Well, I'm afraid it's been a rough week. Dev and I were both very upset by the loss of the puppy, which made this week very sad.

Then, on Tuesday evening, I suddenly came down with a serious case of food poisoning. I'll spare you the details, but it was truly the sickest I have ever been in all my life. In one evening, I lost more than 7 lbs. of body weight (from water loss). I first got sick right at 6pm, when Dev was headed home from work. Around 5am I tried to drink some juice, which set it all off again, so I slept only a few hours.

Dev kindly stayed home from work on Wednesday to take care of me, and by Wednesday night I could eat small quantities of mashed potatoes and apple sauce. Today is Friday in China and I'm feeling much better and eating normal (if bland) foods, though I'm still a little weak from fasting much of the week.

One happy note to end this update: I have a number of agents interested in my novel. I have promised them to have the first draft done by June 1, so I'm keeping busy - at least, now that I'm not sick.

I am sorry to say that despite all our efforts today, the little puppy died. At least he died in a nice, warm place and not outside alone.

Hello all! As many of you have heard, Dev and I have been busy this week caring for a stray puppy. On Monday night, Dev and I were out walking our dogs when Shackleton sniffed out two tiny puppies hiding in the hedges surrounding our apartment compound. They had no collars or other identification, so we brought them upstairs. We made inquiries around the apartment, but no one claimed them. That night, we brought both puppies upstairs and set up a space for them in my office, careful to keep them away from our own dogs in case they had any communicable diseases. One puppy, Angus, seemed alert and chipper, but the other puppy, Olaf, was clearly ill and disoriented. During the night, Olaf died.

On Tuesday morning, I took Angus to the vet, where they ran some tests to determine he didn't have distemper (which is common here and which may have killed Olaf). The vet identified the puppy as a male between six and eight weeks old, weighing 2.5 pounds. To me, he looks like a Scottish terrier. At the time, Angus had no fever and seemed generally okay, but he had an upper respiratory infection (Bordetella, or "kennel cough") and so he was put on antibiotics.

That afternoon I began arranging to find him a home. I contacted about 40 of my local friends and found five or six interested people. I set up appointments with the three most serious candidates to meet the puppy.

On Tuesday afternoon, Angus was lively, affectionate, and playful. However, the combined stress of his illness and the powerful antibiotics proved to be too much for him, and by Tuesday night he was tired and weak, though still clear-eyed and friendly. He'd eaten a lot of food on Monday night, but now he refused to eat at all. We tried many things, including cream cheese, peanut butter, milk, and cooked ground beef, but with little success. The only thing he was able to ingest was warm chicken broth, which had to be spooned into his mouth or licked off your fingers. He continued to drink water, though, and did not appear seriously dehydrated.

All day Wednesday Angus refused to eat, and we continued to use the chicken broth and occasionally try to convince him to eat other foods. He was tired and ill and would often vomit. Yesterday, Thursday, I took him to the vet to find out he was worse. He now had a fever and a fecal sample revealed bits of intestinal lining. He had also lost weight. The vet switched us to some new medications and some special formulas and vitamin-rich paste foods that can be injected into his mouth via a feeding syringe.

Yesterday, we started a schedule of hourly feedings, alternating between water, several types of food supplements, and several types of medicine. Dev set up a warming bed for him, with a heat lamp and a warm pad to sleep on (we microwave a bag of dry beans and then wrap it in a towel). Of course, all his bedding, etc. must be kept strictly segregated from our own dogs, and we sanitize our hands before handling our own dogs (who are nonetheless vaccinated against Bordetella).

At midnight, he seemed extremely weak and disoriented. However, his spirit never flagged and he seemed very committed to his own recovery, still walking to his water dish or leaving his sleeping area to urinate. At midnight and at 3am, Dev and I discussed the fact that the puppy might well die, and tried to be prepared for that. But at 6am he was more alert and energetic, walking around and holding down food. At 9am this morning he accepted some food, and some medicine at 10am, without regurgitating either. It's too soon to be sure, but he appears to be getting stronger.

Everyone wish us luck, and we'll give an update again soon.

Great news! Two of my poems have been accepted by the magazine Diagram. These will be my first two published poems. The magazine will be available in print in a few months.

We are safely back from ten days in Turkey - check out our photos here. To sort through, select the tag "best."

New Year in Istanbul

After nearly 24 hours of travel and a bleak six-hour layover in Moscow, Dev and I arrived safely in Istanbul at last. Now we're on our second day of bright, pleasant weather and fresh, wonderful food. Not too bad. We'll start posting photos soon.