The Rise of the Fur Baby

By Francine & Byron Pirola | March 6, 2026 |

Fur babies: substitute child, family asset or living therapy doll? In this blog we discuss some different views on the rise of the Fur Baby culture.     For years, our daughter pleaded with us for a dog – every birthday, every Christmas, the same earnest plea. And for years, we had our stock reply: “We’d have another baby before…

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Retired, Extremely Dangerous

By Francine & Byron Pirola | December 13, 2019 |

A few weeks ago, we watched the action comedy R.E.D. featuring Bruce Willis as retired black ops agent whose peaceful retirement is disrupted by a CIA order to eliminate him. The comedy rests in the ridiculously casual way the characters approach their killing careers. RED, it turns out stands for his classification: ‘retired, extremely dangerous’.…

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