Living with meaning (what a cheesy title, I know)

I’ve decided I want to be anti-label, anti-material, anti-self-importance. I don’t want to be impressed with expensive brand name clothes, degrees, or possessions. I want to live simply and care about the things that really matter like how I treat people, or how good of a dog’s life I can give Jaxxy, or how supportive of a wife I am.

Granted, I don’t want my life to be filled with crap. I’m not about to throw out all the designer stuff I already own. (Although wouldn’t that be freeing?) Neither am I going to go out and protest. I just don’t want to buy into the hype. I want my life to be real, genuine, to have meaning.

A really cool birthday present–thanks a million :)

I just got it. . .belated. ..from GK Sister Artist. It’s a flash drive that GK Sister Artist herself designed. The company she works at, mimoco, makes these really innovative fun flash drives–some of my faves are the Star Wars ones (checkout the Princess Leia one!), and she wanted me to have one she designed herself. How cool.

But that’s not where the present ends. When I stuck the flash drive in I found a bday message, some old photos from our hardcore lion dancing days, and tons of good-to-groove-to music.

GK Sister Artist is an incredibly talented woman who goes all out and follows her dreams. It takes a lot of courage to do the things she’s done. I’ve always been a fan and supporter of her art and I’m so happy for all the success she comes upon–she deserves every ounce.

I also got three of her drawings/ designs/ images– what do I call them? More things to hang and display in my house! I love original artwork.

Thanks–what a thoughtful gift. I’m touched.

Off to watch the crazy dogs play.

Jaxxy and Sophie sitting in a tree

They play hard.

Today Jaxx, Sophie and I played search and rescue the treat. (Think Easter egg hunt but with treats.) I had them sit and wait in another room while I hid the treats then I called “Okay!” and they went running in to find the goodies. Sophie didn’t quite get a hang of the game even though we played twice. Then we played Hide ‘n’ Seek and Sophie found me two out of the three times we played! The funny thing is they took quite awhile to find me the first game and in the process of searching I saw her jump onto our bed and run around. No no! But I couldn’t say anything cause I was hiding. They found me shortly after that though. The next two games Sophie was a sniff out sleuth; she found me right away. She may have a better nose than Jaxx.

Last night Sophie kept us up. She wouldn’t go to sleep on her bed. At first she was obsessed with Jaxx’s toy and kept trying to get it. We’d turn out the lights and hear her nails clicking across the floor. Once I rolled over to see her white face pop up from the ground and then only an inch away from mine–freaky. At one point she tried to sleep nearly on top of Jaxx. He was not amused. “Why is she here? Get her away from me,” his face seemed to beg me.

Then Jamie finally got her settled on her bed yet once we turned out the lights she slinked on her stomach under the bed across to the other side of the room. Jamie had seen her try to do this in the past and thought she was too fat. I’m glad she didn’t get stuck. My she is determined.

This must be kind of what it’s like to have a kid, I thought. Oh gosh.

Google wants Jamie

The other day Jamie had a conversation with a google recruiter. The recruiter found him four weeks ago after a co-worker from seven years ago referred Jamie.

“I must’ve made quite an impression him,” Jamie said of the co-worker because they only worked together for two weeks.

He must’ve. “What do you think I should do?” Jamie asked me when he told me the recruiter wanted to talk to him. “I really like my job and I don’t want to leave,” he added.

“Yeah, but there’s no harm in talking to him,” I said. “Hear what he has to say. Make it perfectly clear that you like your job and have no intention of leaving,” I said. “It could be a good networking opportunity,” I said. “And you never know what he has to say until you listen,” I added.

“Plus, it’s google,” I added. How could he not hear them out. It was a compliment just to be asked.

So he did.

Did you know?

Before the 1940s most of the Chinese in the U.S. were in rural areas working as migrant farmers, gold miners, and railroad workers. The reason they went into laundry, shopkeepers and restaurants was because they were excluded from all other mainstream industries and forced to go into business on their own.

More from Strangers from a Different Shore. . .pg 93

But Chinese laundrymen were also pushed into their occupation. Laundry work was one of the few opportunities that were open to Chinese. Men of other nationalities who were jealous of the Chinese have raised suh an outcry of cheap labor that they have shut him out of working on farms or in factories or building railroads or making streets or digging sewers. . .Crowded into laundry one out of every four Chinese males in the U.S. in 1900 was a laundryman.

Things Jaxxy is learning from Sophie

Look, they’re touching! Here they’re waiting for Jamie and me to finish dinner so they can eat theirs.

How to be submissive dog. Jaxx is normally dominant: he’ll grab other dogs’ toys, run around confidently brandishing his prize. But with Sophie he becomes submissive. His ears go back, his posture is slouchy. His tail is down. He lets her take his toys.

How to share. When Jaxx goes to visit his uncle Tucker he’s bold, bossy, sassy; a complete bully. He steals all of Tucker’s toys, running all over the house grabbing one after the other. He’s constantly moving, sniffing, checking out the place. He thinks he’s in complete control. And he really snaps when Tucker comes to take a toy.

How to not be top dog. He’s seen what it’s like to get in the car as second dog, to walk through the door as second dog, to wait to be the second one to get kisses and rubs and attention.

Sidenote. Sophie has a funny trick she does. Jaxx will be sitting calmly, demurely, on his bed with a toy in between his paws. Sophie will jauntily run over and paw him, indicating she wants to play. She’ll run away and then Jaxx will chase her, but right after Jaxx runs away she’ll sprint back and grab the toy. Then she’ll parade it in front of Jaxx as if to say, “Ha ha! Look what I got!”

Jaxx will look solemn, an expression on his face that says, “You took my toy?” His mouth will turn down, so sad, resigned.

She’ll run around tossing the toy up in the air, taunting Jaxx.

Mean chubby bossy bitch. This is the mean Sophie. Although I find this behavior funny, she can really be a bitch. Hence drawing blood when she bit Jaxxy’s butt when she tried to hump him. 

Jealous. Whenever Jamie or I try to snuggle or play with Jaxx Sophie will butt her face in and try and take over. Sometimes I’m worried she’ll bite me.

Insecure. Jaxx will tolerate Sophie’s bad behavior EXCEPT when she 1. humps him or 2. tries to take his food. I don’t know how this proves she’s insecure, but her owner said it and I think it’s true.

Territorial. Whenever I, or anyone, enters the house she goes crazy barking and charging. She’s a small chubby little thing but forceful and sounds scary. I yell back at her and she’ll calm down. We’re trying to train her out of this.

We found out one thing she’s afraid of: golf. She freaks out when Jamie drives golf balls in the house and stays that way even after the golf is over. (I wonder if someone hit her with a golf ball once.) She tries to climb onto my feet and curl into a ball. (Very cute.) She shakes and shivers and runs into her crate. She follows you everywhere like she’s glued to your legs. She’s sweeter, nicer. Her demeanor–her whole manner– is much more friendly, calmer, receptive. Her ears go down, her eyes close slightly, and her tail goes down. And when she gets like this Jaxx becomes more secure, less submissive–his old self. We like her better this way. The power balance is changing. I think Sophie is adjusting to our home.

Nicknames for Sophie: Chubby, Fatty, Chubetta, Mean Bitch, Tubby, Bossy Girl.

Sophie is also learning “Leave it” and how to walk on a leash. Jamie is good with the discipline. I think she needs it.

Did you know?

from 1840-1900 2.5 million people left China for Hawaii and the U.S. (Hawaii wasn’t part of the U.S. until 1900), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asian, West Indies, South America, and Africa. Although by the 17th century there were already 10,000 Chinese in Thailand and 20,000 in the Philippines.

Most who came to Hawaii and the U.S. were from Guangdong seeking sanctuary from intense conflicts including: British Opium Wars 1839-1842 (gotta love those British), the 1856-1860 peasant rebellions such as the Red Turban Rebellion 1854-1864 (no idea what that is altho it lasted ten years), bloody strife between punti (local people) and Hakkas (guest people–good fighters, women had natural feet) over possession of fertile delta lands, and family feuds within villages.

These people were fleeing the large indemnities imposed on them from the western imperialist powers and high taxes from the Qing government on the peasant farmers. Particularly in Guangdong the hardships were particularly severe because the population had increased by 76% from 16 million in 1787 to 28 million in 1850. (WOW, almost doubled.) Floods intensified and there was poverty, hunger, starvation. The population to land ratio in the provinces was 0.15 acre per person at that point.

These immigrants left for Gam Saan, or Gold Mountain = gold to be mined and opportunities for employment.

I didn’t really know this stuff. But now, thanks to Ronald Takaki’s book Strangers for a Different Shore, I do now. Fascinating stuff, really.

2 dog life

Two dogs isn’t that much harder than one. . .everything you do for one dog you just do twice: feed twice, put both in the car, etc. If you want to stay home to be with the dog you just get more for your money: two for the price of one!

Here’s the two of them taking a nap after playing hard. Let sleeping dogs lie.

A really great thing about Sophie is that she makes Jaxx mellow. She’s hyper and a little nutso, and in return that makes Jaxxy the calm one. Although, she does like to tear apart Jaxxy’s stuffed toys, especially when they play tug-of-war. Jaxxy on the other hand is responsible and takes good care of his toys. I had to hide the stuffed ones, most of them, and hunt for only plastic ones. 

Sophie’s cute; she’s been cuddling with me lately. She’s not perfect though; she can be a bully and has gotten in some nasty fights with Jaxx, trying to bite him. Although they make up pretty quickly after. She also taunts Jaxx: she steals his toys and runs around with them in her mouth. And she’s pretty protective and territorial. Incredibly playful, Jamie calls her a fat bully, or just fatty. (She’s pretty chubby.) I’m still amused by how she’ll fling a toy into the air from her mouth and run after it. We just found out she likes carrots.

Her new favorite toy–don’t know where it came from. I hadn’t seen this green bone in awhile.

Things Jaxxy is teaching Sophie:
How to speak!
How to rollover
How to eat an apple–I eat most of it and then let Jaxxy nibble the rest. (But not the seeds cause they’re poisonous for dogs.) Sophie just licks it when it’s her turn.

Now off to listen to “Wait, wait. . .don’t tell me.”

Did you know?

About the Naturalization Law of 1790 - specified that naturalized citizenship was to be reserved for “whites”. It remained in effect until 1952.

What about the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882?

Or how about the
Natural Origins Act of 1924 - totally prohibited Japanese immigration while permitting annual entry of 17,853 from Ireland, 5,802 from Italy, 6,524 from Poland. the law, seeking to prevent development of Asian families here barred entry of women from China, Japan, Korea and India. Even U.S. citizens could not bring Asian wives into the country. Yet the 1924 laws supported the formation of families in European immigrant communities, allowing European immigrant men to return to their homelands and bring wives to the U.S.

Jaxxy and Sophie!

They fought a little at first over food: Sophie took few chomps at Jaxx and came off with a mouthful of fur, but nothing more damaging so far. Jamie’s trying to teach Sophie some tricks Jaxxy knows: rollover specifically. He tells her to “rollover!” and then Jaxx does the trick again and again.

Sophie does the cutest thing: she takes a toy in her mouth and tosses it up in the air so she can run after it.

They’re adorable together.

Tomorrow is nature walk day with them two. Life is good with two dogs so far.