Fun With Fido

When it comes to fun with Fido, there's a lot more you can do than just fetch. There are many clubs and organizations that you and your dog can join. These clubs give you a chance to train your dog and have fun at the same time.
I suggest starting with basic obedience training. Everyone wants their dog to be polite and obedient. There are many classes offered at pet stores, animal shelters, dog training centers, and many other places. Kids can get involved by joining a 4-H dog clubs. 4-H works through experimental learning. The kids have fun, become more outgoing and responsible, and the dog gets trained, Everyone wins. Also, when your dog learns basic obedience it will be easier to teach him new skills and try new clubs. Clearly, it is wise to start with basic obedience training.
After obedience you can teach or dog anything and join any club, the sky's the limit. Some popular clubs to join are agility and canine freestyle(dancing with dogs). There are also breed specific clubs such as drafting(pulling carts) and earth dog trails (navigating a series of tunnels to find vermin). Flyball is dog sport that is growing in popularity. It consists of a serious of hurdles with a ball launcher at the end. Dog teams send their dogs over the hurdles to get the balls and come back. These sports are fun and offer exercise for both the owner and the dog. If you love to watch dog shows on TV, you should show your dog in AKC. This is also called conformation. There are many small shows across the country that you can enter, and who knows you could end up at Westminster. You can compete, win big or go home with nothing, but in the end you've bonded with your dog. So GET READY, GET SET, and GO HAVE FUN WITH FIDO!
P.S. If a tried to write about everything you can do with your dog I would have to write a book! So go borrow some books from the library or check out the links below for more info! ;)
Links:
http://4-h.org/
http://www.akc.org/
http://www.akc.org/events/search/index.cfm
http://www.worldcaninefreestyle.org/
http://www.flyball.org/

Print Plus Article about Journalist involved in Stephen Glass Incident

On April 3, 2003 journalist Michael Kelly died in Iraq when his Humvee crashed; he was covering the Iraq war with the U.S. Army's Third Infintry Division. Kelly became the first journalist to be killed in the Iraq war. The 46 year old was covering the war in Iraq for his Washington Post column at the time of his death. Michael's Humvee was caught in enemy fire. The driver tried evasive manuviers, but, unfortunatly, rolled the humvee into a body of water. Thus, killing both Kelly and the driver. Michael Kelly had a lot of experience in covering war. Kelly wrote a book in 1991 about his trip to the Gulf War. On that trip he was 0n his own. Kelly lived in Swampscott, Massacusetts with his wife, Madelyn, and his two sons, Tom and Jack. He was the editor-at-large for The Atlantic Monthly and wrote a syndicated column for the Washington Post. Michael Kelly was also the editor of the New Republic until he was fired for disagreeing with the boss, 1996-1997. The Antlantic Monthly now sponsers the Michael Kelly Award in his honor. It is giving to journalists who show the same quality that he had, " the fearless pursuit and expression of truth" (http://kellyaward.com/).

Links:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/opinion/columns/kellymichael/

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/kelly_04-04-03.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/05/obituaries/05KELL.html

http://kellyaward.com/

Music Review-"Fearless"

Pennsylvania born Taylor Swift is still climbing the charts with her new album "Fearless". Released in November 2008, the album folows her hot album "Taylor Swift". The a lbum is filled with songs about love and loss. The catchy "Love Story" is Taylor's take on Shakesbere's classic Romeo and Juliet. Taylor gives the story a happy ending with Romeo and Juliet getting married instead of dying, "Marry me Juliet you'll never have to be alone. I love you and that's all I really know. I talked to your dad girl pick out a white dress. It's love story baby just say... Yes." "You Belong with Me" is about a girl who has a crush on her guy friend who never catches on. The song is very similar to her smash "Tear Drops on my Guitar", but while Teardrops is sad "You Belong with me" is upbeat and happy. She is saying, "Hey handsome and stupid I'm over here!" instead of "Gee, why don't you ever notice me?" She exclaims, "...dreaming bout the day when you wake up and find that what your looking for has been here the whole time. If you could see that I'm the one who understands you, been here all along so why can't you see, you belong with me". In "The Way I Love You" she talks about having the perfect boyfriend and not being happy, "I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain. It's 2 A.M. and I'm cursing your name, so in love that act insane. And that's the way I love you" It's an interesting story that breaks free from the usual "my boyfriend is so not perfect" songs out there. She expresses a different kind of love in "The Best Day" when she describes a the love between a father and daughter, a truly touching song.
"Fearless" is an amazing album filled with amzing songs. Its clear that Swift puts a lot of herself into her music. The songs are well written as well as beutifully performed. Swift fans, country fans, and pop fans everywhere will be listening to this album "Forever and Always".

Self Assessment of the Hourglass

Strengths:
One strength of my blog post was the dialogue I was able to provide in my narrative. Another strength of the article was the proper usage of the the hourglass format.

Areas of Improvement:
To areas of improvement would be using better grammar and being more concise in my writing.