Jul 9, 2010  •  In Comang, Cute

Doggie Fives

I’ve stated numerous times that Comang is not very bright. And while the desire to please is ever-present, we’ve only been able to teach him a handful of tricks due to his dim-wittedness.

So far, Comang knows: sit, stay, down, jump, and high-five.

Yes, you read that correctly. Our dog knows how to high-five. It was one of the first tricks that J taught him. See for yourself:

It is precisely for this reason that I immediately fell in love with the following video, which depicts a man trying to teach his baby to high-five and the dog jumping in to do it himself, as if to say, “Sigh, let the EXPERT show you how it’s done!”

I can sooo see Comang doing this when the baby comes!

P.S. — I almost forgot that Comang also knows the command “Wolverines!” J taught him this after watching the move Red Dawn (aka one of the most bad-ass movies of the 1980s) — all we do is raise up one arm and shout “Wolverines!” and Comang lifts one of his front paws to emulate. I must get this on video one day!

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Jul 9, 2010  •  In Baby, Star Wars

Baby Leia Hat

Princess Leia hairdo hats for babies: yay or no?

Via The Daily What.

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Jul 8, 2010  •  In NYC, Personal, Sports

T-Minus 2.5 Hours

An hour-long TV special devoted to where a basketball player will play this coming season seems rather silly, doesn’t it?

But you can bet that I, and millions more, will be watching.

Almost all sources point to LeBron having chosen Miami. There are even rumors that he’s booked six cabanas that the W Hotel South Beach this weekend to celebrate his decision.

However, I still have hope that he’ll choose New York. That he’ll man up, take up the challenge and help bring the glory days of basketball back to the Big Apple.

Mike Lupica of The Daily News agrees:

So here is this moment, after nine lost years, all the losing nights and the bad basketball and the nights when the only reason you knew the Knicks were still in town was because a player like LeBron was in town.

And now it is going to come down to an announcement a half-hour from the city, and less than that from the Knicks’ practice facility, that will feel like the Game 7 that began for the Knicks with Willis Reed limping out on the court once, and then Clyde Frazier playing the game of his life….

New York doesn’t deserve him more than the other cities in the great free agent chase of July 2010. The owner of the Garden, James Dolan, doesn’t deserve to win the player known as King James. But Knick fans do. The ones who were there through all the losing, the ones who kept coming because they remembered what the Garden was like when it was run by better people and had better teams and mattered — they deserve a chance to have LeBron come play for their team.

As I had stated earlier this week, Stoudemire’s fat contract will all go to waste if we don’t snatch up some more star players. There is still talk of Tony Parker joining the Knickerbockers, but the prospect now looks dim with talks of David Lee headed to Golden State instead of being part of a trade with the Spurs.

We have a Robin. We need a Batman to bring the Knicks back up to caliber.

Won’t you please be our Batman, LeBron?


At the Knicks season opener last year. People always tell me
that I live in the wrong state for my preference in sports (hate
baseball, love basketball) but my heart still holds true to the Knicks!

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Jul 8, 2010  •  In Art/Design, Home

Toilet Paper Dispenser with Matchbox Holder

They say that lighting a match after doing your deed on the toilet does not get rid of unpleasant odors but only masks them. Be that as it may, I still love the smell of freshly lit matches and always keep a box in the restroom for guests.

goodjoy design must also see the need for a matchbox in the bathroom, because they have cleverly added a matchbox holder to the top of a TP dispenser. Screw a new jet tub; this is a bathroom addition I can get behind!

Via Design Milk.

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Jul 8, 2010  •  In Funny, Geek

Oh Snap!

Via The Daily What.

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Jul 8, 2010  •  In Blogging, Web

Link Swap

I have some extra time today and have decided to clean up and update my three “Links” pages:

If you see that you’re not included and would like to be, please leave a comment and I’ll add your site. If you feel that I’m missing anything (or have suggestions of blogs you think I would enjoy), please feel free to chime in also.

And just so you don’t feel like you’re doing this for naught, here’s a picture of a baby seal asking “Pretty please?” to entice you:

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Jul 8, 2010  •  In Geek, Information, Science

Blogging the Periodic Table of Elements

I’ve always sucked at math and science, but if I had to pick a scientific field of choice, it would be chemistry. Perhaps it’s because I loved the visual aspect of the subject? Or maybe it’s because I loved the idea of tiny elements interacting with with other. Nonetheless, I actually did well in high school chemistry (unlike biology and physics) and even pondered taking a chemistry class or two in college.

It goes without saying then that I was thoroughly excited to read of Slate‘s new series of posts on the periodic table of elements. Over the next few weeks, author Sam Kean will write a separate post about 25 of the most interesting elements.

Each post will feature numerous facts about the element; its role in history, culture, and the arts; and its influence on modern day life.

In other words, more than enough nerdy facts to satisfy this geek’s desire!

Read the introduction to the series here. Be sure to hurry up, because the first two elements — antimony and hydrogen — are already up!

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Jul 7, 2010  •  In Comang, Personal

A Gravel, and Snip Snip

Great news — Comang is okay! The vet found an object lodged in his front left paw, something that J and I had earlier dismissed as being part of the paw. The doc got it out with a clamp and the object looked to be a very sharp piece of gravel. There was some bleeding, but after cleansing and treating the wound Comang was as good as new.

Comang looked sooo much happier within just seconds of dislodging the gravel that I knew this had to be the culprit. 15 minutes later, he was running again and acting his silly self.

My dog was back.

After a brief physical examination and re-checking all his joints to make sure that Comang was doing better, the vet and I had another discussion about the N-word.

Neutering.

Comang’s previous owners had chosen not to neuter him as he hardly ever came into contact with other dogs and did not have any behavioral problems that might warrant the procedure.

I personally have always been an advocate of neutering and spaying your pets (unless you were planning to breed) for the many physical and psychological benefits it offers. So I was all set on neutering Comang when we got him, but J vehemently refused.

“Why would you touch a man’s balls if there’s nothing wrong with them? WHY?” he would say.

Comang is one of the most docile and well-behaved dogs I have ever known. And since he hardly comes into contact with other dogs, I couldn’t convince J otherwise.

Then this past weekend, we dog-sat for Dante, my sister’s dog.

Dante is the only dog that Comang goes absolutely nuts over. As I have written before, Comang turns into a completely different animal when Dante is around. Needless to say, the weekend turned into quite a spectacle.

The more I observed Comang’s behavior around Dante, the more I realized that this was a sexual problem (perhaps my dog is gay?). Dante is a significantly more aggressive dog than Comang and Comang knows this. So he never mounts Dante…rather, he follows him around and humps the air around him.

I think the most disturbing moment of the weekend was when I stepped on a wet spot on the floor. I thought that it was just some water dribble from one of the dogs. But as I bent down to clean it up, I realized that it wasn’t entirely clear. And it was a bit…thick.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. My dog had shot a load in his excitement and I had stepped on his spunk.

This incident, in addition to the accidents (Comang never pees in the house otherwise), the knowledge that we can’t keep Comang and Dante apart forever, and the fact that we have a baby on the way finally convinced J to say “yes” to the procedure.

Comang will be getting neutered next Monday.

J is still upset about the prospect, but he knows that it’s for Comang’s best interest.

Thank you for all the concerned comments on this morning’s post about Comang! I would really appreciate it if you can pray and hope for a speedy recovery for Monday’s procedure as well. And if you want to get more Comang updates, follow the Twitter account that J created for him: @Comang.

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Jul 7, 2010  •  In Art/Design, Photography

A Digital Artist’s Workbench

I love Italian photographer and artist Federico Mauro‘s clever take on a modern digital artist’s workbench:

It reminds me of another “manual” re-interpretation of a modern artist’s tool

See more from Mauro’s Flickr Set Creative is Hard Work. Love them all!

Via Neatorma.

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Jul 7, 2010  •  In Comang

Limping Dog

I have no need for an alarm clock because Comang always wakes me up at around 7:30am to take him on his morning walk.

This morning, however, he didn’t come get me until well past 8:30am. ‘That’s strange,’ I thought, but I figured he hadn’t slept well and just brushed it off.

The second sign that something might be wrong was that he wasn’t his energetic self. He usually runs ahead of me to the elevator and jumps as I bend down to attach his leash, ecstatic at the thought of going on a walk. But this morning, he trailed behind me and didn’t seem excited at all.

Again, I thought that he was just having an off day (doesn’t everyone?) and didn’t think much of it.

We commenced on our route around the block. That’s when I noticed it: a slight limp.

“Walk it off, little guy!” I urged him.

Never have I seen him look so miserable on a walk. I knew that he was really feeling horrible when we approached his nemesis, the husky that lives across the street. Comang usually goes crazy as we approach the husky — he knows that the husky can stomp his little butt to the ground, but is also aware that the husky can’t do anything to him with a fence between them. As such, he usually barks at and taunts the husky, almost as if to say, “HAHA YOU CAN’T GET ME!”

But this time, my little guy shrank away from the husky.

A few more painful steps later, he stopped. He sat on the ground and stared up at me. We had barely made it to the end of our street. I knew then that something was definitely wrong.

I picked up my poor dog and carried him home.

I shouted for J as soon as we returned. We targeted the leg (or foot) that must be bothering Comang, but couldn’t find anything wrong on the surface. The little guy didn’t wince or whine at our flexing his joints and searching his paws…he just seemed to be in pain.

I called our vet, but he is in surgery until 3:30pm and won’t be able to see us until 3:50. Since this isn’t an emergency, the receptionist told me to keep Comang off his feet as much as possible and keep him comfortable until the vet could see him.

Comang has refused to eat this morning, and even ignores the treats I place in front of him. The sound of his growling stomach, coupled with the sight of him looking so downcast breaks my heart. He has been resting on the couch all morning, as you can see in the photo above.

I really hope my little guy is alright. I would be devastated if the vet finds something horribly wrong.

3:50pm cannot come fast enough today.

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