Wild Wood Wanderer

I don’t know why, but this really cracks me up.

Elsie has a pretty bad ear infection, so I took her to the vet today.  Poor little pup has been digging at her ear and flipping her head back and forth.  Right now she’s passed out on the floor next to me.  I came home from work this afternoon to a hundred little pieces of paper scattered over my living room.  I guess she got bored

Elsie took some crazy pills this morning because she’s been off the wall today!  I came home from work for our daily walk out on the bike path.  My new landlady was outside, letting me know to contact her with any problems and who to make the rent check out to.  Anyway, I opened the door to my apartment, only to look down and see that Elsie had gnawed away part of the carpet leaving a conspicuous hole in the middle of my living room.  Thank goodness the landlady didn’t come inside!  So I took Elsie outside where I went on a walk and she went on an olympic speed trial.  She was going a hundred mph in circles and chasing any animal, leaf, or snow drifts that moved.  I love my crazy pooch…

Here’s another excerpt from the Baltimore News (July 26, 1879):

“Some of the Pretty Women of the Dark Type There.

It is a noticeable fact that brunettes predominate among this season’s beauties at Newport.  The blond, who was so popular two seasons ago, appears to have had her day.  The handsomest belle of this season, Miss Elsie Hoffman, is a brunette.  She has jet black hair, brilliant complextion, and is much admired and sought for.  Miss Julia Dent Grant, daughter of Col. Fred Grant, is, like Miss Hoffman, a brunette, but more of the Creole type.  She has black hair, an olive skin and all the languid grace of the typical Southern woman.

…Miss Fair is of the type made famous by Titian with bronze hair and clear skin.  She is not very tall and cannot be described as petite.  Her figure is remarkably good and has been kept in perfect trim by every out-of-door sport.”

It amazes me, with the cost of printing in the 19th century, what people found newsworthy.  I’m hooked…do they pay people to do this?

It snowed here last night, and though I don’t think OU closed, I didn’t think my car would make it up the hill to the insane assylum where I work.  So I was bad and slept in, worked on my thesis, and convinced myself I’d go in later.  Now it’s later, and I just want to stay curled up on my couch, drinking coffee and reading. 

Right now though, I’m headed out into the snow with my favorite pup, bundled up like a little kid in my puffy purple jacket, mittens, and fleece scarf wound tightly around my face.  Hopefully this will be enough to tolerate the teenage temperature outside today.

Here’s a really weird excerpt from the Baltimore News, July 17, 1897:

 ”Girls Suicide Club

-Thirteen Harlem girls have formed a suicide club.  They are not tired of life.  They have met with no hard luck.  Their friends have not deserted them, nor are they perishing with hunger.  But all last winter they met to read Shakespeare, and when the spring came they had nothing else to do, so they banded themselves together with 13 ties on the 13th day of March to meet every 13th month thereafter on the 13th day thereof to take 13 ballots to see which girl should kill herself in one of 13 ways.”