Yesterday I inadvertently left out three of the six non-humans who inhabit (and therefore run) our house. They are:

1. Berrigan. Biggest of the three dogs in terms of weight (about 70 lbs), ego and need for attention. Mostly Gordon Setter. Does not swim, but will climb onto the steps of the pool to drink from the heavily chlorinated water. Barks menacingly, but can be tamed with any dog treat. Named by Caitlin for Philip and Daniel Berrigan.

2. Buster. Was to be named Zinn, for Howard Zinn, a contemporary of the Berrigan brothers and another leading critic of the Vietnam war. By the time we made the ride home from the SPCA, however, we realized he would never be a Zinn and just looked liked a Buster. Having two dogs whose names begin the same letter confuses both of them. And us as well.

3. Tabitha. The Greta Garbo of cats, she has retreated to the basement since the introduction of the dogs last summer and only comes upstairs under cover of darkness.

I've decided to start selling a few of things I make on eBay. These include what are called Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) ("artist" being a very loose characterization, "trading" meaning "trade me them there dollars for this here card", and "card" referring to the standard 2.5" x 3.5" dimensions of the cards), greeting cards, and bookmarks. I've been creating a few practice attempts in preparation for a series of ATCs on the Seven Deadly Sins, and a set of bookmarks that feature various versions of paintings of Venus.

The first bookmark I made has an image of Titian's Venus of Urbino and I've been using it in the books I'm reading (which in no way live up to the literary equivalence of that painting) to see if it either falls apart or doesn't function well. Yesterday I was at the hair salon and must have dropped it out of my book (calling into the question that functionality aspect). There was a man who appeared to be in his 70s in the waiting area. He pointed out to me, while blushing furiously and stammering, "You, uh, lost your, uh.... thing," gesturing to the bookmark which had the nude image face-up. Apparently he could not bring himself to say "You dropped your bookmark that has a picture of a naked woman on it, which is highly inappropriate and of which I don't approve, and it makes me embarrassed to even admit that I looked at it, and you will burn in Hell for all eternity." Maybe it was the tassel that bothered him. I wonder what I can charge for these?