Yep

Big Dog, Little Dog, I Will Take You Home

I don't think there's a person I know who doesn't know I'm a dog person. It's been a lifelong thing, but lately, it's been amplified by time spent at my local animal shelter, photographing pets who are awaiting adoption. It kills me to leave knowing half of them won't find homes, and sadly, my county doesn't have a no-kill shelter.

As you may know, I, myself, have two dogs. Gabby has been with me for most of my twenties, and she's been my best friend through the good, bad and ugly. She's almost nine years old now, and most of the time, she's happy just eating, sleeping and occasionally staring at me for no apparent reason. I got Sadie in January, 2010 because I felt like Gabby needed someone to stay with her when she was home alone. Part of me worried that bringing a new puppy into the mix would completely ruin Gabby's life after being an "only dog" for so long, but in the end, Gabby's learned to ignore her 99% of the time and Sadie worships the ground Gabby walks on. Sometimes they even snuggle up together at night and about once a month, when Gabby gets the urge, they'll play for about five minutes.

Well, lately, I've been thinking about adding a third dog to the mix. Ultimately, I'd love to have four, but I don't think my landlord would be cool with that, and I know my parents wouldn't, as they are my dog sitters when I go out of town. So, that's a situation for another time. Three is already pushing it. I do have three good reasons for wanting another dog:

1. Sadie needs a playmate is at the top of the list. She's a little bundle of energy, and I play with her as much as I can and take her to play with my parents' very energetic dog as much as I can, but there are nights when she's running around the house, throwing toys around and trying to entertain herself...I just feel so bad. I hate that there is such an age difference with Gabby and Sadie.
2. Again, I leave the shelter every day feeling like a jerk. My conscience is screaming, "put your money where your mouth is" every single day that I urge people to go adopt a pet. Sure, I've adopted two, but I could handle one more and save another life. It's like one of those stupid Sarah McLachlan commericals is playing over and over again in my head.
   
3. I more or less live alone in the woods. If I move, I'll be living somewhere else alone (that sounds pathetic, but I'm hoping to move in the next few months). Having those dogs around makes me feel safe. The more eyes there are in my house, the less likely it is that someone could sneak in and murder me. I'm not THAT paranoid but things happen.

So, why am I rattling on about this? Well, I've hit a dilemma: do I adopt a puppy or an older dog? My original thought was a puppy. It'd totally take care of the whole "Sadie needs a playmate" dilemma, and it's easier to get the old dogs acclimated to a baby than it is another adult. But the puppies get adopted so easily most of the time. Plus, there's not a particular puppy I want, so it'd be a waiting game.

On the other hand, there are some big dogs at the shelter that I've definitely bonded with. One of them was recently adopted after four months there, but there's this black lab named Sara (here's a picture). I'm not sure how old she is - I want to say fours years old - and I'm not 100% sure what her story is, but I know she gets a huge smile on her face when I visit her and scratch her back. I know she's very sweet. I also know that a playmate for Sadie she will most likely not make.

Anyway, I know I can't save them all, but for example, last night it was storming so bad and Sara is in an outside cage (with shelter, but still outside), and I just worried myself sick about her. I kept thinking she could be at my house, sitting next to me on my new sofa or laying in the cool tile floor next to Gabby or snuggled up in my bed with Sadie.

Of course, what if I bring her home, and she doesn't get along with my dogs? Or what if I bring her home and then I get attached to another? I've considered volunteering at the shelter, but I'm not sure I could handle spending even more time up there, especially playing with one dog one day and going back the next and knowing it met its fate because no one wanted it. Sigh.

So... big dog or little dog? One of each?

It's Hard Out Here for an Ed Helms Fan

I interrupt my workcation in the best city in the world to bring you this:

Sigh. Where to start?

It's been about... nine? ten? months since I declared Ed Helms is the Most Talented Man Alive on Earth Ever. Since then, I've tried very hard to be a good Ed Helms fan. I've made blog posts about various Ed Helms ventures. I've shared various bits of important Ed Helms information with 5,000 of my closest friends on Twitter. I've read Ed Helms interviews when I've happen upon them and relished in his brilliance.

Even offline, I've done my duty. By now, I've got a few friends who feel the need to shoot me a text when they see a commercial or happen to catch The Office. My own father even calls me at least once a week to say, "Did you see that episode where the Nard-Dog [insert humorous scene from The Office here]?”

I mean, I'm a clever title and a tiny shred of dignity short of running a blog or website dedicated to the latest Ed Helms career news. OK, maybe I'm not quite that pathetic, or at least, I try not to be, but a few weeks ago this poor news anchor in a state I've never even been to took the time to send me a video of his interview with Ed Helms and tell me how nice the man is. This was all unsolicited. I've got the freaking media alerting me to this stuff! If the man was Bon Jovi or something, I'd be that crazy lady who ditched her kids and broke the bank to buy tickets to every stop on the tour. (Well, if I actually had kids. And maybe if gas wasn’t five million dollars a gallon, but I digress...)

All that said, let me just tell you: it's hard out here for an Ed Helms fan. Why, you ask? Well...

First of all, there's this movie, Cedar Rapids. I was so damn excited about that movie for months before there was even talk of it being released to the masses. So excited that I called my gay cousin in December when I realized it would be released this year and featured at the Sundance Film Festival, and I told him to keep the entire month of February clear so we could go see it. After reading so much about it, I even went out on a limb, risked my reputation, and suggested ten reasons why you should go see it before I even saw it, which got the attention of Fox Searchlight. I knew it was in limited release so I might not get to see it when it first came out, but I figured it would come to Atlanta soon enough. I mean, it's freaking Atlanta. I waited and waited and kept the GC on standby. I occasionally checked the Fox Searchlight website, only to see that it had opened in, like, Greenville, Idaho, but it was nowhere near one of the ten largest metropolitan areas in the country.

By the time it reached Atlanta, I was too busy to go see it, which is just as well; it was playing in like one theater in Buckhead.

Second of all, there's this LA Bluegrass Situation. I found out about the first one a little while AFTER it happened, but I swore to myself that if there was another, I’d be making my way out to LA (who goes to LA to hear bluegrass?) for the big event. Well, I found out about it approximately one week before it happened. Of course, it would be taking place the weekend of my cousin's wedding, and truth be told, I ended up missing her wedding anyway because I had to go to Columbia, SC to do some work.

Then there’s the Hangover Part 2, which I didn’t even realize was out in theaters until, oh, less than a week ago. I knew it was coming, but the release date was never exactly clear to me. I only realized it when people started tweeting me, asking if I’d seen it. If you've read my previous posts, you know I spent most of the month of May running back and forth between South Cackalacky and the ATL and turning 30, and to be honest, Ed Helms was probably the last thing on my mind, so, you can imagine how annoyed with life I was when I realized he was probably on every talk show ever, and I didn’t so much as DVR a single one. I didn’t even get to read any print interviews.

Admittedly, I did get to see Ed Helms host Saturday Night Live a few weeks ago – I literally saw a commercial for it as I was on my way out the door to SC trip #1,247, and I managed to make it to my hotel room that Saturday night with mere minutes to spare.

So, what is my point with all of this? Well, as the post suggests, being an Ed Helms fan can be a little daunting for me, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. I realize he’s not as famous as, say, a Justin Beiber or a Backstreet Boy, but I mean, come on!! Maybe it’s just that I’m too old and too busy these days to be that dedicated of a fan to anyone, but I have been putting some effort into it; the least the rest of the world could do is meet me half-way.

For example, some kind soul out there who is not too old and too busy for this kind of thing could create a little fan website with up-to-date info. Or, Helms, himself (or his "people") could use Twitter a little more or something. One reason I do enjoy him and his work is because he seems to be a little more humble than many of his Hollywood counterparts, but an occasional, “hey, my movie comes out tomorrow” or "I'm gonna be on Leno tonight" tweet isn’t too much to ask is it? There are some famous folks who will tell you what brand of toilet paper they just used, much less when they’re going to be on Leno, thanks to Twitter. But now that I think about it, I’d never really have to time to follow any of that anyway. I’d probably find out about that Leno appearance three days after it happened.

Maybe the real solution is for more important film and TV people to realize a good thing when they've got it and put Ed Helms in more good productions. Then there will be even more fans and more information about when and where these productions are available for an adoring audience to enjoy the brilliance that is the talent of Ed Helms. (This is not me suggesting a Hangover Part 3.)*

*Please note: I did actually see Hangover Part 2 yesterday (I had a few hours to kill as I switched hotels) and it cracked my ass up - not knocking the franchise, people.

Also, be aware that I write all of this in good fun (and to make the point that the world needs more Ed Helms), so please do not email me to tell me that I live a sad little life or something. I am already well aware of that fact.

P.S. Please ignore any typos or grammar issues. I'm in Charleston; commas are the last thing I want to concern myself with.

Charleston: Great City or the Greatest City?

It has been brought to my attention that I have not been updating the blog much. I've had a lot of political stuff I'd like to write about, as well as personal stuff, but, well, I've spent the majority of the last six weeks in South Carolina (working and pretending to be a fabulous writer/photographer). I actually started a nice long post called "South Carolina: Satan's State," because, after five trips to Columbia and a string of bad luck, that's what I came to think of the Palmetto State. (Aside from a week or so when I was 18, I've never spent any real time here.)

But then I came to Charleston...

...and have been here since last weekend. Holy Shiites! I love this place. I'm ashamed to say I've been a Southerner for my entire 30 years and have never been here before, but I can assure you, the next 30 years shall be packed with trips to this beautiful city. It's gorgeous, there's so much history, the beach, some of the most beautiful architecture in the world - it don't get much better than this, folks!

I'll leave you with a few pictures I took around the Battery. I've got a city to enjoy. (And, uh, some work to do.)