From the category archives:
Snickers is definitely LOVING being back in an urban environment. He enjoyed the big yard and the big parks we went to in Indiana, but mostly I think he was almost as bored as I was. When he went outside he would check the fence perimeter and then settle on his park bench and wait [click to continue reading...]
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Luckily, I don’t have to say it’s been many years since I was here.
Last summer I decided, rather suddenly, to take a A Four Year Vacation from NYC. I quit my job, packed my stuff, wrote about What I Will Miss About NYC and What I Will NOT Miss About NYC, loaded up the U-Haul [click to continue reading...]
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My last few days in NYC were busy and stressful and difficult, but also amazing and illuminating. I spent several days feeling loved, appreciated and valued.
Wednesday, the 23rd, my boss took me and some coworkers out to dinner.. FOR ME. Since I expect Japanese food to be something I will desperately miss, we [click to continue reading...]
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Men peeing in public
The smell of subway station stairways on a hot, summer day
Movie sets. Freaking movie people filming “on location” and getting in the way of real life
Getting parking tickets outside my apartment whenever I rent a car
Noise, noise, and more noise. Construction noise. 18-wheel truck noise.
Making sure Snick dodges vomit on the [click to continue reading...]
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Most of all… my friends, of course: work friends, Shiba friends, neighborhood friends, miscellaneous friends
Meeting random new, interesting people at least once a week when I’m out with Snickers. I doubt that many people are out and about at 11pm in the suburbs of Indianapolis.
The not so random, wonderful people I get to meet during [click to continue reading...]
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At least that is how I am thinking of it. Let’s please not call it “leaving NYC.”
<sigh>
I moved here 21 years ago, still a teenager and totally in awe of everything around me. I made the mistake of leaving in 1991 and spent the next few years desperately trying to find my way home from [click to continue reading...]
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hmmmm… How can there be a show with that name and it not be about Snickers???
And apropos to absolutely nothing, I just had to find an NYPD officer to haul the big, drunk guy off my front step so I could get inside with the dogs at the end of our walk. Best [click to continue reading...]
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I can… which explains a lot about why I have been working for the same firm for five years. When I was younger, my average tenure at a job was about 18 months. That is roughly how long it takes for me to learn, master, and become bored with a job. The first place I [click to continue reading...]
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Late Sunday night – after midnight – has always been one of my favorite times to walk Snickers. Other than Christmas Day or in the middle of a blizzard, this is the quietest time to go for a walk in my neighborhood. Last night, Snick and I were enjoying a quiet minute on “rat plaza” [click to continue reading...]
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Fat people meandering along on the sidewalk bother me.
Umbrellas in my face really bother me.
But, FAT PEOPLE WITH UMBRELLAS???
AUGH!
Edit after the fact: I’m not talking about any and every overweight person and I shouldn’t have written the post the way I did, but since I don’t normally believe in editing or deleting my posts… I’m [click to continue reading...]
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Our Shiba meetup group was founded on June 15, 2006. Our first meetup was scheduled for June 24, 2006, but was rained out and took place on July 1, 2006. We had a really nice turnout for a group that had only been around for two weeks… 14 people! The group got off to a [click to continue reading...]
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The NYC Shiba Inus present “The Canine Cocktail Pawty” to benefit Animal Haven SoHo. The first Canine Cocktail Pawty was such a hit, that these mischevious dogs have decided to do it again. We’ll be getting together for drinks, hors d’ouvres, off-leash play time, and a raffle.
What: Cocktails and Hors d’ouvres
Who: All the coolest dogs [click to continue reading...]
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NYC Shiba Rescue has been around for less than a month and we just took in our third foster dog, Sabrina. Surely there won’t always be so many…?
Finding foster homes – and then adoptive homes – at this rate is practically a full time job. And, in case you don’t know, I already HAVE a [click to continue reading...]
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So, I’m supposed to be on vacation this week. All I’ve done is work. It’s good though. It’s (1) getting a bunch of past due hanging-over-my-head freelance stuff done and (2) doggie rescue stuff. What have I been up to since my last post? Well, let’s see.
Mon, April 2:
Snick and I slept late and then [click to continue reading...]
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I’ve been busy. OK? Just busy, that’s all. Here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to since my pre-cocktail pawty post.
March 18, 19, 20:
Scrambled furiously to complete preparations for the pawty.
Tues, March 20:
Made contact with a blogger in Georgia that posted about dumping her 4 year old Shiba at the pound. Made contact [click to continue reading...]
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Yes, I am certifiably insane.
People ask me sometimes how I deal with the whole single mom with two dogs and two jobs thing all whilst living in midtown Manhattan. I usually shrug and go “eh, it’s not so bad,” meanwhile knowing it probably isn’t normal that I (1) almost never sleep more than 6 hours [click to continue reading...]
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What good is having a blog if you can’t use it to promote your favorite causes???
What: Cocktails and Hors d’ouvres
When: 7pm, Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Why: to raise money for Animal Haven
Where: Animal Haven SoHo
For more information and to purchase tickets online (before March 12), please visit caninecocktailpawty.com.
Miss ~T~, Snickers, Secret and I are looking forward [click to continue reading...]
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A couple weeks ago, the NYC Shiba Inus and their Human Companions (that’s our Meetup Group name), held its first inter-breed meetup. We got together with The Beagle Pack. There were about about 40 dogs there and they had a blast. This video was posted by a Shiba meetup member today and the choice of [click to continue reading...]
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The NYC Shiba Inus are throwing a party! A fund raiser to be exact. Shibas may be a stubborn bunch, but they’re generous to their friends and our Shibas have decided to raise money for one of their favorite places… Animal Haven. Let’s help Animal Haven raise the money they need to finish their Soho [click to continue reading...]
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Those of you outside NYC probably don’t realize there is a RAGING debate going on here about off-leash time in the city parks. Even so, I think any dog person can appreciate this Op Ed in the Times today. I’ve said for years that having dogs somehow makes us more human…
Op-Ed Contributor
My Life as a [click to continue reading...]
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Miss ~T~ and I went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for the first time last month. A friend that lives in Brooklyn invited us out to visit the Garden and have dinner w/her in Park Slope. We almost never venture into the boros unless we’re headed to the airport, but we make exceptions for friends. [click to continue reading...]
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I have a lot to be thankful for, but this is not a long, sappy post listing all those things. This is just to say that I really love my friends and I’m so happy to finally be living in the version of New York City that I was headed for when I left the [click to continue reading...]
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subtitled Bye Bye (for now) to Benedict and Kaos
Benedict and Kaos have a 3pm flight out of LGA to Miami. TODAY. They’re getting out of here before it gets cold again!!! I’m so happy for them. They were sleeping in various places (like ATM vestibules) that couple weeks when it was so cold. The cops [click to continue reading...]
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If you live in the city and you don’t go to the flea market, you don’t know what you are missing. You really should check it out.
First, there is Chuck. He makes benches, stools, and desks from reclaimed wood and they are incredible. I bought one – custom made to the size I needed and [click to continue reading...]
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Periodically, on my way to work, I see a woman walking two older dogs, I think one is a Yorkie and the other, a Maltese. I don’t know how often I pass her – maybe not so often – but periodically for over 3 1/2 years is enough to have a sense of recognition. I [click to continue reading...]
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Fighter planes are coming to watch over us and everything. “Just in case.” It’s very surreal.
Thank god it was small.
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Sorry it has taken a week to get around to writing this post. I’m working too much and sleeping too little. I think my brain is too tired for anything coherent, so I’ll just bullet point the vet visit and what I learned about Benedict last Saturday. K? K.
The vet said Kaos is quite healthy [click to continue reading...]
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I’m porting the blog to WordPress and redesigning the templates sometime in the next couple months. Fun fun.
I received some photos last week from a high school reunion that was held this summer. (I’ve never made it home for one.) I’m sad to say I only managed to recognize 4 people out of about 40.
WATER, [click to continue reading...]
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First, it turns out that Benedict spells her name Kaos and it’s not just a cute misspelling. It’s an acronym! Kicks Ass On Spot, which is just that much cuter to me really because she’s such a sweet dog.
Secondly, here are a couple pictures of the two of them. Click to embiggen, as Lachlan would [click to continue reading...]
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Best. Lunch Break. Ever.
A (gay, male) coworker alerted me to the existence of National Underwear Day this morning. He and I made a lunch date and strolled the few blocks to Times Square to get our ogle on. As we were leaving, I thought “oh… blog. photos. cell phone. duh!” Unfortunately, my res was set [click to continue reading...]
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No no, not a yurt shaped like a pentagon!
This morning I was thinking about yurts again. (For those of you that are relatively new to my blog, I do that occasionally.) The new train of thought started at the dog run a few evenings ago. An acquaintance was talking about buying land upstate and building [click to continue reading...]
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This was a recent IM conversation with a friend of mine. A few mingled side conversations have been erased to protect the not-so-innocent.
me: I’m thinking again of moving. I realize more and more that the things I do now are not unique to NYC like they used to be. I am paying a fortune to [click to continue reading...]
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There’s a battle going on in NYC regarding off-leash time in the parks. The Parks Dept. allows dogs to be off-leash in many large public parks (that don’t have dog runs) before 9:00 AM and after 9:00 PM. (Sadly, as any fellow Shiba owned will tell you, I can not take advantage of this cool [click to continue reading...]
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~T~ is in town for the week between visiting her grandparents most of the summer and going to visit her dad for a couple weeks, so I took today and tomorrow off work to hang with her. We’d just come home this afternoon after manicures and pedicures and I was checking my email before dashing [click to continue reading...]
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I just got spit on. On purpose. By a bum in the street. Across at least SIX FEET of sidewalk that was between him and me.
When I looked back, he looked very self-satisfied. You’ll all be VERY proud of me though. I managed to hold my tongue. I walked away and looked for a cop. [click to continue reading...]
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Snickers and I met a homeless man this weekend named Benedict. He has a 6 month old puppy named Chaos. Chaos is one well-kept, good looking dog and she is clearly devoted to Benedict.
He said he took her from a man that was training her for the dog fights. (For those of you that don’t [click to continue reading...]
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A fellow New York dog owner, Amanda Soto (and her dog Butch, of course), started a group on Dogster recently called "NYC – Let me get on that train!" It did not take long for that group to start growing!
Long story short, discussion was had and then Amanda did a lot of work to [click to continue reading...]
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I couldn’t resist. There were so many people on meetup waiting to see if someone would start one, that I finally joined meetup.com and started a NYC Shiba group. For any NYC Shiba folks out there, check it out and join if you’re interested: http://shibainu.meetup.com/101/
The first meetup is scheduled for June 24th at 11:00 AM [click to continue reading...]
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I work on Fifth right by 42nd. Even though we’re on the 27th floor of our building, we can hear the bagpipes on St. Pat’s morning before the parade. I make a point not to go outside any time there is a parade or event on Fifth, so I haven’t been out since I got [click to continue reading...]
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I don’t normally like to walk Snickers around Times Square, but he tries to take me that way 2 or 3 times a week for some reason. If he pulls that way on a Sunday night, I will relent. It’s really quite empty and quiet late Sunday night. So, yes, Snick and I walked through [click to continue reading...]
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Tonight, Snickers got to do something only country dogs usually get to do. He trotted proudly home with a prize held carefully between his teeth.
He didn’t exactly hunt this down and kill it, but he certainly proved himself to be capable of procurring dinner.
We were outside for our bedtime walk. As we were walking north [click to continue reading...]
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AUGH! NYC is COVERED in snow and it’s WONDERFUL!!! Snick and I spent almost two hours outside this morning running around and diving through snow drifts. We finally made it to the dog run and there were other dogs there and Snick had SO MUCH FUN running around playing chase in the snow. He’s a [click to continue reading...]
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A list of things I never seem to have time enough to do:
Chilling with ~T~
Chilling with any of the many books I own and haven’t yet read
Talking with my Daddy
Networking with clients and colleagues
Helping ~T~ with her homework
Playing pool with my good buddy Mark
Writing the posts that belong in my Philosophy category
Training Snickers
Keeping my apartment [click to continue reading...]
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Started this entry on January 1 and then forgot about it… It seemed fitting to complete and post it now. Now that I’m thinking of leaving.
I had New Years Day brunch with my friend Mary earlier today. Both of us spent time outside the city during the holidays. We have also both lived in other [click to continue reading...]
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My lease renewal came last week. 1 year? 2 years? Move? We’ve been in this apartment for almost 3 years. It’s very small, but it’s cozy. We have everything pretty much the way we want it. We’re happy here. It’s convenient AND the rent will still be reasonable even with a two year renewal.
On the [click to continue reading...]
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When I went out to walk Snick Dog this morning, the streets were practically empty due to the heavy restrictions on driving into the city during the strike. I have to say it was NICE NICE NICE to not be dodging the idiot B&T drivers while attempting to walk through my own neighborhood.
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I’ve recently started reading this great journal about the shelter/rescue/foster/adoption situation in NYC. It really makes you think about how irresponsible society is in regards to the well being of our pets.
It’s also made me guiltily think “I would help if I could,” which JUST ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH. I’m afraid I can’t foster in my [click to continue reading...]
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Wow. That was wonderful. My mini me and I just got home from seeing A Soldier’s Play at Second Stage. All I can say is that it was just wonderful. Everyone in it was fabulous. The audience was so caught up in it that you could hear collective sighs, gasps, and clucks at all the [click to continue reading...]
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I wanted so badly to see A Soldier’s Play when I first read about it last month. I kept checking for tickets and checking for tickets and there were never any decent seats available. Well… it was extended and I just checked for tix and found TWO GOOD SEATS! For tomorrow night! Woohoo. Me and [click to continue reading...]
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…99% of the time you call for takeout in the city, whoever answers the phone has to run get the only person (or one of very few people anyway) who actually speaks English to take your order.
Why did they answer the phone? Did they think it might be someone who (1) called the takeout place [click to continue reading...]
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I just ran across this post re: tourists to our fair city. Well said!!! I’m tempted to print it out and hand it to tourists on the street. I’m always tripping over them anyway, so jamming a paper in their hand wouldn’t require any extra effort.
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Snapped w/mobile phone on a Saturday afternoon in the New York City Subway. Is he the Son of the Count? Grandson maybe? How old is the Count anyway?
(pic of Count lifted borrowed from Muppet Central.)
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Photo Friday Challenge: Darkness
Taken in NYC, August 2004
(and not at all retouched or colored, as I would have no idea how to do something like that)
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T and I have periodically discussed and updated our evacuation plan over the years, so when we got Snickers in January 2004, he became part of the plan. (Darn, I keep meaning to buy a doggie backpack for him; I should do that right now.)
Anyway… we’ve always known most shelters won’t allow dogs and we’d [click to continue reading...]
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Everyone asks why I didn’t kick the guy back. I HAD TO CHECK ON SNICKERS. By the time I knew he was OK (perfectly fine, just a bit befuddled), the jerk was almost a block away.
Besides, all that really mattered to me was taking Snick home and giving him lots of extra snuggly love.
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Who goes to someone else’s city and kicks their dog??? Apparently, American tourists do.
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Everyone keeps asking where I’m going this weekend. GOING? Why would I go anywhere??? Long, holiday weekends are the BEST time to stay home. Everyone else leaves. The neighborhood isn’t so crowded. It rocks! Honestly.
Oh, and PS, if you are reading this from somewhere other than NYC, please do not take this as an invitation [click to continue reading...]
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It’s been so hot and muggy here for the past week. I was sitting at the dog run (where else?) with my friend lulu the other day and she was telling me what a hard time she’d had getting motivated that morning. She said she "felt like a slug on heroin." That struck me as [click to continue reading...]
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Every time I think I’ve gotten over feeling like we’re under attack when I hear a loud noise, something happens to change all that. Again.
Tonight, my daughter and I had just walked into our apartment when we heard an explosion. I ran to the window and saw people standing in the street staring down 8th [click to continue reading...]
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Otherwise titled “The One that Got Away”
As my daughter and I were leaving home to walk the dog this evening, she (my daughter, not the dog) grabbed the camera. Even with the camera along though, taking pictures was the last thing on my mind. After we’d been out for about a half hour, I hear [click to continue reading...]
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With the RNC in town, I’ve been confronted with my minority status more than a few times in the past week or two. What minority status, you may ask? Heh. I may be a WASP, but – even with the GOP in town – Republicans are a minority on the west side of Manhattan. Supposedly, [click to continue reading...]
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Now that I _HAVE_ the photoblog, that should sufficiently motivate me to carry the camera around more often. Luckily, I have a few other photos from Saturday to post in the meantime!
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