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Crated by eBay

May 08, 2010 - View Single Entry

I don't consider shopping a sport, of either the spectator or the participatory variety, but I have to admit that shopping on eBay is fun. Last night I scored a Travvy-sized soft dog crate at an excellent price. This is the third crate I've bought on eBay in the last 10 days. Before you suggest consulting eBayers Anonymous, I assure you that it all makes perfect sense. The wire crate I've been using for Travvy is a long-term loaner, and the owner has been making noises about maybe wanting it back. So one of my purchases is a 42-inch wire crate of my (and Travvy's) own. It hasn't arrived yet. It's a little larger than the loaner, but it should fit into Malvina Forester's cargo hold. I hope.

I also wanted a "soft" crate for traveling. Soft crates have a steel frame, but sides, floor, and ceiling are made of a combination of mesh and a washable, probably totally artificial fabric, and the doors -- they may have as many as three, one on either end and one on the side, plus an opening in the top for passing treats and toys through -- zip open and closed. They're lighter and more manageable than the wire variety, and they usually come with a carrying case. They aren't, however, recommended for dogs that aren't used to crates or for avid chewers. Travvy is crate-trained and (fingers crossed here) past the avid chewing stage. He's been riding around in Malvina Forester for nearly two months now, and the upholstery is still intact.

So I checked out the offerings on eBay, did some online research, then bid on and "won" a 36-inch soft crate at a good price. You don't just buy things on eBay; you win them. When you enter a top bid, eBay says, "Congratulations! You're the high bidder!" When you're outbid by someone else, eBay looks momentarily sad then bucks up and says, "Don't let it get away! Make a higher bid!" If you're in the lead when time runs out, eBay congratulates you. If you emerge on top of a last-minute bidding war, it commends you for triumphing in the nick of time. If you lose out, it commiserates then encourages you to try again. Retail outlets, either virtual or real-world, rarely do this. This makes eBay considerably more fun than the local hardware store. So the crate arrived, in rich lilac purple, and was exactly as advertised. Travvy went into it easily, lay down -- and, I thought, looked just a little cramped.

More looking turned up a slightly larger crate -- 39 x 26 x 26 instead of 36 x 24 x 24 -- being sold never-used by an individual who'd bought it and wound up using something else. I put in a bid, monitored it regularly, raised my maximum bid when someone else showed interest, and when the auction ended last night, I got the crate for an exceptionally good price. This morning I listed the smaller crate in the M.V. Times's Bargain Box -- free classifieds for stuff that costs less than $100.

My earlier eBay purchases were all fountain pens. In addition to the Sailor Procolor and the Pilot/Namiki I bought earlier this year, I recently acquired another Sailor Procolor and a Sailor Somiko, all from "engeika," who lives in Japan and deals in excellent pens. For a while there, whenever I logged in, eBay tried to entice me with pens. Now it's using dog crates to catch my attention. Their seduction algorithms don't seem to accommodate someone who's demonstrated an avid interest in both dog crates and fountain pens. Just as well. My next purchase might be an iPod. I've familiarized myself with the various makes, models, and sizes, but I'm not in a big hurry.

That's how I know I'm not eBayers Anonymous material. I can still say "no."

Or at least "not yet."

Laundry Day

May 07, 2010 - View Single Entry

Perfect perfect perfect laundry day, bright and breezy -- and when I got to the laundromat, steeled for the prospect of paying summer rates for the washers, a wash was still $4. So I used three machines instead of cramming everything into two. Travvy and I strolled about while the clothes tumbled. The rent-a-car guy from off-island who has the Siberian husky wasn't there, but we wandered through the airport terminal and TSA didn't throw us out. Like I said, it was a perfect laundry day.

No longjohns in this wash, but there were five turtlenecks and one (light) sweater. Mid-spring was represented by two sweatshirts and three long-sleeved Ts, and thanks to the several warm days we've had, two regular Ts made their first appearance of the year. Everything dried in just a few hours. Pretty soon I'm going to launder my flannel sheets one last time and put them away for the summer, and my various quilts and spreads could use a bath.

As usual, a drawer stuffed full of clean socks and underwear makes me feel as though I'm ready for anything. Anxiety doesn't start till I've only five or six underpants left and rain's in the forecast every day for the next week.

Blurbery

May 06, 2010 - View Single Entry

Back when Mud of the Place was approaching publication, I made a short list of people I really, really wanted to approach for blurbs -- the testimonials that appear on a book's cover or dust jacket. Susan Klein was #1 on the list. Asking people for blurbs is scary. You're asking a busy person to invest considerable time in reading your book and composing a pithy comment, all out of the goodness of his or her heart. What if they say no? Worse, what if they say yes -- and then don't like the book? Susan is not only a world-class storyteller, she grew up on Martha's Vineyard. I really wanted her to like Mud of the Place but my Inner Scairdy-Cat kept spitting up reasons why she'd hate it.

Short version is that she not only wrote Mud a wonderful blurb, she also caught several typos and other gaffes that I'd missed in the manuscript. So a couple of weeks ago, when Susan asked me to write a blurb for Martha's Vineyard -- Now & Zen -- text by Susan, photographs by Alan Brigish -- I was flattered, thrilled, and glad for the opportunity to return a big favor. Would I be willing to keep my editorial eyes open at the same time? You bet.

I knew I was going to like the book. An earlier version was published last year as a e-book serial and can still be read on the Web. I read the revised and expanded manuscript. I loved it. I made some comments and suggestions. Susan and I went over to Alan's house so I could see the photographs and preliminary page layouts on his computer's wide screen. Wow. The design does a stunning job of blending words and images into a powerful whole. Martha's Vineyard -- Now & Zen is a beautiful and eloquent book.

Distilling my response to the book into a blurb? That was a challenge. Writing short has never been my forte, and besides I seriously wanted to do justice to the book. I scribbled notes with one of my new pens. Faces and phrases flickered into my mind as I went about my days. Some drifted on then flickered back; others stuck around. Finally I sat down at the computer, transcribed my scribblings into Morgana V's vast memory, and started pushing them around. Pretty soon I had a 250-word blurb. I sent it to Susan. She loved it but it was too long; could I abridge it? Writing is hard, editing is easy: it took almost no time to cut it almost in half.

Here's a sneak preview of the final version:

Pictures can show us the way things are and the way things were, but only stories can spin the threads that link past and present and direct our gaze toward the future. Alan Brigish's spectacular images and Susan Klein's eloquent words evoke Martha's Vineyard as it is and as it was, and urge us to consider the treasures lost as well as the beauty that remains.

Here is a Martha's Vineyard both fragile and robust, subtle and exuberant; an Island of breathtaking places and wonderfully expressive faces. Here are the celebrations and rituals that offer visitors, newcomers, and old-timers alike a window into both the history and the current life of Martha's Vineyard. Martha's Vineyard -- Now & Zen itself is a window. Open its covers, step through -- and be changed.

Martha's Vineyard -- Now & Zen is due out on July 1. It better be on time, because the first book party is July 2. Its website is up already; it's not 100% complete, but it includes plenty of information about the book, including how to order it.

Cat, Dog, and Vole

May 02, 2010 - View Single Entry

Some fairly near neighbors have been away the last couple of weeks, which means we've been seeing more of their hens lately. Whoever comes by to feed and check on them isn't around as often as their people, so they're ranging farther afield to scrounge bugs and other good stuff. Trav gets quite excited when he sees them from his deck, or when he catches sight of them when we're coming or going. I see this as a "pay attention to me" training opportunity. If Trav weren't on leash, the hens wouldn't have a chance.

Also more in evidence are the neighbors' two cats. The larger of the two, a handsome yellow guy, is a bold one. We've encountered him several times on Pine Hill, the dirt road that runs beyond our house. He stands, or rather lies, his ground as we approach, even as Travvy leans into his walking harness with prey on his mind. "You've got more faith in this leash than I do, cat," I say. "Tugger the barn cat could tell you a cautionary tale or two about messing with Travvy." For Thibeaux, the neighbors' yellow Labradoodle (or maybe golden doodle -- I get my doodles mixed up), cats and hens are fellow creatures. For Travvy they're a source of fun and food, in that order. If I were a cat, I would not take lightly the lunging and wooing of a 78-pound malamute, but it took a brief sojourn in the Jaws of Travvy to convince Tugger that Travvy cuts no slack for cats, even big, gray, arrogant ones.

So this morning we were heading down Pine Hill in the direction of Old County Road. Near Porter's house, aka the house with the red roof, Travvy went on red alert. Just ahead was the cat I rarely see, a small, dark guy. He wisely retreated into the ample scrub. Not far beyond was the yellow cat. The yellow cat was paying almost no attention to Travvy. The yellow cat's attention was devoted about 99% to teasing a vole. At this point Pine Hill is grassy and wide enough for a car to pass. The cat would nudge the vole toward the side, then head it off when it was within a few inches of safety in the scrub. This happened several times, and wasn't leaving Travvy and me much room to pass without risking the lightning-fast Malamute Pounce.

"Cat," I asked, "are you totally oblivious to the fact that Travvy here would love to do unto you as you're doing unto that vole? Except that Travvy doesn't play with his food before he eats it."

Finally we had enough clear space to pass without incident, though not without some excitement. The vole was still intact and uninjured. How long that remained true I can't tell you.

April License Plate Report

April 30, 2010 - View Single Entry

Idaho and D.C. Not that exciting, especially since I almost certainly saw D.C. earlier in the year, like in January, but forgot to write it down. Year-to-date total now stands at 29.