Hazel Ceej

That animal owner who abandoned his German shepherd Missy on a Colorado mountain made excuses : 'I was forced to leave her,' this and that bla bla bla. Fact is he DID NOT go back to rescue her. Other people did. After a vet declared that Missy would fully  recover the owner wants her back. I can imagine animal rights activists glaring at his guts. Or I was the one furrowing my brows in disbelief, feeling sorrow over Missy's cut paws. Poor darling. Mozart should learn about paw preservation from her, and at least try to wear his shoes for once in his life. But Mozart will never know the perils of mountain hiking until he were in Missy's shoes. Does your fur kid like to wear shoes?  Mine does not :( Actually he refuses to wear anything on his paws and will bite if forced. Recently I insisted he tried, at least for the sake of photos, and his teeth sank quickly on my hand so I dropped it. But not without having him pose with his unwanted shoes.  Heck, grooming accessories

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="144"] Bookshop Window (Photo credit: garryknight)[/caption] On the daydreams department : Inkwood Books, an "indie bookstore in a cozy old Hyde Park bungalow" is for sale. My dream is alive with more than just black and white as I buy the book bungalow in a page-turn. The rich becomes richer : had the U.S. State Department not withdrawn a $16.5 million contract to provide Kindle Touches for its overseas language education program, that would have been the case with Amazon . The reconsideration now gives all vendors opportunities to respond to the Department's requirements for mobile learning. Yay to sharing the pie. A positive state of bookstore affairs : Oblong Books & Music (New York) renovates. Here's wishing them traffic flow increase. Politics and Prose (Washington, D.C.) changes their store layout. A toast to events that draw larger audiences. Builders Booksource (California) re-sizes

If you had to choose to live within a novel, which would it be? That was a question I answered in a book party some time ago. I delightedly went, 'without much ado Harry Potter's Hogwarts! What a place to explore! I'd like to transfigure arrogant Malfoy into a cross-eyed cockroach. *kidding* And when I feel like cutting Snape's class I'll hang out at Hagrid's hut. Then during summers head to The Burrow. As Ron Weasley says, "it's not much, but it's home." The kiddo loves Harry Potter. He watches the first two installments over and over hiding behind the door and saying, "I don't like this..." each time. Then he watches it again, runs to the door again, the ceremony goes on :) For fun I thought of listing our Thirteen favorite places in Harry Potter: 1. Hogwarts the moving staircases and all the magic learning! 2. The Burrow 'dilapidated and standing only by magic' ah!... wonderful 3. Hogsmeade Village appeals to the cou

[caption id="attachment_13522" align="alignleft" width="259"] Bookshelf Wallpaper by Young & Battaglia[/caption] When books die do they go to heaven? I like to think they do. Earlier I lamented the gradual departure of bookshops here and there. It is  bittersweet to succumb to book depression. Then something came up which made me think that in a traditional book lover's space this would be perfect - "a heavenly library." Or at least the look of it. Young & Battaglia is the creative genius behind this bookshelf wallpaper idea showcased by Design Year Book. "White books on white shelves." How peaceful is that! And to me it is quite a comfort to see reminders of traditional books like this if they have to be driven off our lives by e-readers. On a fashionista note, it looks like an intelligent sort of background for a photoshoot with a dark-clad reading model, does it not? Let's go to Budapest. Just a 5-second show that ma

"Lace is a thing like hope. It is beauty; it is grace. It was never meant to destroy so many lives." Lace also usually associates well with tenderness, delicateness.  But how does it end up destroying lives? Author Iris Anthony weaves a story of "fleeting beauty, mad obsession and ephemeral hope." Ruins of Lace is for historical fiction fans, and is going to be published on October 1st 2012. More info here . [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="150"] Charles Dickens' great-great-great-grandchildren, Rob Charles Dickens, and Rachel Dickens Green, lay flowers at the grave during a ceremony at Westminster Abbey to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of the English novelist on February 7, 2012 in London, England. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)[/caption] Remember Pip, the orphan who rose to wealth, and got affected by the improvement of his circumstances? If you think you have seen Pip somewhere in the news last week,

  Fair bootie bubbly frisky fascinating fae fancy water walk Pledged to believe, though foreign among city frogs   fish and lily pads  It's a lovely business morning in busy Bangkok and my longing-for-the-countryside imagination makes its way to the office through a garden with a pond that presents something surreal. It overlays activities of stilettos, remote controls and keyboards. Such a magical entertainment makes the day less drab. Thanks to the fairy who left her bootie. Shared with Haiku Heights * Haiku my Heart * Sensational Haiku * Outdoor Wednesday ABC Wednesday   *  Our World Tuesday

Divorce wiped me off something I would have been entitled to. That didn't bother me a hoot thanks to financial independence. But when the almighty ex-MIL cancelled my son's trust fund (long story, complicated) I had to look beyond mall windows to think. The realization that I am responsible for the loss of what is due the kiddo (we're talking more than a few digits here) horrifies me. Add the thought of giving up fine dining and entertainment, holidays abroad, and I'm twirling a nightmare in manicured fingernails.  The situation provides a steady supply of adrenaline as I scramble to adjust priorities hopping from one advice to another, experimenting, analyzing and trying out examples. Who wants a nightmare when life can go on nicely with some practice of what has been an option all along? Saving it is. A Yahoo Finance article shows readers how to live well on $40,000 a year . It looks feasible and motivated me to set a financial goal for CJ that will teach him how to