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Recent Battles
Queen Victoria
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Juicing The Sheep
09 April 2009 11:11 AM | No CommentsThe Journal of Queen Victoria Thursday, October 21, 1868 “Juicing the Sheep“ At a quarter to twelve I drove off with Louise and Leopold in the waggonette up to near the “Bush” (the residence of William Brown, the farmer) to see them “juice the sheep.”...
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Queen Victoria’s Border Collies
26 January 2009 4:40 AM | 18 CommentsFor well over a century the “Collie” name has been co-opted by show breeders who have created a monster whose face looks like a door stop with beady eyes set in triangular slits. These same people have co-opted the notion that Queen Victoria was deeply...
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Show Me the Collie
22 January 2009 3:38 AM | 1 CommentHaving established that Queen Victoria’s direct influence on the proliferation of the show Collie is insubstantial at best, let’s explore what impact the Monarchy may have, in fact, had on the culture of dogs during her reign. Five. If the show Collie owes more to...
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The Queen and the Collie
20 January 2009 2:57 AM | 2 CommentsThe old wisdom on the rise of the show Collie is that Queen Victoria met them on a trip to Scotland in the 1860s, became infatuated, acquired them, sponsored them in shows, bred them, and her abundant trend-setting prowess lead to their bountiful rise to...
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The Victorian Collie Myth
19 January 2009 8:03 PM | 5 CommentsThe prevailing creation myth among show Collie enthusiasts is that Queen Victoria’s infatuation with the breed set the ball in motion, elevating the humble farm dog to aristocratic splendor. Queen Victoria saw her first Collies in the 1860′s, and she enthusiastically began to sponsor them,...
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Juicing The Sheep
autobiography Archive
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Endings and Beginnings
Posted on September 24, 2009 | 6 CommentsThe rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated, but the reality hasn’t been sunshine and roses. My father nearly died in March after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke. If it wasn’t for my mother’s sharp eye and the world class stroke center 3 miles away,... -
Graduation
Posted on March 25, 2009 | 1 CommentTen years ago this spring, I graduated from High School. It’s almost unbelievable that it’s been so long, it certainly doesn’t seem like a third of my life has passed since then. The invitation to my 10 year reunion arrived today, adding reality to a... -
Memes about Me
Posted on February 15, 2008 | 4 CommentsI rarely participate in chain letters (and I do recall getting one or two physical letters before the internet was popular) or mass e-mails and the like (they still arrive in my in box on a daily basis), and I usually avoid the temptation to... -
Photo of the Day: Me at Three
Posted on January 14, 2008 | 3 CommentsHere’s a shot of me at three years old, giving authority all the respect it deserves, while strawberry popsicle runs down my chin onto my turtleneck shirt. -
Meet My Dogs
Posted on December 8, 2007 | 2 CommentsBorder Collies are a gift I inherited from my father, and most of my 27 years have been filled with at least one by my side. Measuring my life in dog years is as fitting a benchmark as anything that appears on my resume, transcripts,... -
Make My Day or Make Fido Pay?
Posted on November 21, 2007 | 2 CommentsI feel a change in the air, and it’s not just that lovely autumn breeze bringing the first snow of the season. It’s a mood change, a political change, a rethinking of basic “rights.” People around the country are becoming more hostile to each other... -
Photo of the Day: CHRIS
Posted on September 2, 2007 | No Comments -
In Search of the Great American Hero
Posted on September 2, 2007 | No CommentsAlmost a decade on, I still find this one of my favorite pieces. It was written for my college application essays and worked for Stanford and Yale. Harvard and Princeton didn’t find it nearly as charming and put me on their wait lists. I declined.... -
Narcissism and My First F
Posted on August 26, 2007 | 2 CommentsThe Narcissism of Minor DifferencesPart 1. Wherein the author describes independently theorizing NoMD in 9th grade and getting an F for it.Part 2. Wherein the author applies the NoMD theory to recent group experiences and gets censored for it. Part 1:A decade ago during the...
Queen Victoria's Border Collies