She ain’t no Toto

But she does have a high degree of self-importance. Combine that strong personality with a great sense of humor, a little arrogance, limitless energy, and an assertive nature and you have Tessa, a pup that’s very hard to train. When she’s outdoors she generally ignores the simple commands that she aces in the kitchen, Instructions like sit, stay, come, and down–mandatory in the house–are seemingly irrelevant to her in the out-of-doors, irrelevant unless there’s a reward in it. If she’s willing to play the training game at all, she performs in a perfunctory manner. Tell her to “sit,” and her butt barely hits the ground before she’s up, waggling around, expecting a treat.

I need her to come to me when I call and stand still while I hook up a leash. Leash? Leashes are fine if she’s in the foyer waiting to go out. Then the leash presages a walk. But when outdoors on a romp she sees no need to submit and be leashed. She dances just out of reach and demands to be walked home untethered.

“You are not the boss of me,” she says and then takes off across the field, chasing a murder of crows away so she can roll in whatever it is that interests them. And I’m left there, holding the leash.

Is Sarah Palin really Betty Boop?

Does anybody hav a better sweet potato pie recipe than Malissa Basnight’s?

Makes: 1 pie

1 large sweet potato, boiled and peeled (see note)

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon lemon extract

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 eggs

1/2 small can evaporated milk

1 cup whole milk

1 ready made pie crust

Mash potato with butter, sugars, spices and flavorings.

Beat eggs and milks with potato mix until smooth. Pour into ready-made pie crust and bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for about an hour.

Note Sweet potato should be larger around than a softball.

Why isn’t Russia a member of the G7?

Okay. Let’s get on with trooper-gate, liar-gate, pentecostal-dominionist-gate, and bridge-to-nowhere-gate. (And just what did the Naughty Librarian do with all the money she whisked off the table without spilling a drop, like some kind of cheap Houdini parlor trick in front of a bewildered Ted Stevens?)

[tags]can’t say enough about sarah barracuda[/tags]

“Mommy! Can we go home now?” The child was in tears.

“Suck it up, Piper! It’s not like I killed fucking Bambi.” The mother does everything she can to ensure that her daughter embraces a love of the outdoors and traditional values of sportsmanship.

“But, Mommy, I don’t like all the blood. Look at his face!”

“Right. Must have been Rudolph. Santa will have to use the snowmobile this year, I guess.”

(AP photo, from LA Times)

[tags]Sarah Palin, dead meat[/tags]

Facebook is good for something. Thanx Veronica!

UPDATE:

Drove until I was lost, passing strip mall after strip mall with pizza joints and sub shops, Denny’ses and Wendy’ses and a Chick Fil-A, a Ruby Tuesday’s, and a Chevy’s. No seafood. My criteria shifted to “less known franchise” and “tablecloth” (or if crab house, newspapers would have been fine). But I am too far inland and in high geek country. Cuisine here runs more to Mountain Dew and Cheetos.

Finally found a new Italian restaurant, “Benito’s Brick Oven Italiano,” that satisfied both criteria. Ordered a Pelligrino, the fried calamari appetizer, a crab and avocado salad with interesting dressing and several dozen little cherry tomatoes, and for an entree, the baked ziti pomodori. Ended up boxing the ziti for Tuesday evening enjoyment. My splendid hotel room is equipped with both a nuke and a fridge, so if I’m dining alone after F2C, then I’m already set up.

UPDATE 2

Box lunch from Whole Foods… selected roast beef with blue cheese sandwich.  No blue corn chips available though.

[tags]f2c, f2c2008[/tags]

First cue the Judy Henske song, then open a couple of cans of garbanzo beans, drain and rinse. Reserve about a half cup and dump the rest in the food processor. Add more tahini than you are comfortable with. Chop an onion, mince some garlic, saute in olive oil with some cumin. Schloop that into the food processor too, and add the juice of a lemon. Mush it all together. Add the beans you’d reserved and chop them into the paste to improve the consistency. You can always add more olive oil. And then a little more. And if it’s not garlicky enough, you might want to chop in another clove or two before you add the last few beans. Some people hit it with a little cilantro, or basil, or garnish it with paprika and parsley, but the important part is the mixture of beans, allium, cumin, sesame paste and lemon juice. The rest is just window dressing.

[tags]thermos of garbanzo beans, judy henske, hummus[/tags]

1 In teh beginz is teh cat macro, and teh cat macro sez “Oh hai Ceiling Cat” and teh cat macro iz teh Ceiling Cat.2 Teh cat macro an teh Ceiling Cat iz teh bests frenz in teh begins.

3 Him maeks alls teh cookies; no cookies iz maed wifout him.4 Him haz teh liefs, an becuz ov teh liefs teh doodz sez “Oh hay lite.”5 Teh lite iz pwns teh darks, but teh darks iz liek “Wtf.”

6 And teh Ceiling Cat haz dis otehr man; his naem iz John.7 He tellz teh ppl dat teh lites is tehre, so dat teh doodz sez “OMG.” or mai b taht shud b “OMCC.”8 Him wuz not teh lite; he jsut sez teh lites is tehre.9 Teh tru lite–iz lotz of lite–iz comes, k?