A Pixar movie in the making

In one of the frontyards in my neighborhood sit a Great Dane and a Miniature Dachsaund, no leashes, no tethers. The yard isn't on my regular commute, and the few times I have driven by, I've thought, "Those dogs shouldn't be free like that."

Then, the other day I made the mistake of walking Lady Bird on the sidewalk right in front of this house. Now, poor Lady Bird had a really bad day months ago when she into some dog's backyard and we attacked. So, when I realized that I was walking her by this Great Dane, I panicked a little.

The Great Dane took no notice of us at all, but the Dachsaund ran straight toward Lady Bird, yapping the whole way. When it got about a foot from her a beeping noise started. On the dog's collar a red light started flashing. That dog turned around and ran the other way immediately.

These dogs are clearly living behind an "invisible fence" system, and I guess it is working for them. I'm sure that their owners are enjoying the protection that comes from having a Great Dane in your front yard. Maybe the dogs don't have a backyard to live in like most Houstonian dogs do. Maybe they just really love watching the cars go by.

Whatever reason motivated their owners to put up an electric shock system it seems that they overlooked a Houston phenomena: constant blackouts.

I can see it now. This really, really big dog who is a little shy and a little mellow and this small, angry, aggressive, elongated dog always knew it would happen one day and then the power goes out they are free at last. I can hear their little ethnic sounding voices now.

If it is a little power outage from a rainstorm then the story might be about avoiding being re-caught. But this is Houston, and we have hurricanes when the power is out for weeks and all sorts of things go crazy. Civilized, business friendly Houston starts to look like free wheeling New Orleans. I mean a pre-Katrina New Orleans, when everyone still had sense of humor enough to call a drink you put in a foot long plastic cup you wear on a lanyard around your neck a "hurricane."

Now, only in my dreams do I purport to be a screenwriter, but I think we may have something here. A big dog and a little dog go on an adventure in a hurricane. There's lots to find. They could help squirrels whose trees feel down and find cats who are running a criminal underworld.

After the wedding planning is over, I might just pursuit this.

If you like Gutterballer you'll love NRWLobster.com

Gutterballer fans, I apologize for being aloof these past few months. First, it was the MCAT, and now it is trying to get a collection of jobs big enough to support myself until med school. That, and executing a wedding and training a puppy.

Mostly, however, I have been spending my blogging time working on the wedding website NRWLobster. It has all the crap you have to put on a wedding site like location and travel arrangement. But, because Frank and I are storytellers there is a lot about us and about Houston. So if you have been missing this raconteur you can find a little taste over there.

But don't worry, come December I'm sure I will be full up of things that I need to tell. Already there are some posts in the pipeline that I just haven't had the discipline to finish.

On Crocs

Remember a few years ago when everyone was wearing Crocs all the time? Then there was the backlash, then there was the backlash to the backlash. People who wore them said that they were oh so comfortable and people who didn't wear them said that they were ugly, ugly, ugly.

After all that blew over, it looked like the only people left wearing them were in the health care industry: nurses and veterinary technicians. Well, I guess that seeing as how I am pre-med, it was just a matter of time 'till I got some.

And I just did. And they really are super comfortable. I got the ballet flats because I thought that they were less ugly and would slip on real fast. I leave a pair of shoes by the back door and slip them on when I run outside to stop the puppy from eating her own poo. Then, I've been staying out there and gardening. Well, maybe I shouldn't call it gardening: I've been raking the massive leaf pile and putting in into a massive compost pile in the corner of the yard. All that dirt has taken its toll on my cute Keds and it seemed that a pair of shoes that can be hosed off was the answer.

But these Crocs are better than Keds in so many other ways. I have a foot injury that has been slow to heal. My physical therapist had me put inserts into all my shoes. Well, after putting on a pair of Crocs, I realized that the inserts must have worn out. These ugly Crocs really are supportive. I liked them so much that I wore them to my volunteer job walking people across the street. They were better than my old running shoes, support-wise. Then I wore them over to Frank's Mom's house.

I think I may have just crossed the line: the line that divides people who think that it doesn't matter how you look as long as you're comfortable and the people who care how they look. Some of you may be saying to yourselves, "Katie, you always loved to wear ugly clothes." True. True. True. But that was on principal. Now I'm just wearing ugly shoes. They are ugly without it obviously being a design choice. But they do feel good and I love them.