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Finally, for the first time since Easter, I will be heading to the Iron Range and the Northland. Hopefully, we will be able to take Penny to some cool places in Canal Park, up the North Shore, and elsewhere in the area. I know my grandparents are going to love the fact that we have another Boston terrier (well, her dad was a Boston) in the family. I hope to update later this evening with more plans.

Yes, it’s a great deal behind schedule, but Ohmar sent these to me a week or so ago. Leslie was really excited about bringing a puppy to the Renaissance Festival. Personally, I hadn’t considered it, but I was glad we took her. Aside from getting stopped every ten feet by a curious dog-lover to pet her, it was a great chance for her to socialize with lots of new people, new dogs, and new smells. These photos are of Penny trying on hats in the pet clothing shop.

Ever wonder what it’s like to have a newborn baby? Take home a new puppy; it’s cheaper, but you’ll experience the same lack of sleep, bathroom breaks on the hour, and somehow, whenever you want to sleep, she’ll know (and want to play). Penny has been nothing but a great girl, and we can’t wait until this weekend, when we move into our new place over in Saint Paul. We’ll be saying adios to our beloved Little Canada, but more importantly, farewell to the shady operation of our former über-apartment (no names… if you want to know- ask).

I’ll be sure to load videos to Vimeo and pictures to my MobileMe gallery during the move process.

For now, I’m going to head back to KARE 11 to watch some quick news coverage, and more of the XXIX Olympiad. Go USA! Go Michael Phelps!

Leslie and I will be moving to our new apartment in two weeks, and the most important factor was whether or not our new place had a “pet friendly” policy. We had been wanting a dog since our move to our place in Little Canada, but we had to wait. Until now. This past week, Leslie was doing some serious searching for pugs in the Star Tribune and PetFinder to get a pug from a reputable breeder in the area. We found two such places, both around an hour from Saint Cloud, well into farm country.

We found ourselves stopping at the first location in Eden Valley, a place where soybeans and corn were all I could see for miles. (Okay, there were barns, tractors, and silos.) We stopped at a breeder who had two litters: a Boston terrier purebred group of four, and a mix of a pug mother / Boston father, or a “bug.”

I really wanted a brindle-colored dog, whether or not it was a pure pug, I didn’t care. To be honest, purebred dogs don’t rate too well in my book. I’ve always had a mutt dog, (my parents have two purebreds now: a yellow lab and a Cardigan Welsh Corgi), so “hybrid vigor” is something I really believe in. We fell in love right away with a little girl who is a Boston / pug cross. She was the runt of both litters, but she was obviously the one with the most spunk. We decided we would name her “Penny” because (1) it is not a common human name, (2) it is easily yelled due to the final vowel sound, and (3) her brindle color looks like a tarnished copper penny. Her full name is Penelope May Wigglesworth. She was born on May 24th, so we made May her middle name. We wanted a fun name, so we chose her surname based on her character.

I have posted pictures and a video on my MobileMe Gallery. You can view them by clicking on the “Elsewhere on the Web” tab (above) and click on the multimedia gallery. For a few select photos, check out the gallery below.

I am currently sitting at the breakfast table on the third floor having a cheese danish and an English breakfast tea at PodCamp Boston. Harvard Medical School has been a great venue, and I am very certain this building looks a lot like Boylston Street’s Apple store.

I have learned a lot about podcasting, new social media, and after this great conference, I will follow up with an awesome post. Flikr and Twitter are abound with content (hopefully, some I can link to and share).