Who started the rumor my dogs are spoiled??

PARTIAL list of instructions I am giving to boarding clinic (multiple copies) while I am following Alter Bridge this weekend:

Ginger Ale & Dickens Dietrich

Emergency numbers: [Multiple]

Note: Any medical emergency up to $XXXX approved if you cannot reach any of us.

Feed: Ginger 2X day, cup filled to line drawn on it. Dry only. Will scarf it down.
Dickens 2X day, cup filled and 2 tsp canned food. No need to mix. Eats over time.

Please place Dickens’ small food bowl inside his crate for meals (so Ginger won’t eat it.)

Please leave Dickens crate (open) in the run with both dogs. Was abused & needs security. Please drape towel OVER crate too, for additional warmth and quiet. Thank you!!

No slip-leash for Dickens—will probably prefer to stay in run entire time, with pee pads.

Ginger is not pad-trained—needs to go out like regular dog. Slip-lead okay.

One play-time for Ginger per day, please. NOT with other dogs. Likes hearty back massage or jumping up for toy, tugging… Not a big fetcher. LOVES people and attention.

Ginger will get defensive and/or aggressive around other large breeds, esp. if they BARK at her.(Both have been attacked by a Rottweiler and are instantly defensive around big dark dogs.)

Dickens will only bite/jump/scurry/pee/expel anal sacs if startled or around very quick movements. If you move slowly & talk to him, you can easily place things in and out of crate.

Check List of Items for Pick-Up Food (if any left); canned food lid and measuring cups; Dickens’ small food bowl; Dicken’s crate w/blanket and hippo; stuffed skunk and brown fabric bone/rope; two cow bones; Ginger’s collar and Dicken’s harness (please leave on in case you need to catch him); blue comforter, and leashes, if left.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for putting up with their owner!!!




Note to local haters--house is being house-sat by hungry, rabid German shepherd, don't be stupid(er).


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When Shadows Fall

When shadows fall, sometimes all you can do is close your eyes and listen to the music... and wait for them to pass. Please let them pass.



'All Hope Is Gone' by Alter Bridge

© Alter Bridge, Roadrunner Records and EMI

A tireless stream of indifference flows
through veins 'till the river runs dry
I no longer care, I have all but disposed
of dreams that I once held inside

Desire is gone after all of these years
the fight has been lost, I concede
the apathy born a long time ago
has grown to what I can't defeat

I've been here too long
I'm tired and longing for more
How long must I run
To find what I'm looking for
All hope is gone

The sadness I carry so deep in my heart
for what could have been and might be
is never forgotten, it's never too far
I'm wasted so worn and so weak

I've been here too long
I'm tired, longing for more
How long must I run
To find what I'm looking for
All hope is gone

Ive been here too long
I'm tired and longing for more
How long must I run
To find what I'm looking for

I've been here too long
I'm tired, longing for more
All hope is gone
All hope is gone
All hope is gone


Holding out for Myles Kennedy

And hope that they pass soon. Nine days until Alter Bridge in Chicago. Read more!

Disorderly conduct

Mark Twain writing in bed, seemingly awake, however.

It is time to admit that I have a serious writing disorder.

I cannot write while I am sleeping, and I am asleep a lot. I thought of referring to it as a sleeping disorder, but I don't really have any problem sleeping. Perhaps "consciousness disorder" is more appropriate.

We could even go so far as to trace it to my depressive disorder(s), but none of that would matter if I could overcome my ridiculously-irritating inability to write while I sleep. I have extremely bold and creative dreams--why isn't anyone taking notes? They seem to last for hours and trying to write them down every morning would require the time span of approximately 3 days. There are extensive plot lines, vivid colors, full soundtracks, foreign languages (okay, Arabic), and always guest appearances by ex-lovers, highly-desirable celebrities and/or musicians, and my beloved deceased pets wandering around. It can get quite congested.

Which is another reason I am sleeping so much. World's Longest Bout of Sinus Infection. Chronic headaches and facial pain are inarguably contraindicated as far as writing is concerned. Likewise, writing on migraine meds is difficult--especially from the perspective of moving one's fingers about correctly on a keypad--something I am not very talented at to start with. I think I just ended that sentence with TWO dangling participles.

As the Sundays are singing it on last.fm, "Here's where the story ends."

"But don't you have to get up for your dogs?" asks the astute and concerned reader. Let me tell you, dogs are just as eager to get back under the covers when it is 20 degrees outside AND their owner is cranky as shit from chronic sinus pain and a life without direction.


SodaPop (frequent dream visitor) and Ginger warming up my guest bed at Sarah and Jeff's about 5 yrs ago.
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Roo needs a home, and I need more Kleenex

On my way to Cali... Read more!

Myles Gives Tour of Alter Bridge Rehearsal Studio

Great video of Myles giving a tour of Alter Bridge's Orlando rehearsal studio. (They had one week to rehearse before starting their first leg.) No special effects, no bad lighting, no quick cuts--just Myles showing us the ropes. Great way to see him as a regular Joe.



I'll be at Alter Bridge's 2nd, 3rd and last date of the first leg, then follow him as he spends more time with Slash, then Alter Bridge will kick off their main tour. I will be selling internal organs as necessary to fund this operation.

OMG he's SO damn cute I could eat him up!! Oops, sorry... Read more!

Alter Bridge, "Words Darker Than Your Wings" from ABIII

Words Darker Than Your Wings is probably my favorite track off of ABIII because it is the first track which has featured solo vocals by Mark Tremonti, marking another step by AB to write outside the box. It is a beautiful arrangement and the two’s vocals complement each other perfectly. I would LOVE to hear it on tour.


'Words Darker Than Their Wings' by Alter Bridge

© Alter Bridge, Roadrunner Records and EMI

Lyrics:

They say you are right
I hope that I'm wrong
I know that you tried
But still it is gone

[Tremonti]
Just don't you lose hope
I swear I never dream that we're alone
Now don't you let go
I swear I still believe though I don't know

Remember the years
I still walked tall
I only fear
Now I only crawl

[Tremonti]
How could I be wrong?
I hope there comes a day your fear is gone
How could we be lost?
Lost just cease to be not carry on

Into the light may you fall
Into the light may you follow
Into the light may you know
Truth alone
Into the light may you fall
Into the light may you follow
Into the light may you know
Truth alone

You can love someone
Go never to ask why
Or to fear again
Go find your peace tonight
Go set out towards the sun
Let the new begin
Go soon your day will come.
Day will come

Into the light may you fall
Into the light may you follow
Into the light may you know
Truth alone
Into the light may you fall
Into the light may you follow
Into the light may you know
Truth alone
Truth alone

Truth alone
Truth alone


Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy


Wish me luck convincing them to play this live. Not on setlists yet. I've got Chicago, St. Louis and Houston to try (so far ;)


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Very Restrained Review of New Alter Bridge Album--ABIII

Or not.

Posted on iTunes with several other blown-away fan reviews. And no, we're not getting paid: It is just that fucking good.

*****************

NDietrich
November 9, 2010

It has been a very long time since I have had the pleasure of listening to an album and skillfully executed and emotionally haunting as ABIII. We were told to expect a darker album, but songs like Ghosts of Days Gone By pierce your soul like a flaming spear. Too much? Hey—you listen to Myles singing the refrain “I don’t want to die…” with a trailing note at least 32 counts long and tell me I’m wrong. A song that almost didn’t make the cut, Words Darker Than Your Wings, is equally chilling and extremely moving in the way that Myles and Mark trade choruses. It is a brilliant duet and one I sincerely hope to hear live one day.

In short, as an AB fan from the start, I have to say this is easily their most mature and most daring piece of work, and Myles’ vocals are as stunning as they have always been. Do yourself a favor and buy this CD as soon as possible. You will not regret it.



What do you mean you haven't bought it yet?

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What? It actually mattered if I voted???

Wisconsin lost a good man, Russ Feingold, from the Senate. And we have a douchebag as governor.

Everybody sleep tight.

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Favorite Sign from Rally For Sanity

Don't worry, it really does say that.

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Zenyatta All The Way!!

What do you get when you nurture a racehorse and let her mature before you run her? You get a champion named Zenyatta. This is a stunning 1200# mare who is currently 19-0, with one last race to go: this Saturday's Breeders Cup, which she has already won before.

Interesting Facts:
Named after Zenyatta Mondatta, the third album by The Police
Began racing at age 3
Birthday: April 1, 2004
Birthplace: Lexington, KY
Current residence: Hollywood Park, Inglewood, Cal.
Size: 17.2 hands [4 inches taller but 200# lighter than Julian]
Auction history: $60,000 at the 2005 Keeneland Sept. Yearling Sale [Very cheap]
Favorite treats: Carrots
Hobbies: Running, dancing & posing for photographs
Nicknames: The Queen; Zennie
Favorite songs: "Roxanne", any jazz by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass

Honors:
Eclipse Award Champion Older Female Horse in 2008 and 2009
First female horse to win the Breeders' Cup Classic
All-time female earnings leader in North America
Won the 2008 Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic
Named by Oprah to the 2010 "O Power List" [Love it--though not interviewed ;)]

Zenyatta #4 with Mike Smith, but #1 to the pole!

And they're OFF! Well, Friday about 5 CST on ESPN, they will be...

Trivia: Secretariat won 16 out of 21 races in his record-breaking career.

Zenyatta

And let her run safely... Swore off races since Barbaro at the Preakness, may he rest in peace. Read more!