BunnyBlab

Analyzing traffic again… this time someone searched for “peas and carrots” and, of course, came to BunnyBlab. Pea does love her carrots, but it didn’t ever occur to me that this line from, well, American culture, but most recently popularized by Forrest Gump had such application to my baby girl. So, Pea and carrots — maybe I’ll start calling Hops “Carrots.” They do get along well. He’d probably just think he’d be getting treats, tho, and it’s mean to tease a bunny.

I just joined Amazon’s Associates because, well, I’d like to start recommending bunny books. I have a colletion of my own, some good, some bad, some wonderfully drawn. Some children’s, some not. I’ll start with the most obvious recommendation — Watership Down. Every bunny lover should read this at least once. It enlightens readers about the social structures of wild bunnies. And we all know that our house rabbits are just wild bunnies who live indoors.

Someone got it right. Someone understands. Read these bunny rules and you non-bunny ppl will see what we’re up against. There’s no shooshing a bunny who knows what he wants.

Which reminds me, since I brought Pea back from the vet, the little dear has left nice big wonderful poops at the foot of my bed as presents for me, as if to say “Look, Mommy! I’m all better!” If it wasn’t such a sweet gesture I’d be grossed out with the rest of y’all. But I’m so happy her system has returned to normal I can’t get all worked up about it.

Dogfeathers — a writer’s blog. Writers often make the best bloggers, and by best I mean most random. Which can be interesting but also tedious. What I like about Dogfeathers is that Lorraine (the writer, ppl, keep up!) shares recipes for what she has for dinner in between her self-proclaimed rants about her son’s new car or her upcoming book. It keeps things spicy (I’m so sorry, I just had to; I hope you understand).

Although, when it comes down to it, aren’t all bloggers writers in that they write? Well, aggregators maybe aren’t writers in their blogs, even if they are writers elsewhere. It’s a very confusing web of definitions.

So I thought that was an original title for a blog when I first started this on Blogger in May, 2005. Turns out it was already a community (since Dec. 2004) on Flickr. Great minds think alike, eh? So take a look at the original Bunny Lovers Unite and get your fill of cute bunny pix. Eventually I’ll probably put together a page of bunny photo albums from across the Web (PetBunny people, feel free to submit yours), but I’ll just post individually for now.

I bow to Flickr’s mvo168, who had the idea for the title 6 months before I did. It’s a great name for a group or a blog, but I’m ever more grateful now that I changed my blog’s name to BunnyBlab, which is something that (I think) no one else has called their anything. Feel free to correct me if I’m mistaken. But please don’t throw tomatoes — it’s such a waste of produce.

My good friend Amy knitted a bunny hat. It’s seriously cute. Max (the recipient of aforementioned bunny hat) is one lucky lady, for a number of reasons which now includes having a hand-knit bunny hat. I’m jeal.

Amy makes all sortsa cool crafty stuff, so we’re kinda kindred spirits. Except her talent transcends mine bc she can knit like a fiend (a knitting fiend, there’s GOTTA be such a thing) and she makes jewelry, which I could probably do if I learned the tricks. But the real reason Amy’s in a different category than I am is that she can paint. Her artwork is somewhat wonderful. And I’m not just saying that bc I love her dearly. Check out Amy’s artsy self at AmyKucharik.com.

Sometimes analyzing where my readers come from yields something just too interesting to let go. Someone from Uganda Googled the question that’s the title of this post and, well, do it. BunnyBlab comes up second in the search results (if you don’t put quotes around the whole question).

Person from Uganda — I’d love to answer you, but I’m not sure what “bunny fits” are. They get moody, yeah. Kinda like humans, but I’m not sure that’s what you mean. As I posted on a comment to the blog named in the While I’m at it… post, Hops saw me come home on Saturday from an entire week of being away. Instead of running up to his momma with kisses and requests (read: demands) for cuddles and pets, he grabs a raisin in a drive-by and hides under the bed for three hours. He just can’t BELIEVE that I’ve gone away to have fun and left him. You know how some toddlers don’t want to go to bed when company is over bc they’re afraid they’ll miss something? That’s Hops when I go away for a few days. Which sucks, bc I really miss him when I’m gone. Patience always pays off. He gets over himself and comes to find me a few hours after I get home. So, yes, I’d call this a “bunny mood,” but not so much a “bunny fit” probably.

Anyway, it’s an interesting question and if anyone has any interpretations of the question so that I can answer it, I’d be more than happy to take a whack at it.

The BBC giveth and I taketh away. Take this bunny quiz and see how much you know about 5 very specific things about bunnies. Even though I picked the closest answer to the “truth” I know about their lifespan, I’m going to go with my answer, not the BBC’s. Okay, fine. I’ll give you one correct answer — they live for 8-12 yrs if everything goes well. The right answer in the quiz is 5-10.

It won’t prove anything (if you get them all right you could be a bunny genius or you could just know these 5 answers and not much else about them; OTOH, if you get them all wrong, you probably need to listen to some of my podcasts), so share your results by commenting on this post. I’m not saying it’s true, but the BBC just said I must be a bunny expert. So that’s Paul and the BBC. The list is growing… Eventually I may even start to say it. Or not.

You have to see the pic of Herman, the German Giant. Makes that perspective shot in my ep8 show notes look like a kit (baby bunny). He may be the world’s biggest bunny, to which I say, “What kinda screwy camera angle is that, anyway?” And why, exactly, is the dude so happy and the bunny look so mad? Is he just one of those “mad, mad, mad, mad” bunnies? I bet he binkies when no one’s looking. It’s just like a mad bunny to do that. And also, a bale of hay a WEEK? That is one munchy bunny.

The BBC is a giver — here’s another gem from the annals. The fat cat who got bunny bullied and was forced to get skinny to escape the torment.

I have to first apologize to my podcast series listeners — due to some scheduling mishaps, you’ll have to wait until next week for ep9. I’m home and we’re all fine, it’s just that the schedule this week got a little haywire and Paul and I can’t get a chance to sit down in the studio until at least Sunday. Who knows? Maybe next week I’ll put out two, just to make up for it. I have no idea what you ppl are doing, having to go 3 whole weeks sans the Blab! But I’m sure you’re getting along just fine.

Anyway, I wanted to say I’m sorry I’m a big slacker. It’s just circumstances beyond my control.

Any comments on the Non-Blab? Did you find it helpful or entertaining or do you just wish I’da kept my Blabber shut? Lemme know.

I’m just pointing all over the blogosphere lately. Today’s recommended blog is Larry and Rita’s Bunny Business. It’s a non-profit (=:-3). More blogs written by bunnies, please. We’re a wacky bunch, non-bunny ppl who read this blog, and we often have our bunnies speak or write or blog or…

As my buddy Alex said, “I think you’re cool, although I’m not sure how cool lagomorphilia is.” I think he’s wrong, actually. I never claimed to be cool. This comment came right after he called me a bigger geek than he is, which was a very nice thing for him to say.

Wait
a
second…

He’s buttering me up. He just wants blog advice. That conniving jerk!

I’m the kind of person who knows nothing about art, but I knows what I likes. “Alice” of Potentially Nervous is on my “what a find” list. Go check her out. Bunnies like you’ve never seen them photographed before. It’s a find on the Net. Trust me.

So last night (or rather, this morning at about 2 a.m.), I get around to making salads for my kids… and I want to add another item to the “Who knew? Bunny ppl did” bucket. Pea saw me fiddling around in the kitchen and weaved around my feet and generally was as obvious as she knew how to be, waiting for me to get out the bags of veggies from the fridge to make the salad. Once I got the big silver bowl out that I use to rinse everything, she was about beside herself. When I gave her her first piece of red leaf lettuce, she was content. She sat at the bowl that I kept tossing random greens in as they were getting washed. She didn’t move for about 15 minutes, just chowing on whatever I put in. Hops only came over when he heard Pea getting a sneak peek of the salad.

Who knew that bunnies bug their humans for salad when they know it’s salad time? Bunny ppl did.

Part of the issue was that Pea’s been boarded at the vet’s for the past 9 days. The girl’s just starving for a homemade meal. The vet gives her about 2 or 3 kinds of greens a day, but Mommy’s salads are tops, and the girl knows it. I think this week’s salad has about 11 ingredients. Besides, the chick needs quantity.

Why was she boarded when the other three were home when I was in Cancun? She stopped eating for about 4 or 5 days when she was at the peak of the ear mite fiasco. That messed up her flora and enzymes in her gut and her poo was not normal. Now, my neighbor and friend and oft-bunnysitter, Judy, is a dear-hearted person, but she doesn’t know what to look for in a bunny whose system is questionable. So I decided to spend the money to have Pea under supervision of people who knew exactly what to look for and who would watch her closely. True, she had to do without kisses and cuddles (although I think she actually gets some lovin’ from the vet techs and Drs. Hartman and Tast at Wellesley Animal Hospital) for over a week, but she was in much better hands and also I had my mind set at ease. Especially since I was basically out of even phone reach, being in a foreign country. I was playing “let’s leave voicemails for each other” with Dr. Hartman (TG for Skype and Internet cafes!), so I knew how she was doing, but if something went wrong and she was home, I woulda been stuck. Also, it wouldn’t have been fair to Judy, and she knew it.

So, Pea had her week’s dose of cuddles and pets and kisses from me on the car ride on the way home. Then I told Hops she was home (she was hanging out in the living room and he was in the bedroom), and he went over and gave her LOADS of kisses, welcoming her back. He kept asking me where she was from Saturday night to Monday evening when I was home (kept hopping around the joint to look for her and then coming up to me with a quizzical look on his face — yes, bunnies have quizzical looks). I couldn’t pick her up until last evening bc I got in after closing hours on Saturday and the vet office isn’t open for discharges or appointments on Sundays. Monday I had to be at work, but left early to go get her.

“So,” I hear you asking, “how is she?!” She’s kinda fine. She’s eating and pooping, which is wonderful (believe it or not), but she needs to be watched and I have a gut-stabilizing medicine I have to give her a dab of once a day (name of which escapes me now, but I’ll post it when I can). Dr. Tast has tested it herself and said, “It’s sweet. She’ll like it.” I go, “Yeah, that’s what you said about the antibiotics she was on and I had to fight her for that.” Dr. Tast smiled knowingly — whenever you think a bunny will OF COURSE like something, they (of course) don’t. But this is just a dab a day, so I think we’ll be good…

Thank you, BJ, Theresa and Richard, for sending my kids good wishes from the ear mite thing. They’re all better in that respect. One squirt of insecticide knocked that stuff right out. Good thing, too, bc my little baby girl was kinda in the dumps bc of them.

I’ve had just a hell of a week… So BunnyBlab, episode 9 will have to wait until 2 weeks from now.

We bought a house, I found two of my four kids had ear mites and had to get that taken care of (c’mon, Pea, they’re gone(ish), now EAT!), and we’re getting ready for vacation next week. I do apologize for not getting ep9 out this week, but I’m sure my faithful listeners will understand.

They’re bonded, folks! Whoo-hoo!

Pea’s been out 24/7 with the three other kids for a week and I’ve been waiting with bated breath (well, almost) for this:

Kayla, Hops, Ariel, Pea — all in a row (read: not fighting or even chasing!)

Ariel’s smushed in the back there, leaning against the Peaster. Ignore the poop in the pic — it’s time to clean the cages. The point is that they’re all smooshily cuddling! I’m so happy I could bust!

I don’t even feel ornery anymore that I missed John Edwards speak to a roomful of geeks anymore… I did for a while, but this makes me get over that pretty quickly (sorry, John — it’s a bunny thing!). =:-3

I love group love… I mean, er, um, group bunny love. That’s it, yeah!