THEME

If you've read the previous posts, you may have the impression that this blog does not have a theme. You would be wrong. In this blog I plan to write about any topic I please from AA batteries to Zygoptera, as long as I find it interesting, informative or entertaining. Naturally, I'll be posting about my beautiful dog, Terri. Expect to read about animals, logic, the pitiful lack of knowledge about English grammar in the North American population, technology, science, and science fiction.

Don't expect to read about sports -- I wasn't athletic during my school days so I didn't cultivate an interest in sports except for a small fondness for baseball. At school I had often wished we could spend more time playing softball -- it was the only sport I enjoyed. All other sports felt like work but softball was fun; I wonder why?

I suppose you would like me to satisfy your sudden interest in Zygoptera right now? Very well. I used to think that damselflies were the females of dragonflies but that the "male" word dragonfly was simply used more often (similar to dog-bitch male-female terms). It turns out that my thinking was wrong. They are different suborders: Odonata is an order* of insects containing dragonflies (suborder Epiprocta) and damselflies (suborder Zygoptera).

* If you studied biology, you know that living organisms are ranked by kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species**. Dragon/damsel-flies aren't just different species but different suborders; meaning they have many distinct characteristics. See a stunning photo of a damselfly here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ischnura_heterosticta02.jpg

** An aside: There is no mention of "suborder" in the main list of divisions. Various sub-this and sub-that's are devised when taxonomists realize that they need to split animal (or plant) classifications again and seven divisions just aren't enough.

I'll leave you in suspense about the other topics for now.


You found your toy?
Oh! Frabjous joy!

HAPTIC TECHNOLOGY

This is new to me: haptic technology. On the Discovery Science channel tonight, it was one of the new computer technologies shown (along with attempts to understand dog barks by computer analysis; use feedback from one's brain to move virtual and real objects, ...) I was amazed that the interviewer could feel real textures even though he was placing his hands/fingers on a smooth screen.

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haptic_technology):

* Haptic technology, or haptics, is a tactile feedback technology that takes advantage of a user's sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations, and/or motions to the user.

* Researchers at the University of Tokyo are currently working on adding haptic feedback to holographic projections. The feedback allows the user to interact with a hologram and receive tactile response as if the holographic object were real.

* Some speculate the clothing retail industry could gain from haptic technology in ways such as being able to "feel" the texture of clothes for sale on the internet.

TERRI IS 6

Terri's sixth birthday reminds me of A. A. Milne's poem "Now We are Six":

When I was One,
I had just begun.
When I was Two,
I was nearly new.
When I was Three
I was hardly me.
When I was Four,
I was not much more.
When I was Five,
I was just alive.
But now I am Six,
I'm as clever as clever,
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

Terri was born Jan. 11th, 2005 in a small place west of Gaspé. When I arrived to get her in March, I brought my black Lab into the house to see how they would get along. To my delight, she started following Chimo and they trotted around, inspecting the large basement room. The trip home was not without incident. I was feeling so giddy with delight about Terri, I didn't pay attention to my speedometer and was soon stopped by police. I figured I might as well let the dogs out, even though they hadn't been in the car very long because Terri had already had an "accident" in the crate; the first of many. The cop was probably not impressed that I was more concerned about my puppy's pooping than the speeding ticket.

Since it was winter and I have a long-standing hypothermia-phobia / aka cheimaphobia ("when the fear of cold becomes a phobia, it is known as cheimaphobia or cheimatophobia"), I decided to paper train Terri. This worked out very well and Terri has never "gone" indoors except on newspaper during those early days. Oh -- I forgot. Terri has "gone" indoors twice -- both times in the bathtub. What a smart and cooperative dog.

With a more experienced handler, I'm sure Terri would have a number of titles by now. So far we only have novice rally-o titles from both CKC and CARO. If I get my act together, we will get a title at the next rally-o level. This will depend on me learning the new exercises and practicing often enough so Terri is solid in doing all the novice and advanced level exercises off leash. I need to go back and read Morgan Spector's Clicker Training for Obedience: Shaping Top Performance--Positively and get training again.

Terri's favourite gift for today is 2.5 hours of playtime in the snow in -8°C cloudy weather.

COUNTRY LIVING

Terri has been enjoying her home in the country for 3 1/2 years now. I love to see her race around the yard, enjoying the freedom of all that space. Herding dogs need room to stretch their legs and half an acre is as much as I care to mow -- any more and I'd want a little goat to keep the grass short.

It's funny how my attitude has changed over time. When I first moved to Orleans after living in areas closer to downtown Ottawa, it felt too "remote". I felt I was out in the middle of nowhere. That idea changed when I quickly learned to appreciate the 5 minute walk to acres of unused grass & woods for my Labrador retriever to romp in. During the years in Orleans, those acres provided many hours of quiet enjoyment for both of us.

Chimo died in 2005 when Terri was 9 months old. Around this time, the grassy acres I had delighted in started to be built up. There would be no romping room there for Terri. While some people were enjoying the proximity of the big box stores, I felt hemmed in.

By 2007 it was definitely time to move to a quieter, more relaxing neighbourhood. I found just the kind of place I wanted: not too far from civilization (shops) with neighbours neither too close nor too far away and with active farms in view instead of construction sites. It was the right move at the right time.

DOGS & OTHER ANIMALS

PUPPY MILLS It's about time. I saw a program tonight about the HSUS finally investigating (videotaping) puppy mills. Owners who purchased sick dogs from a pet store (USA) are suing that company. The tapes of mills show too many dogs stuck in dirty wire cages or on concrete floors with dirty green drinking water in white pails. One mill shown had been selling pups with parvo virus to a pet store chain and the video showed feces lying around the cages. I can't help wondering -- if people treat dogs this way, what are they doing to other domestic animals? The puppy millers should all be sent to prison for at least a year and never allowed to have care of an animal again.

NEW ZEALAND Following that was a program about the fact that Europeans brought rabbits which overtook the countryside of New Zealand, leaving insufficient grazing for sheep. Stoats were imported to kill the rabbits but they have been killing native birds such as the kiwi which are now on the endangered species list.

One can never overestimate the cruelty and stupidity of the human species.

FRIENDS WITH FOOD :-)

I miss my friends who used to live in Orleans when I lived there. They always had welcoming smiles and introduced me to Latin American meals.

They now run Market-tino in Toronto, a great place to get exotic foods from South and Central America. You can find items such as fresh jalapeno chili, frozen pulp of exotic fruits, a variety of salsas, tropical juices, plus tamales and chicken / beef / spinach & ricotta empanadas from the bakery.... Yum!

Next time you're near Keele and Lawrence West visit them at 2394 Keele St., Toronto (phone number: 416-614-7701). Meanwhile you can view their new website at Marketino.ca

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!

I had no plans to create a blog. Then, somehow, it occurred to me as a good way for friends to contact me if they aren't on Facebook. NOT on FB?!? Strange to say, not everyone is on FB ... yet.

The yard has a very peculiar look for January 2nd -- more grass than snow.

At least the weather turned cold enough to harden the ground again so Terri didn't get muddy. If you'd like to contact me or bark at Terri, use the comment space.