Happiness is a Warm Puppy

Live video chat by Ustream Do you remember last year when we all got caught up in watching Puppycam? Hours went by and I couldn't tear my eyes away from watching little balls of fur wrassle and tussle. Those puppies all went to happy homes...but now there's a new litter...and they look just as rascally as the first bunch.

Supermarket Musical

It's been sweeping the internet, but just in case you haven't seen it, here's a spontaneous little musical that broke out in a grocery store in Queens. I've been keeping it a secret, but for most of my life, my deepest darkest desire is that my life will suddenly become a musical...just once. I hope someday to have something to sing about. What about you? What's your secret?

On the road in a hand basket

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If you believe everything you read or hear on the news, the world has gone to Hell in a handbasket. People are miserable, unemployed and homeless. Con artists are stealing the front page headlines. And then there's a little town in South Carolina, where its a privilege to join the Volunteer Fire Department and be the first one down the hole to rescue a little girl's pup. Some stories are better when they're true.

I can feel it in the air....

It's getting to be that time of year. It was back to summer last Friday. It was hot...damn hot. But the weather has gone back to being like a beautiful fall day during the day and cool and crisp at night. Last night I even popped into the Jacuzzi for a few minutes after dark to enjoy the difference between the cool air and warm water. It was lovely.

I received a care package from Leelanau County of molasses cookies and Bardenhagen 'Honey-Crisp' apples. I've been fortifying these delicacies with candy corn and central coast cabernet. Yes, it probably isn't an FDA-recommended diet...but if I were you I wouldn't try to snatch any of it away from me. It's all so yummy.

Articles that caught my interest today...Marie Clare hired a regular woman to write about fashion...shocking! Inspector Lewis on PBS...I haven't missed an episode this season and I wondered where he came from...and this new Jane Austen website intrigues me.

May your world be filled with candy corn on this beautiful fall day.

And now for something completely different...

Well, it turns out that I had strep throat. I don't think I've ever had it before but the doctor said my throat was not a pretty sight. When I looked up photos of strep throat on the Internet, all of them were missing front teeth -- because they were all between six and seven years old. Seriously, I thought I was too old for strep throat. You are contagious for 48 hours after you take the antibiotics -- so I had to stay home for two days. Roxy was also still recovering from surgery so she was happy to catnap on the sofa and watch too many reruns of "Murder, She Wrote." Back to work for one day...and then the weekend.

Under Weather, Under Water, Underwear...

I woke up sick this morning. I feel pretty good, but I've got a sore throat. It feels like I swallowed pieces of glass. And because it hurts when my tongue touches my mouth I've taken to talking like Elmer Fudd's younger more glamorous sister. I've got hints of post-stroke Kirk Douglas in my lateral lisp.

Roxy, who is recovering from being spayed last Friday, is also under the weather. She threw up her breakfast. Goldie was a thrower-upper, but not Roxy. This is the first time she's been sick since she moved in back in July. So I'm worried about her. She hasn't been completely herself since returning from the vet -- but really -- who would be?

So I'm going to the doctor tonight and she's going to the vet in the morning. What a terrific tag team.

And just to rub salt into the wound, the normally blue skies of Los Angeles have turned dark, gray and nasty. The winds have picked up, and it's raining. It's that horrible hard rain that feels like little pin-pricks on your skin. I took the train into work to avoid driving in the rain. I brought a book and If I make a cup of tea for the ride home -- my commute today could be considered downright civil.

Seriously...there's so much wrong in the world and I'm sure that Roxy and I will be on the mend soon, so we're not putting up the streamers for the pity party...yet.

Are there darker forces at work here?

It's that time of year when even grown-ups like to play dress-up. And today I stumbled across a behind-the-scenes video of a new BBC production of "Emma." This new production hasn't even hit the airwaves in the UK and already I'm salivating to see it. I doubt it will see the light of day on PBS in the US for at least another year -- so I will spend a great deal of time watching this video over and over. "Emma" is my not my favorite of Jane's works -- that is "Persuasion," of course. But any Jane is better than no Jane.