Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Sweet Personality

Of course I'm a Reese's, what else?

Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

Very popular, one of you is not enough.


Saturday, October 28, 2006

Billions of Dollars Later: "Mars Is Boring"

Mars Rover Beginning To Hate Mars

The Onion

Mars Rover Beginning To Hate Mars

PASADENA, CA—After nearly three years of nonstop data collection, Spirit has begun transmitting obscene gestures and confusing rants.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

A Short Skirt Is Not an Open Invitation

I just came across this and think it bears repeating. I believe that most people capable of committing rape aren't susceptible to rehabilitation, but there are some instances where "average" people seem to think it's okay. Read on, you'll see what I mean.

Only Rapists Can Prevent Rape

A lot has been said about how to prevent rape. Women should learn self-defense. Women should lock themselves in their houses after dark. Women shouldn't have long hair and women shouldn't wear short skirts. Women shouldn't leave drinks unattended. Hell, they shouldn't dare to get drunk at all. Instead of that bullshit, how about:
  • If a woman is drunk, don't rape her.
  • If a woman is walking alone at night, don't rape her.
  • If a woman is drugged and unconscious, don't rape her.
  • If a woman is wearing a short skirt, don't rape her.
  • If a woman is jogging in a park at 5 am, don't rape her.
  • If a woman looks like your ex-girlfriend you're still hung up on, don't rape her.
  • If a woman is asleep in her bed, don't rape her.
  • If a woman is asleep in your bed, don't rape her.
  • If a woman is doing her laundry, don't rape her.
  • If a woman is in a coma, don't rape her.
  • If a woman changes her mind in the middle of or about a particular activity, don't rape her.
  • If a woman has repeatedly refused a certain activity, don't rape her.
  • If a woman is not yet a woman, but a child, don't rape her.
  • If your girlfriend or wife is not in the mood, don't rape her.
  • If your step-daughter is watching TV, don't rape her.
  • If you break into a house and find a woman there, don't rape her.
  • If your friend thinks it's okay to rape someone, tell him it's not, and that he's not your friend.
  • If your "friend" tells you he raped someone, report him to the police.
  • If your frat-brother or another guy at the party tells you there's an unconscious woman upstairs and it's your turn, don't rape her, call the police and tell the guy he's a rapist.
  • Tell your sons, god-sons, nephews, grandsons, sons of friends it's not okay to rape someone.
  • Don't tell your women friends how to be safe and avoid rape.
  • Don't imply that she could have avoided it if she'd only done/not done x.
  • Don't imply that it's in any way her fault.
  • Don't let silence imply agreement when someone tells you he "got some" with the drunk girl.
  • Don't perpetuate a culture that tells you that you have no control over or responsibility for your actions. You can, too, help yourself.
-author unknown

Friday, October 20, 2006

Slow Your Boat

I have always felt that I was born in the wrong time. I like to do most things at a leisurely pace, I hate crowds and traffic, I don't particularly like fast food, and I wish I could walk to the grocery store, to a diner or cafe, to visit friends, without it being dangerous, weird, or just plain impossible.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered there are other people who agree, who think things ought to be done -- and more importantly, can be done -- differently. Better. The trouble is, it still costs too much to do most of what I'd like to do. I fall into the heavily burdened middle class, who aren't rich enough to hire attorneys and accountants to hide the bulk of our money so we don't have to pay taxes on it, and who aren't poor enough to benefit from government and private aid. No one wants to help the middle class; we're the ones helping everyone else.

Anyway, that mini-rant over, I've read some interesting books lately that relate to this topic in one way or another.

In his book In Praise of Slowness, Canadian journalist Carl Honoré examines how fast-paced our world has become and what we've lost in the process: health, happiness, connectedness, contentment. For example, did you know that the average American spends seventy-two minutes of every day behind the wheel of a car? That Americans spend forty percent less time with their children than they did in the 1960s? But Honoré doesn't just present a gloomy picture, he goes on to discuss the solution: the worldwide "slow" movement. Depressing, fascinating, and ultimately encouraging, I highly recommend it.

I've also recently read Fast Food Nation, Don't Eat This Book, and Chew On This, which all examine the fast food industry and what it's done -- and is still doing -- to our health, from our expanding waistlines and heart problems to toxic conditions at the feedlots and "farms" where their meat comes from, and to our economy. There's nothing natural or healthy involved, from the food processing to the finished products to the franchise management to the manipulation of the consumers, particularly children.

It's chilling to realize that other countries are rioting and refusing to let these big companies get away with all of their questionable practices while Americans just keep shoveling it in. And while these companies are responding to pressures overseas, they don't necessarily make the same changes here. Because it would cost too much.

Never mind that they've already made more money than anyone should be allowed to who isn't giving more back. Besides heart attacks, diabetes, animal cruelty, and e. coli, that is.

You could try writing your congressman (or –woman) but odds are they won’t be able (or won’t want) to take on these companies’ powerful lobbies. They keep a lot of politicians in their pockets. It seems to me the big companies have got it all backwards: if they put that money toward cleaning up their practices and producing clean, healthy, tasty food, they wouldn’t need to pay the politicians to cover for them. Right?

I’m just happy there are people out there getting fed up with this stuff (lame pun not intended) and letting us know and really doing something about it. My little contribution for now is just passing it along. But I’m going to keep trying to do more.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Skidboot the Dog

Wow. What a great dog.

(Warning -- this is a bit of a tearjerker.)

Friday, October 06, 2006

Poor Sass

Well, we ended up having to take Sass to an emergency vet clinic a few weeks ago when she was so sick. We drove about an hour and a half to get there and of course she seemed better once we arrived. But they ran tests and diagnosed pancreatitis. Which is potentially fatal. So he gave us some medicine, injected some water under her skin to hydrate her, and told us to feed her prescription food. And then we drove back, getting home around 2:30 a.m. We were all exhausted. Molly was thrilled that we were home.

Sass can't have any more people food, since that's apparently what made her sick, so we've been giving her the prescription food. She is NOT HAPPY. She eats her food now only when she's finally so hungry that she can't stand it. And she can go a while with no food, believe me.

I can't really blame her; here's what it looks like:















Poor Molly has to eat it, too. Otherwise Sass just goes over and eats her food. So they're both on a diet. They've lost weight, especially Molly, and they seem to feel much better. So it's worth it.

I can't believe we did this to her; we feel incredibly guilty. It was breaking my heart when she looked so forlorn and I didn't know what to do to help her. And that was before I knew we had done this to her! Now she doesn't get any people food at all, so she watches us with sad eyes while we're eating. It's hard because we can't explain to her why she can't have table scraps anymore, but there's nothing we can do about it. We're just thankful that she's feeling better.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Small Town Life, Too

Another example of what I love about small towns:

If a man's home can't be his castle, then why not his parking spot? If your car is feeling neglected, maybe you should redecorate its personal space.

Call Percy, the Pasha of Parking Place Pulchritude:












You may not be able to tell how much he's added from the first picture to the second and third, but believe me, it's quite a bit. Oh, that persnickety Percy, always perfecting...