Let it not snow...please?

I learned early on that mid-November in Wisconsin is the beginning of the snow season, AKA hell. We had some flurries last week, and then last night we had a real shower....nothing out of the ordinary, but when my friend left our house last night there was a definite layer of snow on her car. My heart literally hurt to see it, because it's very beautiful, and yet so utterly ominous.

It was gone by the morning. I was surprised that I felt a little disappointed. That's the thing about snow--to some degree, I absolutely love it, and I love the winter. If winter lasted two months here, maybe even three, I think I could stand it. But after having experienced the euphoria of 'the first snow' last year, I know that what last night really meant was the beginning of four, maybe five, months of freezing, muddy, icy miserableness. In that light, it doesn't seem quite so lovely.

To be fair, the next month will probably not be miserable. Pre-Christmas ice and snow is kind of sweet and charming, and breaking out the boots and parka is kind of fun--for a little while. It's seasonal. People expect it, even look forward to it. But after the joys of the holiday season fade, we begin to grow weary...and then by late January we're all pretty crabby...and by the end of February, we're just pissed off...and by mid-March we've pretty much lost our will to live.

I know I need to live in the moment, to have a less negative outlook. Maybe this winter won't be as bad as the last. Maybe my *3.5 week (WOOHOO!!)* southwest sojourn will revive me and break up the winter just enough to get me through.

I will try to enjoy the winter this year. That's my goal. But I can't guarantee that my next five posts will not be about how much I hate the Wisconsin climate. I mean, seriously--it was 95 in El Cajon today. 95!!! I'm a desert creature. I'm still not entirely sure I'm made for this place.

change?

Well, this country continues to move like a drunk turtle in its convoluted (and confounding) journey toward, presumably, equal opportunity and equal rights for all of its citizens. Last night was unspeakably glorious and yet quietly, bitterly tasteless; the glory, overall, masked the tastelessness, but I'm very, very sad that my home state contributed as much to the latter as to the former. It seems like Americans just always need someone to pick on. Sure, we will elect someone as President who is not lily white--and that's absolutely wonderful--but to compensate, we will literally strip another minority of their right to marry the person they love. It's beyond understanding, it's utterly wrong. The California Supreme Court upheld the legal right of all of its citizens to marry the person of their choosing, and then a bunch of self-righteous, ignorant people with, apparently, nothing better to do on the eve of a truly momentous election, ran a spiteful, wasteful, frighteningly well-organized multi-million dollar campaign that accomplished what? The hurt and humiliation of a minority that had finally been vindicated by their home state? I personally see no other outcome, though so many seem to be celebrating the fact that their version of marriage has been 'protected'--whatever that means.

I guess in some ways, it's not that surprising. A certain fraction of conservatives knew they were going to lose this election. And they didn't really care for John McCain, anyway, since he wasn't basing his entire campaign on achieving 'moral' victories for the religious right, as Bush did. So because he was going to lose, and because he wasn't going to push their moral agenda anyway, they had to find another way to bring bigotry back into this election.

Nation-wide, bigotry lost. I am so profoundly grateful. In January we will have a President who is intelligent, introspective, well-spoken, well-educated, and who utterly exemplifies whatever remains of our ever-touted American dream. Enough Americans finally managed to recognize that those qualities matter, and that race does not.

California, however, is losing so much of the progressiveness that once gave it its sparkle, and its power. In Florida and Arizona, it's equally disappointing but perhaps less critical, because the rest of this country looks to California as a harbinger of social change. I guess I just want to ask 52% of California voters why--honestly, why, how--they feel good about overturning the mandate of their state supreme court, a body that is there to help us legally uphold the constitution and the rights of all people, simply in order to bar their fellow citizens from their personal happiness?

I wish this whole entry could be about singing the praises of Barack Obama, and of our country, which did the right thing and voted him into office. It's hard to be 100% happy, though, because it means forgetting about a group of people who really got screwed yesterday, many of them people I am friends with, people I love and respect. We have made strides, but we have so far to go. I think overall, I'm glad to have time to recover from the stresses of this election. It's bittersweet, however, because here are Matt and I happily planning a wedding, looking forward to the joys and priveleges of a shared, married life, when others perfectly equal to us in love and dedication have just been told, yet again, that they aren't allowed to do the same.

Second annual weekend in Door County, Uncut and Uncensored!!!

Ok, don't get your hopes up, our weekend wasn't that exciting....it was more relaxing, and lovely. We got up there Thursday night, and commenced the touristing on Friday morning, which was great, because we had an extra day this time. We walked around Fish Creek with the dogs, who got an obscene amount of attention, unsurprisingly, and we ate sandwiches in Peninsula State Park. We then did some wine tasting at Stone's Throw Winery, which we've done before, and which is lots of fun. Bought a few bottles of wine, went home, and played with the dogs outside. The dogs had arguably the best weekend of their short, destructive lives. We had them outside at every opportunity--did a ton of ball-throwing for Charlie, and Vinny spent most of his time growling at other inhabitants of our condo complex or rolling in goose poop (classy, as always). Here are a couple videos of the dogs (and us) having fun:







We also watched the presidential debate, about which I will only make this one itty-bitty innocuous comment: gobama.

Then on Saturday, we took a 10 mile bike ride through Peninsula State Park, which was unequivocally gorgeous and perfect that particular day, and later on bought some souvenir jam and mustard and then ate delicious Italian food at home while watching more of John Adams. Our night was spent mostly indoors due to the weather, which brought light rain and at least a ten degree drop in temperature, but it was actually AWESOME because our condo had a fireplace--oh my god, I love fireplaces.

We were sad to leave today. It was so nice getting away, and once again, beautiful Door County succeeded in reviving us after a stressful couple of weeks. It's so nice to be reminded of the loveliness and diversity of Wisconsin--there's really a lot of wonderful things here, and it's awesome to be able to take advantage of them.

In closing, GO BREW CREW!!!! Our adopted team is going to the playoffs, and we couldn't be more excited.

"America, we are better than this" Part Two

Ok, to set the record straight, I'm not a Democrat. I'm really not. And hey, I might be worse things, actually! But that's beside the point. Anyway, I don't want this blog to become Obama Fest '08. I like the guy, really I do. He's intelligent, accomplished, inspiring and idealistic, and I can't help but want my country to be headed by someone of that caliber. But in general, I think the two party system is crap, and I live for the day when there are legitimate third and fourth party candidates and we actually have the luxury of 'choice' in this country.

For now, however, I just implore anyone and everyone who ever liked McCain (and I count myself among them) to watch his running mate Sara Palin's ABC interview with Charles Gibson. You can find most of it online. I think it spells out what we are really going to be voting for (or against) in November. Palin's inexperience (ignorance?) speaks volumes for itself in this interview, and I have no desire to delve into the ineptitude of her politics. I will say, though, that as a woman--a woman who truly believes that women are going to change the nature and course of this nation, and ultimately this planet--I am supremely disappointed, and I'm not ashamed to say it. She comes across as ignorant and uninformed, utterly contrived--a 'pitbull', sure! But to what end?? That she tries to fist-pump her way out of every situation in which it's so pathetically obvious she has no idea what she's talking about?? I'm embarrassed. I want Hilary back, and I never even loved Hilary that much to begin with!

Well, sorry. That's the end of the political rant, for the time being. I promise the next entry will be on giving injections, assessing babies, and having no idea what I'm doing in the hospital--perhaps a bit more light-hearted, but multitudes less important.

"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.

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.



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:



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.



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.

Beer Fest.

Ahhhh, summer in Milwaukee. It's like one big frat party. Every weekend there is some sort of 'fest'--Summerfest, Irish Fest, German Fest, Cheese Fest, Polish Fest, etc. And then there are the fests that try to trick you by not having 'fest' as the suffix: River Splash, Storming of the Bastille, Indian Summer, the list goes on and on. While I appreciate that outwardly these are all celebrations of diversity, it's become clear to me that really, every single festival revolves around the same thing: beer. I don't know why we kid ourselves anymore. We went to Cheese Fest yesterday with visions of blocks and blocks of free, wonderful, Wisconsin cheese. In actuality, a few scant bites of cheese were consumed, followed by beer after beer after beer after beer....not that we were disappointed. The weather was absolutely perfect, there was tremendous people watching, the live music was entertaining, and there was even a drag show. You might ask: what do drag queens have to do with cheese?!?! Well, here's the answer: beer. Lots of it.

Matt enjoys these activities because he's constantly hanging out with large groups of future nurses. Life's not bad if your Matt these days. Evidence:



The people I've met through my program are obscenely fun, and hardly a day goes by when there isn't some grand scheme to get a whole bunch of people together and go to a 'fest,' or have a bbq, or storm the public pool. Summer is flying by, though! The mosquitoes and lightning bugs aren't quite as numerous anymore, our second summer session is winding down, and Matt and I are excited about our August plans: home for a week and then to Dallas to visit Chris and Cindy.

Life continues to be action-packed and lovely. We're trying to live it up this summer, knowing now what awaits us around the middle of November...