This is an interview in the continuing series “Talk to the Hand” which is about the typist behind the anipal(s). There are two doggies, Dusty and Hurley, who make me laugh, so I knew I had to meet their human. I would love to introduce you to Shari, known to us as Scribe for @JustAnotherTrnd. She lives in Kingsville, MD (14 miles North of Baltimore City) in the US.

What is/are your passion/hobbies?
My passion is helping others. I ran a day care center for 14 years and then got my nursing degree. I was involved in PTA while Sadie was school-aged. She’s now grown and works for PETA2.

I’m very involved in my hospital’s auxiliary and have been Recording Secretary for the past four years. The auxiliary donated $750,000 to the cancer center built a few years ago and have pledged $1 million for the new patient care tower that will open in November 2010. We’ve already presented two checks of $175,000 each towards that pledge. Our auxiliary is very active and hard working. Pop (spouse) and I make the Vials of Life that the auxiliary gives out to community. (It’s a vial and papers/stickers to list health history and medications which can be handed to EMS.)

My true joy is taking Dusty and Hurley weekly to a local assisted living facility. Most of all, it’s such a joy to visit the residents of the Alzheimer’s Locked Unit. Getting Dusty and Hurley certified as therapy dogs was actually inspired by @MattieDog. His blog made me stop and think, “Dusty and Hurley could be doing good and spreading joy outside the four walls of our home.” After getting them certified, I worked with them a bit more and they both passed their American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen Certification on their first attempt! I was so excited. It was like when Sadie would bring home straight As!

Photographing Dusty, Hurley and occasionally Chick-Chick has turned out to be something I really have fun with. The #pawpawty themes and just other silly things that happen make it such fun to get pictures of the boys. I hope you enjoy the collage of their pawpawty photos.

What is your favorite word?
Free!

What is your least favorite word?
Any cuss word used in public.

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
Seeing or participating in acts of kindness make me happy; seeing a need and suddenly “knowing” what can be done to help fill it makes my day. For example, I went into a shoe repair shop to get car keys made and saw a sign “Parent’s Plea, our daughter needs a kidney.”  I instantly knew in my heart that I had a kidney for this young person. As an RN, I had cared for many dialysis patients and had never felt the urge to donate a kidney. But when I saw that sign, posted by a total stranger, I knew it was meant to be.  As it turned out, we were a great match, and on May 30, 2000, I donated my left kidney to her. I only met her in person two weeks prior to the transplant, once all testing had deemed me a viable donor. She completed her last year of college without needing dialysis. She went to law school and is now employed with the U.S. Department of Justice.

What turns you off?
Rudeness. Drunk drivers. People who talk on phones while driving. Parents who talk on cell phones while ignoring their young children in public.

What sound or noise do you love?
Ocean waves crashing onto a beach. When on vacation at the ocean shore, we always sleep with doors to the balcony open to hear the ocean all night long. I also love to hear Dusty snoring while I work.  (I telecommute.)

What sound or noise do you hate?
Whining children. People arguing in public.

What is your occupation?
I have worked as an RN in patient care for five years and Quality Review RN in Quality, Risk, Safety Dept. of a local community hospital for the past ten years.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
I would love to foster puppies for a seeing eye dog foundation. That would be volunteer work, but so rewarding and fun! As far as paid work, I’d love to work as a pet photographer.

What is your favorite color?
Any shade of pink or mauve.

Who is/are your anipals?
Dusty, who will be 15 in September. He’s a 35 lb terrier mix with some soft-coated Wheaten in his lineage, rescued from a local dog pound. Hurley is a puppy mill Lhasa mix rescue that weighs 20 lbs, and who will be five in July. Chick-Chick makes occasional appearances in the tweets. He’s a 17 year old Guinea rooster and is as much a part of our family as the boys are. I joke that the dogs are his “flock” and he is part of their “pack.”   They all get along great and hang out in the yard all the time.

How did you decide to portray their personalities? e.g., are they aspects of your personality, quirky things your pet does.
I love to laugh and be silly. I knew that once I found my voice on Twitter, it would have to be a kind, funny, silly voice. Dusty and Hurley have very different personalities and behaviors, considering their ages, and that makes it easy to tweet their personalities. Dusty is more laid back, sensible, well-behaved, and always obedient. But, he has great fun when playing with Hurley and Chick-Chick. In “real life” Dusty makes noises to me throughout the day, starting the moment he wakes up. It’s comical to hear him “talking” to us. He’s getting older, slightly hard of hearing, with his vision decreasing, but still can run in the yard with Hurley and Chick-Chick like he’s a young dog.

Hurley is the court jester. He is always running around in figure 8s or through the house, in circles. He’s never still, until he drops to a nap. Otherwise, he’s tossing toys, sniffing things and this is how the Dust Bunnies were introduced to his tweets. He enjoys spending time in different parts of the house. I’ll pass a room and look in and see Hurley, busily exploring all by himself. He also loves to look out the bay window in the dining room. Dusty can’t jump up there any longer and did not like the dog stairs I tried for him. Hurley will bark and carry on and Dusty will vocalize and pace back and forth in front of the window. Sometimes Hurley’s tweets are about telling Dusty what’s outside the window.

Do you have an anipal shelter/rescue that is important to you?
All the shelters in our area are “kill” shelters, unfortunately. I appreciate that we are given an opportunity each month to help animals at different shelters. At first I just donated to pawties on Twitter. Lately, I have done a few prize donations. I don’t feel skilled enough to sign up for duties during the pawties. Perhaps I’ll learn some skills at #BarkWorldExpo! Dusty and Hurley have unofficially helped @MissBusyBiz with her security protection for the #Cheetoettes!

Any additional comments?
Tweeting with people who have anipals has broadened my horizons so much this past year. I would have never been inspired to get Dusty and Hurley volunteering as therapy dogs. I would not have discovered how much fun it is to photograph them for pawties. I certainly never imagined when I sent my first tweet into the world that I would be blessed beyond measure with so many nice friends, so much love and laughter and sharing of ideas. If someone had predicted that I’d be heading to #BarkWorldExpo to meet these friends in person, I would have laughed!

Wow, this was fun, actually getting to use more than 140 characters! Thanks!

Tagged as: @JustAnotherTrnd., Chick Chick, Dusty, Hurley, Shari