Dirty Old Egg-Suckin’ Dog

Buddy in 2003

Well he’s not very handsome to look at

Oh he’s shaggy and he eats like a hog

And he’s always killin’ my chickens

That dirty old egg-suckin’ dog

—Johnny Cash

Today marked the end of the first week of my new contract. I have seen a lot of people I know for the first time in a couple of months. It’s been a real treat, more so than just knowing I have money coming in.

One of the people I work with has a collection of Far Side cartoons pinned to the cube wall. One of them shows a dog about to press the plunger and detonate a few sticks of dynamite that are laying next to a house. Inside the house, a woman is yelling to her male counterpart, “The dog is trying to blow up the house again. Catch him in the act or he’ll never learn.”

Friday’s Feast

Appetizer: If you were a dog, what breed would you be, and why?

A mutt. I like mutts. They tend to be stronger, smarter, braver, and friendlier than pure breeds. As a human, I am a mutt; why should I be something else as a dog?

Soup: What does the color purple make you think of?

1. The phrase the color purple makes me think of the movie, which I never saw.
2. Thinking about the color makes me think of a monastery. Not sure why. I just see a gold robe with a purple sash.

Salad: Approximately how long does it take you to get ready each morning?

90 minutes: an hour to wake up, 30 minutes to get ready.

Main Course: How many cousins do you have, and are you close to them?

None, really. My father’s brother was childless. I never met my mother’s side of the family. There may be distant cousins, on my dad’s side, but I don’t think of them as such, just as relatives.

Dessert: Take your initials (first, middle, last) and come up with something else those letters could stand for.

Extended length bronchitis.

I prefer to use both of my middle initials and leave the result as an acronym: E-LAB. It sounds so scientific-like.