Pets: The Search for a Stylish Dog

My family's first dog was given to us, our second was her pup, and our third we rescued from the pound.  All three were gorgeous.  It's been three years since our last dog, Sam, passed away.  My brother, sister and I decided that this time we wanted to go to a breeder for our next dog.

(r-l) Stewart, Rock, My Brother, London

Now, I've always been partial to large breeds mainly because our first three dogs were large (black lab mix, black lab mix/german shepherd, australian border collie mix).  But, also because I've always felt that large dogs were more stylish and masculine (nothing stylish about walking around with a dog in your handbag).  Yeah, I said it...stylish. Don't laugh.  Next time you see someone walking their dog take a good look.  To a certain extent master and pet resemble each other.  So when my sister started researching Scottish Terriers, a small breed, I was hesitant.

My brother, sister, and I visited a Scottish breeder last week.  I'll be honest with you.  I was pleasantly surprised.  These little guys weren't as little as I thought, and they're bark sounds as intimidating as a large dog (perfect for apartment living).  Not only that, they're sturdy and solid.  Most importantly, they're damn stylish.  You can groom them so that their coat is soft and sleek or you can just let it grow wild and grungy.  I prefer soft and sleek.  I found them totally amusing. The breeder would call their name, and like children, they hear their name, but they don't respond.  

Payton (foreground), Stewart (background)

The best part of the visit was when the matriarch of the bunch, seven year old Tiger,  plopped down in front of my sister, rolled over, and presented her belly for my sister to rub.  The breeder and her husband were amazed.  Apparently, most breeders have one dog which they use as a gage to see if prospective owners were suitable.  Tiger was known as "the mean" one, and she had never done that before.  Well, Tiger did it two more times...once for my brother, and once for me.

Jolene & Payton

Good looks aside, one of the most important things to keep in mind when your planning to adopt a pet is to make sure that their personality and demeanor matches yours.  By the end of the visit, I had fallen in love with three of them.  One in particular kept making her way toward me.  Her name was Jolene.  She was the show dog...sweet, calm and an absolute looker. And I don't care if she was "the mean" one, Tiger was absolutely adorable.  Then there was London, the youngest at 10 months, and the shyest.  I just wanted to pick her up and rock her like a baby.  If I could have gotten away with it, I would have grabbed them, put them in the car and burned rubber in my sister's Toyota Yaris.

Jolene

Although we didn't go home with a pet, we did find our future breeder.  Hopefully this time next summer, my brother, sister, and I will each have our own Scottie.  Jolene will be their mom so you know these pups will be beautiful.

Film: 48 Hour Film Project

Director, Paul Aspuria

The 48 Hour Film Project pushes the creativity of filmmakers around the world by giving them 48 hours to write, produce, shoot, and edit a short film. The films produced are nothing short of amazing considering most of the filmmakers were running on little or no sleep to make the deadline. On Friday, June 10, 2011 the 48 Hour Film Project came to San Francisco.

Filmmakers at Lot 46

I had the opportunity to participate with Film Antics in our 5th, that's right 5th, 48 Hour Film Project. This year our team consisted of Paul Aspuria (Director), Raymund Aranda (Producer/Actor) aka The Debonair Rogue, Vivek Mohan Kumar (Director of Photography), James Davis (Actor), and Kelly Dessoye (Actress). Being veterans of the 48 Hour Film Project, has it's benefits. One benefit is learning what worked and didn't work from previous projects so that we could work more efficiently.

Me typing at Starbucks.

Paul and I arrived at Lot 46 on Geary Street amid a throng of anxious filmmakers. It was dark, it was crowded, and it was hot. In the past, Paul was the one who would pull the genre out of the envelope. The last two times he picked Romance. This time he asked me to go up to see if our luck would change...I pulled Dark Comedy. Whew!!! I was scared I would pull Western/Musical. We decided to do a night shoot for the first time. The key to our success would be to keep things simple in every aspect of writing, producing and filming. Paul started writing the script for Graduation Buzz as we sat down and ate our dinner at Lori's Diner. He was able to write the script in 2 hours. I sat down at Starbucks and between sipping my double tall soy white chocolate mocha I proceeded to type out the script. It took me 30 minutes...not bad.

DP, Vivek Mohan Kumar

We began shooting at 11:30 p.m. around Union Square. Apart from a couple of homeless people asking for money, intoxicated bar hoppers, an irate tennant, cabbies thinking we needed a ride (where are they when you actually need them), and lack of sleep, the shoot went rather well. We wrapped just as dawn started to change the color of the sky...5:30 Saturday morning.

Lead Actress, Kelly Dessoye

Paul worked on editing Graduation Buzz between naps on Saturday. I came over to work on the paperwork while he put the finishing touches on the piece Saturday night. Like most of the teams, we were usually scrambling to finish the project on Sunday to make the deadline of 7:30 p.m. This was the first time we would finish without having to rush to turn in the project. Yay!!!

Paul directing Lead Actor,  James Davis.

Graduation Buzz premiered at the 48 Hour Film Project screening on Thursday, June 16, 2011. If you couldn't make the screening watch Graduation Buzz below. Enjoy, like, and share it with anyone and everyone!!!

Sports: America's Favorite Past Time

This is how Danielle wears a baseball cap.

The first time I was at a baseball game was the 3rd grade during a school field trip.  The San Francisco Giants were playing at Candlestick Park...they lost.  It was also the last time, until June 6th, 2011 when I attended my second baseball game with my friends.  This time it was at AT&T Park and the Giants were playing Washington.

Kelly - "Who's up for some beer?"

The best part about going to a baseball game is getting to hang out with friends and just have a blast eating hot dogs, drinking beer, and cheering on the team. This game was special because it was first baseball game for my friends Kelly Dessoye,Vivek Mohan Kumar and Danielle Cheifetz.  Although it was Danielle and Kelly's  first game, growing up in America they were familiar with baseball. Vivek on the other hand, is from Dubai where there is no baseball.  My friends and I had a lot of fun explaining the rules to him throughout the game.  Mind you, none of us are die hard baseball fans, but there's just something awesome about watching a friend's enthusiasm grow about a past time that most of us take for granted.

Vivek's 1st game & 1st churro.

Oh, yeah...the Giants won!!!  13 innings, but they won!!!