new puppy

Riley

Here is a picture of our new puppy, Riley. She is a sheltie, eight weeks old, and still learning to pee outside.
All the pictures are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbb/sets/1459664/

finger gash (warning: gross)

finger1
Originally uploaded by mattbucher.

I got this new super-sharp vegetable peeler with razorlike teeth and after about ten seconds of use, I promptly cut off a huge chunk of my left index finger. I couldn't get it to stop bleeding (a spouting geyser) so I had to go to the emergency room and have them apply this white goo (liquid stitches). The pain was so intense I nearly passed out, although they did give me a vicodin prescription. I'm having trouble typing today.

new camera

I'll probably be directing your attention to Flickr a little more frequently since we just got a new Nikon Coolpix 4600.

Here are a few random pictures of the bookshelves:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbb/sets/1405706/

On my mind

Books on the nightstand:
- Time and Again by Jack Finney (awesome book about a guy who's selected by a secret government agency to participate in a time-travel experiment which involves him living in the Dakota Apartment building like it's 1882 until suddenly he goes outside one day and it is 1882. Really, this is a cult novel that needs to be revived. Also, it's filled with pseudo-factual photos.)
- Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens (I want to re-read Bleak House, Hard Times, Dombey, Pickwick, everything dude)
- Steinbeck: East of Eden, Travels with Charley, Cannery Row, Cup of Gold all read recently. Next up: Sweet Thursday
- Vegas, by John Gregory Dunne
- Down and Out in Paris and London, by George Orwell

Songs on repeat (feel free to mock, I don't care):
- Telescope Eyes, Eisley (Tyler, Texas: Represent!)
- Sugar Boy, Beth Orton
- Joga, Bjork
- My Doorbell, White Stripes
- I figured you out, Elliott Smith
- generally, Arcade Fire

• Not much to talk about movie-wise. I did see Proof and thought it was OK, but lacked a little of the internal conflict that should be present in the Paltrow character.

• In baseball news, I'm disappointed that Dontrelle Willis didn't win the Cy Young Award. I hope the Yankees get Johnny Damon. They really need mo better pitchers, but Bernie's gone and they just cut Tino so I assume some money will go towards hitters, too.

• Also, as a result of the Orwell and Dickens books I've become mildly obssessed with Britain's pre-decimal currency system (and the slang terms thereof). 1 pound = 240 pennies or 20 shillings. Check out the pictures of the half-crowns, sovereigns, farthings, and florins here.

Riley and her littermates

RILEY-littermates
Originally uploaded by mattbucher.

Somewhere in this litter is our new puppy, Riley. We are going to pick her up in two weeks. Right now she lives in Stillwell, Oklahoma. One of the reasons we left New York is that we couldn't have a dog in our apartment building. All that's about to change...