Kicking the Habit

Nope, not the smoking one, or the drinking one......the COMPUTER one. An addiction I didn't even know I had till about 4 weeks ago. Like all good addictions, it sort of crept up on me. (The smoking one I gave up long ago. The drinking one I'm still holding on to a little bit.)

Our computer crashed.....and I mean CRASHED AND BURNED.... in mid-September. I'd always heard people talk about this disaster, but it had never happened to me. Here's the one thing I've learned: get an external hard drive and save everything you might ever want again on it. Which I intend to do as soon as I can. Not that I know what one is, how to hook it up, or anything about it. But my computer savvy sister informs me it's what I need. I can't believe all the stuff that I've lost. Most of it was trivial or easily replaced. (Isn't almost everything we "file away"?) But some of it, I really, really wish I had gotten to keep. Alas, never to be recovered now.

In the last four weeks, I have paid many a visit to the library to use their computers. Mind you, only for one hour at the time. Then they kick you off and you have to wait another 30 minutes before they'll let you sign back on. I thought I could just go once a week and delete all the rubbish and sit on the rest till the computer came back from Computer Doc-in-the-Box. Not a chance. Every couple of days I was ITCHING to get over there and find out what was going on. (Except for last week when I had to have a little outpatient surgery. I didn't much care about anything except being still then.) Invariably, it was nothing, but I just felt so left out. The world was turning and I wasn't. I hated it.

Last weekend, we got our computer back. It's not back to "normal" yet. I'm still trying to get things back to the way they were. But at least I can check email. I can research stuff. I can SHOP. It was nice to take a little break from being so connected, but I was very definitely ready to get back to the World Wide Web/Universe.

It Is What It Is

And right now, what it is is BULLSHIT, plain and simple.

Forgive me, but there are times when frustration demands an outlet. And right now my blog is about to get the full venting my frustration level demands. Yesterday I received an email from the American Kennel Club, an entity that has made me more than a little uneasy over the last 3 years with it's apparent decline in ethics and integrity. This email was entitled "September Chairman's Report" and was an epistle from Ron Menaker. A gentleman that I've never met, but who must have his head right straight up his ass if this missive is any indication. I am sure this same report is on the AKC's web site should you care to read it.

For the past few years, all that's been heard from the AKC management is how poor they are; how they're losing so much money; how the organization is doomed if there's not more revenue. This from a nonprofit with over $60 million in their reserve fund. An organization that has its finger in every animal-related retail endeavor it can find. With the September report, Mr. Menaker has increased the level of AKC whining 1,000 percent.

"The American Kennel Club faces enormous challenges in reversing the continuing decline in registrations. Today, we are losing market share at an alarming rate, especially in the retail sector."

"Today there are at least 30 All-Breed registries in addition to the AKC, whose combined registration numbers exceed that of the AKC. If this trend is allowed to continue, if we don not stop the hemorrhaging of declining registrations, we will no longer be the premier registry in the world, let alone in our country."

Boy, have I got news for him. The AKC is not the "premier" registry NOW. And why is that? Because of the imbecilic behavior of a Board that has abandoned quality for quantity. The AKC has determined that it's more important to register anything that walks than it is to uphold its own mission. Mr. Menaker goes on to say, "Management has been directed by the Board to aggressively pursue all dogs eligible for AKC registration (emphasis mine)." He refers to the registered AKC puppy as the "gold standard". HUH? How can that be when just a few months ago the Board approved the "Administrative Pedigree Research Service" which will very probably include "puppy mill" dogs and/or pets specifically sold "without papers" by AKC breeders? Lord knows, the AKC has already registered THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of backyard bred dogs of marginal quality over the years. Somehow I don't think this is what those gentlemen in New York had in mind over a hundred years ago when the AKC was formed out of the Westminster Dog Club.

Back then, dog breeding and showing was the same as horse showing is still today: for the well-heeled who could afford to keep kennels, hire staff, oversee the quality of their dogs. As time went on, the sport became more democratic, but reputable breeders still went to great lengths to insure and safeguard the quality of their dogs. That still holds true today. Quality dogs come from quality breeders. The kind of breeders and owners that the AKC says is its core constituency. Ah, but we know better. We are now just window dressing to make the AKC look good to the general public. Behind the scenes they are going after anything canine to make sure the treasury stays full and black. And they are sacrificing the very people they purport to support while doing it.

Menaker spouts on with the party line: "Our Compliance Program allows us to educate breeders about puppy socialization, genetic health screening, grooming, exercise requirements and adherence to breed standards. This is the benchmark of excellence we expect of all AKC breeders whether under mandatory or random inspections." (Again, emphasis mine.) Ron, Ron, Ron, the crap that flows from your mouth could fill a dozen septic tanks. I really wish that this were true. But I have severe doubts that it is. This is why you guys are in such a panic now. Yes, in 1996, the Board did pass care and condition policies. It was great. But guess what? That's when the rats started jumping the AKC ship in droves; hightailing it to other registries that weren't so tight and didn't demand so much from them. Then, when the handwriting was on the wall (which by the way, didn't ANY of you see that coming?), instead of standing your ground to make sure the AKC brand actually stood for quality and integrity, what did you do? You got a yellow streak up your backs. You started looking at relaxing your standards. And here we are.

"We can and will be aggressive in pursuing all AKC-registrable dogs and do so while upholding our values and high standards." Nope, won't happen. In my opinion you can't have it both ways.

Let's face facts. The face of the dog fancy is changing. Registering any warm body you can find is not going to make those 30 other registries go away. The only way you can hope to be a viable entity in the future is to return to what the AKC used to stand for. Yes, dog show entries will have to go up. Yes, there will be lots of people who can't afford to participate. But when somebody says with pride, "Yes, she's registered and her parents were champions," it will MEAN something and be true. Does the AKC want to be "premier" or does it want to be just another Continental Kennel Club? A laughingstock?

One last thing: ditch New York. Those offices up there are costing major money. You and Dennis Sprung will just have to get used to a more genteel lifestyle in Raleigh.

Just Be Yourself

I've been dipping back in to the simplicity pool lately. Over a dozen years ago, I bought and read the book Simplify Your Life by Elaine St. James. I liked it then..... a lot. I picked it back up a few days ago and started thumbing through. Yep, I've done that. Yep, I've done that. No, haven't gotten to that yet. It was surprising to me both the things that I have simplified and the ones that are still all in a wad. And yes, I still like the book.



One of the hundred ways Ms. St. James gives to simplify your life is to "Just Be Yourself". She gives an exercise whereby you go through all the major parts/areas of your life and decide if and how each one would be different if the only person you were trying to impress was YOU. Some of the questions to answer are:

• would you drive a different car? HELL NO. I just got this one and I don't care if it guzzles gas, I'm not giving it up. I LIKE IT. IT'S BIG and HOLDS EVERYTHING. Granted, I can't DRIVE it as much because I can't pay for the gas, but when I do drive it, I LIKE IT.


• would you have a different career? Well, seeing as how I never really had much of one in the first place, I guess I'd have to decide if I really want one at all at this stage of life. Unless of course you count "puttering" as a career. I'm a terrific putterer.


• what kind of house would you live in? Something that looked like it came out of a fairy tale or the English countryside....whimsical, fun, strange, but WAY comfortable. I'd like to be "different" in the third act of my life. Take a little 50s ranch and turn it into........ WOW!WHAT KIND OF HOUSE IS THAT???


• how would you dress? Basically, like I do right now. After my 20s, I pretty much have dressed for myself ever since. For the last year or so, I was really in to dresses. Still like 'em. But now, I'm going back to jeans, white shirts (see profile picture) and boots. Or Keds. Seems to just fit the lifestyle better. Hard to wrangle dogs with something flouncing around your knees all the time.

So, if you were only trying to impress yourself, what would you change? What would you keep? I'd like to think that since those Yuppie 80s, we've all kind of relaxed on that "keeping up with the Joneses" thing.

The Ravelympics Afghan Does NOT Cross the Finish Line

So, as promised, here is the picture of my poor, pathetic little afghan. It tried to compete, to no avail. It's only about one-third done. At least I think I'll be able to have it finished by the time the Afghan for Afghan folks need them in order to be shipped.

I have a confession to make though. This afghan only saw the first few days of Olympic competition. I know. We were supposed to be WATCHING and knitting. And I did. In the beginning. But seeing all those buff, beautiful, young, supple, etc. etc. bodies on display all day and night got to be truly depressing. Except for the horses at the equestrian venue. Now, those I could have watched the entire two weeks.

Instead, I turned to my knitting standbys: movies. New ones, old ones; makes no difference. And yesterday I hit a bonanza. TNT was showing the complete Lord of the Rings trilogy. I sat down after lunch and just about never got up again. I love those movies. I loved the books.....several times. And they are just about perfect to knit by. No concentration required. Just look up to see Viggio Mortensen or Orlando Bloom every once in a while. And smile. Fingers keep moving. Brain goes on flight of fancy with the Middle Earth gang. Can't get much better than that. Now, if I'd had two weeks worth of those kinds of movies, who knows how big this afghan would be by now. Can you say "king-size bedspread"?

I have no idea what happened during the closing ceremonies at Beijing. I was sailing away with Frodo, Bilbo and Gandalf with a ship full of fairies in to the setting sun.

No Ravelympics Medal for Me!

Okay, y'all. I'm out of the running for a medal. Not even a teeninsey one. I swear, I have worked on my little afghan religiously. Well, semi-religiously. But truly..... as much as I possibly could. And the Olympics are almost over and I've only got about 7" of the damn thing done. (But it looks pretty nice.) I will work feverishly up until the closing bell -- or whatever it is they're going to do to signal the end. And I will faithfully post a picture of whatever I've gotten done to that point. Maybe I can do some sprinting in these final days. ("My fingers get tired, " she whined and pouted.)

So, on to something else. Yes, I've been knitting, but at night when I crawl in to bed, I've been reading. And this is the book: The Night Journal by Elizabeth Crook. It's really good. And not too terribly long....about 400 pages. One of the liner notes says "A mesmerizing novel about four generations of women bound to a mythical legacy in the American Southwest." Ms. Crook has a web site: www.elizabethcrookbooks.com. So, you might want to go check it out over there. I give it a "couldn't put it down till I finished the last 40 pages" review. And that was a couple of mornings ago while waking up with my coffee. The start of my day got delayed because I had to see how it ended. You probably won't like all of the characters, but that's what makes it interesting.

I have to go knit now. (Do you think I could get a maid, cook and kennel help for the next few days? I could sit and knit till my fingers dropped off.)

I'm in the Olympics!

Actually, that would be the "Ravelympics" over at http://www.ravelry.com/. What fun!

For those who don't know, this is a knitting/crocheting community with LOTS of members. To celebrate the Olympics, many of the knitting groups are participating in their very own knitting Olympics. Started with the opening ceremonies and will end when the flame gets moved or covered or whatever it is they do with it at the end.

My group is Afghans for Afghans, a charitable organization that knits for the mothers and children of Afghanistan. I'm not "Ravelry" competent, so there are issues with trying to get a picture of my chosen event up there: a small afghan. There's all these instructions about how to post through Flickr and a couple of other ways. Egads! Not that I couldn't figure it out, but shit. It's like EVERY website has its own different way of doing things; 3 dozen pages of instructions... etc. etc. etc. I get tired of trying to decipher all that junk. I've got at least 2 or 3 better things to do. Couldn't I just upload the picture from my computer like I do normally? NO...... So, I'm posting the picture of my yarn here. And when I get finished (which I hope will be at the closing bell, but I don't know..........fingers will only go so fast and I do have to do a couple of other things like feed dogs, myself & husband, sleep....), I'll put up the finished product here. THEN, if I feel like mucking around with the how-to's over at Ravelry, I'll put it up there.

So, here's the colorway (multi/blue/purple)...... wish me luck in my event!

All Hail Rock and Roll!

In the September/October issue of the AARP magazine...............YES, I get it. Furthermore, I actually read it. There is an article entitled "50 Reasons to Love Being 50+". Number 18 on the list is "Because our music rocks!". It lists 5 songs that the magazine's music critic says folks will be listening to until hell freezes over. These 5 are The Beach Boys "God Only Knows"; Aretha Franklin "I Never Loved a Man (The Way That I Love You)"; Booker T. & the MGs "Time is Tight"; Merle Haggard "Mama Tried"; and, The Beatles "Strawberry Fields Forever". They ask for people's picks for best songs ever.

While I like the songs they picked -- except for the MGs' song; I don't remember it -- there were two that popped into my mind almost immediately. One was by The Animals: "House of the Rising Sun". I can't even begin to think of 60s music without that one. The other is "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" by the Righteous Brothers. I can think of lots more. Practically every song on the original soundtrack from the movie Dirty Dancing is a keeper. Especially that Solomon Burke number. Too hot.........

I admit it. When it comes to music, I say exactly the same sort of thing my parents used to say: "now THAT was music" or "they don't make music like THAT anymore". Stuff that I always swore I would never, ever say. But I don't care if it makes me sound 200 years old. They DON'T make music like THAT anymore. More's the pity. Because, yes indeed, our music ROCKS ON.

Think I'll go turn on my XM radio now.....60s on 6........70s on 7.