new favorite website

Here is a gem that I found a few weeks ago and haven't been able to get enough of: Stuff White People Like, a mlog (mock-blog?) documenting the elusive White American. Find out what he likes to eat, likes to think, and wants you to think about him. If you ever wanted to know what it's like to live in or around Cambridge, Massachusetts, this paints a pretty clear picture.
The best part is that a friend sent me the link to the New York Times "It's Not You, It's Your Books" article and I was like: "this is so true!" And then like three days later, they picked it up at SWPL and I had to eat my whiteness.

a tough time

We've had a rough patch, ladies and gents. Sorry for the prolonged delay. I had a long, rambling post about our visit to Boston all lined up for about two weeks ago, and then we had a melt down when we arrived back in WV: There was something seriously wrong with Elf.

But before I get to that, I should mention that we had a wonderful time in Boston. It was great to get wedding stuff squared away (it's really happening!) and it was wonderful to see everyone. We managed to stay at about 82 different friends' houses, and got by quite nicely, kitten and all. By the end, though, we were feeling a bit like the Joads.

Aaron and Matilda-sharn, napping in the car outside of Harvard Square.

That said, arriving home was a disaster that is just now letting up. Elf was sick: not moving, not eating, high temp, that glazed-over, dead-eye thing that totally freaks me out in really sick animals. Our babysitter had called us to say that something was wrong, so we knew we were coming back to something, but we didn't realize it was as bad as it was. The long and short of it: he ended up staying at the vet's for a week and a half total, with a brief repose at home before a quick re-admittance. At first, they thought he had eaten something: a toy, a tool, something. But there was nothing in the x-rays. Then they thought maybe he had eating something digestible, yet poisonous: a toad, perhaps. Then he developed this lump in his side, and when the dr. stuck a needle in it gushed puss. GUSHED. The lump was all the way around him, across his spine...ick, ick. When they shaved him, they noticed a pattern in the bruise/pussage: tire-tread. He was run over by an ATV. On purpose (I mean, if a 50 lb. black and white dog is in the middle of the road during daylight hours, you're gonna see him). Most likely teenagers we had seen riding them last fall, little redneck jerks who deserve much, much worse for running over a friendly dog that was probably just trying to say hi. I can't believe it. The poison that was infecting him was his own muscles and tissues breaking down and decaying and turning into sludge.

He's still draining puss (all over our floors; thank you, hardwood, for not being carpeting), but his spirits are almost back to normal. Yikes, what a stressful time. He looks a little like Franken-Dog with his tubes sticking out of him everywhere:

Poor baby.

I don't intend for this to become a blog about my animals...sorry about that. We will be moving on very soon. But we learned our lesson about going away: the vet offered his kennel for future excursions (like the wedding!)