stuff and nonsense

I'll have to be careful that this doesn't become a little Laird Luther fansite. . . . He's so cute!

His training is proceeding nicely. . . . I've consulted Cesar Millan and the Monks of New Skete, trying to stay positive, but also remembering that he's just a little guy. He's strong-willed, though, and definitely wants to focus on what he wants to focus on!

sigh. . . . I think I'm going to be learning more - in the course of this project - than he does.

So far, I've learned about what junk we can be ingesting on a day-to-day basis, if we just graze on all the stuff around us. With Luther, of course, I mean the leaves, sticks, bugs, mulch, terra cotta, concrete, and brick he licks, chews, and eats. Along with the occasional rock.

It's alarming.

His favorite chew toy (if we were to let him) is the concrete bench currently doing coffee table duty on our front porch. His carefully selected chew toys from PetSmart are a pale second best. . . . (Second best? What am I thinking! They seem to be way down the list.)

Anyway, as I walked around the back yard with his little lairdship, I pondered the junk that I come across and chew on, lick, and even eat. OK - I confess - I still eat entirely too many chips ["crisps" in Ireland-speak] for my own good, but more to the point is what I pick up to think about, look at, ponder, brood over. What I 'lick' in the news headlines, then put in my mouth by clicking on it and reading, and then swallow, to ponder and ruminate over.

Is it Jessica Simpson and her dancing shenanigans with boyfriend Tony Romo? 51,000 dead in China? The latest Obama soundbite and/or controversy? Pretty pictures of places I'll never see or other 'forwards' of cutesy pictures of kittens or old ladies with 'LOL'-speak slogans? The price of oil, latest court decision, stock index - or maybe which "David" was named "american idol"?

Ah - you see - there's lots of stuff out there, vying for consumption.

Who watches over us to make sure we don't put junk into our mouths?

Meanwhile, we've got details galore to resolve at the house. There's a question of the hot water heater which won't fit into the closet it was supposed to go into and the resolution of the cost of installing a gas water heater as opposed to an electric one. Then, there's the question of bath fixtures. As expected, the ones "included" are the ugly ones. Granted, they've got a pretty name - "Chateau" - but ugly nonetheless. Now all we have to do is figure out how much "pretty" is going to cost.

I think I need to go spit that rock out. . . . . 'scuse me.