Puppy love

So, last September I was feeling the tiniest bit lonely, and I was also frequently bored at work. Which was a bad combination because the boredom at work led to me pretty much camping out at www.1-800-save-a-pet.org, where I would spend hours clicking on pictures of dogs and reading about their "special needs" and plotting how I would scoop them all up and take them home with me where we would frolick in the back yard together and then watch TV marathons of "The Dog Whisperer" in one big, furry, slobbery heap on the couch. Because if I had a houseful of puppies to come home to, it would surely be impossible to be lonely. There would be too much cuddlin' and wrasslin' and lickin' and general mayhem to even consider being lonely.

So one Saturday, I just happened to be in the general vicinity of my local Petco, where the pets go, and oh, huh, isn't that funny, they coincidentally happen to have pet adoptions at Petco on Saturdays. So I convinced Emily, who was with me, that maybe we should just poke our heads in, just to see what was going on, because they were just right there, the puppies and the kitties, just across the parking lot from Target, and what was the harm in just going in and saying hello to them? None! Of course, none.

Upon walking into the Petco, our voices shot up about 42 octaves because Ooooooooohhhhhh!!! The puppiiiiiiiiiies! They were soooooooo cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute!!!! And ohmygod look at the tiny tiny kitty! It only has THREE LEGS!!!! AGGGGGGhgggggghh! So we basically just died for about twenty minutes from cuteness and fuzziness overload.

And eventually we noticed the teeniest, most excited little guy who was hoppinghoppinghopping much higher than should be possible for a little tiny dog, Olympic-record-type hopping, and you could just see that he was thinking, "Pleaseohpleaseohplease come talk to me and be my verybestfriend! Look how high I can jump! Isn't it awesome! Huh!? Huhhuhhuh!!!?"

And so, wooed by the hopping, I went over to say hi and pick the little guy up, at which point he snuggled into my arms and asked me with his little doggie eyes to be his mommy. And the evil pet adoption people, seeing that I was weak, knowing that I was in puppy love at first snuggle, sensing my 1-800-save-a-pet addiction, ganged up on me to convince me that I needed to give this springy little wigglebutt a home. They even offered me a discount on the adoption fee -- I could pick up a new best friend for just 40 bucks. Bastards.

Except in reality there was very little arm-twisting, and it was not at all coincidental that I happened to show up at Petco, where the pets go, on a pet-adoption Saturday. I knew that the hours of online pet shopping had by this point rendered me completely powerless against a pair of little brown, pleading puppy eyes.

And that is how I came to adopt my little dog, whom I re-named Uncle Rico because I couldn't bear for him to go on living as "Tigger," his previous and totally lame moniker. Also, I had been contemplating getting a Beta fish a few months earlier and had settled on calling the fish Uncle Rico, because I thought the "Napoleon Dynamite" character of same name was fantastic. Then I decided having a fish was boring and stupid. I had been disappointed to not have something to call "Uncle Rico," though, because I thought it was an excellent name for a pet. So of course when I adopted my little guy, who was clearly a natural-born athlete, someone capable of throwing a football over them mountains, it was obvious that he must be known henceforth as Uncle Rico. If coach woulda put him in fourth quarter, they would've been state champs.

Of course now he has any number of nicknames: Rics, Ricmeister, Ric-a-lic, Turdbutt, Ric-o-la, Idiot Dog, Fatty, Rictastic, Piglet, Mister, Puppy, Nutball, Dumb Dog, Munchkin, Richard, Kitty, and Poopy McCrapsalot.

But even from day one, we were completely bonded. That first night, we took him to The Press for a celebratory beer, and my buddy Katie said that when I left to go to the bathroom, little Rics became distraught and kept looking for me until I came back to the table. AWW! After that day, I've been completely cured of my online pet shopping addiction.

Anyway, my whole point in telling that story was just so I could post some pictures of my adorable Uncle Rico. So here ya go.





Sleepy Rico in Em's lap





"You're going to want to make a right at the next intersection."





"Noooo, I love YOU more!"





Dude, Rico is magic. How did he DO that??





Snuggling is definitely what he does best.

Little Lewis Turns 21: Part I

So, I have this younger brother, Little Lewis. Except you probably wouldn't believe we were related unless you were presented with irrefutable DNA evidence and the sworn testimony of a forensics expert, because we are so, so, SO different. He basically is the embodiment of everything I stand against. Consider the following:

Little Lewis enjoys country music. Like, car radio pre-sets enjoys it.

Little Lewis owns "Cowboy Up" paraphernalia. In case you have never seen any Cowboy Up-related paraphernalia, I have given an example, below:

I'm sure I don't need to explain to you how hideous this crap is, as you are probably cringing in your seat and maybe throwing up a little bit in your mouth at this very second. When I found said Cowboy Up-related paraphernalia on Little Lewis' person, I sneered, "Oh my god, you are so 909." LL didn't know what being 909 meant, which was obviously further proof of his 909-ness.

Little Lewis is a fan of organized religion. A #1 fan. Like, if the Christian Community Church were a baseball team, Li'l Lewis would have season tickets behind home plate, hats, t-shirts, one of those giant foam fingers, penants, a coozie (inside of which would be some kind of non-alcoholic beverage, perhaps Yoohoo), and a ball signed by all the members of the Holy Trinity plus Dr. James Dobson, Billy Graham AND Pat Robertson.

Little Lewis is a republican. No, actually... he's a Republican, capital "R." Like, pro-war, pro-Bush, pro-clubbing baby seals -- the whole bit.

Now, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that the only thing worse than a Republican is a Born-Again Republican... but I'm telling you anyway. Ahem: the only thing worse than a Republican is a Born-Again Republican. Who is your brother. Because then you end up receiving a keychain from them for Christmas that has the following image on it:

And then when you smirk so flagrantly your mom can practically hear it, she will turn to you and say, "*SIGH* -- Jesus doesn't just save the USA, Becky." Except she probably won't call you Becky, because I'm betting that's not your name.

Anyway, those are just a few of the ways in which Little Lewis is SO not me, so the opposite of me, so completely and entirely the antithesis of me that I fail to understand how when we are in the same room we do not cancel each other out and just disappear off the face of the earth forever and ever, amen.

SO, I was filled with delight when Little Lewis' 21st birthday rolled around a couple weeks ago.... AND all his of-age friends were out of town... SO! I could finally get my claws into the little Puritan and show him how much fun Irish car bombs and lemon drops and red-headed sluts can be!! Hooray!

Of course, when he found out what I was planning, he said to me, (and I quote), "Ok, but I'm not going to do anything immoral." (WHAT!) But then he redeemed himself a moment later by saying, "Ok, but if I'm making out with someone you can't stop me." So maybe we really are related after all.

I rounded up some fellow sinners to take the kid out and show him how a 21st birthday is done. Our first stop was the IO West for a little improvisational humor and a lot of damn cheap beers. (It should be noted that when Little Lewis was telling me what he wanted to do for his big day, he said that he wanted to see a comedy show, and that it should be "clean." hUh?) (It should also be noted that I have been seriously missing out by not spending more time at the IO, as it is a) super cheap, with super cheap drinks ($2 PBRs!!) b) hilarious c) features a handful of F-list semi-celebrities and d) is TEEMING with hot dudes. Hot dudes who are FUNNY!)

Anyway, here are some pictures of us at the IO. You can tell which one Little Lewis is by his tongue, which appears to have a life independent from the rest of his self. And it is actually photographic evidence that the two of us are indeed related, because we both have the same horrifying spawn-of-satan eyes.

But in case you can't tell, it goes Emily (drunk eyes), Little Lewis (Lucifer eyes), Madeleine (ginormous baby-blue eyes), Me (pupils of fire), Marcy (four eyes).

Stay tuned for Part II, in which much bull-riding is done by all.

Cutting edge

So, I've been seeing commercials for a product called the "Venus Vibrance" -- perhaps you've seen them, too. The VV is a razor... a razor that is battery-powered... a razor that is battery-powered and VIBRATES. Does this seem like the worst idea EVER to anyone else?

The commercials conjure up images of giddy, shiny-legged teenage girls, but all I can picture when I hear the words "battery-powered vibrating razor" is those same girls sobbing openly over the shredded carnage that was once their lower limbs.

Here is a picture of the ill-conceived death stick also known as the Venus Vibrance. Note how they try to distract you from its evilness with the cunning use of pink:

I'm pretty sure that "gently exfoliates" is marketing code for "hacks off a layer of dermis like a rabid lawnmower."

I guess this is how it's supposed to work -- the vibrating action stimulates your skin so that the hairs stand up, thus making them easier to shave. According to Gillette, users of the VV report a "soft massaging sensation" from the razor. Uhhh...? Now I am as big a fan of massage as the next girl, but there are just certain things that shouldn't be involved in the massaging + tender flesh equation. Like battery acid. Or shards of glass. Or, I don't know... RAZOR BLADES.

And do they really expect us to take a battery-operated device into the shower with us? The shower is slippery and dangerous enough as it is... why put oneself at risk for electrocution? I will keep my battery-operated devices right where they belong, thankyouverymuch -- in the top drawer of my nightstand.

The stitches come out

So, on Wednesday I went back to the discount doctor to get my stitches taken out. I personally think it was too soon to have them out, but whatever, he went to, like, online med school and knows better than me.

As I was getting out of the car, I realized to my horror that I had forgotten my book. ("In Cold Blood" -- I highly recommend it.) This was absolutely tragic, as now I would have nothing to distract me from the running, jumping, screaming hoard of wildebeasts all hopped up on Coke and chocolate that was inevitably occupying the waiting room. God DAMN it.

I could hear the shrieking as I walked out of the elevator, and my suspicions were confirmed. Children. Children piled on top of children. Children spilling out into the hall. Multiplying before my eyes, like the bunnies in that one MasterCard commercial.

I have to make it clear that I don't dislike children, usually. I think they're a hoot and a holler, and I often have the urge to borrow someone's kid and take it to the park where we would swing, and eat ice cream from the ice-cream man, and build things out of sand. (Of course, at the thought of having my own kid I am overwhelmed with sweat and start to hyperventilate a little... maybe that's something I'll grow out of.) But when I am trapped in a tiny, smelly waiting room with roughly a thousand misbehaving children, I cannot help but picture myself kicking them and then laughing maniacally as they hit the floor with a thud.

I gently elbowed some kids aside and wedged myself into a corner of the waiting room, where I had over an hour in which to observe the following:

A woman with 6 children who was so pregnant I kept waiting for #7 to shoot straight out of her loins. (Which worried me, because I was directly in the line of fire. If I were her I'd probably seal my business off with some duct tape or something.)

A child, maybe 4 years old (who can tell?), turning pages in a National Geographic about sea life and shouting "Nemo-Shark!" over and over. And overandoverandover. (actually, that was a little bit cute)

A crazy old lady wearing a big-brimmed straw hat with fake flowers super-glued onto it, a denim shirt with a giant Mickey Mouse bedazzled in silver on the back of it, and velcro shoes. And these weren't ironic velcro shoes, mind you. They were being worn in complete earnest.

A mom whose daughter kept picking up her baby brother from his stroller, shoving her nose in his diapered butt crack and saying loudly, "Wheeeeew, yeah, he poo pooed. I think he needs to be changed. Stinky stinky!" GOLD STAR TO YOU, little one. Don't think the rest of us haven't noticed -- that is why I am melting your mother's skin off with my fiery stare as she sits on her gargantuan ass not doing anything about it.

A super old dude, probably eleventy-two or so, reading an issue of Every Woman magazine.

One of the six kids I first mentioned, we'll call him #4, had a neck tattoo. Now, I have a hard time believing a 6-year-old has a REAL neck tattoo, but this thing looked absolutely legit. I'm pretty sure he just got out of juvey for popping a cap in some 1st grader's ass on the tetherball court.

Butt-sniffer girl started singing, at the top of her lungs, "I BELIEVE IN JEEEEESUUUUUS!" except she had some weird lisp-y thing going on, so it sounded like, "I BELIEVE IN GZEEEESZSHUUUUUUSS!" Just that one line, loudly and continuously. Then, when she tired of that, she moved on to "HAAALAAAYLOOOOOOOOYAH!" Again and again and again, infinity.

I think the nurses could tell I was about to go fetal and start rocking and humming, so they called me back to see the doctor. He snipped my stitches, which kind of hurt, and then he put tape over the cut. TAPE. Doc, should you really be taping up your patients? Is that what they taught you at www.YouCanBeADoctorToo.com? I'm not made out of construction paper and pipecleaners, asshole.

Luckily, I don't have to go back there EVER AGAIN. Except in my nightmares.

The shart heard 'round the world

A couple of years ago I was living with my ex-boyfriend in Australia. I mean, he wasn't my ex at the time, but he is now. Anyway. This was a very relaxed, responsibility-free time in which we had little else to do but loll about on the beach, play pool, watch "The Simpsons," and consume a small ocean of beers. We never fought, except when we were both sauced out of our minds... so the next day neither of us would have the slightest clue what we'd fought about the night before. We decided if neither of us remembered, it didn't really happen.

Apart from all the lolling and drinking and fun-having, a major contributing factor to my contentment with this boyfriend was our shared point of view toward bodily functions, namely farting. I realize I am among a small percentage of women when I say this, but I am pro-fart. Farts make me laugh -- my farts, your farts, dog farts -- they are all funny to me. You can fart in front of me; I won't be grossed out. Yeah, I'll say, "Ewwww!" but I'll say it laughing. And if you are able to produce a particularly loud, or musical, or well-timed fart, my eyes will grow wide with awe and I will say, "Woooow" as I discover a newfound respect for you.

Not only were my ex's outbursts of the bowels funny to me, but he also found my flatulence charming. It was an integral part of our courtship, and one of the things I remember most fondly about him. And it's a damn good thing, because we could have made a quesadilla the size of Brazil with all the cheese we were cutting. A steady diet of barley, hops, and malt will do that to you.

One particularly lazy Sunday morning (and by morning I mean 1pm or so), we were in the kitchen discussing what we should make for naked brunch. Suddenly, amidst discussion on the merits of fried versus scrambled, my being let loose a triumphant, trumpeting, window-rattling sonic boom of a fart. The reverb is still traveling across the Indian Ocean, I'm sure of it.

My ex picked himself up off the floor, his hair disheveled by the gale force wind. Feeling his manhood threatened to the point of extinction, he had no choice but to retaliate with whatever fury his inner recesses could muster.

It was a fart-off... to the death.

He braced himself with both hands on the kitchen counter, slightly bent at the knees, his stance just a little bit wide. A look of intense concentration overcame him, and I imagine that the face of a suicide bomber, about to die for what he believes in, must look much the same. With great effort, he squeeked out a mediocre (at best) poot... but the effort was just a little too much. Out onto the kitchen floor lept the tiniest, most cheerful little turd you have ever seen.

I went absolutely blind with laughter. Even now I just had to take a minute to recover from a fit of spastic giggles.

Winner, and still champ: Yours Truly

Cease and de-cyst

So, for the last decade or so I've had this lump in the back of my right thigh. Okay, it's a cyst... but I hate the word cyst with the white hot passion of a thousand burning suns, and I feel like when people hear "cyst" they will automatically think I have the cooties. Let's be honest, having a cyst is not exactly good game. But saying you have a lump sounds slightly less disgusting, and it implies that whatever it is might be cancerous, which doesn't gross people out as much as it makes them feel bad for you. I know, I know... I'm diabolical.

Anyway, this thing had been growing slowly and ominously for the last several years, and finally my doctor decided they should take it out, just in case.

So on Wednesday, my mom (she DEMANDED to come) drove me to my doctor's office so I could have the surgery. What you have to understand is that my health insurance blows. BLOWS. BUHLOOOWAHS. I am only authorized to see doctors who set up shop in the grungiest, most germ-infested offices: offices that smell of 3-day-old soiled diapers, with carpets that have not been vacuumed EVER, framed (probably forged) licenses askew on the walls, magazines from 1989, and a minimum of 23 screaming, wild children who take turns thrusting their sticky hands into my purse, pulling out items, and handing them to me while their parents nap in nearby chairs.

When they called me into the operating room (after an hour and a half of sitting with the demon-spawn), the nurse said, "Ok, so just undress from the waist up and put this on," indicating a paper half-gown thingy. I stared at her for a full minute before I said, "Sooo... from the waist UP?" She stared back. "Aren't you having something done with your... to your..." and then, very quietly, "breast?" That bitch was gearing up to slice and dice one of my perfectly good hoots! Now it was clear why they had me sign the paper that said: "No matter how badly we fuck you up, you promise not to sue us." These people could not tell their asshole from their elbow.

Finally everyone sorted themselves out, and the surgery seemed to go okay, despite the doctor not giving me enough anesthetic at first. I had to say, "UM, THAT HURTS." Which further deteriorated my wavering confidence in this dude. After several minutes of him digging around back there and me repeating "don't puke" over and over in my head, he triumphantly held up the cyst for me to see. GROSS. It was about the size of those little rubber bouncy balls you had as a kid, and I will spare you the details of what it looked like.

He stitched me up, had me get dressed, and gave me some instructions. AND THEN, in a little plastic jar, inside of a sandwich baggie marked "BIOHAZARD," he gave me back my cyst. What. The. Hell. Apparently, my insurance company, in all of its blow-iness, was too cheap to pay for the doctor to transport my cyst to a lab for testing. So I had to take it to the lab myself. On the way home, I kept picking up my BIOHAZARD, examining it, and then putting it back down in disgust.

My mom said, "Call your dad and tell him that we're on our way. And that we're bringing dinner."

INAPPROPRIATE.

Did you have to, did you have to let it linger?

Have you ever run out to, say, the grocery store? And in your car on the way there, maybe you farted? And when you got back into your car with your pepperoni DiGiorno and six-pack of PBR, it still smelled like fart?

Oh.

Yeah, me neither.