Memorial day BBQ

We had lots of friends and their dogs over at Rachel's parents hosue for a barbeque. They have a fenced in backyard, so the dogs were allowed to run freely. Hawk made a few appearances, but spent most of the time alone, sleeping on the cool brick floor of the garage. On one of his appearances, he strained his leg again, so I stretched and massaged it until he felt better. Sharone's boxer Kansas didn't like Hawk chasing her, and viciously barked twice at him. Foster ran around like a maniac. Spike cuddled in laps, trying to get some food. Janine and Brett brought Janine's mom's two cute little puppies.

It was a big, dog party... not a big dog, party.

Martha Clara Vineyards - Grateful Event

Today we went to the Martha Clara Vineyards for a Grateful Greyhounds adoption event. We met lots of other greyhound owners, who own lots of greyhounds, and we met some of their hounds. Apparently, people don't bring their older dogs to these events because those dogs just like to lounge at home.

We finally met Joanne and Gina. They were both very happy to see Hawk. We met Joanne's new little greyhound Lady.

I ran around with Hawk a little bit, and he strained his leg. Gina ran out and stretched him, and he was all better again.

We did some wine tasting, without Hawk of course, but unfortunately the wine was not good.

Later we went to Joanne's house and met her two other greyhounds who are sisters.

Jeffrey Jones siting

After I got home from watching the Ultimate Fighting Championship with friends, Hawk and I saw the actor Jeffrey Jones tonight on our walk. Of course I didn't know his name at the time, but I knew he was the evil guy from the "Howard the Duck" movie I saw as a kid. I guess when I was a kid he really scared me in that movie, so I didn't forget him. If he hadn't been so busy helping his friends into taxis outside Bar Centrale, I would have said, "Hey, you were in Howard the Duck." He would have thought that was funny because he has been in so many other things since then, and that movie is insignificant.

Watching the world happen

Hawk and I see much of the world happen, or maybe just NYC. This morning we saw the Sanitation CFC Recovery, which was basically a uniformed guy cutting old window A/C units open, and clipping the inside tubing. We also saw the Code Shred mobile shredding units shredding papers from boxes outside Orso entitled "credit card receipts." Yesterday, we saw the Times Square Alliance painting the light poles.

We also see lots of hand-posted 8 1/2 x 11 signs on the lamp posts, muni-meters, and other places. Many signs have dangling tags for people to tear, people who can't remember the phone number of email address. Signs announce apartments for rent, $15 per man per hour moving services, off-off-Broadway shows, DVDs for sale, and of course "No Parking". Most homemade signs don't last more than one week before someone tears them down or they just fall off. We saw a sign on the corner of 45th and and 9th, outside Zanzibar, that said "R U Bored? Me too. 212-xxx-xxxx". I don't remember the phone number on the side, and there were no more dangling tags for the forgettful, so I couldn't call if I wanted to.

Yankees Road Trippers

We (not including Hawk) went to the ballgame at Shea Stadium tonight. We tailgated/BBQed in the windy World's Fair Marina parking lot before we went inside. We continued our drinking inside the stadium. At one point, a guy wearing brown shorts and a brown shirt, just like a UPS guy, was standing in the aisle next to Mike filming the four people in the row behind the girls. We asked what he was doing, and he said his was filming something for the YES Network. He was filming for the Ultimate Road Trip show. The Yankees Ultimate Road Trippers were quietly enjoying the game right behind us! I saw one of the episodes, where Julio was introduced as living near the stadium and working in his dad's sports shot, and where Tiffany was introduced as a high-maintenance tomboy. Rachel told the road trippers that they would probably make it to my blog, and they took down the website address so they could check it out. If you're reading this road trippers, we're sorry we were an obnoxious bunch of fans, sitting and standing and getting out of our seats so often.

Neil Flynn siting

We had a delicious dinner with friends at Asia de Cuba. Then we saw Sarah Jones in Bridge & Tunnel, which was quite entertaining. She basically did dramatic impressions of New York City culture stereotypes for 95 minutes. On our way back to the apartment, Neil Flynn, the janitor from Scrubs, walked past us. I noticed him, and then pointed him out to Rachel, who agreed that it was him.

Jersey trip

We went to PetSmart in Secaucus to pick up some supplies including a 40-pound bag of dog food. We got Hawk the Kong-brand "Zoom Groom" brush because it seemed to pick up a lot more hair than the other brush we have. He enjoyed PetSmart as usual, but I had to watch him carefully to make sure he didn't pee on anything because he was sniffing around like he was going to. PetSmart has cute Oops cleanup stations though, so I guess they aren't strangers to messes.

We then we over to the great dog run in Lyndhurst. He really ran around a lot, did a lot of chasing, and got into some fiesty dog play-"fights". The other owners at the dog run were especially friendly and curious about greyhounds. One weimaraner owner was happy that there was finally a dog fast enough to keep up with Natasha. Rachel wasn't happy with Hawk's aggressiveness, and she wanted me to break up the dog fights. I don't know if she was concerned with Hawk getting injured again (his hair is slowly growing back over his windmill slicing, and his nose finally looks all black again after he got bit), or just wasn't comfortable with the physical way that dogs play. I expressed my disagreement with her, and told her that I thought it was natural for dogs to play roughly. I would be prepared to break up a fight when the tails stopped wagging and they started barking or biting to injure.

Later in the apartment, Hawk jumped up on Rachel and scratched her leg. Rachel thinks that if we hadn't let Hawk play so roughly at the park, he wouldn't be so physical, and thus he wouldn't have jumped up on her and scratched her. I disagreed, saying that if we don't want him to jump and be so physical in the apartment, we shouldn't get him all riled up right before we take him out for a walk. If you don't know, yes, he gets a little crazy before we take him out for a walk, crouching down, then pouncing up, running back and forth and twirling around. It is quite fun to watch him have so much energy, because he is so mellow 95% of the time. As soon as we get out of the apartment into the hallway, he immediately calms down which is good because we don't want to take a hyper dog out for a walk. If he was hyper, other dogs might be scared of him and hurt him.

Molly Shannon siting

We went to Cold Stone Creamery on the Deuce. On our way home, we heard (you can't mistake that voice) and saw Molly Shannon from Saturday Night Live on 8th Avenue between 44th and 45th Streets. She was walking into the Laugh Factory at around 9:30.

Teddy from 8th and Ocean

I wasn't walking Hawk when I saw him, but it is another interesting celebrity siting. I was walking home and noticed the crazy hair on the back of this guy's head. We were on 42nd and 7th. I thought that his crazy hair looked like Teddy's from 8th & Ocean. So, I walked closer to him, to see his face, and yep, it was Teddy.

"Discovered after entering a modeling competition on a whim back home in Niagara Falls, this 19-year-old is now living the Miami dream -- model style. Sure, he doesn't get to snowboard much anymore, but the local party scene definitely agrees with him. While Teddy has his pick of the women, what he really wants is to fall in love. If he could just find that special someone. Beauty is plentiful but love is slim on this beach."

Photos added

I have added photos to several previous post from April 16, 2006 through today. Check them out.

Happy Mother's Day

Today we had many special guests. My mother and father came over. Rachel's mother, father, sister, and sister's boyfriend came over. We prepared a Mother's Day lunch, and ate lots of delicious food and had lots of conversation. I know the mothers were happy. Hawk didn't have a hard time being the center of attention. When he wasn't sniffing around to see what everyone was eating, he was going up to each person to get a rub or two. Rachel's sister and her boyfriend enjoyed walking him twice. When Hawk was tired, he plopped down on the floor and snoozed. Rachel's mother thought he was so funny taking up so much space.

Woof = Pee signal

We got home late after the horrible Yankees vs. Red Sox game. We were so happy to be home because it was cold, rainy, and the Yanks were not playing well. Oh, and Matsui broke his wrist, too. Of course Hawk was happy to see us. As anyone who has come over to our apartment to visit us can attest to, he lovingly and waggingly welcomes everyone home. Sometimes jumping, always skipping back and forth.

We checked our emails and got warm and dry. As we were relaxing and getting ready for bed, we knew that right before we went to sleep, we would walk Hawk. But he must of really had to pee badly, because he worked up a bark, just one, to let us know that he needed to go out right then and there. And when we took him out when he wanted us too, we realized that oh yes indeed, he did have to go badly. So now we know, if he really has to go, he will let us know. We're happy about that. We wouldn't want him to just pee in the apartment.

Nose to nose

Pharaoh was creeping up to eat his food, drink his water, use his litter box, or just stretch his legs. Meanwhile, Hawk slept in the middle of the living room floor. Suddenly, the house phone rang and Hawk awoke and jumped up, knowing that when the house phone rings, somebody is likely to come in through the front door soon. When Hawk jumped up, Pharaoh was right in front of him. Hawk started to wag his tail. They went nose to nose, sniffing each other. After a few seconds, Pharaoh started moaning and Hawk then backed off. It was nice to see them being nice to each other, though of course Pharaoh could have been nicer. Pharaoh didn't swat or hiss at Hawk. Hawk didn't bark or try to eat Pharaoh. Maybe there's a chance they'll be friends! If not, then at least they somewhat get along.

Greyhound adoption rep

Two people stopped me, just on our afternoon walk, to find out more about greyhound adoption. One guy said that my greyhound must have been expensive. I told him that he was false, that most people who get greyhounds just adopt them when they retire from racing. He said he was from upstate New York, and he didn't think there were any racetracks up there. I told him that there are greyhound rescue groups all over, and they don't have to be near racetracks to get their dogs.

Another lady asked me if Hawk was a rescue. She thought it was great that there were people like me rescuing animals. She told me that she has met other greyhounds, and they are so gentle. She said that Hawk probably smelled horse on her, because she was just petting a cop's horse. I thought that was a little strange. I also thought it was strange that she had a hole in the side of her coat. Seems like Hawk attracts some pretty dirty, but friendly, people (see for example my Sunday post where the odd bag-carrying guy who needed braces wouldn't leave us alone at lunch at Chelsea Grill).

Lazy Sunday

We took Hawk to his first restaurant. We looked for a place with outdoor seating where Hawk could sit quietly while we ate brunch and watched the Yankees win. We ended up at Chelsea Grill. Though they technically don't have outdoor seating, the whole front wall is a rollup door, which was open because the weather was beautiful. So we sat at the table just next to the sidewalk. Hawk struggled to understand that we just wanted him to sit right next to the table. He stood, walking around in the little space we allowed. He had his head over our table, sniffing around. Rachel gave him some calamari. Eventually, he sat down and enjoyed a Flossie. Many passersby noticed him and one strange man wanted to learn all about him and his temperament so he could be informed. We tried to be short with him and told him to have a nice day, so we could eat in peace. But as we won't forget, you can never eat in peace when you eat next to the sidewalk.

We then took an afternoon stroll up to Lincoln Center to see David Blaine in his second to last day before he drowns himself alive.

Finally, around 8 pm we went to the Chelsea dog run. There weren't too many dogs there, so Hawk didn't get to run around to much. The caretaker of the dog run did offer us a free brand new Kong, which someone had left the previous day. We took it home, cleaned it, put a treat in it and some peanut butter, and Hawk was busy for almost an hour. He surprisingly got everything out! We don't know how he did it, especially because the Kong has such a small hole, but he did!

Mayor's Alliance/Maddie's Pet Adoption Festival

Rachel and Hawk attended the Mayor's Alliance/Maddie's Pet Adoption Festival in Central Park today. They hung out at the Grateful Greyhounds booth with Iris and some other people and their greyhounds. Hawk was very social and represented the greyhound breed very nicely. Everyone commented on how beautiful and calm he was. Of course being at Central Park for 4 hours was a long time to stand up, Hawk got to rest, but Rachel kept standing. What a trooper my wife is! Rachel said they got three applications from people wanting to adopt a greyhound!

After my final was over, I drove over to the Upper East Side and found some parking. On my way to the park to see the event wrap up and to pick up tired Rachel and Hawk, I saw a coworker and his bride taking pre-wedding photographs. We were both surprised to see each other. I met another greyhound that looked just like Hawk except he was brindled black and brown, and he wasn't as big as our big boy. I think Hawk enjoyed the company of other greyhounds, and I know he enjoyed being outside for hours. Rachel said she met a guy who's new greyhound loves the frozen Kong. We're thinking about getting one for Hawk, but they are expensive.

Another celebrity siting! Just before we got home, Rachel went inside to Pizza Plus to get a disgusting slice. As I was waiting outside with Hawk, Dustin Hoffman walked by and looked at us.

Jeremy Sisto siting

I decided that I'd try a new approach to exercising with Hawk. I thought that we would go for sprint-walks. We went over to the Intrepid and back. Not too long of a walk, but it still took over 30 minutes. We basically sprinted really hard when the sidewalk was reasonably clear in front of us, and then when we got to some people, we slowed and walked. Hawk has no endurance, so I figured he might enjoy the sprinting and then walking approach more than the leisurely jog. And boy did he enjoy it! He loves running, and he tries to run at my pace, but often runs ahead. When he does run ahead, he keeps looking back to make sure I'm still close. And when he looks back at me, I swear he smiles.

Between 9th and 10th Avenues on 45th Street, I saw Jeremy Sisto walking his dog. He was walking east while I was walking west. We stopped so our dogs could sniff each other. I asked him if he was on Six Feet Under (he was Billy, Brenda's brother and Claire's boyfriend). He said he was, and I told him that I enjoyed that show and he was good in it. He said thank you and we continued on our merry ways.

I doubt he lives in my neighborhood, because I would have seen him before. He is appearing at the Broadway show "Festen" at the Music Box Theater on 45th Street between 8th and Broadway, so he was probably just walking his dog before the 8 o'clock show. He had a cute little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with him.

Meeting Elissa

Hawk met Aunt Elissa finally. Elissa said that Hawk is big. She thought that mom interacting with him was so strange, because mom was normally so afraid of dogs, but mom loves Hawk.