a day worth celebrating.

ten days ago, doris mary ann kappelhoff – aka doris day – celebrated her 90th birthday.

i heart doris – her delightful singing, her sunshiney ways,
her support of the gay community & her serious dedication to animals.

so in honor of doris' induction as a nonagenarian,
here are ten tidbits you might not have known about her
[one for every decade to date, plus one in hopes of her reaching 100yo!]:

:: she danced first. as a teen, doris teamed up with jerry doherty to perform locally in her hometown of cincinnati as a dancing duo. but a 1937 car accident injured her legs & stunted her future as a pro dancer.

:: while recovering, she discovered a talent she didn't know she had. "during this long, boring period, i used to while away a lot of time listening to the radio, sometimes singing along ... . but the one radio voice i listened to above others belonged to ella fitzgerald. there was a quality to her voice that fascinated me, and i'd sing along with her, trying to catch the subtle ways she shaded her voice, the casual yet clean way she sang the words."

:: her first job as a professional singer was in a local cincinnati restaurant, the charlie yee's shanghai inn.

:: in 1939, she adopted the stage surname "day" while working for barney rapp, at his suggestion. rapp felt "kappelhoff" was too long for marquees, & he enjoyed her rendition of the song day after day.

:: in 1953, she won the oscar for best original song –– secret love from her starring role in calamity jane.

:: she feels her best film was 1955's love me or leave me, a bio pic about singer ruth etting.

:: during the 1956 filming of the man who knew too much, she became concerned about alfred hitchcock's lack of direction. doris asked hitch about her performance; he answered, "if you weren't doing what i liked, you'd know." at the movie's premiere, hitchcock was asked how he got such a great performance from her; he answered, "it wasn't me; it was doris."

:: among her myriad accolades: member of the ohio women's hall of fame [1981]; cecile b. demille award for career achievement [1989]; presidential medal of freedom for entertainment achievement & her work for animals [2004]; hit parade hall of fame [2007]; grammy for lifetime achievement in music [2008]; first legend award ever presented by the society of singers [2010]; grammy hall of fame awards for recordings of sentimental journey [1998], secret love [1999], & que sera, sera [2012].

:: she's been married four times: to trombonist al jorden [1941-43; they had her only child, son terry]; to saxophonist george weidler [1946-49]; to producer martin melcher [1951-68]; & to maitre d' barry comden [1976-81].

:: she actively lobbied congress on several occasions for support of legislation designed to safeguard animals, & in 1995, she originated the annual event spay day usa.

happy happy birthday, ms. day – wishing you many, many more! :)

i dig you.

happy love week!!

maddie the coonhound.

it's the classic story:
boy meets girl. girl dumps boy. boy's grandfather dies.
boy adopts a coonhound from petfinder.
boy + dog hit the road to visit all 50 states within 365 days.
boy discovers dog has charming, odd talent.
boy begins photographing dog balancing atop unusual things.
boy posts photos. boy gets book deal.
boy + dog hit the road on book tour.

ok, maybe not the classic story. but still a good one
about photographer theron humphrey & his dog maddie.

theron, having lost his girl & his grandfather,
quit his day job & decided to go cross-country,
documenting the stories of people he met along the way.

but just before he left, he adopted a canine companion. maddie the coonhound.
& as they began their journey together,
theron realized maddie was a good poser & a great balancer.

so he began putting her atop things. many, many things.
& he posted the photos up on instagram. & they went viral.
so, at the end of their 65k+ -mile road trip, they got a book deal.

the book, maddie on things:
a super serious project about dogs & physics, was published april 1st.
but theron + maddie's book tour began march 8th, at austin's south by southwest festival.

& yes, they are road-tripping it all around america again.
& yes, they are working on a new project, called "why we rescue."
here's why theron says he rescued maddie:

"maddie taught me that i should wake up every morning & be grateful.
she taught me that committing to something & sticking to it is how we grow.
most of all, she taught me that standing on things, everyday objects, can be incredible.

she's my best friend."

this time around, theron is snapping shots of maddie doing things
rather than "just" standing atop stuff.
here's a sampling of both types of maddie photos ... full of awesome.

atx: keeping pets alive!

a day late & a short shoutout
to austin pets alive!,
a key force behind my hometown's
no-kill badge of honor . . .

february marked austin's second anniversary
of being a no-kill city,
continuing our run of being
the biggest no-kill city in the u.s.

apa! alone saved over 6,000
dogs & cats just last year.

atx: keeping it weird, keeping pets alive
& keeping me proud to be an austinite!


image source: nicole mlakar photography.

laugh — it's monday!

all together now: awwwww.

this opposites-apparently-attract pair of pawsome pals
sure are keeewt with a capital Q . . .

but if you've got four-legged friends around your house,
then you know the daily reality of pet parenthood
often features less-than-darling, closer-to-disgusting moments.

this video — which i've watched at least a dozen times &
is still causing me to laugh aloud alone with my laptop —
accurately exemplifies the type of behavior we will tolerate
in our furry wards which we likely would not in our two-legger friends.

bone appetit!!




image source: verba mea vita blog.

george the giant.

have you seen giant george?
he's difficult to miss. & ginormously darling.

george is both the tallest living dog & the tallest dog ever,
according to guiness world records.

born november 17, 2005, george was the runt of his litter.
adopted as a pup by david & christie nasser, the blue great dane now measures
43 inches at the withers, is 7'3" nose to tail, & weighs 245 pounds.
he lives with his family in tucson, az.

at home, he loves riding around his 'hood in a golf cart,
he has his own queen-sized mattress to sleep upon,
& he eats about 110 lbs. of food a month,
typically a combo of rotisserie chicken, yogurt & dog food.

he's rather huge with the media, too.

he's been on numerous news shows, &, ahem, oprah.
he's got his own website.
he's got his own facebook page [almost 123k fans].
he's got his own twitter feed [over 2,500 followers].

& now, he's got his own life story,
giant george: life with the world's biggest dog.

so you can read about george, follow him, like him or visit him.
& of course, join his official global fan club.

i'm sending off for my membership today. woof! i mean, WOOF!!!!!!


image source: facebook. :)

national puppy day!!

woohoo & woofwoof! it's national puppy day!

according to the official website, national puppy day was launched in 2006
to not only celebrate the magic of puppies, but also
to help save puppies in peril around the world,
to educate the public about the horrors of puppy mills,
& to work toward an America of puppy-free pet stores.

which is all extremely noble & worthy.

but just for licks, er, kicks,
i'm celebrating puppy day by promoting my top ten products
featuring my latest favorite puppy, the french bulldog [fbd],
offered by the artists of my favorite handmade e-marketplace, etsy.com.

fbd text art
8x10" stretched canvas print
by rescue love
$22

fbd silver silhouette necklace
sterling, 16" chain
by an original jewelry
$65

fbd silver silhouette earrings
sterling
by creative dexterity
$40

letterpress fbd in love cards
6 - 3.5x5" w/envelopes
by fat bunny press
$24

fbd blank notecards
5 - 4.25x5.5" w/envelopes
by the painted peep show
$12.50

frenchy the fbd
4.5x6.5" print
by leftpaw
$20

fbd handpainted burlap pillow
14x14", insert included
by courtnees creations
$26.99

fbd onesie
sizes available newborn-12mos
by MaddiesMomE baby boutique
$15

fbd amigurumi keychain
by twisty creations
$10.50

the french bulldog
8x10" print
by schlueter art works handdrawn pencil sketches
$35

now, go pet a puppy!!


image source: bubba the french bulldog, 8x10" print, by church key jewelry & accessories, $11.99.

celebrating no-kill, year one.

technically, teen girl & i have been volunteering
with the amazing rescue organization austin pets alive!
for almost a year.

[realistically, seventh grade has dramatically diminished our capacity
for putting in volunteer hours, but we occasionally help out
the apa! adoption counselors at our friendly neighborhood petsmart.]

regardless, thanks in large part to apa!, austin just hit
the one-year mark of being a no-kill city for homeless pets.

[no-kill is defined as a minimum of 90% of homeless pets
coming into the city shelter leaving alive to forever homes.]

the austin city council declared yesterday as no-kill day
in austin to honor the occasion.
austin is also currently america's biggest no-kill city.

in 2011, the austin animal center — with the help of apa!, the austin humane society,
& dozens of other volunteer rescue & foster groups — had an average
91% save rate, with a total of 5,541 dogs & cats avoiding euthanasia, including:
3,224 dogs, 2,317 cats,
1,032 bottle babies [animals too young to be weaned],
256 parvo puppies & 132 barn cats.

so let us raise a glass — or a tail, as the case may be —
in celebration of austin, texas, the music capital of the world,
& the best place on earth to be a helpless, hopeful critter.


image source: our own apa! adoptee, skipper inkspots,
with bone & duckie, on the recent occasion of his first birthday,
without whom our pack would be incomplete &
merely 5,540 austin-area pets would have been saved last year.

dogpaddle, captured.

seth casteel of little friends photography
is a genius. & is going global.

a friend [hi, suzy-cute!] posted a link
up on my facebook page which led me to casteel
& his mostly canine catalog of fabulous photographs.

enjoy . . . & click here for more or here to buy:

"barking bubbles," above.

"focus"

"smiler"

"untitled"

"i'm a seal"

"bardot"

"1, 2, 3"

awww & awe.

& it's november.
the month of gratitude.

i'm kicking it off with
three things i'm grateful for today:

1. the power of the internet to connect our world
with fabulous, fascinating & fun information,
especially via video.

2. this hilarious, poignant video of
a little birthday girl's extreme dedication & love
for her puppy pinata — just under two minutes of
awwwwwww:



3. this beautiful, spiritual video of
a murmuration of european starlings signaling the beginning of winter
above ireland's river shannon — just under two minutes of
awe:

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

& you're welcome. :)
so, what are you grateful for today? please share [videos welcome]!

deb & abb.

it's been just over ten years
since we lost the world trade center.

it has been only two-&-a-half weeks
since we lost abby.

abby was the last living search dog
from the search dog foundation
who served her country courageously at ground zero.
& the only sdf search dog there
who lived long enough to see the tenth anniversary of 9|11.

this video, created as a tribute to that sorrowful occasion,
features debra tosch — abby's handler & the executive director of sdf —
talking with deep expertise & emotion
about her & abby's deployment to the world trade center
on september 11th, 2001.

for more info about abby, click here.
for more information about the foundation, click here.
to contribute to the sdf & its wonderful work, click here.



image source: search dog foundation.

riding in cars with dogs.

just a little reminder today
from photographer chris becker,
who developed his 2009-10 canine bliss series
in automobiles cruising along the coast of maine:

"much of the work i produce as a photographer
is complicated & can be interpreted
in any number of ways.

so i like that this series has a straightforward purpose:
to make the viewer smile, laugh &
remember to live in the moment."

smile. :)

laugh. :D

remember to live here now.