Caturday Supplement: Macy’s Window Kitties Gone Good!

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Adam Lang

I love it when this happens: someone ran across a picture of what she is sure is her cat on my blog. Apparently someone put up a couple of Macy’s window kittens up for adoption on craigslist in March, because they couldn’t handle them. The family who responded to the ad has had them since then, and one of them, Karen, was poking through Google for pictures of Macy’s window kittens that looked like them, and found one of them (the black one) here. The other one may or may not be the one curled up in the first picture here.

I love hearing about the adoptable animals I post, especially the Macy’s window kitties and pups, finding happy homes. Karen mailed me a few pictures of them, nine months old now, and, as she says, ‘still bundles of furry fury.’ Their names are Emma (tux) and Ender (black, and the name is apparently a minecraft reference, picked by the kids of the family).

Black Cat And Tuxedo Cat Holding Paws

I wonder if they ever miss their brief stint in show business?

Tuxedo Cat Holding An iPad.

I have seen videos, but I’ve never yet seen in person a cat playing with an ipad. The absolute perfect cat-toy.

Black Cat Upside Down On A Bed With Claws Out

Sharp little kitty-claws. Someone wants to play. Or, more likely, is in the middle of playing.

Posted in Caturday Supplement | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Dog of the Day: Franklin the Shameless Ridgeback Pit Mix

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Adam Lang

I’m not sure about Franklin. That black short-ish muzzle says maybe ridgeback boxer mix to me, rather than ridgeback pit mix. Or he almost could be a black-mouth cur, if he weren’t so damn big! Perhaps a mix?

But Franklin’s family said ridgeback pit mix, so I will defer to their longer experience in Franklinology.

Anyone know of any really good sleep masks? I’ve had a surprising lack of luck finding one anywhere around here, except the really crappy ones at Walgreens.

Ridgeback Boxer Mix Lying On His Back And Having His Chest Scratched

Franklin is definitely not the shy sort. At the drop of a hat, he flops over and invites chest scratches from all and sundry.

Ridgeback Black-Mouth Cur Mix Lying On His Back

This is Franklin’s ‘You’re standing right there and you have two hands, and I’m being ridiculously adorable. And yet you’re not petting me. Why is that?” look.

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Doggie Bag Of The Day

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Adam Lang

Not much you can say about this one.

Dog Head Sticking Out Of Black Leather Bag

If I’m any judge of canine expressions, this is closer to ‘resigned’ than ‘contented’.

Dog Head Sticking Out Of Black Leather Purse

Possibly approaching ‘disgruntled’.

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Dog of the Day: Baobao the Repeat Customer Pomeranian

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Adam Lang

I was walking through Berkeley a few weeks ago, supposedly meeting someone who was going to sell me a car but they didn’t bother to show up. While I was trying to find an internet cafe where I could regroup and start looking for more craigslist car ads, I happened to walk by the little pack-and-ship place where I met Baobao two years ago. And lo and behold, he was there again, being even more adorable. This time he even let me get near him.

A Pomeranian makes a perfect store dog: just the right size to curl up on the counter, and happy and friendly to everyone (as many small dogs may not be.)

Brown Pomeranian Looking Happy

His favorite perch. He makes a great greeter.

Smiling Brown Pomeranian Face

Adorable smiley little foxy-face.

Brown Pomeranian Looking Ecstatic as Someone Pets Him

It’s the simple things that make a good dog happy.

Brown Pomeranian Curled Up On A Countertop

He also has the enviable ability to relax at a second’s notice.

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Double Dog Day: Yorkie and Pomeranian, Out On The Town

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Adam Lang

Okay, so the word ‘twee’ (look it up) might well have been invented for these two. And I’m not the biggest fan of clothes on dogs. I still have to admit… they’re pretty cute. And they loved everybody. It’s pretty hard to disapprove of that.

A Yorkshire Terrier And A Pomeranian, Both Wearing Dresses

Pomeranians look like stuffed animals as it is. Add a dress, and damn.

A Yorkshire Terrier And A Pomeranian, Both Wearing Dresses

Eek. I think my cute-o-meter just gave out.

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Sunday Switchup: South San Francisco Scenery

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Adam Lang

I had a bunch of doctors’ appointments last week, and I had five hours in between two of them, but had to get between them by public transit. I thought about working from a coffee shop, but was pretty fried. And Kaiser South San Francisco just happened to be right out in front of a gorgeous park, San Bruno Mountain State Park. And the other appointment was on the other side of San Bruno Mountain. So I thought, hey… I could go around. But why? (And maybe a little exhaustion would help me sleep, right?)

So I just walked out of Kaiser and started heading for the mountain. Which was quite visible, let me assure you. Stopped for a quick lunch, and then just walked in near the southeast corner, up the mountain, along the ridge, and then back down in the northwest corner. Vertical climb of over 1500 feet according to my fitbit, which I suspect to be understating things… there were a lot of saddles and one full-fledged miniature valley I had to navigate, and the highest point on the mountain is over 1300 feet all by itself.

At the end of the day, I had walked 18 miles, and climbed a total of over 2000 feet. I had poison oak, though only under my hiking boots — how does that happen? And in the end… I slept like crap. But I wouldn’t take it back, because it was gorgeous.

PS: Ugh. I have just made the huge mistake of ‘upgrading’ to Apple Photo. If you have Aperture, do not under any circumstances do this. You lose the ability to use Aperture, plus you lose the ability to do more or less anything without crashing. I thought I could continue to use Photo the way I did iPhoto: for automatic imports, and nothing else. Nope. It has intentionally disabled Aperture, it’s missing half the functionality of iPhoto and 95% of that of Aperture, and it crashes constantly. Whee, progress!

A view of South San Francisco, plus Sign Hill, as seen from San Bruno Mountain State Park.

That’s Sign Hill, plus a good-sized chunk of South San Francisco. The weather was gorgeous on the southeastern side of San Bruno Mountain, but as you’ll see in the little video clip below, it was cloudy (and ALSO GORGEOUS) on the more northeasterly areas.

Posted in Sunday Switchup | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Caturday Supplement: Tiger Tabby In A Cat Bed

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Adam Lang

How often do you see this? A gorgeous tabby was bought a cat bed, and then actually went to sleep in it instead of next to it, under it, on the dog’s bed, in the humans’ bed, on the keyboard, on top of the closed toilet seat…

An entirely unrelated question: T * G * R… is that short for ‘Tigger’?

Tiger Tabby Cat Curled Up In A Pink Cat Bed

Kitty-ball. Suitable for leaning down and rubbing your cheek against. Purr purr purr.

Posted in Caturday Supplement | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Dog of the Day: Sleepy Pup

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Adam Lang

This is what I looked like last night, and hopefully again quite soon now.

Collie Labrador Retriever Mix

From a street fair on Union Street a couple weeks ago. Most of it was totally uninteresting, but the dogs were great. (Of course!)

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Dog of the Day: Young German Shepherd

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Adam Lang

A handsome pup whose name and info I apparently did not get.

So two days ago’s doctor’s appointment turned into a second doctor’s appointment, a test, another doctor’s appointment, and an overnight sleep study. None of this is nearly as urgent and dangerous as it sounds: I am just fairly insistent and very very lucky, schedule-wise, and ended up being able to get all the appointments within somewhere between two hours and one day of when I called in for them. Which in the case of the sleep study is downright miraculous.

On the other hand, I got about three hours of sleep two nights ago, and a sleep study is not exactly conducive to good sleep, so I got two hours last night. If I can’t sleep at least decently tonight, I may well start hallucinating. Whee!

German Shepherd

Gawky. Probably an adolescent.

Happy German Shepherd

Happy face!

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Dog of the Day: Riva the Bernese Mountain Dog Puppy

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Adam Lang

No, really, she is a puppy: 9 months old. It’s not her fault that she looks like an oversized adult Australian shepherd (and a lot like my canine best buddy!)

Have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow as the next thing to try in trying to deal with the sleep issue. I doubt this one is going to help (wrong specialty) but at least it’ll get me on to the next step in this little dance.

9 Month Old Bernese Mountain Dog

Fortunately, Riva is well-trained. Because she could knock you over if she leapt up on you.

9 Month Old Bernese Mountain Dog Staring Plaintively Into The Camera

Instead of jumping on you, she just puts her head right near you and stares at you. It’s very effective.

Posted in Dog of the Day | Tagged , , | Leave a comment