The new dog in the house

Okay, so Buddy is still here. Brando loves him and spends a good part of each day carefully kissing and grooming him. Sula likes to chase him around the yard. And Zephyr is happy to have anyone around. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I like him too. Here's a short video I took yesterday with a new Flip camera.

Another eight week online course at Mediabistro

I've been so busy this summer that I haven't had time to really post much of anything on this blog. But, in the meantime, if anyone is interested, another round of personal essay starts this week:

http://www.mediabistro.com/courses/cache/crs4730.asp

Tuesday July 7th: The Dollar Store Show comes to New Orleans

On Tuesday July 7th, the Dollar Store Show comes to New Orleans, and I'll be one of the featured writers. What is the Dollar Store Show? It started in Chicago, and all of my Chicago writer friends have been talking about it for years. Each of the evenings writers is sent an item from a Dollar store, and you have five minutes to tell a story that somehow springs from that item. (Or not.) I'll be joining New Orleans writers Pia Z. Earhardt and Michael Patrick Welch, along with a traveling troop of Dollar Store veterans: Aaron Burch, Blake Butler, Zach Dodson, Amelia Gray, Mary Hamilton, Jac Jemc, Caroline Picard.

Tuesday July 7th, 8pm
The Allways Lounge
2240 St. Claude Avenue

The End of Whitney Bank

For me, anyway. I've been a Whitney customer since just after Hurricane Katrina, when my previous, friendly bank, Hibernia, was bought out by Capital One. I had a number of lost deposits and other strange incidents, so I moved everything to Whitney, because I wanted to support a local institution. I opened a savings account, and when the Sula Foundation was formed, the account was at Whitney as well. And I did all of this in spite of relatively small incidents that should have shaken my confidence, but for some reason did not. For example, the paperwork for the Sula account was filed incorrectly, then had to be redone. And the savings account was opened incorrectly and mistakenly given a checking account number instead of a savings number. Then there was trouble accessing the Sula account online, which required multiple phone calls and registrations and still doesn't work. In fact, there seemed to be a general lack of knowledge of exactly how to open any accounts.

But they were generally nice people. And it was local.

But this week, I deposited a fairly large check, and the following day discovered an erroneously negative balance in my account. In seemed that a hold had been placed on the entire amount of the check, and then the entire amount had been deducted from my balance. A double hold. So I called and the first person I spoke to thought that deducted the amount of a deposit made sense. I explained why it did not. Then I asked that someone call me back to correct the situation. No one called. Finally I got a hold of someone at a few minutes before 4pm on a Friday. Incredibly rude, the woman explained that a hold would remain on the deposit for eight days, and that no portion of the amount would released until then. I've never had a deposit in which no portion of the funds were available for nearly two weeks. But the rude woman explained that since the bank the check was drawn on was unfamiliar to them, they had no way of knowing if the amount would clear. This is nonsense. They do have access to this information, and the obscure bank she was dealing with was The Bank of New York. She suggested that I contact the Bank of New York myself, and obtain confirmation that the funds had cleared, and then they might credit my account. And I will do that. And then I'll withdraw all of my money, redirect my direct deposit, and do business somewhere else.

Luna, the latest foster dog

Luna came to The Sula Foundation after being held for four months as evidence in a court case. Now she's learning to play. To learn more about The Sula Foundation, go to www.sulafoundation.org. To see more adoptable Sula dogs, go to sula.petfinder.com.

The High Cost of Breed Discriminatory Legislation

Last week, our friends at Best Friends launched a new campaign and a new tool to fight misguided breed specific legislation. The highlight is a link to an online database that provides charts, graphs, and figures regarding how much it would cost to enforce a pit bull ban in your city.

New Orleans comes in at 750,000 dollars a year, but I think that estimate is low. Other cities: NYC would cost nearly 13 million annually; even Abbeville, AL comes in at over $4,000 for less than 3000 residents. Wouldn't this money be more useful if it was spent enforcing existing laws regarding responsible pet ownership? And maybe even some education? Or...how about free spay/neuter service?

You can check out the online calculator here.

A new yard, a new set of trees...a new security system

I keep thinking that I'll get back to posting more frequently but things have been hectic since the semester ended almost two weeks ago. First I went home to sort through some things with my family and then I returned to a bunch of projects that I'm trying to get done in the few weeks I have before summer school begins.

So first I had Green Bean come and spray closed cell foam beneath the house to close off all the air that was sinking out of the house in summer and blowing up through the floor in winter. The difference is remarkable, and once I made the commitment to get it done, the process was only about two hours, with little to no fumes.

Then came the BIG project: moving our eight-foot high side fence (about 110 feet long), which was built less than two years ago, to our new property line, about thirty-five feet away. This involved dismantling the whole thing and carefully reconstructing it piece by piece. Good thing someone else was doing the work. But there were unexpected complications: the cement that had been put down to keep the poles in place required quit a bit of jackhammering, and the enormous trees along the rear property line made it impossible to build the fence there. So we brought the fence in about eight-feet, creating a little storage area between it and the existing chain-link fence that is now part of the trees.

Meanwhile, I was frantically trying to plant some trees while I could still, technically, claim to have come in under the May deadline for getting things in the ground. So, I added three new crepe myrtles, a mulberry tree, an avocado, and few others, digging every morning before eight, when it became too hot to continue.

Sula, of course, wanted no part of any of this, and has been defiantly camped out in my bedroom through all of this work. Last night and again this morning, she finally stepped outside and ran and ran and ran around the huge new yard, stopping only to roll on her back and then start over again. See, I told her, it is a good thing.

And now we'll be installing a seven camera surveillance system before taking a renovation break for the rest of the summer.

Brando and Zephyr get their DNA analyzed

We've been selling DNA tests as a fundraiser for The Sula Foundation, so of course I had to break down and test my Brando. For years I have called him a pit bull/Dane mix, but I really have no idea, and I am pretty sure that an actual pit bull/Dane would be somewhat different than my mysterious Brando. The test (www.canineheritage.com) uses a swab inside the mouth and tests 100 breeds. Brando was very patient has I swabbed his cheek, but he had that look on his face that says, "I have no idea why you are doing this, but it must be important."

The test results can be tricky. If the dog is truly a mutt, it is possible that there is no primary or even secondary breed. Also, they don't release any results for "American Pit Bull Terrier" because they say the term is applied to too many different types of dog and also because they don't want the test used against a dog in court. (They do test for Bulldog, Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier and some other related dogs.) I also uploaded a photo of Brando for them to print on his certificate. I had seem some skepticism online regarding the submission of photos. Did they look at the photos and guess the breed, rather than actually testing the DNA? So I swabbed Zephyr as well, and submitted the sample without a photo. Between the two of them, Zephyr was the dog with a more obvious ancestry, so she made a great blind test.

The results:

Brando has not had a pure breed in his family for at least three generations, but there were traces of Mastiff, Bullmastiff and English Coonhound.

Zephyr has no primary breed, but has Rottweiler as a secondary breed, with some German Shepherd and German Shorthaired Pointer.

We still have a few DNA kits available at $99.95--a discount from the retail price of $120. If you are interested, email sulafoundation@gmail.com

Yes, I'm on Twitter

I'm still trying to figure out what to blog, what to Facebook and what to Twitter. But if you Twitter (or even if you don't) you can follow me there.

More Dog Day on Julia

Here's video from our Dog Day on Julia Street. The gallery will be open tonight from 6-8pm, and the show runs through May 23rd. Robert Tannen will be donating 50% of sales of his ball portraits to The Sula Foundation!

And yes, I do look awful. But doesn't Gus look great?

Dog Day on Julia Street: Friday May 1st

Friday May 1st
527 Julia Street
noon-bark

Celebrate the life of Rocky with your four-legged friends. Attend the first-ever dog-friendly art show on Julia Street. See Robert Tannen’s “A Show of Balls,” sure to be a hit with Fido. Also visit “Rocky’s Ballroom.” Low-hanging art, water, and lots of balls. Treats for dogs and their humans.

Rocky was a 65 pound pit/lab mix. Twenty percent of the proceeds from art sales during the show will benefit the Sula Foundation for local rescue pits.

Still here

Last weekend I went home to go through things--to begin to go through things--with my brother and sister at my parents house. I was gone for three days. It felt like months, and I'm still feeling discombobulated and off-kilter.

Meanwhile, Buddy is still here, and as you can see, he has managed to sneak his way into the bed. Brando cleans his ears morning and night, and I have to say, its pretty good having him around. But my back is killing me.

Advanced Personal Essay Writing with Ken Foster at Mediabistro.com

Beginning April 28th, an eight week online course "for experienced essayists who want to dig deeper."

Readers and editors seem to love the personal essay -- so why is writing them sometimes such a challenge? How can we expand on the personal aspects to achieve something with a more universal meaning? And what can we do when the well seems to have run dry?

This intensive 8-week online class is for experienced students who are ready to dig deeper and demand more from themselves and each other. We'll be looking at examples of published work in magazines and anthologies and discussing how they succeed. Students will generate and workshop short drafts of new ideas -- and work on revising longer work that has you stuck.

In this class, you will learn:

How to identify what makes your experience compelling for others
How to explore the hidden narratives that can and should shape your work
How to use "ordinary" details and events to create extraordinary insights
How to reshape your tale using the techniques of fiction while retaining the integrity of the truth
How to approach editors and submit your work
By the end of the course, you will have:
Five short pieces with notes on how to expand them into essays and at least one complete and salable personal essay

Students who have taken this class have been published in:
The New York Times, Modern Love, Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Self, Runner's World, the San Francisco Chronicle, and more

Sign up at http://www.mediabistro.com/courses/cache/crs4511.asp?c=mbsoccrs

Marley and Me film features "The Kind I'm Likely to Get"

About a year ago, I signed a release for the use of my book of stories, The Kind I'm Likely to Get, in the film of Marley and Me. This amused me, since there are no dogs in the book that I can remember, but my own dog books weren't the proper time period for the film, so they picked the stories. If nothing else, this guaranteed that I would buy a ticket to the film, just to see if my book made it onto the screen. So, last December, I drove out to the suburbs for a matinee, and once the movie started I remembered that, even if the movie was no good at all, it was bound to make me sob like a baby. I began to panic.

The film, it turned out, wasn't bad at all. And I sobbed at least three times, beginning with a montage of how the dog and the character's lives blur together over the course of a year. Of course, it isn't perfect either, and I found myself missing the dog an awful lot during some of the scenes in the later part of the film. And that's when "The Kind I'm Likely to Get" popped up. Jennifer Aniston suffers from post-partum depression and orders Owen Wilson to take the dog to live somewhere else. Later, when he comes home from dropping the dog with a friend, he finds Aniston asleep on the couch with my book in her lap. She wakes up, suddenly recovered from her condition, and announces that the dog can come home.

So there you have it--my stories are a cure-all.

The movie is available on DVD now.

For anyone who doubts that the media misreports dog bites

From NBCBayArea.com:

HEADLINE: WOMAN DIES AFTER ROTTWEILER BITE
Subhead: Small wound wouldn't stop bleeding

So, the woman was bitten by a Rottweiler and then bled to death? Well, no, neither of those things is true:

An 80-year-old Alameda woman died at a hospital this week several days after she was bitten in the hand by a dog while feeding it a dog biscuit, an Alameda police sergeant said. McNiff said it appears a neighborhood dog nipped Newell's index finger as she fed it a biscuit in the area of the Harbor Bay Landing Shopping Center.
Dolly Newell, who had lived in the city for more than 40 years, was walking her 3-year-old Rottweiler between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday when the incident occurred, police Sgt. Kevin McNiff said. Newell, who lives on Garden Road on Bay Farm Island, knows many other dogs in the neighborhood and often greets them. McNiff said it appears a neighborhood dog nipped Newell's index finger as she fed it a biscuit in the area of the Harbor Bay Landing Shopping Center. The wound would not stop bleeding and Newell got a ride from a neighbor to a local hospital, McNiff said. However, she initially told both her neighbor and hospital staff she injured her finger while gardening.
Newell was released from the hospital after receiving a stitch and later confided in her neighbor, saying she had been bitten by a dog, McNiff said. She told the neighbor that the dog had all its shots but would not describe the animal.
"She told her friend she didn't want the dog to get in trouble," McNiff said. On Monday, friends of Newell found her in serious condition on the bathroom floor of her home. She was taken to the hospital where she died Tuesday of an aggressive bacterial infection, McNiff said.
He said police were notified of the incident Tuesday and have since interviewed family and friends of Newell.
Anyone who may have witnessed the Saturday incident is asked to call Sgt. Don Owyang at 510-337-8319. McNiff said police are seeking the dog and its owner to confirm certain details of the case and that the owner is not in trouble.

I am... The Dogfather!!

The current issue of Gambit features a story on the Sula Foundation. This photo, by reporter Noah Bonaparte Pais, shows me cradling little (but full grown) Roosevelt. Thank you Gambit!

William Hepler Foster, 1932-2009

My father passed away last night, one day short of the anniversary of my mother's death last year and two days short of what would have been their fiftieth anniversary. He had been diagnosed with emphysema in 2007, shortly before my mother's own diagnosis of aplastic anemia, which took her life.

The past year was difficult for him, and for all of us. He learned to use a checkbook--something my mother always took care of--and he acquired a cat, who he named Rex. But a few weeks ago he began to have trouble breathing, and entered extended care with plans to move back home once homecare had been arranged. I was due to fly up to Pennsylvania next week, and spoke to him by phone yesterday afternoon. He was having a lot of difficulty with his voice, and apologized for not being able to speak for long. I told him not to worry--that we would see each other next week and that would make it easier, even if his voice wasn't strong. And I sensed that this could be our last conversation.

More later...

Five years ago...

myadorablesula, originally uploaded by kfoz.

I found Sula March 17th, 2004. And it has been pure drama ever since. But look at that face.

How many times have you been asked: “What kind of dog is that?”

Now you can answer.


With the Canine Heritage DNA test, your mixed breed is scientifically identified against over 100 breeds. The test retails for $120.00, but through a special arrangement, The Sula Foundation is offering the test for $99.95, with 25% of the proceeds going to support the Sula Foundation’s medical fund for treating stray pit bulls and supporting free spay/neuter services and low-cost vaccination clinics. The test kits are available beginning March 20th at Canine Culture and Canine Connection, and also at these upcoming “Swab-a-thon” events:

Saturday March 21st, Bywater “Barkmarket” 9am-4pm

Sunday March 29th, Dog Day Afternoon, City Park

Saturday April 4th, Freret Market

For more information, contact sulafoundation@gmail.com or go to www.sulafoundation.org

Adopt Guinness at the Louisiana SPCA

Brindle dogs don't have it easy. In fact, they are the second most difficult type of dog to place. (The first being any black dog.) But Guinness is a wonderful striped boy who made it to adoption row at the Louisiana SPCA. Now, after ten days, he may be running out of time. So go pay him some attention!

UPDATE: Guinness is now a Sula foster dog.

Love is in the air...

I've been trying to get a shot of Brando and Buddy kissing, but whenever I get my camera ready, the action deteriorates to something like this.