Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Friend Pride

I love my friends. Really, I do. I have great little circles of friends in recent years and I enjoy the time I spend with them. That means, when something great happens for them, I get all squealy and excited for their success.

It's especially inspiring when one of your friends goes after her dream and builds it to a reality. This dream has completed several little benchmarks along the way over the past almost-year, but she's hit a big one: official -- and  official-looking -- Internet real estate!

My friend Jordana is a photographer and she is really talented. I mean, beyond talented. I want to create special events out of thin air so I can have some fun with her in front of the camera. She was a beautiful bride herself, so she knows a thing or two about what and how to capture the perfect moments.

Not only does she rock the snapper, she has a beautiful way with words. She paints them into her blog and they complement her photos ever so gracefully. It's a union of two really great and sentimental artistic devices. I'm a word nerd myself, so I get extra giddy when I read Jordana's blog entries.

And I am proud to show off Hazelnut Photography -- a little play on words with her name: Go see some eye candy and read word dessert -- and then book her for your event. Girl's gotta quit The Man job and devote all the time to love -- her's and your's!

www.hazelnutphotography.com/blog

Monday, October 6, 2008

Analyzing the Dog Park Culture

With the help of veteran dog owner friends, we've discovered the wonders of the local dog park and have enjoyed taking Princeton there for his socialization and exercise.

Wait, who am I kidding? It is pure entertainment for us. It's not always in the form of dogs either. Some of these owners are interesting.

But the big belly laughs and coos and "Aaawww"s come from watching the dogs play together. Or, in some cases, try to play together.

You see, the dog park is like high school. There are always a couple of dogs who are the leaders. The cool kids. This would be equivalent to the varsity quarterback or the student body president. This dog runs around wherever he or she pleases and a swarm of dogs buzzes around him or her, wanting to follow its every move.

That brings me to the followers. There are a bunch of loyal subjects who bow-wow down to the popular dog. These dogs are always a few steps behind and compete with other peer-level dogs for the popular dog's attention (which usually means mounting).

Then there are the dorks. It's probably easier to be a dog dork than a human dork as dogs don't really judge as harshly as humans do, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. The dog dorks run around with the playing dogs on the outskirts of their cluster. They keep trying to get "in" with a series of hops and tumbles, but they never quite make it. No one chases them and they can't break through the mold. You can usually see the owners sulking in disappointment that their dogs aren't accepted into the group. You know they're just saying things like "oh, Puggy, if only you didn't waddle so much and you could run a little faster, you could be in the cool crowd." The culture kills me; it's just too funny.

The dog park is like a microcosm of the real world in an ideal place.

For example, humans are not as friendly as dogs are. When passing by, we don't greet each other with a "hello" or a "how do you do?" In fact, we're considered overly friendly and invasive if we manage to make eye contact and half a smile. Dogs, however, just run up and sniff. Either they like what they sniff and continue the salutation or it doesn't knock their paws off and they move on. No hard feelings. Here, Princeton and a fellow pal sniff-hello. IMG_2816

When other dogs see two dogs socializing, they're more apt to join in. This doesn't happen in people world either. Most people are intimidated by what looks like an already-formed group. But for dogs, hey, the more the merrier.IMG_2824

But then, just like people, there are dogs out there who are all alone. They don't have anyone who loves them or anyone to love back. It warms my heart to see humans who come through and help the lonely dogs find homes. We do more for lonely dogs than we do for lonely people. IMG_2829 Fortunately, the lonely dog always can find friends at the dog park.IMG_2827 I'd like to think that my Princeton and our friend Scotty are giving him a pup pep talk and feeding him some encouragement.

As we humans do, and as I've done in this blog, we personify dogs. It's easier to relate to them that way, I suppose. So when we see dogs try to show dominance, we giggle because it looks like sex. And sometimes it actually is, but in so many ways, it's the dog version of a buff and confident human man flexing his muscles or a pretty and available woman who walks hip to hip in killer heels. But deep down, I am a child and I still think this is hysterical.IMG_2825 Looks like he's not so lonely after all.

For the record, Scotty constantly does this to Princeton, too. In fact, I think Princeton is walking away on the right side of the picture because he feels a little betrayed. See? There we go with the personifying again.

But really, at the end of the day, especially a dirty, funny, and doggone happy time at the dog park, it's all about family in any combination. We love our dogs and we want the best for them, so we constantly try to provide them with the best lives they can have.

So we run with them in flip flops through the doggy yard:IMG_2815

 

We pet them and tell them "good boy!" and "good girl!"IMG_2817 

We collect our favorites and help find them specialized homes:IMG_2843

We document family time together:

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We also make discoveries! It wasn't until the dog park outings that we realized Princeton is quite an athlete. He certainly didn't get his track and field genes from his parents! The Twelve Pound Turbo really turns it on and goes nuts around the grass. Take a look!

A Batch of Photos of the Bachelorette!

The only bachelorette party I'd ever been to was my own so my first night out as a pal of the bride was super fun! The girl of honor was Janice and we had a night full of penis cakes, sushi, sex trivia and baseball fans!

Keren and I met Janice's friends at her house where we toasted her and watched her don her condom crown and must-wear bachelorette sash.

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We waited and waited for the surprise stripper, "Billy the airline pilot" to show up, but it turns out, he was stuck in traffic. Probably better that way -- we got to Sushi Roku in Santa Monica sooner where we could order more drinks and enjoy some yummy food. Plus, who needs a stripper that's moronic enough to not leave enough time to drive from Orange County to Glendale on a Saturday night? Next time, we'll order strippers who also serve on the board of the Harvard Alumni Association.

Even though the stripper didn't show up, looks like Janice will have to take some stripping into her own hands! Look at the gifts she got! Ay ay ay!

IMG_2853 Uh oh, gotta return it. It's defected - they left out some fabric on top...

IMG_2855 She wore an itsy bitsy teeny weenie little purple string bikini...

 

Dinner was yummy! Always heard of Sushi Roku and booked many o' power lunches there for my old bosses at Fox. Very swanky inside. Expected to see Ari Gold burst through the doors.

IMG_2857 The MOH and bride pose with their dinners

Wendy, the domestic (and phallic) diva baked us dessert. She endearingly differentiated the flavors as Vanilla McCain and Chocolate Obama. Way to keep the cakes current!

IMG_2858 IMG_2859 Janice gets ready to, um, blow out the candle.

We finally found ourselves on cute-and-trendy Main Street to enjoy the low-key surroundings of O'Brien's Pub. We had a table reserved for us and the drinking began. Unfortunately, the "Irish Band" wasn't very Irish so we stayed in our corner and enjoyed our own private Girl Talk and, of, course, penis lollipops. What's a bachelorette party without a bevy of below-the-belt props?

IMG_2861 Keren and I with our penis pops. Mine was Chocolate Chubby flavored.

IMG_2863 Playin' to the camera, Janice and Wendy enjoyed their Penis Colada pops and Debra picked Chocolate Chubby like me.

This got us thinking: do boys play with boob things at bachelor parties? Yes? No? Discuss.

The bar started filling up, notably with the Dodger Stadium crowd who had just returned either to drink sorrows away  -- if Cubs fans -- or to celebrate hardcore -- if Dodger fans. After all, Janice's Bachelorette Party night shall share the same historical date with the Dodgers, who swept the Chicago Cubs, clinching the NLDS title for the first time since 1988. This is a big deal. October Fourth Two Thousand Eight: Janice's bachelorette party AND the Dodgers beat the Cubs to move ahead closer to the World Series.

This brings us to The Boys. A pair of cute boys (fittingly, the Dodger fan remarkably cuter) joined our table later in the night and conducted themselves appropriately around the bachelorette: The Cub fan, um, flirted:

IMG_2871 IMG_2870 

And the Dodger fan bought our bride a drink.

And. He. Was. Hot.

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We all gushed like little girls. It was funny. (Aside: He's a fellow Wildcat. We talked about UofA and exchanged stories. He's also from Alaska. Cue the handful of Sarah Palin and moose hunting questions).

Before we left, we played with the camera and exchanged shots to document our fun night out.

IMG_2866 IMG_2868 IMG_2867IMG_2873 

HAPPY BACHELORETTE JANICE! We can't wait for your wedding next weekend! If this is any indication of what a hot bride you'll be, we can't wait for the real thing!

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