On a Break

That's what I'm calling it for now, a break. It's not that I want to quit the blog, I just am not drawn to it at the moment. I need to go away and come back when I really want to post something, not do it just because I don't want to lose the few readers I have left.

You all are great, and I appreciate the folks who've continued to come by and say hi even when I haven't had much to say. I'm sure I'll be back sometime, but for now, I need to just mentally release myself from the obligation to keep up on here. I know you all understand.

HNT Under the Wire

I ALMOST didn't post anything today. I just had no ideas, no real desire to be bothered. But then I noticed that I'd worn red to the gym, so I could sneak in a post AND follow today's theme, so there you go. The streak remains alive, somewhere north of 100 consecutive HNT posts. If only my shirt said "69" instead of "65", then I could giggle every time I put it on.

Uplift

I know it's not Monday, but I had to post this song today. Just hit play on the video and let the music play--the video itself is just some fan art, but the song is amazing.



It's "#41" by the Dave Matthews Band, and I've been getting more and more obsessed with it over the last few months. It goes all the way back to the Crash album from 1996, but I'd honestly never heard the song till last year. I listen to my local radio station online (www.wbru.com), and during the commercial breaks, they play random MP3s that the jocks queue up instead of the ads, and this was one of them (along with some great old Radiohead and Tool). It's what you'd call a "deep track", not a single, but I don't know why. I absolutely love it. It's one of those songs that just transports me if I close my eyes and listen, which I was doing last night during the cooldown of my workout, and it was perfect. Hope somebody else out there enjoys it half as much as I did.

HNT Pillowmate

Somehow last night, the Tot and I ended up like this for a while. She was feeling needy or something. It felt okay at first, sort of like wearing a warm hat to bed. Eventually my tossing and turning got to be too much for her, and she moved around to settle on the side of my pillow. I think we both slept pretty well, largely because the Lab decided to not climb up on the bed last night. Sharing a king-size bed with three little dogs works; sharing a king-size bed with three little dogs AND a big black lab means someone is going to wake up with some serious cramps.

Now go see other Half-Nekkid People.

HNT Newbie

Look what we got!

Our latest adoptee has been with us almost two weeks. She's a beautiful black Lab, somewhere between 13 and 15 years old, fortunately very very healthy. She used to have a decent home (although they fed her cheap food and table scraps), but recently her people were told they couldn't keep her at her new apartment, and their first attempt at placing her with a new owner resulted in that poor girl spending eight months living in a small chain link pen with no house, no shelter, nothing but muddy ground to sleep in. Needless to say, when we saw her on Craigslist, we knew she needed to come live here.

She's an absolute love, so happy and perky. Her tail almost never stops wagging, much to the chagrin of the little dogs who are frequently smacked in the face with it. But they're all getting along great (we have a very well-adjusted pack going here), and the cats love her too in their own way. She looks so happy to be in a warm safe place and is more than happy to let us smooch all over her big shiny head. She loves hopping up on our nice big couch to watch TV with us or wait patiently for us to come home, and she's got a reserved spot on the cushy bench at the foot of our bed. The only negative so far is that she's got a bad poop-eating habit, but our vet gave us a few ideas for how to discourage that, so now the dogs are enjoying pineapple on their food (don't ask, I'm just hoping it works).

As for the odd fact that you can see through the top of my head in this picture, I guess I moved before the picture finished. No smartass comments about me being empty-headed. Okay, go ahead, you can make 'em.

Now go see other Half-Nekkid People.

Musical Monday Crush

Okay, so my long weekend could have been better. I made a stupid mistake Wednesday night trying to get something for work out of the way, which caused an overnight program to seriously fuck up, making a lot of work for me the next day. Then something came up this morning and I had to run into the office for an hour or so. Somewhere in between all that, I did manage to sleep in and rest up a bit, but I don't feel entirely refreshed. Oh well, I'll just try again in a few months.

Today's video is the second single from teen phenom band Paramore, "Crushcrushcrush". Sure they're a little trite and poppy, but the song is really good and I love the 80s throwback and Hayley Williams is just plain cute (and legal).

HNT Exhaling

That's me exhaling at the start of a little mini-vacation. No special destination, just a nice long five-day weekend to sleep late and do a whole lot of nothing. It's long overdue, since I haven't really taken a vacation since... well, I honestly don't remember when. And due to circumstances beyond my control, it'll probably be several months before I'm able to take a real vacation. So I'm striking while my boss is feeling magnanimous and squeezing in whatever relaxation I can. The dogs will be pleasantly surprised when I don't leave tomorrow or Friday morning, and then will probably be tired of me by Saturday, mainly because they won't get to crawl into my warm spot in the bed after I leave. But too bad for them, I deserve it.

Now go see other Half-Nekkid People.