Something Fun for the Girls

A friend sent me a You Tube link and I had to share. At first, it was just funny and cute. And then it made me think about women and how we can objectify men just as easily as they objectify women. Fair? Probably not. But hey, at least we're all equal opportunity objectifiers.

Still, the You Tube clip was cute so I have to share.

Freedom And Books

I snitched this from April, a good friend of mine. Because she's intelligent and wise, I thought I might follow suit.

April's goal is to read the most challenged books of 2006. She's thinking of making this a yearly goal. Which is admirable. I always say that it's a good thing to expand your mind and to expose yourself to differing views and opinions. That doesn't mean you have to agree with those differing views. Here is the ALA's list of the 10 most challenged books of 2006 and why they were challenged:

• “And Tango Makes Three” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, for homosexuality, anti-family, and unsuited to age group;
• “Gossip Girls” series by Cecily Von Ziegesar for homosexuality, sexual content, drugs, unsuited to age group, and offensive language;
• “Alice” series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor for sexual content and offensive language;
• “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things” by Carolyn Mackler for sexual content, anti-family, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
• “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison for sexual content, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
• “Scary Stories” series by Alvin Schwartz for occult/Satanism, unsuited to age group, violence, and insensitivity;
• “Athletic Shorts” by Chris Crutcher for homosexuality and offensive language;
• “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky for homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
• “Beloved” by Toni Morrison for offensive language, sexual content, and unsuited to age group; and
• “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier for sexual content, offensive language, and violence.

I think freedom is important. And we should have the freedom to read what we want. I also think that parents should have a say in what their children read. I read a lot of adult fiction when I was in middle school. My mom read it along with me so we could talk about the books and she could answer my questions, when she could. I think this helped me to develop good critical thinking skills. And an appreciation that not everyone has the same experiences in life.

And It Just Gets Better

Sometimes you shouldn't get out of bed. Or turn the computer on. In my case, it's turn the computer on. I've had my lovely Apple G5 for a couple of years and it's been one of the best computers I've ever owned. It's never crashed. Never shut down without warning. It behaved wonderfully for those two blissful years.

So imagine my surprise when I logged onto my computer yesterday and my dock was gone. For you Windows users, the dock is the shortcuts bar. And the finder windows didn't work properly. I couldn't drag and drop anything! I totally freaked! I hadn't backed up in a few months - okay six months. So I tried to back up files and such, which thankful I was able to accomplish. Then I made an appointment at my local Apple Store to have them figure out what was causing my computer to hate me so.

Long story short, they work miracles there! I'm all up and running again with a few minor things to update or change. Not too shabby. I still ::heart:: my Mac. But I never want to go through that again!

Laughter

I snitched this from my friend. I know April won't mind cuz she loves me like that.

This was timely as I was in desperate need to find something to laugh about. And along comes this gem. There's something about a baby's inhibited laugher that makes the worst days seem gloriously bright, don't you think?

Guess the First Line Quiz

I got this quiz from a friend on Live Journal and since my LJ friends can't guess the songs, I thought I would post this little quiz/meme here. Good luck!

Step 1: Put your music player on shuffle.

Step 2: Post the first line from the first 20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.

Step 3: Strike through the songs when someone guesses both artist and track correctly.

Step 4: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!

Step 5: If you like the game post your own.

There are a couple in here that I'm not sure everyone will get, and there are a few that are from popular songs. Or at least popular artists. It's quite the sampling.

1. You see her, you can't touch her
2. I see a home in a quiet place, I see myself in a strong embrace
3. It's really over, you made your stand
4. Now Smackwater Jack he bought a shotgun
5. Are you ready maybe, are you willing to run
6. Pack up all those phantoms, shoulder that invisible load
7. If the night turned cold and the stars looked down
8. The bravest thing I've ever done was to run away and hide
9. The heart is a bloom, shoots up through the stony ground
10. Please come now I think I'm falling, I'm holding to all I think is safe
11. Stand at the window, pull back the lace
12. I think I've already lost you
13. You don't have to give me rings on my fingers
14. Business as usual, just what's on your mind
15. We'll be fighting in the streets
16. Since then I never fell helpless, recess, this mess if you do
17. I know you think that I shouldn't still love you
18. I see her as a little girl hiding in her room
19. Yeah baby, yeah I've been drinkin'
20. What a minute man, you mispronounced my name

Goodbye, Dear Friend

Denali, our dog of almost 14 years, has been quite sick for the last few months with cancer and advancing arthritis in his spine. Today we said a tearful and painful goodbye to our baby. It was time to take him to the vet to have him put to sleep. He hadn't been eating in almost a week, could barely walk due to the arthritis in his spine and yesterday he vomited blood.

Our vet told us that we would know when it was time. He would tell us either by not eating anymore or by stopping his interaction with us. Well, right to the end he continued to interact with us. He kept trying to follow one of us around the house, wanted to be pet or brushed and, if he was sleeping when we happened to leave a room, would seek us out. My little shadow, that was Denali.

So, because nothing we did would entice him to eat and because of the blood incident yesterday, we called the vet today and we let him go. The husband cried. I cried. Denali perked up and decided he wanted treats. I was having second thoughts because he wasn't acting like he wanted to leave us. But it was time. His quality of life had declined and the cancer was starting to do strange things to his body. His fur was falling out in clumps and we couldn't get rid of the dander no matter how we washed him.

I'm at home now, still sad and trying to not cry. My MIL is visiting and I really don't want to break down in front of her. All I think about is my baby, lying on the floor on a blanket at the vet's office, not breathing. He looked so peaceful, reminding me that he's not in pain any more. That he's somewhere playing and running and barking and smiling his sweet puppy smile. And he's happy.

But oh how the house feels empty without him. We got home from the vet and I had to stop myself from expecting to see his sweet doggie face smiling up at me from his pillow by the sliding doors, welcoming me home. I'm going to have many moments like that I'm afraid. I love him so much.

I'm going to miss you deeply and dearly, Denali. You were my first dog, and you were my best friend. And I never told you that enough but somehow you always knew you were loved and you loved us back eagerly and without judgment. Thank you for being mine for the last 14 years. You blessed me in too many ways for me to count. Goodbye, my dear dear friend.

I'll probably post some Denali stories and memories over the coming weeks. When someone, or something, touches your life you grieve when they are gone. Part of the grieving is sharing their stories. Denali's stories just may need to be told so I apologize ahead of time if it becomes boring or monotonous to you, dear reader and friend.

Hug your loved ones today, and include your pets in those hugs if you have any that are near and dear to you. Sometimes life is too damn short.

Cool Things

My new PDA has Wi-Fi. I'm wrighting this post from a coffee shop on my PDA. lt's slow and not as nice as a computer. But it's cheaper than V-Cast or internet via Treo or Blackberry. I love technology!