A Dog Named Moz

Introducing Moz the Dog

I met the loneliest dog in the world. He lived in the house behind ours and crooned mournfully at night. I know we live in California and he's a dog. He has a fur coat. But its been cold. Really cold at night and it just broke my heart to hear him and also to see him from my bedroom window wait all day for attention. Even when people were home, he was left out and just starred in the sliding glass window.

An outsider. A crooner. A lonely heart. Moz.

I finally had it with the sadness and decided to do what PETA suggests which is to offer to walk the dog. His family seemed quite happy to let me walk him-I gave the excuse that I miss walking my dog Maddy, who we lost to cancer over a year ago (which is true).

I took him for a long walk along the Santa Ana riverbed. I did the same walk Maddy and I used to do, however, Maddy was a black lab so Moz (who was formerly Toby) got quite a work out since he is much smaller. My thought was that if I tired him out, he would just sleep and not howl at night. 

I don't know about Moz (Toby), but I was exhausted after that walk. 

When we returned to his home his owner asked me if I wanted him. To be honest, I did not want a dog. Life is simple with a cat and I relished the peace. But I also know that I am a good companion and caretaker to my pets. I did not want to have to listen to him crying or observe his neglect any longer. Yet, I had to discuss this with Roland and the boys, of course.

Miguel was the only one who had an issue. He was attacked by a dog in Mexico four years ago and he tends to avoid dogs no matter the size. But we put forth the argument that this is the best way to get over his fear. 

Miguel is kind of afraid of the cat. Its just animals in general mostly.

Well, I need not burden you with the story much longer. Roland is such a star he agreed to try it out. So we picked up Moz after we went out for my birthday breakfast this afternoon-Sunday. 

We went for vegetarian food at Mother's Market. It was incredibly yummy and filling. 

So far, Moz is doing well. We have him separated from Bonnie, the cat, for now but he seems quite happy.

So much has happened this week regarding the human Morrissey. 

1. A number of people in Twitterdilly Arms watched Morrissey and Kristeen Young perform live in Buenos Aires, Argentina via En Vivo (live stream) together. 

2. Morrissey made another controversial statement regarding the Falkland Islands, basically saying that they belong to Argentina.

3. One of our Twitterdilly friends was quoted out of context in The Sun after the Falkland Islands statement was made.

4. Morrissey was photographed wearing a T-shirt with the words "Immaculate Conception", which was made on Twitter. Originally, it was a tweet posted by MorrisseysWorld and it was "The immaculate infection becomes the immaculate conception." 

5. Kristeen Young (Morrissey's supporting act) tweeted MorrisseysWorld. " Shattering misconceptions takes much longer thn dream & ear drum shattering. Concepts r bastards, esp. when coupled w/"mis"

6. The official Boz Boorer twitter account also tweeted MorrisseysWorld. 

7. Boz was dressed in drag and the guys in the band wore sexy bras on stage at their gig in Rosario, Argentina just after stating on twitter that there was going to be a small surprise at the gig. 

8. Morrissey once again denied being behind MorrisseysWorld blog (that's four times) and stated that it was "dangerous."

I am sure I am leaving something out. And I am merely listing what has occurred. As ever, if you want details of the above go to either http://www.morrisseysworldismoz.blogspot.com/ or http://followingthemozziah.blogspot.com/.

I do not write as much about the controversy over MorrisseysWorld and the debate about whether or not it really is him as others. This is mostly because I don't know as much about it. I believe it is him but am just enjoying the fun part of looking for "signs." I am enjoying the people I am meeting on this  journey. I don't mind if I never "get there."

I do not profess to know Morrissey well (remember he did not marry me-see my profile) but one of the things I love best about him is that he does not fit the mold. I can't imagine him doing much in an orthodox way. I could not nor would not expect the usual approach to anything. 

I wonder if the same can be said about Moz, the dog? 

My Evening With Russell Brand--Kind Of

The rose for Russell

On Monday night I went with my "other half" to Hollywood to see Russell Brand. My mother graciously offered to babysit and even though it was a school night we knew we had a sweet deal. We checked out the venue- The Central Comedy Stage at the Hudson Theater and learned that there were only ninety-nine seats.

My Mission Impossible

I spoke to Mr. Rat before we went and asked if I should wear a rose or something. He suggested bringing a white or a red rose and present it to Russell telling him it was from the Morrisseyworlders. I thought this was a brilliant idea and was quite happy to set out upon my mission.

I have always envisioned the worst case scenario in life. I have lived long enough to realize that one should not count on anything happening the way you want it to because it never does. My worst case scenario in this incident was that I would not be able to give Russell the rose. Or that I would not be able to speak to him in order to give him our message.

That was when I thought of the idea of attaching a tag with a written message just in case I had to just throw it on the stage or something. So with my son, Jovanny's help, we made a tag for the rose with the following message: "With love from Morrisseyworlders at the Twitterdilly Arms. Your messenger, @awillo9658" Of course I hoped to speak to him, but if not, he would get the message and perhaps even tweet me a 'Thanks.'

                                                     The Journey

One of the nice things about the journey to LA without children in tow is listening to music. On the way to there, we listened to The Milk Carton Kids, which is an acoustic duo from LA we saw back in September at McCabe's in Santa Monica. They are kind of somber in tone, but when we saw them live, they were hilarious. 


Below is a video of The Milk Carton Kids singing Permanent.  Great lyrics.

Jesus, Spider man and Rasputin

I always see interesting religious figures (Jesus) or superheroes (Spiderman at a bus stop in Santa Monica) when I leave behind the Orange Curtain and enter the "dangerous" territory of Los Angeles. This time I saw Rasputin at a bus stop on Santa Monica Boulevard looking quite serious-as he should. I know I need a better camera. And I need to have it primed and ready for shooting the unusual so I might share.

The Show

We learned soon after arriving that  Russell was performing for so low a price and such an odd night and in such a small venue because he is going to have his own television show and was practicing the format. What a treat we had. How lucky to be one of the 99 people.

I made sure we sat close to the front so we actually were in the second row. The venue was so small it felt like the theater at school when we have a staff meeting. It was intimate which was wonderful but at the same time scary for a shy person like me trying to find a way to present a rose to a very not shy performer. It was so small that had an audience member had to relieve him or herself, they would have had to cross right in front of Russell to get to the loo.


Nobody went to the restroom for the entire hour and a half.

Of course he was hilarious. He began by reading an excerpt from an article from the Daily Mail claiming that their sole aim is to create bigotry in the minds of their readers. So he went on reading about a vampire who fell in love with a cannibal in Sweden. I can't possibly retell any jokes because I don't recall them specifically and part of the joke lies in the delivery. He is just funny in his demeanor so I can't recreate that. 

I loved when he made fun of the name Grand Old Party (GOP-Republicans) for several reasons. I won't tell you what those reasons are so as not to offend anyone. The name 'Grand Old Party' really does sound like it should be said or sung by Al Jolson.

Several people have asked if he made any references to his ex. He did in a most subtle way. He spoke about how some people are soooo boring that you just can't believe you are listening to them. He then said sarcastically, "That's never happened to me, of course." But everyone knew he was talking about Katy Perry. He then said that he was sure there were journalists in the house. He seemed rather tired of it.

I wanted to ask him if he gets tired of being funny. I mean, he must feel pressured to be funny all the time. It has to be tiring. Even being naturally funny. Doesn't he just want to not HAVE to be funny?

The Rose with Many (figurative)Thorns

I have to admit that during the entire performance I had moments when I just wondered when and how I was going to give him this rose. I could have jumped up and said, "Hello Mr. Brand. I have a rose for you." But it was his performance and I did not want to ruin it for him or the audience.It also would have been really awkward. There was a little voice inside telling me to wait. That the best time would be when the audience was clapping. I could just walk up and hand it to him. 

So I waited and towards the end he wandered around the audience and talked to people and I was dying to give him the rose but truthfully scared shitless that he would try to engage in conversation and I just knew my brain would freeze up and I would turn into a blithering idiot. I would turn into one of those boring people he spoke of-like Katy Perry!

The end finally came and we applauded and I held up the rose very close to him but he did not see it most likely because of the lighting. So I immediately followed him close to back stage. Roland said, "That's a shame." And I thought, "I am NOT leaving here without giving him this rose." So a stage hand or sound man said, "Oh. Did you want to give that to Russell? I'll give it to him if you like." I thanked him and left with Roland. 


Disappointed?
I kept kicking myself for not being more assertive but to be honest, it just isn't me. Despite the fact that I am a teacher, I am kind of shy. I was truthfully afraid to speak to him. So afraid of the thought, in fact, that I noticed I was shaking as we exited. 


I was so disappointed for my Twitterdilly friends I seriously considered lying and just saying, "Yeah. Gave him the rose. Gave me a cuddle. He's awesome." But I hate lying unnecessarily. I have faith that the Twitterdilly Arms will still accept me.


I never received a thank you from Russell (not too surprised) but I feel in my heart that he received the rose. I received a tweet from a Sherrie Brand from Manhattan Beach CA mentioning the event to me specifically. I don't know if she is a relation to Russell, a dedicated fan, or a fan who happens (coincidentally) to have his surname. In any event she retweeted my comment that my face hurt and I had to chip away dried tears of laughter on the way home--all very true!

Well, I Wonder

Me circa 1995 when I started teaching and still had one foot out the door.  

Being an artist is the noblest thing one can do: finding beauty and meaning where none exist. Art is a sublime delusion. MorrisseysWorld via Twitter


My friend Rafe recently sent me this picture he took when we shared a flat. He's an excellent photographer so we messed around a bit with photos during that time. But it made me think about the fact that it was taken pretty close to the time when I began my career as a teacher.


I Hoarsely Cry, Why . . .
It's amazing that I stayed in the profession after my first two weeks of teaching in a rough neighborhood in Los Angeles. My second week of work I had a fight in my classroom with two middle school girls both taller than me-I am 5'10"-and a drive by shooting. All on the same day!

Although I no longer teach under those conditions, teaching is a sensitive subject. I have avoided writing much about it for various reasons. One, its kind of boring. Two, there are numerous frustrations associated with it. Three, its dangerous in that teachers have lost jobs over what they put out there in the cyber world. Do I need to list numbers four through ten?


Gasping But Somehow Still Alive
I, like perhaps many other people on this planet, long to join the nobility of creators. Teaching does allow you to create. The teacher is the writer, the producer the actor the bouncer and sometimes even their own audience. And yeah, the audience is quite literally "captive." 


More about the audience: try finding a more critical and discerning group of people than teenagers. 


However, most of the time it is not art.


I will be brutally honest and say that teaching is not my passion. I am passionate about teaching. But I'd rather be writing. I've always had one foot out the door.


I admire those artists who were willing to starve themselves rather than settle for a more secure occupation. Patti Smith is one.I read her memoir  Just Kids during the summer A great book called Pan and another called Hunger in which the author, Knut Hamson, describes in great detail the sacrifices a true artist makes to pursue his or her craft puts into perspective the heroics of holding fast to your dreams.


I just wonder if we all strive for more? Is it just a few of us? Are there people in the world who long to be accountants or customer service representatives in their wildest dreams?


As I spend more and more time in the Twitterdilly Arms with my kindred souls, do they feel a longing? Are we reaching out for Morrissey's hand or lapel because it represents the greatness that we could not attain? By holding onto them are we vicariously "great."?


Please Keep Me in Mind
I would venture to say that in all likelihood, the Twitterdillians are a talented group. I don't know what each of their passions are.  In fact, for all I know they could already be doing what they are passionate about.


Mr. Rat at http://followingthemozziah.blogspot.com/ has written a parody that is quite entertaining and of course if you like poetry and literature you will want to check out
biblioecubyan.wordpress.com-also created by a Twitterdillian.


But by the mere fact that they appreciate art through Moz, then I know that they must be able to recognize true art elsewhere as well. I think, too, they dream of more.

Those Wonderful People Out There in the Dark

Twitterdilly Arms
I am one of "those wonderful people out there in the dark." In the darkness I found an island. It's a pub called The Twitterdilly Arms.

After all my whinging last week in my blog about being unlovable on Twitter, I received a message from a kindred spirit. On Twitter! From a Mr. Rat who writes a blog that you should read if you haven't already and if you want to read a blog that REALLY is about Morrissey. Its called Following the Mozziah: http://followingthemozziah.blogspot.com. I highly recommend it. Anyway, he informed me that contrary to what I thought, my blog has been seen and perhaps read by Morrissey people.

And when I mentioned the bit about the fake Moz being so witty like the real one-he told me that it really IS him. In fact, if you read his blog from start to finish, you see that there is a strong argument for it being the real Morrissey.

Much to my surprise, MorrisseysWorld retweeted my blog last week too.

Because I don't really update people on things that are happening in the world of Morrissey, you probably don't know exactly what I am talking about. Let me explain: There is a blog called Morrisseysworld or something like it, and Morrissey has come out three times on his website True-to-You.net claiming that it is not really him. The dreaded three times as in Simon Peter denying Jesus three times perhaps? Methinks he protests too much.

The mere fact that he has come out and thereby drawn attention to a relatively unknown blog perhaps reveals that the announcement was purposely made to draw attention to it. Again, a better, more full account is available on Mr. Rat's blog.

True to You
True to You is a neglected web magazine for fans of Morrissey. Its like a garden overgrown with weeds from 2004 or 2007. It has some great things on it, it just hasn't been updated apart from the weekly or biweekly statements Morrissey makes. Which I have to say brighten my day when they come out.

I strongly feel that so much more could be done with it.

Back to the Arms
So what do you do in a virtual pub based around Morrissey? You theorize, commiserate, listen to awesome music and videos from YouTube based around the man himself. You share with all the other people in the "pub."

So, I am still not in the quad but I am instead part of a cooler group outside of the quad. I feel pretty damn popular.

Can I even begin to tell you the divine feeling I get from communicating with other people out there who like Morrissey as much as I do or even more? I am not alone in my need to check True to You and Facebook pages dedicated to Morrissey. There are other people totally approachable who share my obsession. There are people who see what I see in him.

I'm not really so strange then.

So Low
There is an unofficial Morrissey website called Morrissey So-Lo, and you would have thought that that might be a place for the other non quad dwellers to find a home. But the few times I have been there were just a waste of time. People are not very kind to each other for various reasons. Some people have this unsaid competition about who is more the Morrissey fan than the other and then start mud slinging so to speak. Its also not monitored well so people can say unkind things about Morrissey just to infuriate another person and it gets quite ugly. A hostile environment does not suit my personality.

In contrast, the Twitterdilly Arms is friendly and warm. I mean, just think of the name. Arms. Arms hug you and welcome you. And the word Twitterdilly just sounds kind of silly. Laughter. Twittering about being silly. Nothing hostile in that.

So in between teaching classes and toting kids around I have been tweeting. Believe it or not. I know now when I wake up in the middle of the night due to insomnia, I have people. Its safe being one of the wonderful  people out here in the dark.

Friends of the Friendless
The following scene from I Love Lucy accurately depicts my feelings at discovering my awesome new group of friends.