Good Morning Baguio, with Kubi

A quick note before I attend a seminar about how not to eff up so much in class :)

Rako's wound is healing nicely. Yesterday, it looked like he had an extra lip. This morning when I gave him his breakfast, all I could see was a flaming red line on his cheek. This is relatively satisfactory, because the sight of his teeth through the wound was a little unsettling.

Roger lost to Tommy Berdych on Wednesday. I was so sure of the outcome that I went to bed early. I woke up at 2AM and found two messages from Lem: one at 10:15PM asking if I was still awake and another at 10:50PM containing overtones of sympathy. I knew immediately The Fed's match had gone awry. All of yesterday, I was so convinced that it was my fault he lost. If I had watched the entire match, if I had just stayed up long enough to channel him good mojo, it may have turned out differently. Then I went to Jessica Zafra's blog, and she also blames herself. Haha. I think, perhaps, every Federer fan feels somewhat responsible for the loss.

Later.

Happy Inauguration Day

Semi-quiet day at home. In the morning I did a bunch of chores, which made me feel productive enough to lie around for two hours around lunch time. I watched a little bit of the newly sworn in president make the customary inauguration speech. I was unmoved. Rako's bravado got him into a bizarre tug-of-war with Ludwig. In this case, the would-be rope was Rako's face. A short, deep wound now runs down his upper lip. To avoid panic among certain readers, I will try not to mention that I think I could see the inside of his mouth through the wound. Lem assures me that dogs are resilient, but I continue to worry. Rako is napping under the study table, mending.

This afternoon, I read a little bit and thought about the rest of the week. Today feels a little bit like a Sunday, which would make tomorrow a Monday. That is a depressing thought. I'm trying not to get carried away by the sudden slump. Popped in an old DVD of the first (and only) season of Kitchen Confidential. Bradley Cooper is amusing when he is neurotic. It's a shame the series ended too soon, but I suppose the exploits of the real thing are entertainment enough. My friend Hanna lent me her copy of A Cook's Tour. I've taken a hungry bite out of the first few chapters, where Bourdain recounts the slaying of a fattened pig in Portugal. He writes:

I learned, for the first time, that I could indeed look my food in the eyes before eating it - and I came away from the experience, I hope, with considerably more respect for what we call "the ingredient." I am more confirmed than ever in my love for pork, pork fat, and cured pork. And I am less likely to waste it. That's something I owe the pig for. I know now what a pork chop costs in terms of the living, breathing thing that was killed to supply it.

At eight o'clock tonight, I plan to watch Roger Federer play Tommy Berdych in the Men's Quarterfinals. Kim Clijsters took out Justine Henin and later fell to the younger Vera Zvonareva. What does it take for a come-back around here? In other Wimbledon news: John McEnroe wonders when they will get to use the new roof on Centre Court and Alan Wilkins makes an appreciative comment about pineapples from the Philippines (Vijay Amritraj informs us that the pineapple on the Wimbledon trophy is some kind of symbol for wealth.)

I've just about used up my break. Cell organelles and osmosis await me. Later.

Dog and his person go for a walk

Sometime after the doormat debacle, Rako and Ludwig got into a couple of bloody battles. Rako went Mike Tyson on Ludwig's ass: the shepherd's ear was badly ripped and now droops at a defeated ninety-degree angle to his head. In those last fights, Rako had the upper hand, his youth and size finally coming into the fore. On the other hand, everyone at home has been worried about the older dog whose brown fur is still stained with blood. The violence has been upsetting, especially to the younger residents.

An uneasy truce (more like an enforced stalemate) currently exists between the warring factions. A gate has been installed at the entrance of the backyard, effectively barring the dogs from one another. Father and son on one side, the lab on the other.

Confined to the front yard, Rako has been getting loud and restless. His attitude towards the other two dogs has been confrontational, because he feels that ascension is nigh. Of course, Ludwig will have none of it and is equally fierce. Jamfong has been wise to sit out the major scuffles, but continues to engage in trash talk.

Rako and I hadn't gone for a walk since December and it was obvious he needed it. Legs of the weary and unaware have fallen to his manic humping. It can be terrifying to have a hulking mass of black fur getting the freaky on with your right leg.

So today, to take a break from all the fighting and humping, Rako and I went for a walk.

We walked up to Bayan Park in Aurora Hill and took photos of the trees and the grass and the backside of a concrete elephant.

 

It was early morning so there were joggers and kids still on their way to school. Other people were also out with their dogs; some of them carried their wards up and down the walkway.

 

 

I like to think some of Rako's pent-up energy is back in the Universe. He spent most of the day napping.

Victory!

Three canines currently take up residence at our house. One is Rako, one of my brothers the black Labrador-shepherd mix I feature often on this blog. Another is Ludwig, the German shepherd mix whose stunted social skills are the result of being weaned too early from his mother. The third is Jamfong, a German shepherd-dacshund mix who ingested rat poison and survived. He is also Ludwig's pup.

Rako is large compared to the two other dogs, but he is still a puppy. His youth and relatively mild manner have made him the object of bullying. Father and son take turns snapping at his hind legs and marking their territory. Rako stays within the front of the house while the other two lord it over in the backyard. Fights often end with Ludwig standing over an acquiescent lab. The bullying is exhausting to Rako and stressful to my family. Sometimes, late at night, I hear growling evolve into a full-out brawl. It's difficult having to watch my dog subjected to that kind of misery.

Tonight, when I went out to feed Rako, I found him worrying a woolly, grey doormat. It looked suspiciously like the one on the stoop to my Lola's house, the very same one Ludwig usually sleeps on. Somehow, Rako had managed to infiltrate enemy territory and swipe the goods off the top step. He had captured his oppressor's property, and was mangling the life out of it. Brave soul. Pa and I were beaming: our puppy had made us proud. Amidst the tyranny, Rako had committed a brazen act of rebellion.

FREEEEDOOOOM!!!

I got you babe

I have developed a strong resistance towards anything productive. My turbulent adjustment to free time has caused most of my family considerable stress-- only Rako appears to understand my awkward evolution. His tolerance knows no limit, showing no apparent distress even when listening to my interpretations of songs by the Pretenders. That's love.

Here he is on guard dog duty.

Puppy no longer

A new post in just one day! Surprised?

Just a quick one. Time warp.

I took this picture of Rako on April 8, 2007. It had just been a few days since we'd gotten him. Around this time, he'd already figured out how to get up the stairs and into the kitchen.


This one, I took of him on December 16, 2007. He already knows how to sit for food and use The Eyes to get treats. How far he has come.

Forgive the poor resolution. These were pictures off my phone, and its camera leaves a lot to be desired. Still, though, enjoy the doggie love.

How'd I manage to type this post?

Do you know the sound Courage the Cowardly Dog makes when he's stressed out? The whine he makes when Muriel is being carried off on the shoulders of some hairy denizen of the night into a dark damp tunnel? Yea...that one. Rako makes that sound when I growl at him. I'm a hairy denizen of the night.

Now off to something completely unrelated: Maika has finally put up a blog. Check out don't think twice and give her some love.

I will be back when the lure of sleep isn't so distracting.