is that bob dylan?

happy girls

fisting

creepy.

expansion

OK, the last time I did a comparison, I messed up the perspective and it was hard to tell a change. This time I think you can see the difference. This first picture is Louie when we first got him at 7 weeks old.




This is Louie six weeks later:

jealousy and growth

This is one of the older dogs, showing her frustration with Louie by trying to sleep in his bed:


And this is last week's growth update for Louie:



And this is me ashamed that I have so little to blog about.

Louie cam

I don't want to turn in to the cute dog blogger, but I haven't energy for much else.

growth spurt

This was Louie the first weekend we had him (7 weeks old):


This is Louie one week later. It looks like he increased about 10% in size in one week.

asian theme

I'm not quite sure why the Asian proletariat soldier image is figuring prominently in local paste ups.

the pup

It took us longer than expected to settle on a name, and we tried out several. In the end, his personality just didn't fit Iggy or Raoul or Gale or Winston. We named him Louis (pronounced Louie, not Lewis).

unexpected new addition

We weren't even considering it, but on the day that our neighbors were giving away their puppies and had one left, he was just too cute to pass over. The two medium sized dogs we already have are a bit overexcited right now, but they don't seem overly freaked out. We ran out and bought a crate (with a divider insert), some food, and some little toys. The poor thing went from a home of two adult pugs and four male puppies to two adult female 60-pounders without any warning.

We don't even have a name for him yet. People have made many suggestions: Winston Churchill, Ignatius J. Reilly (Iggy), Eddie, Claude, Frankie, Vincent, Horatio, Jacques, Woody, Anselm, Etienne, Paddy, O'Malley, Paddy O'Malley, Holden, Eadwyn, Tad, Sammy, and Gale.

layers and tears

more from the streets

recent stickers

wall of the battling paste-ups

threshold between outside and outside

lava lamp

dolla' lama

title creep

When talking to my mother today on Mother's Day, she taught me some new vocabulary from the world of business. The two that stuck most were these:

1. title creep: this phenomenon is analogous to grade inflation. It refers to the way that people entering the workforce are demanding early and sooner to have various titles in their jobs, as well as quick and continuous advancement (with changing titles). Pretty soon the entry level position will be named "manager." It's just like the situation in colleges where every student feels they have a right to be "above average."

2. matrix management: this is basically a distributed network of accountability articulated within a globalizaed chain of command. It refers to the increasingly confusing set of network relations in which a worker's direct supervisor may be stationed in another country while they are laterally accountable to others in their same location. There is multi-accountablity, but the direction of accountability is dispersed into a distributed network.

pretty flowers

as found in our yard:

emails like this make me very uncomfortable

On the one hand there is me and my empathy and my strong desire for everyone to acheive. On the other seems to be the integrity of education and fairness and the belief that people need to learn to meet the challenges that face them. On the one hand is the feeling that everything I do is really just futile anyway. On the other is the thought that the future of society is at stake.

Dear Dr. M(mmm),
I know probably by now many students have emailed you or talked with you about their grades. Yes I am here to do the same, sorry to bother you but I am really concerned about my grade. Its to the point where if I dont get a C in your class my whole summer and fall is ruined. I based all of my class and school year plans for the summer and the next school year thinking I was going to be able to pass your class. Unfortunately I checked my grade and it wasnt what I thought is was going to be. I began to really study for this test on last saturday staying up until 3 and 4 o' clock in the morning. I had alot of confidence in this test and I thought I would have done pretty good, but I guess not. I am telling you this to let you know I am not a lazy student and I am desperate and will do anything to get that 8 extra points [actually, percentage points] I need to get a C in your class. I had already registered for my summer and fall classes. I now have to reschedule everything including my jobs because I now have to see if I can get into your class for the summer. Please do not think I am trying to blame anything on you because I'm not I just want you to know that I tried and studied my hardest for your test and at this point its out of my hands. Well I am basically writing you to ask for your consideration and sympathy. I will do anything just to raise my grade to a C. Please DR. M(mmm) I'm on my hands and knees begging you. I am a student athlete. In their system they dont consider a D as passing. If I dont receive a C in your class that means that I wont have the 12 credits to be able to compete. If there is any way or if there is anything you can do or I can do, can you please tell me how I can make it happen? I would most gladly appreciate it Dr. M(mmm) if you could possibly find a way to fix my grade. Thank you for your time. Hopefully its not to late.