Kurt Elling - Awesome

If I had to choose for my desert island, I would absolutely choose Kurt Elling.

Oh. Did I forget something in that question? I meant, a recording to have on my desert island, along with my wine and cheese and sunglasses, it would be just about anything from Kurt Elling. However, this particular performance is just fantastic. My Foolish Heart, and so much more. He is such an amazing singer. He is just incredible to see live, in concert. I would settle for the recording on my island, but I would kidnap Kurt to have him all to myself.

His band is pretty kick-ass, too.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he will be at Spoleto Festival this year. He wasn't there last year, and he had been attending every other year for a while. I know he's bigger now - and nominated for another Grammy Award - but I will be pleased like all get out if he shows up.

If not, maybe this year's Montreal Jazz Festival. I now live just 90 minutes away from this great city to the north.

Warning: the very end of this You Tube video cuts off, but every second of your time is well-spent watching and listening to what's there. Enjoy.

Can Dogs Be Too Cute and Too Funny?

I wonder. I recognize that I come across as a crazy dog lady sometimes, but the moments of sheer joy I get from my dogs are so breathtaking to me. I am overwhelmed with happiness when I watch them interact. Frankly, they don't even have to do that. They can just be like Miller, sixteen and a half years old and still willingly and adorably wanting to run and play with the two year old and the five year old. He's not really interacting with Fred and Homer much, because they kind of leave him in the dust, which he doesn't seem to mind in the least. He seems perfectly happy to still be enjoying the party. So cute.

Today was a great day of dog time for me during my lunch break. I drive 35 minutes home to walk the dogs, feed Miller some lunch, and then spend a little time with them before heading back to the office )35 more minutes on the road, today with wet snow all the way) for our afternoon session. Fred and Homer ended up sitting together on the loveseat in front of the Christmas tree. They were adorable, so I quickly grabbed the camera, and of course, the moment I point it towards them, Homer jumps down. I put the camera down, encouraged Homer back up, and then grabbed the camera again. As I approached the sofa, Homer decided to join me and leaped from the loveseat, right across in front of Fred, and onto the sofa. Oy. I urged him back next to Fred. He seemed content to stay there for the moment, but this is when the Puppy ADD really kicked in: first he looked left, then he grabbed his little green rubber froggy toy, then while he was down that way, he licked his privates, and then scratched his head. He looked out the window. And finally he gazed in the same direction as Fred - sort of - which was the look I was going for. It was at this point that I finally really looked at Fred for the first time in a few minutes. His eyes were becoming slits, and he was leaning against his brother Homer, starting to fall asleep:

I mean, seriously, how freaking cute is that? I think it's SO cute.

The other photos from today's Too Cute to be Believed Photo Shoot:

And this, the close-up that was worth all the trouble:

Am I wrong about the cute?

I Love the Christmas Season

I am not religious and therefore I do not celebrate the season in the way Christians might like. I like the feeling of the season, the thought that we could possibly all get along, even love one another, as the good people that we should all want to be, and try to be. I like the lights and the Christmas music and the holiday concerts. And the holiday parties. I like dressing the boys up in their red and green scarves. And I am loving catching pictures of the boys in front of the tree. I haven't been able to get a good shot of Miller yet in front of the tree, but the little boys make it easy, since they like the back of the loveseat and it sits just in front of the tree.

Merry Christmas, or Happy whatever other holiday you celebrate this time of year.

Doing Our Homework

I found this link to a fascinating discussion of the Senate Health Care Bill. It was posted to the Atlantic Magazine website the day of the vote last weekend to allow debate to continue. If nothing else this article is a great justification for the debate to move forward. Considering that it has some solid support from some pretty well-respected experts in the field, why on earth would we not want to know more and talk and at least try to come to some sort of compromise?

Here is a link to the article. It's well-written and gives a lot more detail than we're used to seeing. Take some time over this holiday weekend to read it.

http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/11/a_milestone_in_the_health_care_journey.php

A Dinner Menu

Thanksgiving is coming up next week. My sisters Dana and Deb, and Deb's fella Darryl and I are heading over to the wonderful Turtle Island Cafe here in Willsboro for their Thanksgiving Buffet. Many of the people who read this blog have heard me speak of The Turtle before. We are SO lucky to have such an amazing restaurant here in my little Adirondack town. Here is a link to their current winter menu:

http://www.turtleislandcafe.com/daily.htm

They have regular daily specials, too. And their expanded summer menu is fantastic and full of local fresh produce and cheeses.

Since I'm not cooking for Thanksgiving I am planning a special dinner for Saturday night while Deb's still here. Here is the menu (I can't wait!):

Starter: Portobello mushroom parmesan over roasted broccolini

Entree: Ribollita with crusty bread

Cheese course

Dessert: Limoncello fruit salad

I have made this ribollita soup before and discussed it here on this blog. It is the most amazing, hearty soup. One of the many wonders to be found in Florence, Italy. I highly recommend trying this. It's not hard to make and the payoff is incredible.

The limoncello fruit salad will be a first for me. It's an Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) recipe that you can get on the Food Network website. Yummy. Looking forward to a great week of culinary delights!

Oh, and what's for dinner tonight, you ask? Nothing quite so special as all of the above, but a classic comfort food meal from my childhood: hot dogs, baked beans and mashed potatoes!

Allez cuisine! as they say on Iron Chef America!!!

Loved Real Good

That's what Bailey would have said about his time with us. The big guy passed away on Thursday after a brief illness. He had a long series of troubles with his health over the years, so I think that he did pretty well for a big dog. He lived to be about 8 1/2 years old, and he lived in grand style for a guy who was adopted out twice from the shelter - and then brought back both times. His time before that could not have been great, either, or he would not have landed in the shelter in the first place.

Bailey was a handful, as anyone who knows me and has heard me speak of him can attest. Of course, when he met new people he came across as the perfect gentleman:

Note: I had to mask the identity of the person in this photo as she is massively paranoid about her picture getting splashed all over the Web. It makes me laugh that I actually did this for her, because, honestly, how many people are really reading my blog? Snort.

Seriously, he really was the greatest dog with visitors and on outings (except in the car - ugh). Calm, great on a leash when we would hit the farmers markets or take a walk on a trail. He was amazingly better behaved out and about or with guests.

Huh...

Bailey was a lucky boy. He got to go on vacation...this is the Big B lazing on Deb and Darryl's bed at the house we rented in the Shenandoah Valley (we had 6 dogs in that house and left it spotless...with no damage, Miller! - but that's a story for another time):

He also vacationed in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Maine, the Catskills, and finally lived the vacation life in the Adirondacks in upstate New York. He also went on lots of local excursions, like this trip to Cape May, New Jersey, and a ride on the ferry:



Everyone who knows me recognizes the little guy sitting there next to Bailey. That's Fred, or as Bailey used to call him, "My Thanksgiving Present." I adopted Fred because my sister and I were looking for a dog to befriend Bailey - and to keep Bailey out of Boo's sights. Bailey wasn't Boo's favorite brother - Boo never forgot about all those times that Bailey stepped on him when he first came to live with us. But getting Fred was just the ticket: Bailey and Fred were best buds from the get-go. They played great together, despite Bailey's substantial size advantage:


And he was know as "My Thanksgiving Present" because we brought him home on November 22nd, four years ago, and the day before Thanksgiving. Bailey was never happier, I don't think, than he was those first few months with his new pal.

My 16 1/2 year old Lab/Golden mix Miller is the most patient of fellows. He was always so great with Bailey, despite the fact that Bailey really could be such a nudge. This is Miller and Bailey, hangin' in the backyard in Glassboro:

I am pretty sure that not a day went by in the nearly 6 1/2 years that I called Bailey mine that I didn't yell at him. He wasn't the smartest dog in the world. My vet back in New Jersey, who was when I lived down there and remains to this day one of the great veterinarians that I have had the pleasure to take my dogs to, used to say that Bailey was a lot like a GQ model: "Beautiful on the outside," he said, and then with just the most perfect hesitation he added, pointing up to his own head, "but not a whole lot up here."


He was such a pretty guy, everybody said so. The disease that he suffered from, it was known as masticatory myositis, or basically a deterioration of the muscles, manifested itself almost exclusively in the loss of muscle around his skull. This is why the bump on the top of his head was more and more noticable. We're pretty sure that muscles elsewhere had started to be affected. And there were other things that were going to be trouble for him. I am not a religious person and do not believe in prayer or "blessings", but I do think that it was fortuitous, maybe, that he had such a short illness because he was going to have a hard time of it with the other difficulties we found from testing.

I had adopted a new dog not all that long ago, Homer, another Beagle mix. It might have been a sign that Bailey wasn't himself when he didn't greet Homer with open paws. He seemed a little peeved sometimes with the new kid on the block, when he wasn't being his usual sweet self, like this:


So, as with all of the dogs that I have loved and lost, I will get over this. I will cry suddenly at the least mention of Bailey's name, as I am right now as I type this. But I have three wonderful dogs that make me laugh and feel so good and return all of the love that I give them, and more. There will be other dogs in my life, eventually. Bailey was special, and he required a special family to be with. I feel lucky to have been able to give him a good life. I wish I could do it for more dogs.

As I mentioned, I am not religious, but I do believe that if there is a heaven then these two boys, Bailey and Boo, are up there playing - together for a change - with all of their other dog buddies and cousins that have left us. I'm sure there is a great party going on up there, with Bailey barking long and loud, which he was wont to do for no good reason at all.

Rest in peace, my sweet boy.

Barack Obama, Writer

Here is a fascinating GQ article about Barack Obama as a writer. The article talks about him being the first president since Teddy Roosevelt to write large percentages of the speeches that he gives. You know I like a good writer. And based on the major speeches he has given so far, he's damned good at it.

Barack Obama's Work in Progress
Over the past few years, we’ve gotten to know our president as a lot of different things: campaigner, lawyer, father, basketballer. But what if Obama’s first and truest calling—his desire to write—explains more about him than anything else? Robert Draper recounts the untold story of the first man since Teddy Roosevelt to serve as author in chief.

Read the entire story here:

http://www.gq.com/news-politics/politics/200911/barack-obama-writing-books-writer-robert-draper

The Nobel Peace Prize

I think Shimon Peres said it best about Barack Obama winning this year's Nobel Prize for Peace:

“Very few leaders if at all were able to change the mood of the entire world in such a short while with such a profound impact. You provided the entire humanity with fresh hope, with intellectual determination, and a feeling that there is a lord in heaven and believers on earth. Under your leadership, peace became a real and original agenda. And from Jerusalem, I am sure all the bells of engagement and understanding will ring again. You gave us a license to dream and act in a noble direction.”

The National Parks - America's Best Idea

Oh my, what a wonderful series this was. Ken Burns can do no wrong, I do believe. Even when he is only acting as a producer, as he did with the brilliant documentary series "The West" about the great stories of the settling, and dislocating, of the American West, his presence is felt - passionately - throughout. His heart was evident in this series, as producer and director, and as one of the people working the camera in capturingvistas of America. I read some brief comments that Ken Burns made about making this particular series, about how special it was to be on this adventure with his own children, showing them the wonders of the great landscape of this country. I find it amazing how he is able to find just the right people to present the stories, how they are so eloquent and impassioned and plain interesting in the telling of the his chosen topic. One of the interviewees who was most interesting is also the writer for the series, Dayton Duncan. He also wrote the series "The West". So interesting, as were all of the people who spoke, and all of the heroes of America who worked so hard, and endured so much to protect these important places across our country.

I pulled a list of the national parks, all 58 of them (this does not include national monuments, seashores, waterways, battlefields and other sites that are also included under the umbrella of the National Park Service). I have only been to 8 of the national parks. As it turns out, that's a big number compared to other people I've spoken to this week. I really do need to work on increasing that number. I've been to a lot of the monuments and other entities of the Park Service, but I'd still like to see more of these, too.

One day.

Two of the national parks that were featured are Arches and Canyonlands in southeastern Utah. This area of the country is just full of incredible sights. Here are just a few:

My day at Arches started out in bright sunshine with brilliant blue skies:

As you can see from the picture of this gnarly tree, the skies grew ominous. This change occurred over the course of one short hour.

These last three shots above were from Canyonlands National Park. It's a pretty spectacular place. I have not yet been to the Grand Canyon, but there is so much beauty in these smaller canyons, I'm not convinced I need to go to the Grand Canyon.

But I still want to!

But there is so much more to see.

I also got this shot of a coyote who was hanging around waiting for someone to throw something from a car on the way our of Canyonlands.

There is so much to see. I can't wait to head out west again, but watching The National Parks makes me want to head to any of the great national parks, not just the ones out west.