Max

Max has been with us for about eight months now, and as you can see, has made himself well and truly at home. Once again, we lucked out, pet-wise - Max is a great pal and companion; just a terrifically good-natured mutt.

Meet Max

Meet Max (formerly known as Wags). This is how he rode home - quietly - from where we picked him up in from the Dog Transport folks in Kittery early this morning.

He's one exhausted pooch, fresh off two days crated up on a bus, now getting a lot of new stuff thrown at him all at once - new people, new house, new backyard... and two insane felines that aren't quite sure what to make of him, either.

It's going to be good having a dog around the house again.

It's official. We've got a new dog. Everything went through okay, and we'll be driving down to meet him and bring him home on the 22nd. The folks from the shelter call him "Wags," but I suspect we'll be changing his name once we get to know him a little. He kinda looks more like a "Max" to me....

Monday Morning Musings

So, let's see... what's been going on here at stately Mills Manor? One cool thing was that Brandi let me order the first three Dark Horse Flash Gordon hardcover collections as my holiday present. This series of volumes collect all of the Flash Gordon original comic book stories (omitting the newspaper strip reprints) published by Dell, King Comics, Charlton Comics, Gold Key and Whitman, from the late Forties through the early 80s. Can't wait for them to arrive - I've read most of the King Comics issues (in Vol. 2) by Al Williamson, but the early Dell issues (in Vol. 1) and the Charlton issues (in Vol. 3) are all new to me!

Now if I could just pick up a little freelance income (or holiday cash), I could get the remaining two volumes....

Along the same general theme: after ten years of distractions, detours and discouragements (almost entirely of my own doing), I'm finally finishing the third chapter of the first story arc of my own space adventure comic, Perils On Planet X, this week. You have no idea how pleased I am to actually be writing the concluding scenes of a story that has been in my head for so long... especially since the art for the damned thing has been more than half finished for, literally, years.

I'm so excited that I really hope POPX will be successful enough to warrant artist Gene Gonzales and I producing the two further story arcs that I have in mind (I've always planned it as a trilogy) - and that it doesn't take another decade (or two) to get around to telling them.

If all goes well, we'll begin serializing Perils On Planet X online, a page or two a week, sometime in 2013, and will probably try a Kickstarter or IndieGoGo campaign to finance an eventual print volume. Stay tuned for further updates, and I'll be sure to let people know when we're ready to launch the new webcomic version.

And, finally, it looks like we may have a new canine companion sooner than anticipated. After losing our girl China last November, we didn't want to rush into getting another dog. For one thing, the loss was so great that honestly, we're still grieving. But in the past few months we'd been talking more and more about adding another critter to the menagerie - we just figured we'd wait until Spring to start looking seriously.

But last week, Brandi was browsing Craig's List, and found an ad placed by an Arkansas shelter/rescue looking for a home for one of their dogs. There were pictures and a video. After checking them out, she showed the ad to me, and we agreed that the dog looked like a good fit for us.

Anyway, Brandi contacted them, then filled out an application, and then had a phone interview, all of which went well... and barring any last minute complications, it looks like we'll be adopting "Wags" (chances are we'll be renaming him) before the end of the month. We just need to finalize a few details - like getting him to Maine - and scrape up the adoption fees, but it all looks good. 

Here's hoping all goes smoothly. Wish us luck. This house needs a dog.

Zoe Is Not Amused

Zoe. Photo by Brandi

Zoe remains unimpressed by Ziggy's youthful exuberance and mad antics....

Nap Time!

Ziggy. Photo by Brandi

Our latest addition to the household is settling in nicely. This is how Ziggy sleeps. Don't try and rub that belly though - I know, it looks so soft and inviting, but it's really a spring-loaded bear trap... with a hair trigger.

Introducing Ziggy

Ziggy. Photo by Brandi

We added a new member to our household over the weekend. Since China passed away last November, the house had been feeling a little empty over the past few months, and Brandi and I had started thinking it was time to adopt a new pet. We considered trying to find another dog, but it was just too soon. So we decided we'd probably like another cat, and on Saturday, we visited the Kennebec Valley Humane Society shelter in Augusta, to see what felines they might have available for adoption.

It didn't take us to long to zero in on the handsome devil pictured above; actually, he zeroed in on us. Most of the other cats in the place were sound asleep, but when he saw us coming he let out with a medley of miaows. We visited with him for a while, and then went home to think some more and be certain that we wanted to bring another cat into the house. Our cat Zoe isn't the most sociable of creatures, and we were concerned how she might handle the arrival of another kitty in her territory.

Anyway, we decided to risk it, and returned to the shelter on Sunday morning. We filled out the paperwork, paid the fee, and brought him home. His name was "Wiggy," but I re-christened him "Ziggy." It seemed slightly less wimpy... and actually suits him pretty well. He's remarkably affectionate, mild-mannered and quite comical.

For the first day, Zoe hissed at him every time she saw him (and at us, too, for bringing him home), but she's calmed down some. She still tries to bully him, but he doesn't let her cow him too much. Today they even shared the bed during nap time (at opposite sides, of course), so I'm hopeful that a mutual tolerance pact is in the offing.

I'm already quite attached to Ziggy, and I look forward to having him around for a long time to come.

Farewell, China

A little over two weeks ago, we lost our dog, China. She contracted an especially virulent case of Lyme Disease at the end of October, and although it looked as if she was going to pull through - twice - she experienced acute renal failure, and on Sunday the 13th, we took her to the vet and let her go.

I have attempted, several times, to write about this over the last two weeks, but each time I tried, I was overcome with emotion and unable to continue. Many people may not understand the depth of my bereavement over the passing of a pet, but China's death really shook me up. She was not just a member of our family - she was our family. Brandi and I adopted her from the Palm Beach Humane Society in December of '02. Over the ensuing years, she was not just our pet, but our constant companion. She accompanied us on road trips and hiking expeditions, weekend drives and camping trips, and, since we moved to Maine in '04, to every family gathering and holiday celebration.

I'm having a very difficult time adjusting to her absence. For the last six years or so, I've worked from home, and my girl was near my side all the time. I still find myself thinking several times a night that I should get up from my computer and go take her for a walk, or, often, find myself slowing as I pass the couch, reaching out to rub her belly.... and then experiencing the cold, hard feeling in my gut that reminds me that she's not there.

It's especially difficult for me because, literally less than a month ago, she was proclaimed to be in perfect health for her age, and it looked like she would be around for many more years. But once her kidneys failed, she seemed to completely give up.

I've lost pets before, and three years ago, I was devastated when we had to put our cat Audrey to sleep. But this loss is hitting me particularly hard. China was a big part of my life every day for almost ten years, and everything just feels "wrong" without her in it.

I haven't done much work over the last two weeks, and things have piled up. I have a design gig that I'm finishing up today, and a huge stack of DVDs and Blu-rays to review for my DVD Late Show website. I haven't even been up to posting to this or any of my other blogs. Hopefully, writing this indicates that I'm ready to get back to work.

Damn. I miss that dog.

China Meets Mr. Bill. Photo by Brandi.

Oh no!

Zoe. Photo by Brandi.

Here's Zoe, keeping me company in my cluttered office.

China. Photo by Brandi

Sneaky Zoe. Photo by Brandi

Zoe. Photo by Brandi

China. Photo by Brandi

Zoe. Photo by Brandi

Why, yes. I have decided to post more pictures of my pets lately. Your point?

China. Photo by Brandi

Zoe. Photo by Brandi

The New Kid

As you poor, regular readers of this self-indulgent tripe I call a blog already know, my wife and I recently had to put our beloved cat, Audrey, to sleep. Her cancer was terminal, and we wanted to spare her pain.

It left a very large hole in our life.

Over the last few weeks, Brandi had been looking into possibly adopting another cat. As it turned out, the local shelter was having free cat adoptions this month, so Saturday we drove over to see if there was some abandoned feline that we could provide a new home for. Well, right inside the door was a cage with a beautifully charismatic brown & white kitty named Snickers.

Well, we looked at another cat, but came back to Snickers, and thought we could live with her. Our only concern was whether she could get along with our dog, China. So we brought her home.

She spent a while exploring our old farmhouse and ignoring the dog – which hurt China's feelings – but quickly settled in, and was soon even giving the dog friendly head-butts. The name "Snickers" had to go, though – especially since she hadn't had it long – and she was soon rechristened "Zoe."

She's only been around for a day and a half, and she's still a bit aloof, but she seems to be coming around. I think she's going to be a very important part of our family.

Also brought home a few DVD rentals this weekend, including Children of Men, Hollywoodland and The Darwin Awards.

Children of Men was a terrifyingly believable hellride, with strong performances from the entire cast and brilliant direction by Alfonso Cuarón, (who also directed the best Harry Potter film to date, Prisoner of Azkaban).

Hollywoodland was okay. Diane Lane was gorgeous, Bob Hoskins was great, I still don't think much of Adrien Brody, and Ben Affleck never convinced me he was George Reeves. Too bad the studio wouldn't let the filmmakers go with Kyle McLachan.

The Darwin Awards was a decent indie dark comedy, with a great premise that I thought they didn't quite do justice to. I also thought Joseph Fiennes was miscast, but Wynona Ryder looked great and turned in a truly decent performance.

Of course, I also watched Steel Dawn. In fact, I bought Steel Dawn. I'm pathetic.