Today we're catching up on four-week-old Netflix movies, a pile of magazines, and needed sleep. Parker has accompanied me throughout the apartment, giving me a new understanding of the phrase "puppy dogging." Same thing yesterday. I went into the lab at one point and less than thirty seconds elapsed before Parker repositioned his nap closer to me:
It's really adorable, but I expect it wastes a lot of energy (which is maybe why he's napping?). I get up, cross the room, and he watches to make sure I'm not going anywhere else. Living room to get another magazine? Prairie-dogging over the couch. Washroom down the hall? Fifteen-second pause, then follows. Kitchen? Arrives before I do.
And as an added bonus, while I was typing this entry, the adorable puppy curled up in a ball at my feet just pooted.
Pyoo.
Parker, ecstatic not to spend the morning in a crate, has transformed himself into a model office pooch today:
Of course, the chewie probably helps:
The Greedy Old Party (Gay Old Party?) made a massive advertising buy yesterday, $8.5 million, almost all of it for negative advertisements. Tammy Duckworth is the "beneficiary" of the largest single expenditure: $870,000. That's how scared the Republicans are they're going to lose the district. They should be.
Parker has discovered birds:
Also, a definition. I've arbitrarily defined "Daily" to mean "once per weekday," and also (because I'm a total geography nerd) defining "day" as starting at midnight Universal Coordinated Time (which is 7pm Central Daylight Time). Today, being Saturday, is a bonus TDP, you lucky dog.
Parker is going to the office later today, too, so there may be yet another bonus TDP if you check back later.
Today Parker is (probably) 18 weeks old, and he's growing fast. We've noticed his ear cartilege firming up a bit, so right now he often has a one-up-one-down look that Anne finds particularly precious:
Here's a comparison shot from six weeks ago:
Also, he slept more than 7½ hours last night, a new record. Sadly, though, he spent 5½ hours in his crate yesterday, also a new record, the poor dear. But when we discovered an exposed wire on a power cord that (fortunately) wasn't plugged in, we realized his free reign of the bedroom had to come to an end. We mitigated his confinement with a peanut butter-infused Kong, which distracted him long enough for us to make good our escape before the crying started.
The Chicago Tribune has endorsed two suburban Democrats in one week. How unexpected. Imagine the Wall Street Journal endorsing Hillary Clinton or Maxine Waters, and you have some idea why I'm surprised. Today they've endorsed Melissa Bean:
Rep. Bean has recognized the need to listen very carefully to her constituents--she's a Democrat in a district that gave 56 percent of its vote to President Bush in 2004. She has charted a moderate, independent course and earned the support of Republicans and Democrats. She has been strong on national defense. She took a risk by voting for the Central America Free Trade Agreement. She knew that would anger some in organized labor—but that it would help businesses in her district expand and create jobs. She is an advocate for small business, gaining her the endorsement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She has the Tribune's endorsement for a second term in the 8th Congressional District
Of course, they managed to be flip and condescending in their endorsement, headlining it "Melissa Bean's Moxie," but still, it's a step. They go on to refuse, pointedly, to endorse my representative, Jan Schakowsky; but since no one knows who's running against her, and last time she won with 76% of the vote, I'm not too worried.
Rep. Sue Kelly (R-NY), dogged by questions about her involvement in the Mark Foley scandal, ran away from reporters and a debate with her Democratic challenger. This probably qualifies as "cut and run," don't you think?
Congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth (D, IL-06) is on WBEZ-Chicago's 848 right now, wiping the floor with her right-wing opponent, Peter Roskam. Tune in if you aren't already listening.
"Well, Peter, I've been to Iraq, where I had steak and lobster every night but I didn't have armor on the truck I drove that carried 5,000 gallons of aviation fuel."
Update: The show is available for download (.mp3, 26.2 MB).
Disclosure: I have contributed money to the Duckworth campaign.
It rained a lot yesterday, but Parker doesn't care. In fact, he's not too fond of the toweling-off process that follows a good splash through the dog park. Maybe he'd prefer a blow dry? (Um, no.)
Bruce Schneier writes today about a pernicious loss of privacy and our complacency about that:
Fewer conversations are ephemeral, and we’re losing control over the data. We trust our ISPs, employers and cellphone companies with our privacy, but again and again they’ve proven they can’t be trusted. Identity thieves routinely gain access to these repositories of our information. Paris Hilton and other celebrities have been the victims of hackers breaking into their cellphone providers’ networks. Google reads our Gmail and inserts context-dependent ads.