Watched: Gran Torino, Slumdog Millionaire, Seven Pounds, The Wrestler

Read:  White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga

Just listing...
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall
- Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
- Juno
- The Dark Knight
- Tropic Thunder
- Spanglish
- Punch Drunk Love (wth PTA)

I guess I'm in the middle of something of a movie blitz.

- Hellboy II - better than I expected, but I heard some pretty awful reviews (from people who are neither Hellboy nor del Toro fans, evidently)
- Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - pretty cool title, pretty cool movie.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman is always amazing.  Ethan Hawke is always...the same.

Movies watched, and how much I enjoyed each in descending order:

• In Bruges
• Wall-E
• Iron Man
  
• The Princess Bride
  
• Little Miss Sunshine
• Young People F**cking
  
• Batman - Gotham Knight
• Hulk II
  
• Wanted
• Shutter (2008)
  
• Hancock

Books read:

• The Art of Racing in the Rain - would've been fantastic if it was just a racing book. Unfortunately, they had to make it a dog book.
• The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - beautiful, unsatisfying.
  

Took her to see Dr. Farzad again on Friday due to a trace of a blood spotted in her urine.  After thorough x-rays and analysis, it appears that it's just an UTI so we shouldn't have to worry about anything.  I dragged her to work with me afterwards since Dad was out and I didn't want her to be alone.  Ironically, we had more people complaining about walking Tessa through Canadian Tire to get a can opener (two) than walking her through the hospital (none).  She behaved well all afternoon.

Current weight: 65.0 pounds.

Tessa went in for her annuals this weekend and we visited Dr. Farzad's for the first (real) time.  I had made a huge fuss earlier this week going to the Willowdale Animal Hospital and giving them grief about first delaying the facsimile of her health records by three weeks, then trying to charge me for them.  I was willing to pay for them at that point but the evening receptionist was so embarrassed by their procrastination that she put all twenty-eight pages through while I watched.

We probably should've changed vets sooner as Dr. Farzad was both terrific with Tessa and extremely generous with the charges.  Tessa enjoyed the experience and didn't even notice the two needles until the good doctor sprayed her when a spot of blood seeped up.  She's also managed to drop to 72.2 from 76.6 pounds since April 30th and we're very happy about that.  Continued diligence!

I've had an incredibly fortunate week:

• Made a horrible decision to separate Kiwi from the neighbourhood Chow when they were fighting over a ball (that Tessa stole) when they were actually fighting and escaped with just a minor scrape.
• Forgot to wear my helmet while biking and managed to get hit by a car turning out of a driveway but the only casualty was the chain dropping a large gear.
• Lost my wallet on Friday and realized three hours later, only to find it right where I expected it under the table at our cafeteria.
  

I have the biggest crush on Ms. Scarlett.  I'm even sure she can sing decently.  Yet, what the hell is this garbage?  Garbage like this is what pushes people to steal music - at least there's no buyer's remorse.

Biked to work today, here is my route:

Hube and I headed down to visit the Moores last Thursday by car.  Nine-hour drive stopping three times along the way, passing through Fort Erie and heading down through mid-Pennsylvania and straight to Columbia.  It was a fairly easy drive and, although boring, PA was incredibly scenic if you're into watching hour after hour of lakes and trees as you whiz by on the highway.  We placed our faith entirely in the Garmin on the way there and it turned out to be a blessing that the skies were clear as we found during the intermittent rains in Maryland that the antenna on the GPS is terribly finicky - Mike's Tom Tom was much more receptive. 

Arriving after work hours on Thursday, we decompressed for the rest of the evening and then spent most of Friday shopping (outlet mall, Mall of Columbia) before heading to Café Atlantico for latino fusion.  The food was pretty good, although I have to admit I'm a bit glad that we didn't get reservations for Minibar since it isn't the venue I'd be terribly pleased dropping $120 a meal (plus tax, tip and drinks). 

Saturday was just a short cameo at Cory's and the cutting of the Babe while Sunday was just slacking at home although we had intended to go out to Baltimore but the rain kept us at bay.  Hit their local sushi restaurant that day, followed by a dinner with a good number of the FFXI folk at La Scala in the evening. 

All we learned was that there are a good number of ghettos in the Baltimore and DC region, and not to go over the limit in NY because their reciprocal agreement with Toronto really, really hurts.  A good time, nonetheless.

Yesterday at the school, Tessa ran into Cindy and proceeded to try and mount her.  Not the most accommodating of dogs even on her best days, Cindy jumped up and charged at Tessa's neck, teeth snapping at her fur.  Unfortunately, she managed to step on Tessa's leash and prevented her escape, frightening Tessa and making her cry.

She ran not to me, but to Cindy's owner wailing in a high-pitched howl that I'd never heard, breaking in spots like a sobbing child unable to catch their breath.  She sat down and dangled her paw limply for inspection, but flinching whenever anyone touched it.  The owner hugged her and apologized twice, telling her it's alright.  Tessa continued to sob.

As Cindy and the owner decided to take their leave, Tessa watched them go, stood back up and promptly sprinted happily away. 

Gradually tiring of pictures, Tessa went from happily posing, then vocally opposing and ultimately simply turning away and showing them her bottom when strangers came by with cameras, passively protesting the pap.  She's a bright dog, that one.

Cheryll convinced me to go out and grab dessert last night so we went to Scaramouche, if only because I wanted to cross another Eat, Drink and be Daring item off my list. This time it was Scarmouche's Coconut Cream Pie, the very first on the list.  It was alright, and she gave it more credit than I did by saying that the custard wasn't bad.  I believe my expert review was "It's coconut, and it's cream.  It is what it is."  Aside from this, we also ordered the Crème Brulée (had better) and a Passionfruit and Yogurt Semifreddo (excellent, frogurt!) while she had a latté (also excellent).  Ten year gaps between trips to Scaramouche sounds about right though - the clientele is still old, crusty and obnoxiously loud.  I felt bad about being potentially underdressed until I realized I don't care what these ancient louses with money thought about me anyway.

Today, I took the dog out on a roadtrip.  We first dropped by Dr. Farzad's at Lakeshore West just to be on record in case we need another veterinarian somewhere down the line (I learned little from Dr. Stallman's visit yesterday other than the fact that he will soon need a transplant due to cardiomyopia).  He gave Tessa a free cursory checkup and offered us a treatment of Revolution but I politely declined since we have some at home; he's too kind. 

We then worked our way back east along Lakeshore, stopping at a few parks so we could chase a few police horses and take some pictures.  Continuing onwards to Bay, we hopped on the Ferry and spent several hours strolling around a more-or-less deserted Center Island, gazing at tourists and pretending to be tourists ourselves.  Came home exhausted, took a nap and I'm considering opening GTA IV in a little bit.

As far as birthdays go, I've rather enjoyed this one.  Of all the things I'm grateful for, having a great dog is somewhere near the top of the list.