The dog arrived here last Saturday. He is the most adorable little guy. He has so much personality and joy in his little sock belly. Anna of absolutely-vile.com made the little dog as a thank you for me being one of the friends of her pet, Hugo, the ferret. Hugo was very sick and we all contributed to pay for his expensive operation. Hugo is doing much better now. You can read all about it on his site.
I have not met Hugo, nor a ferret in general for that matter. I actually do not even have a pet right now. (I used to have cats and dogs and various other animals, just not now.) Well, now I have the sock dog. We instantly became friends and I definitely wanted to take a picture with him, to show Anna, that he is in good hands. I was thinking of a classic portrait with dog. The result below might show more of me than of the dog, but I think you can see that he is a happy little guy there with me this morning. I would have shot a better picture, but I ran out of color Polaroid film. I am really happy about the dog, I just wanted to look serious in the picture, so he looks even happier in contrast, soes it make sense?
Maybe I can get some later this week, then I could take more pictures of the dog.
Do you think Stripey is a good name for a dog like this? I am really, really bad with names. Maybe his name should be Victor. As in Victor Hugo?...
(Stripey/Victor) looks sunny indeed, is a lovely sock dog, as are all of the sock dogs on Anna's site. I hope your wrist feels better soon.
Posted by: T on January 23, 2003 01:32 AMThank you. The dog is really happy and cute. (Yes, Anna makes some incredibly cute sock dogs.) : )
My wrist is pretty okay this morning.
: )
Oh boy, do i sound serious...
; )
she makes sock dogs, she lives in brooklyn, she likes johnny marr...is she single? and gay? 'cos i'm considering switching sides.
Posted by: em!ly on January 23, 2003 12:08 PMOh, please, Stripey!
Hmm, though he does look like a Victor somehow..
: o
Victor Stripey?...
Hm...
Victor H. Stripey?
sounds official.
: )
How about Hugo Boss? (My suits tend to be Hugo)
I really hope you are laughing with me. (I am fully aware what V. H. S. and I look like in this picture.)
both of you very handsome and regal.
: )
Witold: (blush) Danke schön. : )
V.H.S. : (b/l/u/s/h/) /w/u/f/f/!/
(V.H.S. uses stripes even in his expressions...)
I think mr. stripey needs a nice tie like yours...
my sister knitted me a bunny for Christmas; it's got a little sweater on... I need to post some pictures of him.
The tie, the tie... I think it is my grandfather’s. My father’s father’s. We never met him. The only thing he left us is this tie and a cigarette box with his initials.
(He also left us his name, of course. And maybe some of his sense of humor.)
I will probably look for some clothing for V.H.S.
that is a great suit! and love that dog. Maybe you should get a tie that matches the dog?
Posted by: shauna on January 23, 2003 04:53 PMa great idea! I think I will need to take portraits with all my toys. It is about time somebody takes this playing thing seriously.
Yeah!
I think Victor Hugo is a wonderful name. Especially since Hugo is the name of the little ferret that inspired your sock dog.
Posted by: arizabif on January 23, 2003 05:19 PM: )
V.S.H. ?
I love the photo! I'm so happy you like him.
It seems some people have misunderstood the reason I put names on the photos of the sock dogs on Hugo's site. Earlier today, I saw in someone's blog that their favorite sock dog "is the one named Witold". :)
Posted by: Anna on January 23, 2003 06:05 PMSee, I've been following Hugo's saga on Anna's site and when she posted the first dog (yours) I thought she had NAMED it Witold. Which I thought was perfect. PERFECT! Later, I realized that the name referred to the owner, not the dog, and I was quite sad.
You two make a darling pair.
Posted by: Heather on January 23, 2003 06:23 PMOh this is just wonderful.
I am glad you like the picture Anna.
Heather, I will not tell the dog that it could have the name Witold. Last time friends of mine named a pet after me, the poor kitten... ahem... it is too sad to mention here. Oh well. I will probably keep the name V.H.S. which will remind me of the years when there was no tivo... (and things like that.)
You think the name Witold was perfect for the cute little dog? Hmm... have you been reading the blog for a long time?... ; )
that is a classic man and his sock dog portrait. much classier than sock dogs playing poker.
Posted by: the mighty jimbo on January 24, 2003 12:40 AMthank you... : )
sock dogs playing poker... hehe...
(your site makes fun sounds.)
Witold,
I think that's a clever name and a darn fine portrait. I too have been following Hugo's progress and though I came to the Absolutely Vile website too late to contribute, I am glad that there are good friends for Hugo. Your portrait is really amazing and lovely!
Thank you for the compliment. : )
I do not think it is too late to contribute for Hugo. As far as I know, the cost of the operation was higher than what Anna took in from the donations. I might be wrong, but she still has the paypal button up, so it might still be time to contribute.
EEK...I hope that button isn't still up somewhere. I'm pretty sure I deleted it from every page last week, but please tell me if you find one I missed. I was able to raise the difference in just a few days...incredible!!! I now have about 30 more sock dogs to make. :)
Posted by: Anna on January 24, 2003 12:55 PMOh, I see... sorry for the misunderstading...
Did you see I added a little absolutely-vile button to the blog page? Maybe there could be a button for friends of hugo and there could be somethig like a $.25 subscription to it... that would cover the cost for the little guy if only all of the friends chipped in...
: )
(sorry I am at work, so I get such crazy ideas...)
what a ham!... i would've been laughin' the whole time... and finally after a couple of hours, with tears in my eyes, i woulda given up... CUTE!
Posted by: - s - on January 24, 2003 04:17 PMHow about Xavier? The picture says "Xavier" (although it may be more of your loverly suit that the particular sock).. and in Latin it means savior, which you are for Hugo :)
Posted by: Jana on January 24, 2003 04:41 PM: )
Xavier is nice. I like names that start with X.
There is a Polish name Xenia. : )
The portrait is very fitting of such an elegant and sophisticated sock doggie - I think Victor Hugo suits him :)
Posted by: cassie on January 26, 2003 06:19 AMhow about "spot"?
Posted by: em!ly on January 26, 2003 02:44 PMwait, wait... but he does not have any spots on him. Just stripes. ; )
Posted by: Witold on January 26, 2003 03:40 PMWitold -- Truth be told, I haven't read your blog at all. The first time I visited, I came over from Anna's site when she posted the links to Hugo's friends and cruised around a little, but I didn't "read up" as it were. Then, a few days ago, she posted the link to your photo and I had to see the sock-pooch with his new owner. The name "Witold" is awfully distinguished and sounds almost royal. I like the idea of giving pets very human names (like "Gerald" or something) instead of more typical (and far more unimaginative) names like "Shadow" and "Goldie" and "Mr. Froo-froo Puppy Pants."
I will say, though, that Victor fits the bill just fine. Cheers!
Posted by: Heather on January 26, 2003 08:30 PMOh, thank you so much for leaving a comment. Well, Witold sounds royal, because it is. I am no king, but Witold or Vytautas was indeed a duke of Lithuania.
And he is a very central figure in Polish history.
My parents named me after him. ; )
They seem to have had some serious plans for me.
Witold used to be a quite popular name in Poland. Not sure what names are popular there now, of course.
I also like giving animals real names. Not "poopoo" or "taxi"... but "cleopatra" or "casimir"... :)
It's so nice to have a story behind a name. My parents just named me "Heather Anne" because they thought it sounded good and Irish.
Now, waitasecond -- "Taxi" might be a kind of fun name for an animal. :) I did once have a cat named "Plywood." He was a fabulous orange kitty and that was exactly what he looked like. I'm fond of naming animals after literary or historical figures. My friend had two cats named Emma and Knightly, and another has two guinnea pigs named Hildegard and Catherine (after the mystics).
All the best to you and V.S.H.
PS - I've now poked around a bit more. I adore the sock dog icons. And, looking at your "small aero drawings," I am reminded of a book I read when I was small. I can't put my finger on the title, but the drawings did make me smile...
Posted by: Heather on January 27, 2003 01:45 AMWhat a lovely photo! This was taken with a polaroid, you say? It looks like a magazine photo taken of an executive taking a short break to spend some quality time with his sock dog :)
I love your site! This is the first time I've been here and I would definitely be visiting more often in the future! Found you through loobylu.com.
Keep up the good work!
Posted by: Crystalline on January 27, 2003 08:52 AMi am breathless by your handsome looks.
and the man aint so bad, neithah!
do pay a visit.
actually... victor looks like a girl dog... look at those ears... look at those eyes... hmmmm victor/victoria?
Posted by: - s - on January 27, 2003 02:01 PMoh my goodness, that is the most wonderful portrait ever!!!
it really should go on a greeting card.
stripey/victor/victoria is most handsome.
Posted by: momo on January 30, 2003 01:50 AMWell I have to say that Victor looks one very happy ickle sock dog :)
Posted by: sian on February 6, 2003 05:28 PMIs Wifey getting jealous of VHS?
Posted by: sian on February 6, 2003 05:33 PMname suggestion: Fluffy.
done. end of story.
Posted by: Didi on February 13, 2003 06:19 PM