Simon... Alone.

As I mentioned before, we're dogsitting my Mom's dog, Simon.

Simon is uber emotional. When you leave him for a few hours, he thinks it's the end of the world. When you come home, it's a rebirth.

One of Simon's trademarks is turning over his food in defiance after we leave for the day. Sergio had a bright idea to set up a camera and see when this happens and for how long he freaks out. As you can see below, it's a lot longer than we anticipated.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

(Note that those are minute times, not hours of the day.)

EXCLUSIVE! Kenna's last US interview

Kenna is taking off soon for Korea, where she will spread English to the masses so that our children’s children’s children will surely have overseas, Korean bosses who will be legitimately smarter. America will fall and we'll all be able to thank Kenna for it.

Kenna needs the money though. As you can see (left) she could only afford one candle for her last birthday. Before Kenna takes off, she graciously allowed me an exclusive interview. Full transcript below:

WIB: What exactly will you be doing in North South Korea?

K: Hopefully nothing. I will however be teaching English to 6 & 7-year-olds in Busan, South Korea.

WIB: Good luck balancing "nothing" and "teaching." What grades did you receive for English in college?

K: I skipped English 101 because of my high AP test scores, and moved right along to getting A's and B's in most of my classes.

WIB: So you're meeting minimum requirements. That's OK. What was the length of time between learning about the job and formally accepting it?

K: One week. I did search for about two months before finding the right job.

WIB: How many Korean friends do you have now? How many do you expect to have when you return?

K: Does Lindsay Walker count? Wait, no she's Japanese. I hope to have lots of Korean friends when I come back.

WIB: Walker counts. How many Korean roommates did Paolo have in college?

K: One. Final answer.

WIB: That's correct. Willoughby! He and Walker look the same to me, supporting your earlier answer. Can you describe any experiences you’ve had with Korean culture?

K: I just finished a book on Korean etiquette. Other than that? My sister has told me a few food horror stories from her visit to Jeju Island.

WIB: I learned everything from Team America, personally. Speaking of, which one of these movies is based upon Korean culture? Kung-Fu Panda, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon or Rush Hour 2?

K: This is tough. Kung Fu Panda?

WIB: Wrong. Kung Fu Panda is set in an alternate Chinese culture. I think they're all based on Chinese culture actually. Anyway. True or false? Federal Way is a sister city of Korean city.

K: True.

WIB: Correct. Donghae is Federal Way's sister city. Don't ask how I know that. South Korea is known as one of the most democratic countries in the world because of its high voter turnout. Could Barack Obama win a landslide election there, too? I think he did well in Federal Way...

K: Probably if he created the same pop culture frenzy... and sang Karaoke.

WIB: Do you consider yourself proficient in Origami?

K: One time in the first grade my friend gave me a little hot pink origami bird. I kept it for a while, but there is no way I could replicate it.

WIB: What is North of South Korea?

K: Weapons of nuclear destruction.

WIB: Close enough. If during a late night, drunken stupor you stumbled across the demilitarized zone and ran into Kim Jong Il, what would you say?

K: "Anyong-Haseyo," which is hello in Korean and the only thing I know how to say.

WIB: If you come back in one year and the U.S. economy is still in a slump, what other country would you most like to teach English in?

K: Paris would be nice.

WIB: Paris is a city. France is a country. Surely you’re starting a blog to chronicle this journey, or as the samarai would say, “Suzuki.“ Where can we find you online?

K: I will be starting a blog, but am stumped on what to call it. Any suggestions?

WIB: How about "Kenna's Korea Korrespondence"? KKK shouldn't carry the same vibe over there...

Foto Friday: Sergstitute

I take a lot of pictures but not all of them tell a story. On Foto Fridays, I'm planning to publish those stand-alone photos I wouldn't publish otherwise.

This is a common scene whenever Simon, my Mom's dog, is around Sergio. He loves laying belly-up on his lap.

Sergio left today for a photo shoot in San Jose. Then he's off to Greece on Monday to vacation for a few weeks. He's coming back through Philadelphia to shoot a wedding before coming back home.

For the next couple weeks we're watching Simon while Mom vacations. Like Sergio, Simon needs food, water and attention, so we're not getting much of a break while Serg is out. We're just getting a Sergstitute.

Pride > radiator

Dear Tacoma,

I was displeased to learn today that Sergio's car was broken into in front of our home. That sucks. I was more concerned to hear that his radiator was stolen. That turns a bland, petty crime into a ghetto crime. Who steals a radiator?

I have faith in you, Tacoma, which is why I've invested in you. Crime happens everywhere. Heck, Seattle accrued the same number of car thefts in six months that you did all last year. But don't get cocky -- Seattle also has more than double the population.

A rock doesn't become smooth until it's weathered some storms, and we've had our share. However, since I left you for Bellingham, you've cleaned up. Downtown looks amazing. The waterfront is on its way. Hopefully, we'll have fewer storms ahead before you're shinin.'

You can take a radiator, but you can't take my pride.

Best,
Paolo

P.S. Everyone put good thoughts toward Sergio as he handles this mess just 24 hours before he goes to Greece! Hang in there, bro!

Chinook's pass

Since we moved into the Oakes Tree, Amanda has pleaded for a dog. She puts on her best puppy-dog face from time to time and howls about how sad she is that she doesn't have one -- even though she cares for two large dogs at work. She looks at Petfinder for hours in the evenings, frequently calling me over to look at the next cutest puppy she found.

Sergio of course supports the motion. Whenever I give in a little he attacks: "You have to go right now. Let's go right now. If you don't go and get that dog right now it's going to die." He likes to channel that Sarah-McLachlan-pet-adoption-commercial tone. (In the arms of an angel...)

I admit, our home was designed for a dog. We have chain link fence around the property and plenty of space for a dog to run. We have a mud room where a dog door could be installed and an old-enough house that if a dog went on a rampage, you wouldn't care so much because it'd add to the "character" (imperfections) of the home. I don't oppose the idea, but the timing isn't right.

On Mother's Day, we were out working in the yard and noticed our neighbors had a Husky mix tied to a tree. We knew they had two Pugs but didn't know about the Husky. We walked across the street to inquire, and they told us they found the runaway wandering the neighborhood earlier in the day. They had to keep her outside because she didn't get along with their Pugs. The Husky had tags but was too fidgety to allow them to read.

Amanda was some kind of dog whisperer and had no problem calming the dog, loosening its tangled harness and reading the tags. Her name was Chinook and her owners lived just a couple blocks away. Our neighbors went to the owners' house but they weren't there. We offered to take the dog in the meantime and relieve our neighbors. They gladly accepted and Amanda was pleased to play Mom to Chinook on Mother's Day.

I watched the Sounders game with the boys while Amanda kept to the yard and played with Chinook. The dog had a good couple runs around the house, destroying 5 percent of our plants, but was out of shape and quick to lay down for the remainder of her stay with us. We kept her outside, and I enjoyed her company while I barbecued at halftime. Shortly after the game ended (What was up with the refs?) our neighbors called to tell us that Chinook's owners would be by to pick her up. Amanda hopes that the owners died in the previous hours vanished and she moved on to plotting how she could steal Chinook in coming weeks. The owners came to pick up Chinook and Amanda's Mother's Day came to an end.

The next day, Amanda picked me up from the train station after work and we talked about how nice it was having Chinook around. Amanda kept saying how much she loved Chinook. The dog won over as much of her love in hours as I had in months. As if it were a sign, we saw Chinook on our way home. She had again escaped and we walked her back into her yard. Amanda suffered postpartum depression for the remainder of the evening.

Fortunately, Mom is out of town for two weeks and Amanda can have her fix taking care of her mini-Schnauzer, Simon.

I thought that taking care of these dogs would steer us away from getting a dog anytime soon, but I'm afraid that I'm wrong. For now, we're willing dogsitters.