Monday, June 14, 2010

Screenwriter and Mom? Nope. Pit Bull Blogger

After voting last Tuesday, I walked Tommy around Caltech and pondered what to eat (food often occupies my thoughts on these lengthy walks).

“Mmmm... That pint of vanilla Haagen-Dazs in the freezer would go great with warm apple pie.”

I turned down California Blvd toward Pie ‘n Burger.

I don’t like leaving Tommy outside tied to a post, but I’ll do it when I'm desperate and I’m comfortable with the neighborhood; a window gives me a line of sight to keep an eye on him; and it will only take a few minutes. Fortunately Pie ‘n Burger fit the bill.

While I discussed pie options with the waitress, Tommy waited patiently outside. (Well, actually, at first he was quite impatient: he barked and rose up in protest—an unnerving sight for the other patrons—but then he settled down.) I bought pieces of apple and boysenberry, retrieved Tommy, and then headed up Lake to make a loop back to my car.

I peeked inside Magnolia and felt a pang of longing when I saw a good crowd inside. A couple of women in strappy dresses sipped cocktails at the bar, and, I imagined, flirted with interesting men. The vibe looked relaxed, just my kind of place. I've lived in Pasadena over two years but I've never been there. Wouldn't it be nice to be sitting at that bar all squeaky clean, wearing a summer dress and heels? Drinking a ginger-cucumber-watermelon martini and hanging out with my own species, preferably of the opposite sex?

In my worn sneakers and baggy hiking pants, I carried my bag of pie up Lake, the pit bull at my side.

I used to aspire to be a screenwriter, to get married and have a baby. Instead I ended up single without kids, writing a blog about my rescued pit bull. How’d that happen?

9 comments:

  1. Take Tommy to the dog park on Orange Grove Blvd between Sierra Madre & Sierra Madre Villa. Or just keep walking him in places where men are. Men love cool-looking dogs.

    One thing that clinched my relationship with my husband was when we were dating and we started hiking together. We'd come across people with dogs. Both of us would go for the dogs first, and almost ignore the people. It was one of the first things we bonded over.

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  2. By the way, there's a movie in this somewhere.

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  3. A romantic comedy. Young woman, aspiring writer, meets dog. Can't just leave him on the street. But her dreams are foiled.

    Young woman has adventures with dog. Meets young man. Loses young man.

    Thanks to dog, gets young man again. Or something like that.

    Okay, I'll quit now.

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  4. Thanks for the tips and encouragement!

    I have a story about taking Tommy to that dog park, which I'll get to eventually. The short version is, sadly, Tommy and dog parks don't mix. Details to come in a later post.

    But yes, hiking with Tommy is great. I need to do that more.

    I think you're right there's a movie here somewhere. Now to find the time and energy and focus to write it...

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  5. Boz doesn't like dog parks either. He's too overwhelmed. A big crowd of dogs scares him and he hangs out by the fence.

    Is Tommy aggressive, or the opposite? He might be better with other dogs in a one-on-one situation.

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  6. I don't see an email link. Thought you might like this blog: http://www.excuseeditor.com/

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  7. I hesitate to use the word "aggressive"; I'd say he's a bully. And then there's the time that he... well, have to save *that* story for a future post.

    Thanks for the link. I'll check it out. Oh, and I've added my email. Still figuring out the ins and outs of this blog thing.

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  8. I can attest to the fact that you are far sexier in baggy sweatpants than other women are in strappy dresses.

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  9. BB,
    This ain't that kind of blog. Ha ha. Thanks for stopping by.

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