Feature & Follow #5: Guilty Pleasure

Feature & Follow is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read,each of whom feature a chosen blog for the week. It is a great way to meet new bloggers, make friends, and get exposure for your own blog.

This weeks Question:

What are your non-book guilty pleasures? Like TV shows, food, websites, hobbies, etc.

Hockey

My life pretty much revolves around the hockey.  I wish I could have answered this question before the Chicago Blackhawks got knocked out of cup contention, but that’s the way the puck bounces.  Now I’ll have to root for New York.  Go Rangers – wow, I never thought I would say that.

My son plays travel hockey.  During the hockey season (August to May), we are at the rink 4-6 days a week.  Now that it’s the off season it will be 1-2 days.  I’m the team’s manager, so I spend a lot of time organizing the group.  Did mention I got a lot of reading done at the rink when we’re at practice?

When we’re not at hockey, we seem to be watching on TV.  We subscribe to NHL Network, so there is always something on.  I even watch NHL tonight before school with my son every morning.

Photography

I love taking pictures.  I usually take 100-200 shots at every one of my son’s sporting events.  Yes, he actually plays a couple of other sports in addition to hockey: lacrosse and basketball. 

I also love getting photos on our vacations.  We were on a cruise a few weeks ago that went to: San Juan, St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St, Kitts, and St. Maartin.  I got a lot of great shots.

Pets

Do pets count as a guilty pleasure?  I spend a lot of time with them (not to mention money).  I have a 200-gallon salt water fish tank that I built into the wall of my basement.  I have fish that are 15-20 years old.    

Next is my cat Tigger, named after A.A. Milne’s character.

Then there are the twins as I like to refer to them;  McKinley (dog) and White Sox (cat).  They share the same birthday and look as much alike as two different species could look. 

I was at the vet with McKinley getting his puppy shots.  Some kittens that had been left there were in a cage up for adoption.  When I found out that the shared the same birthday, I had to adopt her.  Not to mention we only had males living in our house, so I needed to add more estrogen.

Last are our newest additions, the ferrets: Kane (white) and Toews (brown) .  Here they are depicted with the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy, which Kane won in 2013 and Toews in 2010.  

Note: we have now gone full circle back to hockey. 

Oh, and I don't really feel guilty about my pleasures.

The Good Dog by Avi

The Good Dog by Avi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought it would be appropriate to post my son's book report for this book. He was nine years old when he wrote it. Ya, okay I helped edit it...

First I have a funny story about this book. The main character in the book is a black and white malamute named McKinley. We have a black and white husky named McKinley. While my son, Justin, was reading this book, our "Bad Dog" McKinley decided to eat the book "The Good Dog." How is that for irony?

Justin gave the book 4 1/2 stars out of 5. Here is his review:

(spoiler alert)

I finished reading an awesome book called The Good Dog by Avi. The book is about a black-and-white malamute named McKinley. It is set in modern day. He has an owner named Jack. They live in Steamboat Springs. In the story, McKinley makes friends with a wolf, named Lupin. McKinley is the head dog, and the other dogs support him, except for his rival, Redburn. Redburn thinks he should be the head dog.

One morning McKinley woke up and opened the door with his paw. Someone left a piece of paper at the door with a picture of his greyhound friend Duchess on it. It said “Lost” and “Reward $200” on it. McKinley knew why she ran off, Duchess’ owner, Pycraft, was mean. Afterward, Pycraft planned a hunting party to hunt the wolf because he thought Duchess ran off with her. He wants to kill both of them. McKinley knew he must protect his friends. McKinley found Lupin and told her humans were hunting them. When the hunters were nearby, McKinley saw Redburn leading them. McKinley was not surprised. Redburn did everything his humans told him. Redburn tries to attach Lupin. McKinley launched on top on Redburn to protect her. Redburn yelps because McKinley scratched him. Pycraft aims his gun to shoot McKinley thinking he is the wolf. Fortunately, McKinley’s owner, Jack, pushed Pycraft on the ground. Jacked saved McKinley. The hunters gave up. Everything was fine. McKinley was still head dog. He didn’t get shot. Duchess joined Lupin’s pack. They lived happily ever after.

I enjoyed the action in this book. Plus, most of the dogs were really cool. I enjoyed that my dog is also named McKinley and looks like the main character.

Paperback, 224 pages

Published May 25th 2004 by Aladdin Paperbacks (first published October 1st 2001)

original title: The Good Dog

ISBN: 0689871198 (ISBN13: 9780689871191)

edition language: English

View all my reviews