Fall is officially here!  Hooray!  Let’s celebrate with a gratuitous post about dogs.

This, my friends, beats a shirtless David Beckham any day of the week:

Lance

I know I’ll probably never get a puppy, but when I see pictures like these I just melt.  And I love corgis.  Kramer and Stuart are corgi-german shepherd mixes:

kramer_standing
Kramer, circa 2001.

stuart_bone
Stuart, circa 2001.

The funny thing about my dogs is that even though they look nearly identical, they were actually born about 8 years apart.  Even funnier, there is a breed called the Lancashire Heeler that looks just like my dogs… but they are rare, and most are in the U.K.  The chances of two of them ending up in a U.S. shelter are slim.  Check this out: 

The Lancashire Heeler Club

The only bad thing about adopting adult dogs is that you never get to see them as puppies.  And I loves me some puppies, that’s for sure.  Occasionally, Mick and I have searched online for pups that look like they might’ve been Kramer or Stuart:

puppy
Photo credit:  Claire Appleton

puppy_2
Photo credit:  Christina Oates

puppy_3
Photo credit:  Lancashire Heeler Club

Oh well, it’s fun to imagine what they might’ve looked like.

In honor of my 100th post, I offer you the ultimate in self-indulgent drivel:  100 Things About Me.

1)  I think about our decision not to have children every day.  And every day, I’m more certain we’ve made the right decision.

2)  As a child I had two fantasies:  to have a flat stomach and to be a Mousekateer.

3)  One of my adult fantasies is to be a soap opera star.

4)  The day after I adopted my first dog, Kramer, I cried all day.

5)  I am anxiously awaiting the release of the 5th season of the Mary Tyler Moore show on DVD.

6)  As a teenager and into adulthood, I had a persistent fear that God’s plan for me was to become a nun and that I would never be fulfilled until I became one.

7)  I semi-regret one of my tattoos:
holly_tat
Not the subject, but the placement.

8)  I often go to bed without brushing my teeth or taking off my make up.

9) I am very attracted to African religions and their New World counterparts:  Voodoo, Santeria, and Candomble, etc.

10)  I generally prefer gay men to straight men.  You get all of the flirtation and none of the pressure.

11)  To that end, when I told my mom about meeting Mick, my future husband, she said “Holly, he’s not gay is he?  I know how you like gay men.”  My response?  “No mom, he’s not gay, he’s English.”

12)  Paul is my favorite Beatle, although I’m starting to see the appeal in John as well.

13)  I’d like to start a female Journey cover band called “Heels in the Sky.”  (Band name courtesy of my friend Zach).

14)  My husband and I wrote a pilot for a sitcom called “Game On.”  What, you’ve never heard of it?

15)  I have a myspace page:  http://myspace.com/poochesg

16)  I am moderately claustrophobic.

17)  I haven’t had a real job in over 7 years.

18)  I often cut my own hair, despite a history of disastrous results.

19)  I wish I believed in an after life.

20)  I am 100% against the death penalty.

21)  I check my email 20+ times a day.

22)  I am a devoted fan of General Hospital.

23)  I abuse alcohol.

24)  I am an atheist.

25)  I think I’m beautiful.

26)  If I had to choose between my dogs and my husband, I’d choose my…. husband.

27)  I can’t decide if I’m for or against plastic surgery.  I think I’m against it.

28)  Somewhere around age 35 I realized that being famous was over-rated.

29)  My two favorite rituals are coffee in the morning and a bottle of wine at night.

30)  Crowded House is one of my favorite bands.

31)  I am often in bed by 10pm.

32)  Besides scarves and hats, I have never knitted anything that I could actually wear, despite numerous attempts.

33)  I am terrified of getting fat again, but not terrified enough to give up hamburgers.

34)  I am sad that Michael Hutchence committed suicide.

michael_hutchence

35)  I am often able to see both sides of an argument, but that sometimes makes me feel two-faced.

36)  I lead a dream life.

37)  I love Judy Blume books.

38)  I have a lot of faith in humanity, but sometimes I don’t like people very much.

39)  I am listening to Blondie’s Atomic at the moment.

40)  I’d like to live in Manhattan for a short period of time.

41)  I’d like to live in London for a short period of time.

42)  I love living in Los Angeles.

43)  Green is my favorite color.

44)  I want everyone to like me.

45)  I have a girl crush on Mary Louise Parker.

46)  I don’t like smoking pot, but think it should probably be legalized.

47)  One of my closest friends is 90 years old.

48)  I’ve written detailed genealogies of every side of my family.

49)  #48 strikes me as slightly ridiculous as I won’t have children to pass the information on to.

50)  My iPod changed my life.

51)  Stargazer lilies are my favorite flowers.

52)  I believe the world would’ve been a better place if Malcolm X had lived a longer life.

Malcolm-x

53)  Last night Mick and I watched Gone With the Wind, which was totally unexpected and very pleasant.

54)  Sometimes it’s better just to sit back and watch.  Unfortunately, I have a bad habit of not doing that and suffering the consequences.

55)  When I was a kid I had a crush on Barry Manilow.

56)  In another life, I would’ve studied to be a chef.

57)  I have a lot of respect for my friends who are teachers.

58)  I am a member of the green party, but I am thinking of going back to being a democrat.

59)  I used to be a yarn snob but now I realize that’s kind of silly.

60)  I have just now realized that coming up with 100 things about oneself is a tedious task.

61)  If I had to choose between chicken or fish, I’d choose chicken.

62)  I have never seen an episode of E.R.

63)  Try as I might, I cannot get the hang of fashion.

64)  I have a hard time remembering how to spell “separate.”  In fact, I spelled it wrong just now when I wrote it, but the always helpful spell checker fixed it for me.

65)  #64 not withstanding, bad spelling really irks me.

66)  I love hot dogs.

67)  I wish I had more chutzpah

68)  I take many things too seriously, which I believe is a sign of immaturity, and certainly a character flaw I am trying to overcome.

69)  I am a rule follower.

70)  I adore puppies, but I don’t think I’ll ever have one.

71)  I don’t find George Clooney appealing.

72)  I find David Beckham very appealing.

73)  I think AC/DC’s Back in Black album is one of the best of all time.

74)  Try as I might to talk myself out of it, I am afraid of dying.

75)  I was never picked on as a kid, but I was never very popular either.

76)  Some day I would like to make a quilt.

77)  I visit the website Dead or Alive Info every day, and by following the wikipedia link in most of the entries, I learn something new almost every day.

78)  I wish I were a better cook.

79)  I am not a fan of toile or plaid.

toile 
Victorian Toile

80)  The next five movies in my Netflix queue are:  Rome Season 1, Disc 6, Casino Royale, The Night Listener, Inside Man, and Deliver Us From Evil.

81)  I am very critical of the Catholic religion and yet I bristle a little when I hear others criticize it.

82)  I am using this post as an excuse to put off my workout.  (today’s plan: running three miles).

83)  I often use profanity, in fact I like the “F” word a lot.  I am, however, trying to break this habit because not everyone has the same fondness for it that I do.

84)  I find it extremely difficult to use the “N” word, no matter what the context.

85)  I have a mild case of acid reflux disease.

86)  I am not a cat person.

87)  I wish an H&M store would open up in Santa Monica.

88)  All About Eve might be my favorite movie of all time.

89)  Last night I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t go back to sleep, which annoys me to no end.

90)  I let my dogs lick my face.  In fact, I encourage it.

91)  Obviously, I am not a germ-a-phobe.

92)  I want to be more of an activist than I actually am.

93)  It horrifies me, just a little, that I’m almost 40.  I know 40 is the new 30, but someone needs to tell that to my emerging turkey neck.  Hmmm, maybe I need to reconsider #27.

94)  I think being married is fun.

95)  I am seriously thinking of sewing my own curtains for my living room, which, if you’ve seen my living room windows, is no small task.

96)  My favorite sushi is spicy tuna hand roll.

97)  I love red lipstick but it looks awful on me, so I never wear it.

98)  I’m glad they banned smoking in public places.

99)  I saw the movie The Crying Game more than 15 times in the theatre.

100)  I can’t understand how anybody could still support the war in Iraq.

Whew, if you made it this far, you deserve a reward.

I have a list of things I want to do today, and for some reason I’m putting them off.  I think the problem is that there’s like 4 projects I have going and my brain circuits are too overloaded to focus on any one thing.  This happens to me often. Hence the need for a diversion.

Today I sent off the stuff for my second swap on Swap-Bot.com.  What is Swap-Bot, you ask?  It’s a place for people to get together and swap stuff.  Fun!

The swap I sent off today was called War and Peace.  The purpose was for the swap participants to send something (or things) that reflect their thoughts on war and peace.  Yeah, I know.  How could I not sign up for that swap?

I’m not going to say what I sent, just in case my partners read this before they receive their packages.  I did give it some thought though and I hope they like it.

I just signed up for another swap that promises to be fun:  Songs That Will Never Die.  I hope my partners like the Bee Gees, ’cause there just might be a couple of Bee Gees’ tunes on my list.

“I’m a lousy gardener.  I can never tell the soil from the dirt.”  –Woody Allen

I’m not the only creative person in my family, not by a long shot.  My mom is an avid gardener and the other day she sent me a photo of the flower box she made:

que_bonita
The box was made with an old wooden box my dad got at a garage sale.  She sanded it and hammered in the loose nails.  Next, she stained it with a yellow water-based stain and wrote the words with a black permanent marker.  She then sealed it with a water-based sealer.  For the legs, she attached an old TV tray she got at a flea market and removed the clips.  She painted the legs with a flat black paint and attached with clips she’d previously attached to the box.  Voila!  A nifty and very cute flower box.

And speaking of flowers, I had to show a photo of the gladiolus on my balcony:

 gladiolus
Definitely bonita.

My mom is also a very accomplished crochet artist.  Here is a photo of an afghan she recently made:
afghan_mom_front
I think it’s gorgeous, and she picked a great color.

I’ve never made an afghan, but I’m thinking it might be time for me to give it a try.  I prefer knitting to crochet (especially since I’m not that great at crochet) so maybe I’ll design and knit one this winter.

I figured you could all use a little diversion from all the jewelry I’ve been making lately.  I know I could.  So here it is.

My husband was one of the founders of a company named Neversoft.  They make the Tony Hawk video games.

Mick left the company a few years ago to lead a life of leisure, but while he was there he participated in this little contest, the video of which has somehow made it’s way to YouTube.

Mick is the second guy trying to do a kick flip, and then he’s shown again toward the end flashing the cash. 

Sigh, even though Mick didn’t bring home the big prize, I am still a proud wife.

On another note, I cut my hair off!


I’ll admit to having a couple of days of doubt after doing it, but now I love it.


I was going for a Posh Spice-esque bob, thinking maybe I could catch David’s eye now that he’ll be hanging out in the LA area.  (Now there’s a celebrity I’d like to sight).  Anyway, my hair likes to do it’s own thing so I let it, and this was the result.  I like it!