* Bonus: Affenpinscher.

Recently, at Our Best Friends...



"Hey Hannah," asked Maddie, rounding the corner. "I heard singing." She stopped, puzzled. "Who are your friends?"



"I am among the Moose," sang Hannah, in a low and tuneless dirge.
"I am among the Moose...
"There's no excuse, no truce...
"For Gander or for Goose...
"And you'll never, never, ever get loose...
"Once you're among the Moose."

"What are you doing?" asked Maddie. "It looks kinda weird."

"It's a performance piece," replied Hannah. "This isn't weird, this is art."


"But I don't get it," said Maddie. "And isn't there usually cheese at art openings?"


"Oh, foo," huffed Hannah, crestfallen. "No great artist is ever appreciated in her lifetime."

"That's okay," said Maddie, stepping forward and resting a paw on Hannah's shoulder. "Maybe I was just looking at things from the wrong angle."

Out walking Maddie this morning, we stopped along the sidewalk so that a woman, someone we usually see dragged along behind a German Shepard, passed. In her hands she held a large coffee cup. Maddie wagged a "hello," and I asked, "No dog today?"

The woman shrugged, glanced at the cup, smiled. "Dog's sleeping in," she answered. "So I'm walking the goldfish."

I laughed, Maddie scratched, and the woman continued on, sipping from her cup and humming.

Today at Our Best Friends.


"Once upon a time," said Maddie, sitting behind a line of stuffed rabbits. "There was a bunch of bunnies..."

"A bury of bunnies," I interrupted.

"A what?"

"A bury. That's the collective noun for rabbits. Like 'a murder of crows' or 'a herd of cows'. Rabbits get a few. You could say 'a colony', 'a drove', 'a husk', 'a warren', or even 'a wrack' of rabbits."

"Who's telling this story," asked Maddie, closing one eye and looking at me. "You or me?"

"Sorry," I said. "Go on."


"All was well and good in Bunnyland," continued Maddie. "Until..." Maddie paused, taking a deep breath.


"Disaster struck." Maddie announced, sweeping her paw through the conga line of bunnies, sending cottontails cascading from the couch.

"That's horrible, Maddie," I said.

"Sheesh," replied Maddie. "It's just a story. Dramatic tension. Can I go on?"

"Okay, Maddie. Continue."

( Maddie's story continues behind the cut... )

"It's a tough decision," says Maddie. "One you gotta make this time every year in Petaluma. Maybe you folks out there can help me decide. So what do you say...?"

( Help Maddie decide behind the cut... )

While we were visiting Jan and Randy's house a few nights ago, I discovered that Randy had the dolls out (he'd been working on a piece for "The Man Show," currently on display at The Mail Depot). As the story goes, the dolls were discovered in a box, in the desert, in pretty-much the states of decay seen here, many years ago. What follows are a number of pictures I took of the collection, spread out on the table, more-or-less unposed and undisturbed. More or less. Yeah, it's kind of like hanging out in Joel Peter Witkin's rumpus room, but some of you might enjoy them. So put on a record of kindertotenlieder, pour a glass of wine, sit back, and enjoy...



( More images behind the cut. Fair warning, some images may disturb you. )

...there are some places you just don't wanna go. Especially while shopping at Whole Foods.

This year's show will include my short story "The Killer Fruitcake that Ate Petaluma," which is a little bit of Orson Welles, a little bit of Arch Oboler, a little bit of Christmas cheer, and a whole lot of home. Catch it if you can!

"I think I know why they call it fall," said Maddie as we walked downtown this morning.
"Why's that, Maddie?" I responded, the etymology of autumn running through my head.
"'Cause some of it just fell in my eye. Do you think you could give me a hand here?"


More new car stuff...


The new car in full daylight. Its name has been decided... and will be announced soon.

( Much, much more behind the cut... )

Hey kathputli_girl! Have you seen this Indian PSA featuring Nirodh, the Dancing Condom yet? It's in Telugu, not Hindi, but I think you'll still get a kick out of it...



But fair warning... it's catchy!

(And if you thought this was weird, check out novawildstar's post.)