Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Is It Harder to Find a Good Man or a Good Home for a Pit Bull?

When I met a guy last summer, I took it as a good sign he made me laugh. I took it as a bad sign he lets his dog wander around the neighborhood unattended. He bragged that his dog hides behind bushes when animal control, summoned by an irritated neighbor, arrives.


Not exactly a good candidate to help manage the two pitties. Apparently the guy agreed: he's disappeared, which is fine. I knew he wasn't the man for me. So who is?

Well, Tommy is the gold standard. He's handsome, smart, funny, and he adores me.


It'd be a good start if a man possessed Tommy's exemplary qualities, but that's not easy to find, especially at my age. In less than a year, I'll turn the same age as Sally O'Malley.



It's not easy to find a good home for a pittie either, even one as beautiful and sweet as Louise.

So what do you think? Will it be harder for me to find a good man or a good home for Louise? Because the search for each continues. (Of course it's possible I won't find either, but I'm going to try to be positive here.)

Monday, January 23, 2012

The Perfect Storm

On October 31, I walked Tommy & Louise together by myself. A leash in each hand and a bag of treats hanging off each hip, I showered the dogs with goodies whenever another dog (walking by or barking from behind a fence) sent Louise into a tizzy.

My thinking was as long as I could walk Tommy & Louise together on my own, I could keep Louise.

I continued to walk them like this without incident, cavalierly defying my trainer's emphatic warnings against doing so, until the morning of November 29, when the perfect storm sparked a full-on fight in the middle of the street just around the corner from my house.


The following evening, the wind storm tore into town. The photo above shows Tommy in front of a pile of debris in Farnsworth park a few days later. His snoot loop broke in the fight so you get to see his gorgeous mug in all its naked glory.

He looks sad, doesn't he? Maybe he was stressed from being without electricity for days.

I haven't walked Tommy & Louise together since. Sometimes you have to learn lessons the hard way.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Occupy Hahamongna

I snapped these pictures of Tommy on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena just after Occupy Wall Street started in September.


At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about the Occupy movement. It seemed vague and directionless. What was it trying to accomplish?

But as the movement evolved I began to empathize with the sense of outrage that sparked it.


Our society puts a high value on free speech, as it should, but what is the point if that speech falls on deaf ears? What is the point if those in power ignore it, no matter how loud the collective outcry?


Tomorrow Occupy protestors will march at the tail end of the Rose Parade. Joining them will be people against the massive, devastating tar sands project in Alberta, Canada.

I'm excited that the movement against environmental destruction is joining forces with the movement against economic injustice.

So why Occupy Hahamongna?

Pasadena plans to build soccer fields in the Hahamongna watershed, despite years of eloquent, passionate opposition from the community.

The majority of Pasadena City Council members seem unmoved by the many voices raised to save Hahamongna. Maybe it's time to take it to the streets.