Mike's Playground

August 2006

I had forgotten just how much work a puppy can be. This little guy jumps like a deer and is totally exuberant all the time. CJ says ' all bulldog all the time'. We absolutely love Henry, but sometimes I would swear there are more than one of him around the house!

This is Gus Gorilla, the mascot for Pittsburg State University. Gus stands just outside the student union, and a few years ago we took a few photos of the statue. This one has been adjusted as an ink pattern, with a bit of color. As everyone knows, "If you ain't Pitt, ...." well, fellow alumni know anyway...

Gracie is now the second puppy with wild-man Henry scurrying about. Here is a quick image to show she is still our favorite model. Whenever CJ gets out the camera, Gracie runs to pose just in case it is all about her....again.

Pat asked me to post this picture of his grandson, Hayden. Hayden is sitting on Pat's dog, Faith Ann. Pat is devoted to both, but is always eager to share Hayden's latest exploits. Hayden is likely to be Grandpa's boy for a long time to come. The resolution on this shot is fuzzy because the original was about the size of a Post-it. Pat obviously kept the bigger pictures for himself!

And now for something completely different. I was just playing with Photoshop one day and came up with this. It isn't a photograph, just something I thought was unusual.

For those of you not privileged to own mini-bulldogs, you are missing out on the "bulldog smile". Henry poses patiently in this shot after we got home from work one day. He is a very happy little guy.

This is Hailey. Her mom Kelle brought her out for a photo sitting with Charlotte a couple of weeks ago. I thought this was an interesting effect, and we shared the original print with Kelle.

Henry has a spot of mange, but I am not that much better myself overall. CJ may have to trade us both in for better models. Life is starting to get back to normal for us. Henry is breathing a sigh of relief along with the rest of us, and here is catching a snooze on the back porch.

Henry found some chiggers in the backyard, and is temporarily stuck on the back porch. Here he becomes a target for the camera. If you look, you can see my left ear where the surgery occurred.

Henry is clearly bored with both of us. I think he looks a bit like Yoda at times, though. It is nice to have our quiet life back.