Max spent turkey day weekend with us at my folks’ place in Maryland. He had a huge lawn on a lake where a dog can chase ball morning and night and spend the rest of the day rolling around on moss and spent his indoor time feasting on turkey scraps from family members with poor defenses against puppy eyes. Throw in a couple of long hikes, some deer to bark at and a delightful game where Max ran around with a rotten, stinking fish head that he found on the shore while dad chased after him cursing, and you have something close to dog heaven.
Unfortunately, mom and dad have to work. Max is back on the loveseat working through his usual post-vacation sulk.
Chat about whatever.
Comrade Javamanphil
Every lake in Maryland is man-made. (Sadly this has already been a Jeopardy answer so you get nothing for knowing it.)
Gin & Tonic
There was some discussion the other day about that girl in Kansas who tweeted smack about the governor, and people were questioning how the principal could “make” her write an apology, as was reported then. The news today is that she refuses to do so. Good for her.
jl
After formulating a plan for moderate but satisfying Thanksgiving food consumption suitable for a Christian gentleman, I think I passed out, or entered some kind of alternate state of consciousness from over eating on Thursday.
Everything was kind of a blur after the third helping.
I thought there would be respite today at work, but various cakes and cookies appeared in the office kitchen early this morning. I am careful to eat pieces so small that they won’t ‘add up’. That will work, right? Tell me that will work.
dmsilev
(blatant plug follows)
I’ve mentioned before that I work at the Physics department at the University of Chicago. We’re having an Open House this coming Saturday
( Physics with a Bang! )
so if anyone in the Chicago area is curious about how a bunch of scientists spend their time, feel free to swing by Hyde Park on Saturday and pay us a visit.
Joseph Nobles
Explosions reported around an Iranian nuclear facility.
Comrade Javamanphil
@Gin & Tonic: If ever there was an occasion for the non-apology apology, this was it. “I’m so sorry you are such a douchebag, Gov. Brownback, and you took offense at my pointing out this rather obvious fact.”
General Stuck
Max is his usual stately self, an awesome pawesome for sure. I’m going to be traveling and off the grid, maybe for awhile, depends. An early Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all juicers, even the trolls.
jwest
If anyone in the Chicago area is curious about how their tax money is spent, read this:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-bc-il–legislativescholarships-lobbyist,0,7460122.story
Yutsano
MAXPUPPEH!!
Ever more thankful I took today off. If all goes well by next year I can do this without hitting my leave bank at all. Which will be sweet. :)
Of course still gotta drive home tonight. Boo.
@jwest:
Troll fail.
ET
I can’t get past you chasing the dog around while he has a fish head in his mouth.
wesindc
LOL just thinking of the “Jesus Christ Fenton!!!!” video re/ Max with the fish head.
Linda Featheringill
@General Stuck:
?Maybe visit some occupy encampments and report back to us?
JGabriel
Has anyone linked to today’s This Modern World from Tom Tomorrow yet? It’s a gutbuster.
.
jeffreyw
Don’t forget breakfast.
Gin & Tonic
The Hon. Jed Rakoff is my hero today.
trollhattan
Ah, the California initiative process. This year, with 50% more crazy. For example:
And, of course:
We are a nation of idiots.
jeffreyw
Thread needs kittehs.
Yutsano
@trollhattan:
Obligatory reference.
Maude
@trollhattan:
Now they want womb to tomb workers. Get rid of the child labor laws and they are all set. A womb worker doesn’t get benefits.
Mister Papercut
Not to bring a lovely Max thread thread down, but if you’ll please humor me, I’m feeling all the feelings and need to get them out.
I lost my cat Tucker today (Balloon Juice 2011 calendar, black cat in the top center of May — as Lily is to Cole, he was to me: that one animal who is the very beat of your heart). Fourteen years and nine months old. Ten-week battle with an apparent rare and aggressive cancer in his neck.
Well, more like seven weeks, since the first three were spent treating a concurrent ear infection and a wait-and-see approach on the chance that it was a reactive lymph node. No dice. Even after having the mass taken out 3 weeks ago (obviously no margins were possible), he was doing well in energy and disposition (physically, there was indications of developing chronic renal failure) up until Friday. Saturday, lots of tiny, BB-feeling tumors suddenly appeared radiating out from the original site and he was starting to stay encamped on the bed.
Yesterday the slide was even more precipitous, and I knew the time was at hand. I’ve never been solely responsible for an animal before, and I was not only afraid that I’d waited a day too long, but also that I wouldn’t have the courage to go through with it today. But I set my alarm to be able to call the vet right when they opened at 7 a.m. and before bedding down at about quarter to 1, I tearfully begged him to forgive me for what I was about to have to do (I really feared that his White Coat Syndrome would kick in and he would have one last burst of strength and make it all the more awful). I said it was out of all-encompassing love, but if he had to go, it was okay, he could do that too.
Forty minutes later, in bed on the pillow next to my head, he did just that.
Of course, I thought I was prepared for it (I actually made a graphical meme-eulogy for him yesterday so I could have something to do with my hands for a while), but I haven’t begin to process awaking to my dear boy not only lifeless, but also having to handle him ragdoll-limp. I’m exhausted, but I can’t sleep yet. All at once, I’m relieved for him and myself, and I feel guilty for feeling that way (doubly so for feeling like I either didn’t do enough, or did too much when I probably should have sent him across the bridge weeks ago).
Anyone who has any wisdom to impart, especially if you’ve seen this particular movie before, I would be so, so grateful. I had weeks to prepare, and did no small amount of pre-grieving, but I’m go gutted today, I obviously still don’t know what to do.
Linda Featheringill
@Mister Papercut:
The pain of your grief is an honor to Tucker. Do not be ashamed of it. Rather, allow it to shine forth as a memorial to Tucker’s generosity of spirit.
And when you have honored him enough, it will begin to subside.
[[hugs]].
Amir Khalid
@Gin & Tonic:
Here’s even better news. Governor Brownback is apologizing for his staff’s overreaction to Emma Sullivan’s tweet.
Paul in KY
@Mister Papercut: So sorry. He was a beauty.
Amir Khalid
@Mister Papercut:
No wisdom to offer beyond Linda Featheringill’s. But bereavement hits not only harder than you expected, but also where you weren’t expecting. You got to know, balloon Juice is a good place to be, because here you have virtual friends to share your grief. Cherish Tucker’s memory, and take care.
nancydarling
@Mister Papercut: I’ve been there more times than I care to remember, and all I can say is it gets easier with time. They never really die, papercut; Tucker will live in your heart forever. When the time is right, keep your heart open to another cat.
I had to put my best friend down one month after I moved back here alone except for him. Fortunately a little black kitten literally tapped on my arm when I was paying a bill at my new vets here. I took him home when no one else had adopted him a few days later. Thank god I did that as I had something to love and love me back when the time soon came to put Ruffian down.
Several months later, I stopped at our Humane Society on an impulse and lost my heart to a little yellow fur ball who weighs 90 pounds now. He is the happiest dog and utterly devoted to me. He can’t replace my other one, nor should he have to. Our hearts are big enough to hold separate places for all of them.
Kristine
@Mister Papercut: I am so sorry.
Feeling all the feelings is normal. You’re relieved that they’re free from pain and weakness, yet you miss them and part of you wonders if you should have seen something sooner or done more. All the questions come bubbling up.
What Linda Said. The pain eases. You’re feeling very raw now, and maybe can’t believe that would ever be possible. But Tucker was with you until the end, and felt your love. You did good.
schrodinger's cat
@Mister Papercut: What a pretty midnight kitteh! {{{Mr Papercut}}} thanks for sharing, may be you can tell us more about Tucker, talking about him may help.
trollhattan
@Mister Papercut:
So very sorry. I think you’ve already gotten sound advice on how it will go from here. You’ll miss your little friend achingly, which is a good measure of your bond and the quality of your time together. When it’s time for a new friend, he or she will bring new pleasures (and frustrations, they’re not supposed to be furry robots after all) that will enhance, rather than dim your recollections of Tucker.
We lost our first dog the day before Thanksgiving and I now always connect the two, so his successor always gets a little extra love around this time of year.
Paul in KY
@Kristine: Very well said.
gogol's wife
@Mister Papercut:
What Linda said.
There’s no right or wrong time to deal with a fatal illness in a pet. We just do our best, and with love, and that is the right thing.
FormerSwingVoter
I had an interesting Thanksgiving.
After dinner, I sat with some family members, who were in mid-conversation about the Occupy movement. Some of them (my family can mostly be described as “moderate” conservatives) demanded that the police fire live ammunition into the crowds to disperse them.
I’m still trying to process it, actually. I can see where sayings like “never trust someone over 30” came from now. It would appear that people, as they become older, drift closer and closer to actual, bona-fide, unapologetic evil.
We are dealing with an opposition movement that no longer acknowledges our right to exist. To live. To simply not be killed for disagreeing with them.
People are just now daring to question the status quo – and I simply don’t see a way this continues without dead bodies in the streets. Modern “Conservatives” are bloodthirsty, violent fascists who seek to destroy all who dare not validate their hysterical, fantasy-based worldview. And I’m losing all faith that things will get better before they get worse.
ET
@Mister Papercut: I am sorry. You have spent many years with your baby and there is no way to really prepare. You had wonderful years with Tucker just remember them.
Mnemosyne
@Mister Papercut:
When our cat Natasha had cancer, the vets who treated us were very clear that, frankly, there’s not much you can do, because it’s not ethical to put an animal through the same level of chemo as a human since the human can choose it for themselves but the animal can’t.
It sounds like Tucker went the way he would have wanted to: curled up next to his favorite human. It’s always sad to let an animal go before their time (Natasha was also 9) but it doesn’t sound like you have anything to reproach yourself about.
khead
@Mister Papercut:
Sorry for your loss. The posters ahead of me have offered some fine words. The only thing I guess I will add is – be glad you didn’t have to make the vet trip. That trip really sucks.
Mnemosyne
@Joseph Nobles:
Fortunately, it sounds like it wasn’t an attack by another country (yes, Israel, I’m looking at you). I’ll be curious to see what it actually was since the story says they’re getting reports of everything from a refinery fire to a training accident.
Schlemizel
read 2 really disappointing things, First the US is on the wrong side of the cluster bomb argument – again. Joining such great champions of humanitarian behavior as China and Russia our government attempted to get support for a very weak cluster bomb treaty. We could have joined the 111 nations that have signed on to a complete ban but instead offered to not use any manufactured before 1980!
The second was how the NYTimes covered the story – as if the US proposal was actually a good thing. Instead of linking to those Dbags here is a better bit of reporting:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/1128/1224308219040.html
trollhattan
@FormerSwingVoter:
Yikes! Of course, the U.S. Cavalry should have also mowed down the teaparty protesters with gatling guns, right? Right?
Or didn’t they have tents?
tamied
@Gin & Tonic: Me too. I saw that piece and read his comments and I want to have his children.
Mnemosyne
@Schlemizel:
That came up the other day. To me, it sounded like an international use of that frequent Obama administration calculation that weak regulation is better than no regulation so (in their opinion) a crappy treaty that got the other scofflaws on board would be better than nothing at all.
I don’t know much about it, but it sounds like it was a bad proposal on our part, so good on the rest of the UN for saying, “Hell no!”
Cris (without an H)
Ken Russell is dead at 84. I’ve only seen five or six of his extremely weird films, and I can’t say I truly loved any of them. (Some people love Tommy. I thought it was a trainwreck.) But I’ll give him this: he was bold and unconventional to the very end.
Mnemosyne
@Cris (without an H):
I don’t think that my emotion toward it can be termed “love,” but The Devils is one of the most brilliantly horrifying films ever committed to celluloid, IMO. Especially since, unlike most of the horror films of the 1970s, there’s no actual supernatural element at all.
Chat Noir
@Mister Papercut: I’m so sorry for your loss. I’m sure you did everything you could for Tucker and that he knew you loved him dearly. I have three cats and love them like nobody’s business. Please take care of yourself and know that you have a community of folks here at Balloon Juice who love their fur children like you loved Tucker. Give yourself time to grieve for your loss.
FormerSwingVoter
@trollhattan: It was pretty sobering, really. It’s less “stop being a hypocrite” and more “stop being the purest manifestation of evil in the modern world”, to be honest.
PurpleGirl
@JGabriel: Brilliant!!! LOL.
PurpleGirl
@Mister Papercut: No words of wisdom but lots of {{{virtual hugs}}}.
Schlemizel
@Mnemosyne:
2 problems with that
1) The US has more than 1/2 of all the cluster bombs in the world (and is far and away the largest ‘deliverer’ of them
2) the US is the only owner (according to Janes) of pre-1980 cluster bombs. So the treaty really isn’t much of anything
Mnemosyne
@Schlemizel:
That’s according to Human Rights Watch. As far as I can tell, the US actually wouldn’t have benefited all that much from the proposal given our current policies, which is why I suspect it was more of an effort to get a consensus with the other bad actors than a way to continue the status quo. But I realize that doesn’t feed into the “Obama luvz killing!” narrative quite as well.
WaterGirl
@jeffreyw: Homer… our baby is all grown up. It happened so fast!
WaterGirl
@Mister Papercut: I am sobbing after reading what you wrote about Tucker. I lost my kitty soul mate nearly two years ago. The disease was different, but your timeline is all too familiar, including a period with hopes of recovery, only to have my heart broken and a quick decline at the end. The 10 weeks I got to care for Quiver after he got sick only brought us closer, and he adored me as much as I adored him. He was only 9, which seemed way too young. I wasn’t prepared for that at all.
I stumbled on to this quote just two days after he died, and it helped me. I will share it in the hopes that it might bring you some comfort, too.
Just 10 weeks ago I lost my sweet dog, Bailey, too, though this time in just one day. My niece sent me a beautiful card that brought me comfort after losing Bailey. Here’s what it said:
After I got my new puppy, Tucker, a month ago, I realized that Tucker was the “love to comfort me”. I also have 2 wonderful kitties now that I got over a year ago. Not soul mates, but lovely creatures, and i am lucky to share my life with them.
I don’t have any words of wisdom for you, but I do know that it helped me when I framed a photo of Bailey and put it in a place where I could see it first thing when I walked in the door, last thing at night, and where I can look at it whenever I want to. I light a candle in front of the photo every evening, in honor of Bailey. And my favorite photo of Quiver is covers the screen of my laptop, which I see many times a day. We don’t forget, but the terrible pain does ease in time.
I just gave my puppy, Tucker, a long snuggle, and a few tears spilled onto his fur as I whispered to him about your Tucker. Sending that hug your way…
Schlemizel
@Mnemosyne:
who said anything about Obama? These sorts of policies go well beyond any one Administration or party
Mister Papercut
@Chat Noir and others:
That’s exactly why I posted (I don’t post often as I can’t really keep up, either with the volume or the wit of the posters here). A place that shares my politics and where one can be as unabashedly sentimental about pets as you want? Yes, more of that please!
Thank you all for your kind words. I have been far too silent when being the reader of stories like that — I’ve never felt like I was a good comforter, but maybe now having been through my first real personal loss of a pet, I will be able to pay forward what you all have given me.
Tucker actually did have a companion of the past 3 years, another black midnight kitteh (Tucker was my gateway into being besotted with black cats — the superstition ia complete bollocks) named Toby who is way too devoted to me (I fear I was very much the proverbial mother who favors her firstborn), and it breaks my heart. I feel like I haven’t been as nice to him to merit that devotion. I think I’ll let him be My Cat for a while and make myself truly worthy of his love. (If nothing else, my dismal .400 average in the “Shit, Which Cat Is That?” game stands to improve now.)
@WaterGirl:
:'( I didn’t mean to make anyone cry! If you would like, consider my Tucker as yours’ namesake angel. Once he got to know them, he seriously loved dogs. (He actually loved everyone — strangers and new people got followed until he got at least a petting — I called him my “puppy cat” on occasion on account of how doglike he was.) Thank you for the Washington Irving quote, too. Not sure how I’d never crossed paths with it before, but that is precisely a sentiment I needed today.
WaterGirl
@Mister Papercut: Thank you, Mister Papercut. My Tucker and I would be honored to have your Tucker as our angel.
Your Tucker is a beautiful boy. My Tucker pup (4 months old) and my black kitty were chasing around the house last night. Mister Bear (my black kitty) is in the center of July in last year’s on-line calendar.
Tucker and Toby, what a great name combination. I loved what you wrote about Toby. I think that’s a wonderful idea, and I suspect Tucker would strongly approve.
No regrets on how you handled things with Tucker near the end, you didn’t fail him at all, you were exactly what he needed you to be.
You made me laugh with your .400 batting average, which makes us even on the laugh-cry meter.
Andrew Hales
I love your blog. Nice job. :)
“Fail Harder” – Mark Zuckerberg