Just wanted to throw a movie recomendation out there.
One of my favorites is Heaven Help Us.
I guess you could say it's in the same vein as Dead Poets Society (which I also love), except funnier, in Brooklyn, and with Kevin Dillon. Or maybe a less satirical (and Catholic) Saved!
Mona and I have been to the dog park everyday for the last 8 days. We're going again today, and I don't know who's more excited - me or the dog. I wish wish wish I didn't leave my camera in NY two weeks ago, but I'm due to have it back this coming Friday.
I have a hard time making friends since I'm so shy, but there's a strange sort of subculture at the dog park that makes it oddly easy to talk to other people. There are, after all, built-in icebreakers: "I'm sorry he won't stop humping her;" "so, what breed is she?;" "hey, your dog is pooping behind the hill!;" and the ever-popular "yea, he's been constipated/diarrheal lately." It takes a few meetings before anyone knows the owners names - they're always referred to as "Sparky's Dad" or "Darla's Mom."
It's also funny how merely being a dog owner (and a dog park frequenter) brings people together who probably never would have spoken otherwise. The middle-aged, khaki-wearing mother-of-three and the ruby-haired, tattooed-and-pierced make-up artist come together with the single, young, Paris-Hiltony blonde and the adorable elderly couple. Fascinating, don't you think?.
Our dog park is a good size, but while it was once all grass, it's now all sandy, dusty dirt. Although, while I was talking to some other people about it, there really isn't anything better. In NYC, many of the dog parks are covered in a crushed-granite gravel. But that traps the urine and things and just becomes stinky. In my hometown, the dog park is covered with wood chips and small sticks. But then the dogs chew on them and get splinters. Our dog park, when grass, became too-easily muddy. Now, after all the running and storms and things it's been through, the sandy dirt is so packed that there's never any mud, and it's back in commission the next day after a rain - sometimes even the same day.
It has a place for plastic bags to clean up after the dogs, and it has a trash can. It doesn't have - but needs desperately - a water fountain or hose of some sort. Right now, we're taking recycled gallon jugs to the Dunkin' Donuts on the corner, and using the spigot on the side of their building. But that means someone has to leave their dog unattended. And, you never know...
The picture is from opening day. I never got to see it looking that nice - Although, they do have some baby trees in a small fenced off area of the park, so there will be some nice shade in... oh, about a decade. It overlooks the water, too, so even on the hottest days, there has been a nice breeze.
I'm so happy to have this place. They're becoming some type of extended family for Mona and me. And we needed that.
