Riley Doesn't Do Costumes

I tried to get Riley to put on her Halloween costume today but she wouldn't let me. She is just not a doggie clothing or costume kind of girl. In fact, neither am I. You would be hard pressed to see me in a costume or at a costumey...thing. The last time I really dressed up for Halloween was probably when I was in junior high school. In high school a friend and I felt like Halloween candy so we wrapped our sweaters around our heads like turbans and trick-or-treated at a few houses, but only a few lest we got too many questionable stares. In college I went as a hillbilly once (is that totally un-PC now? I feel like it is) since that was easy and I already owned overalls (they were in at that time). Another year in college a friend convinced me to go to a Halloween party at the last minute and since I had no desire to dress up I went as a foreign exchange student. I basically wore jeans and a t-shirt. But I thought that was a clever and unique way to describe what was a total cop out of a costume. I think that was the last time I ever "dressed up."

When we got Riley I was very excited to get her a doggie costume and parade her around the neighborhood. Just think how cute a furry puppy is all dressed up in costume! I went to Target and got her a bumble bee costume, put it on her and tried to take some pictures. She hated every second of it. That's when I learned that Riley doesn't do costumes. Or sweaters, or jackets, or t-shirts or hoodies. Nothing. Therefore I harbor no illusions that she will be willing to put on her bumble bee costume tonight to wander the 'hood and get some candy. However, I don't want everyone to miss out on how cute (irritated? annoyed? mad?) she looks in her bumble bee fit so here are some pictures from a few years ago, the last time she even came near the darn thing. Happy Halloween!

The Embankment

Yesterday I walked Riley along the Embankment so I could see the fog. Yes, really. Growing up in the Bay Area you get pretty used to foggy days. Our old apartment in San Francisco was close to the fog horn so I spent many nights and early mornings listening to the fog horn's low rumble, I always found it to be such a comforting noise. Yesterday's morning news reports kept mentioning the fog so I knew Riley and I had to go take a look. It was....foggy.

Looking toward Chelsea Bridge

Looking toward Albert Bridge

And a leaf

Having grown up in California I am also used to sunny days. But we don't seem to get too many of those in London.

The Play

Today is the Big Game, the annual football game between cross Bay rivals Cal and Stanford. Go Bears! It's also the 30th anniversary of The Play, the greatest moment in football history, college or professional. If you were raised a Cal fan, as I was, you no doubt heard and watched The Play numerous times while growing up, especially on the day of the Big Game. Cal fans will take any opportunity to rub it in Stanford's face, especially those years when Stanford football was a wee bit better than Cal. Dave just sent his Stanford friends the clip of The Play last night in preparation for today's game, it just never gets old (for us at least). Although my mom's Stanford friend told her to "get over it, it happened 30 years ago." See? Those Stanford people still get upset by the awesomeness of The Play. No matter how many times I have heard it The Play still makes me laugh and it is still entertaining, 30 years later. That is due in large part to the announcer, Joe Starkey, who really goes for it at the end. And would you believe he is still announcing Cal games? In case you haven't seen The Play, here it is. You may want to watch it a few times, it is that good. Now give me a "GO BEARS" on three. One, two, three...

The Sights, Sounds and Smells of London

I was out walking Riley yesterday and once again was surprised by how openly people smoke weed in this city. I often find myself walking through a cloud of smoke coming from the person in front of me, the guy leaning up against the wall, the open car window. Not to say I clutch my pearls in horror when I do smell such goings-on, but it still takes me by surprise that it happens in broad daylight out on the city streets. We live across the street from a restaurant kitchen back door and quite a few times a week I smell and see evidence of the employees' illegal activities. Dare I say the whole drugs in restaurants thing is true? If the little joint remnants on the sidewalk that Riley stops to sniff are any indication then yes! I grew up in Berkeley and even there it wasn't as common to encounter open marijuana use out on the city street. Sure some parts of the city were practically hot boxes, but most drug use was behind closed doors or at concerts at the Greek Theater. But in London? No, we're on a break so let's light up! Yes, right here on the street at 1pm while we walk to Boots and Pret a Manger. Good times. Internet research tells me that "anyone caught in possession of cannabis could be arrested" or they could just be given a warning or fined £80. Perhaps the risk is worth it here??

Funny story relating to this. When we went to Lisbon about two years ago we were walking around the old town looking for a place to eat dinner and a man standing around asked if I wanted to buy some weed. I politely declined and he then turned to Dave and asked if he wanted to buy cocaine. I wasn't sure how to feel. Should I have been offended that the guy thought I was too fragile to do anything harder than marijuana or should I have been relieved that he thought only Dave was the hardcore drug user in our relationship needing something strong to get his fix? It was the first time while traveling that we were openly offered drugs, and honestly one of the few times period it happened so randomly and without any provocation. One minute we were looking for food, the next we could have been conducting business had we been so inclined. Not to say I am often approached to buy drugs while out and about but you know it can conceivably happen, say while wandering through People's Park in Berkeley. But in Lisbon on a Friday night, with tourists everywhere? There may have been a bit of pearl clutching going on.

Inspiration

I love making cards and am in the process of figuring out our holiday cards for this year. I just spent way too much time trying to manipulate pictures to fit my idea, and still haven't come to a concrete decision. I recently sent a birthday card to my friend and after picking a picture, deciding on colors and then making it, I realized just where I got my inspiration.

Yes, the birthday card I made and my iphone case ARE the exact same colors. I knew I liked that combo for a reason. I picked the colors to match the picture, but also because they are probably seared in my brain from near constant iphone use. The rose picture, by the way, was taken on Isola Bella in Lake Maggiore. Don't think I wrote about that trip, did I?

Maybe for our holiday cards I should get my inspiration from another familiar source. Perhaps Riley's new collar? She does look fetching.

In Other News...

Let's see. Where to start? I know, it has been a while and some stuff has happened since I last posted, stuff that maybe I could have written about. We went to Asia for two weeks, I've done a few touristy things around London, I've been enjoying the start of fall and the changing colors of the leaves, although I have not been enjoying the rain. Riley spent two weeks with her dog walker and luckily wasn't too mad at us when she came home.

She also got a haircut.

She got sick. And stayed sick for about two weeks. Notice the uneaten bowl of food behind her?

 She got better. Finally!

And here we are today. You're all caught up and I don't need to write anything else for another six weeks. But I am going to try. I have been meaning to write for a while, just like I have been meaning to sort through my 900+ pictures from Asia, but I keep putting both off.

I once discussed procrastination with a friend who had just read a book about organizing and decluttering and she mentioned that often people who procrastinate do so because they are perfectionists and don't want to start anything until they think it will be perfect. I must admit I can be guilty of being a perfectionist. I have always procrastinated when it comes to writing, in college, in law school and now even on this simple little blog. At school it was more intimidation, being nervous about writing a really good paper so as to get a good grade. Here I am ambivalent about setting the right tone, letting my voice come through, not making any grammatical errors, making the posts entertaining and informative when they should be, writing so people will want to read what I have to say. I love making things, I love taking pictures, and often I try my hardest to make such things perfect. I have been a bit more forgiving as the years have gone on, but since writing is still rather foreign to me, and not yet fully enjoyable, I try way too hard to get it right. I think I need to relax a bit and just go with it, just as I have started to do with my knitting when I drop a stitch here and there and keep going rather than unraveling the whole darn thing. Some posts may be boring, some really witty as you'd expect from me (just kidding), but I will try my best to be better about writing. And to misquote something I recently saw, to be a better writer you have to write today, not tomorrow. So here I go...