See if you can find my three: facepaint girl, gerbil in hand, and my friend Angela (orange hat with baby on her back).

Flowering quince:

Grape hyacinth:

Cornelian cherry (I’d love this picture if it weren’t for that yellow flower blob in the middle!):

And so begun a bit of research starting wtih terminology. Gerbil, desert rat, or clawed jird? I vote for “clawed jird.” We discovered that their lodgings could be improved. When our friends warned us that their gerbils chewed through a few cages, I did find it hard to believe. I am wiser now. Yes, they eat right through plastic. This can’t possibly be good for them. Not sure why the pet stores even recommend such lodgings. We picked up a nice big glass tank from my mom’s this past weekend. We are making gerbil housing improvements slowly but surely. Jet is now separated from her sister (if they are indeed litter mates). We’ve read that females compete for males so perhaps Jet’s aggression is a result of smelling those yummy males around the corner. Kinda cruel of us and makes me hope never to be someone’s gerbil.

So… Have a gerbil? Pick up a camera ’cause these critters are the supermodels of the rodent world. I’ve only photographed Jet so far. I’m telling you she knows how to work it for the camera with her big eyes and direct stare. Wikipedia calls them “overly inquisitive”  and I think this is what makes them such great subject matter. I’m not sure what that “overly” is all about.

Something fun. My facebook friends (and my hubby too) were all laughing at me ’cause I’d never heard this song. Found it while googling “shake it like a polaroid picture.” Such a great song and I’m loving this Peanuts rendition! Okay, so I’m *way* behind in pop culture:)

RIP, Mark Linkous, an artist I only just heard of today. This is beautiful:

I haven’t shaken my blues off yet but I did stay busy this week, mostly in pursuit of the puppy dog. You may have seen him in a recent post, poor thing lying on the wet ground. We almost lost him a couple of times in the past few weeks but finally left him completely behind on Tuesday at the Liberty Science Center along with a cherished back pack. We went back for him the following day and discovered that the backpack was indeed in their Lost and Found but the puppy was not in the backpack. However, he was listed in their directory of lost items (lovely that they have one). Only problem was that the man with the keys had just left for home, after sending down our backpack.  On the third day, we successfully brought doggy back home.

Funny thing — when I first discovered we’d lost him, I made a phone call from home to the Liberty Science Center and left a message. My boy overheard the recording, mishearing it as “animal center.” This thought, that his doggy was at an animal center, lodged right into his mind, easing his trepidations. I must say he was a bit surprised to see us pull up to the same old Liberty Science Center and not some sort of Diego-ish animal rescue center.

What follows is a tribute to doggy because, dear doggy, ever since we lost you things haven’t been quite the same. Make space for penguin. He’s cute. He’s tiny and he fits so well in one hand.

Bake cookies and use those thrifted plates for the first time:

Play in the snow with your pajamas on:

Build for a puppy dog:

And if that doesn’t cheer you up, strike a pose for a snow girl:

Still not cheered? Well, then you *must* watch this (thanks, Angela, for posting this to Facebook!):

Other inspirations of mine today: drips of rain, birthday greetings, bread flingers, vintage chalkboards, and Lykke Li:

I love her 80′s inspired quirkiness. I love that she is a woman and yet not afraid to be publicly odd!