Halloween -- the live blog!

While I doubt many people will be following this as it goes on, Court and I are currently sitting outside of our house, waiting for trick or treaters with our two faithful mutts. Last minute costumes were in order, so we picked up a couple of dog costumes from Target for Marty & Flame (pics soon to come) and then we cobbled together (what I think) is a pretty respectable Jay & Silent Bob from what we had around the house. So far, no trick or treaters have yet stopped by for the goodies we're providing. But stay tuned here for updates as they happen! (Court would like to express her excitement over live blogging about something over than cows. Not that cows aren't fascinating.)

Dogs!

We just had our first trick or treaters! We had a clone trooper, some sort of nazghul with a spear, and... Something else. I'm afraid I didn't pay much attention... Either way, success!

They just walked back by -- Hannah Montana!! Mystery solved!

Now things are in full swing... We just had a rash of trick or treaters come by, including a girl dressed as the game Twister! Much props go to her for an off-beat costume... More to come...

Us:












We've obviously moved inside by this point, but the logistics of managing a hyper puppy whilst answering the door has proven to be a Herculean task. With this in mind, we wound up just putting the basket of candy outside with a note.

Lessons learned from tonight's adventure:

• you're officially old when you start trick or treating before the kids
• never underestimate the value of dressing as a pop culture icon
• NC autumns are too freaking warm for toboggans and trench coats
• dogs don't like hats

Good night, and good luck

-- Ak out

A PSA from your Friendly Ag PR Girl

Check it out: a testimonial straight from the, er, pig's mouth. H1N1, please!

Idealism, Meet Reality

There's been a lot of debate about the food supply lately, sparked in large part by Food Inc. I won't lie: the movie has had a huge impact on the way the Becks buy food. One of us, despite years of work in the commercial agriculture industry, is really wigged out and will only buy meat from the Farmer's Market or the local hippie grocery store. The other one, bless his carnivorous heart, doesn't really care where the food comes from as long as some of the protein comes in the form of cow.

For those who have a horse in this race, here's some food for thought. What does sustainable agriculture look like to you?

Raleigh's Mad Men

Check out these photos from the early days of the advertising agency I work for.

Damn the man, save the empire!

Interesting article about urban sprawl and one man's reaction. Something tells me the Town of Cary is going to frown on this.

High in the Rockies

We went to Colorado last weekend to spend some time with my folks. Here are some highlights (the only lowlight was that it took 6 planes to get there and back! Geez).

Nature. It's sort of everywhere in Colorado. This was taken in a residential neighborhood (yes, this is what a residential neighborhood in Colorado looks like).


We went to several museums, and Ak petted a sheep. This was the best part of the trip for him. City boy.


Chainsaw art is a big deal in Craig, CO. Here's an example.


Hiking in Steamboat Springs, CO.



We hiked to this waterfall, which was featured on the original Coors beer packaging!


View from where we had lunch in Steamboat Springs -- a deck on the top floor of a ski resort.

How we got there -- I was very brave.

The New Girl (or, One Toke over the Line)

About a month ago, we decided it was time to adopt a puppy. Meet our girl -- Flame Carson Jersey Beck. Flame was her given name, Carson is the Shag girl she reminds me most of, and Jersey because she's spotted and she grazes, like a cow. Weird, right?

Flame is a rescue pup. She's almost a year old, and she's a Brittany/Terrier. I got so excited about the Brittany part that I completely overlooked the Terrier, which means a strong chase instinct! Living with a Terrier and cats is, um, interesting. Alex, in typically Alex form, marched right up to Flame as soon as she got here and smacked her in the nose to let her know he was in charge. He later bit her on the ear, and now that they've established some boundaries, they get along famously (and by famously, I mean Alex chews on her tail and she no longer tries to hunt him). Flame and Ben are still discussing their boundaries. Ben hisses at her, but she's too distracted by the fact that he looks like a squirrel to attempt to overcome the language barrier. Good times. Fortunately, Flame gets more responsive every day and she's awesome with people, even tiny ones, so we think with more training she'll be a pretty awesome dog.

The first of many exciting dog walks (nature is a Terrier's buffet). Note pretty Brittany coat!

Snout.

Love my pups!