the dog lover - flying henry

an artist named l.a. shepard from ontario canada paints these dog portraits. i think they're spectacular. and her story is particularly moving:

I have been a full time artist, specializing in animal portraiture, since my husband was diagnosed with brain cancer in July 2006. Since he could no longer work, we had to close our wholesale business. At 54 , I needed to find a way to support our family and take care of him 24/7. Luckily, I had my art ability to fall back on, and I have been painting diligently ever since.

this one is especially funny because my furry brother henry looks just like this but refuses to go outside in the snow. my dad shovels him a path in the backyard to do his business.

the dog lover's paintings on etsy: here

congratulations! nacho!

every month or so we get a light magazine full of local asheville coupons. on the back page of the last one was a contest asking you to find "mr. moon" the (asheville tourists single A baseball team's new mascot) hidden in one of the ads inside. email your answer to enter the contest.

nacho doggy found mr. moon and emailed and won the contest!

4 free tickets to mccormick field to see any tourists home game

$25 at outback. tax tip beer not included. 

the contest and the coupon book were done by tim at muse graphics, and to him nachodoggy say 'gracias amigo!'

doggy bunk bed

native area

some parts of the grove park inn golf course are marked with this sign: native area.

as opposed to what?

settler's area?

are they talking about going native like my brother and i did at lion country safari in 1984?

lazy logos

the washington nationals logo looks too much like the walgreens logo.

the amtrak logo looks too much like the bank of america logo.

if you ask me.

july

probably time to switch the calendar from june now that this month is already 1/3 over. yowzas.

i filled this weekend with stuff that white people like.

garage saling, i found 2 70's shirts and a stretch belt that says 'jeans jeans jeans jeans' all over it.

farmers marketing, i got the honey walnut goat cheese and the olive tapenade and the trout jerky.

hiking, i walked with dogs in woods.

eating, i had seared duck breast in blackberry sauce from a strip mall italian restaurant.

drinking, i had white wine out of a box (not bad, tastes like peaches) and tons of peppermint sun tea.

exploring, i drove through an orphanage that has a golf course.

stretching, i did some yoga videos. 'yoga for athletes.' having done no yoga in 10 years, it's coming back slooooowly but feels great. i can totally see how it's addictive, what a rush.

dog-parenting, i yelled at some pups who ruined a salsa celebration by counter-surfing the bag of blue corn chips off the counter. 

all in all, solid A.

the four dogmen of the furpocalypse

one is a dogwoman. (maizey the fluffy golden retriever on the left.)

the more retrivers the merrier!

bus stop removal notice

 

as if a bus stop removal notice weren't ghetto enough, it is affixed with duct tape. way to go asheville transit. 

squirrel tidbits

highlights of this week included:

finding this nut-eating golf-playing squirrel fake-collared sweatshirt at goodwill. he has a rhinestone eye.

going to see a week-old baby. he was probably smaller than this squirrel. the whole time i was there he was sleeping, healthy, and pink.

watching kevin compose an ode to holden on a terrible dented manual typewriter - "The Bowels of Heaven"

ALSO one of the people in the following photo will be doing 5 minutes of stand-up comedy next tuesday july 5 at the magnetic field in asheville's river arts district. (event link here.)

i consider stand up comic to be the scariest job in existence. i would rather change the light bulbs on top of bridges.

happy 4th of july! hope your bombs burst in air.

globular truth & wisdom

"from time to time, the world does change."

i bought a sweet new globe and i love this insert that came with it - so true. and it's a great program replogle is running -- if, no WHEN, the world does change, i can get in touch with them and they will sell me a new globe for 50% off.

i have learned a lot already by studying the globe. i had no idea australia was so far from the UK. opposite side of the earth. must have been hell on those debtors.

also, the pacific ocean is not small. 

do your part!

this was on the ground next to an apartment complex dumpster.

i am the first to agree with "one man's trash is another man's treasure."

i respect the enthusiasm and the sentiment. it's fairly judgy/preachy and greener than thou, however, and i doubt anybody will take heed.

the 'habitat for humanities' bit makes me smile.

pomegranates

it's 6500 miles from chile to asheville. how fresh can they be?