Merrylog

Today, Merry’s name is “Runs Like Rabbit”. Because seriously? Every time I capture a shot of BOTH her back legs in the air like a bunny rabbit it makes me laugh and giggle and snort and hug her. :)

Plus – did you notice? She totally missed the ball, poor little blind crazygirl. :)

Monday evening, browsing innocently for some stuff for our upcoming wedding, I got hit with a lovely virus. Now, I’m a safety girl when it comes to the ‘net, and also a bit of a geek. I don’t run most of the programs that would make me most vulnerable (Internet Explorer – gah – or any version of Outlook or Outlook Express). I don’t open file attachments or click links when I don’t know where they’ll take me. I run TWO different antivirus programs and a couple of spyware programs as well to keep things relatively secure. But you’re never invulnerable. Luckily, the program announced itself by trying to open up a PDF file in my Acrobat reader (I had not clicked on any PDF files) so I immediately disconnected from the Internet, confirmed that in fact I did have viruses present, and then went to work bug hunting.

Two days, folks. Argh. This was a very nasty collection of bugs (they never travel alone – if you have one, you have more than one… trust me) that reinstated themselves on every reboot, wouldn’t let me run my antivirus scanners NOR install new ones that might have helped. Sigh. What finally saved us is a boot CD, lent to us by a wonderful angel. This piece of software masterpiece was my godsend, allowing me to edit the registry, rename and delete suspect files, all without having to actually load my infected copy of Windows (and thereby render my work useless since the virii were already resident and non-removable). It took several tries, hours of Internet research determining which files and registry keys were useful and which weren’t, and how many of these viruses work (particularly the HKLM/../Image File Execution folder… who knew! These little virus writers are so sneaky!) so we could edit the registry with intelligence, but it worked and WOO I am now virii free.

If the above was mostly garbledygook to you, PLEASE don’t try to use the boot CD I’m about to recommend, because these tools while useful hack at the very core of a Windows computer and if you don’t know what you’re doing, you could mess things up permanently. But if you’re an old hacker like my fiance and I, and aren’t afraid of editing your own registry, running system file checker (sfc.exe), checking hosts files, etc. then I can tell you that this little boot CD is a LIFE saver, literally: Ultimate Boot CD for Windows. It has dozens of utilities on it – including file explorers, registry editors, malware checkers… really, it’s a gem and a lifesaver. I am burning about twelve copies of it this weekend and stashing them in our car and every corner of our house in case anything like this ever happens again.

And now, two days later and several missed hours of sleep lighter, we return you to your regularly scheduled broadcast.

Oh, the princess had such FUN with us at the park this weekend. I have a few other gems to share with all of you, but I had to share this first – doesn’t she look happy? Makes me want to reach out and smush her. :)

And for those of you who loved it: a photo of the pug howling is this week’s free DoggyDesktop!

She looks a little like a bobblehead in this photo, but I loved it anyway – the light, the sweet look on her face. A fab Memorial Day weekend wish to our friends in the US.

Three things about the pug’s undercarriage:

1. The way the hair meets in the center of her chest is just. Too. Cute.
2. Her front feet are not that enormous. It’s the angle.
3. You can see her healed incision from February’s surgery on her back right leg (left side of the photo).

I looooove her eyes. Best thing about the pug, hands down. She’s got the cutest pug eyes I’ve ever seen, and I’m really really biased of course, but whatever. ;)

Can you believe it’s 84 degrees today? CRAZY! We had overnight frost warnings last week.

Oh, and a reminder to new visitors looking for information on how I shoot Merry, what equipment I use, and how to take better photos of YOUR pooch: read the Merrylog FAQ (it’s also linked from the sidebar). If you feel so inclined, I’d love it if you purchased your equip from the links in the FAQ, since it means it helps to support what we do around here. :)

Alternatively, you’re welcome to hire me to photograph your dog, if you live in Southwestern Ontario.

The princess pug, using her Jedi mind-powered tricks again, urges you to adore her. You must obey. The force is strong with this one.

There is an order to things, you understand. You cannot just roll over willy nilly. First you must sit. Then you must lick your lips twice because you know you’re going to get a treat once you’re upright again. But sometimes you forget, impatient in your excitement, and start your turn while still licking your lips.

Because you love carrots, you see. You MUST HAVE carrots. Carrots are your whole world. Until another food shows up.

Have a super weekend, all! :)

For this pug, playtime is any time Mom’s not sleeping in the bed or staring at that glowing white box she types on every day. All other times – including breaks to stretch, get a glass of water, eat lunch, etc. are fair game.

It’s a wonder I get any work done at all. ;)

Does your pup like to play? Share!

That’s the good thing about dogs. They’re great listeners. I babble on to the pug all day long and she doesn’t mind a bit. Sometimes she sniffs, licks, or woofs. But she never calls me crazy for thinking certain things and costs less than therapy every week. :)