When you hear gunshots late at night in the North End of St. Paul: STAY INDOORS AND WAIT FOR THE COPS TO COME AND CHECK YOUR YARD AND HOME FOR THE SHOOTER.
When you hear gunshots late at night in Northfield: THE WHOLE TOWN IS STAGING A RE-ENACTMENT OF THE FAMOUS DEFEAT OF THE JESSE JAMES GANG AT FIRST NATIONAL BANK A FEW BLOCKS AWAY.
Showing posts with label northfield. Show all posts
Showing posts with label northfield. Show all posts
June 20, 2008
November 1, 2007
October 2007 Photo Post: Digest Edition!
Trying out the macro settings.
My dog on the roof outside my bedroom.
Neat fungus by the Cannon River.
This shot was almost discarded until I realized it wanted macroing.
The bustling metropolis of Northfield!
The bustling metropolis of Northfield, part deux!
My favorite autumn shot.
A nice view of the Cannon riverbank taken from Northfield's river walk, which leads to the dog park on one end and center of town on the other.
Rah found this little guy in the street.
Flooded park walk.
The dog park.
The Captain watches a much braver dog fetch a ball from the river.
The leaves on the tree that overhangs our yard turned the best shade of buttery yellow, which was charming until there was a windy night and the tree shat its entire load of foliage down over the yard I'd just raked a day before.
More leaf porn.
Another "testing out the macro" shot, included simply because SHIIIINY.
(Sorry to all you slow-modem types. I'd use a cut but Blogger doesn't work that way.)
October 24, 2007
Exorcism
Yesterday I got the bike out of the basement. I put it back together and wheeled it into the driveway, then obtained 1x poochito from the house. The idea was to get him nice and mellow with a walk and a hard play session at the dog park, then try him on the bike to see whether he'd enjoy running with me.
At first he didn't know what the fuck, and was shying away from the bike in that wary way dogs have, but as soon as I got on the bike and rolled a few feet, he figured out what I wanted and went right into jogging mode alongside. The leash I use is a 16 foot extendable deal, so I had plenty of room between the bike and the Captain and no slack leash to get tangled up. Lots of extra line in case I ever want to stop suddenly without breaking his neck or yanking my ass off the bike.
I didn't go full-speed, since I had to watch the road and the dog both in case of obstacles. Mostly I had enough warning when he decided to make a sudden stop or detour to slow the bike down and tug him back into line, and I was able to speed up some more.
Before I knew it, he was flying down the road (mostly on the verge, for the sake of his feets) with his jaws sprung wide and his tongue lolling out and bouncing around like crazy. By the time we got back, he was panting and shiny-eyed. The whole rest of the day, he was a docile and obedient little citizen who wanted to sleep more than anything in the world.
So today I thought, let's step it up a bit. Took him out on the bike first thing for a longer run, then back home for water, then we rode to the dog park. There were no dogs, so after a bit of lounging in the sun, I got back on the bike and we went around Northfield a bit. By the end, he was definitely losing his edge, so the ride home was pretty sedate. Immediately after taking off his leash, he fell over with his head resting on my leg, eyes half-lidded, tongue poking out a bit. Then back upstairs for the rest of his din dins and a nice long hibernation.
I'm trying to get him in the habit of spending a few hours of quiet time in his kennel alone each day after exercising, in case I get a job or ever want to, you know, have a social life. Hah.
Funny thing: He's learned to run upstairs, into the spare room, and tuck himself into his crate when I say "dinner." He'll wait in there quietly until I show up to feed him. I taught him "go to your room" but this other thing is his own innovation. He also has figured out that if you tell him to 'sit' and have a carrot in your hands, he should also sit up and beg without being asked. That dog is insane for carrots.
Befoer I start the next pages, I'm making up for lost time on the My Dog Rocks blogging front. Next up: photo post. Big one. 56k sorrow!
Let's see...what else.
There's a farmer's market here through the end of the month. It's only a few blocks away. Also, the air here usually smells like warm toasted cereal, though the flavor varies depending on what kind of cereal it is. I'm told Fridays are cocoa-puff-days. It is amazing.
I found a place by the river where they've dumped quarried stone to help with erosion. Digging around in the rockpile yielded SO many amazing crystal specimens. I brought home the smaller ones, though there's a boulder I need to drive over for. Unless I want to prove Jesse right in his prediction that I'll soon have nowhere to sleep for rocks in my room, I may need to think about adding a rock saw to my equipment.
Other than that, all is unpacking and photography.
At first he didn't know what the fuck, and was shying away from the bike in that wary way dogs have, but as soon as I got on the bike and rolled a few feet, he figured out what I wanted and went right into jogging mode alongside. The leash I use is a 16 foot extendable deal, so I had plenty of room between the bike and the Captain and no slack leash to get tangled up. Lots of extra line in case I ever want to stop suddenly without breaking his neck or yanking my ass off the bike.
I didn't go full-speed, since I had to watch the road and the dog both in case of obstacles. Mostly I had enough warning when he decided to make a sudden stop or detour to slow the bike down and tug him back into line, and I was able to speed up some more.
Before I knew it, he was flying down the road (mostly on the verge, for the sake of his feets) with his jaws sprung wide and his tongue lolling out and bouncing around like crazy. By the time we got back, he was panting and shiny-eyed. The whole rest of the day, he was a docile and obedient little citizen who wanted to sleep more than anything in the world.
So today I thought, let's step it up a bit. Took him out on the bike first thing for a longer run, then back home for water, then we rode to the dog park. There were no dogs, so after a bit of lounging in the sun, I got back on the bike and we went around Northfield a bit. By the end, he was definitely losing his edge, so the ride home was pretty sedate. Immediately after taking off his leash, he fell over with his head resting on my leg, eyes half-lidded, tongue poking out a bit. Then back upstairs for the rest of his din dins and a nice long hibernation.
I'm trying to get him in the habit of spending a few hours of quiet time in his kennel alone each day after exercising, in case I get a job or ever want to, you know, have a social life. Hah.
Funny thing: He's learned to run upstairs, into the spare room, and tuck himself into his crate when I say "dinner." He'll wait in there quietly until I show up to feed him. I taught him "go to your room" but this other thing is his own innovation. He also has figured out that if you tell him to 'sit' and have a carrot in your hands, he should also sit up and beg without being asked. That dog is insane for carrots.
Befoer I start the next pages, I'm making up for lost time on the My Dog Rocks blogging front. Next up: photo post. Big one. 56k sorrow!
Let's see...what else.
There's a farmer's market here through the end of the month. It's only a few blocks away. Also, the air here usually smells like warm toasted cereal, though the flavor varies depending on what kind of cereal it is. I'm told Fridays are cocoa-puff-days. It is amazing.
I found a place by the river where they've dumped quarried stone to help with erosion. Digging around in the rockpile yielded SO many amazing crystal specimens. I brought home the smaller ones, though there's a boulder I need to drive over for. Unless I want to prove Jesse right in his prediction that I'll soon have nowhere to sleep for rocks in my room, I may need to think about adding a rock saw to my equipment.
Other than that, all is unpacking and photography.
October 5, 2007
Adventures In Not Doing All That Much
The showers here are incredible. Gone is the piss-trickle of yesterfaucet--our new place has serious water pressure so I don't end up standing under the tap for eight hours just trying to wash the shampoo out of my hair. It's like standing under a waterfall. Also, the water gets hotter. I don't think I've had this much fun showering since the last time I--ah, but that would be telling.
The only problem is that my room is a perfect square with two unblockable doors on two opposite walls and a radiator and window on the third. This leaves one wall mostly free for bed installation, but my art and computer desks block part of that wall. If it comes to a choice, I'd rather move the art desk and have a proper bed. I've been sleeping on a pokey mattress on a rickety bunk bed for like two years and I'm ready to move on to something that won't stab me in the ass or squeak loudly when I turn over.
I've been pondering the idea of getting a bean bag that converts to a bed. Or a day-bed. Or a Japanese style futon. Hmm.
Today the Captain met a bunch of new dogs at the park. A very large, very dominant black lab pushed him around until he started showing teeth and growling, but they eventually got distracted by somebody who was throwing tennis balls and it became a sort of free-for-all dog race. The Captain wallowed in a mudpit for a little while, and as the other owners tried to discourage their own animals from imitating him, I realized that I'm the pet-owner equivalent of the paren of THAT kid. You know, the one who comes into kindergarten every morning smelling like he has ferrets stuffed in his pants.
We found a gate that opened on the river for dogs who like to play in water, so I was able to encourage the little bastard to go rinse off all the mud eventually. It took him hours to dry off, but he was mellow and happy. Come to think of it, he hasn't shredded anything since I first took him there... hmm.
Knee feeling lots better. I can manage the walk to the park and back without it exploding, and going up the stairs only twinged a bit. As soon as the pain is gone, I'm going to go back to the gym. I'm feeling kinda wooden and my energy level's gone down a bit.
Major goals for the rest of the fall: get some invisible fencing so I can leave Stupid outside to play more often instead of putting him on a tether, get a new curtain that is not pink, find a bed, and install shelves in the closet outside my room so I can put my clothes away.
...Wow, this post was dull. I promise I'm doing awesome and exciting things with my days, I just haven't felt like blogging about them. I did a pic last night, though, just messing with art styles:
Aight. Back to inking.
The only problem is that my room is a perfect square with two unblockable doors on two opposite walls and a radiator and window on the third. This leaves one wall mostly free for bed installation, but my art and computer desks block part of that wall. If it comes to a choice, I'd rather move the art desk and have a proper bed. I've been sleeping on a pokey mattress on a rickety bunk bed for like two years and I'm ready to move on to something that won't stab me in the ass or squeak loudly when I turn over.
I've been pondering the idea of getting a bean bag that converts to a bed. Or a day-bed. Or a Japanese style futon. Hmm.
Today the Captain met a bunch of new dogs at the park. A very large, very dominant black lab pushed him around until he started showing teeth and growling, but they eventually got distracted by somebody who was throwing tennis balls and it became a sort of free-for-all dog race. The Captain wallowed in a mudpit for a little while, and as the other owners tried to discourage their own animals from imitating him, I realized that I'm the pet-owner equivalent of the paren of THAT kid. You know, the one who comes into kindergarten every morning smelling like he has ferrets stuffed in his pants.
We found a gate that opened on the river for dogs who like to play in water, so I was able to encourage the little bastard to go rinse off all the mud eventually. It took him hours to dry off, but he was mellow and happy. Come to think of it, he hasn't shredded anything since I first took him there... hmm.
Knee feeling lots better. I can manage the walk to the park and back without it exploding, and going up the stairs only twinged a bit. As soon as the pain is gone, I'm going to go back to the gym. I'm feeling kinda wooden and my energy level's gone down a bit.
Major goals for the rest of the fall: get some invisible fencing so I can leave Stupid outside to play more often instead of putting him on a tether, get a new curtain that is not pink, find a bed, and install shelves in the closet outside my room so I can put my clothes away.
...Wow, this post was dull. I promise I'm doing awesome and exciting things with my days, I just haven't felt like blogging about them. I did a pic last night, though, just messing with art styles:
Aight. Back to inking.
October 3, 2007
They Move In Packs
Today, I took the Captain to the dog park. It's only a few blocks away, and my knee was feeling all right after I took a few ibuprofen.
At first I was pretty nervous since his only interactions with other dogs thus far have been pretty limited, but the lady who was there with her yellow lab said to let him off the leash to go meet the other dogs and see how it worked out.
He was very timid and his hackles kept going up from his neck all the way to his tail, but it got a lot better as he got used to the other dogs. There were about six of them, coming and going at various times, and together they managed to just about wear the Captain out. He was ripping around the enclosure with three or four other animals on his heels in no time, playing little dancy-games and generally being silly.
Eventually the fight went out of him, so I dragged him reluctantly away from his new friends. He's been a calm, docile little citizen since we got home (although I think he stole the cat's food again when I was out of the room. Still working on that).
There were box elder bugs everywhere today, but they were nothing compared to the plague ofladybugs that appeared en masse to bite the living shit out of me. I can't believe I used to think those little bastards were pretty. From now on I'm going to treat them like especially slow-moving mosquitoes.
Also, the Cannon river is flooding in areas, so the Captain also got to go swimming where a few days ago there was a biking path along the banks.
Happy soaking wet animal-dog.
At first I was pretty nervous since his only interactions with other dogs thus far have been pretty limited, but the lady who was there with her yellow lab said to let him off the leash to go meet the other dogs and see how it worked out.
He was very timid and his hackles kept going up from his neck all the way to his tail, but it got a lot better as he got used to the other dogs. There were about six of them, coming and going at various times, and together they managed to just about wear the Captain out. He was ripping around the enclosure with three or four other animals on his heels in no time, playing little dancy-games and generally being silly.
Eventually the fight went out of him, so I dragged him reluctantly away from his new friends. He's been a calm, docile little citizen since we got home (although I think he stole the cat's food again when I was out of the room. Still working on that).
There were box elder bugs everywhere today, but they were nothing compared to the plague ofladybugs that appeared en masse to bite the living shit out of me. I can't believe I used to think those little bastards were pretty. From now on I'm going to treat them like especially slow-moving mosquitoes.
Also, the Cannon river is flooding in areas, so the Captain also got to go swimming where a few days ago there was a biking path along the banks.
Happy soaking wet animal-dog.
Got 1x New House!
Back online at the new place! I fucking love it here.
Inked most of a page of Kagerou today and my carpal didn't flare up at all. This is the best they've been in weeks, so I'm taking advantage of my good fortune before I help finish moving the rest of the boxes and fuck my wrists up all over again.
However: my knee went boom just as my fingers stopped going numb, so now I'm having to stay off it as much as possible. This is a problem since I live on the second floor of the new house, so going up and down stairs is a real adventure.
One benefit of having to sit on my ass all day while the knee mends: time for art! I think I'll be able to post an update and start the Sketchbook Raffle this Saturday.
At this moment, the Captain has taken his evening whiz, so I'm going to go flop down on the futon mattress I'm using for a bed and pass out. Bliss!
Inked most of a page of Kagerou today and my carpal didn't flare up at all. This is the best they've been in weeks, so I'm taking advantage of my good fortune before I help finish moving the rest of the boxes and fuck my wrists up all over again.
However: my knee went boom just as my fingers stopped going numb, so now I'm having to stay off it as much as possible. This is a problem since I live on the second floor of the new house, so going up and down stairs is a real adventure.
One benefit of having to sit on my ass all day while the knee mends: time for art! I think I'll be able to post an update and start the Sketchbook Raffle this Saturday.
At this moment, the Captain has taken his evening whiz, so I'm going to go flop down on the futon mattress I'm using for a bed and pass out. Bliss!
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