Internet Marketplace

I have officially entered the internet marketplace. You are looking at my book sales from the past three days. Sunday night I opened shop at Half.com and within minutes I sold my first book. Although there is a small commission on each book I sell that goes to the company it is a pretty good deal. There is a shipping allowance given and media mail is cheap. If you have Harry Potter books lying around and you aren't attached I recommend selling. I had the last five books and all sold in a few days. Ok, gotta go. I need to find more books to sell.

On the Waterfront vs. Devil Wears Prada

Marriage is a series of compromises over the smallest details. Example: Christian and I have had several weeks of over scheduled family outing weekends. We love our family, but between the two of us we have four sets of parents so it can get a bit hectic. This weekend we had no scheduled birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, going away parties, family in town, celebrate your learning to drive a stick, or congrats on learning to braid your hair gatherings which is was quite exciting. This was so exciting to us we decided to spend two straight days watching movies we own, cooking food in our kitchen and going to Target. Our compromise for the weekend was watching On the Waterfront on Friday (Christian's pick) and The Devil Wears Prada on Saturday. I had already seen The Devil Wears Prada and truly there is not a lot to say about the film. It is a guilty pleasure with some excellent lines. My favorite..."I am on a new diet. It is French...basically I don't eat and when I feel like I am going to faint I eat a piece of cheese. However, On the Waterfront there is lots to say...I am not a movie reviewer and prefer to keep my comments short.

On the Waterfront

• Marlon Brando was actually cute?
• How have I lived almost 30 years without seeing the scene, "I could have been a contender...I could've been somebody."
  
• I love the romantic narratives in old movies.
  
• There is a monologue the priest gives halfway through the movie that is unbelievable.
  
• I really need to re-think my feelings on black and white movies.
  

Petiquette

Everyone has their pet peeves, but mine are directly associated with actual pets. I apologize for my soapbox rant in advance.

To All Pet Owners:

• Leashes are the law. I know we all want to live in a world where our dogs can frolic off-leash, but that is called a dog park. My neighbors reasons for not using a leash will not work with me, "He was close to me," "You don't expect to run into people this late at night (it was 9:30 and what the hell does that mean?)" and "He was on leash (uh, ok expect it was invisible)."
• Respect property right, period. In case you didn't know, not all people like dogs. Many families choose not to have pets and this is their choice. These people should not have to deal with your dog running all over their yard and peeing on every vertical object.
  
• Pick up the crap. Invest in some poop bags. Dogs poop and if you don't pick it up you set a bad example for all dog owners everywhere.
  
• Flexi leashes suck. You may be thinking, "Oh I love being able to let my dog roam and have more freedom." Sorry, but I refuse to use a leash that comes with warnings that involve amputations. On a side note, these leashes never ask your dog to comply with any rules regarding pulling on leash. This is why many of my students get drug around the training room. The dog has no regard for the person attached to the leash.
• Correction in dog world is perfectly normal. I understand my knowledge of dog body language is larger than most of the general public, however one of my biggest annoyances is people not understanding normal dog behavior. Dogs use aggression as normal behavior to convey to other dogs very important messages. For example, a young goofy dog may approach an older more mature dog in a very rude manner (think young inexperienced boy trying to hit on a woman). The mature dog has every right in this situation to correct the young dog. If effect, the older dog is saying "that is rude and this is what happens to rude dogs." Usually this correction is loud and showy, but the intent is not to injure the other dog. These correction can be incredibly important to the development of a young dog. This type of aggression happens on a regular basis in human language. A child does something wrong and the mother has "that look" that ends the interact immediately. Of course if the mother was mad at the child and decided that beating him was appropriate we would consider this abnormal behavior. In the dog world there are abnormal forms of dog aggression. In these cases dog behavior is ways that are outside the bounds of normal dog communication. Suzanne Clothier's article "He Just Wants to Say Hi!" explains this more in depth.

Well, that is enough of my soapbox for a bit. Hope everyone had an exciting weekend. Mine was pretty uneventful: work, family dinners and a little more work. Christian and I did see The Bourne Ultimatum. If you want to watch a thrilling movie full of abnormal aggression this is the one for you. It is great!