Marley and Me

I watched "Marley and Me" (Twentieth Century Fox) last night. The movie started out with John Grogan trying to find himself as a journalist and in doing so got an insanely disobedient labrador that he and his wife called Marley. My family has had numerous pets both dogs and cats, and the young Grogans let Marley run roughshod over them. Granted labradors are high energy pets but without someone to tell them what is and is not appropriate they will do whatever they damn please. After years of Marley's endearing antics the Grogan's start having children and this loyal blacksheep adopts the Grogan chidren as his own. The movie progresses to the emotionally wrenching twilight years of Marley's life. The lovable hellion begins to slow down, eventually having a foreshadowing bout of Gastric-Dilatation Volvulus (GDV) from which the plucky canine recovers after a touch and go night at the vet.
From here I started weeping as the ending scenes of Marley played out like the passing of the Doberman Pinscher I had from high school through graduate school. Agrippina ("Pina"), was a powerful canine in her elder years who after a run on a cold winter night had massive abdominal distention due to GDV. Dobermans are bred not to feel pain and she looked more confused than pained as the shock of ischemic bowel set in. My mother and I scooped her up and took the weakening dog to the veterinarian who had rushed in from her home. The doctor shook her head as she said that our only option was surgical correction, which as with Marley would have limited benefit and only prolong suffering due to her other chronic medical conditons. Pina was a fatigued ghost of herself and as the veterinarian administered the euthanasia she passed away quietly. Never had I experienced an emotion so purely as the grief I felt at that moment, the tears, sobs, and bellows poured out of me uncontrolled and it was minutes before I had any semblance of control. Later that morning I looked at pictures of my baby in her prime and I knew that although painful for me, this was the best way for Pina to go, chasing rabbits on a cold night. Watching the end of Marley should bring tears to everyone's eyes but the exact timing and helpless grief of Marley's family was a spot on recreation of my experiences on Pina's last night. I wept unabashedly as emotional memories I thought I had marshaled assailed me anew.

Salmon on Cedar

Despite appearances I'm a pretty good cook.

My girlfriend is a great cook.

However when we combine our powers we are well nigh unstoppable. This evening we prepared salmon with olive oil, red pepper, dill, and bay leaves grilled on cedar planks soaked in white wine and whiskey. We also had some jumbo scallops marinated in A-1 steak sauce. The side dishes were foil wrapped peppered corn as well as foil wrapped miniature red potatoes with onions and garlic. We served this with Barefoot Cellars Sauvignon Blanc. For dessert we had ice cream from Marble Slab Creamery.

Despite a small misestimation of the coal preparation and heating time followed by some first degree burns and smoke inhalation injuries after aforementioned coals had reached a suitable temperature, the meal was awesome. The subtle cedar smokiness greatly added to the salmon's flavor as it dissolved in our mouths. The grilled garlic potatoes were addictive and the corn a fresh savory adjunct to our evening's repast.

Talks Theo Jansen: The art of creating creatures

Gravity Master

Online Physics Games

Now here's a dating site with potential

Study Skills

Came across this in Hack College: http://notjustsurviving.wordpress.com/

Might be a good thing for folks to check out. I just subscribed and I'm done with school.