No internet for a week?!

Our cable and internet have been down now since Sunday. I can go without cable, we only have a few channels anyways. But, loosing internet is like loosing a limb! Rachel called and scheduled a repair for today. Although I was not excited about the 4 hour timeblock that I had to be home for, I was very much anticipating the return of internet signal. Apparently my expectations were too high...

The cable guy was there for over an hour trying to figure out what was wrong. Side note: this completely freaked out Domino of course. He tried to shove his 100+ pound body under our bed numerous times! He came back in to say that the cable line was ruined and would need to be reburied.....sometime within the next week! Being pessimistically suspicious, I asked what he thought happened to it. He said that it went around our neighbors part of the house and was both intertwined with all their crap behind the house and had been dug up and chewed by their dog...as I suspected. He gave me an apologetic look and said we would be called with a more definite date.

I HATE OUR NEIGHBORS!!!
This is what the back of their portion of the house looks like;

So, the cable line is underneath and tangled between this junk yard! Plus, their poor little chihuahua is tied up on the side of the house all day long. Of course she chews on cable lines and breaks free to roam around. (Something else she does that bothers me because I know I am going to come home someday to see her dead in the street!)

I hate them! They sit home all day doing nothing with their lives aside from impeding on ours. I am a busy grad student and I need internet!! Not to mention, we pay $62 a month to have it!

So, that is my rant session. I am currently sitting in the library "quiet zone" (dont get me started on loud libraries!) waiting for an email from my professor and listening to 2 teenage boys gossip about their myspace. I am frustrated.

Photohunt: Twisted

I spent my week searching for a 30 hour day...

...to no avail! So, Ive been busy and stressed, and absent. class has started again and I am in my final year of coursework for my doctoral degree (mini celebration for me!!), so needless to say, Its going to be a busy year.
Class. Practicum. Reports. Assessments. Dissertation! Internship applications. Papers. Study. Study. Read. Study. And Read.
Thats my life, who is jealous?! Anyways, I just thought I would share where I have been. I will get back here, I promise!

Photohunt: Upside-down

Melly Belly is so cute!!

Furry Friday

I'm going to talk about other people's pets on this furry friday. I do pet sitting as a pseudo-part time job right now and this, even more than working in vet clinics, has made me realize that there are some funny pets out there...and some even funnier owners!
(all names are made up by the way, gotta maintain the anonymity of these kids!)

Marty, Matt, and Gill: These guys rock! They have so much personality that I think they may be comedians in furry form :) Gill is a chubby cat who morphs into a pirrhana at dinner time. He actually needs to be removed from the rest of the food bowls or he will dive in with no regard for the other teeth that are in the way. Matt is a oversized cat who acts like a human. He is bigger than most small breed dogs that I have seen and "talks" like crazy. Marty is the dog of the family and is a wonderful sweetheart!

(Not Oliver, just an example of the cart!)

Oliver: This one is a doosy! He is a really old dog that is past his due date! He "walks" with a cart and needs to take breaks to cough up some phlem about ever 5 steps or so. He wears diapers because he has "lost function" but I think he really just likes people wiping his butt for him! Although it sounds pretty funny, its actually very sad. It is my firm belief that we are given a gift through the ability to euthanize our pets and that we should have the strength to be able to pass that gift on to them when it is time.

Carrie and Gaston: If ever anyone has a fear or hatred of pitbulls, they need to meet these 2. Carrie is the sweetest girl ever, although quite a bed hog. Gaston is like a 5 year old boy who needs his Ritalin! He actually has a treadmill in the house just for him! They are 2 beautiful, rescued pits who I absolutely love!

(again, not him, just showing how darn cute they are!)

Dobby: This guy is the epitome of a lack of stranger danger! He is an adorable italian greyhound who thinks that the world is his best friend. He slept inbetween my legs within 10 minutes of meeting me. For anyone who has never seen an italian greyhound, they are basically miniture versions of a greyhound and they look (and are sometimes) very fragile! Picture that, now try sleeping with one tucked under your arm, in bed, under the covers! Adorable, but slightly anxiety provoking :)

 

I love meeting animals and being witness to their amazing personalities. We have to thank the brave scientists out there like Jane Goodall who broke through the absurd belief that animals have no emotions. Spend 5 minutes with one and it is readily apparent that they are emotional beings with distinct personalities. What would the world be without our furry friends for love and entertainment?!

When opposites collide!

*Friday update: Apparently this guy got hauled away in handcuffs a few hours later.....ahh, karma! :)

My school is little, its a private graduate school, not a big univeristy so there are significantly fewer students. I love this because there is good communicaiton between professors and students. It like a little community and it is a wonderful way to foster growth.

Of course though, there are downfalls to this. The main one being our facilities. We have 1 floor of a building that is mainly filled with students from the Art Institute. Aparently they don't have enough room in their 2 buildings, so occasionally they have classes on our floor. This may not seem like a big deal, but it really really is! We have completely different atmospheres and they should not intersect.

Our floor: We are respectful of our graduate student status within a professional atmosphere. Most people are dressed fairly nice and conservative. We are quiet, it is an unwritten rule that our computer lab is quiet so people can do their assignments or research. Our classes are always on time and we respect our professors and fellow students. Basically, it is just a professional atmosphere filled with very hardworking students.

Their floors: Very loud! I rarely go to the library because it literally sounds like a busy coffee house with everyone gossiping about last night's party and not a single soul reading or studying! This is really a shame too, bucause the library has a beautiful view looking over the waterfront and mountains...and I never get to use it except for the few days that they have a longer break than us, during which I fully enjoy the silent library! Students are usually walking around on their cell phones. Plenty of the clothes are either costumy or trashy. Basically, it is the polar opposite of our floor.

Aside from my longing for the library and the cloud of smoke I have to walk through on the way in the door, this contrast is not a problem to me. I actually enjoy the culture shock at times. But, I hate when they come onto our floor and gossip loudly in our computer lab or stroll arrogantly through our halls. Is distracting and disrespectful in my mind.

Now to the reason for this post. I was sitting in our testing center computer lab today scoring a personality test. I heard a guy in the hall on his phone yelling at someone for calling him while he was in class.
Arrogant little prick: Why are you blowing my phone up?
...
ALP: Im meeting with my teacher and you keep calling my F*&^ing phone! Im talking to my teacher...thats so rude dude.
Me (to the other girl in the lab): Why is his phone even on then?
Her: I know, isnt that rude?!
ALP: I cant meet you now, I came early to talk to my teacher, dude!
...
ALP: Im not bringing you your computer you asshole, Im in class!!
...
ALP: F*#K, Im not doing it, asshole! Dude you are being so retarded (keep in mind, this is a psychology grad school, we do not use that word!)
...
ALP: (at full scream mode now): Send the f*"king cops then, Ill tell them Im meeting with my teacher and you were blowing up my phone, they will see it was f*#king rude! Send them!
...
ALP: no dude, you are a F*"k! Whatever dude, Im gonna be an adult and talk to my teacher...your just a F"*k!!

Me: And that is the difference between an Argosy and an AI student.
other girl: Perfect example!

Seriously, this guy is in school acting like this. He is an adult and he was acting less mature than most kids I know! Oh, and I walked by the room he was in a little while after this and he was playing a game on whoever's computer it was....no teacher in sight!

Its stuff like this that make me appreciate my parents greatly. I was taught respect and how to act in a professional environment. I can have fun, but I know how to act like an adult and when it is appropriate to do so. Obviously a very valuable lesson.....

Baby alpacas!!

Someday.....

.....I will have a real office!

This is currently how I am working on my homework, papers, and dissertation! In my makeshift office in our extra bedroom.
Oh and this is my office chair...classy huh?!

Dont get me wrong, I am grateful to have a space to work at least! I'm just saying that someday when I have a real live office with desks and big comfy chairs, I will look back at this post and fully appreciate it!

A sampling of my favorite commercials on Furry Friday...

...because of course, they are always about animals!

This is just plain adorable!


This is my favorite commercial ever! It makes me want to fly with an emu! :)


Another good WA lottery one. The things we do for our pets....

Back to the grind?....did I ever leave it?!

Class started again and along with it, that constant feeling of urgency and being just behind where I need to be. You know, that feeling like a  

black knot in your stomach 

that is connected to a switch that will not turn off in your brain 

by a tight spiked chain that runs up your spine...

...

yeah that feeling! 

I am not going to miss that when I am finally done with school. There is nothing like working your ass off only to feel perpetually like you are about to miss a deadline or loose a paper or fall off the face of the earth! Bring on the ulcers.....

Wordless Wednesday

An attack on bigots! (lets turn the tables for a minute)

*disclamer: this is a rant in the truest sense but it is important to me and that makes it emotional!*


I read an article in The Stranger on my train ride home today that made me force back tears. For those of you who are not Washingtonians, here is a little back story before I explain the article. Our state presented a law (ref 71) giving domestic partners almost equal rights, basically "everything but marriage." A religious group formed a petition to get enough signitures to be able to put it (ref 71) on the ballot in November. Basically this is a repeat of prop 8 in California but with a domestic partnership law rather than actual marriage.


Ok, now for this article. It was ruled that the contributors of this referendum had to remain public, so The Stranger decided to utilize that. The author called up some of the backers of the ref 71 vote and asked them why they were against the domestic partnership law, here is a sampling of what they said. Im calling them by their names as well just because the comments are too stupid to be hidden behind anonymity!


James McFadden stated that although he is backing it, it is really a lost cause because "gay marriage is going to happen" in "pro-gay and very liberal" Seattle. Ok, gotta love an optimist (sense the sarcasm please)! He then stated that he is against gay marriage though because he has "seen people with perferated anuses and they end up with a colostomy bag." Ok James, you lost me there. For starters, anal sex is not a direct synonym to domestic partnership! There are pleanty of straight couples who have anal sex, plus even if us gays are not allowed a stitch of civil rights, there is still going to be anal sex going on in all forms of relationships, legal or not! Why is this guy worried about anyone's anus but his own?...odd


Carrie Vasko had some very weird ramblings that I didn't follow. She did pull out the gay teacher card though saying that "school is there to push math and science, not to push these personal agendas." Because yes Carrie, our entire life mission is to convert as many young vulnerable children as possible...bring on the toaster ovens!! (again, sarcasm please!)


Esther Mayoh (hows that for a name?!) said her main reason for being against ref 71 was that she "didnt want our state to leagalize sodomy." Here we go with the anal sex again! Yeesh people, is that the only thing you can come up with?! She passed the petition around to what sounds like quite a few people, but admited that she didn't read it! How very responsible of her. She also referenced a few family members who were "involved in that lifestyle" but are not anymore. Here is a hint Esther; they are very likely still gay, they are just lying to your bigitrous ass about it!!


And on to my personal favorite, Paul Henry, the biggest misinformed, judgemental idiot of them all! His entire belief system on this issue seems to be built on his idea of gays being basically comprable to rats. He stated that gays (I hate the use of the term "gays" by the way, its just a way to distance yourself from someone you are uncomfortable with!) are "even more than gross. I think they are major incubators of a lot of the bacteria. It is common for homosexuals to have hundreds of different sexual experiences with people...There are bacteria that are called 'gay-related syndrom' or something, but it is not healthy. And by using lots of antibiotics against them, the antibiotics are no longer usable because they don't work." What the fuck?! (excuse my language, but that deserves the F word!) Seriously, where does this stuff come from? I was unaware that my monogomous, loving, respectful relationship was crawling with bacteria simply because it is with a girl! They really should have put that in the manual when we joined this cult!


Why did this article make me cry, you ask? I have so much invested in gaining equal rights. It potentially affects my right to see my girlfriend in the hospital, our ability to raise children someday, our financial stability within our relationship, insurance, wills, and the list goes on and on...

I am being told that these basic human rights are being taken away from me on the basis of "sodomy" and some odd bacteria that dosen't even exist?! This is my life, stay the hell out of it! Giving us the right to legally be in our relationship does not affect anyone outside of it! I am appaled that anyone outside of my commited relationship finds it to be their right to take away any of ours. We are not "incubators of bacteria" who all sleep with hundreds of people. We are simply 2 people in love who have commited themselves to eachother in a very normal relationship.


Shame on you Paul, Esther, James and Carrie for placing your assumptions on my life! Keep your bigotry to yourself, talk about how horrible we are with your equally ignorant friends if that makes you feel superior, but do not impose it on a society that is working to include us. We are not asking for you to be gay or even to be accepting of us. I could not care less if you liked me, I do my best to exclude bigotry from my life. We are simply asking that you just stay out of an issue that does not affect you in the slightest way. We only want the basic human rights that you are allowed. And you are given these rights no matter the status of your marital relationship. Nobody comes into your bedroom to inspect for "sodomy" or "bacteria" because that is ridiculous, it has no merit on the ability to legally be in your relationship, so why are you placing it on mine?

"My love is just as real as yours..."

Ok, I am done...I am stepping off of my soap box that should not have to exist.

Brandi Carlile is awesome!

We went to a Brandi show on Sunday and it was amazing! It was in a small venue so it was intimate and cozy. It started out with an open mic which introduced us to 2 new singer/songwritters (Branduin Stroud and Melissa Harper) who I truly hope are able to form careers because they were really great.

Now for Brandi... She sang a lot of older songs and covers because it was all audience request. She has a great voice and covers old soulfull country songs beautifully. Of course she sang her staples; couldn't go without watching my girl belt out The Story! She sat down before the concert part to answer questions about her new cd coming out, Giving up the Ghost so that was fun. Plus, afterwards she signed autographs during a "meet and greet" and I was less than a foot away from her (picture me glowing)!!

The best part (ok, second best...nothing beats Brandi!) was that it was all for her charity, the Looking Out Foundation. She is great, but not overly famous (yet!). This makes it all the more amazing that she is so dedicated to giving back to others. You can just tell that she dosen't do it for notoriety, she honestly cares. She is very down to earth and you can always sense that in her concerts with their comfortable atmosphere. She always mentions her family and often sings with her mom or sister.

Basically, it was great! Go see her if you get a chance. Her music is so amazingly emotional and it is a great experience to be able to see that in her performances. She loves her music and feels it in a way that resonates through the crowd. I love music with emotion and she epitomizes that.

Plus, I just freaking love her!! ; )

Photohunt: Orange

I decided to stray away from an actual orange! The orange pen in a box of highlighters just stuck out to me...

Money sucks!!

Just thought I would share....grad school is killing me! Someday it will all be worth it, right?

Sorry about the crappy fuzzy picture!

Dog park entertainment

I am going to focus my 2nd "furry friday" on the unique experience of a dog park. Although we hate the area that we live in because it is south of Seattle and too far from everything, we love that it is surrounded by great little hidden dog parks!

The not-actually-a-dog park

This one is the best by far! It is 130 acres of trails, open patches, and beautiful wooded areas surrounding a cute little lake. There are 2 openings to the lake; 1 has an awesome dock for dogs to play around and the other is more secluded which is nice when Domino is being a bit too crazy for public.

This isn't supposed to be an off-leash park, there are signs clearly stating that. But, I have never been there without seeing much more people with dog than not. So, it's "unofficial" and until they start fining, Domino is running free!

The advertisement park

This park is a feed, tack, and pet supply store's attempt at drawing in customers...and it works. They have 2 fenced areas in front of their store for off-leash fun. This is great for socializing Domino (he really needs it) and for good tiring dog play time. The problem with this one; it is cliquey! There is an after work crew that stands in the middle of it regulating the activity. It feels like high school gym class when all I really want to do is watch my dog play like a big goon with other pups.

The new park

This one we just found yesterday. It is just a big fenced in rectangle out in the middle of a human park/trail area. It is huge so it is good for running and great for sitting on the opposite end if you just want some silence! It pretty far away though, it takes about 20 min to drive to while the others take 5.

The people:

For those of you who have never been to a dog park, I thought I would share a little bit of the personality types. It can be pretty interesting! Even if you don't have a dog, you should borrow someone's (mine is up for grabs!!) and just sit and observe...pretty funny!

The queen bee:

I say queen, because it usually is a woman...odd. She "owns" the park and she lets you know it by giving details of every dog there. "Oh that’s Buggy, he is really nice," "Scooter doesn’t like the water..oh look at him swimming, that’s weird." The advertisement park has one of these who makes me want to cover my ears with poop bags! Her commentary on the dogs could probably be heard from Oregon! This dog park personality is the reason I will drive the extra 15 minutes to be able to sit on the quiet end of the new park.

The oblivious owner:
This is the person who has a really aggressive, slobbery, humping, jumpy, or otherwise intrusive dog but has absolutely no idea. They say things like "he isn't mean, he is just saying hi" as their dog is lunging at your dog with teeth barred. The advertisement park has one of these people who actually leaves her dog in the park to hump everyone while she shops!

The overprotective owner:

This person is the opposite of the oblivious owner. They follow their dog around analyzing every move. "She has 1 hair up on her back, maybe you should grab your dog" or "do you have to poop yet fluffy, are you thirsty honey the water is over here...oh no! it’s dirty, let’s grab more." I have to say, I prefer this person over most other personalities, but if you are this concerned with every little movement maybe your back yard is a better place for you. Less chance of you getting an ulcer over the play patterns of your dog.

The wallflower owner:

This is the person who is quiet and stays on the sidelines while the dogs play. This is me! I sit on the bench and watch Domino play. Ill get up if he poops obviously or if he needs some encouragement to get in the mess and play with the other dogs. Otherwise, I sit and mind my own business. This is why I like the not-actually-a-dog park, it is open spaces and I can keep walking if I don’t want to join a clique that is forming. Call me antisocial or weird if you want but when I am at a dog park I just want to be with my dog. I like talking to people, but no, I do not want to band together against that owner that doesn’t like brown dogs or whatever you are recruiting for. I just want to walk with my dog!

Dog park inevitibles:
You will be asked what your dog is...even if you have told that person multiple times and they have said "oh my cousin has a dog like that, he likes to (insert quirky dog trait here)"

You will be told some funny story that makes that person's dog the best dog in the entire world! "Fudgie brings me my slippers in the bathroom, can you believe it?!"

You will be glared at by someone at some point in time for some "horrendous" thing your dog did. Domino once pooped at the advertisement park in the middle of a group of dogs who were sniffing him and one of the owners said "that dog is pooping" with great disdain in her voice. He is a dog and that is what they do! I was on my way over with poop bag in hand while she gave me a look of disgust.

You will get slobbered on, leg humped, ran over, and jumped on with muddy paws. But that is the best part! The dogs are the part of the dog park that I love, they make it fun....their owners make it interesting!

Wordless Wednesday