Meet the Blogger blog hop 2013

Welcome to the Meet the Bloggers blog hop 2013!

So these bloggers walked into a bar... Uh wait, no, that's not right...

A few blogger friends were talking one day and realized we wouldn't recognize each other if we ran headlong into each other at a bar. Er, wait, that's not quite right either.

Well, some bloggers finally realized there aren't any pictures of us on our blogs and in an attempt to "peek behind the curtain", a blog hop was born! A blog hop designed specifically to reveal the true identities of the hard-working individuals who bring these marvelous musings of petted bliss (uh - our pet blogs) to life.

The "Meet the Bloggers" blog hop is being hosted
by the following bloggers:

Amy from Go Pet Friendly
A.J. from I still Want More Puppies
Jodi from Kol's Notes
Dawn from NEPA Pets
Jennifer from My Brown Newfies
Jodi from Heart Like a Dog
Julie from The Daily Dog Blog
Kim from Cindy Lu's Muse
Kristine from Rescued Insanity
Lauren from Life With Desmond
Leslie from Bringing up Bella
Mel from No Dog About It
Peggy from Peggy's Pet Place

It's not too late to join in the fun - all you need to do is:

Write a post that includes the following:

Uh, mom? Wat'chu smoking? Can I have some?

1. A current photo of the blogger.

Sorry, it's the best I could do.

The remote controller I ordered for my camera came after I suffered some indignity to my face this weekend due to a disagreement I had with a tree so a more current picture will not be forth-coming. This is from 11/16/2013 so it's about as current, if kind of silly, as I have.

2. Answers to at least five, (but more if you'd like!) of the following questions:

(FTR, I know that as soon as I hit the "publish" button, I am going to think of a million things I left out, a few thousand better answers and "just the right" thing to say. Oh well.)

It's time to come out of the closet: Announcing the "Meet the Bloggers"Blog Hop

So here's a fun little tidbit I've been meaning to share since I attended the BlogPaws conference in May. I was standing, er, kneeling there petting Ricochet from NEPA Pets while his owner Dawn talked to Jodi from Kol's Notes and none of us recognized each other.

(And yes, yes I was actually petting the dog instead of introducing myself to the humans, because, let's face it, that's how I roll.  However, I'm pretty sure Dawn was in my corner on this approach.)

It wasn't until Jodi Stone from Heart Like a Dog came by and recognized me that we all realized we actually "knew" each other, we just didn't recognize the human faces.

Truth: If you are a pet blogger and I meet you and your dog on the street, I will undoubtedly recognize your dog. I will probably know his/her name, their favorite toy, date of birth and pet peeves but I will probably not know your name.

This is true of most interactions at dog parks today so maybe not all that unusual. The big difference is, unlike if I met you at the dog park, if you're a blogger and we bump into each other one day, I probably won't even recognize your face.

Recently, I've been privy to some conversations lately where a remarkable number of pet bloggers I know have all come to realize we spend a lot more time behind the camera than in front of it.

This was not always true for me.

When I was growing up, my dad was an aspiring photographer always in need of a subject. And what better subject than your kid who has to do what you say because, well, they're your kid. I grew up in front of a camera. But what I most remember from these photo-journalistic outings was the time I spent alone with my dad.

We would go to parks and hike through the woods or climb on the rocks along the Rhode Island coast. Just me and him. And a camera.

And then, when I got the first dog of my adulthood, Beau, my dad came up with this great idea to take a picture of me and Beau together pretty much in the same pose every month for the first year of Beau's life. 14 years later when I had to help my big beautiful boy cross over The Bridge, those photos were a treasure I could never have expected.

And I admit, when I look at those photos, I don't just see how unspeakably cute Beau was as a puppy. I see me in them as well. A younger me who was just beginning to find her way in the world. I see the adoration in my eyes for my chubby, wiggly puppy. And I see the early formation of a bond that grew to be unlike any other in my life.

Now that my father has passed on as well, I can't help but wish someone had had the forethought to take pictures of me and him every year while I was growing up. Because, while there are dozens of pictures of me growing up, there are only a few of me with my dad.

There are even fewer of me and Bella since my dad hasn't been here to take them.

I need to figure out how to take more pictures of me and Bella together. I'm hardly invisible on the blog - I'm in plenty of videos and all the old photos I share that my dad took. But there aren't any pictures that put me and Bella together and I plan to change that. I have two weeks to figure out how.

Why do I only have two weeks? Because, on December 18th, a bunch of bloggers are hosting a "Meet the Blogger" Blog Hop and you're invited.