Hot Weather Reminder

Please remember that us dogs have little sensitive dog pads on our paws.  The cement and asphalt can burn us on hot days.

And please keep fresh water on hand for any animal in this weather. 

Bark at you later,

PJ the dog blogging dog :-)

A Haiku on Thursday

:::

sidewalk feels like sun

I breathe the summer embers

fall will soon arrive

:::

Smoodge is Born

Smoodge says "Beep Beep."

Bark at you later,
PJ the dog blogging dog :-)

P.S. Ok, sometimes it's just fun to be enigmatic. Plus, my mouf ith full ov charios and mulk. Wuff.

Painting Tip #2: The Bat Signal

Yes, I said it. The secret is out. Acrylic paint bottles like to be treated like inanimate bats. Sounds a little crazy, eh? Well, as I was pawing around M's art journal, I found a neat list of secret tips and tricks that she's discovered through trial and error over the years. Shh, she'd make me eat canned dog food if she knew I was sharing them! :-P

Ok, so back to the paint. If you've ever stored paints for a few weeks, then you know what can happen. A gummy residue builds up around the inner lip of the container. If this happens because you haven't used the color for some time, the opening actually becomes smaller.

So, what to do? We look to the bat theory. This really began with the idea of how one is supposed to store cottage cheese or yogurt in the fridge. That's right, upside down. Something about creating an air pocket at the opposite end....yada yada yada.
It works. That's what is important.

And so the bat theory took form. Store the paints upside down and ta da, less build-up and longer lasting paints. But, first make sure those lids are on securely, or you'll be looking at a whole new theory called KABLAMMO. Colorful, but not fun to clean up.

Hope this helps!

Bark at you later,
PJ the dog blogging dog :-)

A Haiku on Wednesday

:::::::

little dog am I
running through waves of summer
catching tomorrow

:::::::

Bark at you later,
PJ the dog blogging dog :-)

Surprise Smiles

So, here's how one can be surprised online.

I had multiple windows open as I was reading the online newspaper, checking out a new flash game (horrible addiction to those "Escape this room" games), and I also had a window on that was loading Etsy.

As I was flipping through the windows, I almost fell off my chair (luckily I have strong doggie claws) when I saw this:



I am so honored thtat M and M had an art piece chosen for a treasury by munieca (She has fabulous paper bird charms, etc. that are just adorable). This treasury then got chosen for the front page of Etsy for today!

Thank-you Munieca and thank-you Etsy! :-) This totally made my day!

And that is how a surprise smile brightens the hottest of days.

Bark at you later,
PJ the dog blogging dog :-)

Wildwood's Cactus Thorn ~ An Amazing Dog!

Little Wildwood's Cactus Thorn is such a cute dog. Not only has he been saved from being euthanized, he has a wonderful "seeing eye" human (Bob Gabbard) to help him around. The two are just magical together.

If you'd like to start your day with a smile, check out the link.

We salute you Bob Gabbard and Wildwood's Cactus Thorn!

Bark at you later,
PJ the dog blogging dog :-)

Painting Tip #1: Easy Squeezy

As an artistic dog, I observe a lot that goes on around the studio. One thing that used to occur, were tubes of paint which would go unused due to their lids adhering to the tubes with super inhuman strength!

So, one of my favorite painting tips I'd like to share:

Use chapstick (or you can use an old candle) on the screw top tubes of paint to keep the lids from becoming stuck. Simply apply a small amount of chapstick (and/or wax by rubbing the candle gently onto the threaded opening) onto the threaded part of the tube and then screw the lid back on. In most cases, your lids will not stick quite as tight when paint adheres to the tube or when the tube hasn't been opened for some time.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of..." paint!

Bark at you later,
PJ the dog blogging dog :-)

The Planet

Some observations (and unanswered questions) that freak this dog out:

Where have all the butterflies gone? I chased Monarchs around the yard every spring and late summer. Now, I'm lucky to see one all year in Southern California. I miss seeing them on a regular basis.

Birds keep turning up with bad feet. A lot of crows have something wrong that's causing them to have one foot that is badly deformed. I would see these crows all the time. Sadly, even the mutated foot crows are becoming scarce.

Polar bears are becoming extinct? I may have never seen one, but this is surely a bad sign.

Gorillas are becoming extinct? Well, this is mainly due to poaching and the destruction of the rain forest. But it's still a scary thought that someday there won't be any gorillas.

The oceans are becoming so contaminated that people are having strange rashes when surfing. It's not just on sewage run-off days either.

We have to watch out for mosquitos and then, in turn, stay away from dead birds because they may have died due to West Nile from a mosquito.

If the west nile virus doesn't get the bird, the bird flu might. So, now chicken is a 50/50 gamble.

And beef is a 50/50 gamble and I mean, who doesn't love a good cheeseburger? But these days, Mad cow disease is possible and so is E-coli.

So, you avoid birds, mosquitos, eating chicken and beef. What's left? Well, watch that tuna because the mercury levels are dangerously high. And don't BBQ any meat (what's left?) because overcooking it can cause cancer-causing carbon.

Dog food isn't even safe! And, again, what's left? Vegetables. Watch out, bagged spinach and onions might contain harmful E-coli or salmonella.

Looks like dehydrated organic strawberries in some filtered water (Have you read about bottled water sources?) is the only choice left.

And now you know why I drink coffee and have insomnia. These are the things this dog thinks about. And you wonder why my paws twitch when I'm sleeping?

Bark at you later,
PJ the dog blogging worrying dog :-P

:: Beep Beep ::

You know how sometimes you might get a song stuck in your head? Like, say, umm, Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World"? Jeremiah was a bull frog/Was a good friend of mine/I never understood a single word he said...

Ok, well that's how M gets when she has a series of images stuck in her mind. She's been obsessed (err, is that the right word?) about zombies and robots. There's something a little freaky and a little funny about the both of them.

So, everything lately has been a robot this or a zombie that or even better, an animated zombie robot.

Let's just hope she doesn't call me "Brainnnnz" and I'll be ok, I think.

Bark at you later,
PJ the dog blogging dog :-)

Ode to Smelly Dog

-----Ode to a Smelly Dog-----

There once was a dog so smelly
got lathered from tail to belly
bubbles popped and tickled his nose
they even got between his toes

The cascading suds tasted a lot like bacon
but the dog could have been mistaken
however, as the bubbles began to multiply
the dog tipped his head, he realized why

A good grip and he readied to dash
from the tub erupted an enormous SPLASH
the once smelly dog had gotten free
and went straight to the couch with much glee

And so I stood dripping wet
not sure what to do as of yet
I wondered where it was that I'd gone wrong
...turns out the bath was for me all along!

(a little original poem by MKS, 2007)


In case you can't tell, I saw a certain episode
of "Friends" and well, I couldn't let the cats
have all the glory! Woof!

Bark at you later,
PJ the dog blogging dog :-P