The Oscars and Gitmo

I just saw this now, and, it being something from the left coast, shouldn't surprise me, but it did.

The hot fashion accessory [at Sunday's Oscar ceremony] was apparently orange ribbons and bracelets in solidarity with terrorist suspects in Guantanamo:

Out on the red carpet, Paul Haggis (the director whose "Crash" won Best Picture in 2006) said he didn't know what accounts for all these deeply dark, brooding, troubled films. But isn't it obvious, he asked, flashing an orange ribbon on his lapel. Orange, why orange? "It's Guantanamo," his Max Azria-clad wife, Deborah, said, showing off her orange bracelet, which read: "Silence + torture = complicity." Suddenly, we noticed -- orange ribbons and bracelets everywhere.

You'd have to guess there weren't too many "24″ fans in that gathering.**

If I had the opportunity to cruise the red carpet, this is what I would have worn in answer to his orange ribbon.

If someone had asked me, I would have told them that it meant

"Terrorists+Americans With Their Heads Up Their Asses+UN+Peace Talks = Dead Americans"
Atlas Shrugs has photographs.

**From Wizbang

(P.S. I really have this hat.)

Ride it Like You Stole It

Snork Snork.

(AP) A man led police on a very slow-speed chase, refusing to stop while riding a lawn mower at about 3 mph across a busy street and steering it toward an officer before he was grabbed and arrested, a police report says. Now, authorities say, the question is whether Stephen Ray Castor, 53, already under investigation in the breaking of a window of a man's house and the episode with the officer, can also be charged with drunken driving. State law is silent on whether riding mowers are covered by the law against driving under the influence. Castor remained in the Clark County Jail with bail set at $40,000 pending a court appearance Friday. Police said the chase began late Monday afternoon after Jason Taylor reported that Castor _ a stranger to him _ cursed at him, rode the mower through his fence gate and smashed a window with a lawn chair. Castor drove the mower across a boulevard and down a city street, the police report said. Officer Gregory J. Hibbard got out of his patrol car and told Castor to stop, then had to sidestep to avoid being hit, the report said. Shortly afterward, several officers pulled Castor off the mower and arrested him.

Puppy Training

Puppy Training begins next Wednesday, March 5th. I'm so excited, but rather nervous.

I'm also hoping the arrival of spring comes with the puppy. It's so cold out. 24 degrees right now.

More later. Must have caffeine.

Annie's in Kent Island and Less the Assbag

We had to go and pick up Richard's tool boxes at BWI today; I went along to drive and to keep him company. We don't get that much time together, so a few hours together any way we can get it is good...plus he tempted me with a "Maybe we can stop and have lunch at that place that you and Diane went to......

I was in the car in seconds.

They have the most wonderful Cream of Crab soup in the world. The restaurant itself reminds me of the old places I used to go with my parents and grandparents in Bay Shore. It's probably good that we don't live closer. It's not cheap. Steak prices are about at the Peter Luger's rate...but are probably worth it. I'm thinking it may be an anniversary place, with an overnight stay. Lots of little bars around it too, that would probably be a blast. Not sure about prices in the summer; we'll have to do a little investigating.

Maggie and Roger came over with Moose for a little while. Mookie was extremely happy. Moose is growing by the day.

Maggie is having trouble with Less at work. He's such a damn bitchy diva assbag. I'm thinking of going into Best Buy, and going up to him, and loudly saying "Hi Less. Sorry about your penis".

May need to have a drink first. But it would be fun.

How Maggie kept from spitting on him all day is amazing. She has such self-control.

But I have faith. Karma always gets the ones it needs to get.

Richard

There is no substitute for the comfort supplied by the utterly taken-for granted relationship. ~Iris Murdoch

I have the best husband in the world. I so take him for granted.

Desiree and Ruth

This will make you cry. Have a cup of coffee and watch.

Guiding Eyes for the Blind Puppy

Ok, well, so I haven't been keeping my new years resolution to write in this thing a few times a week. Sorry. The not swearing thing has been going better though :)

Well, tonight I went on my first super secret mission....let me tell you how this started. Last week, I was perusing the paper, and lo and behold, there was a small article looking for volunteer puppy raisers for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. I looked at Richard, he said "sure!" I thought about it really hard for about thirteen seconds and then was upstairs at the computer, firing away the email, filling out the application, fact-gathering on google.

Here's the deal: you have the puppy for 14 to 16 months, during which time you teach it to have wonderful house manners, and slowly expose it to different environments, different situations. At 14 to 16 months, the dog goes to Yorktown Heights, NY, where he undergoes further training. He's matched with a person needing a dog, or, if he's not suited, he can go into a career with ATF or Homeland Security.

Hard? I bet. Heartbreaking? Probably. But wow, what a great opportunity to be part of something so huge, so wonderful. You are helping to create something that will give another person freedom.

Max asked me "Mom, why do you always do things that are hard?" I told him because it builds character.

But I think that it's not only that.

I've been given second and third and fourth chances in this life. Screwed up monumentally many times, mostly by my own bad choices. I did have to work hard to get to where I am now. But I have had hands reaching for me to help pull me up in this life. I've had hands below me, giving me a boost when I needed one.

Paying it back...paying it forward.

Plus, it's a puppy. It's a puppy.

God willing, and I complete all the required pre-training classes (beginning in the beginning of March), we'll have a new member of the family here the first week of April.

I'm so excited, I feel like an expectant mother....or grandmother!

I know that everyone will think that this is a crazy thing to do. That's probably why I haven't told anybody yet.

But it's not crazy.

I'm sure that when this 14 months is over, and I'm getting ready to hand over this dog that I love, I'll think that everyone was right. I'm going to cry. A lot. I'll think that this was crazy and I don't want to give him up. But I will.

The thought of a dog that was part of us graduating to be a guide dog....wow. I can't wait to see how that feels.

Merrrrrrrry Merrrrrrrry

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My Sister's -in-Law

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Sheriff Joe Arpaio from Maricopa County

Remember Sheriff Joe? The man who put prisoners in pink, who made them sleep in tents, who made jail feel like jail?

He's once again my hero. This is something that I read about in the forums on a blog called VAJoe (www.vajoe.com) and it was posted by Hollis:

SHERIFF JOE IS AT IT AGAIN!
Update on Joe Arpaio
Oh, there's MUCH more to know about Sheriff Joe!

Maricopa County was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on stray animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the department over, and the County Supervisors said okay.
The animal shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They feed and care for the strays. Every animal in his care is taken out and walked twice daily. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal nutrition and behavior. They give great classes for anyone who'd like to adopt an animal. He has literally taken stray dogs off the street, given them to the care of prisoners, and had them place in dog shows.
The best part? His budget for the entire department is now under $3 million. Teresa and I adopted a Weimaraner from a Maricopa County shelter two years ago. He was neutered, and current on all shots, in great health, and even had a microchip inserted the day we got him. Cost us $78.
The prisoners get the benefit of about $0.28 an hour for working, but most would work for free, just to be out of their cells for the day. Most of his budget is for utilities, building maintenance, etc. He pays the prisoners out of the fees collected for adopted animals.
I have long wondered when the rest of the country would take a look at the way he runs the jail system, and copy some of his ideas. He has a huge farm, donated to the county years ago, where inmates can work, and they grow most of their own fresh vegetables and food, doing all the work and harvesting by hand. He has a pretty good sized hog farm, which provides meat, and fertilizer. It fertilizes the Christmas tree nursery, where prisoners work, and you can buy a living Christmas tree for $6 - $8 for the Holidays, and plant it later. We have six trees in our yard from the Prison.
Yup, he was reelected last year with 83% of the vote.
Now he's in trouble with the ACLU again. He painted all his buses and vehicles with a mural, that has a special hotline phone number painted on it, where you can call and report suspected illegal aliens. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement wasn't doing enough in his eyes, so he had 40 deputies trained specifically for enforcing immigration laws, started up his hotline, and bought 4 new buses just for hauling folks back to the border. He's kind of a "Git-R Dun" kind of Sheriff.
TO THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO
HE IS THE MARICOPA ARIZONA COUNTY SHERIFF
AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER
THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (In Arizona) who created the "Tent City Jail":
He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.
He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights Cut off all but "G" movies.
He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects.
Then He Started Chain Gangs For Women So He Wouldn't Get
Sued For Discrimination.
He took away cable TV Until he found out there was A Federal Court Order that Required Cable TV For Jails So He Hooked Up The Cable TV Again Only Let In The Disney Channel And The Weather Channel.
When asked why the weather channel He Replied, So They Will Know How Hot It's Gonna Be While They Are Working on My Chain Gangs.
He Cut Off Coffee Since It Has Zero Nutritional Value.
When the inmates complained, he told them, "This Isn't The Ritz/Carlton.....If You Don't Like It, Don't Come Back."
He bought Newt Gingrich's lecture series on videotape that he pipes into the jails.
When asked by a reporter if he had any lecture series by a Democrat, he replied that a democratic lecture series might explain why a lot of the inmates were in his jails in the first place.
More On The Arizona Sheriff:
With Temperatures Being Even Hotter Than Usual In Phoenix (116 Degrees Just Set A New Record), the Associated Press Reports:
About 2,000 Inmates Living In A Barbed-Wire-Surrounded Tent Encampment At The Maricopa County Jail Have Been Given Permission To Strip Down To Their Government-Issued Pink Boxer Shorts.
On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents, which reached 138 Degrees Inside The Week Before.
Many Were Also Swathed In Wet, Pink Towels As Sweat Collected On Their Chests And Dripped Down To Their PINK SOCKS.
"It Feels Like We Are In A Furnace," Said James Zanzot, An Inmate Who Has Lived In The tents for 1 year. "It's Inhumane."
Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy sheriff who created the tent city and long ago started making his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic. He said Wednesday that he told all of the inmates: "It's 120 Degrees In Iraq And Our Soldiers Are Living In Tents Too, And They Have To Wear Full Battle Gear, But They Didn't Commit Any Crimes, So Shut Your Damned Mouths!"
Way To Go, Sheriff!
Maybe if all prisons were like this one there would be a lot less crime and/or repeat offenders. Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for their parole, only to go out and commit another crime so they can get back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves.

I love the idea of the animals being taken care of by prisoners. With supervision, I think that having a relationship with an animal could make a difference in a prisoners life, plus they can use the experience they gain in the future.

Sheriff Joe is the real deal. We need more like him.

Whoopi Wants Sharpton to Apologize

Wow. I hate The View and anything and everything to do with it, but I just saw a video in which Whoopi Goldberg called for Al Sharpton to apologize to the falsely accused Duke lacrosse players.

While he's at it, how about apologizing to Steven Pagones. Remember him, Reverend Al?

Steven Pagones was an Assistant District Attorney in New York who was falsely accused in 1987 by Tawana Brawley and Al Sharpton of raping Brawley. An exhaustive grand jury investigation found that Pagones had nothing to do with any attack on Brawley. Evidence indicated that there had not even been any attack on Brawley and that she had fabricated the entire story.

On July 13, 1988, after an eight-month-long trial, a jury found that Sharpton, Alton H. Maddox and Lawyer C. Vernon Mason had defamed Pagones. On July 29, 1988, the jury awarded Pagones $345,000 in damages. Sharpton was found liable for $65,000 of the total damages, Maddox for $95,000 and Mason for $185,000. Sharpton still refused to apologize to Pagones, and had one of his friends pay the damage amount.

I hope that Whoopi doesn't hold her breath.

By the way, a classic example of why I hate the View...Joy Behar immediately felt the need to deflect Whoopi's message...talking about how she works out with Reverend BigAl at the gym.

Dogs or Cats?

Remember that commercial where the dog took the polaroid picture of the cat going into the garbage? The dog had been getting blamed while the cat had been doing the deed.

Dog Credited With Saving Family From House Fire That Fire Marshal Believes Was Started By Cat

GREENVILLE, Maine, Oct. 10, 2007

---

(AP) Thumper, a black Labrador retriever, is getting credit for saving a Greenville man when a fire swept through his home.

Roland Cote says his wife and their 7-year-old grandson were away when the blaze started early Sunday in a converted two-story garage. He says Thumper grabbed him by the arm to wake him, leaving just enough time for him to dial 911 before fleeing the fast-moving fire.

While the dog is the hero, a cat is the bad guy in this story.

Cote says the fire marshal investigator believes the blaze was started when Princess, the family cat, tipped over a kerosene lantern. Cote says he and his pets escaped safely, but he says Princess did get her tail singed by the flames.

Good dog.

Little Kim

I've written about Roxanne so much in the past few weeks; I've neglected to honor Little Kim, who died the same week as Roxanne was diagnosed. We knew we were on borrowed time with her, as hamsters don't last very long; we had her for well over two years, and enjoyed every minute. I've never bonded with a rodent before, but Little Kim had a great personality. She especially loved Richard. He used to bring her his snack from the Southwest Airlines flights. Roxanne used to send her flying across the room when she was in her exercise ball. All of our animals never fazed her...she would go nose to nose with both the dogs and cats; she was made for "Animal Party Tricks"!

While reading the internet news, I ran across this story and I was immediately reminded of Little Kim.

A young boy out on his bike was shocked to see a hamster whiz past him on the street in an exercise ball.

Six-year-old Alexander Wallis- Banbury managed to catch up with the racey rodent and took him home.

His father Peter, 43, said: 'He came home delighted, shouting “Dad, I've found a hamster!”. I thought he'd more likely found a bit of fluff in the road or a ball of wool. So you can imagine how shocked I was to see a real hamster in its exercise ball.'

The family have since tried to trace the hamster's owner by putting up posters around their home in Wooburn Green, Buckinghamshire.

But nobody has come forward and they now believe the animal could have come from the next village 5km (three miles) away.

In the meantime, the hamster, which has been named Lucy, is making itself at home. The family plan to keep the pet if nobody claims it.

A Very Mundane Post

I've recovered from last night's foul mood (anybody that had the pleasure of speaking to me got to experience it)...needed some food and some sleep. My level of frustration was awfully high; seems like whenever we try to do something that involves how this house was constructed, it never goes well. I'm finally getting to the first floor bathroom; it took a whole day to prep it, due to the fact that when they tiled the kitchen and bathroom floor, they didn't bother to remove the molding first. They cemented the tile to the molding about a quarter inch up from the bottom. It made a somewhat simple job very frustrating. Add to that the green sable, which is to be picked up today, has a locked rear wheel (Richard said it's probably the caliper). It was one of those days that you've seen in movies and tv, where you look upward and ask "Can't Anything Go Right Today?"

But then Richard called, the kids came home and we made spaghetti and watched a comedian on tv. The combination worked. Poor Richard called and had finally read my blog post about Roxanne, and was so sad. We still miss her so much. All of us still have our moments.

But hope springs eternal today! I'm going to sand, size the walls, and get going on this bathroom. I'm very excited! I'm putting wallpaper on the top, beadboard on the bottom, and adding a little crown molding. I wish we could swing a new sink (I'd love to do a pedistal sink, but they are so expensive) but I'm content with what we've got. I'm going to paint the beadboard and sink cabinet a beautiful moss green color. No rush though. This has taken seven years to get accomplished. Funny thing is that the wallpaper was the first thing that we bought after we moved into this house.

We don't like to rush things around here.

I'm off to start having a productive day!

More Doughnut Crime

Wow. It's a spree.

52 cent doughnut may cost man 30 years to life By Todd C. Frankel — ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 10/07/2007 FARMINGTON, MO. — Shoplifters at Country Mart tend to favor cold medicines and packaged meats. They used to steal cigarettes, too, until tobacco was moved behind the counter. But the doughnuts were never a target for thieves. Country Mart's doughnuts — fried fresh daily in the store — sell for just 52 cents each. That is why the "shoplifters will be prosecuted" signs are displayed in aisle 4 with the pricey pain and allergy pills, and not in aisle 5 beside the glass doughnut case with its tiger tails, jelly-filleds and eclairs. Then one man's sweet tooth got the better of him. He stole a doughnut. A single doughnut. Authorities called it strong-arm robbery. The "doughnut man," as the suspect is now known, faces five to 15 years in prison for his crime. And Farmington, a town of 14,000 people about 70 miles south of St. Louis, has been buzzing about it ever since. Scott A. Masters, 41, is accused of shoplifting the pastry and pushing a store worker who tried to stop him. The worker was unhurt. But with that shove, his shoplifting turned into a strong-arm robbery. In fact, because Masters has a prior record, he could get a sentence of 30 years to life. It was about 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 6. The store was in a lull. Gibbs, who could see the doughnut case from her station, said she saw Masters slip the doughnut into the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt. They watched Masters as he strolled past the seven green checkout lanes and out a side door between the customer service desk and the pharmacy, passing under a giant "Country Mart Thanks You" sign. Gibbs' co-worker followed Masters into the parking lot. The co-worker, a 54-year-old woman, demanded that Masters come inside, according to the police report. He offered to give the doughnut back. She declined and grabbed his arm. That is when Masters allegedly delivered "a backhanded punch to the chest" and took off running, police said. The woman, who was uninjured, jumped in her car and called police as she chased Masters. He was arrested minutes later. Farmington Police Chief Rick Baker said the two incidents taken separately equaled two misdemeanors: shoplifting and minor third-degree assault. Together, they make for second-degree robbery, a class B felony, defined in state law as forcibly stealing property. The amount of force and the amount of property does not matter. "It's not the doughnut," Baker said. "It's the assault." Masters is a small man, wiry, about 5-foot-6, with short-cropped hair, a graying goatee and hound-dog eyes. He is a "frequent flier" at the St. Francois County detention center. Masters, who lives in the nearby town of Park Hills, has been arrested more than a dozen times: for being drunk, for shoplifting, for missed court dates, for marijuana possession. He spent most of the 1990s and a stretch from 2000 to 2004 in state prison for the felonies of torching a car to collect insurance and possessing methamphetamine ingredients. In a jailhouse interview last week, Masters admitted he had taken the doughnut. He fled the scene, but he said he did not lay a hand on the woman. "Strong-arm robbery? Over a doughnut? That's impossible," Masters said, exasperated. "I've never had a violent crime in my life. And there's no way I would've pushed a woman over a doughnut." After his arrest, he forgot all about the case. He assumed it had been dismissed. He spent the summer in jail on outstanding warrants. Just before he was to get out, he was indicted Sept. 14 in the doughnut case. His bail was set at $25,000 — well beyond his means. Masters briefly appeared in court Friday. His case was continued until next month. He is shaken by the possibility of a third felony conviction. A prosecutor could pursue an enhanced sentence. As a persistent offender, Masters could face a murderer's term. "I can't believe this crap," Masters said. A grand jury agreed with police on the strong-arm robbery charge. County Prosecutor Wendy Wexler Horn said that it was "way too early to know how it is going to play out" but that the charge seemed appropriate given the allegations. She was aware that some people seemed shocked by the case. "People are missing the point," Horn said. "It is not about the doughnut." But to many people here, it is all about the doughnut.

Idiot.

Best News Story of the Year So Far

This story puts my faith back in law enforcement:

Alleged doughnut-snatcher jailed
By BRETT HAMBRIGHT, Staff
Intelligencer Journal

Published: Oct 04, 2007 1:48 AM EST

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - A 39-year-old woman was arrested outside an East Lampeter Township grocery store Wednesday and charged with having a stolen doughnut in the back of her pants, investigators said.

Police allege Lynn K. Dailey, of 244 W. Lemon St., stole a single 44-cent doughnut and walked out of Weis Market at 1603 Lincoln Highway East.

Police were tipped off to the theft by witnesses at the store, and within minutes they found the woman hiding across the street at a nearby business, they said.

Dailey was wanted for an outstanding bench warrant and spent the night in Lancaster County Prison Wednesday, East Lampeter Township police Sgt. James McElheny said.

"A 44-cent doughnut resulted in her being turned over to (the) Lancaster city prison, where she is waiting to see a county judge," McElheny said.

Dailey's warrant was issued for a parole violation.

Police said Dailey walked into the store about 2:30 p.m. and concealed the doughnut in the back of her pants.

Dailey then ran out of the store and crossed Pitney Road while witnesses called 911, police said. Police arrested her outside Gilbert's Automotive, 32 Pitney Road.

She was charged with retail theft for allegedly taking the doughnut, McElheny said.

Asked what type of doughnut police recovered from the woman, McElheny said, "smushed."

E-mail: bhambright@lnpnews.com

"Smushed".

Things Are Getting Back to Normal

Much to my surprise, things are getting back to normal around here. Longer and longer between tears. The house doesn't seems as empty or quiet. Life does go on, even if we don't want it to.

I still miss the hell out of her.

Suspended Animation

Friday has come; three days after. It's funny, I'm thinking of things in terms of "before putting Roxanne to sleep" and "after putting Roxanne to sleep". Each day is getting easier, as my logical mind knew. More time between tears. Return to more normalcy.

I got a whole lot of sweet emails regarding my last posting; they made me feel so comforted, as people could understand my pain and sadness. I think that the world is made up of three types of people; ANIMAL people (which is what I am), animal people (people who like animals but don't consider them members of their families), and then there's people who don't like animals/think of animals as property, possessions or investments/hate animals. (I have no understanding of the third group). Thank you to everyone for your kind words and for your understanding of my silence and my reluctance to answer my phone. I just needed some time.

I picked up Roxanne's ashes yesterday at the funeral home, and she's sitting downstairs on the entertainment center. They are surprisingly heavy. I found a celtic cross marker that we'll use to mark her burial site; we'll probably do that this weekend. I think then that it will really seem over. Which is a good thing. It's been a very long week for all of us.

Heartwarming moment alert: I got an email back from my sister-in-law Diane on Wednesday morning; Roxanne has a namesake now! A woman that Diane knows named Jen has a little mini-farm about 20 minutes from here (this woman is supposedly my doppelganger, although I've yet to meet her); unbeknownst to Jen, her donkey was pregnant, and delivered a baby very soon after 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 25th. As Roxanne was leaving this world, this little baby was coming into it.

Jen named her Roxanne.

I'll post pictures when I meet her. I can't wait.

I laugh when I think of it being a donkey; Roxanne was almost as stubborn as me, so a donkey is very appropriate!

Roxanne

We lost a really wonderful member of our family today.



Last Thursday, Roxanne was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, or bone cancer. It's a particularly nasty, painful, quick moving cancer; it's hereditary, and fairly common in certain breeds.


By yesterday, she could hardly get up and down stairs to go out and go to the bathroom. She was taking painkillers, but they weren't taking away her pain. We made the decision to let her go today.



She had a hell of a couple of days; cheese and crackers, pig ears, marrow bones, oatmeal raisin cookies, scrambled eggs and bacon, spaghetti with Richard's meat sauce, a freezer-burned t-bone steak I found when I defrosted the freezer. Probably lots more that I didn't see. I sat and brushed her; as usual, she fell asleep and snored. She went for a ride in the car to get ice cream at Rita's. We think that she might have put on about 10 pounds in about three days.



We haven't stopped crying since Thursday afternoon.


We know that we made the right decision, but it hurts so much. I didn't know that a human could produce so many tears. In the last hour before we went to the vet today, I started thinking that maybe we shouldn't rush into this, maybe we should just put her on stronger painkillers. I watched the clock, knowing that at 2 pm we had to go. I felt so horrible.


The doctor gave us a few minutes with her beforehand; and brought a blanket in for her to lay on. We all said our goodbyes. We had to roll her over on her other side, and the doctor said something about it being like steering a cargo ship, which made us laugh. Poor Roxanne, our "petit fleur", always the brunt of the chubby dog jokes. They hooked up the IV, and were ready. Richard and I were holding her; I laid down on the floor and took her face in my hands, and talked to her, and told her that I loved her, and that I wanted to thank her for being such a great dog. And she was gone. No more pain for her. She looked like she was sleeping. I felt an odd sense of relief for her, and for us. Watching her deteriorate over the past few days has been so hard.


We've spent the rest of the day just going through motions; thinking of things and crying anew, just trying to get through this new feeling of something missing. We got pizza because nobody wanted to cook and nobody was really feeling much like eating; Richard always gave his pizza crusts to Roxanne. She connected with just about everything we do in this house (especially if there was food involved), and we will feel the void for a long, long time. We are all feeling it; we are very quiet at times, just holding each other, other times we cry out loud, and wish we could have done more. Richard said that he believed that she knew how much we loved her, and there's some comfort in that.


Roxanne had some really funny habits, some really strange ones too. When Richard and I would hug, she would immediately come between us, so she could be part of it. She would sometimes lay on her side, or on her belly, and dig to china with her front paws. She did that ever since she was a puppy; we never knew what she was digging for. All bread had to be buried in the back yard; bagels, crusts, Italian bread. For some reason, it had to go in the ground. When she was little, any pile of leaves was her playground, much to the chagrin of the people who just raked them. She had an amazing memory, remembering people that she met for only a few minutes years later. She took a dislike to a boy who was dating Maggie, chasing him up the stairs, him yelling like a girl. We were proud of her for that.



She defended us against all the neighbors, and the terrible UPS man, who would come almost every day. She defended us against Jeff, our neighbor, who, for seven years has tried hard to make friends. She would bark at him, take the cheese he was offering, run away, eat the cheese, and start barking again.



She was the queen of drool, managing to get it everywhere, even on the ceiling sometimes.



Her hair has been keeping the birds warm for years. I vacuumed copious amounts of it everyday, and put it outside for the birds to use for their nests.



I yelled at her too much. I wish that I hadn't.



I miss her so much already. It's 1:30 a.m., and I'm so tired, but I can't sleep.

RFK Jr. : Inbreeding or Idiot?

Here's the quote from the bff of Hugo Chavez:

"Get rid of all these rotten politicians that we have in Washington, who are nothing more than corporate toadies," said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the environmentalist author, president of Waterkeeper Alliance and Robert F. Kennedy's son, who grew hoarse from shouting. "This is treason. And we need to start treating them as traitors."

Treason? Traitors? Is he smoking crack? Or is he just a victim democrat-inbreeding? Corporate toadies? I'm sorry, but when I see a commercial starring the above-mentioned RFK Jr. and his bff Hugo, telling me that Hugo is my friend, that Hugo can help me to heat my home for a lower cost, that Hugo loves the downtrodden and Bush-administration-oppressed American.
I'm all for cleaner air, cleaner roads and parks, cleaner environment. I'm totally for alternatives that will end our addiction to oil, I'm an animal lover who swerves to avoid anything and everything that is in the path of my car, even butterflies. I can't help it.
But I refuse to go along with this global warming crap. Twenty five years ago, we were warned about global cooling. What happened to that? Sheryl Crow and Laurie David can go ahead and use one square of toilet paper to wipe (remind me if I ever get to meet either one, don't shake hands!)...but I'm going to go on as I always have.

I'm not a traitor. I'm just not convinced.