The Pen Behind The Paws

I'm enjoying the "Meet the Bloggers" Blog Hop entries so much today that I decided to also participate. I'm fairly new to the dog-blogging world but so far I've found that it's a wonderful community of friendly folks who love nothing more than to regale their four-legged companions with creative words and colorful pictures.  Today is all about discovering the people behind the dog stars! If you wish to participate, here is an explanation with instructions.

I've already included some pictures of myself with Ruby, so it's probably not any great surprise what I look like, but here is a picture taken by my boyfriend on our trip-of-a-lifetime this April in Spain:

Now on to some of the questions!

What's your favorite non-animal related book? I'm an avid reader and am incapable of choosing just one favorite book, so I'm going to list a few:  Possession, Middlesex, The Virgin Suicides, Specimen Days, The Hours, The Time Traveler's Wife, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Winter's Tale, House of Leaves
 
What makes you feel fabulous? Finishing a poem, having a good hair day, teaching Ruby a new trick, singing in my car, the sun on my skin, riding my horse bareback, wearing red heels

What's your favorite holiday? Halloween. I love the time of year, the crunch of leaves, the smell of woodsmoke in the air, everything pumpkin. This year was the first time I've dressed up recently, and I'd forgotten how much fun it is to create a costume.  Even more so, though not as widely known and celebrated, I love the imagery and iconography of the Mexican Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos.

What's your favorite meal? Pad Se Ewe, a Thai dish of wide rice noodles, egg, broccoli and sweet soy.  Being a child of the southwest, I also love Mexican food. My ideal combo is a cheese enchilada, a chili relleno and a guacamole tostada.

Who is your favorite actor? Jeff Bridges, particularly in Crazy Heart and The Big Lebowski.  
  
What do you like to do in your free time? Aside from train, play with, photograph and talk about Ruby? I love to read, write, bike, travel, cook and watch "our progams" with my boyfriend. 

What one word would people who know you use to describe you? Loyal. I am pretty reserved when it comes to forming relationships, but then I hang on tight.  It is very important to me to maintain friendships through the years and across the miles.  This may also explain my deeply passionate belief that rescue means forever. 
 
What is one thing you've done that you're most proud of? I trained my own horse when I was fifteen, my now-24-year-old Paso Fino gelding who I still have.  I was the first one to ride him and he taught me so much about patience and determination, as well as listening to the individual animal and training through intuition. 
 
How is your pet most like you? Ruby and I are both worriers and information-gatherers! We want to know what's going on all the time and are afraid we might miss something.

If you didn't have your current pets, what pets would you choose to have?  I would love to have a rabbit again if I had a dog with a lower prey-drive, and I hope to have another Norwegian Elkhound someday.   There will always be a dog in my life, that part is non-negotiable!