(R)egrets, I've had a few

colour pencil sketch from my journal

(R)egrets, I’ve had a few.  Should I start to list them all? I think not. No point crying over spilt Milkbones ™. Let me just say that I regret not posting more often on my blog.

I enjoy the exercise of putting my thoughts into words, and documenting bits of my life. But sometimes life actually gets in the way of documenting. It’s a catch 22 of sorts. If I had nothing going on, there would be nothing to document. But when I am busy involved in things that might be worth documenting, I have no time or energy to do so. Ah, well.

So here’s a bit of catch-up (not to be confused with ketchup, which would be quite messy if I actually tried to feed some to you via the computer screen).

My book, DOG-EARED JOURNALS – art and observation from a dog living in Portugal, has been available since November of 2013. 

back and front covers of my book

Wow, how did I not make a big post about that?! Mainly because distribution is the problem. Since it’s self-published, there are tricky bits to work out if I don’t want to give it away for nothing. I could list it on Amazon, but until I fill out some complicated forms (which make me tuck my tail between my legs), listing it there is out of the question. I would receive about 82 cents per book if someone were to buy it through Amazon. The U.S. government would make about six dollars and then Amazon would pocket the rest.

So for now, my dog-loving Canadian friend Krista sells them from her studio in Nova Scotia (and by mail to North American customers). Go to www.kristawells.ca for more info. For my local friends, she recently re-stocked it in my favourite Portuguese bookstore, Livros da Ria Formosa in Lagos (home of my best friend, Rita).  It’s also available as a digital book from www.blurb.com.

Speaking of my dog-loving Canadian friend, it’s time I made a confession. She is actually my alter ego. I know, I know, some of you have probably already guessed this by now, but I just wanted to set the record straight.  My mind and soul is split: half human, half dog. For the sake of continuity and the suspension of disbelief, I will continue the charade of writing this blog from my dog’s eye view. It forces some interesting perspectives, which might never happen if I simply write from my human point of view. Just play ball, okay? Thanks.

So that’s it for now. My two selves are working on a fundraising event to be held here in Burgau early in April. The proceeds will benefit dog shelters in Portugal.  I’ll let you know details in my next blog post. Tchau-wow!

Coffee with a Canine

This is just a quick post to bring you up to date on a bit of news. My dog-loving Canadian friend was interviewed on a really neat blog called Coffee with a Canine. The interview was about our relationship. Well, mostly it's about me.

outside Varandas Bar, journal sketch, ink and watercolour

I contributed this sketch from my journal. There are also a couple of photos with the interview. You can check it out here. Coffee with a Canine. While you’re there, have a look at some of the other posts. You’ll be introduced to a variety of people and their canine friends.

Tchao-wow!

Start the presses! I’m publishing a book!

Start the presses! I’m publishing a book!

This is the cover, a self-portrait.

That’s right. I’m going to be a published author! I’ve always LOVED books – all sorts of books. Books that tell a gripping story, books that introduce me to a different point of view, books with luscious illustrations, silly books, serious books, true books, false books.  And now one of those books will be my illustrated journal!

Of course I couldn’t do this on my own. I have always depended on the kindness of strangers and for this book I had the help of a stranger who has become a friend. I’ve mentioned her on this blog once before. She’s the dog-loving Canadian and it was actually her idea for me to publish my illustrated journals. Let me tell you, when she first suggested it my tail almost wagged right off my butt!

If you want to see more about my friend, she has her own website you can visit. www.kristawells.ca

Obviously this isn’t something I could have done on my own, even if I had thought of it. I am a pretty resourceful dog but there are just some things I can’t work around, the principal one being money: In order to publish a book there are expenses and I don’t think they take bones in lieu of people money. So not only has my dog-loving friend come up with the brilliant idea of publishing my work, she has also very kindly offered to deal with the money and logistics of it all.

I've never understood why people value this ...

... more than this.

If it was dogistics rather than logistics I could have taken care of it. But there were contacts to be made, people to confer with. Other people-y business-y stuff. Now, I’m pretty good at communication, but it is a two way street and there are some people who just don’t know how to communicate with a dog. This could have been a problem, but my friend was the interpreter when necessary. I just kept doing what I do and she took care of the rest.

“So,” you ask, “what’s going to be in this published illustrated journal?” Well dear blog readers, you will recognize a few of the illustrations but most of it will be all new to you. You’ll read more about my everyday wanderings, including a couple of very cool road trips, a close encounter with a famous movie star, observations on the absurdities of people, doggie soul searching, recipes for delicious snacks, sightings of rare birds… all illustrated in my mish-mash style of watercolour and ink, relief prints, collage, scribble, photographs, gouache, acrylic … Hmmm, is there a medium I won’t try?

Part of the published journal covers an intense period in my life, a period of searching for my roots. I’ve always known who my mother is, but until recently I didn’t really give much thought to who my father is. It’s not a question we dogs spend a lot of time chewing over. Readers will be able to follow my quest to find my father and consequently, the meaning of life. Intrigued? Stay posted and I’ll give a very loud bark when it’s available. Aurrrrrrrooooooooooooooooo!

sympathy equals affection

Before I get into the real reason for this post, I have to clarify something. Old-Man-Eyes chastized me for not using the name that her people gave her, which is Josephina. Old-Man-Eyes found out that her people might read this blog and see that I'm not calling her Josephina and she didn't want her people to get upset. So here's the clarification: Dogs call her Old-Man-Eyes and people call her Josephina. This sort of thing happens a lot. People give names to dogs not realizing that they already have a name so from now on if a dog has name that's different from the name people gave him or her, I'll try to use both names if I can remember to.

So, now I have an update on Tiky, my skinny friend from Restaurante Castelejo. I went there yesterday and was hanging out with Old-Man-Eyes (Josephina). She introduced me to a new member of her group.

Lola with one of her people trying (in vain) to get her to lie down

Lola is seven months old and she's a real goof. Sweet, but a goof. She's quite clumsy and floppy and she's so big already that she's knocking us off our feet when we play. It's all in good fun though. I did a sketch of her and when I showed it to her she drooled all over it so I decided to add some spashes of colour to try to cover up the drool stains.

Lola at Restaurante Castelejo

So while we were playing, who should show up but my skinny friend Tiky! She seemed fine, full of energy and wiggles. I asked her what was going on, where she had been. I said that I'd been worried about her, since the last time I'd seen her she had been looking so poorly. Well, what she told me next was pretty funny. She said that when I'd been there a couple of weeks ago  – when I thought she was sick – was all just a show. She was putting on an act for the dog-loving Canadian. Actually, she was just fine but she knows how to manipulate the tourists to get sympathy because sympathy equals affection and if there’s anything that Tiky loves it’s affection. She apologized for not giving me a sign to say she was faking. In order for that not to happen again we’ve devised a signal that she will use to let me know that she’s just toying with the tourists. I can't tell you what that signal is in case a tourist happens to read this. I don't want to jeopardize any future sympathy for Tiky.

Tiky gets a big welcome home. You can barely see her behind giant Lola!

So that clarified things but I still had to ask where she had been lately. She said that while she loves her people and the other 15 (oops, that’s 17 now) dogs she lives with, sometimes she just needs to be alone. She takes off for a couple of days at a time, goes sniffing around the countryside - sleeps under the stars, chases rabbits, basks in the sun - all in peace and quiet. She says it sort of clears her head and calms her down. By the time she returns to her people and the other dogs she's ready to appreciate all that they have to offer - companionship, games, food, conversation and of course AFFECTION. She insists that she would never stay away for very long. She needs her affection. Well, she's getting it now from all sides. I think part of the reason she goes away is because when she gets back she gets even more affection than usual because everyone has missed her so much. Smart girl! I could learn a thing or two from her.

Tchao-wow,

Ruca 

a little help for our friends

my skinny friend Tiky and the dog-loving Canadian

I went out to the west coast last week. I wanted to check on a friend of mine I'd seen a couple of weeks ago. She wasn't looking very well when I saw her then. The photo above shows her lapping up some affection from a dog-loving woman from Canada. I think the woman was worried about her too.

My friend's situation is this: She belongs to a woman who spends a lot of time at Restaurante Castelejo. This woman has 16 dogs. They aren't completely free dogs, nor are they collared dogs. They're free to come and go but they choose to stay with the restaurante woman. And she cares for them more or less. Anyway, I went out again last week to see if I could do anything for my skinny friend but she wasn't there. Three of the other dogs were, but they didn't know where my friend was. One of the three there that day was Old-Man-Eyes, a dog I'd met a few years ago. She was pretty skinny then as you can see in these old pictures, and she had a couple of scabs from where ticks had been picked off, so she was looking a little worse for wear.

Old-Man-Eyes, 2008

Old-Man-Eyes, 2008

You can really see why she's called Old-Man-Eyes. She looks old and worn out by worry, but really she's only about six years old, and she doesn't do that much worrying. Her eyes grabbed me so much that I had to do a painting of her.

Old-Man-Eyes,acrylic on canvas, 20cm x 20cm

When I saw her last week she was actually looking quite healthy. She was even a little chubby.

Old-Man-Eyes looking good, 2011

She told me that life has been treating her well these days. I hope the same can be said for my other friend. Maybe I can get the dog-loving Canadian to help me check up on her. I'll be sure to post any updates on the situation.

Tchao-wow,
ruca