My street all decorated for the holidays:

A cool theater nearby:

Hanging downtown with friends:

Downtown! Beautiful, even when cloudy:

So far I love it here. I’ve been warned winters are rough, so I bought boots and a parka. I’ll post pics of the first snow.

I’m sure I’ve spoiled her, but who wouldn’t?!

All right, that’s the last Puppeh Spam post for a while, I swear.

Points for locating her eyes.

Poser.

Sleeping is her fave thing to do. Little lazy sheepdog. Not that you could tell whether her eyes are open.

New weird things about her:
1. She is afraid of wet ground. Won’t go outside during or just after rain! This will HAVE to change before winter…
2. Two baths a week and daily brushings barely keep her fur from matting. srsly.
3. Happiest dog ever. Evinced by her constant happy barking.

R.I.P. sweet Sunspot. You were truly the cutest Cocker Spaniel mix who ever lived, and the best fetcher, too.

Here’s my new puppy, now 8.5 weeks old. Her name is Ginger. She’s a Polish Lowland Sheepdog (an AKC designated rare breed!) and completely silly. When she grows up, her fur will hang over her eyes. So absurd.

Here she is ready to play.

So far she is very weird:
1. She is afraid of the dark.
2. She likes chewing my arm.
3. She will sit still and watch as I do yoga–what dog does that?!
4. She thinks grass is high enough to hide her.

I’ll update as she does more strange things and as her fur gets longer and longer and longer.

Plus, working downtown is awesome. Having a view of these two churches almost makes it feel like I work in Europe. I wonder if there will be chimes?

and

Unfortunately, there’s a Quizno’s in the building. Gah! So tempting. I’m not sure my brought-from-home maple walnut oatmeal can compete with a yummy tomato and cheddar sub.

Movies
In other news, the husband and I went to see Wolfman. We both liked it. It’s well-done, and the acting is great, and it has the perfect foggy, creepy gothic feel. Del Toro is great. Recommended to fans of such.

My prints in the fresh snow:

Blue mountains:

Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice:

(So stupid.)

1. I bought a bunch of lamps. It’s sooo nice to have BRIGHT LIGHT in my offices and bedroom.

2. I rearranged my basement to accommodate more drawing and painting time. I’m working on a colored pencil of a couple hugging in front of the Eiffel Tower in the rain. I’m drawing wet pavement! It’s more exciting than it sounds.

3. I came up with a new workout/yoga schedule to fit with my new hours…

Yoga stuff
Here’s my favorite yoga site. I love the pictures and quick explanations of all the poses.

However, I’m using this guy’s videos right now. He rocks the casbah for realz. Plus, he has a super-cool accent.

Piano
I’m working up a Chopin Prelude. (The Raindrop!) I love the melody and how it moves to the bass in the middle section, but I’m having trouble voicing the big chords. You play, say, four notes at once, and one of the middle ones has to be louder than the others. And! You have to shape a bunch of the middle notes into a smooth phrase.

Last but not least, Waterdog.

I’m totally going to post more often now. You’ll see.

2.
Apparently, I am totally allergic to puppeh. This is so not cool. Would you want to be allergic to this?! It’s very sad.

3.
I switched back to morning workouts. Can’t remember why I stopped. Oh yeah, because I have to get up at 6am to do it. It’s still better than working out at, like, 11 pm which is about as soon as I can muster up the energy on a normal day.

4.
My piano will finally be tuned on Wed. THANK GOD. Meanwhile, I’ve been working up a Mozart piece, which I like but don’t love. I want to work up some Bartok, but I’m not sure I have it in me just now. (Bartok is tough musically as well as technically, and I am a wimp.) Maybe I should go back to Chopin.