Aberrant Prose

This Year's Reunion Button is a Winner!

Badge-A-Minit is my source for parts to make our annual reunion buttons and I am on their email list. Just before the Oregon reunion last month they sent me an email for a sale they were having which included an invitation to enter their July button contest and a chance to win a $100 gift certificate. “Why not?” I asked myself.

This morning I received an email from Badge-A-Minit announcing the Oregon reunion troll button was selected as THE Hot Button for the month of July!

The button is now featured on the Badge-A-Minit site under “Hot Button Contest” and will be featured in an email to customers plus it may also be featured in their catalog!

Born on the Fourth of July

Robert checked the It’s About Time Kennels site (www.IATkennels.com) today to see if the puppy we had originally expected to get (we sent a deposit to IAT Kennels for a female back in April) had arrived yet. She did! She was born on Wednesday!

How fun that would have been (if we hadn’t found Dakota) to have a puppy born on the same date as our grandson!

Of course it would have been September before we would have been able to bring her home. And as it is, she is only one of two girls in the litter (!) which would have given us less variety to pick from. Plus, I like lots of large spots on my GSPs and as you can see from these pictures of the two girls, there aren’t many at all. It will be fun to see if either or both of these females turn out with the predominant white color like Dakota. For sure we will keep checking back to see how Betsy and Glory’s coloring turns out.

A homeward bound treasure find!

Robert and I spent four days in Yosemite this last week with Kathy, Tim, and Rylan!.

We stayed in a tent cabin, hiked to Vernal Falls, checked out a giant Sequoia grove, went on picnics, saw deer and hoards and hoards of squirrels. We even saw a wolf walking right next to our shuttle bus! We had a wonderful time getting up and close to the inspiring beauty and nature that is everywhere in Yosemite.

On the way home I said to Robert, “We didn’t buy a souvenir of our trip!” Then just two miles further down the road I spotted a metalwork spectacle of dinosaurs, giraffes, elephants, sunflowers, big bugs, horses and more. “Wow, look at that!” I exclaimed to Robert.

He spotted it too saying, “We have got to stop.” We were totally enthralled as we wandered around a huge yard filled with metal creature after metal creature, each unique and well crafted in design and form.

For years I have wanted a giraffe for our living room. I was delighted when Robert asked me, after we admired several styles, if we should buy one. The price was very reasonable and the giraffes were the best we have ever seen. I told him, "Of course, IF we can fit it in our car." They all looked much too big. I was afraid we might just have to leave our treasure find behind.

Somehow the owner (and the creator of all the menagerie delights) and his assistant along with Robert made the giraffe fit in our car. Laying our new acquisition across the backseat and rolling down the window for the giraffe’s head to poke out worked!

I have named our giraffe Sierra, a name associated with Yosemite. She is now our official souvenir of our inspiring and marvelous Yosemite trip. She looks very elegant standing near our fireplace!

Louis and Nola in Metallica music video

What with my Mom starring in a movie, I was reminded of other members in the family who have been involved in similar activities. Over the years, my Uncle Louis and Aunt Nola have been extras in TV shows (Dharma and Greg for one), movies, and yes, even a music video.

Back in 1995-1996, they were part of a Metallica video called "Until It Sleeps." Louis looks like a wizard with his long white beard in his red robe and pointy hat. Nola is the peasant who receives fish.

Below are some images from the music video.

Click here to view video itself.

Agility Ability

Paris won a third place ribbon in her agility class today! Today was graduation day and our trainers, Joy and Laura, for fun, set up a competition course for all the dogs.

Paris actually tied for second place. When there is a tie, according to Joy, it is settled by giving the better prize to the faster dog. Paris wasn’t the faster dog because she is too slow with her sit on the table. BTW the dog Paris tied with is the best performing dog in the class.

Paris might have been second for sure except the trainer, Joy, put her own dog, Tork, into the competition asking one of our classmates, Jody, to run him on the course. Jody found out last week her dog has to give up agility because of a bone malady. Joy’s Tork has been in actual competitions so it was no surprise he took first place today. Since Jody couldn’t run her own dog, winning first place was a good morale booster for her.

At the end of all of our other agility classes, wherein Joy and Laura set up a graduation day competition, Paris and I have pretty much placed last or almost last. It is more my fault than Paris’ though. I have a hard time keeping track of which obstacle to do next. Also, in the past, if I did remember to go the right way, there was usually something Paris could not or would not do.

Today was a straightforward course making it easier for me and for Paris plus she is finally to the point she will pretty much do everything (this is her seventh class after all) she has been taught. Everything includes the A-Frame, tunnel, tire, table, broad jump, dog walk, jumps (at sixteen inches), tunnel with chute, and weave poles (set at six). All she has left to learn is the teeter totter (the dogs just started learning this a few weeks ago and it takes a long time to learn) and the weave poles set at zero.

With today’s success I am looking forward to actually entering her into a real trial!

A Secret Unveiled

Have you ever tried using your camcorder's A/V cable on your iPod to play your iPod video on your TV and were dismayed it didn't work?

Apple decided to purposely shake things up a bit when they built their iPod A/V cable. Before you buy the A/V cable Apple wants to sell you to use on their iPod for exactly this purpose just switch the yellow, red, and white plugs (plugs R Y W to jacks Y W R) using your own camcorder A/V cable and you are good to go!

http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2005/11/18/video-ipod.html?page=2