Running in the park, Easter, and a new puppy in the house. Easter was a good month.
Week 14 was a simple photo of Bruno living the good life, with his coat flowing in the breeze as he runs in the park.
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Week 15 was Easter, and a long anticipated appearance from “the Easter Brunny”. I picked up this hat as a prop a few weeks prior, and couldn’t wait to photograph him in it. I think he rocked it.
Dave: Bruno, you’re looking good in that hat.
Bruno: Thanks. But, it’s not a hat.
Dave: Really? I was pretty sure it was a hat.
Bruno: Nope. I’m the Easter Bunny.
Dave: Really? I have a feeling that you haven’t put much thought into what it means to be the Easter Bunny?
Bruno: Nope. Not much thought at all. Except that our names are almost identical and we both like eggs.
Dave: So you’re planning on going into thousands of houses while children are sleeping and hide chocolate eggs all over their homes with little attention, lots of sleep loss, and no affection.
Bruno: When you put it like that it seems like a lot of effort.
Dave: Plus you can’t eat chocolate.
Bruno: Oh, that is a bummer. Well maybe I’ll just have to start something new. I call myself the Easter Brunny and show up in people’s kitchens and ask that they hide eggs in my tummy.
Dave: And you think that will work?
Bruno: Well, it sure did at our house. I love it when you guys cut me in on the scrambled eggs as part of my breakfast.
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Week 16 saw the introduction of Agnes into our house. She is a little rescue puppy, one of sixty that arrived at a local shelter in a very short period of time. We decided that our house had a bit more room in it. Bruno did take a little while to warm up to her, but they did immediately like playing together in the yard.
Agnes: Hey Bruno, is life always like this around here?
Bruno: What do you mean?
Agnes: You know – good yummy food, lots of love and attention, a variety of toys and a yard to play in.
Bruno: Nope. Sometimes it’s better.
Agnes: Really? Better than this? Are you talking about that magical place they call the lake?
Bruno: That place is awesome, but it’s not what I was thinking of.
Agnes: Oh. Then what were you thinking about?
Bruno: Usually I feel a lot more rested. Lately someone’s been keeping me up all night yelling about their unsatisfactory sleeping arrangements. And then during the day that same someone interrupts my naps to try and get me to play with them.
And one time that someone even tried to steal crumbs from the biscuit that I was eating.
Agnes: Oh boy, that someone sounds pretty annoying. I wonder who it is.
Bruno: It’s you.
Agnes. Oh. But I do love you, very very much.
Bruno: It’s a good thing you’re cute.
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Week 17 showed Bruno and Agnes doing their very important job of keeping watch on the neighbourhood. A little more processing than usual on this photo, including layering a second copy of the photo on top like a double exposure effect.
Agnes: Hey Bruno, what are we up to?
Bruno: Doing our jobs.
Agnes: Oooh, I’ve always wanted to be a working dog.
Bruno: It intermittently rewarding.
Agnes: But, what is our job?
Bruno: Watching the park.
Agnes: Has the city contracted us? Are we looking for criminals? Are we like police dogs? That’s pretty cool.
Bruno: Um, no.
Agnes: Um, no we’re not getting contracted by the city? Or Um, no we’re not looking for criminals.
Bruno: Um, both.
Agnes: Well then, what are we watching for?
Bruno: Other dogs, people with children, and people eating ice cream.
Agnes: But how is that a job?
Bruno: Sometimes we get paid for it.
Agnes: Really? We get a salary?
Bruno: Not so much. It’s more of a complex action and reward algorithm.
Agnes: I think you’ve lost me.
Bruno: You see, our humans are the employers. And we have negotiated a complex job arrangement. We don’t bark at everyone, if we did that it would upset the payers and they wouldn’t let outside to do our jobs. Usually a single isolated bark just reminds them that we’re working. And most of the time when we bark excessively, we’re asked politely to stop so we comply with that. But occasionally if we keep barking and pretend not to hear the employers, they resort to giving us treats to come in the house and be quiet.
Agnes: So, if we only occasionally get paid and it’s because we comply and come in the house and stop yelling, isn’t our true job being inside and being quiet?
Bruno: Um, no. I forgot to tell you that I once yelled at a suspicious looking dude who came all of the way up to the fence to look in the yard. And then I was told that I was a good boy and was given a whole big cookie. So, after that I’m considering this a job and just negotiating increased reimbursement by increasing opportunity for payment.
