On Tuesday night, Lakesyde’s Have a Good Morning, whose call name is Aurora, came home to join our family. She was born on Martin Luther King’s birthday, meaning she’s eight weeks old. She’s named after the Roman goddess of the dawn, and we chose the name because she represents the dawn of a new day in our family. She weighs just over eight pounds, is adorable, and is cute and surprisingly funny for a very active puppy. Her picture appears here. For those of you who don’t know me, that’s me holding her. We will probably call her Rory.

The other dog in the picture is Nero, who is fourteen months old. Nero and Rory have a common grandfather and …

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I have ranted here at length against Google’s plan to scan entire books and make them available on line for free. The Writers Guild and the national association of publishers have both sued to try to enjoin this program on the grounds that it constitutes copyright infringement, litigation that I have wholeheartedly endorsed. While Google remains unrepentant and wholly in favor of its program of massive copyright infringement, it seems to be trying to make an attempt to satisfy some of the concerns of the authors and publishers.

Google is now offering to permit publishers to sell e-books that would be fully downloadable from Google’s web site. Google claims that the publishers will be able to set their own …

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Today, I was finally able to get back to work and get back to writing. After losing Cleo last week, and with having to entertain Nero so much, there wasn’t much of an opportunity to write. I also didn’t have it in me, and I didn’t have the wherewithal to do so. Susan and I went to the movies this afternoon, and when we got back, I felt energized.

I sat down tonight and got back to work. I am nearly finished with the tenth chapter of the Dahlgren bio, but it’s been nearly two weeks since the last time that I touched it. I put in a good 90 minutes on it tonight, filling holes and fleshing out some …

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We took a ride out to our new house site today, and were really surprised to see that it’s largely framed already. They were putting the roof trusses on when we got there today. What makes it all the more remarkable is that it was raining at the time. I am genuinely amazed at the speed with which the early phases of the construction of this house has occurred.

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Yesterday was one of the most difficult and emotionally draining days of my life. After writing what was posted last night, I just kind of sat here on the couch like a zombie. I was emotionally and mentally exhausted and could not focus on anything. I finally decided to go to bed about 10:30, and couldn’t sleep. On one hand I was spent, but on the other hand, I was too keyed up to sleep. Fortunately, the other two dogs wanted lots of love and attention last night–they lost a loved one, too–and Nero spent the whole night in bed with us.

It was just as hard at work today, trying to get back into my normal routine and focusing …

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Cleo came into our lives very unexpectedly in 1997. We had two dogs then—Caesar, who was three, and Augie, who was not quite two. We were content with two dogs. They entertained each other, they were great company for each other, and we could handle two without too much trouble. We were not expecting or planning on having a third.

We were getting ready to leave for a vacation, and made arrangements to board the boys with the woman who trained them. When I called to make the arrangements, she told me that she was glad that I had called, that she was going to call me, and that she had a beautiful year-old female golden retriever who needed a …

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I got an e-mail from Ted Savas about five minutes ago indicating that the printer has fallen behind and that the estimated shipping date for my book has been shoved back from March 21 to April 6. While I certainly understand the delay, and am well aware that it is not Ted’s fault, it nevertheless doesn’t much please me.

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The published eulogy for Ulric Dahlgren has been a mixed blessing. On one hand, it’s been a treasure trove of useful information, much of which has found its way into my manuscript. On the other hand, it’s been one of the most excruciatingly frustrating sources I have ever used.

My issue with Major Morrison has been well-documented here. Thanks to help from all of you, I was actually able to solve that particular riddle. Last night, another especially frustrating one re-surfaced.

Here’s the latest tantalizing and frustrating tidbit from the Reverend Sunderland’s eulogy, which refers to a two month period that Ulric spent with his father in Charleston, beginning mid-November 1863 and ending January 22, 1864, after the amputation …

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I couldn’t get an appointment with my doctor’s office until tomorrow afternoon, so I don’t have a formal medical diagnosis. However, thirty years of unpleasant experience with sinus infections tells me that the symptoms I’m experiencing are those of a nasty sinus infection and not just the common cold. I felt so bad today that I actually left the office at 12:30 and came home, which is something I never do–I think I had one sick day in 2005, and then it was the flu. I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus–did anybody get its number?–and am in desperate need of a good night’s sleep. Hopefully, starting antibiotics tomorrow will get me back on the road to feeling …

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A couple of weeks ago, I posted about my frustration with being unable to identify a Major Morrison mentioned in the published eulogy of Ulric Dahlgren. I was frustrated because Major Morrison is featured in a terrific anecdote that I want to include in my Dahlgren biography, and without being able to do so, I didn’t believe that I could legitimately include the story. The inability to identify Morrison really frustrated me. When I did that, I did so hoping that one you might be able to help solve this terribly vexatious problem.

Fortunately, I was not disappointed. Several of you chimed in, including Lee White. Lee did a database search and identified one likely candidate: Maj. Charles J. Morrison …

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