WTF, Barack?

I have been Barack Obama’s biggest fan and supporter. I worked for his election. I voted for him. I convinced other people to vote for him. I listened to his vision in his oratory, and found in him the promise of delivery from eight years of unethical, and even criminal, behavior by the Bush administration. Barack said clearly to us, … Continue reading

Tucker the Weird Dawg

Tucker is an English Springer Spaniel, the third Springer that I have been proud to house, feed, and love. Tucker was also my third Springer rescue, this time from the amazing people at ESRA, the English Springer Rescue America organization. There is little point in getting a dog if you do not rescue it. There are so many that need … Continue reading

101 things about me

There is a “meme” going around herein people write eight, or sixteen, or twelve things about themselves. I have not yet figured out why this is important. However, I thought I would give it a try. I am a natural over-achiever, so it got a little out of hand. There follows 101 random things about me. 1. I am the … Continue reading

Advisory Bullshit

It occurred to me again today how many people there are trying to tell us how to live our lives. Doctor Phil. The Dali Lama. Every inexperienced academic on the planet. The Federal Government. Oprah Winfrey. Fox News. John McCain. (okay, so those last two are telling us the same things) Cereal boxes. New age self-improvement books. Newspaper columns. Talk … Continue reading

Saccharine Sex

I understand that sex sells. I understand that there is a great deal of interest in the subject generally. But I do not understand why the most popular take on sex appears to be about as sophisticated as the jokes in high school sophomore biology. Please do not get me wrong. I think sex is wonderful. It is one of … Continue reading

Voting Critically

It is getting harder every day to discuss politics, simply because the electorate is too polarized. I believe that to be on purpose, a ruse to keep people from talking about the things that matter. Politicians want this situation to be commonplace, in order that we stay disgusted with the process and don’t look at it too closely, or begin … Continue reading

Islands

When you are young and free of care, sometimes you see something especially shiny. You stop and pick it up, and look at it, and play with it. Usually, the shine goes away and you get bored with it. Sooner or later, you lose the shiny thing and usually don’t even care. Once in a great while, you find something … Continue reading

Loving the Mixx

mixx.jpeg

So, on the recommendation of people I knew from StumbleUpon and Twitter, I joined Mixx. At first, it looked a lot like Digg and Reddit. You know, read the articles, vote up or down, yadda yadda. But even during my first evening at Mixx, there was a much better feeling about the place than at any other (more or less) … Continue reading

The Process May Still Work

Democracy has been under vigorous attack from the highest levels of the Administration for seven years, for whatever reason. Even if they felt they were doing the right thing, the rest of us know that you can’t save the country by turning it into Communist Poland. Lech fixed that mess, and I hope we can fix this one. The way … Continue reading