Events

When Parker first discovered this ball Sunday morning, it was round: And yesterday's note from the dog-walking service made me laugh: "He's a good walker, but I can't get him to crap for me." I suppose Parker is a one-human crapper, because he performed beautifully both going to and coming from the dog park yesterday. Finally, no ParkerCam today because he's at day camp.

The weather this past weekend precluded posting to TDP. We simply spent too much time not in front of a computer. Actually, Parker doesn't spend any time in front of computers that he knows of anyway, though sometimes he seems dimly aware of the ParkerCam. Parker did, on the other hand, get a chance to stick his nose out the window of a moving car a few times. Like at this stoplight, when I suddenly felt whiskers and a cold nose on my earlobe: (I have to say, it's a little disconcerting to have a dog...

After some trial and error, and even though he's still unclear on the concept, Parker finally got down and dirty with the tug toy yesterday: Did I mention the "trial and error?" He did, eventually, put all four paws into it: He also killed one of his oldest toys last night, the lion-head tennis ball he's had since he couldn't even get down the stairs by himself. Yeah, once he started working on it, he spent less than five minutes scattering stuffing all over the floor. So now he has a tennis ball that...

Oh, dear. I can't wait until they start building this, just one block from my office: Developers went public Thursday with their plan for another race to the sky, this one in downtown Evanston: A proposed condominium tower that would crack the 500-foot barrier and become the tallest building in Chicago's suburbs. Sure to incite heated debate in a suburb already in the throes of a high-rise building boom, the plan calls for tearing down a two-story retail building on a triangular block bounded by Church...

Another one bites the dust. Apparently he's back on the Hollofil again. He actually killed two squeakies yesterday, and continued his project of removing the stuffing from my mortally-wounded comforter. Sigh.

(Via Talking Points Memo.) The Senate Judiciary Committee would like Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to return within a week: We believe the Committee would benefit from you searching and refreshing your recollection and your supplementing your testimony by next Friday to provide the answers to the questions you could not recall last Thursday. Ouch.

I'm just now listening to the podcast of last Saturday's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Host Peter Sagal had this to say about entertainer Don Ho, who died last week: Sagal: He also did his patriotic part to populate his home state. He is survived by 10 children, 15 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren. Adam Felber: Ho, Ho, Ho! Sagal: I'm sorry, I was just thinking: He had all these babies...in diapers...that means dozens of nappy-bottomed Hos. Oy.

OK, it's really time for new photos. I've been too lazy busy to take new ones lately, so it's time for another classic, this one from early October: As a lagniappe (or mea culpa, depending on whether you feel French or Latin today), the dog-walking service note from yesterday said, "He's the friendliest dog in America." I can't argue. Also, no ParkerCam today: he's at day camp.

People have asked me how big Parker is. Just knowing he weighs 23kg doesn't help much. So, by way of illustration, here is Parker and his crate with a helpful yard (90 cm) stick in the shot: Also in the shot, visible just above Parker's head, is the ParkerCam. As you can see, I've returned it to its original location following Friday's disastrous experiment. No Cam tomorrow or Wednesday, sadly, as Parker will be at day camp both days.

Hmm. Problems with the new ParkerCam angle have become apparent in short order. Dogs naturally sleep with their backs to the wall. So putting the ParkerCam against the back wall of the room means we get six hours of Parker's butt today: Back to one, I guess.