Puppy Power

Here's Stan at the shelter on my first visit with him in late January. He's a boxer/hound mix. I was told he was about five months old when I adopted him, which dates his birthday back to around mine, Aug. 18, so we're just saying we share a birthday.

Nerdy Sanchez

It was trivia night at The Pinhook in Durham, North Carolina, and the theme was TGIF. Team Nerdy Sanchez made a valiant effort but came up short despite all its years of collective knowledge about classic ABC television shows such as Full House, Family Matters, Perfect Strangers, Boy Meets World, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Step By Step, and Hangin' With Mr. Cooper. My shining moment was remembering the name of the dad from Dinosaurs: Earl Sinclair, a.k.a. not the mama!

In The Hood

When you're driving a Mitsubishi 3000GT, you don't even need a hood. Besides, hoods are overrated anyway.

Bees Live In This Hill

Some photos from a random Monday afternoon in Durham, North Carolina. The first two photos are of the George Watts Hill Pavilion For The Arts below. It was built in 2004 by Liberty Arts Inc., which was interested in creating a sculpture studio and bronze casting facility to facilitate the commissioning and production of artwork and develop educational programs for artists and community. This concept came to fruition with the completion of the pavilion in 2004. Read more about it here.

Lucky Strike

The American Tobacco Co. was founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers. The company was one of the original 12 members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1896 and dominated the industry by acquiring the Lucky Strike brand and more than 200 other rival firms. Relics of Lucky Strike, the famous client of a fictitious Madison Avenue advertising agency in the hit AMC show "Mad Men," remain today in the American Tobacco Historic District in Durham, North Carolina, though none of the facilities are in use at this point. The American Tobacco campus is located beside the Durham Bulls Triple-A baseball park. The campus features an on-site YMCA, public green space, biking trails, five restaurants and prominent businesses like the nationally recognized public broadcasting station WUNC Radio.

Toast

I went to a great restaurant called Toast today in Durham and ordered a delicious panini with tuscan kale and sweet and hot pickled peppers. Two thumbs up.

Mukhi and Paxton

Mukhi and her male friend Paxton are the canine roommates of my friend Thea and her roommate Stacie in Durham, North Carolina. Mukhi is not quite 2 1/2 and Paxton turns 2 in May. "I call Mukhi my furry family member," says Stacie. "I call Paxton my dog," says Thea. Both were rescued from a local shelter where lots of awesome dogs are hoping for loving homes.

The Ascent Of Stan

This is Stan the dog. He's a 5-month-old boxer/hound mix and he's awesome. More on him later, though. In the meantime, listen to this Ben Folds song called "The Ascent Of Stan."