Art Sale

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Saturday, John took his art to the Mandeville Market in hopes of selling some of it. We had constructed some display stands, purchased a small table, printed up business cards, and did everything else we could think of.

The market allows people to exhibit hand made items, art, plants, and food. This was a trial run. Since it was the holiday weekend, we did not know what to expect. The other vendors indicated the foot traffic was a bit down, but John still sold four paintings.

I am proud of the boy. He is taking summer classes and could not really get a job, so he applied his talent to a little hard work. Since he began, he has sold eleven paintings. He has been putting the link to his website around and has increased his site traffic that has generated some orders.

He has made more money than if he had done a minimum wage job full time.

It is amazing what an idea fueled by steady, determined, well thought out effort can accomplish.

Until the next time
John Strain

It's Me!

Hi Everyone,
It's me Bear.

Not much to say, but a picture is worth a thousand barks.

Now, can you find me in my baby picture? This is a picture of me and my litter mates. The trouble is, I don't know which one I am. Daddy says I am probably one of the black puppies. He thinks I am on the far left. What do you think?

I've got to go now so I can help Daddy take the trash out. Then it is bedtime.

Bye for now,
Bear

Digital Books

Last October I downloaded my first audio book from iTunes. I had always resisted this, because deep down, I felt like it was cheating. I guess I believed that, for it to count, you had to hold the book and actually read the words - hopefully without moving your lips. Getting the information into your head was not the main point. The method was important.

Well, I was wrong.

Sure, reading a book is perhaps preferred. One learns a lot by looking at the words. It helps you with your spelling and word recognition. Audio books have some advantages over regular books. With an audio book you can listen anytime and anywhere. You do not need light or even a quiet place. I do not think people have to choose one over the other. Using audio books is a way to increase your exposure to books. Books convey information and entertainment.

For me, reading is a bit difficult. I need good lighting and since I have to hold a magnifying glass, my arms get tired of being all twisted up. If the book is heavy, it is even more difficult to manage. The end result is it takes me a long time to read a book, because I take so many breaks to rest my arms and eyes. Audio books have really been a find for me.

Here is my routine. I get up in the morning and grab my iPod loaded with the book du jour. I listen as I am making the coffee. When I take Bear out for his walk, I am listening as I plod around the quiet predawn streets. When I run, the iPod is with me and I extend the runs so I can keep listening. I make sure I have the iPod with me if I may have to wait somewhere, like a doctor's office.

The best place to download your audio books is Audible Dot Com

Here is a list of the books I have read thus far:
1776, David McCullough
Pulp Physics: Astronomy: Humankind in Space and Time, Dr. Richard Berendzen
Mayflower: a Story of Courage, Community, and War, Nathaniel Philbrick
Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships, Daniel Goleman
Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith, Rob Bell
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, Nathaniel Philbrick
Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer
Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer
A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson
Gang Leader for a Day, Sudhir Venkatesh
The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch
Black Like Me, John Howard Griffin
Opening Day, Jonathan Eig

The Complete Aubrey, Maturin Series by Patrick O'Brian
Master and Commander (1970)
Post Captain (1972)
HMS Surprise (1973)
The Mauritius Command (1977)
Desolation Island (1978)
The Fortune of War (1979)
The Surgeon's Mate (1980)
The Ionian Mission (1981)
Treason's Harbour (1983)
The Far Side of the World (1984)
The Reverse of the Medal (1986)
The Letter of Marque (1988)
The Thirteen Gun Salute (1989)
The Nutmeg of Consolation (1991)
Clarissa Oakes (1992) - (The Truelove in the USA)
The Wine-Dark Sea (1993)
The Commodore (1995)
The Yellow Admiral (1996)
The Hundred Days (1998)
Blue at the Mizzen (1999)
The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey (2004) - (21 in the USA)

I liked this series so much, I am reading it again. Currently, I am about to finish Desolation Island.

It would be difficult to put into words how much I have enjoyed listening to the Patrick O'Brian books about Lucky Jack Aubrey and his friend Stephen Maturin in the Royal Navy. They are set in the time of the Napoleonic Wars, early 1800's. The books just flow, and the narrator, Patrick Tull does a masterful job. He reads semi-dramatically and has a voice for each character true to that individual's nationality. There are different English accents, French, Irish, Scotch, and others.

The books are at times very exciting, frequently funny, and certainly addicting. I feel like I am part of the adventures and I find myself taking Bear on extra walks to find out what is going to happen next.

A lot of the days I did not post, I was at sea with Captain Aubrey, eating ship's biscuit, drinking capital port, and having the most prodigious of times.

So here's to not being laid by the lee.

Until the next time
John Strain

On your mark . . .

It is Monday morning; a beginning of sorts. They say it increases your chances of success to make a goal public. I have gained weight in the last year and a half that I have been injured and unable to run as I would like. The "catch 22" is the weight stresses the offending knee, but the exercise is a major part of my way of managing weight.

The problem I have is I only eat right part of the day. Something happens when I get home. I open the pantry door and start eating chips. Not a handful, but the majority of the bag. The good news is the problem is my own behavior. I can control that.

That is my old behavior. The new behavior is going to be whey protein shakes during the day and the old cottage cheese and peaches at night. I have done it before and if adhered to strictly, the weight melts off. I am ready to pay the price of delaying gratification. Isn't that what most successful goals require?

I need to get the weight to 180 or 179. I am starting from about 200. Let's see; 20 lbs; that should take about 2 months if I stick to the plan.

As for the knee, I am heading back to the doctor mid July.

Now it is public. I have to produce results or I will be ashamed of myself.

Until the next time.
John Strain

Woof

Hi Everyone, It's me Bear.

It has been a long time since these paws have graced this keyboard. I wanted to write since Daddy wasn't, but I kept getting distracted. I lay around a lot being a dog, and I'll have a good idea to post about, but just before I get it all figured out, I hear the refrigerator door open. Well, I have to go in and see what is going on. Daddy may be getting out the cheese or something like that. He likes to eat cheese and he always flips me pieces of it, yum.

How do you like my stuffed football? It is real big, but it squishes so I am able to bite it. Mommy and Daddy always laugh when I carry it around, because I hold my head up and prance. I don't know why I prance when I play with this ball. Maybe it is because it makes me so happy.

Right now, Daddy is making the coffee and when it is ready, he gives me my breakfast. That is almost my most favorite part of the day. I love to hear those biscuits hitting that metal bowl. A lot of times I eat them so fast, I am done and waiting for Daddy to take me on my walk, before his water is drawn in the sink for him to shave.

Did you see Daddy's picture without his beard? About a year ago, he shaved it off. It took Mommy and me a while to get used to it. I am glad my hair stays the same. I would have a hard time wielding a razor. It is hard enough typing without thumbs.

I sure like the summer time. I spend more time in the yard with Daddy. He mowed the grass last night and I watched him. If it gets too hot, I go under the azalea bushes and scratch out a cool hool to lie down in. I get carried away sometimes and Daddy has to yell at me because I am scratching all of his mulch out of the bed into the grass. Ooops. He doesn't get that mad though. No physical abuse, so don't feel like you need to call in an anonymous tip to the St. Tammany Parish Humane Society.

I'd better go, my leash is waiting and there are lots of weeds on which to pee and if I am lucky, I will find some fast food some construction workers threw away. I don't know why Daddy pulls me off of the good stuff when I find it. Just the other day, I was sniffing some dog doo and he told me that it was nasty. I don't criticize his poop. Oh well, humans, you can't live with them and you can't live without them. No offense folks.

Life is good. It's a dogs life you might say. I know you don't have tails, but if you did, I could wish they'd be wagging all day.

Bye for now,
Bear