Day 2251

The photoshoot went well today. All things being equal, I might not have chosen to place a lot of cats in a big pile of sand. As you might expect, the cats immediately thought the sand was a catbox. It might have been better to select dogs that weren't scared to put their head through a hole in the painted backdrop too, since the whole concept was based on animals putting their heads through cutout holes in the backdrop. These were minor things though. You can't really expect animals to anticipate what the art director had in mind.

The team I was working with was great and eventually we were able to make everything work as intended. I'm glad I was only taking the images today. Since the animals didn't really want to take a group shot, we had to photograph them all individually and will reassemble the group portrait in Photoshop. If the animals had been cooperative, this afternoon's photo would have been a piece of cake. Now, it's going to take someone a long time to recreate the illusion of animal harmony through the magic of Photoshop. I wonder what people did before Photoshop? It has saved me again and again.

The bird was fairly cooperative. Maybe the art director can change the concept to feature the bird. I was able to get lots of shots of the bird sitting exactly where he was supposed to be. This still leaves three dogs, a large cat, and lots of puppies and kittens who had no interest in being where they were supposed to be. When these animals are eventually composited into position, I think the photo will make a cute promotional poster. I'm still not sure how they'll use the photos of the kittens pooping in the sand though.

Since I spent most of the afternoon at the photoshoot, I wasn't able to finish my normal Saturday errands. It looks like I'll be doing the grocery shopping tomorrow instead of going to the gym. I wish I had time to get Valentine's Day cupcakes today. We always get cupcakes at Sprinkles on Valentines Day and I'm sure there will be a huge line at the store tomorrow. I could always just pick up some cupcakes at Kroger, but it wouldn't be the same. You could tell the difference immediately.

Janet left this evening in a long dress to go to some special work event. I think it was some sort of awards show. By the time she returns, the rest of us should be asleep unless Dot refuses to poop. I've taken her outside three times already this evening and she appears to be just as stubborn as the dogs at the photoshoot this afternoon. I'm tired and would really like a good night's sleep, so I'll take her outside a few more times before I give up entirely. The night is young.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1873

Today's photo shoot went well. I think everybody involved was very happy with the results. In a couple of weeks or so, these images will be featured on thousands of posters and postcards. The young puppies and kittens I photographed were surprisingly well behaved. Nobody tried to chew the leather saddle. Nobody peed on the backdrop. And nobody chased the cat. The little kitten was fearless and clearly wasn't intimidated by dogs. Doing a photo shoot with puppies is always a dicey proposition. The won't stay in one place more than two seconds and seem to pee every five minutes. To even attempt something like this, you need a wrangler for each animal. The small cowboy hats were constantly falling off and needed to continually be repositioned. Puppies and kittens get tired quickly too, so there is always an optimal moment between crazy exuberance and deep sleep were you get your best pictures. All in all, I think I did pretty well today.

The SMAP spacecraft had a successful launch this morning. The four or five people from our group who had flexible enough schedules to stay in the area for the launch all said it was spectacular. I wish I could have been there too. I did get up early and watch the launch on TV and everything seemed to go perfectly. The network news channels only showed a few seconds of the launch, but NASA TV broadcast the whole thing live for over an hour. I was mesmerized. I don't think I'll ever look at those short clips of satellite launches on the evening new the same way again. Now, when I see a rocket go up, I'll be thinking of the hundreds and hundreds of people that it took to get it off the launch pad.

The animal rescue community is all abuzz about the new GoDaddy commercial depicting a puppy who falls off the breeder's truck, gets lost, and eventually finds his way home, only to discover he's been sold. It didn't take long for rescue advocates to get this spot pulled. I saw the commercial and agree that this definitely looks like a puppy mill breeder. A responsible breeder would never ship a bunch of puppies of in a truck and wouldn't sell them online either. Many rescue advocates think all breeders are evil and that you should always get your dog from a shelter. I've been involved in animal rescue for many, many years and I don't necessarily agree with this position. Responsible breeders are wonderful people who understand their dogs, keep them healthy, and always find them great homes. It's easier to buy a house than it is to purchase a dog from a very good breeder. They are very particular about who gets their pups. Dot and Dash were both rescued from shelters, but we've gotten dogs from breeders as well. If your have your heart set on a particular breed, there is nothing wrong with getting your dog from a good breeder. Puppy mill breeders are cruel to their animals and should be eliminated, but responsible breeders should be your friend. They are actually some of the biggest supporters of rescue efforts. Nothing is black or white, except Dalmatians of course. I hate to see issues like these polarize people.

I don't know who to root for at tomorrow's Superbowl game. Neither the Seahawks or the Patriots are teams that I'm particularly fond of. If Dallas couldn't be in the Superbowl, I'd much rather root for Green Bay or Pittsburgh. I'll watch the game and eat more than I should like everybody else, but what I'm really interested in is the Culwell and Son Superbowl sale. These guys were a client of mine for many years and once a year they mark everything down up to 75% off for just a few hours on Superbowl Sunday. Since it's the only time I can actually afford these expensive clothes, I never miss this sale.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1733

This morning's photoshoot was interesting. There were fifteen children of various ages and each of them was holding a puppy or kitten. What could possibly go wrong? The children were cold. The puppies were restless. The big challenge was to get everyone looking in the same direction before it started to rain. Actually, everything went pretty well. Children are much more flexible than adults, and since everyone wanted to hold a puppy, they were willing to stand out in the cold for much longer than I expected. When I looked through the images this afternoon, it was fascinating to look at the different expressions on each of the children's faces. The young ones were so open and honest. You could almost tell, just by their faces, what each of them was going to be when they grew up.

The temperature was in the mid-fifties when we woke up this morning. The seasons change quickly here in Texas. One day you are worried about your car overheating in the Summer heat and the next day the leaves are all turning red and gold and you are looking for your winter coat. If this weekend's cold front lingers, we will soon be turning on the furnace again. I'm always nervous the first day I try to use the furnace. I'm fairly confident that the furnace will roar into life again, since it is still fairly new. I have many memories of cold mornings and dead furnaces though. Hopefully, this new furnace will be more reliable than the old one.

I did some catch-up work on the websites that were down earlier this week. Now that they are all back online, some of them are already out of date and need to be updated. Keeping these sites updated is a never ending process. That's OK though. Most never ending processes are good for business. If you were actually able to finish something, you'd never see some of your clients again.

So what did we learn from tonight's new episode of Dr. Who. Apparently the Doctor is afraid of the dark and Clara herself is the monster under the bed that frightens most children. Since Steven Moffat wrote this episode, it got mostly glowing reviews. I'll admit that Steven is the undisputed master of convoluted plots, but they often leave me a bit confused. My favorite episode is still the one where the Doctor and Rose go to visit Vincent van Gogh. That's the kind of story I like.

We're debating whether to scale back our efforts to waterproof the bed each night. Dot has had quite a few accident-free days this week and it would sure be easier on everyone if we could go back to sleeping like normal. Dogs are notoriously unpredictable though. Just when you least expect it, they'll throw up their dinner, or poop on the living room floor. I think we'll compromise and put a few waterproof pads on the bed tonight, but quit trying to turn the bed into a multilayer impregnable fortress. If it gets really cold tonight, I may wish that all the layers were still there. Four layers of waterproof pee pads on top of the covers make the bed pretty warm.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1269

My models for today's photo shoot were a small puppy and kitten, sitting together inside a gold crown. I didn't think a dog and cat would play nice together for long enough for me to get the shot I needed, but we had an unusually calm kitten and some very good animal wranglers. I think the shot came out fine. I definitely don't think Dot or Dash would have been this calm in a similar situation.

Our power went out today during another surprise thunderstorm. After about six hours of being dead in the water, the power is still out. I can hear a repair crew from the power company back in the alley replacing a transformer on one of the telephone poles, so I have high hopes that our electricity will be restored this evening.

There was another roof problem today. The roof is mostly finished, but there is a small section of rotted wood that still needs to be replaced directly above the kitchen door. It rained so hard during today's thunderstorm that water got into the unfinished area and came spilling into the house through the top of the kitchen door. As I have mentioned already, I couldn't have picked a worse time to put on a new roof. It's usually not so bad at this time of year, but this has turned out to be the wettest Spring I can remember.

It was bad enough that it was raining cats and dogs while I had to pack up all my equipment to go photograph some cats and dogs. It would have been even worse if the rain and ensuing power outage had happened yesterday though. I would have hated to be forced to complete my Photoshop marathon using a laptop with a low battery as my primary resource.

Everyone seems in a hurry except for me. I feel out of sync with just about everything this week. My client in New York is in a hurry to get all the Las Vegas pictures. My veterinarian client is in a hurry to get the kitten and puppy pictures. The roofers are in a hurry to get paid for their still unfinished roof. I'm trying my best to keep up with all the requests, but the only thing I'm in a hurry for is the weekend.

Dot and Dash did pretty well today, especially considering all the chaos going on around them. I had to leave the dogs right in the middle of the rainstorm, and amazingly they both seemed pretty calm when I left the house. I think they sensed that this was a day where I had few options and they were doing their best to help.

Hopefully, the power will be restored this evening and tomorrow will be calm and uneventful. I'm looking forward to sunny skies and my favorite Black Bean Benedict for breakfast.

Gypsy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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