Pawprints From Space

Another year is drawing to a close. We are being bombarded with lists of 'the best of', 'the worst of' and so on as folks look back on 2008. Well, I am not going to give you a list ranking my choices for even the 'most annoying' although if I did Caribou Barbie would top that one. Nope, I'm just going to look back. All in all it wasn't a bad year, it wasn't a great year so I can't quote Dickens with a 'best of times, worst of times' perspective. Yet it wasn't quite ordinary either. For that I can blame presidential politics. Oh yeah and that dating thing that only last two months. But that one is another rant for another day. To rant on it now would only make me want to punch something. And since I plan on enjoying what is left of my 4-day holiday weekend without scuffed or broken knuckles there will be no ranting (thus no punching) on that topic. Health-wise it was a decent year for me although early December was not so good for my ...

According to recent media reports, which may of course be blowing things WAY out of proportion, various liberal groups are all upset over President-Elect Barack Obama's choice to give the invocation at his inaguration next month. Perhaps they missed the part about bridging our differences, about reaching out to those with whom we may not agree but without whom we can not turn this nation around. Maybe they haven't been watching a cabinet being built not out of best buddies and those to whom you owe favors but rather the crafting of a Team of Rivals (to use the over-worked phrase) complete with members from both sides of the partisan aisle. Okay so the Reverand in question is conservative and anti-gay. He is a fundamentalist who apparently thinks his way is the only fundamentally right opinion. Face it folks, there are LOTS of people like that out there and this man is not as "crazy" as some of them. I don't agree with him but I'm not going to get all pissed of...

Last night the local art gallery held a fundraiser "Jazz at the Greenhouse". A very good jazz band from the Cincinnati area played at the event which was actually held in a local garden center's greenhouse. It was very nice. The book club gang was there (most of them anyway) and an interesting observation was made, as interesting observations often are when these women get together. Those in attendance were there to support the arts and ArtSpace (the organization/gallery). Those in attendance were Democrats. There were many theories as to why this might be. Everything from the silly: "Republicans don't come out of their caves if it is colder than 20 degrees" and "We only have the cheap wine at the bar" to the partisan: "They couldn't write off the ticket price as a tax deduction" and "They don't support the common good (in this case the arts) the way Democrats do, Republicans don't care". Whatever the reason it was a...

If you are solitary, whether by choice or not, this time of year is difficult. If by choice you are annoyed by all the social pressure for couple-ness from the ads for jewelry and the invitations to parties wherein you are the fifth or nineth wheel to children seemingly everywhere. It becomes irritating. If by circumstance not of your own making (such as widowhood) you just want to curl up a cry. Lately I've been on the crying end of the spectrum. You see, for two short months I was happy. Blissfully so in what was developing into a nice and fun relationship until the male in question scared himself somehow and ran for the emotional hills as fast as his frat-boy legs could carry him. If I had been pushy I would understand. But I let him set the pace, and it was he not I who wanted to go away for the weekend. So we did. Had a fabulous time. He got back, freaked out and did the "it's not you, it's me" dance right on out the door. Now after 13 years of solitude I had...

We hear every day about women of a certain age dealing with hot flashes. They even have all sorts of cute names for this annoyance: power surges, personal summer, the list goes on and on. But, there is also a biological response called cold flashes. Some women get cold chills that do not follow the hot flash, it is just cold. Methinks I've got those. I am entering the point where hot flashes typically start (actually I hit that a couple of years ago) but as of yet nothing. However, in the last few months I find myself getting horribly cold for no apparent reason. It can be 75 degrees and I am freezing and nothing I do will warm me up - hot shower, hot tea, bundling up...nothing, instead I am shivering, with ice cold hands, the whole nine yards. It would make sense. I have blood pressure that runs low, I have a body temperature that runs below "normal" and for most of my life I have been cold when other people aren't. I'm not rail thin so it can't be put down t...

Where did the last month and a half go? Obama won the election and most people I know have been giddy ever since. I confess to a few weeks of stupid grins myself. The "Big 3" want money but are aghast that they, like any other business seeking a loan from a bank, would actually have to cough up a business plan to go along with said loan request. Gee, did they expect that all they had to do was show up in their expensive corporate jets and say "gimme"? Apparently. The Prez-Elect has been holding press conferences to show off his new advisers and whatnot, we are supposed to be confident that he and his team will be able to hit the ground running in January. Actually, I think all this is doing is giving Mr. Lame Duck Prez the opportunity to hide until January 20th when he can sneak out of town when no one's looking. Heck, no one's looking now... shoo! Had a personal life for about 5 minutes. Okay two months but it might as well have been five minutes. That pret...

Well I watched the debate last night between Senator Verbose and Caribou Barbie. They both did rather well all things considered and the drinking game was a complete bust. sigh! The interesting thing is the analysis that has followed. NPR did their fact checking and according to them Caribou Barbie was all spin and not on target with her claims about her own and McCain's record whereas Senator Verbose only exaggerated slightly here and there. Meanwhile Fox News has exactly the opposite opinion. Articles in the New Times agree with NPR and go on to say that 90% of Caribou Barbie's replies did not actually answer questions but merely gave out "talking points" with no substance, further "proving" that she is not ready to be VP let alone President should anything awful happen to McCain. And so it goes. Five weeks from the election and it is still anybody's guess as to what will/might happen. My score? Caribou Barbie got a B (mostly for effort and stage prese...

Oh this ought to be good. Amusing at least. Not that the VP candidates have EVER made a significant impact on the outcome of the election but what the heck... it is an election season (? is nearly 2 years a "season" ?) of historic firsts... The book club ladies had a cute idea. Let's have a drinking game as we watch the debate... every time Gov. Palin shakes her index finger/points in her attempt to make a point - take a drink. Every time Sen. Biden goes over his time limit in his attempt to answer the quesion - take a drink. We should all be good and drunk in about 15 minutes. This will be interesting given that the interviews Gov. Palin has given lately have not been very good. I give her points for at least looking as though she is trying but really... someone who has worked in television, made public appearaces as Miss Alaska, been on City Council, been Mayor and now Governor should be able to cope with the press. So far, she hasn't shown that she can. And Biden h...

Okay, I have been trying to get to my blog for over a week STUPID security program won't let me because STUPID web site's certificate isn't up to date. Or so I'm told. I question this because all of a sudden every web site I visit that requires a log in is supposedly having problems with their certificates. every. single. one. Coincidence? I think not. I have been wondering when did cute freckles become STUPID age spots? They look the same, they form the same way. But for some reason after age 30 they aren't freckles any more according to "them", the little brown specs are now STUPID age spots. I think not. Especially since they are the same spots that have been on my face since I was a child. New ones, maybe... old ones, not so much. Another case of STUPID society making women over 30 feel bad about themselves. I order quite a bit of plant material for my garden online. Normally there is no problem. STUPID company this time took my order in late June, cha...

Okay so there's this huge storm almost as big as Texas, heading for Texas and even though warned of "certain death" somewhere around 90,000 people decide to ride it out. Knowing that the emergency teams are not going to be able to get to them once the storm hits until after it is over. How dumb can you be? Even though the cost per barrel of crude continues to drop gas prices suddenly jump up by a minimum of 30 cents in fear of refinery shut downs due to Ike. Uh-huh and isn't it supposed to be that we don't feel the fluctuations at the pump for four to six months because it is a futures market? Supposed to and what is are apparently two different things. The economists etc say one thing (won't feel it right away) while the oil companies and the gas stations come right out and say nope, we're boosting prices in anticipation of problems. Which is the truth? Off-shore drilling, setting the environmental issues I have with that aside, is in trouble every time a...

Okay it is stupid to vote for someone "just because". Just because you are female and the candidate is female; just because you are Latino and that candidate is Latino; just because you are black and the candidate is black just because... well, you get my drift. So into the silliness and excitement of the out-of-touch vs. the "celebrity" comes Caribou Barbie. And people are ga-ga. Men 'cuz she's pretty and knows how to use a gun effectively (probably won't make you clean the fish either, she'll do it) and women because she's... a girl. Or at least that's the idea. We'll vote for her because she's a woman. We women like that you know, never mind the issues she's a girl... count us in. Oh. Come. On. She's been a beauty pageant princess, a sportscaster, a very small community mayor (one resident claims the city administrator actually did all the work), and briefly governor of a state with a relatively small population given its l...

Just finished reading a book. Good book. An excellent piece of literary journalism in fact. But now I am annoyed. The book was published in 1997. I want to know what happened to the child the book focuses on. Is she still alive? Is she still being cared for by her family? Did they have to hand her or to a care facility? Web searches thus far have only turned up info on the book, its author, various articles addressing the same topic including terms papers. The book is: The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down (A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors and the Collision of Two Cultures) by Anne Fadiman It is as I've said, an excellent book. Unfortunately it leaves you wanting to know the rest of the story. Wanting to learn more about the Hmong culture. You share so much of this family's pain and confusion that you want to follow-up on their lives. So it is frustrating but it also a testament to the author and the quality of the work.

Well yesterday the Governor came to open the Obama campaign's new Allen County office. An estimated 200 people showed up - so many that they had to move the speech making outside. Pretty impressive for a Republican stronghold. But that is the interesting thing. This county is staunchly Republican, has been since the mid-1930s. This is not a bad thing although it is a curious one. I often find it interesting when voting trends hang on for such a long period of time, but that's just me. Anyway, at the Obama rally in the spring there were easily 300 people, when the primary office opened it was flooded with people... now this turn out. Seems as though the Democrats are finally coming out of the woodwork. I lived here FOR EARS before I knew there was a Democratic Party Chairperson for this county. Heck, the Republicans even have an office that is staffed all year every year. The Democrats don't even have a consistent mailing address. Or if they do, I can't find it anywhere....

Not forever, but how about going technology free for one day? How about Sunday? I'm going to try it. I'll probably have to "ease" into it and decide what the heck I mean by "technology" before I'll have any success. Already I do not answer the phone after 8:00 p.m. on Sundays so I shouldn't have any trouble extending that to the whole day. I do have caller ID so if it's "important" I can pick up but the thing is when I stop answering at 8:00 I cut out the "what if it is important panic" caused by a ringing phone by simply turning off the ringer. Which of course means that caller ID will be worthless if I can't hear the thing ring. Hmmm... I have started to leave the computer alone but that's mostly because it is too nice outside and I just haven't gotten around to installing the wireless card so I can surf and chat outside instead of at the desk with the laptop. Okay so that I can do: no blogs, no email on Sunday. ...

Oh come on! The folks out there are saying that we need to stop "picking on" Senator Clinton over not admitting that she lost her bid for the nomination and give her more time to wind things down. That she needs a few days to "get her bearings" before we can expect her to concede to Senator Obama. Uh-huh. Poor dear might burst into tears or something eh? Please. If this Senator from New York were male no one would be saying that he needed a few days. They would be rightly annoyed that in the speech last night there was no concession. No acknowledgement that the good fight had been fought but the better candidate won. Nope. If a male candidate needed to get his "bearings" it would cast all sorts of aspersions on his manhood. You can not have it both ways people. You can't claim sexism when folks expect the candidate to act like a candidate and not a "girl" and then want a free pass to act like a girl once she has lost. You don't want sexis...

Just can't take it any more. Have to say something. A very simple something in regards to the Rev. Wright and all the attention and speculation thereunto: Enough Already! Clearly the man is really "out there". I mean come on, the US government developed AIDS (or at least has used it) as some sort of weapon against the black community? That negative remarks about the things he's had to say are not attacks on him personally but on the black church? He does realize that there is more than one denomination that makes up the so-called black church and it isn't all the sort of preaching he subscribes to... oh wait, maybe not. Anyone with half a brain is going to see the man is those Monty Python boys would say "a loony". Given that, and the denouncement from Obama over these shenanigans of late it is well passed time to stop giving this man the attention he apparently craves. To whit: stop talking about him. Stop making him and his comments an issue in the Pre...

I have been reading Benazir Bhutto's last book: Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West It is a thought provoking text made all the more poignant by her assassination. I do think however that her experiences are a bit off the normal track considering who her father was but... it is interesting to gain perspective on Islam from a person of that faith and a woman at that. Anyone who adores history as I do and particularly ancient history knows what a great civilization flurished in the Islamic world at one time. How it continued to flurish when Europe was lost in its Dark Ages. So it is a real tragedy that we now look on an Islamic world caught up in so much internal fighting (think Sunni v. Shia), tangled up in extremist rhetoric and so on. What was once great has been destroyed and the destruction began long ago. The book points to Western colonialism as the cause of the troubles of today's Islamic world. And while there is a lot of merit to that (I could go on forever ab...

So, where does time go? Is it a commodity? We can spend it and waste it as if it were currency. We can put it into something, we can take it to do something. We can watch it or ignore it. On its own it can fly or crawl. Does that mean it is a living thing? Time is an interesting concept. Man made so they tell us and yet we are slaves to our creation. How many clocks are in your home? Your office? How many watches do you own? How many electronic devices also include timekeeping of some sort? And that's another thing "time keeping" we've created devices that "keep" time. Some do it well and down to the last nanosecond, some not so well (sundials for example aren't too precise). Why do we pay so much attention to time? Why is is so important? Why are we so worried about running out of it? i know I am feeling a bit of pressure at this point in my life. Not because I am afraid to die eventually but that I have SO much I want to be able to do first, so much to...

So today I was supposed to drive an hour-ish to go to the Relay For Life Winter Training. This is usually a fun event where volunteers from all over this part of the state get together and share ideas, attend meetings etc. It is kind of like a convention. Not going. Apparently there was an ice storm in the city where they are having this thing last night and since I no longer have a 4-wheel drive vehicle I am not risking it. Now I know what you're thinking, and you're right. 4-wheel drive is not helpful on ice. But it is helpful when you slide off into the ditch in getting you back out of said ditch. My little bitty Honda can not do that. Plus is it white so if there is a snow storm in the midst of all this no one would even be able to see me in the ditch until spring! But seriously, the American Cancer Society is not going to cancel this thing. The people putting it on went down there yesterday and stayed overnight. They don't have to travel. And who the heck cares about t...

Well I suppose I should tear myself away from that exciting new reality show currently airing on several networks at once: the 2008 Presidential Race. I admit it, I'm addicted. Not that I have been voting in Presidential elections for eons but seriously when is the last time it was this much - dare I say it? - fun? Here we are with Super Tuesday behind us and we still have a race, nay a dogfight, ahead on the Democratic side and the Huckster isn't bowing out yet on the Republican side. Heck, we could go all the way to the convention for a change and actually have it be a convention and not (sorry to borrow your phrase Huck but it is appropo) a corronation. Not that I want decisions to be made in the back room by the so-called super delegates and the party officials but wouldn't it be cool to be a delegate and actually have passionate discussions with other delegates? Damn! I wanna be a delegate!! This would be fun!!! Okay I work for people who are so Republican they ooze re...

Okay. I watched the debate wherein "the boys" presumably "ganged up on" poor little Hillary. Not the way I saw it go down at all. Ms. Clinton and her hubby had been bashing Mr. Obama for some time prior to and to a lessor degree during the debate. Mr. Edwards simply came to Mr. Obama's defense. How is defending someone suddenly "ganging up on" the original offender? Once again, thanks to the media spin (and I'm not anti-media I used to work in the media) has made this exchange all about something it wasn't. The "boys" weren't ganging up on the "girl" to "pick on her" or some other lame schoolyard comparison. Ms. Clinton's camp had been out of line and she got called on it. End of story. But now the media is telling anyone who will listen (i.e. women voters) that the "boys" don't want a "girl" in their clubhouse so they are "picking on her". The reasoning being that if women...

Happy New Year (for those who don't speak Japanese and I only barely do)! My resolution? To blog more often. Today's rant: Home Depot and the Ceiling Fan Two years ago I bought a ceiling fan with light kit for the kitchen. It was a Hampton Bay which I have since learned is a company that Home Depot owns. Well just after Christmas the glass shade fell to the floor and shattered. So we'll just get a new one right? Wrong! The store doesn't carry them, the Hampton Bay AND Home Depot web sites do not have them. No lighting store in town has them. Lowe's and Menard's do not have shades that size (of course it is an odd size). Customer service at Home Depot took weeks to reply, asked for the UPC etc. which I gave them and then referred me to someone else. Found a shade online from another company but it has been two weeks now and nothing. Called. It is on backorder with no expected date of delivery posted. I am not buying a new fan - it as too much trouble to get this ...