I think fate is toying with me.
Okay, so I meet another human that looks like he & his wife might be worthwhile friends, and then I go to ZGeek and read this.
A bit of an excerpt:
*************************************************************************
By Kevin Corcoran
kevin.corcoran@indystar.com
"An Indianapolis father is appealing a Marion County judge's unusual order that prohibits him and his ex-wife from exposing their child to "non-mainstream religious beliefs and rituals."
The parents practice Wicca, a contemporary pagan religion that emphasizes a balance in nature and reverence for the earth.
Cale J. Bradford, chief judge of the Marion Superior Court, kept the unusual provision in the couple's divorce decree last year over their fierce objections, court records show. The order does not define a mainstream religion.
Bradford refused to remove the provision after the 9-year-old boy's outraged parents, Thomas E. Jones Jr. and his ex-wife, Tammie U. Bristol, protested last fall."
*************************************************************************
What the hell??!! What country do I live in again? Let's all make as big a stink about this as possible. I'd LOVE to test the people that lately have been screaming about "activist judges" be forced to either call THIS judge an activist and support the wiccan parents, or reveal themselves to be total hypocrites.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
wow, sometimes when you ask fate for an answer, you get a prompt response...
Okay, so Sunday mornings are my morning out - J watches the kids, and I usually go to some coffee shop with net access to drink froofy drinks and play on my iBook, or read, or whatever. So I'm sitting in the coffee shop, organizing my email, surfing the web, and reloading music on my iPod, when a guy comes in with a backpack and sits down next to me.
I figured at some point he was going to talk to me, as he sat down at the table right next to me, and sat down facing the same direction as I was - when there were other tables available, etc. But then, maybe he was there because it was relatively close to the outlet on the wall next to me, so I didn't think any more about it until he asked me how long I'd had my iBook.
So we started up a very nice conversation - what do you know, an intelligent person! His name is Adam, he's married (good), he's in med school and is looking to start a practice in the panhandle... we had a nice long chat about technology issues, amongst other things - I think he might be a kindred spirit! Here's to hoping. *makes toast with my leftover iced chai*
OH, and if you need a laugh, go watch this - if I hadn't had an asleep baby on my lap, I would have been on the FLOOR. It's hard to laugh that hard and try not to move or make any noise...
I figured at some point he was going to talk to me, as he sat down at the table right next to me, and sat down facing the same direction as I was - when there were other tables available, etc. But then, maybe he was there because it was relatively close to the outlet on the wall next to me, so I didn't think any more about it until he asked me how long I'd had my iBook.
So we started up a very nice conversation - what do you know, an intelligent person! His name is Adam, he's married (good), he's in med school and is looking to start a practice in the panhandle... we had a nice long chat about technology issues, amongst other things - I think he might be a kindred spirit! Here's to hoping. *makes toast with my leftover iced chai*
OH, and if you need a laugh, go watch this - if I hadn't had an asleep baby on my lap, I would have been on the FLOOR. It's hard to laugh that hard and try not to move or make any noise...
being cynical
I really hope the human race rises up and proves my cynicism wrong. I do. Honest. I would love to learn that most people are not, in fact, lazy, apathetic shitheads who aren't interested in living to their fullest potential or helping the following generations live to their fullest potential. I would love to wake up one morning to discover that people are not, in fact, greedy selfish asses who don't care what happens next year or next decade or next century because it doesn't affect them anyway, and whatever doesn't benefit them personally isn't worth wasting time on...
I am so tired of idiots. I'm not saying I don't do idiotic things - I do, and I have. I belive I've learned a lot from them, too - something some other people seem congenitally incapable of. But I try not to live the unexamined life. I try to be honest with myself, and with others. I try to remember that A is A, and no amount of wishing or ignoring will change reality. I've grown a lot in the last five years (no, not just around the middle) and have become I think a more mature, caring, worthwhile human being.
The only problem is that I'm running out of sympathy.
I can really sympathize with Frank (whom I think I'll ask out for drinks or coffee or something sometime soon) - I'm beginning to feel positively homicidal when it comes to a large part of the population of meatbags that call themselves humans. (I personally don't think a lot of them qualify at the moment.)
I am so tired of idiots. I'm not saying I don't do idiotic things - I do, and I have. I belive I've learned a lot from them, too - something some other people seem congenitally incapable of. But I try not to live the unexamined life. I try to be honest with myself, and with others. I try to remember that A is A, and no amount of wishing or ignoring will change reality. I've grown a lot in the last five years (no, not just around the middle) and have become I think a more mature, caring, worthwhile human being.
The only problem is that I'm running out of sympathy.
I can really sympathize with Frank (whom I think I'll ask out for drinks or coffee or something sometime soon) - I'm beginning to feel positively homicidal when it comes to a large part of the population of meatbags that call themselves humans. (I personally don't think a lot of them qualify at the moment.)
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Monday, May 23, 2005
Oh, and I forgot to mention....
I am a totally awful slacker.
Those of you who know me are saying "No shit, Sherlock" but I have a particularly egregious example.
Poor Patrick - he was flying in from San Antonio and I have a key to his apartment - I was supposed to go drop off his key so he could get in, and I TOTALLY FORGOT. Not only that, but I didn't hear the phone ring when he called us to ask us where the hell we were...
I'm such a schmuck.
I'll make it up to you, man.
And don't worry, I'm never going to ask you to help us move again. ;)
Those of you who know me are saying "No shit, Sherlock" but I have a particularly egregious example.
Poor Patrick - he was flying in from San Antonio and I have a key to his apartment - I was supposed to go drop off his key so he could get in, and I TOTALLY FORGOT. Not only that, but I didn't hear the phone ring when he called us to ask us where the hell we were...
I'm such a schmuck.
I'll make it up to you, man.
And don't worry, I'm never going to ask you to help us move again. ;)
What an absolutely crappy night/morning.
So, my two 1/2 year old isn't sleeping well at the moment; J & I are discussing plans. I need to find my sleep solutions book and start working with it.
J's first day... we have to return a 300 lb mud-pump at 8:30 am... neither one of us got much sleep...
ugh.
J's first day... we have to return a 300 lb mud-pump at 8:30 am... neither one of us got much sleep...
ugh.
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Teh stoopid, it hurts...
You know, some days I feel like Robert Stadler - stupidity just has a way of sending me over the edge.
Take, for example, a recent news story:
Evidently while Saddam Hussein was in the US's custody, pictures were taken of him. Including pictures of him in his tighty-whities. Which has now been published on the front page of the Sun in Britain. Bad guy or not, many people are saying this was inappropriate, demeaning, and possibly against the Geneva Convention. And the quote from our president is this:
Speaking to reporters himself, Bush did not condemn the photographs and said he doubted they would stoke the anger of Iraqi insurgents.
"I don't think a photo inspires murders," Bush said.
What? He doesn't think a photo inspires.. holy god, I know he wasn't at the top of his class in his Ivy League school, but he did supposedly get passing grades - I think I'm going to send him a letter.
To President George W. Bush:
I recently read your response to journalists regarding the photographs of Saddam Hussein that have been published, and would like to ask you a question. You were quoted as saying "I don't think a photo inspires murders", is that correct? I am a 29 year old stay-at-home mother who has a two year college degree from my local community college. In less than five minutes I pulled up the following stories online:
Photo on a phone leads to shooting
A 27 year old man has reportedly shot his older sister in a so called "honour killing" after he saw a picture of her on a friends mobile phone screen. The shooting occurred in Jordan's second city, Irbid last week. The brother turned himself into the police shortly after the shooting.
"The man told police he shot and killed his sister to cleanse his family's honour because he saw her photo on his friend's mobile," the source told The Jordan Times.
The suspect told interrogators he was sitting with his friends on Sunday evening and started playing with one of their mobiles when he saw his sibling's photo, the source said.
The suspect left immediately and headed home. He reproached his sister about the photo and her alleged "immoral behaviour," according to the source.
This is the 5th person killed in an honour crime in Jordan this year.
(from http://www.cellular-news.com/story/12678.shtml)
A good lesson from history: Remember the Maine! Now, in this case, the pictures on the front of the newspapers were drawings, not photos, and they had a lot of bombastic words to go along with them - but pictures helped turn an unfortunate accident into a causis belli.
From their own administration: General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sought to delay release of the photos of the abuse at Abu Ghraib. "What I asked CBS News to do was to delay the release of the pictures given the current situation in Iraq . . . because I thought it would bring direct harm to our troops. It would kill our troops."...
If a photo doesn't inspire murder, then the whole rationale behind wartime propaganda kinda falls apart, don't you think? Take World War II - I mean, if you're not putting up a picture of a Nazi murdering defenseless gypsy children in order to inspire your troops to fight harder in the war (of which a large part involves killing Nazis), what ARE you putting up the picture for?
Okay. I have real work to do. I can't do George Bush's job (as much as I sometimes feel like attempting to take over) so the least I can do is do my job well.
Take, for example, a recent news story:
Evidently while Saddam Hussein was in the US's custody, pictures were taken of him. Including pictures of him in his tighty-whities. Which has now been published on the front page of the Sun in Britain. Bad guy or not, many people are saying this was inappropriate, demeaning, and possibly against the Geneva Convention. And the quote from our president is this:
Speaking to reporters himself, Bush did not condemn the photographs and said he doubted they would stoke the anger of Iraqi insurgents.
"I don't think a photo inspires murders," Bush said.
What? He doesn't think a photo inspires.. holy god, I know he wasn't at the top of his class in his Ivy League school, but he did supposedly get passing grades - I think I'm going to send him a letter.
To President George W. Bush:
I recently read your response to journalists regarding the photographs of Saddam Hussein that have been published, and would like to ask you a question. You were quoted as saying "I don't think a photo inspires murders", is that correct? I am a 29 year old stay-at-home mother who has a two year college degree from my local community college. In less than five minutes I pulled up the following stories online:
Photo on a phone leads to shooting
A 27 year old man has reportedly shot his older sister in a so called "honour killing" after he saw a picture of her on a friends mobile phone screen. The shooting occurred in Jordan's second city, Irbid last week. The brother turned himself into the police shortly after the shooting.
"The man told police he shot and killed his sister to cleanse his family's honour because he saw her photo on his friend's mobile," the source told The Jordan Times.
The suspect told interrogators he was sitting with his friends on Sunday evening and started playing with one of their mobiles when he saw his sibling's photo, the source said.
The suspect left immediately and headed home. He reproached his sister about the photo and her alleged "immoral behaviour," according to the source.
This is the 5th person killed in an honour crime in Jordan this year.
(from http://www.cellular-news.com/story/12678.shtml)
A good lesson from history: Remember the Maine! Now, in this case, the pictures on the front of the newspapers were drawings, not photos, and they had a lot of bombastic words to go along with them - but pictures helped turn an unfortunate accident into a causis belli.
From their own administration: General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sought to delay release of the photos of the abuse at Abu Ghraib. "What I asked CBS News to do was to delay the release of the pictures given the current situation in Iraq . . . because I thought it would bring direct harm to our troops. It would kill our troops."...
If a photo doesn't inspire murder, then the whole rationale behind wartime propaganda kinda falls apart, don't you think? Take World War II - I mean, if you're not putting up a picture of a Nazi murdering defenseless gypsy children in order to inspire your troops to fight harder in the war (of which a large part involves killing Nazis), what ARE you putting up the picture for?
Okay. I have real work to do. I can't do George Bush's job (as much as I sometimes feel like attempting to take over) so the least I can do is do my job well.
I'm choking on laughter here
Trying not to wake up C with my mirth - have you guys seen this? Some of the comments are PRICELESS.
My favorite: "Which one is Bush?"
The only sad thing is that I don't live in place where I could do this.
My favorite: "Which one is Bush?"
The only sad thing is that I don't live in place where I could do this.
Saturday, May 21, 2005
I am never opening a pool cleaning business.
Geez, what a day. I find out yesterday that my parents' next door neighbors have called the Health Department to complain about the mosquitos in the pool. (In actuality, my parents have been putting in those bacteria discs that destroy mosquito larvae, so there are actually no mosquito larvae in the pool. The mosquitos in the neighborhood are probably coming from the drainage ditch/creek that runs past the end of the cul-de-sac.) However, me not realizing immediately that the Health Department could come test the pool water and see that there were no larvae, figured that my weekend was now going to be blown by cleaning the pool (something I'd planned on doing this summer anyway, but after school was over so mom could watch the kids - not on a 3 day deadline from the Department of Health.)
Aside from the normal stress of dealing with my parents, being amazingly grumpy to begin with (because yesterday was J's last day at his old job and nobody said SHIT - the owner of the company hasn't spoken to him in a week or so; nobody said good luck, thanks for everything, see you soon, no goodbye from all of us card, no taking him out to dinner - he's worked with these people for 2½ years, is it unreasonable for me to think this is kinda crappy of them?) Anyway, I was short tempered to begin with, and renting a mud pump (which some moron before us had put kerosene in; poor man had to clean it out before we could take it) and figuring out exactly how we were going to do what... oh, raging pain in my a$$.
There was one redeeming part of the day.
I scooped out 101 bullfrog tadpoles from the pool. Yes, I said ONE HUNDRED AND ONE. And I'm nowhere near done. These things were huge; their heads were anywhere from 1-2 inches long, and the tails were 2-3 inches longer than that - big honkers! OH, and the most pleasant surprise was pulling two of these out:
Allow me to introduce you to the Central Newt - a subcategory of the Eastern Newt; we pulled out two in their super-nifty adult aquatic mating phase! Now that I've looked them up, I wish I'd kept them - they were probably a breeding pair, dangit. I'm really hoping that they'll make it in the pond we released the tadpoles in. *sigh*
I am now going to take some painkillers to ease my aching, itchy body.
Aside from the normal stress of dealing with my parents, being amazingly grumpy to begin with (because yesterday was J's last day at his old job and nobody said SHIT - the owner of the company hasn't spoken to him in a week or so; nobody said good luck, thanks for everything, see you soon, no goodbye from all of us card, no taking him out to dinner - he's worked with these people for 2½ years, is it unreasonable for me to think this is kinda crappy of them?) Anyway, I was short tempered to begin with, and renting a mud pump (which some moron before us had put kerosene in; poor man had to clean it out before we could take it) and figuring out exactly how we were going to do what... oh, raging pain in my a$$.
There was one redeeming part of the day.
I scooped out 101 bullfrog tadpoles from the pool. Yes, I said ONE HUNDRED AND ONE. And I'm nowhere near done. These things were huge; their heads were anywhere from 1-2 inches long, and the tails were 2-3 inches longer than that - big honkers! OH, and the most pleasant surprise was pulling two of these out:
Allow me to introduce you to the Central Newt - a subcategory of the Eastern Newt; we pulled out two in their super-nifty adult aquatic mating phase! Now that I've looked them up, I wish I'd kept them - they were probably a breeding pair, dangit. I'm really hoping that they'll make it in the pond we released the tadpoles in. *sigh*
I am now going to take some painkillers to ease my aching, itchy body.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Jeez!
Like I NEEDED to find another online comic that I like...
*sigh*
but Catharsis is fun!
Oh, and the 1097 hearts, 156 of them with reasons on them? They were a huge surprise (which is hard to do; J is not easily surprised) and no, he hasn't actually read all of them yet. :) Dinner at the Melting Pot was a big surprise to me!
Both children are asleep in their own beds, J's last day is tomorrow, and my mood is improving with every passing minute. Hope everybody out there in internet-world is having a good time as well.
*sigh*
but Catharsis is fun!
Oh, and the 1097 hearts, 156 of them with reasons on them? They were a huge surprise (which is hard to do; J is not easily surprised) and no, he hasn't actually read all of them yet. :) Dinner at the Melting Pot was a big surprise to me!
Both children are asleep in their own beds, J's last day is tomorrow, and my mood is improving with every passing minute. Hope everybody out there in internet-world is having a good time as well.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, BABU!
Sorry... who knew that 200 candles took that long to light?
Three years, and it's nice to hear that he'd do it all over again. I would too.
Or, as he said, maybe not ALL of it....
*contented sigh*
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Listening to the news...
A judge refused to allow a divorce because the woman is pregnant. WTF?
Brooke Shields, after trying everything for two years, finally has a baby - and suffers post-partum depression. I'm really impressed that she made it public; and in listening to the interview was reminded that most people still have a stigmatized view of depression. She herself refused to consider she might be depressed, and when the medication helped her, she decided that it was just time healing all and stopped the medication - and crashed badly. She said that she was ashamed, and that she felt like she should just be able to power through it...
*sigh*
At some point we'll know enough medically & scientifically to show exactly what causes depression, and maybe then people will accept it as an illness, rather than a character flaw.
In other news, to aid in interrogations in Guantanamo, american soldiers have been defiling the Qur'an (by doing things like dropping it in toilets, etc.) to encourage prisoners to talk. Seven people so far have died in the protest riots in Afghanistan, and Pakistan has filed a formal complaint against the United States.
And yet some people will still argue that the US is doing the right thing. These are undoubtedly the same people who say "blood is thicker than water" and refuse to consider that their family/child could be in the wrong in any given situation.
Makes me think my whole urge to become a hermit in high school was the right way to go after all. Can you be a hermit if you take your husband and kids with you?
Brooke Shields, after trying everything for two years, finally has a baby - and suffers post-partum depression. I'm really impressed that she made it public; and in listening to the interview was reminded that most people still have a stigmatized view of depression. She herself refused to consider she might be depressed, and when the medication helped her, she decided that it was just time healing all and stopped the medication - and crashed badly. She said that she was ashamed, and that she felt like she should just be able to power through it...
*sigh*
At some point we'll know enough medically & scientifically to show exactly what causes depression, and maybe then people will accept it as an illness, rather than a character flaw.
In other news, to aid in interrogations in Guantanamo, american soldiers have been defiling the Qur'an (by doing things like dropping it in toilets, etc.) to encourage prisoners to talk. Seven people so far have died in the protest riots in Afghanistan, and Pakistan has filed a formal complaint against the United States.
And yet some people will still argue that the US is doing the right thing. These are undoubtedly the same people who say "blood is thicker than water" and refuse to consider that their family/child could be in the wrong in any given situation.
Makes me think my whole urge to become a hermit in high school was the right way to go after all. Can you be a hermit if you take your husband and kids with you?
Monday, May 09, 2005
Self-medicating
Hey, if anybody out there wants to do me a good turn, surprise me with a gallon of coffee liqueur. The cheap stuff is fine, I mix it with milk and drink it over ice. I'm anticipating the next 11 days will be really crappy, and today I was in the "sit down with a romance novel and eat a pint of chocolate ice cream" mood.
For those of you who don't know me - I don't read romance novels.
Science fiction, yes. Fantasy, yes. History, biographies, even textbooks on occasion.... but I don't read romance novels unless I'm somewhere and out of reading material, which means I've already read all available labels and backs of cereal boxes and am desperate for a reading fix.
Yes, I'm a reading addict. Why do you think I've never tried drugs? If I'm this bad an escapist with literature, imagine what would happen were I to try something stronger?
Of course, I say that in a post whilst talking about my plans to drink.
Anyway, it'll be nice that the weekend after our anniversary is the weekend after J quits with JVA, so we'll maybe actually be able to spend some quality time together.
In the meantime... anybody got any kahlua? I figure there's less fat in that than a container of ice cream. And whilst I haven't really done anything towards my goal of getting slim and sexy for the wedding we're going to in January, I'd like to not screw the pooch totally on that.
For those of you who don't know me - I don't read romance novels.
Science fiction, yes. Fantasy, yes. History, biographies, even textbooks on occasion.... but I don't read romance novels unless I'm somewhere and out of reading material, which means I've already read all available labels and backs of cereal boxes and am desperate for a reading fix.
Yes, I'm a reading addict. Why do you think I've never tried drugs? If I'm this bad an escapist with literature, imagine what would happen were I to try something stronger?
Of course, I say that in a post whilst talking about my plans to drink.
Anyway, it'll be nice that the weekend after our anniversary is the weekend after J quits with JVA, so we'll maybe actually be able to spend some quality time together.
In the meantime... anybody got any kahlua? I figure there's less fat in that than a container of ice cream. And whilst I haven't really done anything towards my goal of getting slim and sexy for the wedding we're going to in January, I'd like to not screw the pooch totally on that.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
I'm registered as an independent
But here's a ticket I like:
**EDIT** Although to be perfectly honest, I'd probably vote for Vinick, he's a moderate with quite a few views I agree with...
**EDIT** Although to be perfectly honest, I'd probably vote for Vinick, he's a moderate with quite a few views I agree with...
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
What's today again?
I'm so glad J is back home.
There's been so much going on lately; I go to post and am just too tired to want to deal with words.
Christian has a fever; hopefully he'll fight it off and be feeling better tomorrow.
Moira likes to play I Spy (since she knows so many colors).
I had dinner waiting for my husband when he got home from his out of town business trip. I don't want anybody to think that I'm not a feminist ("Feminism is the radical notion that women are people") but it was quite satisfying to surprise him with food that he didn't have to think about. I think I'll try to do that more often.
And if Khang will come hang out with me more often (if you're online, you're working, right? heehee) I'll get more done around the house. I just get sooooo bored when I'm cleaning. I can't blast the radio (don't want to damage my children's hearing) and I can't put in earphones (because then I couldn't hear my children if one started screaming because the other one had knocked over a table on it) so adult conversation is the only way I can keep my brain occupied successfully.
Maybe I'll have to just play audio books at a volume I can hear, but still hear other things.
This has been a random pointless blog entry by yours truly.
I'm enjoying the scrabble game with mamaw. She's ahead. Quelle surprise.
J has provided me with a new game addiction as well - Word Slinger. I'm on level 45.
Off to sleep.
There's been so much going on lately; I go to post and am just too tired to want to deal with words.
Christian has a fever; hopefully he'll fight it off and be feeling better tomorrow.
Moira likes to play I Spy (since she knows so many colors).
I had dinner waiting for my husband when he got home from his out of town business trip. I don't want anybody to think that I'm not a feminist ("Feminism is the radical notion that women are people") but it was quite satisfying to surprise him with food that he didn't have to think about. I think I'll try to do that more often.
And if Khang will come hang out with me more often (if you're online, you're working, right? heehee) I'll get more done around the house. I just get sooooo bored when I'm cleaning. I can't blast the radio (don't want to damage my children's hearing) and I can't put in earphones (because then I couldn't hear my children if one started screaming because the other one had knocked over a table on it) so adult conversation is the only way I can keep my brain occupied successfully.
Maybe I'll have to just play audio books at a volume I can hear, but still hear other things.
This has been a random pointless blog entry by yours truly.
I'm enjoying the scrabble game with mamaw. She's ahead. Quelle surprise.
J has provided me with a new game addiction as well - Word Slinger. I'm on level 45.
Off to sleep.
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