Poor Dottie ...

... You know some things in life just aren't fair. Take the case of a dalmatian named Dottie, who my nephew Josh rescued last week.

Dottie's story is very sad, and I'm still not sure I know the whole story: But here's the gist: Dottie was found with three horses -- all of them had their necks slashed, including Dottie. Not sure why, not sure what happened to the horses. But poor Dottie lived through that hell, only to face a prognosis that was anything but good.

But we had hope -- for a while.

By the time Josh got Dottie to the vet yesterday, it was too late. She had suffered kidney failure, and they had to put her down. Dottie was only 2 years old. I told Josh that as sick as Dottie was, she probably really appreciated having at least a few days of peace, quiet and friendliness.

I'm told the guys who did this to her and the horses are in jail, but on other charges. That's all fine and dandy. But to me, justice would be seeing these guys mutilated themselves -- much like they mutilated those helpless animals.

Rest in peace Dottie.

There's been a Gnome-napping!

Ed and I are big fans of gnomes -- another reason to love The Amazing Race, but I digress. Anyway, we have several of the little guys hanging around the yard.

Well, when I went out this morning to mow I noticed one missing! Somebody in our neighborhood has kidnapped one of our gnomes! His little legs can't move very fast, so I know he didn't run away. I can only imagine what horrible things must be happening to him.

If anybody has seen my gnome, he looks something like this. He's not armed, he's not dangerous. He just wants to come ghome...

The yard looks fabulous!

So I mowed today -- right now I'm having to mow about twice a week -- and I must say the yard looks great.

I take care of the lawn and Ed takes care of the flower beds and planting. Here's a few pictures of what's going on in the Seyah-Znum house ... check out those azaleas!

Lord, please find this man some clippers

Oh my God!

This guy is a NASCAR fan. Need I say more??

I spoke too soon ...

OK. So I say a couple of good things about the Cubs and they go out and lose a 4-3 game to the Pirates in 15 innings. A game they should have won long before it reached extra innings.

Oh well. I think I'll be quiet about them for awhile. But doesn't this logo I found sum up the feelings of most fans???

Amazing Race All-Stars

Another season has come and gone. And now I'll probably have to wait until September or October to get my Amazing Race fix again. (Thank God for TiVO in case I want to watch this season again.)

Danielle and Eric came out on top in Sunday's season finale, most likely a fitting end for a team that had been crapped on a lot this season. I wasn't a big fan of the two, but after getting yielded twice and not winning a leg the entire race, they picked a good time to come out on top and win the $1 million. And Eric is great eye candy, so he's got that going for him, which is nice.

The final leg on the 28-day, five-continent, 45,000-mile trip took them from Guam to Hawaii to the final destination, San Francisco. The Beauty Queens were second (darn! -- please note my sarcasm) with Charla and Mirna third.

Charla and Mirna were ahead going into Hawaii, though, because they were smart in looking for earlier flights. But when it came to kayaking to a clue near an old shipwreck, they didn't stand a chance because of their size and a ferocious wind that knocked them back. They were still able to overcome that and get on the same flight with the other teams to San Francisco.

Give Charla and Mirna credit. To me, they ran the best race, and only came out on the short end of the stick -- so to speak -- because Danielle was more of a gossip and was able to click with Eric on the final detour. I say gossip because the task involved questions about other teams, and to open a safe combination the answers had to match. That gave them a 10-minute lead that they used to win.

They crossed the finish line at the Botanical Gardens, with host Phil Keoghan and the rest of the teams there to greet them. The strangest moment, though, came when Phil gave Eric a cellphone and let him call his partner Jeremy from Season 9 to let him know they had just won. Jeremy's response was something along the lines of "I'm rich beotch!" He also promised Eric a "spanking" upon his return.

Since Eric and Danielle have broken up (big surprise) since the end of the race, me wonders about Eric and Jeremy. Boyfriends?? Hmmm.... Now THAT would be amazing.

All in all a good race -- not great, but good. See you next season...

Eric and Danielle photo courtesy CBS

I hope this doesn't jinx them ...

... I know it's early, but my Chicago Cubs are starting to play some really good ball. They started slowly, but they are above .500 after winning 8 of 9 and can make up some ground on the first-place Milwaukee Brewers (the Brewers???) this week when the Pirates come to Wrigley Field.

If Carlos Zambrano can get his head on straight, if the Cubs new pitchers continue to pitch like Cy Young, and if Derrek Lee continues to hit .400, it could be a fun season on the North Side of Chicago.

But then I think back to Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, five outs to go to the World Series, and Bartman.

Me thinks I shouldn't count my chickens before they hatch ... then again I could be a Washington Nationals fan. Oh wait -- I am.

Softball Sunday

Opening day in my gay softball league was not a good one. Frustrating to be exact.

My team, NITRO, lost twice. The team we have to beat to advance to the World Series, DC Disturbance (I like to call them the Disturbed) came back from an 8-0 deficit and a 12-5 deficit to beat us 14-13. We then lost to my old team, the DC Metz, 15-9.

The Disturbed do it to us every time. Seems like we get out to a big lead only to let them back in the game when our butts pucker up late in the game. The same thing happend in our Word Series qualifier a couple of years ago. But that may have been fate -- the Disturbed went on to win the B Division of the World Series that year in San Diego.

Not a good start for a team I consider one of the best I've played on. The World Series is in Phoenix this year, but if we don't come together soon, I'll be making plans for something else to do that first week of October.