Monday, October 18, 2010

Relics

I've been thinking about this word "relic" for some time now thanks to an interesting article in Slate magazine. For most of my life, I always thought a relic was just an old leftover thing from the past--an old computer or one of those antique bicycles with the really enormous front wheel or just some junk in the backyard. However, thanks to this this article, I've come to realize that more specifically, a relic is a piece of some dead guy's body that has been preserved for people to venerate while worshiping. In the Slate article, this practice seems to be mostly a Catholic thing, but I don't think that it is limited to that one religious group.

To me, this practice is most peculiar just because it seems so exotically foreign to me. It was never a part of my childhood religious upbringing to include praying over some dead guy's dried out flesh. It turns out that when I visited Salamanca in Spain a few years ago--back before I'd become aware of this sort of thing--I saw the arm of some old bishop or other on display in a glass case at the cathedral in Salamanca. Natually, I took a photo, but only more recently do I understand the whole thing a little better. Here's my picture in all of its insensitive glory. I don't even know whose arm it is or what is so special about it. I'll probably burn for having taken this picture.

BBQ

From the guy who brought you the Cheeseburger Show:

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Fight Club

Lucy has reached that delightful stage where all she wants to do is bite, bite, bite. This has led to repeated banishments to the yard with the other dogs.
















Monday, October 11, 2010

Meet Lucy

Meet Lucy, an 8 week-old Brittany from Colorado Springs. Here's her first official picture. Click on any picture to see full-sized.


Half awake riding on the seat above Lisa's shoulders.


All Brittanies are weird. For much of the ride home, she decided to climb like a monkey up the seat to settle in behind Lisa's head.


Perched behind Lisa's head.


In her new backyard monitoring the neighborhood with her reluctant brother.


Sitting crooked in the backyard.


Lounging the backyard.


Spook is bummed. He spent the last couple of years of Floyd's life waiting impatiently for him to croak already. I think he was secretly waiting to be king, perfectly happy as an only dog. Instead, this little monster has arrived. Spook is still perfectly happy to have an extreme romp with Elsie, but he's got no interest whatsoever in his new sister. We'll see if he changes his tune when Elsie leaves and it's just the two of them. So far, he has refused all offers to play with Lucy.


Lucy likes to chew on wood chips.


Heart-shaped head.


Lying quitely on the carpet that she intends to destroy with her bowels and bladder. News flash to Lucy: The carpet is already ruined.


Spook and Elsie watch the afternoon pass them by.