Days Five, Six, Seven

What a blogging-delinquent weekend. It was a cooking-heavy weekend, as well as puppy health issues-heavy weekend. Mitsu has been having some tummy troubles, and she also had a random allergic reaction to something on Saturday night. I'll be calling the vet soon; I hope the desk attendants are like, "Oh poor Mitsu! Bring her in right away." She hung out with them when she got spayed. Anyway, here are Days 5 through 7 in one post.

Day 5 – A photo of yourself two years ago.

Two years ago, I wore bright colors and frequented Golden Nugget more than I do now. I still get the Guadelajara Skillet.

Day 6 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.

I think Mitsu would have a ball with another creature in the house, but I think capybaras are really mellow and would want nothing to do with Mitsu-like creatures. I think her ideal companion would be an equally enthusiastic-for-life!!!!!!!111 male Shiba or a Jack Russell Terrer. But I also think I'd die if I had to take care of another dog. 

Day 7 – Your dream wedding.

 

Been done did it!

"Do you know about Shibas?"

Our breeder experience went well, so I'm going to share our little story we've got so far. This is also for Phoebe, who is apparently in the market for a little poodle! And maybe Wesley!

My previous, limited experience with breeders involved finding one at the dog show at Chicago's McCormick Place in February. This seems a good way to meet breeders and to see their dogs' dispositions, but I wasn't willing to wait until February. After figuring out which breeders were in the Midwest and approved by official figures (AKC, National Shiba Club of America), I started contacting breeders in the early fall, asking about litters and providing some information about me and Mordecai. Actually, everyone ignored me, so I was getting a little nervous. Were Shibas in such high demand?! Was I going to have to prove in some helicopter mom way that I was a fit owner?! Momoko did say that she had to be "selected" to own her puppy from her New York breeder, and this breeder wanted a survey filled out (which I did, and which was ignored). Finally, Mordecai called Glenchester Kennels. They made sure we knew about the breed, but didn't drill us about ourselves. We were placed on a waiting list, but somewhere at the ass end. So we watched their website and our emails for updates, and eventually anticipated a puppy from either Spirit's litter, born at the end of September, or Danica's litter, born at the beginning of October.

Spirit's litter: Who knew we'd get the one that first caught our eye, "Darkest Muzzle"?

Debbie and Mark diligently kept us updated with many pictures of their growth, from when they looked like guinea pigs to when they looked like miniature wolf pups. We arranged for a late November pick-up, aiming for some time around Thanksgiving. A lot of friends and family started asking us about which gender we wanted. I initially wanted a boy, because I wanted to name it Felix (after 2010 AL Cy Young winner King Felix Hernandez). But I knew that it wasn't necessarily a good idea to get fixated on something superficial, that it had more to do with matching personalities, and anyway, Mordecai did not care at all either way. So eventually I softened up to the idea of a girl, and since there were so many girls in both Spirit's and Danica's litters (8 out of 10 puppies were girls), we figured we'd end up with one. After waiting for so long, we stopped caring about genders, and just longed for A PUPPY in our house. But thinking about it now, it's good that we got a girl because so many of her dog friends will be boys (Oji, Jackson, Boba), and the breeder mentioned potential same-sex aggression in Shibas.

Around the time we figured out we were likely getting a girl, my mom thought of the name "Mitsu," taken from the word "hachimitsu," which means honey, or literally, bee nectar. It looks like (according to my observations at ShibaInuForm.org) everyone who has a Shiba has to name it something Japanese, and I had long been needing to do this as well. Mitsu is easy to pronounce, as it's contained in known Japanese names (Mitsubishi, Mitsuwa), so we were leaning towards Mitsu. (Other contenders were Strawberry, Ichigo ["strawberry" in Japanese], Josée [from "Josée, the Tiger, and the Fish"; apologies to Sean!]).

Left, Mitsu; Right, Poo Monster Dud

It turned out the one I thought was a boy was one of the remaining two puppies we could choose from. Our other choice was her lighter coated littermate with rounder eyes. The latter presented a couple of problems right away. One was that she had a heart murmur, which we were told would most likely go away. The other was that we observed her go potty in the breeder's living room, and after she relieved herself, she proceeded to begin EATING what she just excreted. This is apparently a habit picked up from their mother, who is particularly meticulous about cleanliness. I've read that Shibas are very careful about being clean, sometimes prancing around puddles, avoiding the rain, etc., so I wasn't entirely disgusted. "Darkest muzzle" also seemed tempted to join the fecal adventures, but she hesitated and missed her chance.

Goodbye Poo Monster and Keeper (breeders' pick of the litter)!

Mordecai was turned off by the Poo Monster Dud, so we were more prone to picking "Darkest Muzzle." We (and others) had thought she was the cutest of the bunch from previous pictures, so it was nice to see her remain an option for us. She seemed very outgoing, friendly, and cautious but optimistic about unfamiliar territory. I was also impressed that she let pretty much anyone hold her, play with her paws, gums, and even trim her nails with a dremel. I've read that Shibas are not particularly cuddly, so I was drawn to the possibility of contact. And finally, the breeder said that she looked like a good Shiba. Her ears taper forward a little and are well-proportioned, her hind legs bend well, and her eyes are triangular instead of almond (Asian eyes!). If they were keeping two puppies from the litter, the breeder said, Mitsu would have been her second pick. I wonder what her other three littermates were like, especially as they transition into their new homes.

Mitsu's penthouse

I was afraid that Mitsu would have a hard time in the car ride home from Ohio, that she would have a hard time in a new environment, that she wouldn't like being crated at night, etc. But so far, she's been totally fine with car rides; she immediately claimed her crates, bed, toys; and she's allowed us to sleep at night by crying for only a couple of minutes in her crate. It's also been relatively easy to potty train her, as the Shiba literature indicated would happen. Her confidence in herself and her new surroundings is growing, and she's starting to get a bit feisty. One of the current challenges is being able to leave her alone in her giant crate (it's Yuki's old crate, so it's for an Akita, which means she has a mansion of a den space for Mitsu). The main challenge though is to make sure her will never triumphs over ours, partly because she's a Shiba and partly because she's a puppy. I like how people ask us, "Do you know about Shibas?" as if we're gonna be like, "Oh really? They're stubborn and willful and hard to train? My, thank you for informing me!" Child, please! I know how to read a book and use the Internet. I appreciate it, but don't. Anyway, I can already tell what kind of trouble we've gotten ourselves into, and I'm always busy thinking about how to erase bad habits, effective immediately! I got this!

New York, continued

I forgot to finish posting about New York. I had another moment of success at Zara, this time in SoHo. At Old Orchard's Zara here a couple of months ago, I tried on this gray dress but they didn't have it in my size. It's kind of blobby, or maybe "bohemian" is the more flattering term. Though a bit battered from sale frenzies, it was in my size and marked down, so it is now in my possession. I don't really have anywhere to go with such a dress, but at least I have something on standby.

We met up with Nate and Corinne and went to Han Bat, a Korean restaurant. This is probably like the fifth time I've been there. As usual, I got the bibimba in the hot stone bowl (dol sot bibimba/ishiyaki bibimba/石焼ビビンバ).

I let the rice char a little too much before mixing it all up.

We went to the Natural History Museum afterwards, which is sort of like Chicago's Field Museum. As a child, I have to say that the Field Museum was one of my least favorite places to go to in Chicago "for fun." Thankfully, the Natural History Museum has more space and stuff. There is a strong element of creepiness to the museum and its collection (I'm convinced it's haunted), but if it's better than the Field Museum? Can't camplain (sic).

Clockwise from top: Capybara (Lucy!), big blue whale, baby dinosaurs, the elusive coelacanth (at least in Animal Crossing)

Near the museum on the Upper Something Side, I scoped out some real estate; an apartment in this building below will do for an extra home. Surely I have enough saved up for this wanty item.

Before heading back to New Jersey and Long Island, we stopped for three-star coffee.

This place had character. There was a French academic next to us flipping through some paper with lots of footnotes, talking in a heavy accent with a student or colleague. Our waiter looked eternally angry, but I'm sure that's just how his face is. They also slice muffins in half and toast them! When we left, I was taking pictures of the interior and caught the attention of a customer who asked us if we were students and were looking for a tutor.

The "tutor" and Nate's toasted blueberry muffin


The waiter warrants a closeup; this is why I persisted in taking photos inside, unaware of crazy customer potential.

Sadly this time around in NYC, there were no run-ins with nitrolicious, the Sartorialist, happy blog (!!!), Phoebe, or Jenni. Maybe next time! There is never enough time to play in the city.

My NYE

Sam brought his cat on his way back to Indiana. Her coat is growing in well; it's a nice mix of black, white and gray. I love her "independent woman" attitude towards everything.

We watched the countdown in Gumisour, my Animal Crossing town. I hung out with the mayor, Tortimer, and my neighbor Gaston. The Wii clock was a minute or two ahead of the TV network clocks, so we watched this first and switched back to the drunk news anchors reporting from the Trump Hotel and Tower.

Turkey Testicle Festival

For "Thanksgiving Eve," we went out the 26th Annual Turkey Testicle Festival in Huntley, Illinois. I was imagining a dimly lit bar, low attendance, and strange antics, but it turned out to be well-attended by a wide range of people (well, in ages at least, since I could count the number of minorities on my hands), at least one decent cover band, testicular jokes and general immaturity kept to a minimum, and a live turkey!

We shared a cup of deep fried turkey testicles. It didn't taste bad--it was like fried chicken nuggets, with almost a spongy kind of texture. If you don't think about it too much, it's totally edible, but I overthought it and couldn't get past a bite per nut.

This giant man stuck out among the crowd--that vest! He was getting some beer near us and Nik asked him if he hunted the animal for its fur himself. The man started talking about beavers being unable to chomp on wood because trees are getting cut down, so their teeth overgrow. His point seemed to be that there are a lot of beavers out there who are unable to live a meaningful beaver life if their teeth don't function properly, so they are trapped and made into properly lined fur vests with deer hoof buttons and an interior pocket for flasks. Properly justified or not, the vest was undeniably remarkable. It was soft; I touched it when he wasn't looking.

Apparently there was some bet that had to do with when the turkey was going relieve itself where, or something like that, but we missed out on that event. For some reason it was facing a crate full of live ducks (?) and it was guarded by a turkey-like lady. I wanted to show how the turkey was huge, but the lady isn't helping. Please refer to the litter on the ground for proper scale.

I was satisfied with our trip after getting the picture of the vest-man and seeing the turkey. We convinced Nik that there was no point in getting trashed in Huntley when we needed to return to Chicago, and that there was no more reason to be there since a crappy cover band took over the stage. I bought everyone Lion Bars at Meijer (and picked up other things along the way and used their clean, non-port-o-potty bathroom) and pushed Nik around, who was thisclose to vomiting.

Animal Crossing: City Folk

Following in the footsteps of Joe, I will post random pictures and comments about the new Animal Crossing.

Mordecai and I went out of our way to secure it last Saturday night at Meijer out in Rolling Meadows. Meijer is open 24 hours, and they released it at midnight. There were some other kids waiting for the game man to deliver the goods, but they didn't really look like Animal Crossing types. I thought this one young girl who ran up to the games was going to be aboard our ship, but she ran past the Wii games and pointed gleefully at Imagine: Fashion Designer. Our ship turned out to be kind of lonely. At least I got a few Lion bars out of the trip as an added bonus.

Starting (or re-starting) a game is always kind of difficult. I hate working part-time for Tom Nook again, and this house is just tragic. Not having millions of bells at my disposal is difficult. I originally had the nasty haircut (the tri-ponytail), and this mint gingham check shirt is boring. But I was able to acquire some items from the city to spice things up--check out that trench and the bunny balloon! Notice that I also learned to keep my Nook shirt.

The trench is for gloomy British-like days; I needed an everyday outfit. Gracie's Grace featured the tuxedo and this white R. Kelly-Zorro-like mask, so I fished enough crap to acquire the bells necessary. I also got my shoes "shined," which doesn't necessarily mean adding sparkle to the boring red shoes. You can get new shoes! Nevermind the house; must look good!

Initially I didn't understand the simplicity of the picture-taking feature, so I was sitting in front of the TV with my camera. But today I started snapping photos within the game. Is mushroom picking seasonal!? You can eat them!

I've been stingy with my fossils and fish. It's so sad to see Blathers sad, but I want money more than I want to help him with his museum. I bought a Basic Painting from Redd today but it turned out it was fake. Damn!

Who is that character immortalized in the fountain? Is there a sad story behind it?

Oji

Meet Oji. He is the new addition to my parents' household, a 4-or-5 year old Akita rescued from Michigan via MARS. He's still new to everything, but is very gentle and trusting. His name translates to "prince" in Japanese, and is also close enough to the Japanese pronunciation of "Ozzie," his previous name. "Oji" also sounds to me like "O.G.," but he is hardly an original gangster--for instance, he is attached to my dad, can't sleep alone, and doesn't seem to understand the concept of playing with toys (sad!). But who knows, maybe he will start regulating Logan Square soon enough.

When Yuki passed away last March, I was really cynical about pet-ownership. I was even thinking of things to say to my future child about how owning a pet is ultimately bad. But time has made things slightly more bearable. I think Oji is incredibly needy and possibly overly trusty of people, so he's a good fit for my parents, who tend to be overly give-y. This is to say that among other borderline-crazy things that will happen, he will be fed organic chicken while they eat non-organic chicken.

Gumi-Neko Returns

Jenni suggested I give this cat a name. The other day when I saw it again, I baptized it "Gumi-Neko." It's a cat (neko) from Gumisawa (its hood), so obviously, it's "Gumi-Neko."

On my way out to the internet cafe tonight, I walked downstairs and who do I see but Gumi-Neko lounging about. I think it stalked me to figure out where I'm staying. It probably sensed my sympathy for its scraggly ass. Who else takes pictures of the local dirty stray cat and posts them on her blog? Anyway, I went back inside and got it a tray and milk. Gumi-Neko slurped it up quickly, meowed at me very loudly, and I threw the tray away so that the neighbors don't bicker at me or my grandma for feeding a stray cat so close to the apartments.

Peter Rabbit in Japan

Generally speaking, Isezakicho is a kind of odd place. The first strange thing there that comes to mind is the Snake Store, where they sell strange medicines made from snakes. There's a sign on the door that says to only enter if you are making serious purchases; it's intimidating enough to make you reconsider entering to gawk and then pretending like you didn't find what you were looking for and leaving without saying anything. The other strange sighting I have yet to see but have heard about is our family priest roaming about, lonely and drunk. The other day, I saw this man with his rabbit on a leash. Naturally, people stare and comment on how "kawaii" it is, but it looked really anxious and displaced to me.

The saddest cat in the world

Lincoln Park Day

Today we went to the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pond, the Lincoln Park Conservatory, and the Lincoln Park Zoo. There are no pictures of zoo animals because my camera battery died, but here are some other photos from the other places.

This looks cool, but structurally unsound.

Here is a special duck or waterfowl of some sort. It looks more regal than your average Chicago duck, the speckled brown ones or the green headed ones. When I was little, my mother collected the crusts of breads I would reject, and we'd take them to a pond probably not too far from this one, and feed the ducks.

There were these nice cherry blossoms, so pink they look like they would reek of Fanta Strawberry or something equally artificially sweet.

Tree bark. When my dad first went to Japan with my mother and me, he'd often fall behind everyone because he'd stop to take a gazillion pictures. I remember distinctly one time when he disappeared, and we all stopped to ask where he was. We found him directly up against some random tree, taking close ups of its bark.

Here's another one, but with vertical lines and orangish-brownish colors.

At the Conservatory, I walked out of the Fern Room and the first thing I noticed after taking a breath of fresher-than-Fern-Room-air was this woman's stockings. And then I realized she was painting her nails some gaudy pink color that vaguely matched her equally gaudy, furry top. I think I was both appalled and impressed by her behavior. And then Mordecai pointed out that that bench is dedicated to a Kei Roth.

At this point my camera battery was not going to come back to life even if I rubbed it between my hands, so I was not able to take pictures of: a droopy camel hump; a rhinoceros' behind and its contents unloading; shivering and diving penguins; a regal lion basking in the sun; a jaguar pacing back and forth, licking its lips while eying two ducks outside of its cage thingie; a wonderful tiger peeing and pacing around; and random primates. Too bad!