Lists and the women who love them

Last year was a busy blogging year for me… just not on this blog. I launched my webcomic, which – like a shiny, new toy – has gotten the lion’s share of my attention. I’ll admit that I’ve found myself missing this space and hope to give some more attention to my first blog-child in the coming year. (We’ll talk more about that later this month – stay tuned.)

With that in mind, I wanted to start off the new year with a new post. When a friend told me about 50 Happy Things, I just knew that this was the perfect way to kick off 2016 (and to help me find some positivity in a year that seemed to be full of sad news from the world at large). Plus, I love lists. I have a list of the lists that I keep. It’s like list-ception.

You can visit Tales from the Motherland for the full lowdown, but here are the basics:

  • Set a timer for ten minutes.
  • During those ten minutes, write a list of 50(ish) things that made you happy (or that you were grateful for) in 2015. (After time was up, I went back and added some links, comments, and photos – you know I can’t resist a good link roundup.)
  • Add your post to the list of bloggers participating in this flood of gratitude. (Don’t have a blog? That’s okay! You can do this on your own – either just for yourself, or to share with your friends in another format. Also, if you want to tell me some of the things that made you happy in the comments, I’d love to hear them!)

I armed Tavish with a stopwatch, which he promptly ignored in favor of going back to sleep. (Hosting people for New Year’s Eve is exhausting, apparently.) So, looks like I’m on my own. Here we go… Continue reading

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Meet the Bloggers: Hello, my name is Dog Crazy

Meet the Pet Bloggers Hop

Hello, my name is Dog Crazy. (It’s a pretty common name, actually. Even the Queen is a crazy dog lady. For real. She’s one of us.)

And you are?

Grab a cocktail, pull up a patch of the Interwebz, and tell me about yourself. It’s all part of the Meet the Bloggers blog hop – and you’re invited! Continue reading

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Why should you step out from behind that camera? Here’s why.

Meet the Pet Bloggers HopIf you scour my blog, you might find one photo of me. That’s pretty much it.

I was having a conversation with a few blogging friends the other day, and it turns out that I’m not alone on that front.

As bloggers – particularly pet bloggers – we spend a lot of time behind the camera, but not that much in front of it. We post countless photos of our furballs and share all sorts of personal stories, but – for some of us, at least – it’s pretty rare that our faces grace the hallowed HTML of our own blogs.

Continue reading

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Senior dogs rock: Maturity is totally underrated

It’s time for your weekly linkage. I’ve chosen today’s theme for one simple reason. Senior dogs rock.

  1. First up, your punny pet names: Lickey Rooney and Ben Catlock.
  2. This month, I’m doing a series of posts about senior pets on the Grouchy Puppy blog. Head on over and check out my first post to find out how an old dog can teach you some new tricks.
  3. These dogs with old man faces are awesome, as are the accompanying Sanka and Matlock references.
  4. I’m loving these photos of senior dogs across America from Nancy LeVine.
  5. This is slightly off topic, but I don’t care. History is old. This Animals From History ebook looks amazing. (There are puns!) I want to hang prints of the illustrations around my house. It would totally class up the joint.
  6. These vintage art dogs are also pretty great.

Finally, I give you today’s video. This mature dog is pretty charming, don’t you think?

In case you missed it, here’s what else we were up to on the blog this week:

Oh, and don’t forget to swing by Kol’s Notes to enter to win a cool custom pet portrait from AJ Emm!

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How can taking a photo save a life?

I happened to see that Seth Casteel, the photographer behind Underwater Dogs and the founder of Second Chance Photos, was featured on Buzzfeed last month.  Through Second Chance Photos, Seth works with shelters and rescue groups to improve the quality of their photos in order to help more animals get adopted.

The cult of personality: I Still Want More Puppies

Just a goofy, lovable “shelter dog” (now adopted)

I’ve been a big fan of Seth’s work since 2011, when I had the chance to attend one of Seth’s workshops and to interview him for this blog. Since I last featured Seth on the blog, some big things have happened. In addition to Underwater Dogs being featured everywhere (it seems), Seth has partnered with Greater Good, The Animal Rescue Site, The Petfinder Foundation and John Paul Pet to inspire others to save lives through grooming and photography. Check out the campaign at One Picture Saves a Life.

Finally, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite quotes from my interview with Seth:

There is a great picture for every dog – you just have to find a way to figure out what that picture is.

If you try to force a photo shoot on a fearful dog, the photos are going to be negative. Try to understand what the fear is – the camera? you? the world? At some point, you may just have to put on a long lens and hide in the bushes.

The work you do will save lives. It may not always be easy, but shelter pets need your help. Be patient. Be dedicated. Shelter pets do not have a voice, but you can give them one.

If you’d like to read my full interview with Seth, check out Part I and Part II. If you’re interested in finding out what I learned when I attended Seth’s workshop, click here.

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Easy like Sunday morning…

These are the faces of dogs who would love to know why I’m bothering them with the iPhone camera before noon on a Sunday:

Easy like Sunday morning: I Still Want More Puppies

At least they don’t mind the constant Lionel Richie references.

Digging the black & white vibe we’ve got going on today? It’s part of the Black & White Sunday blog hop hosted by You Did What With Your Weiner, My Life in Blog Years, and Dachshund Nola. Stop by one of those blogs to link up & join the fun!

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