Jon Cogburn's Blog

Usually when I feel like this I embarass myself in some manner

This dog just gets so happy over things like good weather.

the adventure Chihuahua

The protagonist of Michel Houellebecq's The Possibility of an Island is in the end so nihilistic that the only thing he can really find intrinsically valuable is his pet dog. He refers to dogs as "love machines." 

I was supposed to work on Graham Priest today but a fairly nasty sinus induced headache intervened and laid waste to all of my dialetheic plans.

Charlie (also known as Xavier the Adventure Chihuahua) knows when you feel cruddy and he follows you around and either gets in your lap or snuggles with you when you lie down. Actually, he also does this when you don't feel cruddy.

Charlie at the park

Man I wish I felt like this.

picture of Charlie and me reading A.J. Liebling

Here's a picture Emily posted to her blog.  Charlie's forehead is wrinkled, which usually means he's thinking about something.  I'm enjoying Liebling's great account of his misspent youth in Paris.  The descriptions of French cuisine in the 1920's are just incomparable.

Someday I hope to write a book about the philosophy of food.  All the non-philosophy I've been reading lately concerns food and/or wine.  As with the video game stuff, I'm sure the two will connect on their own accord at some point.

For dinner Charlie eats whatever we're eating.  Sometimes we have to cook special meals for Doc though, as onions, potatoes, and tomatoes tend to upset his stomach.

new dog named Charlie

I began to suspect we were sunk when this guy came to our house on Sunday, which would have necessitated keeping him until Monday before taking him to the animal shelter.  Then I knew we were when he jumped right in Emily's lap and started licking her face.  He's a real sweetheart, and he follows Emily everywhere.  Here he is looking out the window when Emily is gone to the store.

So we named him Charlie, got him fixed, de-wormed him, bathed him, and had the location microchip put in him.  We've started fattening him up now.  Tempermentally, he's a lot less morose and anxious than Doc, and I think a good influence on Doc in this regard.  We're pretty sure he's a Chihuaha/something mix. 

Strangely, given the rest of his personality, Doc is quite definitely the alpha dog.  If Doc thinks Charlie is not being respectful enough to me or Emily or the Silcoxes he gets in his face and snarls. Also, they've had a few minor altercations over tennis balls, each of which ended with Doc biting Charlie's scruff and Charlie cowering (and none of which have ended with bites that broke the skin).  They've also played together a lot as well.

It's actually easier to have two dogs because they are slightly less dependent on you and don't freak out so much when you are at work.

dogs in love

Here's Doc with his new best friend Emma.  She's a long-haired chihuaha and one of Mark and Heidi Silcox's two dogs.  She likes Doc so much that she actually got out of their house the other day and ran the two blocks to our house. 

We make sure they get a lot of chances to hang out.

photo by Dominic Miserendino

Here's a great photo taken by Dominic Miserendino.  Emily, me, and Doc (and Thomas, who is currently residing in Emily's womb) are outside of Coates Hall at LSU. 

sleeping Doc

Emily's brother earnestly implored us to not leave our furniture in Louisiana, predicting that if we did we'd spend this year watching television on milk crates.  This was wrong in two ways: (1) we don't have a T.V., and (2) we got plenty of servicable furniture at Goodwill for a lot cheaper than a moving company would have charged to move all our crap up here.

Doc doesn't mind.  Here he is on his new favorite chair in Emily's office.  When I walk in the room his eyes open just a little bit and his tail goes thump, thump on the cushion.

concerned dog

When Emily and I take a nap, I usually end up sleeping about thirty minutes longer than her.  I would probably sleep longer, but at the thirty minute mark Doc jumps up on the bed and starts whining and licking my face.  He somehow thinks it's inappropriate that I haven't got up yet. 

The expression on his face cracks me up; it's so earnest and concerned for my well-being.

picture of me and Emily's dog

This is our dog Doc.  He's a great little buddy who brings us a huge amount of joy.