Just wanted to quickly share some shots from this morning’s trek into Central Park. Ella and I have found a little spot all to our own that, as you can see by these photos, also has a pretty nifty view of the city skyline in the background. Ella enjoys her tennis ball, I enjoy the view…tough to beat.

Enjoy.

(the images are kind of small here-click on any of the pictures or go here to view them in full screen)

Here’s a clip of Ella and Kasey continuing to take over the kitchen. Jenna’s had enough of their antics but isn’t quite up to getting in the middle of them (probably wise), so she hides under the table and barks instead. Apparently Jenna’s bark is at a pitch that only humans can hear because while we wanted to plug our ears, the 2 furkids were oblivious and lost in their play match…

On our recent trip to my parents’ house, Ella was lucky enough to have a special playmate for a few days (and I’m not talking about Jenna who I think we can all agree is not interested in being considered for the “playmate” role). My brother and sister-in-law brought their dog Kasey, a 3 year old chocolate lab who had no idea what she was in for.

Meet Kasey

Ella was sidling up to Kasey and relentlessly instigating play fights from the second poor Kasey set paw in the house. Although Kasey has calmed down a lot over the last year or two, she was just as devilish as Ella as a puppy and pretty quickly rediscovered the imp within.

Thank goodness my mom was so preoccupied with a busy last week of teaching and retirement parties that she wasn’t around for a lot of their mischief. In the end, nothing was broken and there were no carpet stains that couldn’t be treated, but I’m not going to say there weren’t some close calls. One of my mother’s friends who roasted her at a retirement gathering that week characterized my mom in this way: “She is not satisfied with the cleanliness of her house unless there are visible vacuum lines on the carpet”. That is the truest statement ever uttered. So you can imagine what my mom thought when she saw the vacuum lines replaced with paw prints.

Here they are in the dining room - watch out for the crystal!

And here they are in the living room - which shouldn’t be called a living room because ordinarily no one sets foot - let alone lives - in it.

And finally, here’s “Ella and Kasey - Round 1″. My favorite part is the butt sniff at the end of the round…Dogs will be dogs…

Ella and I recently came upon a lovely Ballerina Mime in Central Park. I have seen her once or twice before, but this was Ella’s first glimpse. The mime stands still as a statue until a passerby gives her money and then she performs some improvisational ballet moves. Always on the lookout for a good photo op, I must admit I wanted to give her some money in exchange for her agreeing to strike a pose or two with the pup for the camera. Do you think for 10 bucks she’d be agreeable to trying some sort of lift combo with Ella?

Anyway, I realized pretty quickly that I left the apartment without my wallet which is pretty typical. I usually forget something - cell phone, Ella’s ball, etc - and frankly I’d rather forget my wallet than poop bags which I have done before and was forced to come up with some very creative clean up solutions which won’t be discussed here. Anyway, priorities in line, I did remember my camera, so I decided to try to discreetly get a few pics of her from afar. The Ballerina Mime may have done a lift combo without the cash (how far does “pretty please” get you these days?), but my morals told me it was better to steal a photo from afar instead.

I found out when I got home that apparently the Ballerina Mime is pretty well known in these parts. Her name is Therisa Barber, and she’s a classically trained dancer who moved from England to New York City hoping to make it on Broadway. You can read a really nice bio of Therisa here, and here’s a short clip of her in action:

There’s a beautiful flower shop a block or so away from me, and Ella and I frequently pass it on our way to and from Central Park. While I like the shop for it’s exotic orchids, Ella likes it because of the cat who stands guard in the doorway.

While walking home today, Ella literally stumbled into kitty who had ventured further out onto the sidewalk than he usually does. Both stunned by the moment, they looked at each other and stared - totally frozen for a good 10 seconds. I admit I was too. Then the blood rushed quickly back to my brain and I thought ” CAMERA CAMERA CAMERA CAMERA!”. See, I recently vowed to never leave my apartment without my camera. The marinara street pie incident was the last straw - I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been out and some bizarre stuff went down and I didn’t have anything with me to capture the moment. And nobody will believe me without documentation. For example, there was the time we saw a woman wearing a shower cap bee-bopping along on her way to the subway as if it were totally normal…and just recently on the bench outside of Le Pain Quotidien there was a bra the size of texas laid out ever so delicately, again as if it were totally ordinary a) that a superhuman sized bra exists, and that b) it should be displayed on a public bench. Given Ella’s fetish for intimate garments, I was waiting for her to pick it up in her mouth and carry it for the remainder of our walk. Thank god she didn’t. Can you imagined if that happened and I was cameraless?? I would never have forgiven myself.

Anyway, back to Ella v Kitty. So, these photos and video aren’t the best because as I was hurriedly digging in my bag for my camera, some guy handing out flyers came over to solicit me (umm, hello - dog v cat going on here - screw your astrological readings). Then, NYC Prep came through with their snobby air and expensive clothes and forced me to cut the taping short as their entitled butts couldn’t be bothered to walk around us. Anyway, suffice it to say this was the first of what I hope will be many rounds between Ella and the flower shop cat.

Coy kitty acts like he’s up for a fight…but then again maybe not.

Kitty plays it cool and opts to walk away - today, at least

Cool Kitty heads inside - totally over it

So there’s this thing called “Facebook” - I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. Tiny little social networking site. Not too many people using it yet. Might catch on one day. All depends on whether it turns out people like sharing photos of themselves with friends and family in their own personal online space. And clearly that remains to be seen.

In the meantime I figure it can’t hurt for Ella and I to create our own space on Facebook - you know, as an experiment. Truth is, we’re pretty lonely talking to ourselves here on this blog and would really love some company. Besides, as much as Ella LOVES to be the focus of attention like she is on Growing Up With Pup, even she would gladly share the spotlight with some equally sweet, mischievous, adorable doggies.

So, if you have a Facebook account already, please locate some of your favorite pup pics and head on over to the Growing Up With Pup page! You can add photos, videos, comments, information about upcoming events, applications…anything you want. It’s OUR page! If you don’t yet have a Facebook account, it’s a breeze to sign up (click here) - just create a username and password, fill in your profile as much or little as you like, and get to posting on our page. Any questions, drop me a line!

One thing about living in NYC - you really have to watch out for street scum.  And by street scum, I not only mean the gross fruit stand guys who hit on you and think giving you the occasional free orange will win your heart and then some (hypothetically); I mean quite literally the crap that is on the sidewalks of the city.  I have tirelessly worked to get Ella to stop sucking up discarded pretzels and hot dog buns - to no avail.  I have quickened my reflexes to a level I never thought possible, all so I can react like lightening when she starts licking the cracks in the sidewalk to uncover a dead baby mouse.  I have straddled her, my hands trying desperately to pry open her tight jaws so I can reach deep in her mouth to extract the chicken bone she snatched on the corner.  I have cursed loudly in frustration after she darts ahead and eats up something totally unidentifiable, struggling to even chew whatever it is - “Will you stop eating sh** off the street?!! Don’t come crying to me when you throw up!!!”

The most frustrating thing about the battle against street scum is that much of it could be prevented if humans would stop discarding food on the street and use this wonderful new invention called a trash can.  One day as Ella walked along casually with an empty bag of Lays potato chips she’d picked up on 77th street, a woman came up to me and said “That should be an ad for an anti-littering campaign”.  Amen, sister.

The worst culprits, though, are the restaurants.  Rather than discard the left over or unused/unbought vittles, they put the stuff out by the curb around the trees on the block.   Usually it’s bread - bagels, croissants, rolls - an Atkins dieter’s nightmare.  I can only think they do it to feed the pigeons - but - and I know PETA will slay me for this - pigeons are FILTHY creatures and while I’d never do anything to actively harm them (really I wouldn’t - I saw a girl try to kick a pigeon at the Bronx Zoo once and I had to be held back so I wouldn’t go over and kick her), I’m not exactly for providing them with regular meals each day so that they can thrive and procreate.  Anyway, point is, the pigeons won’t ever see that bread if Ella gets to it first.  And if I’m not one step ahead of Ella at all times, she WILL get that bread.

The most bizarre street scum I do believe I have ever seen - and I am a New Yorker who has seen it all and is rarely impressed by anything - was this sort of marinara street pie.  It’s not a pizza - there was no crust.  It was a stainless steel pan filled with marinara sauce.  That’s weird enough.  But the fact that someone made that and put it out by the tree?

Well I’m speechless.

You explain this because I can’t.