Dogfighting is for sissies
If someone really needs to feel the adrenaline rush of
gnashing teeth, blood, and possible death, then I propose he or she start
a bar fight with a bunch of drunk men who live meaningless lives and jump
on any opportunity to display their manliness with violence.
Dogfighting is cruel. Given that animals cannot speak for themselves, it is
up to humans to provide for them, and keep them safe. Even if the dog has
a propensity to attack, it does not mean that greedy people should exploit
that trait and let these dogs live lives of pain and suffering.
Dogfighting is big business. I was shocked to find out how prevalent it really
is, and how much money is made in this morbid source of entertainment. I
say..get a damn life and leave the puppies alone.
Dogfighting gives pit bulls a bad name. I own a pit bull, and she is a goofy,
lovable dog. She wasn’t born trying to gnaw off someone’s leg. She does not
attack my other two dogs. She is loved, and trained how to behave, and she
responds just like any normal dog. Contrary to popular belief, they are not
monsters. They are just animals. If they turn in to monsters it is because
some misguided owner has supported that behavior. Yes, I agree that there
are dogs who become aggressive through no fault of their owner. Just like in
humans, there are dogs who may suffer from neurological disorders or genetic
deficiencies. This happens with every breed of dog, and in my experience, a
few cats as well. It comes down to owner responsibility.
I suggest doing some background on animal breeds before making snap decisions
about them. I am not ignorant to instincts and breeding. I understand the argument.
I was once almost attacked by a poodle.
Changing plates
New Year’s Resolutions. Who started that silly practice? As far
back as I can remember my resolutions lasted about a week, and
left me with a feeling of failure when I couldn’t live up to whatever
challenge I set for myself. Last year I tried working the system and
just said that my resolution was not to make one. That was stupid.
So..my resolution starts on Dec. 30th. I thought I would wait until
my last holiday celebration was over and get a jump on things. This
year my goal is to go totally vegan. I have done this in the past, and
it was the best thing I ever did for myself. I lost weight, had tons of
energy, and felt better about how my choices affected others. I am
not a big fan of meat so it is not extremely difficult for me; the biggest
hurdle is getting past all the comments and judgments from people
who think I am crazy. I’m willing to be crazy if it helps me feel better.
My extra motivation this time is to be an example to those who
“poo-poo” my idea that the way we were taught to eat is wrong
and hurtful to our bodies. This is the last thing I am going to say on
the matter unless someone begins the conversation. I have found that
people are extremely resistant to discuss this subject without emotions
boiling over. It is actually quite strange to me. I mean, what does one
have to lose by trying a diet change? Well, besides unwanted pounds
and a myriad of symptoms that we associate with growing older. It is
time to rethink what I am willing to accept in my “older” years, and a
slew of medicines to counteract other medicines is not my idea of fun.
Pass the veggies please.
Pigs and circles
I am addicted to StumbleUpon. Unfortunately, there is no meeting to go to,
or 800 # to call for help. So..I just continue to stumble. For those of you who
have not used it, I recommend it if you like to surf the web. My son told me
about it, and usually I am not one to sit for hours and peruse internet sites,
but alas..I dig it.
So, one of my tags (interests) is vegetarian. It brings up sites with recipes,
photos of animals, and websites concerned with the treatment of animals in the
production of our meat sources. I tortured myself and watched a video of what they do to
pigs to ready them for the Christmas table, and what they do to piglets. It made
me cry. I have seen numerous videos on this subject, and the horrors these
animals go through, but this one sent my brain in a different direction. From this
one video, I was able to finally understand the the continuation of life, and how
our lives affect others–animal and human. I cannot explain the process, but
what I took away from it was:
I need to be kinder to myself. Life is so fragile and short.
I need to be kind to others. Maybe the guy who is being an asshole in the Charter
office was taken away from his mother at a young age and has never known unconditional love.
I need to be kind to the earth. So many things are perpetrated upon our earth. It is
amazing to me that she continues to provide for us.
My New Year’s resolution will be just that. Kindness. For those of you who know
me, you know it will be a struggle, but considering I may only have a good 30 years
of life left ahead of me, I guess it couldn’t hurt.
Low suds and safe on lycra
I have been a lazy bum today, and I feel pretty good about it. It was
nice to just be at home in comfy clothes and watch some television.
I learned some great tips on HGTV, and cried a little when the puppy
got rescued on Animal Cops. Curled up in my comforter on the couch,
I flipped channels, dozed off, and flipped some more channels. There
has got to be a couch-potato award with my name on it somewhere.
While I delighted in the mindless loss of life energy, I made note of a
few things. All of the commercials for cleaning products
and appliances have women in them. Yep. There is not one
man in any toilet bowl, window, hardwood floor, or dirty skillet cleaner
commercial. The images are women in make-up and good clothes using
some special cleaner that makes them smile while scrubbing, or dance
while dusting. Bullshit. Cleaning does not happen like that in my house.
Cleaning day for me usually goes like this:
sweatpants and Tennessee t-shirt with bleach and paint on it
grumbling, bitching, moaning, scrunched up face
coffee with too much sugar- to get me goin’
yelling at the dogs to get off the floor I just mopped
mumbling under my breath about having to do all the cleaning by myself
and upon finishing–a reaction to the toxic fumes in cleaners that causes
me to be irritable and sometimes cry.
I think the Swiffer company should come to my house and shoot a reality
commercial. Just about the time they tried to dust my face with one of those
huge powder puffs, I would shoot them in the eye with a nice stream from
the Wet Jet.
Two things bother me about the male-less cleaning product commercials.
The first is the implication that women enjoy cleaning, and the second is
that it perpetuates this notion that cleaning is women’s work. While I
acknowledge that some people do enjoy cleaning, I venture to say that most
women would rather not do it. Or at the very least, not alone. From my
conversations with women in my life, they do it because it just “falls” on them,
even when they have a husband or children to help them out. Unfortunately,
due to some gentle, subconscious societal training, women often adopt the
attitude that it is just easier to do it themselves. Secondly, cleaning is not
just women’s work. If you look at it logically, men are more suited to most
cleaning tasks. What woman has not exhausted arm muscles trying to scrub
a nasty shower? A man has more upper body strength than a woman, therefore
he would be more efficient with a scrub brush. Same goes for vacuuming
and sweeping–it is hard to move furniture around while in the process. It
takes me forever because I have to move the chair, sweep, move the chair back
and so on. A man with aforementioned arm muscles could easily move the ugly
chair and sweep underneath it in one fell swoop. Swoop. That’s a nice word.
If I hadn’t lost so many brain cells today in front of the boob tube, (I think I
understand that reference better now) I would start a letter writing campaign
to all these companies. As it is, I am going to have to muster enough brain power
to calculate exactly how much detergent I need for a full cycle of clothes that are
semi-colorfast, lightly soiled, and 50% cotton which makes them susceptible to
shrinkage. Go me.
To err is human. To forgive, canine.
I love my dogs. They add so much to my life. The puppy is 10 months
old and she is full of puppy energy. This includes chewing baseboards
and table legs, and digging up Tiger Lilies in the back yard. She has a
great personality and is funny as hell. Middle girl is 3 years old. She is
aloof and distant. The best part is that she looks like she is smiling
all the time. It’s pretty great. I thought she was retarded for awhile, but
now I am convinced that she is in on some great life secret and refuses
to tell. Boy dog is the oldest. He is going to be 8 yrs. old in April, and he
was our first dog. He is loyal and extremely sweet. His patience
is never ending, and he has always been kind to other animals big and
small. Boy dog is sick. It breaks my heart. He has a horrible skin problem
that makes him lifeless and sad-looking. The vet can only offer prednisone
which is toxic, and every food change I have tried has not worked. After
hours of research, I am convinced that his skin problems have everything
to do with being over-vaccinated, and not getting proper nutrients from
the food he ate as a young dog.
Our state requires yearly rabies shots, which recent studies have shown to be
unnecessary and harmful to the dog, (Vaccinations are not good for humans either,
but that is another post) and there are a bunch of other shots they have to have to
be boarded, or just to be treated in some cases. I took him regularly and also
doused him with noxious flea and tick killer, and gave him his monthly toxic
cube to keep the heartworms away.
I fed him “good” dry dog food when he was younger. I never skimped, and
bought the stuff that claimed it was superior to most other dog foods. I read
labels, and from my estimates, it was good stuff. Then, one day he broke out
in a strange rash and it has been downhill ever since. He has had to endure
this for 3 years now, and I know he has to be miserable. One look into
his brown eyes will tell you he just does not feel good. So. I started educating
myself on dogs and their needs. And what they don’t need. The results were
mind-blowing.
The stuff that these companies put in dog food is ridiculous.
Some of the ingredients are not even foodstuff. It is disgusting. Needless to
say, I started cooking their food and using whole ingredients. Unfortunately,
I think his immune system has already been so compromised, that there will
not ever be a full recovery. He is better, and without medications, but has flare-ups that
cannot be easily controlled.
I know now that if he hadn’t of been given approximately 18 shots of toxic
soups such as: distemper, parvovirus, corona virus, hepatitis, giardia
parainfluenza, leptospirosis …his immune system would
be functioning properly. Dogs are resistant to many things, and all
of these shots are worthless, money-making gimmicks that humans
have been convinced are necessary. Bullshit. Many studies have shown
that a rabies shot in a dog is effective for 3 years, possibly longer. Why
then do most states require annual rabies shots? Money. They pay
about 90 cents per shot. We pay $18. Good profit.
Anyway. Like other things I will talk, whine, bitch, or scream about- I
only mean to provoke thought. I do what is best for me, you do what
is best for you. But do it with both eyes open, and armed with the facts.
A tight lasso around my neck
Tonight I watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” for the first time. I have never
wanted to see it because I thought it was a Christmas movie. I was wrong.
It is a movie chock full of morality. So chock full that now I feel more inept
than ever. How could anyone ever live up to that? More importantly, in
today’s society would it even be possible? From my point of view, our
government is much like Mr. Potter, but with a lot more power. Working
your ass off with good intent and honesty does not always pay off in the long
run. Big business is alive and well in America, and family businesses are a
thing of the past. Capitalism is a corrupt system that enables the rich and
bankrupts the poor, not to mention exploiting under-developed countries
by lending them money and forcing our ideals on them to repay the debt.
World Bank my ass. It does not benefit the world, only the richest in the
world. So…while I find George Bailey honorable, I know that there is no
such thing as doing the right thing and reaping the rewards. The reality
is doing the right thing and hoping that Mr. Potter drinks himself into a
stupor and suffocates in a snow drift.
I had Mexican food for dinner. Sometimes it makes me cranky.
Oh, my burning retinas
Commercials for perfume with images of half-naked women. Right.
So..if the perfume is marketed for women, shouldn’t they use half-naked men?
Oh wait, they couldn’t do that because that would be objectification of men,
and that is not acceptable in a patriarchal society. Showing the male body in parts
and pieces serves to portray the idea that perhaps the man isn’t a whole person
who has feelings, and the capacity for original thought. It certainly would
be a shame to set him up for billions of women to ogle, and insinuate that his
worth is based solely on his body. Well, now that I have written it out, I
understand it completely. Objectifying men would diminish their power, and
that could lead to violence upon them, and make all men feel less safe
in the world. That won’t do, pig.
Into the depths
There is little motivation for this blog. Some insistence from my son,
and maybe a smackling of boredom. How lucky for you.
Do not wait for startling revelations…they will not come.
I only offer a few bland remarks on daily life from a somewhat
twisted perspective.
*Insert disclaimer*
