxious to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, or the Corpse Bride, since they're both coming out on DVD next week.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Its funny how you can go into the same place for months and not really know much about the people you work with everyday... Until now I never knew what voracious readers this crowd at the pet shop was. Anything from the new Stephen King (Cell) to Dan Brown. Btw, one of my co-workers was extremely disappointed by the ending of Cell. And a few others I work with are reading Angels and Demons (Dan Brown) after reading his DaVinci Code. I haven't read this one yet, been waiting for it to come out in paperback, but I gave them a good review on what they're currently reading. I read it last year, and it was really amazing. It seemed like the timing was a little spooky, what with all the Pope business, John Paul dying and selecting Benedict as the replacement.

We are due for a major ice storm here in south Jersey sometime this morning. And here everyone was hoping for an early Spring... Its not happening yet, folks! Some of the worst ice storms I've seen have happened in March. Granted it was in the midwest and not here, but it pulled down wires, tree limbs, knocked out power for weeks. KCP&L couldn't keep up with all the locations. Therefore - a lot of angry residents. That's not even considering how hard it was to get around, cause the streets were accidents waiting to happen. Oh... I'm not looking forward to this at all. They keep saying its on the way but it probably won't be here till the afternoon... Who knows?

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

In this photo provided by the Edgewater Police Dept., a 3-week-old Pekingese puppy is shown Friday, Feb. 24, 2006, at the Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital in Edgewater, Colo. The puppy that two teenagers allegedly were using as a football died Saturday morning, Feb. 25, 2006, according to Jamie Petsitis, a spokeswoman at Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital. Police operations Cmdr. Mike Marchese said the teens could face a felony charge of animal abuse. (AP Photo/Edgewater Police Department, Mike Marchese)

There's a little more to this story, which can be found at PetAbuse.com
According to police, the woman who brought the puppy to the vet seemed to be using her story as a cover to protect herself. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she had something to do with this puppy's death.

No understatement here: I certainly have unresolved pet abuse issues... more so with every case I see on the news or the web. I say unresolved because most of these cases are unresolved. Either that or the charges are dismissed because someone takes back their story, or somewhere it says that such a crime doesn't deserve punishment. I'd even go so far as to say I'd like to see some kind of "Boondock Saint" organization to go after these abusers.... Yeah, that's the ticket. Boondock Patron Saints of Abused Pets. God knows the justice system has been found wanting when it comes to these cases. There are loopholes everywhere, and I've found my patience has been wearing thinner with each story that comes across the page.

Anybody out there feel the same way I do about this?