Well, this was a day of mixed emotions!  I received my first Christmas present EVER today… and since I’m a dog and can’t read a calendar, I went ahead and opened it (even though my master tells me Christmas is still a week away… and something about I should have been good this year if I was going to receive gifts). 

I have been doing my research on this Christmas thing.  While Thomas is at work I catch the continuous running of A Christmas Story on tv.  Did you know you can actually go tour the house where they filmed this movie in Cleveland?!  That would be a cool trip.  I wish I could go but I’m told they don’t allow pets, which is a bummer considering they let hounds run through the kitchen during the movie.  I guess these hounds ruined it for everyone… since they ate the family’s turkey they now have a no pet policy.  Anyway… like I was saying, watch the movie and then go tour the house.  It’s your regular Ohio museum/gift shop tourist trap!

So here I am, all excited and nervous to see what’s in my first Christmas present…

And here’s my reaction to what’s inside the box when I open it…

And this leads us to why I brought up the movie A Christmas Story in the first place.  Do you see that look of confusion on my face that says “Why… why would someone get me this?!”  Well, this reminded me of a scene from the movie when Ralphie is opening Christmas gifts…

Yes, that look right there… that look says it all.  (And just so people don’t think I’m stealing photos and such from other websites I would like to give credit to Flickstounge.com for having so many good photos from the movie available).

Since Ralphie had to try his pink bunny suit on, you guessed it… here’s me in my new blue (UK Wildcats blue as Rebecca would point out) rain jacket.

So for those of you out there that are doing some last minute Christmas shopping for me, I still need an umbrella to go with my new rain gear.  I would like to go ahead and publicly thank Rebecca and Jill, a couple of Thomas’ coworkers, for the Christmas gift.  You shouldn’t have!  Don’t worry, even if I don’t like it, Thomas absolutely loves it and he’s probably praying for rain all the time now so he can make me wear this thing!  For those of you that need some gift ideas for me… Beggin’ Strips are just fine by me!

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With an election year coming up it became clear that I had to make a decision - do I run or do I sit, stay?!  Well… I am not one to use my website and blog to preach my political views but I feel that it’s necessary to set the record straight.  I owe it to my best friend, mankind, to help guide this country in the right direction.  A lot of great dogs have gone before me… Checkers, Barney, countless others. 

I am formally announcing my candidacy for the dictatorship of America.  Please understand that I have yet to pick a running mate… although I’ve been told to choose a lab (Max or Murphy perhaps?!) to attract a wider following than my German heritage… yes, Dachshunds are of German descent.  So is the Arnold… and he married a Kennedy and is now Governor of California.  Let me also just say I am saddened by the great loss of trees out in California.

I’m told that all of the great politicians were good at shaking hands (still working on that) and kissing babies (got that one nailed).  Here are some pictures from my recent visit with Rob, Tricia, Andrew, and Aggie.  Andrew is the little tike in the pictures.  Aggie was not present during the photo session.

 Here i am greeting one of my supporters, Andrew.  I call him my biggest little fan.

 I think I won over this future voter.  Man this political campaigning stuff is hard work!

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Master had a birthday and his good friend Jessica came to celebrate (even though deep down we know she was really just looking for a reason to come see yours truly!!!)

In my recent post about Labor Day I commented that I finally didn’t blink or flinch when they took my picture (rather the human blinked instead) and now I have to post this picture below where I was distracted by Jessica’s perfume!

I simply couldn’t hold the pose any longer, I just had to lean up and lick her ear.  Apparently female humans really like that because she squeeled when I did it… or shreeked… either way it evoked a big reaction.  Oh, and sorry about how blurry this one turned out.  Thomas would have you believe he was rushing to put down the camera to pry me off of Jessica but I think he was distracted.  I worry about that boy.

Here’s a picture of all three of us, just before Jessica decided to use my stairs to get off the couch.

Good job getting about half of me into the picture Thomas!  Sorry for the really awful glare from the sunlight in the top of the picture… if Thomas had held the camera down a little lower (and therefore gotten me in the picture) the light reflecting off his balding head wouldn’t have been nearly as bad!  But anyway, this picture turned out ok.  At least we’re all looking the right direction and no one blinked!  It’s the small victories in life that make me happiest. 

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So a lot of people have been wondering if I am dressing up for Halloween this year.  Well I actually hadn’t given it a lot so I don’t have a costume.  Some people had suggested that Thomas fit me with some hot dog buns… how original, I know… but I don’t want to just be another wiener dog in a hot dog outfit, like my friends that participated in Oktoberfest in downtown Cincinnati.

So I am using the blog to request your suggestions of costumes.  You can leave comments on this page or send your ideas via email through my master’s website.  I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with, I’m sure you’re a creative bunch!

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I am most grateful to my loyal readers whom often provide me fodder for my blog.  You encourage me to scribble more thoughts down than if I would otherwise ramble on about my mundane puppy life in Cincinnati, Ohio in total disregard for the readers’ interest.

Dolce, a fellow pup and faithful reader… I can say faithful because let’s face it, dogs are mankind’s best friend and the most loyal of the animal kingdom…  Anyway, Dolce posed a question about what would be beneficial in starting a blog or website.  Certainly I agree it is difficult to type with these waffle iron-like paws.  Then there is the slobber on the keyboard. 

Some would argue you should get a degree in Journalism or take a creative writing course.  That’s about as useful as burying your favorite bone in the neighbor’s yard.  Some other dog is just going to steal your bone or the neighbor is going to run it over with the loud green contraption.  It says Deere on the side but it’s much louder and slower than the deer that I’ve seen in the neighborhood.  Alas, I digress.

I do not consider myself to be the authority on what you should do to take up blogging.  I learned every thing I know from Mr. Aaron Forgue, Harry’s master.  Aaron is a computer guru and introduced me to a product that has made blogging and publishing on the web so easy.  It’s called WordPress.  It has a lot of the features of Microsoft Word but is accessed through a browser and makes publishing online very easy.

But I do think that while technology has enabled us to transport the spoken word from the pen to the keyboard, there is still so much we can learn by reflecting on the classic, accomplished authors.  For instance, Mark Twain said, “Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”  Another famous writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne, said, “Easy reading is damn hard writing.”  Nathaniel Hawthorne obviously didn’t have to answer to an editor if we are to believe Mark Twain.  I obviously do have to answer to an editor as you can tell by reading the title to this entry.

Some final, and personal, thoughts on blogging.  It’s like any other thing in life.  You have to like what you do.  And I like to blog.  Hence the tagline on the website is I’m just a dog that likes to blog…  I will also stress that you should be brief as people don’t like to read novels online (some advice that I didn’t take in this particular blog posting)!!!  People like a lot of pictures, too.  I have some more pictures to upload.  Some of these go back to Labor Day weekend 9/2/07.  So perhaps I will upload those with any Halloween pictures that I take!  Until then, happy blogging!

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My cousins Max & Murphy (for you new readers to the blog they are Labs living in northeast Ohio) requested pictures of me in the new truck.  Well, ask and ye shall receive… these photos were taken the day after we got the truck!

 Ooops, wasn’t ready yet… this is the equivalent of you humans blinking when someone goes to take your picture.

Now who wouldn’t enjoy a nice ride in the truck?!  Sure it doesn’t have leather, heated seats like the Jag… but it’s summer!  Time to roll down the windows and go driving down the back country roads to go fishin’ and drink Country Time Lemonade and chase rabbits.   Ok, so I prefer walks around Winton Woods and drinking out of the fountain at Fountain Square downtown.  But you get the idea…

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In case you haven’t been to downtown Cincinnati, Ohio recently, the city has completed a renovation of Fountain Square.  I just made a visit myself and I must say, I was quite impressed.  Here’s a picture of me pretending to be the statue Genius of Water:

Once again I apologize for the poor resolution, the picture was taken with a camera phone and the lights in the background were really making it hard to get this shot (especially trying to get me and the lady of the fountain - the Genius of Water - both in the shot).  I do a pretty good pose and impression if I do say so myself.  Had I not told you I was posing in front of the fountain you might think that statue was erected in my honor! 

Anyway, I highly recommend a trip downtown to sniff this place out.  I found all sorts of cool things while I was down there: some potato chips, a pack of Ranch dressing, pieces of a turkey and ham sandwich, a homeless guy (that part made me sad) and numerous fans - one that even referred to me as “Killer”.  I have to admit, I like “Killer” better than the “hot dog” that the kid at Winton Woods called me a few weeks back.

If you can’t make it down there for your own visit, well you’re in luck!  Through the marvels of modern technology (and it is marvelous considering I’m a 6 month old dog and I’m blogging!), you can now check out live feed video of Fountain Square right there on your computer!  It can’t be as exciting as being there in person but I admit it’s the next best thing. 

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Some of you humans are fond of the movie When Harry Met Sally.  Well, tonight an event happened that makes that movie seem like an after-school special.  Tonight… Harry met Garbanzo.  To be specific, Harry and Daisy both got to be my host for the evening as I spent most of the night at their home in the northern Cincinnati area.  Harry and Daisy are great hosts, sometimes even a little too accomodating as you might be able to tell from the photo below.  I apologize for the poor picture quality.  It was getting near dusk and this was taken with a cell phone camera. 

For those of you that are new to viewing this website, that’s me on the ground.  Daisy is on the left, Harry is on the right (the big Golden Retriever).  I was so excited to see these two pooches, and they have an excellent backyard for entertaining… it’s fenced in and has plenty of shrubs and things to sniff! 

Although Harry and Daisy do not have websites, their masters do!  In fact, both of their masters’ websites are listed in my Blogroll links in the right hand column of this page.  Harry’s master is Aaron Forgue.  And while I can’t state this for a fact, I am pretty sure that Daisy’s master is the anonymous author of One Stray Pea. 

Let’s bring Harry and Daisy into the 21st century!  We need EVERYONE, and I do mean everyone! (as you can tell since I used all caps and bold!) to email Harry and Daisy’s master and insist that they either get their own websites or they be given space, at least a page, on their masters’ websites.  I don’t think that’s too much to ask from your best friend… at least last time I checked we were still man’s best friend!  Once Harry and Daisy get some online press I think they will be upgraded to best friend status.  I can’t wait to link them to my website!

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The wonders of technology make me wag my tail shamelessly and involuntarily shake my hind leg!  Not only can you call me between 8am-5pm EST Monday through Friday (remember: the phone number is 513-522-2223), but now you can also subscribe to this blog and have the latest spoken word by yours truly delivered right to your email in box! 

 Or, if you use Yahoo!, MSN, or various other websites as your homepage you can have the most recent blog articles delivered to your homepage to read along side the news, weather, sports, etc.!

Simply click on the Subscribe to My Site button in the top right corner and sign up.  Don’t stick your tail between your legs, you don’t have to worry about spam or unsolicited junk.  The system is automated with the server and I don’t know who is subscribing, nor do I get a list of email addresses, etc. 

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I realize that this website isn’t the most interactive technological marvel on the planet.  And I know some of you would prefer to speak to me in real time rather than reading the blog over and over again (although I do appreciate that!)… so I am now accepting phone calls between the hours of 8:00am and 5:00pm EST Monday through Friday. 

I’m sure you understand that I might now be able to pick up the phone everytime someone calls, in fact I’ll promise you that I am screening the calls due to telemarketers.  Let’s face it, they are just people who were too scared to deliver their junk to the door in envelopes, hence they are not worthy of my time.  I can at least respect the post office for sending someone to my door. 

So feel free to give me a call during the day between 8-5 and I promise to at least listen to your messages.  My number is (513) 522-2223.  So go ahead.  Sit.  Speak.

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