Parker's Pad

[Parker]

My Formosan Mountain Dog, Jack has started freaking out in the back yard on the sunnier, warmer days - he runs around in circles around this pile of dirt and rocks the handyman left behind when it started raining again - he also tries to get the other dogs to run with him &/or chase him (Zeke is the red dog, Harley is the tan one), and he barks and smiles like a mad dog.

He didnt do it for very long yesterday, but I was outside when he did it so I was able to catch him on camera - even on a day like today when I am feeling a little melancholy, that boy can still make my heart smile .....

[gaea]

Originally Posted by Parker

My Formosan Mountain Dog, Jack has started freaking out in the back yard on the sunnier, warmer days - he runs around in circles around this pile of dirt and rocks the handyman left behind when it started raining again - he also tries to get the other dogs to run with him &/or chase him (Zeke is the red dog, Harley is the tan one), and he barks and smiles like a mad dog.

He didnt do it for very long yesterday, but I was outside when he did it so I was able to catch him on camera - even on a day like today when I am feeling a little melancholy, that boy can still make my heart smile .....

that video was adorable.

[Parker]

Unfortunately, he will not be that adorable when you and Bear meet him - most likely, he will fear-poop and run away.

It will probably only be funny to me. lol

Just remember, the trick to getting him to come to you is to call Zeke over - where ever Zeke goes, Jack will surely follow.

[gaea]

Originally Posted by Parker

Unfortunately, he will not be that adorable when you and Bear meet him - most likely, he will fear-poop and run away.

It will probably only be funny to me. lol

Just remember, the trick to getting him to come to you is to call Zeke over - where ever Zeke goes, Jack will surely follow.

ok then I will remember that. , i haven't met a dog yet that wasn't comfortable with me.

My friend Lori has a female pit that she claimed the pit wouldn't let anyone near her, posh that girl was rubbing up on me and laid at my feet within ten minutes of meeting her...Lori said "I don't know how you do that".

[Parker]

Hopefully, it will be that way here - Zeke likes everyone so he wont be a problem - Harley is an old, cranky, protective bitch, so when you first meet her, she will have on her muzzle, just to be safe - but once you two have met and she sees you're ok, she will be a-ok for the rest of your visit.

But I fully expect my Taiwan boys to run away and try to hide; poor babies may have been with me for almost 2 years but before that, they were in hell and are still leery of humans.

Max is better with people than other dogs, but I am hoping he finds a friend in Bear because they can be small together in this house of crazy.



(from left: Zeke, Max, Jack, and Harley)

[gaea]

I think they will be ok here is a couple of pics with Bear and her best friend who is a great pyranese

this cracks me up every time




my friend was checking my breaks which yay they didn't need changed

[Parker]

Oh, they will be ok - they just may run and hide when you first get here!

Go 'head Bear - hump that dog!

I need to get my brakes checked - either my brakes AND shocks need to be replaced or my brakes are acting funny because my shocks are so bad ... either way, I have zero$ for either, so I guess it's moot!

[Parker]

A story ....

Feeding my Taiwan puppy, Jack in the morning is easy because I went back to feeding him the refrigerated food roll once a day since he refused to eat the crunchy food twice a day - some days, he wouldnt eat at all, so I had no choice because he is a skinny little puppy.

Anyway, now he eats his morning meal with his doggie prozac and he gobbles it down in a couple minutes - but in the evening, when I put out the crunchy food, it is on. lol

Sometimes, he needs me to be in the room with him, sometimes he needs me to be away from the room, sometimes he needs it quiet in the house, sometimes not - the night before last, he sat in here for a couple of hours, refusing to eat until finally it was time for bed and I put the food away - and when I came in here, he was shaking so uncontrollably, it was pathetic. Last night, he laid down on the floor for over an hour - I called out to him from the living room to put that food in his belly and a few minutes later, he got up and started eating it.

This boy, I swear. He reminds me of me when I was a kid and my mom served us cooked beets for dinner. I hated beets (I think I was the only one though - everyone else loved them) and refused to eat them - she and dad said I would sit there until I ate the beets.

Well, I ate everything off of my plate except the beets, I just left them there and sat there with them on the plate in front of me. mom, dad, Julie, and Bill all finished their dinner - Julie and Bill were excused from the table and they went with dad into the living room to watch TV.

Still, I sat there with those beets on my otherwise empty plate while my mom cleared the table and did the dishes. She finished the dishes, wiped down the table around me, put the runner and centerpiece back on the table, turned off the lights and went into the living room, leaving me sitting there in the dark with my plate of beets.

Eventually - and I have no idea how long this was but in my memory and to my child's mind, it felt like hours went by - mom and dad sent me to bed as the plate of beets still sat there on the table.

What a frustratingly stubborn kid I was - I cant imagine having to deal with me as a parent, lol - but dealing with this picky, stubborn, anxious puppy at least gives me a hint. ;o)

[Parker]

I went out this morning to find a small hard back book out of which I could make a "book safe" because the last time I made one, I used a paperback book and used too much glue so it was obvious what it was before you even picked it up from the shelf. lol

But I digress; while I was wandering back and forth, looking for something that I could use and that wouldnt look out of place on my shelf, something caught my eye. It was hard back and the front/back covers were tied together over the bound pages. It was brown with a leaf pattern on it and the title "Leaves of Gold," which is "an anthology of prayers, memorable phrases, inspirational verse, and prose" from circa 1938 - this is the 1948 revised edition.

I bought it and at first, I didnt know what to do with it, but now as I am typing, it occurs to me that I might could send it to my nephew/godson and his fiance as a wedding gift -- it feels like a good gift to come from an Aunt/Godmother when you get married, yes?

This picture is of the cover and then I opened the book to a random page to show the inside.

[Parker]

Originally Posted by Parker

This boy, I swear. He reminds me of me when I was a kid and my mom served us cooked beets for dinner. I hated beets (I think I was the only one though - everyone else loved them) and refused to eat them - she and dad said I would sit there until I ate the beets.

Well, I ate everything off of my plate except the beets, I just left them there and sat there with them on the plate in front of me. mom, dad, Julie, and Bill all finished their dinner - Julie and Bill were excused from the table and they went with dad into the living room to watch TV.

Still, I sat there with those beets on my otherwise empty plate while my mom cleared the table and did the dishes. She finished the dishes, wiped down the table around me, put the runner and centerpiece back on the table, turned off the lights and went into the living room, leaving me sitting there in the dark with my plate of beets.

Eventually - and I have no idea how long this was but in my memory and to my child's mind, it felt like hours went by - mom and dad sent me to bed as the plate of beets still sat there on the table.

What a frustratingly stubborn kid I was - I cant imagine having to deal with me as a parent, lol - but dealing with this picky, stubborn, anxious puppy at least gives me a hint. ;o)

I posted this same story on my FB and my mom commented on it a few times - she didnt discount how things happened, but said I wasnt sitting there for hours lol. She also hinted towards the fact that making me sit there with those beets on my plate was a parenting mistake - and I think she feels bad about it.

What she doesnt understand - and I am not sure she ever will because we are so different in this respect - is that I love the hell out of that story and tell it with a smile. Anyone who knows me can picture my stubborn ass sitting there in the dark with those damn beets instead of just giving in and doing what mom wanted by swallowing them down so I could leave the table!

She probably thinks it's a bad story and that it makes me dislike her or think she was a bad parent or that my childhood was omg-ruined or something - whereas I think it is such a great story that perfectly expresses how frustrating it must have been to be my parent ... or boss ... or commanding officer ... or ... lol.

Poor mom - I should send her an e-book (she loves her Kindle!) or something.

[Parker]

Pride was so much fun this year. My friend, Michele missed it last year and she decided that come hell or high water, she was making the drive in her trike up from SE Washington to ride in the parade with me. She isnt gay, she's an ally, but no one seems to care if you are woman, man, gay, straight, or bi when it comes to riding with the Dykes on Bikes - if you have a bike and love Gay Pride, come on and ride with us. lol

Since it rained pretty hard on Friday, Michele drove up on Saturday, but it rained even harder on her drive up - she said there was rain, high winds, and some hail - and at one point, she had to pull over!

She also had some bike issues - her heater went out, her gear shift didnt want to work, and eventually, when she was in Seattle, her trike overheated to the point that I had to bring her some water - even though she had no clue where she was ... that was an adventure.

Her husband was worried that he hadnt heard from her since her road trouble, so he called and when she told him she overheated and her radiator was tapped out, he was concerned enough to make the 4hr trip out here to look at and fix her bike. Turned out, it was a blown fuse that just needed replacing. He spent the night and left Sunday morning.

So with Michele's trike in running order, all that was left was the weather - and just like last year, the Seattle skies decided that instead of opening up and pouring rain on all of us, it would instead push the clouds aside and let the sun peek through for a few hours.

We got there early enough to talk to a few people, wipe our bikes down, chill out before the start of the parade, etc. At one point, this woman (she is right behind me in the first pic below) walked up to me and asked me how long I'd been doing this. I told her 3yrs and she then asked what color my bike was ..... um, blue. She told me I was supposed to say something like cobalt blue, so I told her it was cobalt blue; and when she asked me my bike's name, I told her "for sale."

The DOB ride was wonderful - I knew it very well could be my last, so I rode slowly while all the crotch rockets zoomed on by and lapped me a few times lol. I gave high-fives to the crowd and found my friend Alan so I could toss him my Pride necklace again this year - and he took a couple of good pics of me. Towards the end of the ride, I kept seeing this woman - a tall butch with salt-n-pepper hair who was so excited to see us all. So when I lapped around for the 2nd to last time (I snuck in one more circle before going off to park), I grabbed my other Pride necklace, pointed to her as I drove towards her and tossed her the "beads" - she was so happy and it was so freaking awesome.

After the ride, we watched part of the parade and then left to go get a couple of Jimmy John's subs since she had never had one (they are SO much better than Subway, seriously). Then we went back to my house and took naps bc we are old and that evening, we went to a restaurant that we both thought might be interesting - the Celtic Bayou - which serves both Cajun and Irish cuisine. It was good.

The coolest thing is that I not only remembered my helmet cam this year - as well as the batteries and memory card to go with it (I forgot the card last year lol) - I was able to set it to record while it was strapped onto my headlight, so it caught the whole Dykes on Bikes ride from the rider's POV - save for the last 30 seconds or so when we all pulled around the corner and parked near the festival entrance.

Below are a couple of pics of me, a couple of Michele in her trike, and the whole 45 minute video of my ride - but feel free to skip the first 3 minutes because we are all just sitting there, honking our horns and revving our engines as we wait to get started during that time.

Oh - I try to look a little different each year - 2 years ago, I wore a fedora type hat, last year was my ball cap (CUBS!) and this year was my ball cap backwards. I am also wearing a shirt Michele got for me at Portland Pride last weekend (she took some LGBT youth from her area) - it says Veterans for Human Rights (VfHR.org).

[Parker]

I cant believe I almost forgot today was the 43rd anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. I knew there was something about today .....

Every year, I re-read info and accounts about the riots to remember the women and men who stood up to the police that night - and then came back a year later for the first ever Gay Pride March.


I posted this to my FB today:





43 years ago today - June 28, 1969 at 1:20 in the morning - the Stonewall riots occurred - when gay women and men decided enough was enough and fought back against police harassment & raids that always ended in violence. On this night, they stood up and said, "no more!"

It started when one butch dyke, while being beaten, asked the crowd, "Why dont you guys do something?"

"A scuffle broke out when a woman in handcuffs was escorted from the door of the bar to the waiting police wagon several times. She escaped repeatedly and fought with four of the police, swearing and shouting, for about ten minutes. Described as "a typical New York butch" and "a dyke—stone butch", she had been hit on the head by an officer with a billy club for, as one witness claimed, complaining that her handcuffs were too tight. Bystanders recalled that the woman, whose identity remains unknown, sparked the crowd to fight when she looked at bystanders and shouted, "Why don't you guys do something?" After an officer picked her up and heaved her into the back of the wagon, the crowd became a mob and went "berserk": "It was at that moment that the scene became explosive"."

43 years ago today, a movement started .....

[deb0670]

i understand about the name.. Deborah is mine too.. except when i was a kid i hated it. Anyone outside of my family call me that they wanted a fight on their hands. Now that i am older, i do not mind it, however, unlike You, when i introduce myself to anyone it is always, "Hiya i'm Debbie".
I have thought about changing my name many times... not cause of me being Butch( far from lol), but just cause every mom's aunt's cousin's neighbor is named Deborah, Debra or Debbie... ugh..
I applaud You for choosing a name(s) that fit You and help You be more "You".

Maybe one day i will have that courage.

[Parker]

So for Christmas, I got 4 of my nieces and nephews Kiva cards so they could create an account and find a person to whom they wanted to give a microloan. I thought that would be a nice gift for them so they could feel good about helping someone else to fulfill their dreams of taking care of themselves and their families.

I also went back to Wolf Haven Int'l to adopt wolves for my other 6 nieces and nephews. Wolves hold a special place in my heart and they are endangered so the kids get to know that they are helping to care for and protect an endangered species - an animal for which I care very much.

I got the Kiva cards last month and was set to get the wolf adoptions this month (I couldnt afford to do it all in one month); and I cant believe how fast Wolf Haven Int'l sent me the wolf adoption photos and bios - I went online and did all of the wolf adoptions on Tuesday night and yesterday, a large envelope with all of the wolf pics, bios, and adoption info was dropped on my porch - so fast!

Now all I have to do is write out the cards to go with the wolf stuff, then I can drop it all in the mail to my parents in PA - I asked mom if they would be cool with handing my gifts out to the kids on Christmas or Christmas Eve or whenever their tradition is now. I feel badly that I cant be there - everyone is headed to PA for the holidays and I am the only family member who wont be there - but at least my gifts will be there on time and given to them by their grandparents.

[Parker]

I was watching a movie tonight where this woman took a crack on the head and suddenly, she could no longer recognize anyone's faces - every time she would see them again or close her eyes and re-open them or look away and look back, etc, the face would change.

In fact, in one scene, she was having sex with her bf and every time she closed her eyes and opened them again, he would be a different person. lol

This made me realize that I rely more on my ears than my eyes I have noticed that when it comes to the people I see on TV and movies and even with most of the people around me, I recognize their voices most of the time before I ever recognize their faces - which seems weird.

Even in this movie, the actors would change back and forth - sometimes we would see what she saw and sometimes we would see the original actor who played the character, but their voices were dubbed so they would always be of the original actors and that was how I was able to pick out the killer (this was a thriller); because he taunted her in the street and so later, when I heard that voice again, even though the face was different, I knew it was him. Turns out, I was right.

It's just so interesting how we identify the people around us; e.g., I am horrible with names - I mean, a person can tell me their name at a gathering and literally 30 seconds later, it's gone - out of my head - but I can usually recognize a face and place it with where I know them from: this theatre gig or that friend's party, etc.

I just never really thought about how much I rely on what I hear vs. what I see - it makes me wonder if it was something I developed over time - working with actors who can look completely different in their costumes vs. their street clothes or even from one gig to the next, coupled with the fact that my memory for names sucks so bad I wish people would wear name tags all the time lol - maybe my mind developed this way of identifying people's voices to help me recognize people.

It's crazy how the mind works, isnt it?



Oh, for those interested, the movie is called Faces in the Crowd, with Milla Jovovich and Julian McMahon. I didnt really like the ending too much, but it was still a really good flick, imo. An interesting (to me, at least) side note: this is the second movie I have seen her in with a guy from Charmed. lol