Changes

So the last time I posted, many months ago, I was going on about vintage chairs....

Since then, one family member lost his fight with brain cancer, another family member battled breast cancer, we've added another four-legged critter to the household, and suddenly -at this late date- I've turned into a fitness convert. I think it's pretty safe to assume that the latter items relate to the first two, but don't ask me to explain it! With all the chaos and upheaval going on, I suddenly lost my blogging voice. It may be coming back, we'll see.

In the mean time, let me introduce our newest family member, Skye.

Skye, 8 weeks old in late September

This joyful girl came to us in September, from Blue Moon. I've had the pleasure of living with a couple of Great Danes over the years, but Skye is the first one we've had from puppyhood on, and it's an been quite an adventure so far. Every time she sleeps, she seems to wake up taller, or longer, or with bigger paws. See what I mean?

Skye in November

Skye in January

Skye in February

Meanwhile, a whole lotta nothing has been checked off the household renovation list, but I've got lots of new ideas and schemes.
And I've had some lucky finds on Craigslist recently.
And Smithy made a gorgeous iron grill for our as-yet-to-be-installed front door.

So please check back in soon; updates to come.

The Weekend: Angels, Danes, Celts, and Michael Caine

It started out normally enough. On the way home from work I picked up the a couple of books, including the brand new book release, Strange Angels, by author Lilith Saintcrow. I'm telling this all out of order because I have more Book Binge posts in mind, but Lilith's Dante Valentine series turned me into an instant Saintcrow addict. Anyway, Strange Angels is her first foray into the Young Adult market.

I'm not sure what I expected of a Young Adult book. I mean, I've read all the Harry Potter books, a few times. And I like Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series. Somehow though, I had the impression that most YA would kinda hafta be....sweet, with some kind of strong moral message, and with gossipy girls. But come on, this is Saintcrow we're talking about, so her main character, 16 year old Dru Anderson, travels the country with her dad, and helps him kill the bad things that go bump in the night. Dru is independent and tough, she occassionally has Visions, and she can cuss like a sailor. Or like a teenager. The book begins about the time that one of her dad's hunting missions goes very very wrong.

Read it. I lost a rainy Saturday to the book, and don't regret a minute of it. If you're like me, you'll want to know What Happens Next. Luckily, there are at least two more books planned in the series; the next comes out in November.

Also over the weekend, I lost my mind.
Just a little bit.
Over this guy:
That's Dice. He's a 5 month old Harlequin Great Dane, who is being fostered by a rescue group a state away. I went through a major case of the I WANT's over the weekend, and even filled out an adoption application. I was serious enough that Smithy had to invoke the BSC label: BatShit Crazy. BSC usually comes up when someone (hey, it's not always me!) is doing something illogical, and, well, crazy. Perhaps along the lines of wanting to stuff a 4th dog into a tiny house with a bunch of other dogs that don't particularly want a biiiig little brother. I've slowly inched away from the ledge; I don't think we'll get a spotty bundle of joy just yet.

Smithy's fiery midway game, The Kittyroaster

image via

Also over the weekend, I learned that Smithy and his buddies in the Art of Such and Such are really and truly heading to Ireland as part of the performance art for the Electric Picnic festival in September. Smithy had mentioned the possibility months ago, but I was skeptical that it would actually happen. Apparently, yes it will. They're talking plane tickets and passports. So, Smithy and I are thinking about doing a combined Pan-Celtic trip to Ireland and Scotland. I'm at the very beginning stages of planning it, and trying to figure out how much it would all cost, so we'll see where it leads.

And in a last bizarre twist, I got an email from the actor Michael Caine over the weekend.

At least he said he was Michael Caine, and he was commenting on an old blog post that I did. As I mentioned in the post, the actor, Michael Caine, collects glassware by the Art Deco era designer/glassworks company Degue. Email-Michael-Caine thanked me for the post, and then pointed me in the direction of a link to an Australian interview with him about his collection. Which is pretty much the same link I had shown in my post.

And this particular 'Michael Cain' doesn't know that the real Michael Caine spells his name with an 'e' at the end.
Huh.

Actor Michael Caine seems like a charming and intelligent gentleman. And he certainly seems like someone who would know how to spell his own name.

Dear Trolls and Aussie TV PR Flaks, if you're going to impersonate someone famous, please learn how to spell their names!


Love, the Great Dame

Lliving with Pets: Pet-Related Injuries

Last night my dog gave me a black eye.

Today I have to go to a meeting with Very Important Clients, Builders, and Contractors and makeup is not going to cover this baby up.

I can't tell you how glad I am that we've all been working together for more than 18 months, so, hopefully they will not think that I'm an abused spouse.

Nope, I'm just a short woman who played fetch with a tall, bouncy dog, and who got clobbered when she glanced away for a moment.

Life with pets - it's not easy.
So, anyone else sustain a pet-related injury that they would like to share? Come on, please make me feel a little better about this one!

Vampire Weekend

You know, when life gets weird, sometimes it just pays to drop off the radar for a little while....

First, I was berated by a homeless man - for being an uptight white woman who wouldn't give him any money, and for having (a little) gray in my hair.

*What?!?*

I mean, all I said was 'no' and kept walking, and for that he got personal about some gray hair?! Stinky bastard - at least I didn't say that out loud!

Then, only a week later, I'd had a rough week at work and wanted to just chill out come Friday night. So I stopped at my regular bookstore, and was wandering the aisles somewhat aimlessly. At some point, I glanced around and noticed a guy a few aisles away. Didn't think much of it at first, but something seemed off. So I wander a little further away, and glance back.

And holy crap, the pervy bastard is um, ahem....fully exposed and wanking in the middle of Borders Books. After I stopped giggling with nerves, I told one of the employees, and security escorted him out. I am an unabashed book nerd, so this was really unsettling. I mean bookstores are my happy place, so that's just....nasty.

That same weekend, I also went with a friend who does dog rescue to check out a situation in AL. The short version is, the owner had some hard times befall her, so she needed to find new homes for her eight Great Danes - 8!! And oh, by the way, she lives in a cabin in the woods, and doesn't have heat in the house. She's got shower curtains across the doors so the dogs can come and go. Arggghhhh!

me with Cinderella, one of the 'Alabama 8'

So, let's just say that there were nine kinds of crazy going on with the dog owner, and the do-gooding families that came to check out the dogs for possible adoption. Four of the eight dogs did get adopted, but....it just, it...wasn't good. It was a very good reminder of why I don't do dog rescue stuff any more. I promptly went home, locked the door, fixed a stiff drink, and curled up with my own dogs.

Is it any wonder that by the time Thanksgiving week rolled around, I'd had it with crazy? Sure I still had to go to Thanksgiving dinner with my family, but that seemed do-able - with alcohol. So, on a whim, I started the first book in the Twilight series, just to see what all the fuss was about. I thought, "Oh sure, teenager falls in love with a vampire, blah blah blah. And what's all this crap about sparkling?"

Five days, four books, and one movie later, I finally came up for air.

And ya know, I feel a lot better.

Twilight: Bella and Edward

Let me just say that the Twilight series isn't good, exactly. No matter what your age, if you're a reasonably independent-woman sort, much of it will make you screech with rage and/or befuddlement. But it's very very entertaining escapism - especially when real life is throwing (literal) wankers and Alabama rednecks your way, ya know?

Damn, I'm still a teenager - at least in my head.

I'd had no idea how huge the whole Twilight thing was until the movie hype started a few months ago. If you're old, with, like, gray in your hair and stuff, and don't know about it all, there's oodles of fandom sites out there. And they are absolutely rabid about the books, and the casting of the movie, and they take it all very seriously.

Actors Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, from Twilight

On the other hand, if you're like me and feel rather sheepish about liking the books, despite how silly some of it is, then please please check out the awesome Cleolinda's take on everything Twilight, especially her three theories on why it's so popular. It's a snarkfest, in a good, fan-ish way.

Oh, and yes, to be completely nerdy, Vampire Weekend (the band) was in my cd player all weekend.

All the Cool Kids Have One....

And sometimes more than one!
Unknown 1930's woman with three mantle Danes.

A young Jackie Bouvier (later to be Kennedy), with Dane, King Phar.

Marilyn Monroe, from an early calendar.

Early screen star Harold Lloyd, 1927, with his Dane Prince.

Clara Bow, 1926, with Great Dane puppy.

Mae West, 1937, as Peaches O'Day in "Every Day's a Holiday", with costar.

All images found on Ebay. Celebrity photos with Danes from this Ebay seller. Monroe image frome Here. Woman with three dogs from Here.

dots and sunbeams

An intro to the Great Dame's resident Dane, Miss Ophelia....

I was bored out of my mind late one weekend afternoon recently, so I started fiddling with the camera. I was trying to get some decent photos of some of my art deco furniture, so that I could post on the blog. The charming Ophie is never far from my side, so she got in on the act.
So, here we have a study in black and white patches, a red polka dot rug, and golden sunbeams.