Sunday, September 30, 2007

open season on reg golb (attention whore).

reg golb (attention whore) pulled his head out of the sand to drop this little turd in the pool back on an old post, Just look at Fiery and Poodles, the only blogs I read in this community, they are a study in duplicity.

Duplicity- Deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech.

The irony of being called duplicitous by one of the most illogical, irrational, annoying fundies I have ever had the misfortune to meet has sent my irony meter straight into the red zone.

The only blogs you read in this community, reg golb (attention whore)? Do you mean my own personal circle of blogger friends, or the blogging atheist community as a whole?

You reg golb (attention whore) are the liar. You pretend to be rational, while spouting the most irrational bullshit on the planet. You claim to only read a few blogs, but keep turning up on various atheist blogs long after your welcome has worn out, like a particularly virulent strain of herpes.

Why do you read atheist blogs???? Especially if you think they are "duplicitous". Oh, I know why. Because none of your fundy friends give a shit about you or your "thoughts". But if you go to an atheist blog, and shit in our pool, you get all sorts of attention.

I would love to see links to christian blogs you regularly post to reg golb (attention whore).

Defend your assertion reg golb (attention whore) with links to duplicitous behavior on my part AND Poodles part.

Provide the links reg golb (attention whore) or delete my blog link from your favorites menu and stop coming back. Period.

If you don't know how to provide actual links, google it.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

health update: Deadly Disease Targets Atheists

I am the unfortunate bearer of some rather horrifying information.

The CDC (Center for Disease Control) has issued a health advisory warning to all atheists in or visiting America. They are urged to avoid the southern states, and specifically places with warm water lakes, hot springs, and even dirty swimming pools

The reason for the warning is the unexpected peek in occurences this year. Between 1995 and 2004 there were 23 known cases, an average of a little more than 2 per year. This year, though there have been six cases reported already and more anticipated. The first symptom is a headache that will not go away. Typically misdiagnosed as meningitis, further symptoms include a stiff neck and fever. As the disease progresses hallucinations and behavior changes are typical.

The best way to prevent infection is to wear nose clips when swimming or playing in shallow water.

The disease, Logos Cephalis is caused by an amoeba that enters the body through the nasal passages and slowly eats its way into brain tissue. It is always fatal and no measures taken have slowed its progress in humans. From time of exposure, the disease runs its course in two weeks, leaving families bereft of their loved ones.

The cause is an ameoba, Naegleria fowleri, which lives in fresh water lakes and enters the body through the nasal passages and feeds on brain tissue.

Christians, especially fundamentalist and evangelical types are particularly resistant to this amoeba as they do not have sufficient grey matter to sustain the amoebas. Fanatical Muslims and other extreme religious people also show shocking resistance to this microscopic brain sucker.

The CDC is calling for all fundies to volunteer to help with warm water testing and various cleanup efforts as their unique brain make-up renders them almost perfectly invulnerable to this new threat. Scientists and rational atheists are urged to steer clear of any water teeming with believers as the amoeba become frenzied by the lack of functioning brain tissue.

For a full report, please see this AP article for full details.

Again- this ia health advisory from the U.S., to all atheists and rational people (but i repeat myself), swim with noseplugs!
_________________

Saturday, September 22, 2007

TECHNOFEAR!!!!!!!

There was a BBC show from the early 80’s called The Young Ones that lasted only a few episodes, 12 I think. One of the characters, Neil, is a hippy who has absolutely hideous luck with all forms of technology including answering machines, and he calls it technofear. Normally computers are my friend, I understand how they work and can usually figure out why they are behaving oddly. So on your average day, I have no problem with them, but the last week or so has been one technological disaster after another.

Friday marked the second time in the last five days that my beloved laptop has eaten a post I was typing for my blog. The first post….*groan*…I was typing in Notepad. I’d worked on it for over an hour and hadn’t saved it. I know, I KNOW!!!!! Bad decision. But it’s too late for recriminations now. My computer froze up, completely and utterly; I couldn’t even get the mouse to wiggle. In stunned disbelief, I tried Ctrl-Alt-Del, I even tried putting a disc in the drive to kick it over- nothing.

I sat there staring at the screen and caught myself thinking… “Oh god, please let me get my post back. Don’t let it be lost forever.” HAHAHAHA!!!

Let’s see, I currently have no belief there is, ever was or will be a supernatural being. But part of my mind (lingering childhood indoctrination) sent up a plea to said non-existent being to fix my computer and rescue my post, which ironically had to do with the lingering effects of being raised christian. I wonder if Jeebus cursed my computer so I wouldn’t contaminate the blogosphere with my blasphemous ideas? *snerk*

Determined to save what little I could of my post I copied it down by hand. Less than half was visible on the screen, and that- the first half, not the conclusion. Unfortunately for me, I only get one good chance to write something. Once it’s written, that’s it. The inspiration for those thoughts drifts away, never again to be captured in their original brilliance....er...form.

I then had to do a complete shut down, holding the power button off until my laptop obliterated everything I had been working on.

TECHNOFEAR!

The second time was Friday. I was typing in the Blogger: New Post window but was typing off-line to save on dial-up minutes. Piecing the situation back together, I must have brushed the mouse pad with my palm, shifting the mouse off the typing area and then hit the backspace key. Apparently when backspace is struck in a non-typing area of the window, it tells Internet Explorer to move to the previous page, in this case Blogger Dashboard.

Not again. Not bloody again! I just went through this whole “computer ate my post” scenario, didn’t I learn anything? Apparently not. I tried going forward and it reluctantly returned me to the New Post window, sans post. ARGH!

From now on I’m composing in Microsoft Word, at least it has an auto save feature that doesn’t count on my being online. *rolls eyes*

TECHNOFEAR!!

As for other recent disasters, let's see...

On Monday, I ran a red light for no reason other than I didn't notice the stupid thing. A car was coming and could have sideswiped me. That's only happened to me one other time in my life. Ironically it was a block south on the same street earlier this summer. Remind me not to drive on that road ever again. Though I’m not sure how I’ll manage it since that is the street the library is on.

I was working on recording and uploading mp3 files, got them uploaded and sent only to discover that the microphone had been clicked off. *groan* Did you know that dead silence takes just as long to upload as a recording with words?

TECHNOFEAR!!!

Now I’ve got the microphone turned on, and there is a horrific hum and hiss behind everything. Does anyone know anything about audio devices and computers? How much does a person have to spend to get a mic good enough for talking/podcast type recordings???? HELP!!!!!

TECHNOFEAR!!!!

My cell phone has taken to batching text messages so I get the, "is now a good time?" text at the same time it sent the "sorry I missed you” text.

TECHNOFEAR!!!!!

What am I doing? WHAT AM I DOING???? I am typing this OFFLINE in the Blogger: New Post window. Again! Copy and paste to Microsoft Word already. ARGH!!!!!!

TECHNOFEAR!!!!!!

I think I might need more protein in my diet. Atkins would be the man to see about that. Good grief Charlie Brown, this is getting ridiculous.

Friday, September 21, 2007

the fundy shunned me

I have been socially shunned: officially, summarily, and without appeal. Ever since the fundy gave me back the book I loaned him (Atheism: the Case Agaisnt God) I have been unworthy of an invitation to play cards at his house. The original story is here in my post born again attempt #3 which happened about the 10th of August.

I spoke recently with John (the guy I enjoy most playing skip-bo with) and he asked Ken why he didn’t call me over to play skip-bo anymore. Ken said, “I do not invite people to my house, they just show up when they want to visit me.”

I said, “That’s funny John, because for a year and a half, he invited me every single time I came over to his house to play cards with you two.”

What I find amusing about the situation, is that it is him and not me who has changed. He still occassionally drops off leftovers at my house, but never anything I’ve specifically mentioned enjoying. Interesting.

I was really confused by his reaction until it was put into perspective for me. Never before has he met a rational atheist. Oh sure, he might have met people who didn’t believe, or people who grew up in the church but weren’t born again- he had no significant trouble upgrading their beliefs into born-again status. But to meet someone with a rational basis for their disbelief- that one threw him. I don’t think he’s ever failed quite so stupendously before, once he set his mind to giving somebody “the talk”.

I remember being at his house at one point and he was bragging about how he’d made some poor bloke break down in tears. It wasn’t the first story he’d told where the person ended up crying because of the scolding he’d delivered.

But that’s what the fundies look for in their converts, isn’t it? A broken spirit and a contrite heart. Well, not this atheist poor deluded fundy. *snerk*

Frankly, having observed how far he got through ACAG (page 41 for those of you playing along at home), I would say he probably had a small crisis of faith himself. He believes that he had a near-death experience in which he pleaded for one more chance to spend time with his son and at that point jeebus gave him back his conscience. Which meant that he felt contrition about the life he’d led up to that point, and was given a second chance to redeem himself with his children. With a book that very clearly lays out why such a belief is idiotic, he would have no purpose in his life, no meaning.

Poor, poor deluded fundy.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

fun in the sun

The summer heat has passed! YEAH!!! And now I can renew my worship of the sun.

Hold the phone, an atheist....worshiping....the sun?

First- atheists don't worship things right?
Let me consult my trusty atheist bible: the source of all knowledge, wisdom and morality for atheists everywhere...Oh that's right, there isn't just one source for knowledge, wisdom, and morality. Well then, instead of consulting the source of all knowledge etc..., let me instead consult a source of knowledge- my trusty dictionary. Oh mighty dictionary, do atheists worship?

Worship-
1)reverent love and respect for a deity or sacred object
2)love or devotion (ardent attachment or affection) to a person or thing

So- do I, atheist that I am, worship the sun? Well let's see, I am drawn to patches of sunlight; I enjoy sitting in the sun's rays and feeling it on my face and through my clothes; I love watching it shine on my hair; and I become melancholy if the sun hides its face from me on long overcast days.

Second- If I like the sun so much, why wait until the season of the sun is over to enjoy it?

There's really a simple and quite rational explanation for this shocking idea. I'm a very fair-skinned red-head and I burn very quickly in the summer sun. When I step outside in a short sleeved shirt the sun on my forearms feels as if it is burning my skin right then and there, a most unpleasant sensation. But the rest of the year, as the sun is in retreat, ohhhhhh the sensation of sun on bare skin is exquisite, the most delicious sense of being warmed from the outside.

I've got a south facing bay window and the sun beats in so wonderfully during the fall and winter. I spent an hour playing Go Fish with my son while lying in a pool of sunlight. Aaahhh to be able to enjoy the heat again without feeling like I am going to get crispy around the edges.

WELCOME FALL!

Monday, September 17, 2007

"respect" my beliefs? I don't think so.

IQ ADVISORY: The following quote contains grosteque assumptions, glaring inaccuracies and complete falsehoods that may be damaging to your intellect. The following information is provided for reference purposes only, i.e. I didn't have a link. Read thoroughly at your own risk, otherwise jump to the bottom to avoid shock at the stupidity and to prevent potential brain damage.

Gratitutde

The first step toward getting rich is to convey the idea of your wants to the formless substance. This is true, and you will see that in order to do so it becomes necessary to relate yourself to the formless intelligence in a harmonious way.

To secure this harmonious relationship is a matter of such primary and vital importance that I will give some space to its discussion here. I will give you instructions which, if you follow them, will be certain to bring you into a perfect unity of mind with God.

The whole process of mental adjustment and atunement can be summed up in one word: gratitude.

First, you believe that there is one intelligent substance from which all things proceed. Secondly, you believe that this substance gives you everything you desire. And, thirdly, you relate yourself to it through a feeling of deep and profound gratitude.

Many people who order their lives rightly in all other ways are kept in poverty by their lack of gratitude. Having received one gift from God, they cut the wires which connect them with Him by failing to make acknowledgment.

It is easy to understand that the nearer we live to the source of wealth, the more wealth we shall receive. It is also easy to understand that a soul that is always grateful lives in closer touch with God than one who never looks to Him in thankful acknowledgment.

When good things come to us, the more gratefully we fix our mind on the Supreme Power, the more good things we will receive - and the more rapidly they will come. The reason for this is simply that the mental attitude of gratitude draws the mind into closer touch with the source from which the blessings come.

Wallace D. Wattles


You may be asking yourself, this is such obvious tripe, why are you even bothering to post that crap here? I guess the reason this particular piece of vomit caught my attention is for that very reason, that it is tripe. This material was e-mailed to me as a "thought for the day" from the weight-lifting fitness newsletter I belong to. How this is supposed to inspire me to work on sculpting my triceps, I don't think I will ever fully understand.

It is, however, the perfect example of how much American society as a whole expects a person to submit to the idea of a god (sorry..."formless substance"). Even though not everyone believes in the same higher being or even a higher being at all, it is assumed, no it is demanded, that one act respectfully towards everyone who does believe.

Most Americans will stand around and snicker if they hear racist remarks or derragatory comments about homosexuals. But if a person stands up and says, "Anyone who believes in a 'formless substance' has their head so far up their arse, that they shouldn't be allowed to breed." Well, there would be an absolute riot. How dare you treat people that way? You may not share my beliefs, but you have to respect them.

Do I? Do I really have to "respect" them? I might have to grudgingly acknowledge your right to hold those beliefs, but "respect"? No, no poor deluded fundy. I am under no obligation to "respect" your beliefs. For clarity's sake, something the fundies shudder at the thought of, let's take a quick look at the meaning of "respect"

respect: deferential or high regard, esteem.
deferential: courteous submission to the opinions, wishes, or judgments of another.

Well with those two definitions under my belt I can certainly see why fundies demand "respect". It's that tricky little word "deferential" that they are really asking for- "courteous submission".

I think it is the repugnant notion of "courteous submission" that turns so many christian/atheist discussions into "raving invective" instead of civillized debate.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Flight of the Phoenix

Fiery's heart soars into the air, the phoenix bursting through the clouds racing the wind across the horizon.

WAAAAHOOO!!!!! I have had the most splendiferous evening!!!!!!

The seeds for this evening were planted several months ago when I started a yahoo group for secular homeschoolers in my area. For the longest time there was no activity at all; then just recently, I got several hits on my site. We even set up a tentative play date at a park for Monday that I am looking forward to. I think she said they just moved here from the South. We are waiting to see if anyone else shows up. I hope they do, but if not, meh, it will be great anyway.

So after a late lunch my son and I head into town for his karate class. On Monday, class size swelled from the normal 2 kids to 11 kids and 3 adult participants, a huge jump in class size. Tonight was a bit different yet again in that not all of the 9 new students showed up and there was only 1 extra adult.

I was surprised to see yet another new face come in the door and tell the instructor she was a homeschooling Mom and her son was interested in participating in a class tonight. Now of course my ears perked up immediately and I was immensely curious about her and her son. Then I heard her say that she just moved hear from the South. My jaw fell open in complete shock.

What are the odds that a homeschooling mom, just up from the south, would pick my son's dojo for her son? Surely it wasn't the same person from my yahoo group. No way. There's no way that it could be the same person.

She ended up sitting far away from me, and being a complete wuss about meeting people I didn't say anything to her during class. I spent almost the entire class period watching her son and how hard he worked at understanding and following directions and trying to convince myself not to get my hopes up that she was who I thought she might be. I was really impressed with her son. He reminds me of my son about 15 months ago, just getting started, but taking it very seriously and loving the whole process.

When class was over I wrenched my shy butt out of my chair and sat down next to her and said, "Did I hear you say that you are a homeschooling mom?" She said yes. So I mentioned that I homeschooled my kids too. After a bit of chit chat I said, "Did you also say you just moved here from the South?" She confirmed this again and I said, "Is your name yyyyy" and she looked a little surprised and said yes. I said, "I'm Fiery from the secular yahoo group, we've got a play date scheduled for Monday at 2ish don't we?"

Ohhhhhhh and it was all taters and gravy after that. We left our two boys sitting on the couch watching the adult karate class that had just started and we went out to the hallway and visited.

It was sooooo much fun. First thing we confirmed was that we were both atheists. *happy dance* I have never ever ever ever talked to another atheist homeschooling mother in person before ever. They actually exist. There really are other mommy's out there who are atheists and homeschooling. *more dancing*

We must have stood out in the hallway for half an hour before our sons came out. Ahhhhh they were two peas in a pod, her son wanted to show my son how to stand on his head, and then my son showed him an alternative method.

It was hard to break away, but we will see them again on Monday. My son talked the whole 30 minute drive home. I laughed when I found out that one of the first subjects they broached was the god issue, both confirming that neither believed in ANY god. lol

I can't begin to describe how much fun they had together.

MY SON HAS A FRIEND!!!!!!

*HEART SOARING THROUGH THE CLOUDS*

*FIERY DOES ANOTHER HAPPY DANCE!!!!!*

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Richard- guest blogger

Surprise Richard! You get to be my first guest blogger!

Telmeimwrong has asked Richard,

God said don't bear false witness.
I decide to pay my taxes
Is that wrong? (since it was formed for the wrong reason)

"But if both sides are honest (such as Johnny)" are you saying that I am not honest?

Richard said "You have no answers as to how to live morally, how to think through such moral issues as we are presently discussing, or moral conflicts in your own life with the people around you. You have no basis that says, “This makes sense and I must therefore act on it! By what standards will you judge yourself and your life on your deathbed? To formulate those standards of morality, a proper way of knowing Truth must be understood and performed intellectually, unwaveringly." Expound on this. To me, it flies in the face of reason. What is truth then? What is the proper WAY of knowing it?




Here is Richard's response.

Telmeimwrong you have raised three good points, the answers to both are related, and may be difficult for you to deal with. My response is not in any way intended to harm your sensibilities, any more than might be the case in pointing out that a map has been misread.

1. "Taxes" is easy. All of us, are under the considerable coercive power of the state initiating force against us. Pay them! You should not go to jail. However, without taxation you could buy the same services much more cheaply than at the price the state provides. (Even the police, courts and military could be paid for by means other than taxation, and still remain impartial means of dealing with transgressions by citizens and foreigners). Thus the right reason to pay taxes is not a matter of honesty, but of opening your wallet to state approved confiscation. The state̢۪s job is to protect you from theft of your property, today it is the thief. See my discussion of the nature of a thief, next.

2. "Honesty" is not a matter of not lying, not stealing or not committing fraud. Those are the outward manifestations of a deeper intellectual form of dishonesty. Honesty is recognizing that unreal things truly are unreal! The liar wants to rewrite reality in order to sway someone else's judgment away from what is real. The thief or con artist is pretending that he has some sort of right to what he has taken. Usually they do it through some sort of rationalization, such as "they have lots of money and won't miss it", "they are only rich cause they got all the breaks, and no-one will give me a break" etc etc. Although their new possessions are not their own, they blank out of mind the fact that their ownership is unreal. Thus their dishonesty is fundamentally intellectual.

This is precisely the case, through phenomenal social and parental pressure, with religionists. At one level or another, usually before their minds have matured, their mentors teach them that the unreal is real. The same mentors embed their unrealities in all sorts of very real things, as authority figures, making themselves all the more believable. Rare indeed is the *child* who can resist that. (See the poem in my next comment by William Blake)

Nonetheless some children do resist at some level. Although I was an altar boy, I was always troubled by the ‘miracle’ stuff. As a teenager I had resigned myself that such things must happen, but just not in my experience, so I had best believe in God. By 18, reading "The Source" by Roland Michener, I began to seriously doubt. At 35 yrs of age I grasped (recognized) the unreality of gods and religion and with great joy, became an atheist. Joy, because I was no longer under the oppressive scrutiny and manipulations of this quixotic power called God. The World was just what it was, and wonderful!

So, I can now say, "yes" at that fundamental level, with all the deeper complications I mentioned earlier by which homosexuals became homosexual, you are being intellectually dishonest particular in the context of religion, as was I. The consequences of that dishonesty affect countless areas of your life (as they affected mine). Harder still, your peers accept them so that they feel normal and right to you and make you feel included socially. They are not honest... not any more than it is right for today's Muslims or yesterday's Christians to murder heretics/apostates.

3. I do not know what you mean when you say my comment "flies in the face of reason". I think the question is asked too soon. Reason and truth must be understood before it can be answered. I can only say Morality can and must be developed through secular reason (there is no other kind), not faith, and move to your next sub-questions.

Truth is obtained through one̢۪s five senses, and by Reason. Reason is a major component of the branch of philosophy named Epistemology, a 'big' word (that is, "very abstract") that can be hard to get one's mind around (it was for me). Epistemology, in short, is the study of how Men can know the truth, what makes the truth so, and also what errors can be made in trying to get there. It is a very large and complicated field...

Truth is the recognition of Reality. Notice its meaning is closely related to the meaning of Honesty. The moment a mind allows unreality to occupy a space in its understandings, it will run into contradictions. Each contradiction will butt up against real, related issues, time and time again. (This you are experiencing, and are here responding to very well) E.g.Calling a witch doctor to deal with your child's diabetes, by chanting, burning herbs and waving talismans, will result in your child's death. So will a policy I have seen on store windows, outside homes and on church signs in the Caribbean that says "Let go and let God". (Think of Jehovah̢۪s Witnesses and blood transfusions!) Nope, the child needs insulin (a transfusion); s/he needs adults who recognize reality if the child is to live: the child's pancreas is not producing insulin, and that is what must be addressed.

I cannot possibly explain epistemology to you in any significant way (this is already 800 words!). It is a field you would have to investigate yourself. The most I could do is recommend material that would require many months of reading. I have spent thousands of hours on it in the last 20 years, and am still no expert.

Understanding epistemology is highly rewarding because it provides one with protection from harm, whether in politics, ethics, science, economics or in social interaction. This is because reason is man's only tool of survival --man does not survive by sharp teeth or claws, by speed or strength, nor even by camouflage. Knowledge of epistemology ought to be the goal of any liberal education, and many of its elements should be taught before a child leaves grade school.

I often sign off e-mails with the following, and it seems appropriate here.

sincerely,
Richard

Reason and the philosophical principles upon which it depends are sought by rare minds, who grasp that day to day life is not a barrier to that study but the reason for it. @2001 by Richard @2001

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Remembering 9/11

Being rather hermited in western Minnesota, I haven't heard anything of 9/11 today. In fact, while I had been thinking about doing a 9/11 post about 2 days ago, it wasn't until I read Poodles' blog mentioning it that I actually thought of it today. That has more to do with my incredibly odd schedule. I am forever misplacing days of the week and not knowing for sure if yesterday was Monday or Thursday.

9/11 is one of those days that gets burned into your memory rather deeply. When I first got an inkling that something was wrong, I was taking a 10 minute break from schooling the kids and called my Mom at work. She was surprised to hear from me and asked if I was watching the news. I said, "No, Mom it's the middle of our school day, why would I have the tv on?" She said, "Don't you know?" "Know what?" "We've been bombed. I've got to go, just watch the news."

wtf??? Who's been bombed? Who would bomb Montana? Or maybe the telephone cooperative she was working part time for?

So I flipped the tv on and there was Dan Rather with two smoking buildings behind him. Holy shit the twin towers!!!! It was like some twisted scene out of that goofy movie from the late 70's Towering Inferno.

I sat in the corner of the couch with my arms wrapped around my knees and stared in disbelief at the tv for the rest of the morning. I was completely shocked and couldn't believe what I was seeing. And then the buildings came down one after the other.

I was fairly certain the world as I knew it would never be the same again.

The more I've learned about that tragic day, the more I am convinced that the world was never quite what I thought it was.

9/11. For all the innocents who died that day- you are not forgotten.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

opening a can of worms

At first I certainly wasn't going to post about this, but as it has generated a modest amount of interest on the Open Forum, I'll bring the topic to the fore and give everyone a go at it.

If you pop back to the open forum 5 post, you will note that the subject of homosexuality has come up, specifically the idea of if it is a choice and whether or not it has consequences.

As it currently stands, I am waiting to hear back from telmeimwrong(you're wrong!) a list of the unfortuante consequences that has only been hinted at but not delineated.


~~~~~~~~~~
Before I am able to properly discuss this with you, telmeimwrong (you're wrong!), I would like to know what you consider to be the "unfortunate consequences of being a homosexual". By not including that information, you have rather left us guessing as to what you "might" mean, which really forces us to build straw men and knock them down.

So let's open with that one and proceed from there.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Ode to getting LIT at Applebee's

Third tries the charm isn't it? WAHAHAHAHAA I posted this fucker on the wrong blog- TWICE and have to cut and paste it- TWICE. FUCKING HAHAHAHAHA. FIERY'S BRAIN IS SOOOOO HAMMERED. Fucking world. FUCKIT. Now you get to enjoy it here. Signed in to two fucking blogs in the same fucking window. WOW aren't I a nerd? HOORAH to the one who can find the other blog. TALK TO ME GODDAMIT!!!!!! Sorry, that's just meant for one.

On with the orignal post.

How do I love booze, let me count the ways.

1- Flavor inhancer- omfg. We went to Applebee's tonight. *groan* oh god. oh my god the food is so fantastic. I started the meal with a 16 oz. Long Island Tea on an empty stomach consumed in about ohhhh I'm a sipper so I'd hazzard a guess and say 5 minutes. ohhhhhhhhhhhh fuck yeah!!!!! So then we order and it arrives and I've already requested a 2nd Tea and mmmmmmmm omg. We ordered and shared a burger with onion rings and boneless buffalo chicken wings and mozarella sticks. FUCK YEAH!!! OMG The taste was mmmmmmm and oh god. + booze = Fiery enjoying the texture of the food. I could twirl the moza stick and feel the breading with my finger tips mmmmmmmm. oh yes. oh god it was soooooo goood. I couldn't stop saying mmmmmmmmm

2- Mood enhancer- is that fucking spelled IN or EN? Who cares it was enhanced and enchanting and god it was just sooooo funny. OH I am so glad someone invented Long Island Teas. Artificial happiness in a beverage, and the second one allowed me to maintain the buzz by sipping as I ate. Did I mention how emotionally UP alchohol is???? OH YEAH!!! Nothing like dehydration to make the world a sunny happy space eh Johnny? mmmm

3- Libido activation device- So the waiter's name was Mike and I managed to get through the meal without flirting with him. Though at one point if he'd asked at that moment how the food was I was tempted to hump his leg to show my appreciation. FUCKING FANTASTIC DUDE!!!! That's how the food is. Jeebus H. Toasterchrist everything tasted good. So- managed to not flirt with the waiter, mainly because he was fucking 20 and anyone that flirts with someone 14 years their junior is just a sick fuck. So- no flirting with Mike, who, if I had humped his leg would have lost his low slung pants and Fiery didn't want to see Mike Jr. kwim?



So- I went to Applebee's today and had a really great time. Ohhhhhhh I LOVE Applebee's. Greatest restaurant on earth.

Love Fiery

oreo cats

I was raised on a farm and we almost always had cats. For the longest time it was a self-perpetuating dynasty of cats (inbreeding) with periodic infusions of fresh blood (roaming tom cats).

Frisky- The first cat I ever had was a beautiful black & white tom that looked just like the cat on the box of Friskee cat food. He was an indoor/outdoor cat and ohhhhhh how that cat loved me. He'd nuzzle my face with his own and always came running when I called. I remember the time he went out on a tom cattin' adventure and was gone for over a week. I missed him so much. One night Dad said he heard some yowling out the front door and it was and a black and white streak that bolted in the door and bounded up the stairs straight to my bed. I remember being woke up by Frisky stroking my face with his own.

Stub- The second cat I really considered my own was another black & white tom that had the most beautiful tuxedo markings, so much so that he started out life named Tux.

One night my sibs and I were home alone, Mom was at orchestra rehearsal and Dad was at a Weed Board meeting. We looked out the window and Tux was up the telephone pole standing on that garbage can shaped transformer deally-a-bopper. I went out with a yellow margarine tub with some dry cat kibble in it to shake and try and lure him down.

Apparently one paw touched the bottom wire and the tip of his tail hit the top wire and there was this hideous bezap noise and down he fell. It was such a long fall to the ground and unlike other cats that twist and writhe as they fell, he was totally still. I can still hear the thump he made when he hit the ground. Dad says it was hitting the ground that probably restarted his heart. It is one of two times in my life that I remember being genuinely hysterical.

He walked away from that one, though 3/4th of his tale was crisped. He roamed the farm for a month or so afterwards with a charred candy cane shaped stick where his beautiful furry tail had been. Eventually it fell off and he was left with a short stub of a tail. He also liked to rub his face against mine.

Neko- My third cat that I've loved is a black and white female. She has the softest tummy fur and loves when I sit at my laptop and type. She is invariably in my lap napping while I write, sometimes one handed so I can hold her better. She has a special affinity for my son and if she hears him moving about the house is instantly alert. If it sounds like he is doing something interesting (makes noises more than once) she is off to see what he's up to. She even has a special way of carrying her tail that she only uses when she's off to see what he's up to.

I love the dramatic contrast between the black & white fur markings. But more than that is to love and be loved in return.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

civil disobedience

Back in August, I was told in the comments for my post Accidents that bicyles are to be ridden on the right side of the road, with the flow of traffic. So, for the last few weeks, we've been attempting that.

Here in Minnesota it is tableland flat. You can actually see the curvature of the earth- 6 miles away. Plus it's inevitably windy which means you can't hear shit while you are out on your bike. The other thing, is that the shoulders of the road are paved and over 5 feet wide, there is a huge lane available and a farm truck could pass without even switching lanes and it wouldn't bother.

However, if I'm riding WITH traffic, it completely eliminates my sense of SIGHT as a tool for safe riding. I can't SEE the vehicles that are approaching. Nor am I able to move aside in time to avoid the air rush of the passing vehicle.

How does that make sense? How does that add to my safety? Why should I rely exclusively on the approaching driver to watch out for me and my kids? If I turn to see if their is an approaching vehicle, my bike gets pulled INTO traffic. I just don't want to be checking to see if that roar is a farm truck loaded with sugar beats or the sound of the nor'wester blowing in the autumn chill, only to find myself UNDER the load of sugar beats.

If the only justification for the rule is that a bunch of politicians decided everyone should "ride on the right", well that's just not good enough. I suppose here, someone could say, "but...but...they make little rear-view mirrors for bikes". Yeah, not good enough either.

As for me and my house, we're riding on the left.

open forum 5

August was an interesting month, a time of making new friends *waves hello*, lessons learned (the pendulum always turns), good days (yeah), bad days (too many of you) and I'm really hoping September goes better.

As per the last few months, I'm putting up an open forum.

There have been times when visiting other blogs that I wanted to ask the blog owner a question off topic, but never really knew where to put it. I didn't want to be rude and bust into an on-going comment-conversation.

So- This post is the opportunity for any of my readers to broach a subject, ask a personal question, bring up a topic, talk about whatever is on your mind...

Let the games begin!