R.I.P. Avery

This is the lovely Ms. Avery, and her lovely human companion Sharon. It's a bit hard to tell in these pictures, but Avery had some truly magnificent ears. I wanted to drawn them everytime I saw her.
Although a very doggish dog--loyal, playful, good-natured, protective, tennis-ball-entranced--she had an unusual fawn-like appearance: those ears, big giant eyes, long nose, vaguely reindeerish coloring, long legs. Sometimes, in the park, playing fetch, I felt like I was watching a deer galumph after a tennis ball, which was kind of a strange and wonderful thing.
The last time I went on a walk with Avery, she lacked this vigor of her youth (I think walking around the block took fifteen or twenty minutes) but she lavished so much attention on every crevice, crack, tree, wad of gum, bush, wall, pylon and lamp post--I have never before or since witnessed anything being sniffed so thoroughly--I saw her joi de vivre was fully intact. She was a love.
Bye, darling.

The Obvious Solution to the Gravity Problem

Christmas in July

Yesterday I was trying to think of what the most subversive thing one could put in place of Baby Jesus in the nativity scenes that crop up all over the U.S. around Christmastime with the caveat/challenge that this thing isn’t obscene.

I came up with: a dollar bill, a bottle of scotch, a gun. But then I realized it is probably a cheese sandwich. What kind of cheese sandwich, you might ask? Well, good-quality cheddar or Swiss I imagine on decent bread with a little lettuce and tomato, mustard and mayo.

I imagined someone going on a spree of replacing Jesus-babies with such sandwiches across this great land. But that begets what to do with the babies. I have nothing against any l’il baby, plastic or Jesus or otherwise, and have no desire for them to come to a bad end. Anyway, anything you might think of seems creepy/morbid, no? I was imaging them in a little tornado shelter swaddled in soft blankets. How weird though, would that be to walk in on, a hundred baby Jesus? I guess it depends on who you are.

Day 7

I've started a new art project, taking
a picture of my outfit every day
in the same place.
Here is Day 7.

Clarification

This dress was worn on the occasion of July 4th 2006 to indicate my displeasure with the Iraq war. I almost never bring this war up because it just winds up being a conversation where Person A says "Concrete is hard," and then Person B sighs gustily and says "Concrete is hard" which usually goes on ad naseum. I resent being cornered into such discourse. But yesterday--yesterday I was moved to action.