I meant to put this photo up earlier. A week ago Monday, just three days after he had a nice bath, the warmer weather gave Parker a field of mud to play in:
You should have seen the other guy. At least Parker has black fur; some of his friends showed the dirt a lot better on their white coats.
Four years. We weren't even in World War II for this long. I can't add anything really profound to the debate, but I will repeat something Garry Trudeau had on today's Doonesbury Daily Dose:
"America has been conducting an experiment for the past six years, trying to validate the proposition that it really doesn't make any difference who you elect president. Now we know the result of that experiment."
—Gen. Tony McPeak (retired), member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War
I would also like to point out that the recent spate of confessions from people our government has tortured might carry more weight if the men hadn't also confessed to assassinating the Archduke Ferdinand.
Finally, not that this should surprise anything, the New York Times is reporting today the White House watered down government reports to influence the debate on climate change:
In a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the official, Philip A. Cooney, who left government in 2005, defended the changes he had made in government reports over several years. Mr. Cooney said the editing was part of the normal White House review process and reflected findings in a climate report written for President Bush by the National Academy of Sciences in 2001.
No more than 672 days, 2 hours, and 44 minutes remain in the Bush Administration.
I think we have our answer:
I can confidently say that Parker will probably hit 22.6 kg, and not much bigger. Of course, with the amount of dirt and sticks he eats, you'd think he'd gain. Then again, that's mostly fiber...
Parker has a new behavior.
In my last apartment, Parker would signal his need to go outside by digging at the carpet and whining. At my new apartment, he did the same. But something interesting has happened: Parker has developed, all on his own, a new signal, which he used yesterday about 428 times:


Once he discovered his new power, he wanted to go outside all day. And, as you can predict, once outside he barked to come in. It was tons of fun—for him. So my next step is to figure out how to reduce the behavior to manageable levels.
Yesterday, Parker and I were walking to his afternoon play group meeting when we encountered a beagle-basset-looking dog wandering the streets. I tethered Parker and followed the other dog until she tired of the "keep away" game we had been playing. She had county rabies tags, and a current city license tag, but no other identification.
She most likely lived nearby. She was sweet and friendly, got along with Parker just fine, and waited with us patiently for Animal Control to arrive. But then she had to go to the animal shelter, probably for the night, and her owners probably went crazy looking for her until they (one hopes) got a call from the shelter this morning. The county has no record of what dogs go with what tags; they can do nothing more than confirm the tags are authentic. The city does keep identity records, but the police do not have access to them. Only the animal shelter does, but I'm not sure how, and if they need to talk to someone at City Hall then they're going to be S.O.L. at 5:30 on a Saturday afternoon.
Look, if you own dogs, put ID tags on them. Had this little dog had a phone number on her collar, she would have gotten home probably within ten minutes. It's great that the owners had her rabies shots and city tags up to date, but come on, spend $5 at Petco or Petsmart and get a name tag made. Even microchipping isn't enough, because the shelter may not use the same system that your dog's chip uses.
Think, people: your dog does not know your phone number, and couldn't tell someone even if she knew it.
After only five minutes of tug-of-war with Parker, I had to throw in the towel. Or, what was left of it, anyway:

After the first loud ripping noise (15 seconds into the game), I figured, in for a penny, in for a dime.
What does he smell with that nose, I wonder?
Parker is jumping for joy at the weather:
Today's temperature has already hit 21°C and it's still rising. Also of note, last night was the first night since January 12th that Chicago's temperature did not go below freezing.
Happy spring!
In related news, Ravinia Festival has decided to reconfigure its schedule because of the 17-year cicadas that start singing at the end of May this year. The Daily Parker anxiously awaits Parker's reaction to the bugs.
Quick: who's cuter? OK, no real contest here. He's also better looking than I am: