Overnight Sensation!!!!!!

5/31/07 6:02 am. Another perfect sunrise. We'd expect it to be just another langorous day in late May, when there are few better places to be than Ithaca NY.

THWOMP!!!!! (The bed shakes. This dog weighs 60 pounds.) "Good morning! Where would you like me to start licking?"

Yes, my head is on my pillow and that pink monstrosity is about six inches from my lens. Happily, I was awake enough to hit the macro button on the camera

Off to work, and the SunroofCam was operating flawlessly! The workday proceeded according to schedule. But, just outside, a mania was quietly, but quickly, building.

Rumour had hit the streets that Sweetie the Sweetie would be promenading down freaking Cayuga Street, and they spread fast. Thousands gathered around the route.

The League of Very Tall Hippies tried to cash in on the action, to mixed success.

Elvis came back from the dead - after 30 years he was getting bored and wanted to understand what was like to be a real celebrity.

At long last, the moment arrived. The crowds went berzerk!

An instant sensation, The Bean (as in Jelly Bean, or LL Bean) handled fame with grace.

Pats are OK, but sorry, no autographs, please!

Whaddid that guy say??? I want him thrown out of here! SECURITY!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, Da Ellie G Show has left the Auditorium!

She's going to be impossible to live with now...

Memorial Day - The End of a Nice Run...

...of days off. Not that I used them to any particular purpose.

I'd start by saying that I didn't really 'get' Memorial Day for a long time, although I do remember marching as a Cubscout in the Memorial Day parade, and standing for a long time in in a cemetary under the hot sun listen to boring speeches and looking at too many flags. But this year, the cumulative weight of the war in Iraq, and its apparently endless nature, just really makes me sad. I try to avoid politics in this blog, but I think most people would agree that staying is extremely problematic, and that leaving is extremely problematic. So it just goes on. In that hot, dusty, miserable place, surrounded on all sides by rubble, indistinguishable civilians of unknown intent, and hidden explosives. I don't know how the soldiers and their families bear it.

Meanwhile, in a happier place, graduation was this weekend, so all the students will be clearing out, and we will have the town to ourselves for the next two weeks. Which will be followed by Cornell Reunion, of which this one is my 25th(!?!?!?!?). So all the olde boys will be in for the weekend. I don't think I've seen Eric Lewis (now a professor of philosphy at McGill up in Montreal) since our tenth reunion, and the rest of them for five. It's starting to get odd, living in middle aged bodies, most of us having near grown children, and getting together on campus like we were all still 22. We'll see how this transpires.

Oh, and the previously undefeated Cornell lacrosse team lost in the NCAA semi-finals, to a last minute goal by Duke.

Mickey has come back for another weekend. It's great to have him visit and wear Ellie out, but the chaos of the two of them chasing each other about gets old after a couple of days.

5/28/07 7:02 am. These dogs want breakfast.

This dog is a Chewer. Above is one of the still usable around the house shoes that survives.

This dog does not like doors. In particular, she does doesn't approve of being on the other side of a door from her people. If she's out, she wants you out. If you're in the bathroom, she wants to be in the bathroom. And the trouble is, she's gotten pretty good at opening doors. And, this dog is becoming a Water Doggie. If you're in the shower, and haven't been Extra Careful about securing the bathroom door, a golden head will poke in, take a good look around, and maybe even jump in to join you. This morning, Rosemary saw her head in the center of our pond, moving at a good clip. We suspect she has become so comfortable in the pond that she has figured out how to swim. The downside of that is, even more wet dog. The upside to it is that it is really good exercise for her hip. So that and chasing Mickey around (or vice versa) seems to be making her ever more mobile.

Meanwhile, Rosemary has been busy out doing mysterious things with plants. I'm not sure what this 'weepy' fir tree is all about, but it's part of some ambitious floral scheme she has been implementing.