Today, I was up at the crack of dawn - ish, at a little after 9:00 a.m., so that we could pack up up all three dogs and head on over to the beach for the monthly Pugs on the Beach gathering. Lately, there hasn't been much of a turnout, but that hasn't stopped the…
July 20, 2012: Doggly Matters!
I had a terrible 2011 in Toronto. For many reasons. One of the biggest was the cancer diagnosis for my pug, Maximus, and the subsequent attempts to treat the illness. Once a week, Akemi and I would wake up at 7:00 a.m., bundle Max in the back of the car, and take the 90 minute…
July 10, 2012: Ouch! 3 Days to Comic Con! Dogs enjoying the Summer! Days of Stargate: Atlantis Past! Inferno!
I hit play on the DVD and, as a fifth season episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia started up, I took a seat and tested the dumbbells. It was my triceps day so I figured I'd start with flat bench extensions, move on to overhead extensions, then to close grip press, and finish up…
July 5, 2012: Days of Stargate: Atlantis Past! The Tower! And Dogs Eating Ice Cream!
THE TOWER (215) In first season or so on the Stargate franchise, my writing partner and I co-wrote scripts in the truest sense of the term. We actually sat (or paced) in an office, bouncing ideas and dialogue off each other, hammering out every scene and every line in the script. Eventually, we found it…
July 1, 2012: Post-massage dog-wrangling! Days of Stargate: Atlantis Past! The Hive! Epiphany!
I've been feeling stressed-out of late and so, at Akemi's behest, I booked us an hour-long couple massage at the local Absolute Spa. We left the house well in advance of our 1:00 p.m. appointment yesterday, figuring we could relax in the sauna for half an hour beforehand. We were only a couple of blocks…
June 20, 2012: Dark Matter (and me!) at Comic Con! Take a breather with Jelly! Winners of the Greatest Mid-Season Two-Parter in Stargate History contest!
Finally booked my hotel for Comic Con next month which means I WON'T be sleeping on the floor of the convention center after all. On the one hand, it's nice to know I can look forward to a mattress, a hot shower, and room service cookies and milk, but on the other hand, I was…
May 23, 2012: Lulu scampers loudly and carries a big stick!
I was sidetracked today by an eye doctor's appointment, several phone calls, and a slew of emails that kept me from the task at hand - that task being, of course, the SF (near future) miniseries I'm writing with Paul. In order to keep to my act a day pace, it looks like I'll have…
May 9, 2012: Deep Dog Thoughts
Back in the days when I had an office job, I worked with a woman (Michelle? Chantal? Quenel?) who was training to be a pet psychic. Not surprisingly, it wasn't something she was eager to share with her co-workers and only happened to come out over the course of some tangental discussion. Something like: "Hey,…
May 2, 2012: This blog goes to the dogs. Again!
Whereas most adults my age are either dropping their kids off at school or picking them up from school or buying them clothes and toys, or attending their various extracurricular activities, I'm dropping my dogs off at doggy daycare or picking them up from doggy daycare or purchasing them leashes and toys, or attending various…
April 13, 2012: The Doggy Guilt Trip!
My dogs have a way of laying on the guilt trip. Whenever I put on my jacket to go out, my thirteen year old pug, Jelly, transforms from an arthritic perennial lounger to a pup at heart, hopping up and bounding about, tail wagging, barking. It's her way of saying: "Finally! We're going out! Allow…
April 4, 2012: Potential pack members? We check out The Oakwood Canadian Bistro, Market by Jean-Georges, and Thierry.
"I am melting sleepy. I can't take it anymore." - Akemi, last night, apparently VERY tired. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm considering adopting an elderly pug in memory of my boy Maximus. I've been scouring the pug rescue sites and came across the twosome pictured above. Buddy and Junior are brothers, aged…
April 1, 2012: Remembering Maximus
Today would have been Maximus's twelfth birthday. I'd like to dedicate today's entry to his memory and offer up some of my favorite photos of my boy, "the handsome one".
March 31, 2012: They’re killing your pet. And you could be next!
I've been reading Marion Nestle's Pet Food Politics, a book that details the mass 2007 tainted pet food recall and its far-reaching implications. For those of you who don't know, back in 2007, cats and dogs started dying under mysterious circumstances. Panicked pet owners contacted the FDA which, in turn, contacted pet food companies. Ensuing tests…
March 30, 2012: Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! And chocolate.
So I was in bed last night, dreaming about the end of the world (don't recall the details but I do remember we only got a days advance warning - fairly typical of the government), when I was awakened by the sound of something hitting the floor - kerplunk! I sat up, assuming it had come…
March 27, 2012: Pugs on the Beach!
With the warm(ish) weather upon us, I decided to treat the gang to a morning at the beach. Coincidentally, the last Sunday of every month is Pugs at the Beach so it worked out perfectly - minus the biting wind and fact that only about a dozen pugs showed. Bubba, impatient as always, couldn't wait…