I was born on November 19, 1969, the same day that Apollo 12 landed on the moon (that would be the second moon landing.) If my parents had been hippies, I would have been stuck with a name like Luna, or Moonchild.
Fortunately, they were not hippies, and I became Jessica Jeanine Godett. A week shy of my thirteenth birthday, my stepfather adopted me, and I became Jessica Jeanine Ruffner. I spent my entire childhood as ‘JJ’ and only when I made it to college was I awarded with the somewhat more dignified, although gender ambiguous, nickname ‘Jess.’
I didn’t change my name for either of my marriages. I am a partner, not chattel.
I have worked in the comic book industry for nearly twenty years in various capacities, and because editors rarely pay attention, I have been billed as Jesse Booth, Jess Booth, Jess Ruffner, Jess Ruffner-Booth, and variations thereof including ‘Jessica.’
You may call me Jess.
On this blog you will find pictures of my dogs, commentary and articles about breeding, legislation, and health. Vintage images of Afghan hounds are a hobby of mine, and you will find lots of those as well as articles about the history of the breed in the West. I have recently begun collecting old pictures of Salukis, as well.
The labels I use for my posts are pretty self-explanatory.
I live off-grid in a remote corner of the desert Southwest (United States) with my husband, comic book illustrator Brett Booth, and a buttload of dogs: Azawakh, Afghan hounds, Salukis, and my special project: Afghan/Saluki crosses. My dogs spend their time digging, getting filthy, and dreaming up mayhem. I find mayhem especially amusing; I like smart dogs.
I don’t do dogma. My opinion will change if I get better quality information. If you are a True Believerâ„¢ of any kind, this is probably not the blog for you.
‘Pussyfooting’ is not in my vocabulary. I don’t beat around bushes, and have very little tact, so I must apportion it out carefully, and don’t care to waste it on people on the web that I don’t know from Adam. If you are especially emotionally sensitive or tend to kill the messenger, you may want to read this blog with caution.
If I were to die tomorrow, I would be very disappointed if a bunch of people showed up at my funeral to say I was a nice person. I wouldn’t write the things I do if I wanted to avoid making waves. I would prefer: “Jess was a bitch, but she made me think.”
I can be contacted at brettbooth at gmail dot com
