Our puppy, Tex, has never met a paper he didn’t like–to destroy! The dog can render an entire roll of toilet paper useless in milliseconds. His nose, which should rightly be classified as a weapon of mass destruction, comes equipped (apparently without upgrade!) with Paper Product Radar. In the presence of said PPR, all paper products in the Taylor household tremble with fear and uncertainty–when will their time come? When will they meet their untimely end?
For a treasured keepsake, that moment of crossing over was today, February 26. The human in charge forgot to activate the Puppy Restraint Apparatus (aka, baby gate), at which time Tex charged downstairs in utter joy of his freedom of movement. A few moments later, Tex sauntered back upstairs with a satisfied grin (the human swears on it!)… clutching in his mouth a few tattered remains of his kill.
Is it some twisted karma that he shredded his puppy training diploma?!
Oh goodness, just when I was set to go off on a rampage about crazy people who believe the Earth is not spinning or orbiting the sun, I see this story.
As the General Assembly debates global warming and the death penalty, Myers (R-Washington) has something else on his mind: the outsized plastic testicles that truckers dangle from the trailer hitches of their pickups.
To some truckers, they are manly expressions of rural chic. But Myers, who says his Western Maryland district is brimming with giant fakes on the roadways, calls them vulgar and immoral — and filed legislation this week to outlaw them.
I’d give you a link to photo in case you haven’t seen them, but I’m on my lunch hour. Somehow I think that Google search would be considered NSFW (not safe for work). 
Now I have to admit that the first time I saw “truck nuts” I was appalled. There was this enormous black pick-up truck, with what must have been 8-foot suspension, in front of me at the stop light with what appeared to be a black leather scrotum hanging off his tailgate. Not quite the kind of thing I like staring me in the face as I’m making my way to the mall. 
But, hey. C’est la vie. If that’s what some dude thinks is cool to hang off his car, so be it. Personally, I think it’s a little wacky, but then I’m not the type of girl he’s probably trying to impress.
Seriously. Can’t this guy think of something better to legislate? I know I’m in Texas and that’s a LONG way from Maryland, but surely Maryland, like Texas, has educational systems that need to be fixed, roads that need to be improved, and other mundane governmental things to do. Sheesh.
For quite some time I have felt utterly disconnected from religion. I moved to southeastern Texas (Houston area) about 7 years ago and haven’t seen religion the same since.
As I navigated that rocky transition from adolescence to adulthood (some of us call that college!), I discovered that my personality leaned much more towards optimism and happy-go-lucky “can’t we all get along” musings than most people. Sometimes I wondered if I’d been born in the wrong decade. Even with those hippy leanings, I once described to someone that I was becoming more Republican the older I got. After all, the older I got, I had to be more responsible with my money–why shouldn’t our government do the same? So then I was a slightly hippy-ish moderate who wanted a small and efficient government. I thought of myself as a fiscal Republican and a social Democrat. I know, don’t ask me to explain that logic now.
Then we moved to Texas and I saw what it meant to be Republican here. (Yes, if I was using sound effects, you’d hear a car screeching to a halt and hitting a brick wall.) “Conservative” took on a whole new meaning for me. Seeing Texas Republicans and living through the politics of September 11, 2001, closed the curtains on my “I wonder what I am?” days. I started wondering how people who embraced Christian values would deny taxes that would benefit the downtrodden in society. Suddenly, patriotism was equated with religion, and vice versa. In these parts, if you didn’t support the war, you weren’t a good Christian. And, the implication seems, if you aren’t Christian, you’re not a good person.
Honestly, I can’t surely state that this disconnection happened when I moved; perhaps it just seems as though it did because graduating and moving offers a convenient life landmark. If I had moved somewhere else (the West Coast or Chicago or Atlanta), would I still be so disillusioned about the role of politics in religion and the role of religion in politics? Or was it 9/11 and its ongoing aftermath that changed me, as it changed so many others?
All I know is that it has been quite some time since I have seen a civilized discussion of religion, particularly among those of different beliefs. So I’ve been keeping an eye on a new blog I found called On Faith. Produced jointly by Newsweek and The Washington Post, it’s intended to bring together prominent leaders of all faiths to discuss current issues in the context of religion. So far, and I’ve been reading for about a month now, it’s been an enlightening read. And so encouraging that civilized and meaninful discussions of religion truly are possible!
I mentioned in a previous blog entry that if I ever set up a home library, I’d decorate with faery prints. Well, since I now have my entertainment room I decided to order a few prints from Duirwaigh Gallery. I love that site–I could surf it for hours. And their video is awesome–so uplifting and dreamy… But I digress!
I just got their shipping notice and it is the happiest one EVER.
To: Our Loyal Patron
From: The Shipping Elves at Duirwaigh
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
The contents of
your treasure chest
Now begin their
Journey Quest
From our Duir
to your address
The voyage goes
by UPS
Any Questions?
Be our guest!
Here are the details
as we know best:
Enjoy your spoils
at our request
Blessings to you–
for you have blessed!!
You’ve heard me wish for a personal library room. With this year’s bonus, I told my hubby that I was finally going to make a library room, no matter what. Thankfully he didn’t object.
In order to minimize the disruption to our home layout, though, I don’t have one room that is all books all the time. Instead, I have several new bookshelves in strategic locations. I have two in my office for all of my computer and writing books. A shelf in my room for spirituality, women’s studies/health, and self-help type books. And the new beauties are the four (yes, FOUR!) new bookshelves in our living room. The living room will house most of my books, but will also still serve as a public sitting and TV viewing area. So not a library in the strictest sense, but still a haven of written word for me. I’ll also put my yarn basket down there so I can sit and crochet while gazing fondly at my books.
So I think I’ll start calling it my entertainment room. It’s not decked out with games and pool tables, but my books, music, crafts, and occasional movie are all the entertainment I need.
I have some before and after photos!
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