I Might As Well Be Walkin' On The Sun

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To do nothing is sometimes a good remedy.

~~ Hippocrates of Cos (or Hippokrates of Kos), Ancient Greek Physician, considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine and referred to as the Father of Western Medicine, 460 BC – 370 BC

Nature acts without masters.

~~ Hippocrates of Cos (or Hippokrates of Kos), Ancient Greek Physician, considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine and referred to as the Father of Western Medicine, 460 BC – 370 BC

Just look at this week in temperatures where I live:

See, I might as well be walkin' on the sun. It is that hot. Now I ask you, is this where an Alaskan Malamute should be living?

I'm melting.

In my previous post I gleefully shared my love for the Sun, and I meant every woof. However, I think Mr. Sun took it too much to heart and, in appreciation, decided to shower me with an abundance of sunshiny rays of love. Thank You, Mr. Sun! But, little request - can you shine down on me when it is a balmy 0 degree Fahrenheit day and tone down these 103 degree Fahrenheit days by about 100 degrees? Thanks! Oh snow, how I yearn for thee.

~~ MOMENT OF BEAUTY ~~

Rosette Window with Mosaics of the Four Doctors of the Church – Gregorius, Hieronymus, Augustinus, and Ambrosius - over the Central Portal of the Cathedral of Orvieto, credited to Andrea di Cione, circa between 1359-1368 (Orvieto, Italy) [Click to enlarge and see the beautiful detail.]

Frontispice and Central Doorway of the West Front, Cathedral of our Lady of Strasbourg (Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg), circa between 1225-1439 (Strasbourg, France) [Click to enlarge and see the beautiful detail.]

Back to me...

Guess what? I got another award!

Isn't it pawsome? Thank you to my two newest friends for this delightful award: Raelyn and her beautifully unique dog Rose, and Sheba. Raelyn and Rose are two very cool bloggers who express their observations, feelings, and experiences with thoughtful and humorous detail. They really are beautifully unique! Sheba is a very beautiful and very funny pup! Always witty, informative, and very fun, with many lovely photos to enjoy, Sheba will keep you coming back for more. I am so furry happy I have found these two new friends! Sadly, I am completely unprepared speech-wise to accept this charming award. This heat-wave has fried my brain and the most I can muster is a very humble and appreciative 'Thank You.' I am honored that you both have found my woofs to be inspirational and I hope to continue to achieve such high standards. Regarding the rules, as I have mentioned before, I paw my own rules. That's just how I roll.

Call the fire department! I'm burning up!

If I don't go inside now I will be going up in flames.

The suffering I endure for this blog. I'm just sayin'...

Let The Sun Shine In! In Celebration of Summer Solstice 2012

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May the sun shine all day long,
everything go right and nothing wrong.
May those you love bring love back to you,
and may all the wishes you wish come true!

~~ Irish Blessing

These things I warmly wish for you:
Someone to love, Some work to do,
A bit o’sun, a bit o’cheer,
And a Guardian Angel always near.

~~ Irish Blessing

The Sun is one of the many things I love {snow will always be first!}. And today is Summer Solstice, which means it is the longest day of the year for sunshine in the Northern Hemisphere. To honor this extra long day of sun I have gathered a few of my favorite photos where the Sun has graced me with his sun-shiny beams of love. Enjoy!

Snow and Sun. *Bliss

"So this heifer phoned me the other day and mooed, 'Come on over, nobody's home.' I went over. Nobody was home."
{Courtesy Rodney Dangerfield.}

Those two bulls crack me up! They are the funniest bulls I ever met. They should be at a comedy club doing stand-up.

Sun and Mud. This is the life.

Thanks for a great sunshiny day, Sun!
~~ MOMENT OF BEAUTY ~~

Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia, Five Angels Dancing Before the Sun, circa 15th Century (Musée Condé in the Château de Chantilly, Chantilly, France)

Nicolas Poussin, Helios and Phaeton with Saturn and the Four Seasons, circa 1635 (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany)

Back to me...

The Sun beamed me with a powerful ray of sunlight to bestow special powers unto me. My special powers are to remain secret, so I can not woof about them.

The Sun Bubble seals in my new special powers.

I love the Sun!

Rainbows in my sun beams. I feel so blessed!

I know I am not supposed to woof about my special powers, however, I will advise the yummy bunnies that they might now want to think twice before taunting me. I'm just sayin'...

New Header, Award, and A Challenge

Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.

~~ Aristotle, Greek Philosopher and Polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great, 384 BC – 322 BC

It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.

~~ Aesop, Fabulist (or story teller) credited with Aesop’s Fables, which are still taught as moral lessons, 620 BC – 564 BC

Notice anything different on my blog? My brand new header! Created especially for me by my very talented friend Haopee:

Isn't it fabulous? Haopee did a fantastic job and really brought out my personality, if I do woof so myself. Many of you know Haopee from her blog My Dogs Love Me. She kindly offered to create a header for me, something I have never had. I was open to change so I sent her some photos of me and voilà! Haopee created the perfect header for me. I feel quite special now, like I am finally hitting the big time. Thank you Haopee for your hard work, time and effort. I really appreciate it and feel your header really adds a professional tone to my blog.

Speaking of Haopee, if creating an pawsome header was not enough, she also awarded me with the Sunshine Award. How cool is that? This award came as quite a surprise so I did not have time to prepare a speech. However, I will woof a few words. Ah-hem. It is with great pleasure that I accept the Sunshine Award, which I find to be an aptly named award considering my sun-shiny personality. It is always an honor to be recognized, and also humbling. Thank you Haopee and many tail wags and play bows to you for so kindly acknowledging my hard work at blogging.

As a requirement of the Sunshine Award I am to answer the following seven questions. So, without further ado:

Favorite Number: Four, because I have four paws and there are four of us in my Pack (Silvius, Porgy, K, and moi!).
Favorite Non-Alcholic Drink: Bunny blood. (Sorry, but I am what I am.)
Facebook or Twitter: Twitter, because I love my birdie friends especially and most of all Porgy!
My Passion: Anything and everything to do with snow.
Favorite Pattern: Snowflakes.
Favorite Day of the Week: Sunday, because that is family (Pack) day.
Favorite Flower: Sunflower, because bunnies like to eat them so where there are sunflowers there are bunnies.

I had fun answering those questions! Now it is my human's turn. My dear friend Billy, from Brazil who has his own fun and smart blog, The Adventures of Billy, has given K a Challenge. K is to answer 11 questions posed by Billy's mom. The idea is to get to know the human behind the dog. Good luck with that! Although K has absolutely no problem sharing every single detail about me and my life, even posting some very unflattering photos of me, when it comes to her life she zips up. K does not like to share much of herself or her life on the internet. So, be advised that some of her answers may not be very forthcoming. That being woofed, take it away K!

1. What is important to you? My family (human and pets), and making sure they are well cared for, healthy, and loved.
2. Explain the love you feel for your pet. They are my family, and I love them with all my heart.
3. What do you expect of the planet for years to come? I expect happiness and enthusiasm and love to once again flourish around the world, so that creativity and imagination thrive, thus producing amazing ideas and possibilities for the future. Let's take back our world and fill it with wonder, beauty, excitement, and joy!
4. What is your favorite food and favorite beverage?There are many of both but for food I will go with homemade spinach lasagna and for beverage I will go with Amaretto.
5. What is FRIENDSHIP to you? I think these two great minds express my feelings about friendship best: “A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.” ~ William Shakespeare; and “We do not so much need the help of our friends as the confidence of their help in need." ~ Epicurus
6. Something that does not give up, is it? Not sure on h to translate this question, but I think you are asking what I should never give up? If so, then that would be Faith. Never give up Faith.
7. What is your dream? A life that is filled with love, happiness, health, wonder, and amazement. And when trouble and hardships hit, as is the path in life, the ability and strength to get through it.
8. What is your realization? To achieve success in the areas that are important to me.
9. A movie/book/design that you have recently seen/read is? I have seen many amazing films lately, mostly foreign with the Korean films being some of the best. However, the most recent best film I have seen is "In Bruges" with Colin Farrell {love!}.
10. What are the expectations of your blog for people, what do you want to achieve with it? I strive to provide beauty, education, wisdom, and a bit of humor to those who visit Suka's blog. I am continually looking for ways to better achieve that goal as well as for ways to improve Suka's blog. Suka and I would like for our viewers to leave our blog feeling happy!
11. Do you like me? (Billy, Jully, Sophia / blog) Suka and I LOVE you and your blog! We are very happy we have met you and look forward to a blossoming friendship.

Pawsome job, K! And thank you Billy for passing along this Challenge to us! We really enjoyed it and K had fun answering the questions. We appreciate your kindness and friendship!

~~ MOMENT OF BEAUTY ~~

Jacob Hoefnagel, Orpheus Charming the Animals, circa 1613 (The Morgan Library and Museum, New York, New York)

Paul de Vos, Concierto de Aves, circa 17th century (Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain)

Back to me...

Now, I neglected to mention earlier but both the Sunshine Award and the Challenge come with stipulations. The Sunshine Award requires that I pass it along to 10 others, while the Challenge requires K to write 11 new questions and then pass those along to 11 new recipients. K and I certainly do not mean any disrespect to the integrity of the Award and Challenge, and we do not want to tarnish the spirit of the Award and Challenge, but we won't be able to fulfill the final stipulation. K pleads "no time" - that she is too busy at the moment to come up with 11 questions and find 11 blogs to Challenge. She is truly sorry and hopes that Billy will understand. As for me, well, as many of you already know, I am a rebel and I make my own rules and follow my own path. That is what an Alpha Male has to do. I'm just sayin'...

Presenting Venus!

Venus favors the bold.

~~ Ovid {Publius Ovidius Naso}, Roman Poet, traditionally ranked alongside Virgil and Horace as one of the three Canonic Poets of Latin literature, 43 BC – AD 17/18

The smallest children are nearest to God, as the smallest planets are nearest the sun.

~~ Jean Paul Richter {Johann Paul Friedrich Richter}, German Romantic Writer, Novelist, and Humorist, 1763-1825

As many of you are aware, Venus, the planet of Love and Beauty, completed a rare transit of the Sun, which is when Venus passes directly between the Sun and the Earth, on Tuesday/Wednesday, 5/6 June 2012. Unless you plan to live to a very ripe old age, this was a once in a lifetime event as the next transit of Venus will not occur until 11 December 2117. That would make me 798 dog years old! But that's O.K. because isn't 798 the new 564? Just sayin'...

If I eat healthy, don't slack on exercise, and maintain a positive and happy disposition, I think I can make it to 798 dog years.

Anywoofs, my human, K, and her brother headed out to capture Venus using binoculars and blank sheets of paper. K is a scientist and loves astronomy. Below are just a few of their results:

First attempt, approximately one hour after the start of the show. {It's the little black dot, lower right.}

A little later. Incredible! {It's the little black dot, lower right.}

That is Venus, folks! {It's the little black dot, lower right.}

~~ MOMENT OF BEAUTY ~~

Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr, The heliocentric motions of the inferior planets Mercury and Venus during the year 1710 with two diagrams depicting the transit of Mercury across the Sun on 5 November 1710 and the (predicted) transit of Venus across the Sun on 6 June 1761 [Venus in her chariot passes between the Sun and Earth], circa Unknown (first published in Johann Baptist Homann’s Atlas von hundert Charten (Nuremberg, 1712))

Ford Madox Brown, Crabtree Watching the Transit of Venus AD 1639, circa 1879-1893 (mural at Manchester Town Hall, Greater Manchester, England)

Alexandros of Antioch, Venus de Milo (or, Aphrodite of Milos), circa 130 and 100 BC (Musée du Louvre, Paris, France)

Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus (or, La Nascita di Venere), circa 1482-1486 (Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy)

Back to me...

K's brother, in a burst of creative thinking, decided to capture Venus on his Mercedes-Benz. It turned out to be more difficult than thought, but still, even I concur the results are very cool:

Venus in the Mercedes-Benz logo. {It's the little black dot, a little bit left of center at bottom of logo.}

How cool is that? {It's the little black blurry dot, middle right edge of logo.}

This got me thinking, why didn't K have a burst of creativity and capture Venus on me? I probably would have been the only pup in the World to have had a planet on me!

Nice try but Venus is not elongated.

Very good, almost had me fooled.

I don't think Venus looks like a Ladybug.

I suppose I could wait 105 years for my next chance at getting a picture of Venus on me. But probably by then I could just put on a jet pack and fly there myself for a picture of me on Venus. I'm just sayin'...