Meet Maggie

Meet Maggie. The newest addition to the Blackwell Family. And what a trip it's been to introduce this 11 month old Poodle/Terrier mix into our world.

Last Tuesday evening, after weeks of searching, we adopted a 3 year old Brittany Cocker spaniel mixed with some Golden retriever into our family. He was a great little dog, we named him Zeke. But the little guy didn't take to well to the kids. He snapped a few times at little Indie, and we decided he wasn't for us. Great dog if it was just Stacey and I, but the girls come first, obviously. The hard decision, but easy-ish, was made to take him back to the shelter. It happened fast, but it wasn't easy.

So we got back on the internets and started our search again. Stacey and I have wanted a puppy since we were dating. Heck, since we were dating we had decided I would be a stay at home dad. These decisions stick somehow, it's why we're good together.

So on Saturday, we went to the La Brea Tar Pits, where the Super Pet Adoption was going on. We spent 4 hours in the sun, torturing ourselves and our girls looking at dog after dog after dog. It was a true test in marriage, a decision process that wore us down but one we knew we wanted to make.

After hours of searching, walking many dogs and talking to many "dog people" we narrowed down our search to two. They were both great dogs. One, "Norma" (a full poodle), and the other "Goldie". After eating at a food truck and going back into the compound of dogs, our decision was made. "Goldie" was our dog. She was great with the kids, she was calm, a puppy, and beautiful ... and matched our every criteria for a dog. We went to the adoption mom and confessed our love. We wanted THIS dog.

But we had to have a signature from our landlord, saying it was OK to have a dog in our rented home. This seemed like an impossible task. We begged, pleaded, and fought to get her without the signature knowing we wanted to take her home that day. Defeated by the defiant adoption agency we started to head home. We were sad, tired, disappointed. But by the time we had made it from Hollywood to Laurel Canyon on the 101, we had the text from our landlord. "E-mail me the form, I will sign it and fax it back to you." The race was on. We had an hour and a half to get the signature, collect the cash and make it back to the Tar Pits to collect our newest family member.

We made it! Thank goodness for FedEx Kinkos! We filled out the paper work. They rang the bell signifying our puppy was the 100ish puppy adopted that day. We got a new leash, we picked up a few treats and dog food. "Goldie" was ours.

It was exciting. It still is! A new member to our household! We renamed her to "Maggie", as this was more fitting, we felt. And now, she sits at my feet, the most calm, chill, cool puppy I've ever owned. Oh, wait, I've never had a puppy! I didn't grow up with a pet! I'm REALLY excited!!

Plus, we had already purchased a doggie bed, dog food, another leash, dog toys and dog treats. We were ready! And so Maggie is awesome. She loves our girls. No matter how many times they pet her, poke her, step on her, she calmly moves away and licks their faces. She's perfect. Well... she doesn't eat much right now, but that's expected. After a few walks, she's never pooped inside, she's never peed inside and we're all slowly adjusting to this four legged member of our family! The girls love her, she loves the girls, and this little puppy LOOOOOVEEES Stacey. :)

We're excited to start on this adventure of having a dog! Do you have any pets? What was the story of getting your little furry family member? I'd love to hear it. And look forward to more exciting stories as our family grows! What's next? A hamster? A rabbit? Ha! Naw... 4 girls in our family is totally enough for now.

Gardening ... round 2

Last year we attempted to garden. I went out, bought some wood, some good dirt, a shovel and some seeds and was ready to go! It was a few days before Indie was born actually, I remember. So sometime in June.

Garden 2011

Around July our gardeners came (no we're not rich and famous yet, we rent and they provide the gardeners) and they tilled up our garden! It was obviously a garde and we were even starting to see some greenery! I was p-ohed. I still watered it and showed it love, but alas, no veggies. We even had a rope hanging over the garden with the papers the seeds labeling what was where. (See photo)

So this year we started again. We've planted Squash, Carrots, Okra and Peppers. I've also properly labeled everything IN the ground so our gardeners aren't confused.

Here are some photos. We will keep you updated on our progress!

Please don't till our garden, gardeners!

Tools of the trade.

Our Garden 2012

Do you have any advice for gardening? I'm worried about the cats next door, the squirrels and Zoe. Should I put some protective wiring up or anything? Anything special to keep mind of? Any and all advice is more than welcome!

Cheers!
-marc

Indie Loves to Talk!

This girl loves to talk! Don't mind the title screen for the first minute of the video, I didn't know it would be there that long!!

Here's another one.

And make sure you check out my YouTube channel every once in a while to find more videos!

Cheers!
-marc

If

My brother had this hanging on his wall growing up. I love this poem and wanted to share!

If - Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!




If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;



If you can make one heap of all your winnings



If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Black, White, Yellow, Red ... Racism still exists?

I hang out with a 2 1/2 year old and a 9 month old all day. I guess I find it hard to believe that evil still exists outside our little bubble. I find it harder to specify that evil into categories like racism, or hate. But really? A kid, just a kid, minding his own business was gunned down because of the color of his skin?

I was taking my wife to work today and thinking about this. I have several multi-colored friends, and I was wondering how they must feel about this. How scary to think you could be killed for just walking down the street. I mean, I know it could happen to me too if I was in the wrong part of the world, but I'm thinking United States here for the moment.

When I got home I saw a friend/client post this on Facebook:

Sad. WTF people? Let's change this aspect of our world. My girls don't see people differently for such a silly concept like skin color. Their generation could grow up not knowing racism. Can we make that happen? At least?

Cheers,
-marc

I fear...

Having kids has made me more aware of the world around me. I fear what is happening, as I assume all fathers of all time have feared.

I'm watching #Occupy videos on YouTube of people getting arrested for practically nothing. I'm hearing of laws being passed, such as the NDAA Law passed on December 31st, 2011. I'm reading of bloggers being shut down by big government and it scares the shit out of me.

What am I going to tell my children? How will I explain this world to them, when they understand? When will I begin? My oldest is almost 2 and a half ... how do I tell her to speak her mind ... but only when it's acceptable...

I dunno ... maybe this half of bottle of wine isn't helping situations ... but John Stewart's Daily Show isn't funny anymore ... it's sad. I can't laugh at the mockery of government we have in America. But anywhere else isn't any better.

I guess I'll just bunker down in my little hole, raise my family the best I can, explain it to them as best I can, and hope for the best. I've lost hope that anything can change.

What do you think? 

History ... Live. OWS

www.ustream.com/theother99

Last night I got sucked into history.

Regardless of your views on the whole Occupy Wall Street ordeal, technology has made our world one crazy fast paced world.

Last night via Google+ I was directed to a Live Stream on livestream.com where NYPD were evacuating OWS Protestors from Zuccotti Park in NYC. Stream after stream started to pop up as police officers arrested peaceful protestors and started trashing tents, supplies, food and cleaning the park. One stream was coming from what was called "the Kitchen" in the middle of the park and as the protestors were chanting tear gas flied in and the stream went dead. Other streams started going down and people in the chat rooms wondered if the NYPD was interfering with the channels by firebombing (sending a lot of traffic to the sites). I believe people's batteries started to die, or they got arrested and the cops turned off their phones. It was crazy to watch and participate live via social networks, it was about 2:00 am California time but people were still going strong in NYC. Cops everywhere, protestors getting tired, real conversations being broadcasted live for the world to see. Thousands of people were jumping from livestream to livestream as #OWS was trending on Twitter. It was fascinating.

Marcus Yam for The New York Times

When I woke up this morning, I turned on the computer (luckily in the comfort of my warm home) and the streams were back up. People have not slept. This one "Occupier" has been streaming for almost 12 hours. People have brought him batteries to keep his 4g livestream going. Strangers have found him on the street to say thank you, and that they were watching his stream from home. His is a true citizen journalist! His stream has been on national and international news shows.

One attractive female who shared her twitter handle received over 2000 new followers in a matter of minutes. You can actually see her in the NY Times photo above! (bottom left)

One crazy side note, some people did not want to be filmed. I guess this particular guy's stream that I'm linking to has a phone with the words "LIVE STREAM" on the other side of his phone. He was verbally abused and physically abused in front of 10s of thousands of people. Just so you know, if you are in public, you can be filmed.

Now, police are keeping Zuccotti park empty as court rulings are being decided and marches are being planned.

This is America, this is the 21st century, this is crazy.

Robert Stolarik for The New York Times