Gettin all cat lady on you

The last 2 weeks have been quite the moving party (hence the lack of posting). As an unwritten rule, I move at least once a year. I've been squatting at a friend's house for the past 8 months so I was ready to move in somewhere that's not just my friend's room, but my bed, my books, and my (albeit crappy) furniture. I moved to NE Portland with the bestie and it's fab fab fab. My new house also comes with 2 kitties and we had a fun animal hospital visit already. Little Joseph Stalin had a rough transition from his old house to here and stuck himself up in the ceiling of the basement of his old house. During his adventure, we suspect he got his face in some fiberglass insulation and ended up with a weird puncture-wound-looking cut on his cheek. Last Saturday it looked like not a big deal but Sunday it was bleeding and not so pretty so we went over to Dove Lewis (which is definitely a god send for pet emergencies, not like this one was, but I'm glad it's there) and Joe ended up with this fine looking accessory.



Needless to say, he LOVED his new astronaut look. But after a week of antibiotics and confusion when his plastic necklace hit things like the wall or the couch, he's mostly better now. It's scabbed over nicely and he's not scratching it. And just so I don't leave Torque out, here's a video of him doing some sit-ups while we were watching The Office last week.

Yay Helping Puppies and Kitties

One of my fav non-profits, Best Friends Animal Society, is having a neat fundraiser with Neko Case (who is amazing). BFAS will get a portion of proceeds everytime you download her song "People Got a Lotta Nerve" from her new album Middle Cyclone.



All you have to do is share this song download and Best Friends get some cashage. Great song + donating to help puppehs and kittehs (and other animals) = the height of unicorn rainbow magic! Learn more about it at anti-label.

Please to download here.

The Weekend and Stuff

I'm obvs feeling very clever with a title like that. But I did have a great weekend! I started it off with dinner at the bestie's, then drinks with friends at Rose & Thistle (which reminds me of my least favorite program on NPR, Thistle & Shamrock. I irrationally hate that show so much. I can't explain it), and Indian dance night at Pi-rem courtesy of my good friend Abhi. Saturday I headed down to Eugene to see my bff from my college days. We watched the only rom-com I've ever seen that I actually liked, called "Saving Face." It's a rom-com about Chinese-Americans and while it has some of the things I hate about that genre of movie (like the superficially simple characters and endings that tie up way too easily), but unlike most of them, there were some unexpected twists. We actually guessed the ending wrong. It's in both Chinese and English (it takes place mostly in Flushing, Queens) and I could actually understand a few Chinese words here and there, so that was exciting for me. Worth a watch if you want a fun, not particularly deep, movie that isn't annoying. It's really as far from "27 Dresses" or "Bride Wars" as you can get and still be considered a rom-com. I haven't seen "Bride Wars" but the previews alone make me want to hate Anne Hathaway for even considering starring in it.

Before I get filled with rage thinking about how I hate rom-coms so much and I just wish people would stop making them or watching them, I will stop. Instead, it's time for the fun part of the post. So I've just discovered this amazing site called "FFFFOUND!", which I bet has been around for awhile but I just never noticed it before. It's great for my google reader when I just want to browse and look at pretty things and want a break from reading the news (which I've been doing too much of. I had a random dream last night that included Angela Merkel and the Palestinian crisis...). So many amazing pictures.


This one is from Teddy Roosevelt's diary the day his wife died. Brief, subtle and so sad.
This picture is just stunning, right?


I also found the link to this amazing collection of pictures from 2008 on boston.com. I can't even pick a favorite but the nerd in me loves the hadron collider that will one day suck us all into a black hole. The drummers at the Beijing Summer Olympics are pretty spectacular too. (They're pretty big so I won't repost).

There are a lot of really amazing images on FFFFound in case you feel like spending hours looking at neat stuff. But my favorite thing I've seen recently has to be this post about handi-capable pets and amazing animals (thanks Clay!). Obvs this was the week of pets in wheelchairs since this is my 2nd post in a week that includes our furry/wheelie friends. But really, doesn't this picture just melt your heart in a totally unique way?

Or the story about the seeing eye cat for the blind and deaf labrador? And the seeing eye dog right below that one?! ::eyes getting misty::

Now I'm off to finish a book, finish some laundry, and kick some butt at trivia. Oh and also I need someone to talk me out of getting an ipod touch. I'm dangerously close to throwing $230 at Steve Jobs just to become one of those losers who spends all day on their iphone (but mine will not be a phone) trying to make themselves feel important by looking busy when really they are probably twittering or playing poker or facebook stalking someone. I need an intervention!



Thanks monkey. I think I can make it. For a little while.

Something Resembling a Year in Review

As I was commenting on E's post on New Year's Resolutions, I re-read my year-end roundup I wrote last year at around this time. I posted it on FB but I'll re-post part of it (I cut out some of the boring answers) here with commentary. I wish I wrote more cause it's amazing how many things you forget.

"1. The biggest change in your life this year?
Moving to China on a pretty short notice. Both scary and exciting.

The whole living in Beijing thing was a huge fuckin change (when I first wrote that last year, I had only been there about 3 weeks). It was amazing and I still miss it everyday. Having to come back was kind of devastating and depressing. But everything is for the best right? Right!?

Probably. The pollution probably takes a few years of your life. But still, the food, the city, cheap massages..


2. What did you do over the summer?
Studied for the Bar, took the Bar, tried to forget the Bar in Mexico, H'ville and New York, passed the Bar (woo), started freaking out about not having a job.

My summer was spent working, spending as much time as possible with my friends and boyfriend in Beijing (with a quick trip to Shanghai and Hangzhou), being depressed for awhile in Portland, and then beginning to feel better.

3. How were relationships with boyfriends/ girlfriends?
Boyfriends = generally bad. 2007 was not the year of the boyz for me. Girlfriends = amazing. Srsly, my betches are awesome. I don't know what I'd do without them.

Hmm, this is pretty much the same. 2008 was also not a year of the boyz, though my Chinese bf was cute and sweet, our relationship was a bit weird and I can't say it ended that well. But again, girlfriends = amazing.

4. What news story sticks in your mind the most from 2007?
All the fab Republican sex scandals. Thanks Larry Craig for Cocktober.

All things Obama. (BTW, I kind of want this tshirt. It combines 2 of my favorite things!) Also the Olympics and the earthquake in Sichuan were huge. Larry Craig and company set a high bar for sex scandals but I think Rick Warren is showing all the tell-tale signs of something scandalizingly awesome to come (the louder they are, the bigger the hypocrite). Spitzer's was ok but more just sad than entertaining. And I mean sad for his wife, not for him. I think Spitz is an asshole.

5. Favorite song from the year? Ack, too many good songs.

This one is a bit easier this year since I can count the number of new albums I got on 2 hands. Good new pop music is surprisingly not the easiest thing to get in Beijing (though they loooove Britney Spears). So good songs would have to be from Chairlift, Lupe Fiasco, or Hercules & Love Affair

6. Favorite artist this year? Probably The National or Jens Lekman.

One of the 3 mentioned in #5. Unless they mean artist as in 'art' art. Then I'd say whoever drew this picture, even though he's probably dead by now. Mei-mei and Ting Ting will cut a bitch just for looking at them funny!

I didn't bring back too many things from China (besides a 'Diesel' purse and 'Ferragamo' wallet) but I do have this poster up in my room and I kind of love Chinese propaganda art. It's so craze.


9. Who are you most proud of (can be a famous or non- famous person)? Heather, from ANTM.
Hahaha, I love this answer. I'm sticking to it.


12. Did you do anything you never thought you would do?
I moved to China. And started eating meat again. Mmmm lamb never tasted so good.

You may not know from my posts about my love of pig-based meats, but I was a vegetarian for 7, almost 8 years, when I moved to China and decided to start eating meat again. I don't know if I can ever go back. But for this year...hmm...working at a business law firm was definitely something I never thought I'd do. I always pictured myself a civil litigation or family law person.

19. Are you making any new years resolutions for 2008? Nope. I want a decent-paying job, a dog (english bulldog of course), and a boyfriend (or a number of cute guys to date) but whether or not any of those happen is really up in the air. I don't think I can 'resolve' to get those. Except the dog. I think my resolution will be to get a dog. It's the only one I have total control over.

Ha, so getting a dog is still on my list for 2009 (this is definitely the year for Sprinkles) but I'm not tied to my English bulldog anymore. They're not too common in shelters and the Humane Society. Any small, kind of lazy dog will do. I'm not too concerned about a bf and I have a job. I do need to add getting my own apartment to the list. I want to buy a condo but I'll be happy with a nice place to rent. Sorry roomies! Y'all are totes cool but I'm a loner when it comes to my living space. Also, I want to read more, write more, and be more proactive about getting out and having a life.

And that's about it. Am I forgetting something big from last year? Probably, but I drink too much wine to have a good memory."

So there's kind of a personal roundup. I probably am forgetting tons of stuff about 2008 but I still drink too much wine to have a good memory. I'm taking my day off today to scour through the internets for my fav pop culture and cute animal stories of 2008 that I will probably post up here soon. I'm feeling a bit re-re and lazy this morning.

Happy New Year's y'all!!

Christmas Awesomeness

I'm back in cold rainy Portland after a wonderful week down in Alabama visiting the fam. My sister and my parents live there, as well as my sister's two dogs, Simba and Lil' Bear. They have now officially become the grandkids of the family. It's a bit ridiculous but they are truly great dogs. They may be spoiled with affection but they aren't aggressive or possessive. My parents are huge Cesar Millan fans and try to follow the Dog Whisperer way. I also got them hooked on It's Me or the Dog (I have a huge girl crush on Victoria Stillwell) so they are pretty good at controlling the puppies (which is good cause Lil' Bear is not so little).


Here's Lil' Bear doing some pre-washing of our dishes after our Christmas Eve dinner. 2 seconds after I took this picture, he bit that wooden spoon and cracked it. Oops! I had one of my best girlfriends from high school and her parents over for brunch on Christmas (we've known their family for about 14 years now). LB fell asleep under the table and snored so loud we had to yell over him. Yea he's kind of awesome. Simba is great too, best dog ever. All he wants in the world is for you to pet him and occasionally slip him some bacon.


These two brothers from another mother (and father) are awesome. The rest of my trip was great as well. I love my family. As crazy as they can be, they are endlessly hilarious, awesome, and entertaining.

I met up with most of the Girls Club, my group of girlfriends from high school. We all keep in touch pretty regularly and they are all just really awesome ladies. We had a few members missing but it was the biggest GC reunion we've had in awhile. My friend Susie has the coolest job ever. She works at Chicago Public Radio as a producer for "All Things Considered." You should listen to her stories and leave her comments about how awesome her reporting is! She says she doesn't see Ira Glass though (supposedly he's out in NYC most of the time) so no need to ask for an autograph or if he'll marry you or anything.

What else...oh! I went to a lesbian bar with my sis and saw possibly the gayest thing ever. A table decoupaged with pictures of Melissa Ethridge. Seriously. Melissa Ethridge fuckin decoupage.

Awesome! We had a great time watching the drag show and drinking cheap booze and chatting. I maybe drank a bit too much and felt it on the plane ride the next day but it was worth it.

Finally, I came home to this, my Christmas present to myself:

I cannot tell you how excited I am to carry around my new Golden Girls tote bag. I got it at this Etsy store. Afuckingmazing. So that's all for my now. I have no plans for New Year's Eve whatsoever. This is my first one actually in Portland and it's not looking like it'll shape up to be a good one, but if y'all hear of anything fun going on, let me know! I'd love to ring in 2009 in style.

Cute Overload worthy!

From my friend over at Such Ridiculosity,

Kedz on Ice from aidywi on Vimeo.

I looooove this video. But holy crap what is going on in Portland!?

How Agrado Spent Her Weekend

I spent the weekend at Elaine's house cause the bitch was down in Mexico where it's warm and sunny. On the upside, I got to housesit, which means I had a whole house to myself. A house that comes with a dog!! The easiest dog in the world to take care of. I let her out a few times a day, I fed her, I pet her, and then she just lay on her blanket while I watched Law & Order and Golden Girls (cause I'm 80 years old). It was heaven y'all. This is how Turtle spent most of her weekend.

I don't have a TV at home so I've been catching up on the multitudes of bizarro TV shows that are on now. I really wish I had Animal Planet. It's totes my new favorite network. I can watch it all day long. Fat Pets, Animal Cops, Dogs 101, Cats 101, It's Me or the Dog (though I'm not crazy about the new American episodes. What happened to her dominatrix outfits!?)

And isn't it weird that everything is now a realitv show? I just watched Scream Queens on Vh1. A girl I went to law school with is on Whale Wars (that show where militant animal rights activists ram into whaling ships). I saw a preview for a show about people that give parking tickets! I wonder if this is some attempt at making people happier with their jobs by showing that even mundane work is exciting enough for TV. Cause I'm in a profession that has a billion shows about it, and I seriously heart L&O, but it is nowhere near that exciting. I can't imagine that getting a role in Saw VI is really going to change your life and start your career. Being on ANTM won't even launch your career, and TyTy is exponentially more famous than all the Saw movies put together.

I also watched the season finale of The Pick-up Artist 2 (and by watched, I mean I had it on mute for half of the 10 minutes I was able to not implode from RT). Oh my god that is the most ridiculous show on the planet!! Despite the fact it is based on a laughably sexist premise, I can't even muster up the energy to be offended. Mystery is so distractingly, ludicrously ridiculous, I would need to make up a whole new word for him. At this point all I've got is wtfzomgwtf, but I'm sure I'll think of something better soon.

Now I'm back at my house. My cold sad house with other people living in it. I seriously need to get my own place soon. It's not that my roommate isn't nice (only 1 now, but 2 more are coming). I just have this thing where I don't want people around in my living space most of the time. I love having guests and stuff, but for the most part, I just want to be by myself. Especially in the morning when I'm a zombie-bitch-from-hell before I have my first cup of coffee. Is it so much to ask to just stay in your room until I leave for work! Sheesh.

Oh, and I did two other awesome things this weekend.
1) 2 of my girlfriends came over while I was at E's and we cooked an aaaaaamazing dinner of lamb meatballs on polenta with veggies. We sat around, drank wine, talked shit. It was awesome.

It doesn't look half as good in that picture as it tasted. But try it. It's fuckin delish.

2) I went to the NIN show at the Rose Quarter. Holy crap it was amazing (and I realize I say a lot of shit is amazing, but omg, seriously. This show was Afuckinmazing.*) I've seen them before and I've had a long-lasting crush on Trent Reznor (I secretly heart goth dudes. They're so pensive!), but they have put together some crazy shit for this tour. Not only do they rock the old school tracks, the visuals at the show are unreal. And again. Hot.

So that was my weekend. My birthday party was not that fun, which is why I didn't post about it. Aaah well, what can you do. I could (and probably will) write more about my new favorite shows and other awesome meals I've cooked (or my friends have cooked and I played sous chef). But it's Monday night, and I'm totes over my day.

* I really need substitutes for "amazing" and "awesome." I use them way too much.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The eating and boozing hasn't started yet (and we do have 6 bottles of wine to get through before the day is over) but for now, I'm enjoying my Thanksgiving down in Eugene with some old friends, indulging in a wonderful Thanksgiving day tradition. No I'm not talking about the Macy's Parade. I'm talking about the National Dog Show of course! English bulldogs are one of my fav breeds.


Jebus, how can you resist! Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying their day with family and friends! I'm going to eat too much, drink too much, pass out, and then head to Seattle tomorrow for a pre-birthday celebration. I hope everyone else is planning on doing the same.

How Agrado Spent Her Weekend

Hmm...well, let's see. First, I caught up on ANTM and watched the season (excuse me, Cycle) 11 finale. It was pretty boring and I was never a huge fan of McKey. She's pretty and all but her smile, it's so big! And this is from a person who was called Jokerface when she was little! But seriously, McKey's takes up about half her face. I was always a Sheena fan and even though Elina was annoying as shit with her whole "I'm European that's why I'm weird" thing, I still thought she was the prettiest. But I know ANTM is not about producing actual top models and more about Tyra Banks, and I don't need to re-hash that whole deal. The best IM conversation about Tyra and the finale was had between the Fug Girls. I'm so using cramazing on a regular basis.

Then I spent a lot of time catching up on the youtubes (watching the Office, catching up on the Shiba Inus, watching the cat ride the roomba...). I was also reminded of this amazing video from years past. My nerdy group of friends from college quoted this short little video approximately 3.4 million times a week. (Cause we're consumer whores. And how!)



Then after perusing through my google reader and finding out Noah's Arc is now a movie (why didn't anyone tell me!!?? And why isn't it in Portland!!??), I killed even more time looking through the collection of pictures that Life has put online and made available to everyone via the magical searchitude of Google. Omg this is brilliantly awesome. Sooooo maaaannnnyyy piiiiccctttuuurrreeess. It was hard for me to choose just a few to post. I decided to stick to cute animal ones and not even include an awesome picture of Pablo Picasso sitting in his house with no pants on. Cause that's how the guy rolls! (And really, who wouldn't? Pants are so overrated.) They may be the shortest shorts ever, but I'll still pretend that Picasso sat around with no pants on. It's totes cramazing! Ok I'll link to it. But back to the animals.
Type in "cute animals" and you get this

That cheetah is 40 years old and sticking his tongue out at you!

Search for 'pets' and you get 12 pages of old black and white pictures of cute animals and their owners. Including loads of pictures of Blondie the lion who lived with a family in the UK in the 50s. Very reminiscent of Christian the lion, without the luxury of having someone put a Whitney Houston song to his story.


Hey! Did you know that pandas were cute, even back in 1901!!

19motherfuckin01 y'all.

Yea so that's how I spent a lot of my weekend. That and kicking some major ass at trivia down at the Goodfoot. My team is pretty much awesome all of the time.

Phew! This post was tiring. At least this is a short week for Thanksgiving. And then next week is my birthday! What should I do to celebrate?!

Caramel Marshmallow Clouds of Puffiness

I know everyone on the intarwebs has seen this, but just to thoroughly saturate and spread the cute to all possible viewers, I have to post it. It's my puppy-biological-clock ticking crazy loud.

Shameless Pet Promotion

Inspired by the most important news story of the coming weeks (yes, of course I mean the choosing of the next first pet(s) to join the Obamas in the White House), I want to share some stories of some awesome rescue animals.

When it comes to pets (especially dogs, but cats too), I'm like some women are with babies. I freak out a little. Like I have to have one RIGHT NOW!! I talk to random people's dogs on the street without saying anything to their owners. When I'm alone with animals, I constantly talk to them as if they could hear or understand me. CuteOverload and the Daily Puppy make me squeal like a tween watching the Jonas Brothers.

I plan on getting a dog soon. I already have a name picked out! Sprinkles! But being a relatively rational person, I know that since I'm not home very often and I don't have a lot of money, I should wait a bit before getting him/her. But that doesn't keep me from living vicariously through other people's pets. Like these proshes (who'll probably make many appearances here on U.R.)




They are gay brothers who almost got smashed to death by construction workers when they were wee little kitties. The one on the left is really fat and lazy, but gets possessed by spirits about once a day, while the one on the right sleeps with one eye open. Since I'm allergic to cats, they often make me sound like Bea Arthur when I've been hanging out with them too much, but they are worth it.

This delightful puppeh was found when he was also a weee little thing chained up in a backyard. He was sneakily nabbed by crafty ninjas from owners who didn't care about him and didn't want him. He could've grown up to become a mean fighty dog but he is now the sweetest thing on four legs. Those wrinkles on his forehead means he's thinking! He usually has to think real hard cause he's a little special.


And this guy below came from a racetrack. He raced for 5 years before he got his forever home. Now he is playing happily up in dog heaven after 8 years of fun home life where he got to run in the backyard, sleep for 14 hours a day, and occasionally get spoiled (and fat! though you can't tell by that slender face) with people food.


The above wonderful pets at some point didn't have a home (or had a really crappy one) And we all know there are tons of unwanted puppehs and kittehs all over the place. For those like me who want a dog but can't have one for one reason or another, you can sponsor some lovely pets until they get a forever home at Best Friends Animal Society (I love them cause they take in the neediest of animals) and your local humane society. Or you can contribute to the AFDSF (Agrado's Future Dog Sprinkles Fund). I take cash and Paypal.