Recently we have had some strange weather in LA. First it was really hot, but now it is:
chilly and... (this is a bad picture, but I heve learned that with children and animals you shoot first and then adjust your camera parameters later. This little guy was up on that rock for a while, moving his (her?) head towards the sun, and then looking back at people. By the time I adjusted for high light, he was gone back to his little lamp heated bed.
...very, very dry. This is not an action shot. He actually stopped at this point, and as about to get up. But his hair?! Everybody around was laughing hard... his hair was standing up straight - even his curles were gone - from all the static electricity in the air!
These pictures were taken at the LA Zoo - the children playground is really fun for the kids, but they had notices leftover since the heatwave - the playground was aactually closed because the metal parts (basically everything!) was so hot it was causing burns. Hello? This is LA, and LA Zoo is in one of the hottest areas of LA, and they build a metal playground that heats up so much? It's not that the high temperatures were so high - we get high temperatures during summer months too... anyway...

I believe this is Grga's debut on this blog. He is a 7 year old English Springer Spaniel we rescued from ESRA almost 4 years ago. Now, don't let this picture fool you. He is not mellow at all; this was taken around misnight  last night, his usual sleep time. He is the most complicated dog ever, if he were human he would be one of those people who are ALWAYS worried about something. And he is not really well behaved, but we love him.

This is his usual spot on the sofa, but yesterday pillows were low (and we were sitting on the sofa) so he could not get into his spot. He kept pacing around, and I did not really now what was going on (as I said he freaks about anything and everything) until he jumped up all the way up on top of the pillows. When we moved, he slid down into the position you see on the picture, but he would not move, he claimed his spot. I could not stop laughing so I had to take the pictures. Does he look comfortable to you?

On nother note - two links for today:
    - another source of blanks for kids - Kiddy Kats
    - another crafts store (similar to etsy) - Cut+Paste

I have also finished watching the first season of Northern Exposure. I really, really, really like that show (by the way, the 6th - the final - season will be out on DVD this March). But I was thinking - is it just the show? Or is it also the memories it brings when I watch it? When I was watching it again this time, I was remembering things and thinking about stuff I have not been thinking about in a long time. I first saw it when I was back home, in Croatia, living with my parents, going to college (yes, that's what we typically do, we stay home while in college. And it was fine, actually I would not change it...). I remembered studying, and then waching Northern Exposure late at night. I remembered taking the bus to go to class. I remembered taking exams. And I remembered discussing Northern Exposure with a friend (who I had a crush on, hmm...) between classes and when we happened to walk together back to the bus stop (and it was a rather long walk). And I remembered so many other things, times that were hard but actually worry free and happy (not that these days are not happy, but they are definitely not worry free).

So my question is, would I have liked the show as much if I saw it now for the first time? I remember when I was in a car with my dad, I must have been 12 or 13 and he was listening to some music I did not like, I thought it was so old and boring. I told myself I would never be "stuck" in time, that I would always listen to "new" music. Well, I did not really get stuck, but I do find myself listening more to my favorites - and a lot of them are from when I was younger. Or I will follow those artists that I used to listen to at "that time". Did I get "stuck" in time with Northern Exposure?

By the way - have you seen "Men in Trees". Is that a Northern Exposure wanna-be, or is it just me? I watched two halfs of two episodes recently and I have to say it has not captured my attention. All I do is find similarities with Northern Exposure, but the show's quality is far behind.

I have been inspired by many things recently and I wanted to blog about it, but I am so tired I have hard time writing even these lines. Luka is going through a phase (at least that's how we think about it) and every few days he wakes up at the middle of the night but then he does not go to sleep for hours. Last week, two days in a row he was up for four hours one night, and three hours the next. Just last night he woke up at midnight and was up until about 4:30am. He then woke up at 8am, cheerful as always. I am not so cheerful.
He has not been sleeping well since he was about 10 months old (he is 2 years and 3 months old now). That was the time he started with ear infections, so most of the time he would wake up because of pain. But even after he got the tubes in his ears, and the ear infections stopped, he continued to wake up, every night. I think we had maybe 20 nights since then that he did not wake up. Most of the time he wakes up once and goes back to sleep soon, but sometimes it could take an hour or so. And he does not wnt to be alone and I have a rule that he cannot go to sleep crying. So I stay with him. And to give him some credit, he does not cry, or fuss, or try to talk to me or play. For the most part he is down and is trying to go to sleep, but he just can't. I feel bad for him, but sometimes, like last night I get frustrated. Oh well...

So, I will rest a bit. UHD (Universal HD channel) is showing a rerun of Northern Exposure, the best TV show ever. I have tivo-ed the entire first season, 8 episoed in all. That's what I am going to do now. That makes me happy...