yes. i blog about my dog. deal with it.

i had to take my car to the mechanic's the other day and since i don't live too far away, i walked home after i dropped it off. i forced ziggy to come with me for a few reasons: first, walking a dog is fun. it's relaxing. it's norman rockwell and apple pie. second, after any walk that lasts more than 10 minutes, ziggy passes out for the rest of the day and i can go about my business in peace. third, i realized early in our relationship that ziggy is the ultimate "canine" protection. do you know what's better than a dog that will attack a sketchy person? a dog that charms sketchy people into protecting you. i'm not kidding. it's the old cliche "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." there is no context in which ziggy or i can beat anybody. so ziggy joins them and takes me with him.

it is uncanny. 

my 14 block walk up main street, detailed:

the first 2 1/2 blocks, ziggy and i were escorted by a man who i will not formally classify as  "a neonazi." during our walk together, he told me an anecdote which involved him smoking a bowl with his 17 year old son but before you judge his parenting skills i want you to bear in mind that his own father used to train rottweilers as fighting dogs by having them attack him. so, you know, there's that. ziggy had absolutely no problems with this man and as a result the man had no problem with me (thankfully), the uptight chick with the han solo button on her purse.

ziggy and i then walked a block with a lady going through chemo. ziggy tried to hitch a ride on her bike and took it personally when i held him back. 

we walked with three construction workers for a while who used to go watch greyhound races. ziggy relieved himself in front of them and i looked down at my feet in shame. 

we walked with a woman who'd just quit her job. this might surprise you but i empathized with her quite a bit.

ziggy stopped and sniffed three soldiers who had just had lunch. i stared down at my feet again because the only thing i could think to comment on was how they were all wearing kicky berets and that is not an appropriate thing to comment on to three army men. 

we walked with a business man who was obviously thinking about other things because he kept asking, "now, what kind of dog is that?" 

we talked to a man eating lunch on his balcony. it had a rather rapunzelish feel to it. 

except that i am not a prince. 

and he was completely bald.

and we walked for quite a while with a 90 year old widow who was getting ready to move back to california. she lives in the same building my grandparents used to live in. she tried to convert me to her church and wouldn't believe me when i said i was already a member. probably because i'm an uptight chick with a han solo button on my purse. regardless, she hugged and kissed me goodbye.

so don't worry about me, because i have a dog with mind-control powers.