I feel like a bad mom-- the one who keeps the baby book faithfully for the first child, but falls off when the next one comes along.

The first week and a half has gone pretty well. Otis and Zoe are still fighting for top dog, but I'm hoping they'll figure it out soon. The skirmishes are getting fewer and farther between, although they're both instigators.

It's amazing how Zoe is suddenly interested in toys she hasn't played with for months. If Otis is chewing on something, she has to chew on it too.

There's been a lot of tug-of-war, especially with rope toys. Zoe's favorite thing to do is waiting until Otis is lying on his side, then grabbing one end of the rope toy and dragging him across the floor.

I'm worried that my neighbors think we're starting a dogfighting ring, with all the snarling and growling and barking they do in the yard. They're just playing, but they're doing it really loudly. They don't have their hackles raised, and when we went to see the vet (Dr. W this time), he said that it's best if they work it out themselves as long as there aren't any flesh wounds.

Otis loves to leap off the top of the deck stairs when Zoe is standing at the bottom. He's got quite a jump for a little guy. Someday he's going to land on top of her, though. He loves to leap back up the four steps, too.

I know I'm going to sound old for saying this, but is it really necessary for the State Fair to have fireworks every night? Just when we would all get settled in and were drifting off to sleep, we'd hear the fireworks go off. Zoe just shrugged it off and went right back to sleep, but Otis remained fairly alert until they were done. He didn't whimper or shake, but he wasn't exactly relaxed. It will be interesting to see what he does during a thunderstorm.

I wonder if his previous name (Thunder) was due to a fear of storms, or if they were just being ironic because he's such a petite guy. He's 55 pounds, but next to Zoe he looks so tiny.

They love to pick on each other during walks. They'll be cruising along, and suddenly Otis will decide it's time to hip-check Zoe. They don't wrestle on leash (for which I'm thankful), although sometimes Otis thinks Zoe's leash is a chew toy.

We have to arm ourselves with extra baggies when we go out. Zoe (and Abby before her) wasn't big on dropping a load anywhere outside our yard, but Otis has other ideas. At least his stool isn't as soft as it was the first week. He doesn't mark too much while we're out, and I try to make sure it's in shared spaces like the park, rather than in people's yards.

We're teaching him that the couch in the living room is for people only. We've been putting extra things on it at night to prevent him from making it his sleeping spot. He's still learning. I left blankets on a couple of the cushions, thinking that would be enough, but it made it even more inviting because Tim found him curled up there this morning.

We've started to switch his food to Zoe's brand. We're feeding her Royal Canin, while he's on Beneful with some canned Pedigree mixed in to make the meals more enticing. He still needs to put on a few pounds, but we need to make sure it happens slowly so his bones and muscles can support the extra weight.

Oh, and have I mentioned that he knows how to clear a room? Tim was saying that Zoe will probably never get blamed for gas again with him around.

We have the Boxer races when we get home from work. They're in two crates, side by side, so we'll open the doors at the same time while saying, "and they're off!" They wiggle and dance around us excitedly in celebration. And we're excited too. It's been twice as much fun.

These Sock Monsters are coming thick and fast!  This guy is called Ori, he's a very simple pattern I made myself.  He's a combination of Otis and Hoth, but he only needs one sock to make.  I didn't give him a neck, so he's got the 'hunched up' look of Ronan without being as tall as him.  In fact, being short and stocky makes him look a little like Mer-Man, the amphibian bad guy in the Masters of the Universe cartoon series.  The stripes from my socks look a little like toe nails on the end of his feet... well, I think they do...

He and Zoe are trying to figure out who's boss, at least in the canine sector of our household. I like to think Tim and I are in charge overall, but once they learn we'll let them outside every time they stand near the back door, that might change.

Zoe had been in a rambunctious mood all night so I was looking forward to her playmate's arrival. He's been here for three hours and I think they finally stopped panting.

They started out with a wrestling session in the house, which we took to the back yard. They've followed each other all over the house. Zoe has hip-checked Otis several times. She wants to be first in the door, first down the stairs, first onto the bed, first into a new room. They've had some growling and snarling episodes, but they don't sound too serious (I hope). I figure that it's something they'll have to work out between themselves, but I'm going to supervise them as much as possible.

We have some audio to record on Sunday, so the background noise will be interesting, to say the least. We usually give Zoe a tendon to chew on, which occupies her, but with Otis in the mix (so to speak), who knows what's going to happen.

I fed them earlier, and we put the food dishes in separate rooms. They're very interested in each other's food because they're eating different brands, and whatever the other one has is much more appealing.

Otis has a little bit of diarrhea, but I'm hoping it will clear up soon. I wonder if it's stress-related. We're taking him to the vet for the first time Monday (although our regular vet will be on a much-needed vacation).  His ribs are still showing, so we need advice on helping him pack on some pounds. He burns a lot of calories wrestling with Zoe, for sure.

Zoe is having a hard time sharing her toys. Otis was gnawing on a bone earlier, and the second he left it unattended, Zoe pounced on it. No food aggression so far, which is good, but we'll have to keep an eye on the toys. She did allow him to play ball for a while, which was nice of her.

He's been in the office to visit me a couple times to request butt scratches. He's very sweet and has an adorable face. Zoe has been peering around the corner just to check on us. She is still gnawing on the bone.
The first night with all four of us on the bed should be very interesting.

Otis and Zoe. Zoe and Otis. If you say it really fast, it sounds like a disease: Zoeandotis. You might want to have that zoeandotis checked out by a doctor.

We'll probably call him ThunderOtis to help him with the transition. That sounds like an even more serious ailment.

I tried to convince Hoth and Otis to take a bath but they weren't sure that they wanted to go for a spin.  They said something about being 'hand wash only' and ran off.  If they don't like this then they definitely won't like being pegged out on the washing line...

What a difference a bit of fluff can make!  Otis is the newest member of my sock monster family.  His ears are a bit cat-like and his orange eyes do give him a feline expression.  He has long thin legs and a tail too, which isn't all that clear in the photo.  It was much easier stitching this guy together and it still surprises me how much character these monsters develop as you turn out their paws and feet and shape their pouting mouths.  The bow tie was really an afterthought to cover a lumpy bit of stitching on his neck, but now I think it really suits him.  The ribbon was originally used to fasten up a bag of buttons but the bag split and it seemed a shame not to make use of the spare material.

We're giving away 5 Hooghwater cd's. Hooghwater picks up the pieces Restless Youth left behind with their swansong album. With musicians coming from the hardcore punk scene, the approach of psychedelic seventies rock is full of energy and without pretentions. Hooghwater won’t wipe out The Wipers, but they will surely give it a go. Of course they will play at ZXZW. You can win a cd if you tell us in which band members of Hooghwater did not play: Transmission 0, The Spades, The Hydromatics, Otis or Restless Youth. Send your answer to contest At zxzw Dot nl

It was just a matter of time when we figured out how to make people to use their energy more effectively, whether by the cancer fighting screensaver from years ago to the more recent CAPTCHA method for digitizing old texts.

Chris Anderson (yes, that Chris Anderson) explained earlier this year that part of the new "Free!" economy has to do with labor exchange: having users do part of the work for an organization so that the end value benefits both user and provider with no monetary cost to the user. Further research indicates that this area of co-production represents a strong area for future organizational growth, an area that has been harnessed by progressive organizations throughout industry, whether it is a popular web browser, an up-and-coming brokerage, or a small dress shop.

The questions that are necessary to answer before embarking are:

1. Is this work-sharing approach the proper approach for your brand and offering (it might not be), and
2. If number one is a "Yes"—is this good for the community in which your brand lives?

Think hard if you said "No" on number two; you may be surprised.

Saturday I had another dress fitting. Its coming along nicely. The shoulder arm holes and that whatnot were all pinned in to place. I took a friend from work with me. It was a wise move, it was lovely to have company.

I Knitted a Calorimetry (ravelry link). I knitted nearly half of it and was disappointed in her style of short rows. I'm sure they are very good but I wanted to do it my way. HA, heard that before I hear you say. had to get gauge, so I knitted most of it before ripping out and doing it all again. Plus I didn't want just ribbing across the top so I did some basic cables to create a diamond lattice. The new owner loves it already and even though I gave it to her before tying in the ends and taking any photos. She's not quite sure how she would secure it. I think the next one I make will be with longer ends that look more like a bow tie to tie under the back of the neck.

Sunday was spent with the family at my brothers. The twins now have their own fortification in the woods. Its great, even bigjobs (nac-mac-feegle for large people) can fit down the spiral slide, with a little bending. We all played for a while and then went in when it started to rain. Luckily between the house and the driveway the house has a porch type area which protects from the rain. We were able to leave the men outside cooking a bbq in a thunder storm. It would just not be very British of us not to try and bbq in unfavourable weather. Mum had a nap on the sofa after taking some cough medicine, and I read the kids a good night story before they went to bed.

Last night I was falling asleep with a cat kneading my arse. Amazingly quite a nice experience... Both our cats are being super cute at the moment. Otis has taken to sitting in our hemp style shopping bag hoping I'll pick him up as I walk out the door in the morning. I am finding I'm loving the bed sharing with cats much more than I ever should because I'm allergic. At least at this time of year they've stop molting so much and I've not got hay fever at the same time. Oh and jasper has taken to licking up balls of fur from the carpet and eating them. Which reminds me we need to hoover more. The thing is he must be built of hairballs because he's never thrown one up and consumes so much fluff!

I think that's enough of an update for now. Tonight Scotty and I need to finally decide on some "ring words" and all that kind of stuff for our registrars appointment later in the week. Busy busy busy!

Track 2 from Thunder Alive by K BRUTAL

Here are some pictures for all the cowards that missed the shows at Piano's and Trash Bar:

Piano's

Trash Bar

Thursday, I was going to go mountain biking with Tim but we never hooked up. I can't say I was bummed as I was exhausted. My legs really needed a break. So I took Thursday and Friday off from riding. I did however, play golf Friday afternoon with two friends from work.  Boy was that fun. Not that I am any good but it is still fun and golf courses are beautiful, especially in the afternoon. Paul and Adam are much better golfers than I, so they carried me through the round.

I have been so into road riding lately that I did not feel like mountain biking today. I actually thought about going for a road ride instead but I dragged my sorry ass out of bed early and decided to go for it. Today was a gorgeous day, sunny and 85. I headed down to Otis at 10:00am with the Stumpjumper stoed in the Jeep.

I ride with a Camelpak and usually put my Iphone in the pack with the speakers pointed up cranking something cool like O.A.R.. Great riding music by the way. As I was unloading, I met a nice girl who was just returning from a ride. I gave her this blog address to download maps, hopefully she will find them. It is great to see women out mountain biking. My wife is not really a mountain biker although she has gone with me a few times. She is so focused on training for events and is especially worried about crashing on a mountain bike before a race. She has The Falmouth Road Race next week end and another Half Iron Man in New Hampshire in two weeks. Yeah, I know, she has a problem. What can I say, I am sympathetic to obsessive compulsive behavior...

Today's ride was nothing short of awesome. Next time I whine about going mountain biking, someone please change my diapers and stick a pacifier in my mouth! I just love it out on the trails. It is so much different than the road. First off, I expend twice as much energy. Ok, maybe I should ride harder on the road? Anyway, the trails are just pure fun, especially on this loop. Fast, twisty and just enough tough climbs to max the heart rate without grinding you into the ground. After you feel you legs have had just about enough, the last section lays off the hills. It has a killer rock garden and a smoking fast flat section. Just great! Now don't get me wrong I still love road riding, this is just different.

The Stumpjumper performed fantastic. What a great bike. It just carves up the trails. Today was a good day for making all the tough stuff. I went right up the large boulder at the beginning. This is the one with the man made ramp 10 foot ramp down the other side. The  first large hill with the tough rock garden was not a problem today (well, I did huff and puff). The killer 5 stage hill was made with lots of sweat dripping down my nose. Then there was the rock garden; no issues today. I guess I am glad I went.  

When I returned to the Jeep, I met a rally nice couple from Worchester, MA. If you are reading this, feel free to email me when you are coming down to the Cape and I will be happy to ride with you. Hopefully you will find the printable maps and GPS data helpful.  I always run into nice people when I am out.

I have nothing to report. I had a bone-marrow infection (bad news), but I'm over that, chemo has restarted, and once again, I'm laid up on the couch with only my DVR to comfort me.  I need to go lay down before my brain explodes from sitting up too long.  More later :)

Knitting:

socks are failing. I started a pair of Colinette jitterbug socks. I just cant get the gauge right. I will have to undo again and start again. I also cant decide on a pattern because I want to design my own. Overall I'm not too worried about doing them as I have lots more other things to do.

knitted shrug: I started a shrug with Colinette Tao, having spent around £80 on the 6 balls of pure silk. Its Delicious to work with and very enjoyable knit. So far I started with a pattern but greatly changed it as I went along. Its top down raglan and I am still yet to take photos of the progress. I have one ball hanging off the waist band and two hanging off the sleeves so that I can try it on as it is knit up so that it will fit as I knit. It gets very complicated keeping all 3 sections live and swapping over needles to work on each section. I've done the sleeves like I do socks, splitting under and over arm over two needles doing both at the same time so that they match.

started on my flowers

I've wrapped 7 wire stems in wool. That is all. I made some felt at the weekend, the hard work starts soon with double wrapping the stems with fiber and creating the petals ready for construction. Looks like Glue will be my friend in parts of this process but hopefully not that much that you will ever see it.

Now on to our darlings.

Last night I was just about to go to bed and brushing my teefs, I spotted a spider. Jasper was in the shower as usual cooling his nethers on the floor tray. Otis was looking around but missing it. I picked up Otis because he is the faster and more alert and pointed him at the spider. He missed it, I made the spider move, wished it a few good prayers and then pointed Otis at it again.

Otis chased it in to the corner and played with it. Sniffed it and used it as a toy, pouncing but being gentle enough that it was still able to try and make an escape. By this point Jasper's interest was piqued. He came to join in and took over. He waddles and is quite clumsy with his size. He played a little but because of his very indelicate touch, soon dispatched the spider. pushing it around and then under the bath mat, he sat on it. I released the now soul bereft carcass of a spider from under the mat. Otis took over and tried playing again. On realising it was no longer he did what Otis always does and eats it first before anyone else gets a chance. They still looked for it after, giving me the look of where has my toy gone? These cats are great. I just love them and although I've never loved spiders I do not intentionally kill them myself but I will let my cats do it. It may sound mean but they are meat eaters and deserve a live toy or two occasionally because we don't let them out. I'm very very glad I never get presents brought to me, and I suppose hopefully this will mean what presents they could bring will be eaten first before they have the chance.

One final thing, One of my LOVELY work colleagues whom I can definitely call a wonderful friend is arranging my hen party entirely for me so I don't have to think about it. How cool is that? Vereh.

The Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art and Design is pleased to present the group exhibition:

LOOKY SEE: A Summer Show
July 26-September 13, 2008
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 26, 6-8pm with solar-powered music by SYCONS Closing Reception: Saturday, September 13, 3-5pm

Looky See: A Summer Show opens Saturday, July 26, 6-8pm at the Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art and Design located at 9045 Lincoln Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045 and is on view through September 13, 2008. This large group show features inspired work by 28 artists who draw, cut, film, pin, perforate, perform, and journal. This exhibition is organized by Meg Linton, Director of the Ben Maltz Gallery and Public Programs, and Curatorial Intern Nina Laurinolli, and is a selection of work made from dozens of studio and gallery visits and lengthy reviews of artists’ materials over a one-year period. The exhibition offers a mixture of representational and abstract work by a multi-generational group of dynamic artists.

Artists in the exhibition: Emily de Araújo, Eric Beltz, Barbara Berk, Joe Biel, Sandow Birk, Ann Diener, Roy Dowell, Erin Dunn, Erica Eyres, Iva Gueorguieva, Penelope Gottlieb, Richard Keely and Anna O’Cain, Takehito Koganezawa, Tucker Neel, Claudia Nieto, Aaron Noble, Chris Oatey, Ruby Osorio, Ebony G. Patterson, Ron Santos, Mindy Shapero, Fran Siegel, Coleen Sterritt, Fred Stonehouse, Randal Thurston, Elizabeth Turk, Xawery Wolski.

Location: Otis College of Art and Design, 9045 Lincoln Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045

Parking & Admission: Free. Visitor parking in structure on La Tijera.

Hours: Tue-Sat 10am-5pm / Thu 10am-7pm. Closed major holidays (August 30-Sept 1)
Gallery Tours: 310.665.6909 to schedule tours for school, museum or other groups
Gallery Info: 310.665.6905, galleryinfo@otis.edu, www.otis.edu/benmaltzgallery

]]> http://appellationmountain.wordpress.com/?p=190 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:04:12 +0000 appellationmountain http://appellationmountain.wordpress.com/?p=190 If you're still child-free, it's possible that the late 80s live action film The Adventures of Milo and Otis escaped your notice.  Most parents quickly discover this charming little tale of a curious kitten and the pug puppy he befriends.

We all know that Milo's star is on the rise, but will Otis follow?  Thanks to Another for suggesting today's Name of the Day.

Prior to the pup, the most famous Otis was probably Redding - the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame inducted soul singer best known for "Try a Little Tenderness" and "Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay."  The latter was released after his tragic death in a 1967 plane crash.  This muscial Otis - actually born Otis Redding Jr. - gives the name a strong artistic tone.

As well-known as he remains, Otis Redding's first name is often mispronounced.  Most naming dictionaries list the proper vowel sound as a long "o" - like in boat.  But some favor AH tis or even AW tis.  We're divided on which is most appealing, but O tis is almost certainly correct.

Some of the confusion stems from Otis' roots.  It's originally a surname form of the German Otto, which in turn, is a variant of the diminutive Odo.  Otto and Odo each have several possible pronunciations.  What they all share is a common meaning - in old German, od means fortune or wealth.

At least some bearers of the Otis name have indeed been able to amass fortunes.  Most notably, Elisha Otis developed a safety feature to improve elevators, and Otis Elevator Company went on to become the largest in the world.  Thanks go to Mr. Otis for all of our modern skyscrapers.

There are a handful of places called Otis in the US, Canada and Germany, where there is even a stop on Berlin's subway by the name.

Otis was a perfectly common given name for American-born boys in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  In 1880, he ranked #156; he was slightly more popular at the turn of the 20th century, reaching #94 in 1899.   By the 1940s, Otis was falling out of favor.  

When the Andy Griffith Show premiered in 1960, Otis ranked #327.  If you aren't addicted to TVLand, you might not recall that Otis Campbell was Mayberry's town drunk, regularly appearing on the scene just in time to complicate matters.  After nearly a decade of watching Otis lock himself into the local jail, the name had plummeted into the 400s and by 1994 had left the Top 1000 entirely.

Rob Zombie did the name further damage when he chose it for one of his murderous Firefly clan members in 1993's gory horror flick House of 1000 Corpses.  Zombie apparently borrowed several names, including Otis, from characters played by Groucho Marx.  We're not recommending you add this cinematic gem to your Netflix cue, but here's betting that a lot of prospective parents will make the connection.

On balance, we find Otis a charming throwback choice that could work on a modern child.  While the pop culture references on screen are less than stellar, they are balanced by the talent of Otis Redding.  Given the resurgence of colonial picks like Silas and Miles, and the revivals of truly ancient names like Julius, Atticus and Cyrus, Otis doesn't sound out of place.  It's rare, but perfectly familiar.  And if you don't mind hearing O tis, AH tis and even AW tis, then it's quite a simple, straightforward choice. 

Just don't call his brother Milo.