I’m just at a loss.

Posted on December 3, 2015 by A Dreamer

So many terrible things have happened in the past year, and nothing has changed, and I just feel like nothing will.

Gun control will not happen, even if San Bernardino is closed out as international terrorism.  Because we can’t deny “responsible, law-abiding gun owners” their 2nd amendment rights – if we do, then the terrorists win.  #Freedom.  (But the NRA has done one helluva job funding the “thoughts & prayers” campaign.)

The anti-Muslim rhetoric will continue to flow freely, and the Muslim community will continue to be at risk for violence for no other reason than sheer bigotry.

All lives will matter, as long as they’re white.

I don’t have enough money or influence to change a damn thing.  I have a vote – and I employ it even damn election, but it sure as hell doesn’t feel like it does any good.

I’m just tired of it all.  We don’t have to love each other.  Hell, we don’t even have to particularly like each other.  But good god, we should at least be able to leave each other in peace.

Posted in Media, News, Politics | Leave a comment

An Open Letter to the Littering Assholes…

Posted on April 19, 2015 by A Dreamer

On my way home this evening, I drove my car down the somewhat hilly road that is the last “main” road before my neighborhood.  It’s a two lane road in a rather sleepy suburban area – but well traveled enough that it is a Snow Emergency Route during the winter.

I still drive carefully on it because of the blind hills and the (relative) abundance of suburban wildlife that have popped out from either side of the street – chipmunks, squirrels, opossums, cats, foxes and deer have all crossed my path at one time or another on that particular stretch of road.

So, tonight when I crested one of the blind hills and just saw a brown, large-cat-to-small-fox sized *something* in the middle of the road – I hit the brakes.  Once I got close enought to see that it was a fast-food bag that had been chucked out a car window – I was livid.

I pulled over and walked back to get that crap out of the middle of the road, because I knew I was not the only one that would stomp on the brakes, and that it could easily cause an accident.  And I was right – while there was no accident because the lateness of the hour and cars spread far enough apart – as I walked back the short bit down the road to retrieve your bag of crap, I witnessed not one, but two cars slam on their brakes upon cresting the hill and seeing “something brown that could certainly be an animal.”

Honestly, I don’t care if your family is hard core vegan and you can’t be seen with fast food bag – just do what others do and chuck it into the backseat of your car and pop it in the trashcan when you get home.  Don’t chuck it into the middle of the street – it’s not just littering, it’s a fucking hazard to other drivers. 

Posted in Miscellany | Tagged | 2 Comments

Little Hunters…

Posted on February 17, 2015 by A Dreamer

If you are squeamish about cats doing what they do, or small woodland creatures inside suburban homes, go ahead and close the tab – I won’t mind.

(Carmen) San Diego, July 2009

(Carmen) San Diego, September 2009

This was Carmen (or San Diego as she was known) when she was just a few weeks old at intake at the Fairfax County Animal Shelter.  And yes – look at those ears.  As I told them, “big ears, good mouser!”

But that photo was when she was so little. When she came home, the ears were still pretty impressive.

Carmen, September 2009

Carmen, September 2009

But she grew into her ears and turned into a beautiful cat.

Carmen, January 2014

Carmen, January 2014

But “big ears, good mouser” has held – and she is impressive.  In the winter, we get the occasional mouse in the house – when it’s 15º outside and definitely not 15º inside, it’s not really surprising that a mouse may seek a warmer spot.  Carmen takes care of this problem with ruthless efficiency.

Day before yesterday (a 15º day) – a mouse got in.  Carmen was on it.  Unfortunately, Lily was assisting.  The mouse got away.  I didn’t worry about it, because I figured if the mouse wasn’t smart enough to leave the house altogether, Carmen would get it.  Carmen was just as determined.

All day yesterday, Carmen was in the basement – looking, waiting, hunting.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen her in “hunter” mode for that long and let me tell you – it’s fascinating.  Anyone with cats knows the swishy tail and dilated pupils.  Zero purring.  An attitude of, “Go away woman, I AM WORKING HERE!!”  It even felt like her body temp went up – she was just in this “on alert” mode that totally took over.

She had no luck, and finally came upstairs and slept hard all night.  To be on high alert for so long was exhausting.

This morning – mission accomplished.  What impresses me about her hunting is that once she’s got the critter – it’s done in  a flash.  No fuss, no muss, no critter bits strewn about the house.  I heard her in the entry hall and went to see and she had carefully placed it where she knew I would find it.  I praised her like crazy, gave her some treats, and then watched the transformation back to relatively relaxed cat.  All her body language changed, she was purring, relaxed, and pretty damn pleased with herself.

2015-02-17 20.28.36-1

Yeah, I got the mouse.

It’s just amazing to watch her wild instincts take over.  Then we have Lily.  This is her shelter intake picture when she was known as Sylvia, and I’m not sure you can really tell how big her feet were – but they were huge.

Sylvia

(Lily) Sylvia, July 2009

I joked that she was actually a German Shepard puppy.  Now, like Carmen grew into her ears, Lily grew into her feet.

However, Lily just doesn’t have the wild instincts that Carmen has.  At all.

Carmen has tried to teach her.  I once witnessed Carmen get a mouse, call for her sister (with a mouth full of mouse) and then once Lily arrived, Carmen dropped it in front of her as if to say, “OK, here it is – go for it.”  Lily then proceeded to repeatedly bonk the mouse on the head to make it squeak.  (I’m not kidding.)

A successful hunt!

A successful hunt!

During the chase day before yesterday, Lily actually got the mouse.  She was very excited and went prancing down the hallway like a puppy with a toy.  Then promptly dropped it for Carmen to show, “I GOT IT!” – not really thinking about the fact that once dropped, it was no longer “gotten”…

After Carmen’s success this morning, Lily decided she would show me that yes, she could chase and catch dammit!  I caught her spinning in circles in the kitchen, chasing her tail.  She caught it.  And got a claw caught and I had to rescue her.

Well, they can’t all be mighty hunters, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Posted in Carmen, Lily, Pets | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Happy Snow Day!

Posted on February 17, 2015 by A Dreamer
2015-02-16 21.52.44

It was a very dry snow…

And Happy Fat Tuesday as well!  (I didn’t realize this until this morning when I started seeing Carnival pictures all over the place – I thought it was later this year.)  So, go have a pancake.

We got around 5″ of snow, which if you live in Boston is nothing.  Here, it can screw things up really, really fast.  Gotta give props to VDOT – according to the plowing website (which is really cool) our neighborhood is still “in progress” – but our street looks damn good to me.  We had trucks coming by all night long.

It was also a really dry, light, powdery snow – so much easier to shovel.  My brother & I took turns last night trying to keep ahead of it as much as we could, and this morning I heard him out there at 7:30 finishing it off.  (It’s not often we’re the first to have our walks done when it snows – I’m sure our neighbors are confused.)  Yes, we have a very kind neighbor with a snowblower – but I would like to reserve his kindness for when we get cardiac arrest snow.  :)

I’ll be honest, I really don’t know how the people in Boston are managing it this winter.  Just looking at the pictures makes me want to move south.

The upside to the snow?  It’s a beautifully sunny day today, and with the reflection of the snow, there is more natural light in the house than there is on an average day in July.  I can handle that.

Stay warm and dry.

 

Posted in Weather | Tagged , | 2 Comments

$500 Million

Posted on February 11, 2015 by A Dreamer

Yes, the Power Ball lottery has gotten ridiculously high again.  I can’t help but sit and think about how much fun it would be to have that kind of money and give it away.

You could help so many people in so many ways, big and small.

Animal shelter gets everything on its Amazon wish list.
Library needs books?  Done.
Playground needs repair?  Done.
Know someone with a car about to kick the bucket?  New one waiting at the dealership.
Someone gets laid off?  Check from a mystery foundation arrives in the mail.

Scholarships.  Cash grants.  Secret Santas.  Paid off layaways.  Day care paid for a year.  Old medical bills disappear.

It would be fantastic.

Posted in Miscellany | Tagged | 1 Comment

Chapel Hill

Posted on February 11, 2015 by A Dreamer

My heart is just broken for the friends and family of Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha, and Razan Abu-Salha.  I hope they can find justice and peace.

So much beautiful potential, just gone.

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Right now we’re talking so much about KIDS vaccinations…

Posted on February 6, 2015 by A Dreamer

Which is good – and I am 120% on the “please for the love of god, VACCINATE YOUR CHILDREN” side of the argument.

But, what about us (supposed) grown ups?  OK, let’s just put that at anyone over the age range of 18-22. (AKA, old enough that your Mom can’t drag you kicking and screaming to the GP anymore.)

Are YOU vaccinated?  Or vaccinated enough?

If you have NO MMR vaccination on your shot card, please go see your GP!

If you only have one MMR entry on your shot card – go talk to your GP about either getting a titer test or an additional booster.

Adults are part of herd immunity for those who ***cannot*** be vaccinated.  We’re talking itty-bitty babies and immunocompromised children.  Are you really OK with being a vector for those little ones?

Herd Immunity means, “I will protect those around me who cannot protect themselves.”

And it also means “I will protect those around me whose parents have decided to not protect them by proper vaccinations.” – even as much as we don’t want to enable that type of behavior.  But those kids also can’t say, “I don’t want to fucking get the damn measles.”

So, check your shot card, call your Mom, talk to your GP.  Don’t be a vector for measles – it’s not some benign rite of childhood – it can result in blindness, deafness and death.

We can put this back in the “eradicated” column.

For the record, I went looking for my own shot card, which I have lost and found multiple times in the last 5 years.  Then I remembered that my uni had a specific set of immunization requirements – even for grad students – to the point where my registration was on hold one semester because I hadn’t gotten my tetanus booster.  I looked it up – and they required 2 MMR doses. 

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Please: Do not be a racist, xenophobic asshole in my bar.

Posted on February 5, 2015 by A Dreamer

Before I start, if anyone would like to give me 1-3 years of living expenses so I can fully research, explore & document tavern & bar culture in the US, please click the link right below “Need To Email Me?” in the upper right hand corner of your screen.

So, tonight I was up at my local watering hole not too long before last call.*  It was freakishly busy for a late Wednesday night (seriously, what sporting event did I overlook?) and so I was standing for a bit while chatting with a friend.  Then the chair next to me opened up – and I asked the woman in the salmon shirt – “Are you leaving, because if not, I don’t want to take your seat.”  Oh no, no problem – the seat next to hers was open, so everyone had a place to sit.  And the next time I looked, she was gone – or so I thought.

A bit later, I saw her standing around one of the 4-tops – and heard her say, “No, no – show me your drivers license!”  And I thought she was joking around and it was a, “There is no way you’re 35 years old” thing or something like that.

Then I saw her running to the bartender WAVING AROUND HIS ID saying it was an “illegal ID!” (still thought she was joking) and that he was a Chinese spy. (What The EverLoving Fuck?)  Bartender took the ID away, gave it to its rightful owner, told her to leave the other bar guest alone, and better yet… JUST LEAVE.  The manager re-iterated this position.

At which point she loudly proclaimed that she would be calling the police about the Chinese spy at the bar.  Yay, because that is exactly what the manager needs, to explain that the reason the very drunk woman was asked to leave the bar is because she was accusing an Asian guest of being a Chinese agent.

I can’t remember the last time I was so fucking embarrassed – and I don’t even know this woman.  Sure, we all have those moments when someone we know gets too drunk, maybe gets sick, says something kinda stupid.  But talk about “Never Have I Ever” – seen someone accusing someone of being a Chinese spy is a first.  And know her or not, as a regular customer, and an American who actually gets Lady Liberty’s message, and a fucking human being – I was mortified.

Not just for her (and not really for her very much,) but for the fact that I didn’t figure out her terrible fucked up endgame sooner – on the off-chance I could have somehow prevented it.

Honestly – if you see spies in every person that isn’t a WASP, please don’t come to my bar, ever.  My fellow guests are from anywhere and everywhere and while it’s certainly within the realm of ridiculous possibility that someone might be a spy for someone else – at this time of night – they’re just there to have a beer and unwind from the day.  DON’T STEAL THEIR ID’S AND ACCUSE THEM OF BEING SPIES!

In the end, she didn’t call the cops (on herself) but went down to the market at the same shopping center, and they called the cops for her.  The “Chinese spy” is still on the loose in NoVa.

If I see him again, I’ll buy him a beer.

Seriously, don’t be THAT asshole.  And I’d never thought before tonight that “accusing someone of being a Chinese spy” would be part of the definition  “THAT asshole” – but there you go.

Don’t be THAT asshole.

*I am what I would call a “late night regular” – should you wander into the bar right before last call, yeah, I will probably be there.  But I haven’t been there since happy hour started at 5PM, I’ve probably been there a half hour at the most.  My “happy hour” is no longer than anyone else’s, it is just shifted by about 6 hours.

Posted in Miscellany, Racism, Xenophobia | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Must…Dissect…Big…Game…

Posted on February 2, 2015 by A Dreamer

Yeah, I did have the game on, and it wasn’t until the last 5 minutes that I realized that damn, I wanted the Seahawks to win.  That being said, the only explanation for that terrible play call at the end is that he decided that giving the ball to Lynch would be too obvious.

But that’s not important – but what is…

Budweiser Puppy & Clydes – He’s lost! *sobs* In the rain! *sobs* He found his way home!! *sobs* OH NO! *sobs* GO GET YOUR FRIEND! *sobs and hugs animals who think I’ve lost my mind*
Chevy – I hate you for making me think my cable had gone out
Loctite – I don’t even know.
Nationwide – Invisible Mindy was very funny.  Dead kid, not so much.  I am sure there are tons of creative minds that could have done a really good and funny household safety PSA.
#LikeAGirl – Can we actually say what it should be?  #StopBeingAssholesToWomen
No More – About damn time.
Katy Perry – Looked far less ridiculous than I expected – and I guessed her hair color properly.  And you have to admit the lion puppet was cool.  (It was supposed to be a lion, right?  Even though she says tiger repeatedly in the song?)
Lenny Kravitz – Good, but needed more of him.
Missy Elliott – SHE HAS STILL GOT IT.  Should have just been her, Katy looked weird just bouncing around next to her.

But really, the sharks stole the show.

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It’s Superb Owl Day!

Posted on February 1, 2015 by A Dreamer

And honestly, I’m more invested in the Puppy Bowl than the Big Game.

It’s not that I’m anti-Big Game – I just don’t really care about either team, which makes it hard to get excited for the game.

I’ve enjoyed the run-up to it more, since the stadium is right next to the hotel I always stay at in Glendale, so I keep going, “I know exactly where they’re doing that interview!”  And the rain the other day proved what I have been telling people for years – it does rain in Arizona.

(Besides, I’ve already seen the Budweiser Puppy & Clydesdales ad.)

Enjoy the game, and don’t bet your life savings on what color Katy Perry’s hair will be.

Posted in Sports | Tagged , | 3 Comments