Dog Star

Hello Hollywood, here I come - Kess, the dog star! Fame and fortune awaits me. Champagne, limousine, bodyguards, paparazzis....


ZZZZ! "Kess...Girl, girl, time to wake up sweetie. Were you dreaming your doggie dreams again?" I hear mum's voice calling through my dream-like fuzzy state of mind. Oh, it's all a dream...You mean, I'm not really a dog star?

Wait a minute...I remember now, thanks to my pals, this beagle underdog won the "DWB Featured Blog Award" for coming in second on the "Awesome Blog Award" nomination. Thanks again everyone! But no, I'm not really a dog star. Hollywood is not my cup of tea. I'm just Kess, a Malaysian beagle who is happy sniffing away in her home in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia.

Back to the dog series... Dog star isn't really a dog who is a star. Nor is it a star who is a dog. No, it's not a dog reality show....even thought there are lots of dog reality shows out there...(which sometimes really shows the worst of human behaviour! Shudder...).

Dog star is a real star of the "twinkle, twinkle" variety. I did some research on Wikepedia and came up with the following: Dog Star is the colloquial name for Sirius, the brightest star of Canis Major, the "Great Dog" Constellation(but of course...we dogs, are always the brightest...so naturally, a star named after us have to be the brightest). The Dog Star actually consists of two white stars, named Sirius A (the brighter one) and Sirius B (its fainter companion). It's actually twice as large as the sun and 25 times brighter than the sun! Imagine that! Here' what a real dog star looks like:


The Dog Star is also known as Orion's dog. Apart from Greek mythology, other cultures also associate Sirius with dogs:
Chinese astronomy - Celestial Wolf
North American indigeneous people:
Seri and Tohono O'odham - Dog that Follows Sheep
Blackfoot - Dog Face
Cherokee - Dog Star Guardian of Path of Souls
Pawnee - Wolf Star & Coyote Star
Alaskan Inuit - Moon Dog

I hope you've enjoyed this little piece on astronomy 101 about the dog star!

"Dog" Series
1. It's a dog's life
2. Fighting like cats and dogs(Beagle Identity Crisis)
3. Gone to the dogs
4. Let sleeping dogs lie
5. It's dogged as does it
6. The Underdog (vs. Top dog) (The Awesome Blog Award Nomination)
7. Every Dog Has Its Day

Every Dog Has Its Day

Mum is super busy these days. She is working on a project with some very tight deadlines. "I just don't have time to blog, Kess dear" she says. "What? How can we let down our friends who have shown us such unwavering support for our nomination for the Awesome Blog Award? Besides you can't be working all the time" I whined, giving her my most pathetic beagle look. Obviously my ploy worked since this post is written! Hah, the beagle triumphs again.

Well, the results are out. And top dog, Mango has come up tops. Congratulations Mango - A well-deserved win indeed! On top of that, Mango is a really cool dog. After I dropped by his blog (and the other 2 nominees) to congratulate him on his nomination, he returned the favour and left me this note:
"Kess,
Good job on your nomination. Don't worry, the same thing happened to me the first time I was nominated. Some doggie had a super bloggy month and crushed the competition (and to be honest, I just started Mango Minster as a lark and never imagined how BIG it would be). You look like a super underdog!
Slobbers,
Mango"

Hey, I may not have won this time, but "Every dog has its day". I really love this proverb. It really is uplifting and gives me hope that every dog gets a chance eventually (yes, my friends, that means you too!) . Just look at Mango...The underdog eventually became top dog.

What I really cherish from this experience is how blessed I am to have such great friends (Thanks for voting for me!). Which leads to this very belated posting of the friends award I received from Dughallmor Beagles two months back! Thanks Dughallmor Beagles! This award goes out to all my blogging buddies, most of whom I've never met personally but through blogging have become my electronic pen pals. You are all awesome in my books!


"Dog" Series
1. It's a dog's life
2. Fighting like cats and dogs(Beagle Identity Crisis)
3. Gone to the dogs
4. Let sleeping dogs lie
5. It's dogged as does it
6. The Underdog (vs. Top dog) (The Awesome Blog Award Nomination)

Awesome Blog Award Nomination - The Underdog

Wow! I'm still reeling from shock. I received a note from Opy which said "hey,you have been nominated for Awesome Blog award over at the Bone Zone - head on over and cast your vote :) love opy". So, I head over to the Bone Zone to find out more. Turns out, that my pals, Key West Collies has nominated yours truly for the Awesome Blog Award - "We would like to nominate Kess for her study of the word Dog in the English Language". Thank you so much, Essex and Deacon. It truly is an honour to be nominated for this award and I am so happy that you guys are enjoying this series of posts on "dog" words and idioms.

Of course, this post wouldn't be complete if I didn't continue with my "dog" word series, the very thing that got me nominated in the first place. Currently, I am starting out as an underdog. (An underdog is a competitor which is thought to have little chance of winning a fight or contest.) Mango, is obviously the top-dog of this competition, and most worthy of it too. The other notable nominees are Bubblegum dogs and Bae Bae. Anyway, underdog or top-dog, it's awesome to be considered for this award. What's really important is that we all have fun in this contest.

I never would have thought that when I ventured into the world of blogging on March 27 last year, that I would have made so many new friends from all over the world. Now, more than 90 posts in less than a year later, I've been nominated for the Awesome Blog Award. I am so totally blown away. Thank you.

And just for fun, I would like to share a quote by the comic bumbling beagle turned superhero - aka Shoe Shine from the Disney movie Underdog.

"There's no need to fear, Underdog is here."

So, if you guys like my blog and want to give this underdog a shot at winning the Awesome Blog Award, hop on over to Dogs with Blogs Bone Zone and cast your vote. Who knows, this underdog may stand a chance yet...




P.S. Do you see any resemblance to Underdog??? This was the closest picture I could find in my "superdog" pose. However, my ears don't flop backwards and seem to prefer to curl inwards instead! Does anyone know a good dog-dresser?

"Dog" Series
1. It's a dog's life
2. Fighting like cats and dogs(Beagle Identity Crisis)
3. Gone to the dogs
4. Let sleeping dogs lie
5. It's dogged as does it

Christmas Comes Early

Boy oh boy, I am so excited. Christmas is early this year. Despite it still being November, I've been receiving e-Christmas cards left, right and centre from my Dogs with Blogs pals (some whom I don't even know). And that's really the spirit of Christmas - sharing joy with loved ones and strangers. Thank you so much!

Mine is coming...soon...I promise...before Christmas. So, that gives me exactly 26 days to get it out. The first batch of Christmas photos mum took were duds. Hah...hah...I recall reading about the same experience in some of your blogs. Who said dog photography was easy??? So, she's going to attempt it again this weekend. She may even get dad to do the honours. He's the camera geek! If the weekend pics turn out well, I should be able to get my card out next week. Yay!