warm fuzzy - life, pugs, and philosophy

New Camera

2007-02-06T15:39:00.000-05:00

penelope in black and white
Originally uploaded by pilarkitty.

Ryan got a new camera so now I am trying to artistically photograph Penelope. I think this one turned out well.

countdown to arizona

2006-10-12T16:01:00.000-04:00

I am leaving for Arizona in about 21 days. I am very nervous I am not going to be finished preparing for the meeting, yet I post to my blog.

haircut

2006-09-28T09:14:00.000-04:00

pointing
Originally uploaded by eatsdirt.

this is how i want my hair to be cut.

three cute pugs through a window

2006-09-15T21:52:00.000-04:00

three cute pugs through a window
Originally uploaded by pilarkitty.

we watched Winston and Stella again last weekend and boy did they all have a great time. It's nice to see them all get along so well. Since they were so difficult to photograph together, I had to go outside and snap a photo through the window. I think it makes the house look big.

2006-07-18T17:33:00.001-04:00

i'm scared

2006-07-18T17:33:00.000-04:00

I was reading the local news on KDKA.com and saw a slideshow that frightened me more than any other. Mayflies have taken over Kitanning, a small town north of Pittsburgh. I think that mayflies are one of the most disguisting creatures on Earth and it scares me how that plummet to the Earth without even considering they may land on my hair.

Here's the slideshow for all to see.
http://kdka.com/slideshows/local_slideshow_197155510/

Drunk Pelicans

2006-06-25T21:37:00.000-04:00

Pelican
Originally uploaded by Benderish.

I read an article about drunk Pelicans in California. Evidently, domoic acid is poisoning the algae that pelicans eat. One pelican flew right into someone's car, broke its leg and injured its mouth pouch. I find this really sad.

As I read further into the story, it mentioned that similiarly it is believed that domoic acid poisoning was suspected in a 1961 bird invasion in California that inspired the Alfred Hitchcock film classic. In general, I have a fear of birds, but knowing that the movie "The Birds" was inspired by true events makes me really nervous. I am glad I live in a Pelican-free zone.

Click here to read the entire article.

Penelope met her brothers last night.

2006-03-28T14:49:00.000-05:00

penelope and her brothers, children of ritter's famous amos
Originally uploaded by pilarkitty.

We went to the Small Dog Social at Animal Friends last night and Penelope met a dog from the other litter that was available when we chose Penelope. They have the same dad, Ritter's Famous Amos. It was fun to see the resemblence, but he was so much bigger than Pen. There were three pugs in his litter and six in Penelope's litter. I guess that has something to do with it.

reoccuring dream - traveling by air

2006-02-28T09:18:00.000-05:00

Flying over the Mountains
Originally uploaded by pilarkitty.

I had a reoccuring dream last night. I dreamt that I was going to the airport with my mom and aunt and we were going to travel to Germany (I am actually planning a trip there, but for work, not with family.) My mom and I were on the same flight, but my aunt was traveling alone. I got stuck in this fastasy city and couldn't get home in time to pack my clothes. I was going to miss my flight. I finally got home by riding my bike and my mom came to pick me up. I called the airline to tell them that I would be late and that I needed to change the flight. They changed it to the next day, but miraculously the flight was delayed so there was a chance I would be able to leave on the original flight. My mom and I drove to the airport, but the parking lot was full of potholes and uneven surfaces and we couldn't find a space to park the car. Finally we parked the car and ran full speed to gate A3 where the plane was to depart. We saw gate A2, A6, but no A3. We ended up in the employees quarters which resembled the housekeeping area of a hotel. None of the employees were helpful in locating gate A3. I was running at full speed so I wouldn't miss my flight. I had a feeling of dread. Then, my dog moved in the bed and woke me up. I have had this sort of dream before where I am trying to travel somewhere, but I can't make it. I wonder if anyone has had this dream before and what it means.

penelope now has a myspace page

2006-02-27T12:08:00.000-05:00

I made a page for Penelope on MySpace. I saw all the other pugs with pages and I didn't want Penelope to feel left out. She already has more friends that I do. ha ha. I couldn't believe how many pugs had their own pages. I think that pug people are a little bit more fanatic than other people. With those cute little faces, who can resist being a fanatic? If you are a pug and want to add Penelope as a friend, she welcomes it.

since ryan is going to seattle for a week, i had to adopt a new one.

2006-02-24T12:26:00.000-05:00

road trip - february 2006

2006-02-21T18:51:00.000-05:00

she wants revenge
Originally uploaded by pilarkitty.

Ryan and I took a last minute trip to Washington DC last weekend to see the band She Wants Revenge. They played at the Black Cat as the opening band for Electric Six. Neither of us had heard of the headliner, but the tickets were only $13 so we figured if they were bad we would leave.

She Wants Revenge was really great. All of their songs, although they sound similiar, have great hooks and make your body move.

Electric Six, on the other hand, was just ridiculous. They sounded like some seventies glam band gone wrong. I wouldn't recommend them.

When we got home, I saw on Pollstar.com that She Wants Revenge is playing in Pittsburgh in April. I will make sure that I see them a second time.

ok cupid politics test.

2006-02-16T15:17:00.000-05:00

You are a
Social Liberal
(65% permissive)

and an...
Economic Liberal
(20% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Strong Democrat

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid
Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

dermot the pug wins again

2006-02-14T15:03:00.000-05:00

I have just heard that Dermot the Pug has won best in toy group at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. I saw this pug in the dog show that was on NBC on Thanksgiving and they had the poor thing running on a treadmill. I hope he gets lots of lap time in the off-season. You can definitely see the difference between Penelope and a show dog. I think she's better looking than a lot of pugs, but before I got a pug, I could never tell the difference between a pet and show quality.

Courtesy of Sports Illustrated Magazine. (associated press photo)
Dermot the pug won the toy group and will aim for his 66th overall Best in Show title.

penelope's ready for valentine's day

2006-02-13T11:46:00.000-05:00

penelope's ready for valentine's day
Originally uploaded by pilarkitty.

I made another sweater this weekend. Penelope is modeling it in the photo, but I am trying to sell it this time. We will see what happens. The yarn is leftover from a scarf I made for myself a few years back. Each skein cost $13. I am trying to sell it for $25, but i doubt it will sell. Only 2 people have looked at it so far.

You can see the eBay listing here.

just got back from the steelers parade

2006-02-07T14:50:00.000-05:00

ParadeCrowd3
Originally uploaded by carafriez.

Ellen and i decided to go to the Steelers victory parade in downtown Pittsburgh. We had to park in the strip district and walk over to fifth avenue. There was no parking to be found downtown. The crowd was so fired up. All the players rode in cars and by the time the popular players got there, people surrounded the vehicles and asked for autographs, photographs, etc. I took about 100 photos, but I can already tell that most of them will be crap.

I am glad that I went. There was a real sense of community there, even though my bottom is still cold and I have been back at the office for almost two hours.

I thought this photograph that I found on Flickr says it all.

i wish i had a lucrative hobby

2006-01-31T17:15:00.000-05:00

look at me. i sniff the floor.
Originally uploaded by pilarkitty.

Since I have started knitting again, I have had thoughts of using my free time to earn some extra cash. To knit a sweater, it takes me about five to six hours. Materials cost at least $8 - $15 depending on the quality of yarn. If I would pay myself at the very least minimum wage ($5.05/hour) that works out that I should be able to sell my sweater for at least $33 - $40. I checked eBay and saw many hand knit sweaters selling for $6.99. That would not even cover the cost of my supplies. I find this very depressing.

If anyone has any ideas where they have been successful and where I should try to sell my items, please let me know. Has anyone tried craft shows, etsy.com, other web site?

freak winter thunderstorm

2006-01-25T09:25:00.000-05:00

We went skiing last night at Hidden Valley. The slopes looked icy and there were many exposed patches. They didn't even bother opening on Monday. As soon as we got to the top of the lift it started snowing. Of course, my goggles were in the car so it was really painful trying to get down the hill. When I was about 3/4 of the way down the hill I saw a flash and then heard BOOM. It was a thunder snow storm! I couldn't believe it. They closed down the lifts and made everyone leave the slopes. AFTER OUR FIRST RUN!!!! I was so mad. The snow wouldn't stop, it was like a blizzard.

Ryan and I decided to go to the snack bar to get a snack, but there was a school group there and neither of us can stand to be around obnoxious teens trying to impress each other. Our only other choice was to head to the bar. We arrived at their bar "room" and it was so quiet. There were a few other people hanging out, but at least we were away from the chatter of the teenagers. We had to hang out in the bar for about an hour, but got to enjoy a beer and each other's company. Just as we were about to ask for a rain check, the snow finally stopped and the lifts started running again. We went outside and there was about 3 inches of new snow on the ground. It was a winter wonderland.

The ski conditions did improve and we ended up having a fun night!

February 2006 Pittsburgh Pug Meetup

2006-01-24T09:50:00.000-05:00

DSC03011
Originally uploaded by eightdotthree.

The February Pittsburgh Pug Meetup will be held at the new Camp Bow Wow kennel/day care facility located in Greentree, PA. It will take place on February 12 at from 1PM to 3PM. The cost to attend is $5 per pug family. All are welcome, but please RSVP on the meetup site if you plan to attend.

I haven't been to Camp Bow Wow yet so I am anxious to check it out. It would be convenient to take Penelope there, because it's on the way to the airport, but it seems really expensive. We typically take her to the Country Lane Pet Hotel and we are very happy with their prices and their free playtime. One thing that I like about Camp Bow Wow is that you can leave your car there and they will shuttle you to the airport. We typically park at Globe Airport Parking because they will wash or detail your car while you are away.

Penelope's new sweater

2006-01-23T19:51:00.000-05:00

Penelope's new sweater
Originally uploaded by pilarkitty.

I finally finished knitting my first dog sweater. I got the book Knitting for Dogs for Christmas and I was very excited to make Penelope something. I attempted the easiest pattern. I started on Saturday and knitted through Phantom of the Opera, Miss Congeniality 2 and a few episodes of South Park. What a night. I couldn't knit yesterday beacause of the Steelers game so I finished it tonight. Sigh!

Isn't she the cutest pug?

hitting the slopes!

2006-01-23T17:57:00.000-05:00

We are going skiing tomorrow night for the third week in a row. On Tuesdays, Hidden Valley Ski Resort in Hidden Valley, PA has $15 lift tickets for each session. We usually go after work and get about three hours of ski time before the close at 10PM. On Wednesdays, Seven Springs Ski Resort has half price lift tickets compliments of Sam Adams. Seven Springs is the bigger resort, but of we go there, we have to record Lost on the Tivo and watch it the next day so I miss out on all the water cooler talk at work. It's a really good time and it let's us ski on our limited budget. It's way too expensive to go on the weekends.

here we go.....

2006-01-22T21:24:00.000-05:00

here we go.....
Originally uploaded by pilarkitty.

My friends and I just got together to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers battle the Denver Broncos. Although I am not a huge football fan, I get very excited to see my city come together and have a good time. i love to see the unity that a Pittsburgh Steelers victory brings to the city. There is nothing else like it. Poor Denver.

Pittsburgh is going to the Super Bowl. How great is that?

Ryan got an xbox 360

2006-01-20T20:04:00.000-05:00

Ryan stopped at Kmart today to buy some nyquil and decided to check out the electronics section to see if they had any xbox 360's in stock. They had one left so he snatched it up! He's downstairs now playing it. He got a car game called Project Gotham Racing 3. He just bought another version of the game for the old-school xbox at Target the other week, but insisted that it was just to tide him over until he could get the xbox 360 version. He is hooked.

I think it looks ok. I would imagine that it would really be intense if we had an HDTV, but since we are not made of money, we have to settle for what we have.

One thing that I have noticed already is that the unit is extremely loud. It reminded me of the sound of a VCR tape rewinding in the machine.

Penelope the pug has cabin fever

2006-01-20T17:15:00.000-05:00

sparky_pen2
Originally uploaded by daveglanz.

I feel so bad for Penelope right now. It gets dark so early in the winter and we've been so busy that we haven't been able to take her for any quality playtime since the Pittsburgh Pug Meetup. I wanted to take her to the dog park tomorrow and I just read that there is an 80% chance of rain. Poor Penelope.

Pittsburgh is getting an H&M at the South Side Works

2006-01-20T15:26:00.000-05:00

H&M
Originally uploaded by pilarkitty.

I was walking from my office today to get a coffee at Caribou and to my surprise I spotted this next to the Roberta Weissberg Leather shoppe. How exciting!!! Now, we will have Urban Outfitters and H&M in the same area. All of the places where I shopped out of town are coming within blocks of my office. How exciting, but dangerous to the pocketbook.

experiment

2006-01-20T14:40:00.000-05:00

I attended a blogging panel discussion with some of the heavyhitters last night. I never really understood the purpose of blogging and I thought it was really interesting to listen to them talk about how it is basically accelerated word of mouth.

I wanted to do a little experiment to study the effectiveness of blogging. I also want to work on my writing skills which have much to be desired. To do this, I decided to start my own blog. I have a small blog on mySpace and my boyfriend and I share a blog about our pets at Our Life with Pets
but this will be my first stab on my own.

I work for a trade association for the MEMS industry (micro-electro-mechanical systems) and we hope to start blogging, too. The best way for me to learn is to create one myself.

So, we will see how it goes.