Because there's nothing else worth watching on television these days

I had never been interested in watching the show Dog Whisperer. The name alone puts me off. We had heard both good and bad things about the show in the course of the last few years, and never we never really cared enough to investigate it ourselves. Recently we started watching a few episodes here and there, and now it's our favorite work-from-home lunch hour entertainment. We're totally sucked in. We like how Cesar commands the dogs just with his presence, not his voice or having them sit and stay. The dogs know he is in charge. Henry and Lola know we're in charge but only about 85% of the time. They are good dogs but we'd really like them to be great, perfect, not lunging at small children dogs. They understand not to eat our shoes, sleep on the sofa, steal food off the kitchen counter or bark at the garbageman. They do not understand how not to excitedly leap head-high when people come to visit, walk calmly on a leash or bark at the neighborhood children riding their bicycles. We really want them to be more relaxed and less worried about what is going on around them. Cesar says that to make that happen we need a dominant pack leader emoting a calm-assertive energy. That in stressful situations if the pack leader is calm the dogs will eventually learn to be calm, they become calm-submissive.

Thomas speaking to the dogs: "Do you like having me as your pack leader?"

Me to Thomas: "WHAT?!"

Thomas: "I am clearly the dominant male."

Me: "And that matters, why? I am clearly in charge around here. I am the dominant pack leader."

Thomas: "I am the dominant one."

Me: "I am the dominant one. I do most of the feeding, walking and caring for these dogs. They know I am in charge."

Thomas with his knee on my back pinning me to the floor: "Say, 'I'm the dominant one.'"

Me: "I am the dominant one."

Me again after incessant tickling while still pinned and immobile: "Don't you feel that two people in a loving marriage should really face this together rather than one being dominant over the other?"

Thomas releasing me: "Yes, but then you can't claim you're the dominant one!"

So from this example we can see that I displayed calm-assertive energy and male-mind-boggling marriage rationale to overcome this heightened situation. And as thought before, I am the dominant one!

A rough afternoon

The weather is perfect again today

I really didn't walk much at all this week. The weather was lousy and if you've ever known anyone that lives in Southern California you know that if it is not 70 and sunny they suffer from severe Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as SAD. When it rains they are completely useless, not able to drive, throwing themselves off the highest building and just generally moping around unable to perform any task because their brains shut down at the first sight of a daunting cloud.

It rained all week and all weekend. It was so depressing even the dogs slept in until noon yesterday.

: :: ::: :: :

Week 5
Walking: 1.3 miles
(really pathetic)

Perception

Strong branding must be an important focus for any business. The brand helps the consumer identify with the company and its product. Large companies pay millions of dollars annually to keep their brands at the front of people's minds.

I think people, in a way, have this same behavior. We are constantly trying to separate ourselves as individuals, after we know our identity, or brand, we then find a group of friends that we can directly identify with. These friends in turn become the consumers of our individual brand. When seeking a partner or spouse we must find someone that identifies with our individual brand and convince them they like this brand so much to live with it the rest of their lives.

Recently we fell into a show on BBC America all about bras and bra sizes and proper bra fit. I was interested in the show because I had noticed my bras weren't fitting right after all the walking I was doing, but never really thought about it enough to do anything about it. Thomas was interested because it was a show about boobs, boobs and boobs being held up by different contraptions, women talking about boobs, and boobs. From that point on Thomas would inspect whatever bra I put on. This one doesn't fit properly in this area, this part seems to be riding high, etc. While out running errands we passed Victoria's Secret, and I inquired if we had time for me to run in and test these newly learned bra theories.

I popped in to the store and Thomas wandered off to the cooking shop nearby. I had the girl measure me and she said I was definitely wearing the wrong size, and here. Try these. Ten minutes later, Thomas returns, we buy a bra and head off for lunch and other errands. We eventually get back home, set the shopping on the table and carry on with our day. I wander to my office to check my email. Suddenly Thomas appears behind me inquiring about what I had bought, and how did it fit, and what size is it? I go fetch the bag, try on the bra.

"Oh," says Thomas. "That looks very nice. It's fitting better here, and this is staying in place." He takes a few steps back. "What size is it?"

"34 D."

"WHAT?! My wife has D cups?"

"They're still the same boobs."

"Yes, but now they're exciting!"

So for $43 my individual brand has just been elevated, in more ways than one.

A fantastic first!

I've bridged the treacherous path to becoming a writer. Today my first article was published! BeE Woman, the first woman’s magazine devoted to personal finance, politics and lifestyle, asked me to write their initial blog entrepreneur profile, in which I interviewed Lynda Keeler of Delight.com. Click here to read the article.