When we got our dog Lucy, there wasn't many dogs in the area. Some, not many. I couldn't tell you were the occasional other barks were coming from, but they were out there. Now and then Lucy would get into a 'conversation', and with little doubt, our beagle cross was the noisiest in the land.
Three and a half years later, our renters downstairs have two dogs (generally very well mannered dogs compared to mine), and every neighbor I in every direction seems to have at least one dog. The neighborhood's gotten noisy.
The main problem is our neighbors to the rear, who got not one, but two german sheppards recently, and have been training them with 'maul me please' arm guards. When it was just the one, it got lucy into a tizzy now and then, but they'd often have fairly polite conversations. But with the addition of the second shep', we just cant let lucy out at all if the sheps are out there, or war begins. So now when Lucy has to answer the call of nature, it's usually on a leash.
So, the 3 dogs in our yard, Lucy, (ours, beagle/sheltie barking specialist) Outlaw, (renters' 4? year old white lab, giant cuddly bear) and the new addition, Kali, (renters' chocolate lab? Under a year old, enthusiastic spitfire) like to have discussions with the sheps across the fence now and then.
All in all, there's 5 dogs who dig at the base of the fence off and on, not generally with any more success than is needed to peek at each other. The other day Kali manages to squirm her little puppy self underneath, and figures she'll go play with the sheps.
The sheps are big, and they aren't trained to play nice. (le sigh)
SO, Kali spent a night at the vet on an IV to replace a little bit of fluids, and got the back of her neck shaven to check out the wound closer, but has since been released with a good prognosis. The neighbor I THINK has done some work to shore up the fence gaps, (pretty sure it's his fence, not ours) I doubt he'll be stepping up to help with the vet bill...
Oddly, my renters were planning to move out at the end of the month, so if Kali has stuck to our yard another 2 weeks, it all would have been avoided. Or if the neighbor hadn't been training those sheps to attack, or if the fence was better, or, or, or... Oh well... at lease Kali's gonna be OK.
And somehow, Lucy doesn't seem to be involved in this trouble. Lucy's on thin ice around here.. a dog that gets nippy over food, and hapless baby aren't a good mix. If we can't get Lucy to behave better soon, we might have to give her away. This area is becoming less and less ideal for a dog who likes to think she's the queen of all she surveys. She needs a home with a lot of space to run around, and no small kids...
I'd hate to give up on her though. We almost put an ad on craigslist to give her away, bet decided to give her another try, and consult with a trainer. The trainer came, and gave us some good tips... she was going to email later, but hasn't yet.. that's not a good sign.
Joseph Picard's writing projects and life ramblings including the kiddos, and life in a wheelchair.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Update with uninspired title!!
Ah, another of my frequent blog posts.
Baby news- Today Caitlin is 9 months old, and has discovered that legs can be helpful in crawling.
Book news-
-Lifehack (2nd edition of AZU-1:Lifehack) has it's editing copy in the hands of the 4th (of 5?) volunteer editors. When it's done it's tour, it'll be my turn to look at all the points they've marked, and correct all the ones I agree with. Some editors have mentioned they disagree with some things other editors have marked, so this tells me that they're being picky for little things, which is good..
-Watching Yute- had gone on pause while I was doing my initial edit for Lifehack. Since Lifehack's been out of my hands, I went through what I'd had for Yute, and applied the same standards to it, that I have to Lifehack. Formatting especially. I recently finished this editing pass through what I had written before my attention was drawn to the Lifehack project, so now I'm poised to break new soil in the story. It's 100 pages right now, and I'm approaching an even in the story I've had planned form the beginning, but am also dreading.
-Optimist news-
Well, the chinese newyear dinner/celebration was completed. I won't say without a hitch, but overall, it was a success. Both the MeadowRidge Optimist club and the Pitt Meadows Lions seem to be keen on doing it again next year, with a few more tweaks. This year we mainly stuck to the 'same old' which had worked in the past, but some things could use a bit of freshening up.
On the horizon we have several events brewing.... a walk for youth fundraiser/PR event, which we hope to attach to the Pitt Meadows Day parade, a bike safety event, (personal irony for me, huh?) and of course our eye gazes towards halloween, for our next showing at the Ghost Ridge haunted-house type event, which it looks like we'll have more planning input this time, since our efforts last year were so appreciated. I have a plan for a new exhibit in the haunted house, called 'The Meatlocker', which aside from being new, and not yet another horror movie rip-off, it will also serve to "un-group" clusters of visitors half way through. People tend to subconsciously clump together for safety in numbers, making it hard to surprise anyone but the leading few in a mob- the meat locker begins with a butcher, only letting a few visitors through the door at a time, robbing them of much of the confidence they may have built up at that point. I don't want to leak what happens once they're in.
-Art news:
Wow, there's none, really. I still haven't released a picture for the sake of having a picture, since may. On the other hand though, contracted art has been busy as heck. That would be great news if I didn't horribly undercharge. Last night I delivered a refil/update to a fella's business cards, some new signage for my HQ bookstore, I have a display box design open in another window right now for Wysi Wipes, my wife's mommy club keeps tossing lil tasks at me, I did a sign for a ford dealership which I've yet to invoice, I'm waiting for feedback on a logo for the Pitt Meadows Community Foundation, and a knitting needle 'track sheet' for a client's customers.
Fun? Some yes, some no. But it's been kinda hammering inspiration for my own stuff out of my head. I've been tempted to take a more realistic direction with my art.. I used to do some great realism portraits, then I got the anime bug. Oh well, I'll focus on this new direction when all 5 books I have planned are done, graphics contracts are less in number, and Caitlin moves out.
Baby news- Today Caitlin is 9 months old, and has discovered that legs can be helpful in crawling.
Book news-
-Lifehack (2nd edition of AZU-1:Lifehack) has it's editing copy in the hands of the 4th (of 5?) volunteer editors. When it's done it's tour, it'll be my turn to look at all the points they've marked, and correct all the ones I agree with. Some editors have mentioned they disagree with some things other editors have marked, so this tells me that they're being picky for little things, which is good..
-Watching Yute- had gone on pause while I was doing my initial edit for Lifehack. Since Lifehack's been out of my hands, I went through what I'd had for Yute, and applied the same standards to it, that I have to Lifehack. Formatting especially. I recently finished this editing pass through what I had written before my attention was drawn to the Lifehack project, so now I'm poised to break new soil in the story. It's 100 pages right now, and I'm approaching an even in the story I've had planned form the beginning, but am also dreading.
-Optimist news-
Well, the chinese newyear dinner/celebration was completed. I won't say without a hitch, but overall, it was a success. Both the MeadowRidge Optimist club and the Pitt Meadows Lions seem to be keen on doing it again next year, with a few more tweaks. This year we mainly stuck to the 'same old' which had worked in the past, but some things could use a bit of freshening up.
On the horizon we have several events brewing.... a walk for youth fundraiser/PR event, which we hope to attach to the Pitt Meadows Day parade, a bike safety event, (personal irony for me, huh?) and of course our eye gazes towards halloween, for our next showing at the Ghost Ridge haunted-house type event, which it looks like we'll have more planning input this time, since our efforts last year were so appreciated. I have a plan for a new exhibit in the haunted house, called 'The Meatlocker', which aside from being new, and not yet another horror movie rip-off, it will also serve to "un-group" clusters of visitors half way through. People tend to subconsciously clump together for safety in numbers, making it hard to surprise anyone but the leading few in a mob- the meat locker begins with a butcher, only letting a few visitors through the door at a time, robbing them of much of the confidence they may have built up at that point. I don't want to leak what happens once they're in.
-Art news:
Wow, there's none, really. I still haven't released a picture for the sake of having a picture, since may. On the other hand though, contracted art has been busy as heck. That would be great news if I didn't horribly undercharge. Last night I delivered a refil/update to a fella's business cards, some new signage for my HQ bookstore, I have a display box design open in another window right now for Wysi Wipes, my wife's mommy club keeps tossing lil tasks at me, I did a sign for a ford dealership which I've yet to invoice, I'm waiting for feedback on a logo for the Pitt Meadows Community Foundation, and a knitting needle 'track sheet' for a client's customers.
Fun? Some yes, some no. But it's been kinda hammering inspiration for my own stuff out of my head. I've been tempted to take a more realistic direction with my art.. I used to do some great realism portraits, then I got the anime bug. Oh well, I'll focus on this new direction when all 5 books I have planned are done, graphics contracts are less in number, and Caitlin moves out.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Busy? Me? Feh.
ohhh, I've been so neglectful of my blogging duties. I've just gotten off my Oblivion addiction, so working on Watching Yute is coming back to the forefront. As much as it can anyway, with other duties in the way.
Caitlin is currently working on teeth #4 and #5, and right on the cusp of crawling. Today I put a sign on the stairs gate to KEEP IT CLOSED! We actually had that gate there for a long time before we decided to try for a baby- it kept pizza delivery people safe from the Lucy. The insane, noisy dog. Caitlin's now getting to sleep pretty nicely most nights.. gives us a little time to actually.. do things. Like update a blog, or for Michelle, work on her scrapbooking business she's started up, or do things with her new mothers club.
The optimist club keeps chugging along. Right now we're working with the Pitt Meadows Lions club, to put together a Chinese newyear's dinner. In the past seven years or so, it was run by the Pitt Meadows society.. but they're kinda tired of it, and called in us. We're not going to reinvent the wheel on our first year. Dragon dancers, buffet dinner, door prizes, draws, etc... It's a big project, but should be a good fundraiser.. between this and the haloween project we did, we'll actually have a decent bit of scratch to work with for a change.
It's been a LONG time since I've drawn anything for the sake of drawing. Not enough hours in the day, especially now that Caitlin's here. Arg, I'm tired. I feel like I have a lot more to say, but my brain has checked out. Say g'night, Gracie.
Caitlin is currently working on teeth #4 and #5, and right on the cusp of crawling. Today I put a sign on the stairs gate to KEEP IT CLOSED! We actually had that gate there for a long time before we decided to try for a baby- it kept pizza delivery people safe from the Lucy. The insane, noisy dog. Caitlin's now getting to sleep pretty nicely most nights.. gives us a little time to actually.. do things. Like update a blog, or for Michelle, work on her scrapbooking business she's started up, or do things with her new mothers club.
The optimist club keeps chugging along. Right now we're working with the Pitt Meadows Lions club, to put together a Chinese newyear's dinner. In the past seven years or so, it was run by the Pitt Meadows society.. but they're kinda tired of it, and called in us. We're not going to reinvent the wheel on our first year. Dragon dancers, buffet dinner, door prizes, draws, etc... It's a big project, but should be a good fundraiser.. between this and the haloween project we did, we'll actually have a decent bit of scratch to work with for a change.
It's been a LONG time since I've drawn anything for the sake of drawing. Not enough hours in the day, especially now that Caitlin's here. Arg, I'm tired. I feel like I have a lot more to say, but my brain has checked out. Say g'night, Gracie.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Norwalk Strikes! And writing updates
Right now baby Caitlin is lying beside me, trying to fight the need to sleep. Or vomit. It seems that at a function of Michelle’s mom-and-baby club, one of the babies present did their best impression of Linda Blaire, projecting vomit down the length of a table. As a result, several babies in the club are now suffering with what the doctor thinks is the Norwalk virus. Whee!
Norwalk tends to have a rep as being really horrible, but the reality is, it’s just a nasty flu. Nasty enough that Caitlin and Michelle (who is now suffering a slightly lesser bout with the virus) played musical beds last night, fleeing a series of infant bile eruptions. Laundry was a constant process with just normal baby issues.
Now it is a war.
Lifehack status: In the hands of the 2nd editor, out of 7-ish.
Watching Yute’s progress has been stalled by a combination of Caitlin, and Oblivion. (Playstation 3 game) But actually, Michelle’s been using the laptop a lot more lately, and my time on my main machine has been occupied a lot by graphic contracts, so it’s just not a good writing timespan. I work in spurts.. and I’m not in one right now.
Norwalk tends to have a rep as being really horrible, but the reality is, it’s just a nasty flu. Nasty enough that Caitlin and Michelle (who is now suffering a slightly lesser bout with the virus) played musical beds last night, fleeing a series of infant bile eruptions. Laundry was a constant process with just normal baby issues.
Now it is a war.
Lifehack status: In the hands of the 2nd editor, out of 7-ish.
Watching Yute’s progress has been stalled by a combination of Caitlin, and Oblivion. (Playstation 3 game) But actually, Michelle’s been using the laptop a lot more lately, and my time on my main machine has been occupied a lot by graphic contracts, so it’s just not a good writing timespan. I work in spurts.. and I’m not in one right now.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Lifehack edit copy is here!
The one and only copy of the Lifehack 2nd edition 'edit copy' is in my hands. This means it's not time for me to rally a volunteer edit/proofread team! The book will be passed from editor to editor, each one highlighting any mistakes or other ****-ups they see. Eventually, the mutilated book will return to my hands, for me to go through and make corrections to the master manuscript before the official release.
Whoops! Just now my mother (who was on the volunteer editing crew for the first edition) has got her hands on it- she's pretty fast tho...
Anyone else who wants a crack at the edit-copy of the book, let me know, I'm forming a list. When all is said and done, there's a 'at cost' copy of the finished tradepaperback or hardcover in it for ya, as well as a mention in the forward.
(I'd say a FREE copy, but that's just not in the budget for a huge, world renown publisher like myself....)
Whoops! Just now my mother (who was on the volunteer editing crew for the first edition) has got her hands on it- she's pretty fast tho...
Anyone else who wants a crack at the edit-copy of the book, let me know, I'm forming a list. When all is said and done, there's a 'at cost' copy of the finished tradepaperback or hardcover in it for ya, as well as a mention in the forward.
(I'd say a FREE copy, but that's just not in the budget for a huge, world renown publisher like myself....)
Monday, November 12, 2007
Lifehack progress and game pre-order stupidity.
Well, I'll have the 'edit copy' of Lifehack in my hands this thursday. I had it sent to our PO box in the US, saving a pile in shipping and junk.. but It's gotta wait until my wife goes shopping across the line.
I've got my own copy of Oblivion, (game of the year edition, no less) after a couple extra weeks of delay in the Canadian release.. traditionally, Canadian release delays are attributed to legally requiring a french/english cover and manual.. but this delay was a lot longer than usual.
They're smarter about it now though.. Instead of making a whole other package for the bilingual cover and manual, they just take the english US copy, and slap a new wrapper around it containing all the bilingual junk. The face-stabbingly stupid art of it all, is that essentially 0% of games that get treated to a francophone-friendly addition for the printed material... well... they're all english in the actual GAME...
Somewhere is there a player who knows only french, who picks up an RPG game, overjoyed with the detailed french manual, then pops the game in and suddenly knows how to play the game with it's english content? It's a typical example of ridiculous canadian red tape. And it kept me from Oblivion:GOTY for two added weeks. Heh. Oh, the cruelty of it all.
Ironically, if I just ordered form the US instead of doing a pre-order locally, I would have been playing a lot sooner.
Note to self: Never do a pre-order again. The last time was for Warhawk. I did the pre-order online. Granted, Bestbuy had a sale that must have been a mistake, the game priced at around half what anyone else was selling it for... but when you do pre-orders, isn't that supposed to tell the store how many they need? Why then did they have none for the people who essentially made a reservation?
Well, that was OK, it turned out good for me.. futureshop beats competitors prices, and gives ya 10% better... so I got one for my friend, too. They weren't so happy to be selling a brand new game for half price... the irony? Futureshop and best buy are owned by the same parent company.
I've got my own copy of Oblivion, (game of the year edition, no less) after a couple extra weeks of delay in the Canadian release.. traditionally, Canadian release delays are attributed to legally requiring a french/english cover and manual.. but this delay was a lot longer than usual.
They're smarter about it now though.. Instead of making a whole other package for the bilingual cover and manual, they just take the english US copy, and slap a new wrapper around it containing all the bilingual junk. The face-stabbingly stupid art of it all, is that essentially 0% of games that get treated to a francophone-friendly addition for the printed material... well... they're all english in the actual GAME...
Somewhere is there a player who knows only french, who picks up an RPG game, overjoyed with the detailed french manual, then pops the game in and suddenly knows how to play the game with it's english content? It's a typical example of ridiculous canadian red tape. And it kept me from Oblivion:GOTY for two added weeks. Heh. Oh, the cruelty of it all.
Ironically, if I just ordered form the US instead of doing a pre-order locally, I would have been playing a lot sooner.
Note to self: Never do a pre-order again. The last time was for Warhawk. I did the pre-order online. Granted, Bestbuy had a sale that must have been a mistake, the game priced at around half what anyone else was selling it for... but when you do pre-orders, isn't that supposed to tell the store how many they need? Why then did they have none for the people who essentially made a reservation?
Well, that was OK, it turned out good for me.. futureshop beats competitors prices, and gives ya 10% better... so I got one for my friend, too. They weren't so happy to be selling a brand new game for half price... the irony? Futureshop and best buy are owned by the same parent company.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Edit copy of Lifehack ordered
That's about all I have to say..
been busy spooking folks at the 'Ghost Ridge', but managed to get a little work done yesterday.
(ghost ridge is a volunteer 'haunted house' type event, staged in 2 barns.. one for 14+, one for kiddos....) At the end of it all, the clubs helping run the show split the money. I'm there with my Optimist club, 'natch.
I took the 3rd night of the event off to go to a friend's halloween party. My one yearly excuse to get good n plastered, and I did a darn fine job of it. The world was still kinda spinny at noon today.
Back to the ghost ridge tonight for 3 more nights of 'acting'.....! Then I'm gonna pass out until thursday, when Oblivion GOTY edition gets here... as some point in there, I'm going to get moving on 'Watching Yute' again.
I haven't given many updates on the international students front lately.. but today I got an email from 'Asuka' (from Germany) She's considering coming to visit in the summer...!
been busy spooking folks at the 'Ghost Ridge', but managed to get a little work done yesterday.
(ghost ridge is a volunteer 'haunted house' type event, staged in 2 barns.. one for 14+, one for kiddos....) At the end of it all, the clubs helping run the show split the money. I'm there with my Optimist club, 'natch.
I took the 3rd night of the event off to go to a friend's halloween party. My one yearly excuse to get good n plastered, and I did a darn fine job of it. The world was still kinda spinny at noon today.
Back to the ghost ridge tonight for 3 more nights of 'acting'.....! Then I'm gonna pass out until thursday, when Oblivion GOTY edition gets here... as some point in there, I'm going to get moving on 'Watching Yute' again.
I haven't given many updates on the international students front lately.. but today I got an email from 'Asuka' (from Germany) She's considering coming to visit in the summer...!
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