Becoming a Dog Person

Laura has become a dog person. She can't remember if she branted about the fact that they got a dog almost six weeks ago, but they did -- an adorable Shetland Sheepdog who is almost four months old now. Ben named her Friday, even though they picked her up on a Thursday, and she could not be cuter, despite the fact that no matter how many times a day Laura takes her out in the freezing cold to do her business -- and no matter how many times a day Friday actually does her business outside -- not to mention the fact that they're "crate-training her" (which is really confusing Laura since she's not sure if you're supposed to get the dog to pee in the crate or outside the crate, in which case, why have a crate at all?) -- Friday still manages to poop and pee throughout the house on a regular basis when left unattended for even a few minutes. Laura's trying to find a few minutes this week to Google the fuck (372) out of dog training and puppy training, but until then she's just a slave to Friday, chasing her around the house with a roll of papertowels and that spray that takes the poop

and pee smell out of carpets.
The weird thing about having a dog is that suddenly Laura is being perceived as a dog person which, trust me, she has never ever been. She has never been an across-the-board dog lover -- in fact, Laura has never liked slobbering yapping hyperactive dogs, even when they've been her friends' dogs. She wasn't raised with dogs and that's the difference between true dog people and non-dog people. Now, taking Friday to school to pick up Ben, or taking Friday to the dog park, people -- other dog people -- come up to her and start talking dog business, as if she is a dog-person, too. As with so many other issues in Laura's life, she feels uncomfortable with the fraudulence of pretending to be something she's not, but, then again, maybe she is becoming a dog person after all. More on this later.

Karen Pike, Photographer, and Friend from Hebrew School, is Friday's Official Photographer. Laura can't believe part of that sentence when she looks at it and actually parses it: i.e., the fact that "friend" and "from Hebrew School" could actually co-exist in the same sentence, but there it is, and it's actually true in this one rare case. Karen was even in Laura's Hebrew School carpool, the motion-sick-fest that occurred before and after every day there, and Karen was often the loud one in the car, making trouble. Laura knew Karen a little bit in high school, but over 25 years passed before they saw each other at a high school friend's daughter's bat mitzvah and reconnected. Despite the misery of Hebrew School, Karen is now a happy person -- living in Vermont with her three kids and her wife, Gillian, and a whole bunch of dogs, growing her photography business. Laura thinks Karen's business should grow really big because the pictures she took of Ben and Friday a few weeks ago are probably the best pictures of Ben Laura has and will ever have. Karen, of course, was just snapping a little before she left -- she wasn't even trying to take great pictures -- and Laura can't understand why she can't figure out how to work her Nikon Coolpix well enough to take a decent picture given the fact that back in high school she and her sister had a dark room in their basement! Again, Laura's going to try to get a few minutes this week so that she can also Google the fuck (373) out of photography and camera settings, but until then she's hoping that you'll take a minute to check out Karen's website and blog: www.kpikephoto.com.

Obligatory Hugh Jackman Comments: Okay, let's just deal with the big elephant in the room. Laura thought Hugh was fabulous, and doesn't understand why so many people didn't think so. Clearly opinions were split, as they usually are with such things -- judging Oscar Night's new emcee and new format is a completely subjective task, obviously -- but seriously, Laura can't believe that people don't have better things to do with their time than rip apart hugely talented beyond-belief handsome Oscar hosts for no good reason. Also, Speaking of Hugh Jackman: (isn't Laura always?), Laura would like to call your attention to this paragraph, which ran in a Spanish newspaper -- "Someone Like You" must have recently been released there on DVD or something -- and the reason she'd like to call your attention to it is because her name and Hugh Jackman's appear in the same paragraph.

MADRID, (OTR/PRESS)

Hugh Jackman, Ashley Judd y la oscariza Marisa Tomey son los tres pesos pesados del mundo de la interpretación que comparten escenario en 'Siempre a tu lado', filme que estrena cuatro. Tony Goldwin, actor del 'Último Samurai', que se estrenó como director con 'Un paseo por la luna', dirige esta comedia romántica basada en la novela de Laura Zigman 'Fauna Conyugal'.

Laura would write more, but she has to take Friday out to do her business. Again. For like the 80th time today....