There are two kinds of dog owners out there. Good dog owners and bad dog owners.

You qualify as the latter if you let your untrained dog wander off-leash. An untrained dog is one that does not obey commands and/or attacks people and/or other dogs/animals unprovoked.

The other morning, I met just such an "untrained dog" and "bad dog owner" on a trail that is OK for off-leash dogs.

I have, in fact, met this particular dog and its lovely owner a few times. I jog on this trail and this dog owner walks with her friend and a pack of five dogs of different sizes and personalities.

The untrained dog is a small, Chihuahua mix who – like a bull seeing red – charges me upon each encounter.

I had enough the other day and decided to address the issue with the owner I stopped my workout. (Mind you it takes quite a bit to motivate me to stop mid-fitness. I just don't do that.)

I said "hello" and calmly asked the owner to please keep her dog on leash, as every time we meet on the path, her dog attacks me.

She proceeded to tell me to, "Go to hell."

Yes. This is one BAAAAAAAAAD dog owner. And obviously the apple does not fall far from the tree. I explained to her that I was not trying to pick a fight; I was merely trying to share the path with her and her dogs.

That incited more curses, yelling, her telling me I scared her dog by "running at it" and then turning her back and walking away.

Now, I may be a bit hypersensitive about this issue, as when I lived in Los Angeles, Bo – my blind, almost toothless, angel of a rescue dog with dislocating knees – was attacked not once, but twice by off-leash dogs.

Both times, I was walking Bo on leash in our neighborhood and off-leash dogs bolted from out of nowhere at my defenseless dog. Bo ended up at the Animal Emergency Center twice. But he is a survivor and came through each incident a tougher canine.

To say we've been traumatized is an understatement.

Seeing dogs off leash makes my heart palpitate until it is conf…

Art can be a beautiful accident. Finding yourself during art class can be one too.

This summer, I enthusiastically signed up for and took a class at Healing Forest Studio in Waukesha. Perfectly located near my yoga teachers at Heffernan Wellness, I figured I could knock out some spiritual, physical and creative energy all in one locale.

Drawing, painting or any kind of physical actualization of a graphic idea translated from my hand onto paper has always fascinated and challenged me.

Putting brush and medium to skin for makeup artistry is a completely different story. The curves of a face, supported by the unique bone structure and skin texture of each of my clients inspires me to paint each of them their most gorgeous version of themselves. I find comfort in my familiar tools, my favorite products and am able to emphasize a face's strengths, while camouflaging flaws.

For some reason, translating an idea from my mind onto paper using pen, ink, charcoal, paint ... never really comes out right or accurate to the vision in my head.

So, I thought, why not start with the basics? Get some training. Learn something new. I was sure it would improve my makeup skills and probably lead to my next career as a tattoo artist or perhaps lead to a gallery showing of my brilliant work.

I arrived for my first class with the enthusiasm of a self-assured kindergartener, poised for the debut of an academic career with a shiny new lunchbox and Care Bears/Barbie/"Star Wars" backpack.

The class was a "make up" (irony at its best) since I had missed day one and actually turned out to be a private one with artist and co-owner of Healing Forest, Lori Slocomb.

I was tickled to have one-on-one attention with a gifted artist and was sure this was my ticket to ART! We got to know each other through giggles and chatter, discovered we had much in common and then began the lesson.

Suddenly, the clock slowed down. Time seemed to stretch out into layers of forever.

Although I grasped what sh…

I am haunted by the words of the Godfather of Metal, Lemmy Kilmister, at the end of the documentary about his life, "Lemmy." I am paraphrasing, but he basically "philosophizes" about long distance romance.

He says there is no way it can work unless both partners are in the same line of work and/or both travel. His glass of Jack half empty, he states that even then it doesn't usually jive. He says the non-traveling partner can't come along on the road because that inevitably ends up disastrous and they can't stay at home and work or raise the kids, because resentment just builds up directed at the partner who is away.

Is Lemmy right? Are relationships rocked by distance unable to survive?

I live the exact scenario Lemmy describes and in fact, profession specific. My husband is a touring bass player. We are separated at least six months and sometimes/usually more each year. I just got him back for an all too short three week stretch after an extra long, three month stint of him away on tour. And somehow (and not without ups and downs) we've made it 13 years.

In my husband's line of work, the female companions tease and switch our monikers from "rock wives" to "road widows" when our loved ones depart on tour.

Whether your partner is a traveling musician, in the military or they just have frequent business trips, separation in relationships can be a challenge and raise the brows of so called "normal" couples.

Recently and quite honestly for the first time, a virtual stranger, who learned what my husband did for a living, asked me if we had an "open relationship" to cope with the distance.

The question of fidelity probably goes through a lot of people's heads when they meet someone like me, who spends a good deal of time apart from their spouse.

But, my closest friends have never begged those details. Not even in social situations lubricated by alcohol. Perhaps they assume they know the answer, but the square in me was truly shocked by this person's very …