While driving home from work on Anderson Mill I have seen an unusual looking bird a number of times. Usually it is just hanging out by the side of the road and I'm not sure that I've really seen it. However, on Tuesday it was actually walking ON the road. Traffic stopped, so I know I wasn't imagining it. I also got a better look at it this time—bigger than a chicken, smaller than a turkey, baldish head, and black feathers with little white speckles. (Kind of like this one...) The bird looked similar to a guineahen that I had seen in the zoo at some point, but I didn't expect to see one just hanging out on the streets of Austin. I looked online—God bless Wikipedia—and it looks like that's exactly what it is. According to my research, "guineafowl (sometimes called guineahen) are a family of birds in the same order as the pheasants, turkeys and other game birds and is native to Africa...the Helmeted Guineafowl has been domesticated and introduced outside its natural range, for example in southern France, the West Indies, and especially the United States." While it's totally plausible that one of these things is living on Central Texas, I would expect to see it in a more rural setting, NOT hanging out next to a convenience store pecking on asphalt. Has anyone else seen this mysterious creature? Is it some hippie's free-range dinner? Is it a family pet? Did it voluntarily decide to leave life on the farm to go to the big city? It remains a mystery, and, yes, apparently I do have a lot of free time.

Apparently peyote made him buy this rug. You have to be very careful when tripping through New Mexico.

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I bought this rug while Road Tripping through New Mexico. I paid $250 for it but it no longer goes with my decor.

These are not necessarily my favorite songs of all time...just the ones that are so fun to sing that it warrants making an ass out of myself while driving. Don't judge me too harshly. I'm sure everyone has some equally random choices they could add to this list (and yes, I do want to know what they are, so send me a comment). 1. Werewolves of London...Warren Zevon (Ow-Wooooo!) 2. R-E-S-P-E-C-T...Aretha Franklin (Sock it to me! Sock it to me!) 3. I Will Survive...Gloria Gaynor (You know you love it too.) 4. Mr. Bartender (It's So Easy)...Sugar Ray (Give me a shot I got fired today.) 5. California Love...2-Pac and Dr. Dre (I picture the crazy Mad Max looking video every time.) 6. Just a Girl...No Doubt (Gwen Rocks!) 7. Around the Way Girl...LL Cool J (Ladies LOVE Cool James! It's true.) 8. Shake Ya Tailfeather...Nelly, P. Diddy, Murphy Lee (Got so many keys you think I'm valet parkin'.) 9. Elevation...U2 (Woo-ooo-ooo-oo-oo! Woo-ooo-ooo-oo-oo!) 10. Just Like Heaven...The Cure (Show me how you do that trick.)

Sophie had her first check-up since "the incident" last Friday and the vet is very pleased with her progress. There is still a little knot on her tummy under the massive bite mark, so she is on antibiotics to make sure there's no infection. She goes outside every day, but only under adult supervision lest she decide to take on another unfriendly critter. She is very playful and her appetite is certainly back. The Fur on the other hand is apparently starving—starving for attention, starving for cat food, starving for praise. We are trying to give them equal attention, but she is having a tough time since she is so used to being an only pet. She does seem to find The Mew pretty entertaining though, and I think they will become friends very soon. Sophie has also acquired some new nicknames. We debated changing her name to Ocho since she used up one of her nine alloted lives on 08/08/08 at 8am. (Terrence suggested that we make it The Ocho, ala Dodgeball.) Mostly we have been calling her The Mew though. Stay tuned for the further adventures of The Mew and The Fur.

If you haven't heard our sad news, please keep little Sophie in your thoughts as she is having a rough time right now. She snuck over to the neighbor's yard on Friday morning and was attacked by their dog. She suffered two major puncture wounds and multiple contusions and bruising, but so far she is still hanging in there. She spent the day at the vet Friday being treated for shock and trying to get stable. Friday night we took her to the Animal Emergency Clinic so that they could monitor her overnight and manage her pain. The X-rays show that her organs and spinal cord seem to be in tact and where they should be, so now the biggest risk is an infection. Terry and I are giving her constant care in shifts and she is improving steadily. She has started eating a bit of solid food in addition to the syringe feedings and her swelling and pain levels are subsiding. She has been trying to walk, but doesn't quite have the strength and coordination for it in her back legs yet. She is a tough little thing though—only 4 lbs and 10 weeks old—and she started purring and trying to play less than 72 hours after the attack. Terry and I have had a rough weekend and we have felt a lot of guilt, regret, and worry, but right now we are just glad she is still with us and are focusing on keeping her comfortable and getting her well. Please say a little prayer for her and keep her in you thoughts. Since Terry has developed the habit of calling her Soapy, we have adopted a theme song to help lift our spirits.  "Hang on Sloopy" from the McCoys recorded back in 1965.  Just change the Sloopy to Soapy.  Here is a link to the song.  For our family, I ask that you click it and at least sing the opening chorus "hang on soapy...soapy hang on." Thank you for you kindness and your thoughts for our little furry family member. V

V and me went and got ourselves iPhones. This is as simple post from my iPhone using the free wordpress app. Seems to work rather well. More to come.

If you've been to my house, you probably know that I used Craigslist to furnish and decorate half of it. I adore finding treasures and then playing phone/email tag with the owners to negotiate the transfer of slightly used treasures. What you may not know is that we keep a list of funny typos and phrases that are accidentally amusing on a white board at my office. Here are a few of my favs: 1. armed chair (Halt! I have nailhead trim and I'm not afraid to use it.) 2. shabby shiek (Poor little guy...out there in the desert with a second-hand camel.) 3. aria rug (Not only does it tie the room together, it also sings opera.) 4. kacky green (Somewhere between khaki and tacky lies kacky.) 5. chester drawers (Who is Chester and why is he selling his drawers on Craigslist?) 6. rot iron (I know it could rust, but rot?) 7. oriental rug from Belgium (Someone failed 7th grade geography.) 8. Cowboy with Rifle in the Saddle Figuring (What is he figuring? Probably that his current owner can't spell figurine.) 9. Pooh Bathroom set (Obviously featuring Winnie the, but my juvenile brain can't get past Pooh and Bathroom on the same post.) 10. new antique (Um, is that like jumbo shrimp?)

1. Those stupid wheelie shoes 2. People who inform me that those wheelie shoes are called Heelys (I don't care what they're called. I hate them and have no desire to purchase them.) 3. Emergency sirens being used as a sound effect on the radio while I'm driving (I keep looking for that ambulance and it's just not there.) 4. People begging on the corner while talking on cell phones (I'm pretty sure cellular service doesn't fit in with the basic level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs: breathing, drinking, eating, and excretion.) 5. Homeless people who decide that now is the appropriate time in their life to take on the responsibility of a pet 6. People who hover at my office door looking helpless and waiting for me to read their mind 7. People who won't take the time to email or call me to converse, but feel the need to forward me useless cyber-fluff (If you absolutely have to do it, at least run it through snopes.com first to save me the trouble of embarrassing you later.) 8. Cyclists who ride like they have a death wish and want me to be their executioner (I know, I get it, it's Austin and you worship Lance Armstrong, but that doesn't make you bulletproof. Use a little common sense people.) 9. People in the service industry who hate their job and want me to know it (The Grier says people like this "lack a sense of urgency." I think they should find a job that does not involve interacting with other humans.) 10. Spammers who attempt to hijack my blog with ads for everything from poker tips to porn to miracle cures for cancer (Seriously, I don't care how much you compliment my pithy posts...I will not let this crap get posted.)