divine angst

Hef more significant than Castro? I’d have to agree. For one thing, I bet more American men would recognize Hef from his picture than would recognize Castro. (I won’t go so far as to say they wouldn’t know who Castro was, if only because of the embargo on Cubanos, but it’s entirely possible most young American men wouldn’t know who Castro was.) For another, um, sex! A decaying communist regime might be interesting to some folks, but sex is interesting to almost all folks.

That being said, I’ll note that Playboy, as a “sex” publication, is pretty outdated. I know their circulation numbers are down, and I know they have a hard time attracting that golden demographic, the 18-24 year-old set. Maybe it’s because Playboy actually has good-quality journalism. It’s not always stuff I agree with, but it’s at least well-written. In some ways, Playboy is like Vanity Fair, but with naked ladies. There’s always a celebrity interview, to bring in the casual reader, a selection of political articles, and fiction. If Dominick Dunne wrote for Playboy, there would be NO difference between the two (except, again, naked ladies).

So, yes, Milbarge, Hef is more significant than Castro. But maybe he shouldn’t be.

Day 2 with Himself went well…or, well enough. I think he’s getting used to us and realizing he lives here now. I did come home yesterday to discover he had had an accident, on our BED no less, but I don’t think he was marking. I think he may have just lost control, or been making a statement, or something of that nature. In any case, we washed the bedding, deodorized everything, and, last night, he slept in the kitchen. He seemed to do better there than in our bedroom.

Today, instead of confining him to the kitchen and the bedroom, we’re going to confine him to just the kitchen while we’re gone, and see how he does. I think he’ll be fine, but if he’s not, the kitchen is mostly indestructible and the floors in there are already trashed. (Thank you prior tenant who appears to have left something big, square, and wet sitting on the floor for an extended period of time. Water damage? Already existed. Hurrah!)

So that’s that. Yesterday’s accident was a little disheartening. And Himself hasn’t quite opened up to us yet. Maybe we haven’t quite opened up to him. We’re all still bonding here, figuring each other out, and we’re all doing a little bit of learning. Mr. Angst and I are learning how to fit Himself into our lives, and Himself is learning a few new tricks and commands. Training a smart, adult dog is actually kind of fun when the stakes are low. (It’s when I try to teach him not to bark at 6am when I’m taking him out that’s not so fun; he has to pee, the neighbors are sleeping, and I’m not quite awake.)

Dog updates will continue.