A Dog Story

BETHLEHEM — After ram­bling for six wet weeks from Naugatuck to Watertown, from Morris to Washington, Conn., and all around Bethlehem, a German shepherd finally went home Saturday.

But it was a new home.

“Hi, buddy boy,” said Dan Di­eterle, a Bethlehem resident who adopted the dog Saturday after having sheltered him for five days and turning him in to authorities Feb. 16. Dieterle lifted the dog into a bear hug at the Watertown Animal Shelter on Saturday afternoon, allowing him to lick his face.

“I can’t believe it,” he said. “I love this dog.”

The previous owners of the dog, a 9-year-old named Alex, read about his travels in Satur­day’s Republican-American, according to Bethlehem and Woodbury Animal Control Offi­cer Angela Bond. They called the Watertown Animal Shelter, where Bond met them Saturday morning.

“They are not bad owners,” Bond said. “Some things hap­pen in your life you have no control over.”

Bond would not disclose the names of the previous owners, saying they were from Nau­gatuck and that they raised Alex from when he was a pup­py. Bond said the couple pre­sented her with a complete medical and pedigree history for Alex.

And though Bond wouldn’t say how the dog got loose or why the couple were unable to track him down, she said she wouldn’t file any charges against them.

“If I felt there was an issue, I certainly would file charges,” Bond said. “That’s not the case.”

Bond said the couple ap­peared happy Alex had been found but also felt upset after giving up custody to the town of Bethlehem.

“I don’t think it was an easy decision,” Bond said. “But it was the best thing they could do."

Bond allowed Dan and Nanette Dieterle to adopt Alex without paying the $50 adoption fee.

The Dieterles joined a group of neighbors and busi­nesses around East Street in Bethlehem who helped feed Alex during an odyssey that began around Christmas. People spotted Alex at Black Rock State Park in Water­town, downtown Morris, in Washington Depot and Beth­lehem. Several people got close enough to pat his head while feeding him, though he mostly ran away when ap­proached.

The Dieterles said Alex lay down two weeks ago on a blanket in a neighbor’s garage before the neighbor closed the door behind him. The Di­eterles took Alex to a veteri­narian and paid for a full checkup and shots.

The Dieterles own a 40­acre horse farm on East Street, including three fenced-in areas with shelters for Alex and their two other dogs.

“I told him his blanket is waiting for him,” Nanette Di­eterle said. But she also knows she’ll need to keep her eye on this dog, which has a penchant for wandering long distances.

“We can’t let him get loose,” she said.

And Then She Had A Lot More To Say

By Arielle

Fear not; the high-estrogen version of this operation will be housed on a separate blog, where I try to maintain my non-girlie credibility with the appropriate level of snark while planning a wedding (and getting all girlie about it).

She Said Yes

The Proposal:

I don’t like Valentine’s Day. This you know.

Then again, there’s hardly anything you don’t know about me. In fact, you’d certainly be the best person to figure out what it is about me that you don’t know. Myself, I’ve lost track.

One thing I needn’t remind you about is that I’m a chronic procrastinator. As I’ve said more than once: Why put off until tomorrow what you can forget about all together? But some things can’t be forgotten. Some things just should not be neglected.

Valentine’s day isn’t really one of those things. Everybody knows it’s a greeting card company’s excuse to make money off of love and guilt. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use the opportunity to express love or give in to guilt. I know I’m always grateful for an Arbor Day card from a local dendrologist.

Anyway, I’m getting off topic here.

I was wondering what should I get you for Valentine’s Day. Well, flowers are obvious. And I hope the ones I sent you made you feel special today. You should feel special every day, but we all know that’s not realistic. I figure sometimes you could use a little reminder. These greeting card companies were on to something.

But I wanted to give you something really special. Something I haven’t given you before. Something you’d remember forever or at least until you conk your head on sailboat’s mast and wander through Mystic aimlessly until you encounter a shirtless Matthew McConaughey with whom you fall in love while he assists in recovering your memory and you and a ragtag group of misfits help him defeat an angry old spinster who has threatened to sell his grandmother’s beachfront cottage to make way for a new condo development. (© 2008 by R. Harrison)

There’s so much I want to give you. After all, you’ve given me more than you might realize. A regular smile. A true sense of who I am and what I can be. A hard time when I pick my nose. A best friend. A home.

I’m not sure what makes the best gift. Usually they aren’t store-bought things. But I’d like to think at this point in our lives together, there aren’t too many things I could give you that wouldn’t also be a gift for me. I don’t mean that in the Homer-buys-a-bowling-ball-for-Marge sense. I mean that anything really worthwhile I could give you, I’d also be giving myself. Your happiness is my happiness. Even if it’s just a pair of new socks to warm your cute little feet.

No, I didn’t buy you socks.

And yes, I did buy you something. But it’s just a token (worse, actually). What’s more valuable, what’s better than anything I’ve ever given you or anyone for that matter is something we can, hopefully, both share forever. Something nobody, not even a shirtless Matthew McConaughey, can take away from us. One of those things that should not be forgotten. Should not be neglected.

And yeah, it’s Valentine’s Day. Maybe that cheapens this gift. I don’t know. I’d like to think it will finally give this day some actual, earned meaning.

So please turn the page.

And please say you will.

Who Cares About Clemens?

By TPerl

Pitchers and catchers report to Tampa today to officially begin Yankees Spring Training. Only 46 days until Opening Day!

Farewell and Adieu

Rest in peace, Roy Scheider. May someone show you the way to go home.

Tuesday Can't Be Super on its Own

I know I'm succumbing to the idealism of youth on this one. But if this country -- the same one that elected George Bush twice and made Tim Allen the no. 1 television star for like five fucking years -- if this country can actually embrace hope and actual change...

Well, we'll see if anyting actual changes. But even that slim chance is worth more than all the alternatives stacked up together. Happy Super Tuesday. What say we make it memorable?

18-1

By TPerl



Perfect.

He Could...Go...All...The...Way...

...off the deep end. A Chris Berman meltdown to help celebrate a miserable Super Bowl Sunday.



Update: If YouTube takes this down, go here for the goodtimes fun.

Update Update: How the hell did this escape my attention?