Walked out to my car at lunch and the sun was shining just right that it illuminated Nick's nose marks on the back window. I love those little smudges. A gentle reminder of what's good in life. 

The catch up pt. 17: Shadow puppet. Not as cute as the real thing. 

Nick knacks

Since Nick moved in, we've acquired quite a few dog-related items. Funny how anything symbolic of Nick is automatically cute.

inclement fun day

It's easy to get stressed out about snowstorms, but then I see the joy it brings to a certain dachshund who loves to play in it. That makes it all worthwhile.

busted

Sometimes when I'm not home and Nick misses me, he plays with my shoes. <3

l'art

Though it's nowhere as cute, guess who my muse was for this piece. Aww.

to be loved by the one you love most

Today while I was at work, somebody borrowed my slipper and took it to his bed. Somebody's named Nick. He's welcome to steal my slippers anyday.

thanks for giving a dog a home

Sarah Martin from Belle & Sebastian is one of the coolest indie rockers ever. She inspired one of the stories in my book, and more recently started a boutique with cool purses and bags and such. Well, I had a magic moment on my thirtieth birthday where I was searching the web and came across a dachshund lavender bag that she made and was selling on the internet. You know, one of those scented beanies you put in your dresser to make your drawer smell good. It arrived in the mail yesterday with a cool little postcard. Here's that lavender dachshund posing with the best dachshund ever.

memix

On the January 8, 2009 episode of The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert had the author of a book called Remix on his show to discuss the de-criminalization of people modifying others' intellectual property. Colbert took the author's book and modified it by drawing a dog on the inside cover. When he showed his drawing to the camera, I couldn't believe it: he stole my dog drawing! About a year ago, I drew a picture of Nicky's head and have been stamping it all over everything: shirts, cards, buttons, mugs, etc. Sort of like my low-end contribution to the art world, littering my gifts to friends with this image. And then Colbert took his fancy high-brow show and used it as a vehicle to co-opt my art project. Shame on you, Colbert! Oh, it's on.

a very dachshund Christmas

Apparently I talk about my dachshund companion quite a bit, because I got my second dachshund-related Christmas gift. One of my coworkers bought me a glass figurine of a dachshund bucking. Reminds me of Nick when he's excited about a walk or car ride. I love it. :)

crafty little guy

Today at work, I had to attend a class on being awesome. We started the exercises by creating stuff out of pipe cleaners. I made a fly, a bunny, and this little dachshund. Here he is, pictured with the artist's muse.

my dachshund my muse

So, I just returned from Chili's where they were running a fundraiser for St. Jude's. If you make a donation you get to color a chili pepper for them to hang in the restaurant. They didn't have any brown crayons, but I managed to make my pepper look like Nick, anyhow. Here's a picture of my masterpiece.

luck of the draw

I went out to dinner this evening with a young lady named Madeline. Whenever Maddy and I go out, she asks me to draw Nick and whatever other animals she thinks of (and sometimes boats). Tonight she didn't have any requests, so I surprised her. I drew a whale, but apparently it wasn't very good because she thought it was a "fishy." I explained it wasn't a fishy, but rather a mammal. Oh well. She still seemed to like it.

have a warm and dry new year

Happy New Year! And what a snowy one it's been so far. I don't know how much we've already got on the ground, but it's still coming down and there's a winter storm warning. No problem for Nicky dog and I--we were planning on staying home anyway. I hope your 2008 is the best! <3

nicky dog come home

This morning, Nick and I sat right here playing with that squeaky toy before going out for a walk around the block. After our walk, he went to the groomer and I went to breakfast with Megan. Now I'm home and he's still off getting groomed. And I miss him. It's quite strange to walk in the front door and not be greeted and followed around. How much fun is a sunny Saturday morning without a sidekick? He was trembling when we walked in the groomer's front door because they also offer kenneling services and now I'm feeling quite guilty. I hope he's having fun and being treated well. I have a feeling he's gonna be smothered with love after I get the call to come get him.

heironicky

Ancient cavefolk used to draw pictures of the things they loved on cave walls.

dusting for paw prints

Tomorrow is garbage day. As i was getting the kitchen trash together, the sun was setting and hit the stainless steel waste basket at just the right angle to uncover a paw print on the side. There's only one member of this family with paws of that size, so it became quite clear that someone in particular had recently jumped up to smell the garbage inside the basket. Even though that's a big no-no. I won't say who that someone is, but i will say that i quite love the little sneaky pants.