On my way home tomorrow after a wonderful trip. Lots to blog about. Tune in Thursday for new posts and pics!
Tour of DC
My friend Clare's friend took us for a nighttime tour of DC tonight. I cried at the Lincoln Memorial impressed by both the majesty of the statue and the weight of his words. I was touched by the kindness of Clare's friend, who unasked offered to takeus on a drive of the city. We accepted never expecting him to actually park the car and take us to see the Whitehouse, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Vietnam wall, Einstein's statue and the FDR memorial. We missed seeing the statue of FDR and his Scotty Fala, although we tried to find him. Clare's friend suggested we look for pug paintings at the National Gallery tomorrow. I am touched.
On vacation
Spent today checking out of Blogpaws and into my friend Clare's life. Had a great day unwinding and getting to meet her friends. Had a wonderful barbecue in a backyard garden serenaded by a croaking frog and the chirping of robins followed by apple pie and kumbucha on the deck of another one of her friend's homes. I even got to meet a blind poodle. We ended the day over conversation and tea. Unfortunately my camera was charging so no pictures to share and not much time for blogging. I will be home on Wednesday but blog posts may be scarce for the next two days. But who knows, so please check back in..
Red carpet
I didn't have a pet to walk down the red carpet at Blogpaws gala event this evening, but that didn't stop me from getting dressed up!
Another attendee
I met this cat and his mom between sessions at Blogpaws today. This cat's owner could barely make it down the hall because so many people were stopping her for a photo op.
Pug sighting
Finally, when I had given up all hope I had a pug sighting at Blogpaws today. I was getting out of the elevator on my way to the vendor room when there he was. Not surprisingly, kneeling at his feet was another pug lover I had met. We have radar you know. This fella's name is Sloppy Joe and he was there to accompany a lawyer who was giving a speech on copyright and was using some photographs of Sloppy Joe as illustrations in his speech.
Sloppy Joe is eight years old, but acts much younger and has the blackest most velvety ears I have ever seen on a pug. Tonight, after a spectacular red carpet, I met a chug - half pug/ chihuahua - the tail is always a dead giveaway. her name was Roxy and while I got some pics of her they were taken with my camera and will have to wait until I get home.
Tomorrow my friend Clare will be picking me up and I will be spending a couple of days with her before returning to Vermont.
More from Blogpaws
Another busy day at Blogpaws. Today I attended talks on growing my Facebook followers, writing ebooks, and using Pinterest. I met a writer and dog trainer from Brattleboro, Vt at an afternoon book signing. Her name is Debbie Jacobs and her book is A Guide to Living with and Training a Fearful Dog. She filled me in a little on what might be behind Alfie and Waffles behavior.
At lunch I sat with an animal communicator and healer. She says as an empath, she feels the pain in her body in the same places that the dog or pet experiences theirs. Her site is www.healinggateway.com. Sitting with us was a lawyer and mediator whose niche is conflicts involving animals. Her name is Debra A. Vey Voda-Hamilton and she also is in the process of writing a book. It seems a lot of people are.
I had the opportunity to meet Amy Shojai whose pet thriller Lost and Found I reviewed this winter. The day wound down with some great talks by animal rescues. I am learning a lot and getting some great ideas for the blog, but there is so much going on it leaves your head spinning. I've taken lots of pics but can't quite figure out this whole mobile Wordpress thing or how to upload so many pics from my Sony NEX camera to my iPad, so I will have to share those when I return home. Another full day of activities tomorrow and then I am off on Sunday afternoon to spend some time with my friend from college, Clare.
I spoke to my Mom tonight who is taking car of my pugs while I am gone. It seems that when she pulled up in my car, which she is using while I am gone, the pugs thought it was me and wee sitting in their place by the window waiting when I didn't appear Mom says they went crazy spinning around and looking for me. Tonight I spoke to them on the phone and I guess Waffles got so excited she wagged her tail, something she seldom does.
Just4MyPet, a personalized pet products company provided Blogpaws attendees with free collectible trading cards of their pets. I swung by their booth today and there were mine of Alfie. Personally, I think she was the prettiest dog on the table!
There's so much more to write about but I need to be up early. Keep tuning back in for more on my Blogpaws adventure!
Blogpaws 2013
Once Clare and I really did find our way to the elevator -- and remarkably it was there all along -- I had the serendipitous experience of meeting one of my oldest and most avid blog followers from back when I was putting my first nascent posts on Posterous -- Vinny the Pug or at least his voice, owner Allen Kimble. Unfortunately, poor Vinny passed away. But there was Allen in the elevator and as soon as I saw his name tag, I squealed, "Allen" and we ended up Giving each other a warm hug. It was nice to see a friendly face even if it was one I had never actually seen before.
"Do you two know each other?" My friend Clare asked and it was hard to explain. In this digital age what qualifies as knowing each other? I have worked for one publication since its origins and have only seen the editor once. Come to think of it that's the case for most of the publications for which I write. Tonight, people throughout the conference venue were exclaiming over celebrity pets they knew only through the web. I know that Vinny or Allen's comments on my blog had inspired a number of blog posts, that they were quiet inspiration in the early days to keep writing because at least someone out there was not only listening, but seemed to like what he heard, and that in turn, mourned Vinny's death. Certainly, Allen was a friend. We ended up talking later during the reception as he shared some of what he will be speaking on this Saturday, a marketing plan to sell Vinny the Pug merchandise and to make money to end the killing of healthy pets in the process.
After Allen and I bid each other goodnight to go network with others, I got to watch a demonstration of Sony's new action cam, which one can buy with a harness for your dog, allowing you to see the world from your dog's eye view. I practically placed an order on the spot--Alfie and Waffles need one one of those don't you think. The action cam is only the tip of the iceberg. I also got to see a dog GPS that not only allows you to track Fido should he get lost but also keep track of his daily exercise. I'm pretty sure I can monitor Alfie's exercise or ack thereof without it, but the GPS might be cool for my friend Joan's pugs who often like to wander away. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if it would work in her region of Vermont. the is supposed to be a coverage map online which I will have to check out. I have only spent a few hours at the conference and already have two huge bags of swag. I hear UPS will be on hand to ship things home. I've taken lots of pics but won't be able to post more until I get home.
Meanwhile, on the homefront, I understand that Waffles has taken the opportunity of my absence to sneak upstairs to the third floor bathroom, the one that isn't being renovated to explore the trash for sanitary napkins, wipees or baby diapers. She scored at least one of these! So I guess in our own way, we are each having fun -- now that I think about it, I guess the trash can probably seems like a giant swag bag to Waffles.
The Shining Part 2
This winter when I was sick I happened to catch a documentary about Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. The documentary addressed several theories regarding what the movie might really be about, many of which were conspiracy theories. One of them, for example, suggested that Kubrick faked the moon landing for NASA and then revealed clues about this in the movie. Another discussed how the architecture of the hotel in the movie didn't make sense with hallways leading where they shouldn't go. When my college friend Clare dropped me off at the hotel today where Blogpaws 13 is taking place I found myself remarking that the long, narrow winding halls reminded me of The Shining. I then proceeded to share with Clare the details of the documentary. at first I think she thought I was only rambling but when we tried to follow the receptionist's directions to the 15th floor only to find three Clare had to admit at the very least, this hotel's architecture was confusing. Next we circled the hallway passing the same white chair and discarded pair of tennis shoes several times, no longer able to find the lobby. We did find a hotel phone and called the lobby only to be directed to the same dead end. By this time Clare admitted that we may indeed have found ourselves inside that documentary. Soon we were giddy with laughter, no longer two middle-aged women, but as silly and clueless as we were when we first met as freshmen. I realized that this hotel might not have been my entrance into a horror movie, but it was my passage back in time. And, all this occurred only after an hour of Clare and I being together, just think of the trouble we can get into after a few days. Provided we ever find our way out of this hotel!
The Shining
