Gratuitous portrait of two dogs related to my mom's dog

Wilbur's on the left, Miranda's to his right. It's rare that they stand still long enough to pose -- especially Wilbur, who's only 18 months old. They've played nicely this weekend with Juliet, Miranda's mother, who lives with my mother. Seems like a joint human and canine family tree is in order these days.

Pugoween 2009

Made the annual pilgrimage with Kelly, who had never been. Recorded a short video, as usual:



My allergic reaction seemed worse than in past years. Still fighting through it. Pug owners as a group are very sweet but also quite kooky. Don't want to end up a crazy pet person, though I do love pugs and certain cats and can get pretty excited about them.

My life may be about to change dramatically, though I won't get into it now. More information as it's confirmed.

Amen, sister

My prolific blogger friend Sasha recently had the following to say:

People who are all like “I’m really passionate about fitness and health” can’t appreciate how hard it is to be fit and healthy when you are passionate about neither fitness nor health. Also: how do I not keep chocolate sauce in the house?

Don't I know it, except my "chocolate sauce" is non-whole-wheat pasta. Stuff is like crack/heroin/your favorite trivially invoked hardcore drug. In other vaguely nutrition-related news, here's Sasha's adorable dog Leo in a too-large banana costume:

The American way

Coke, a white picket fence, and a miniscule dog. Does anything say "U.S. of A." more than that? (Additional photos here; thanks to Sheri for the tip-off.)

Beware of app

Facebook application developers, you've gone too far.

Caption contest

Any suggestions?

"Great with kids and cats!"

Though I don't endorse buying from breeders when you can adopt from Seattle Pug Rescue, a recent NWsource.com classified ad does spotlight some pretty cute little guys. (Thanks to Sheri for bringing my attention to it.)

In their natural habitat

A few days ago, Juli at Teapots and Polkadots posted some of the better pug pictures I've seen in a while.

Pepsi strikes back

Tiny dogs provide the best product placement. The wee chihuahua who loves Coke finds a worthy adversary in a Yorkie who's all about Pepsi:


Will this madness ever end? Tip o' the hat to Sheri Quirt, who sends me these images from NWsource.com's classifieds section.

Note to owners of baby chihuahuas

Please do not caffeinate your dog until he or she is old enough to understand the ramifications of stimulant use. Thank you.

Oh, and cat owners? Kittens aren't toys.

Captioned corgis

My boss sent this to me today. Besides pugs, I think corgis might be my favorite breed.

Cutest puppy in the world?

A relative of my mom's Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Wilbur may in fact be the most adorable young canine our planet has ever known.

Merry Pugsmas, everybody!

Fun with Cavalier King Charles Spaniels

My mom's dog, Juliet, joined her daughter, Miranda, and another relative, six-month-old Wilbur, for a bit of social time in the kitchen. Behold the cute overload that resulted!

I made it to Motown!

The married military man and the elderly lady in the seats behind me on the plane talked for three and a half straight hours, preventing me from sleeping (though admittedly I spent at least an hour of that time reading The New Yorker, and another half-hour listening to the Avenue Q soundtrack on my iPod), but I'm here! And my mother's dog is as cute as ever, and my mother herself is mildly obsessed with Trader Joe's (the fridge is filled with TJ's stuff, and it's almost frighteningly well organized), and I'm making stuffed mushroom caps for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, and all is right with the world. Oh, and Calvin Trillin's piece on barbecue in the New Yorker food issue is every bit as good as Michael claimed it was. Mimi Sheraton's ode to brodetto is great, too -- makes me want to go back to Italy. (I still remember meeting Ms. Sheraton at Salumi, with Roger Downey providing the introduction. Those were the days...)

Where I am going, for sure, is the Inauguration! I'm very excited. I'll probably spend about ten days on the East Coast in total -- several days in New York before Jan. 20, and several days after. I can't wait!

Hold the mustard

Thanks to Monica for sending this my way.

Friends of our family have a cute new puppy

His name is Wilbur.

A nice weekend out of town

I spent this past weekend in Long Beach, Wash., with my friend Elana's family. We hiked, played Taboo, swam, played water basketball and tetherball, grilled veggie skewers, chicken, and veggie dogs, saw two lighthouses on Cape Disappointment, splashed around Waikiki Beach (so named, supposedly, because a Hawaiian sailor once washed up on its shores), and just generally had a nice time. It was exactly what I needed after a tough week. The picture above is of Ari, the lovable Kupor dog.

A man and his (borrowed) pug

When times are tough...

...sometimes you need a video of a pug doing battle with a cat to cheer you up.

And sometimes you need a picture of yourself from 5 1/2 years ago in a snow tube: