Thursday, August 28, 2008

"America, we are better than this."

I'm compelled to write, briefly, while watching Obama accept the democratic nomination.

"John McCain voted with President Bush 90% of the time. Do you really want to elect someone as President who thought that Bush was right 90% of the time?!"

Whoever reads this (and I don't blame you if you've given up on me by now), did you watch this speech? Oh my god, might we possibly have an intelligent, articulate, accomplished, inspired person as OUR PRESIDENT??! I still can't even believe it. I really don't want to get my hopes up, but as time goes on, I become more surprised and excited by this man, and more invested in his bid for presidency.

"That is the promise of America. The promise that we not only work and succeed for ourselves, but we work and succeed because we rise and fall as one nation."

WHAT? We should care about EACH OTHER in this country?

Could this possibly happen? Is there even the slightest chance that social security will be available to my generation when we're unable to care for ourselves? That our children and our children's children will always have access to health care? That this country will even survive nuclear attack or environmental defeat long enough for our children's children to care about their health care??

"I've got news for you, John McCain: we ALL put our country first....what has also been lost during these last 8 years is our sense of common purpose. We may not agree on abortion, but surely we must agree that we need to reduce the amount of unwanted pregnancies in this country....I know there are differences on same-sex marriages, but surely we believe that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit their loved ones in the hospital, and to live lives free of discrimination...."

"I stand before you tonight because all across America, something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has NEVER been about me. It's about you."

"America, we cannot turn back, we cannot walk alone."

I didn't expect it, but this was a pretty powerful moment in my life. I really do believe that my future rests somewhat on this election, and I'm not really sure we will have a moment like this in American politics for a very long time.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Welcome to the Brickleach Zoo!

Well. Where do I start?

I know I've written about Snoop the devil cat several times, and as a quick update on him, he continues to emulate satan increasingly accurately. That might be a little too harsh--I think my opinion on this subject is slightly skewed due to the fact that I'm realizing I'm just not really a cat person. Devil cat, like most cats, is supremely self-interested. He really has no desire, ever, to be cute and nice and cuddly like a good pet should be. He harasses people and other animals indiscriminately, just for his own amusement. He wakes us up mrrrowwwing at 4:30 in the morning because he's bored and wants Vinny to come play with him. He breaks out of the house and is gone for days, and then I receive phone calls in the middle of the night from people living several blocks away saying that my cat is in their yard, and he seems SO very scared, and he's trying to climb up their screen door and get into their house. Yeah, scared. Right. His entire life revolves around finding new people or animals to mess with, and they are merely pawns in his twisted little game.

So, in conclusion: I do not believe that Snoop deserved to be on kitty death row. He's been rather amusing at times, he's kept Vinny company, and he hasn't scratched the shit out of me in at least three weeks now, so we're on relatively good terms. However, I would not be terribly upset, you see, if he miraculously found a home on a farm somewhere with hundreds of other devil cats and just harassed them for the rest of his life.

Second best option: my teacher friend, for god knows what reason, thinks he's cute, and wants to adopt him. SWEEEEEET!!!!!

Don't feel too bad for her. She's a self proclaimed cat person, and she's had Snoopy at her house several times when we've been out of town, so she pretty much knows what's up. She just has a higher pain tolerance, I guess.

So devil cat is going to Jeanne's house this coming Friday before we go on vacation, and cross your fingers, he will likely end up staying there. Until, of course, he breaks out, and makes it back to our house, and, like the worst nightmare you can imagine, I hear him mrrowwwing out in the yard at 4:30 in the morning. I really don't want to jinx myself, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least.

In anticipation of all of this, Matt and I were talking about how Vinny will be lonely, and how perhaps we should adopt another dog. We were sort of torn on this, but we decided that when we get back from our trip in August we would see if we could find a dog who is a bit older, calmer, house trained, and could be a companion for the Vin. Probably one day after we made this decision, one of the cutest dogs I have ever seen shows up in my neighbor's yard. My neighbors inform me that her owner's father is dying of cancer, and he's lost his job, or some terrible story like that, and they'd really love to keep her but they already have two dogs and two kids so they're hoping they'll be able to find a good home for her.

The next afternoon she's chilling in our house.

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Charlie, an aussie/beagle mix. She's younger than we had originally wanted (7 months), but she's the SWEETEST little girl and she's really been very good. The funniest thing is, she loves Snoopy, and now we officially have a trio of terror going on:

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Like I said before, if all goes as planned, devil cat will be re-homed in less than a week and we will officially be only a dog family, from here on out, FOREVER. But surprisingly, Charlie's addition has kind of brought some peace to the household. The cat is so excited about her that he's actually kind of shut up for the past few days, and Vinny keeps himself occupied trying to steal her bones and chew toys, and the dogs run themselves half to death in the backyard and are relatively quiet inside. Charlie is an absolute lover and she follows us around constantly, wagging her entire rear end and smiling. It's nice.

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So, that's the news here. Otherwise, I'm finished with summer session in four days, we're going home next Saturday, and we are enjoying the sun and clear skies. Having another dog is a great excuse to go on walks, and sit outside chatting and throwing the ball (Charlie is exceptionally good at fetch, and she makes Vinny more excited about the game, although he really just goes after her instead of the ball). Summer continues to be lovely.