The pup that changed my world

I knew she was mine the moment I saw her.

I went to pick up my dachshund from a friend's house, and when I walked inside, there she was - this tiny light brown thing chasing after a bigger, older male dog. Taking after her momma already. 

She was short and stumpy, her little legs scuffling along and floppy ears dangling beside her face. She looked at me inquisitively, and her dark brown eyes had a kind of sadness in them. This weenie dog that was left in a box on the side of the road was mine for only 5 minutes and I loved her so much already.

I named her Dahlinger, after my favorite drummer. Even though she came in a smaller package, I wanted her to have a strong name.

I bought her a cage too big for her size, a pillow meant for a larger dog and leash probably too long for her own good. I spoil the pup, and it shows. 

Dahlinger cries when she's in her cage or tied up outside, her high pitched whines nearly piercing my ear drum and falsetto-like howls almost on another sound spectrum. But she doesn't care if she's  outside or inside, she just wants to be with me. 

This weenie is a curious one, always looking over her barricades and trying to climb over things to get to the other side. 

She is totally me. 

Mosh pit mayhem

My friend and I were sitting at the bar, enjoying the music of A Skylit Drive at the House of Rock in downtown Corpus Christi when the crowd started moshing.

We went to see I the Mighty, who already played, and didn't care to be in the crowd for the other bands.

The music sounded loudly with the double pedal going and the singer screaming incoherent lyrics that only actual fans would be able to understand. 

Karen and I must have been two of only a handful of 21-plusers there because we were outnumbered by those with dark black X's on their wrist.

The miniature pit opened up, and about eight people worked to shove each other back and forth to the beat of the music, as all do in standard mosh form. 

We bobbed our heads to the music, looking out at the crowd on their feet, but in an instant, a girl who wasn't in the mosh, was knocked back on the ground.

She fell in what seemed to be slow motion. I heard the sound of her head hitting the hard ground over the thrashing music.

The crowd reacted. 

Karen and I froze, looking at each other as the girl's friends scrambled to help her up, making sure she was OK.

Once she got to her feet, she rubbed her head, squinted her eyes and held her (I assume) boyfriend's hand. The Koolaid-redhead adjusted herself and continued bobbing her head to the music. 

 

Blood Sweat and Beards

After 9 innings, 9 pitchers and 4 games, the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 to move onto the ALCS in the postseason.

Uehara threw the final pitch at the bottom of the ninth and made Evan Longoria his third victim of the inning. Longoria checked his swing, but was called a strike to make three outs in game 4 of the series. 

The catcher and fielders ran to the mound where Uehara had jumped in the air with his fist held high after the call was made.

The rest of the team in the dugout ran to rejoice with the others on the field like 1st graders running to the playground. The Sox hugged, and yelled in celebration as the fans roared with them. 

While the sports analytics talked game, the camera followed the team to the locker room where they popped champagne bottles. Beards were soaked and chants were yelled in honor of the win. 

Coming off of a poor season in 2012, the Sox had a long way to come and are that much closer to the World Series. 

The Athletics and the Tigers will duke it out to see who will meet up with the Sox in the next series.