'Tard of the Week - Sally Kern

Tuesday, June 30, 2009
God bless Oklahoma Representative Sally Kern. Like Karl Rove and Rush Limbaugh, she's the Republican gift that just keeps on giving and giving, even when you'd really like to tell her to wipe he drool off her chin and keep her ideas to herself.

Her latest wackadoodle endeavor is called the "OKLAHOMA CITIZEN’S PROCLAMATION FOR MORALITY." She's championing this startling piece of rhetoric because she honestly believes...wait for it...that our economic woes are being caused by our immoral behavior.

Now, on the surface, this kind of makes sense. There were plenty of people whose unbridled greed did lead to this crisis, especially in light of sub prime mortgages and other financial shenanigans.

But that's not the type of moral turpitude Representative Kern is referring to.

She feels that "abortion, pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse, and many other forms of debauchery" are the root cause. That's right - Adam Smith's invisible hand is bitch-slapping the market because some single lesbian had the temerity to want a family and actually, you know, marry her partner.

Oh, and the supporting cause of our troubles? That bastard Obama who refuses to adequately participate in our "National Day of Prayer."

::snort::

It appears that Representative Kern's desire for the spotlight is only outweighed by her complete and utter ignorance of economics and what constitutes ethical behavior.

That's right, Sally Kernservative - I'm calling you out for being a complete and utter 'tard, completely unqualified to speak on any matter of importance, up to and including the economic crisis, America's moral character, and whether or not President Obama is a fit moral leader. In fact, I think you yourself are a completely unfit moral leader, due to your obvious bigotry, self-righteousness and willful inability to see reality.

Fucking 'tard. I think everyone concerned would be happier if you'd simply shut the fuck up from now on, don't you?

Guest Blogger - "A Topic Serious in Nature"

The following piece was written by my Smart Daughter. She originally posted it on Facebook, but has given me permission to repost it here, since she feels the issue does not get enough coverage in the mainstream media.

A Topic Serious in Nature

Today I'd like to talk about a common misconception that I fear is seriously damaging America; the ideas we have about underage prostitution, and the girls who are forced to do it.

We, as Middle class Americans (as that describes pretty much all of my f-list) seem to have this idea that these girls run away from home with the intention of becoming a whore. And some of them do. However, the majority run away from bad situations, with no idea of how a decent relationship should run and are picked up by and preyed upon by their pimps. The pimp will present himself as a caring, loving, boyfriend/father figure. Once his "love" has been established he will slowly start waging a psychological warfare upon the girl, becoming abusive and threatening until the child could no more disobey him then she could break the law of gravity.

Slowly he will convince her that she needs to help "earn her keep", and at these ages it's not like the girl in question can run out and get a job. In fact, she can't run out and do anything. She is completely dependent upon her pimp. She will probably live in a room with the other prostitutes "belonging" to her pimp, and the child will never get a cent of the money she risks life and limb to make.

Yes, "at these ages", yes I said "child." New figures have the average age of girls entering "the life" at 13.

These girls are abused, raped (I know what you think, but a prostitute can be raped) and treated as criminals by the one group that is in a position to help them: the police. Unless a girl can be prove to have been taken across state lines she is not regarded as a "trafficked" person, and is therefore, regardless of her age, not entitled to the same rights, benefits and other help given to those who are smuggled in.

Because of this the police have very few options. They can send the girl to jail, where it is unlikely she will get the counseling she will need (these girls generally have such incredibly low self esteem that they have convinced themselves/have been convinced by their pimps that they are suited for no other life) but will at least have the opportunity to get the education that they missed. Or they can go back into the custody of the family they ran away from in the first place/to a foster home (and we've all heard the horror stories about what those are like for the typical teenager). This, of course, leaves the poor girl available to the pimp, who is generally more then capable of convincing.threatening her right back in.

We send kids who have drug problems to rehab on the government's dime, why are their so few programs for helping these girls? And why are none of those government sponsored? They are clearly the victims in this situation, and yet there are only three or four programs in the entire country dedicated to helping these pour kids!

Most often these girls live in fear for their very lives from their pimps, who threaten, beat, rape, and psychologically torture these girls. They tell the girls that if they don't earn a certain amount of money, if they don't give all of the money they earn to the pimp, if they give the pimp any lip, or if they ever ever dare try to run away they will die, because he will kill them.

The future for the girls, hundreds of thousands across the country, is bleak. They have no options, they have no future. We are failing these children.

What the Fuck is Wrong With These People? - Frank Lombard

Monday, June 29, 2009
If you have a weak stomach, I'd recommend you just move along - nothing to see here.

Frank Lombard is an associate director of the Center for Health Policy at Duke University. Five years ago, he adopted an infant boy.

And last week, Mr. Lombard was arrested for entering an online chat room and trying to get an undercover detective to come to North Carolina and have sex with his now five year old son. He's been charged in Washington with attempting to induce someone to cross state lines to engage in sex with a child. If he's convicted, the maximum sentence would be 20 years.

We will now pause so you can go hurl.

Christ on a crutch.

If these allegations are true, it seems apparent that the only reason Mr. Lombard adopted the child in question is so he could use the poor child as his sex toy (he admitted to the undercover detective that he was sexually abusing his son). Clearly, the guy hid his predilections pretty well, since he was able to adopt and was employed by a prestigious university.

These are the types of stories that generate internal dialogues in my mind:

Mummy Janiece: Burn him. ::froth, froth::

Liberal Janiece: Settle down. You don't know if he's guilty or not - he deserves a fair trial.

Mummy Janiece: He deserves to have somebody go to work on him with a pair of pliers and blow torch. Fucker.

Liberal Janiece: He was probably abused as a child and never got any help.

Mummy Janiece: So fucking what? He's an adult now, isn't he? Adults are responsible for their own actions. He was trying to pimp out his five year old child, for fuck's sake. Who does that?

Liberal Janiece: Well, if the allegations are true, then it seems obvious that he's damaged in some fundamental way. It's possible the damage can never be fixed.

Mummy Janiece: Oh, I can fix him, all right. Pass the pliers.
I don't know what's going to happen to Mr. Lombard, and quite frankly, I don't really care provided he's never in a position to hurt another child. I am concerned about the child, though - will he receive the help he needs to get past this, and live a relatively normal, balanced life? I sure hope so.

What the fuck is wrong with these people?

2009 Wild Flower Pr0n, Volume III

Sunday, June 28, 2009



Weight Watchers - Week 1

Saturday, June 27, 2009
Today was my second Weight Watcher's meeting, and my weigh-in revealed that I lost 3.2 pounds. Yay, me! (Disclaimer: I wore jeans last week, and shorts this week, so some of that might have been fabric. Just trying to be honest, here.) The meeting was fun, and I got some more ideas on how to serve vegetables so that the entire family (including me) doesn't make the Calvin face when they appear on our plates:


The first week wasn't that bad, and I'm having little trouble sticking with the program. Several weeks from now, I may feel differently, but for now, it's all good.

I don't plan on blogging about this very frequently, as my losing 60 pounds really isn't interesting to anyone except me. I'll be posting my progress on the sidebar, though, as part of my accountability plan.

We now return to our regularly scheduled Saturday.

Boogie Blogging Friday with Special Guest, Dare

Friday, June 26, 2009
This week, Boogie has decided to give up his weekly spotlight to a Sheltie named Dare, pictured at right.

Dare only has two legs - a front and a back leg on the right side. He lost the other two in his early weeks as a puppy mill puppy, and he was subsequently rescued by Colorado Sheltie Rescue. Adopted by Tami Skinner, they're now an animal-therapy team with the American Humane Association. They spend their days visiting a variety of facilities, and young Dare is a big hit everywhere they go.

Dare is a good, good boy.



Wag o' the tail to my Hot Mom.

Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History, Volume XXIII

Thursday, June 25, 2009
This is Dr. Jerri Nielsen FitzGerald. She died this morning at her home, a victim of breast cancer. She was 57.

While millions of women fight the good fight against breast cancer, and most of them bravely and well, Dr. FitzGerald was special. In 1999, Dr. FitzGerald volunteered to "winter over" at the South Pole as the resident M.D. for the scientists, construction workers and other support people. Shortly after the last flight departed for the winter, she discovered a lump in her breast. With the help of her assistant (a welder), she performed her own biopsy, which was inconclusive.
Doctors monitoring her condition via satellite e-mail decided that she needed chemotherapy drugs and medical equipment. The only way to deliver them was through a rare midwinter airdrop, successfully completed in July by an Air Force jet in total darkness -- in a field lit only by fire.
She underwent her chemotherapy at the hands of her assistants (the aforementioned welder, a carpenter, and who knows who-else), and at first the tumor shrank. But then it started to grow again, and she was evacuated in October of 1999, in one of the earliest recorded flights in a South Pole winter.

She subsequently went into remission, but the cancer came back in 2005, and finally took her life.

My sympathy goes out to her surviving family members. She was a remarkable woman. With the help of a welder, a carpenter, the U.S. Air Force and the New York Air National Guard, she wrestled another 10 years of life from an improbable survival story. Ill-behaved, indeed.

You will be missed.

The Joys of Home Ownership

This is the Autumn Blaze Maple in our front yard. As you can tell, the west side of the tree has been shredded by repeated hailstorms that have been hitting our area for the last two weeks.

This tree is mature enough that I think it'll recover on its own, unlike my giant marigolds. I'm going to write off my annuals for the year and try again in the spring.

The assessor will be out this afternoon to inspect the house and determine the damage for our insurance company. I think we'll probably be covered for the roof, the screens, and the finishing on the fence and the deck.

The SmartBoy's Hooptie (parked on the street in this photo) also has some dings from the storms, but the paint appears to be okay, so we'll be racking it up to the car's charm.

Because my town has been the recipient of a several hail storms, the roofers have been crawling out of the woodwork like roaches, all of them promising that they're "local" and that they work with "quality and integrity." Uh-huh. I'm sure. The roofer we've selected is local (HQ in Colorado Springs, home of Real Christian Americans), and his brother lives in our development. That way if the job sucks, I can T.P. his house without major incovenience. Because I'm mature that way.

Mr. Deity

Wednesday, June 24, 2009
I'm busy earning a living today, so you all will have to make do with the second episode of Season 3 of Mr. Deity.



I love these fucking guys.

Sweet, Sweet Irony

Tuesday, June 23, 2009
There are few cognitive misconceptions that get my blood to boiling more than white supremacists and Neo-Nazi's. The ideology espoused by these groups requires such a huge suspension of critical thought and self-examination that I simply don't understand how large numbers of people can buy into this bullshit. It's like their cognitive processes simply don't work, and it saddens and sickens me.

Which is why I'm rubbing my hands together in glee and giggling like a school girl at this news.

It seems that the Neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Movement has adopted a stretch of highway in Missouri. They got their little "Adopt-a-Highway" sign, but the local Jewish community was a bit put off by this event. Not surprisingly, they felt that the Neo-Nazis' presence in the public sphere (Adopt-a-Highway is usually administered by the state's DOT) was offensive. But the MoDOT folks felt it was an issue of free speech, and allowed the Neo-Nazis to participate in the program in spite of their misgivings.

But now "officials are renaming the stretch of highway near Springfield that the organization cleans after Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who fled Nazi Germany and became a prominent Jewish theologian and civil rights advocate in the United States."

Hee. Snort. Hehe. HA. HAHAHA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

'Tard of the Week - Willie Brooks

Willie Brooks lives in Lewiston, Maine. He's a mental giant. A GENIUS, I TELL YOU. Why? Because only a GENIUS knows that when you need your backyard fire pit to cook your food in a quick and efficient manner, only a half-gallon of gasoline will do.

On Saturday evening, during a family get together, Mr. Brooks "suffered second- and third-degree burns over an estimated 75 to 80 percent of his body after pouring gasoline on a backyard fire pit in Abington Saturday night, causing an explosion."

Unbelievable.

All you evolution deniers out there who claim there's no "real world evidence" of evolution? Take a trip to Boston and visit ole Willie in the hospital. There's your evidence right there.

Clapton and Winwood at the Pepsi Center

Monday, June 22, 2009
Last night I went to see Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood at the Pepsi Center with the Smart Man, our Smart Friend and the Incomparable Anne.

The show was exceptional (of course). Their play-list included numbers from the 1969 Blind Faith release, as well as individual releases. They even did a short acoustic set, including Layla, my all-time favorite Clapton* song, which I prefer acoustically.

And who knew that an organ would seamlessly blend with the more traditional rock instruments such as electric guitar, electric bass, drums and keyboards? Not me, but Steve Winwood obviously did.

For me, though, the best part of the show from a visual perspective was watching the drummer, Abe Laboriel, Jr.:


Every time he was on the big screen, this guy was grinning like a madman, bopping around like he didn't have a care in the world. The expression on his face said, "I can't believe I'm playing with Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood! And they're paying me to do it! I have the best life EVAH!"

Watching someone do what they love, especially when it so obviously brings them great joy to do so, is a real treat. I couldn't help smiling with him (and I might even have giggled a little) every time they showed him. Since he graduated from the Berklee College of Music and has played with a wide variety of musicians, he's obviously got some craft. But his craft didn't kill the child-like excitement of making music. I love watching people like him.

Good show. Good drummer. Thanks for the date night, Smart Man.


*Yes, I know it was released by Derek and the Dominos, but to me, it's a Clapton song. Especially the acoustic version.

2009 Wild Flower Pr0n, Volume II

Sunday, June 21, 2009





Most of these plants have since been shredded by the hail, but I was lucky enough to take the pictures on the daily Boogie-walk before the storm hit.

Happy Father's Day

You did the best you could, and that's all anyone can ask.

It's been seventeen years. I still miss you, Dad.

New URL Reminder

Saturday, June 20, 2009
Just a reminder that my URL has changed to www.hotchicksdigsmartmen.com. The blogspot address is supposed to redirect, but I understand some of my regular readers are having some trouble.

So please change your favorites or your RSS feed to the new URL. Thanks!

Loot! Loot! LOOT for ME!


This arrived in the mail today from the hilarious NeuronDoc. That's right, it's a plush ebola. How cool are my friends? Seriously, how cool?

Thanks, NeuronDoc! You made me laugh out loud.

Weight Loss

I'm not much for trendy diets - I fully understand that the proper prescription for losing weight is "eat less, move more." Simple. Elegant. Effective. But not easy. I don't really like fruits and vegetables much, and I'm a big fan of ice cream and the salty-crunchy.

So today I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting to help me drop the extra 60 pounds I'm carrying around. This is the heaviest I've ever been (not including being pregnant with the Smart Twins, I mean), and my physical and mental health require that I do something about it. I'm giving myself a year to lose the weight, in order to allow myself a level of flexibility in achieving the goal.

I'm the kind of person who likes structure. I like having a schedule and a plan. Spontaneity sometimes makes me anxious, and I do better in achieving my goals if I can analyze and execute on a structured plan of action with achievable goals. I think Weight Watchers will give me the structure I need. I had some success with their on-line program before, but I think actually going to meetings will provide a level of accountability that the on-line program lacked.

I liked the first meeting, and the members all seemed friendly and supportive. This time next year, I hope to be a svelte Hot Chick, rather than a Rubenesque one.

Go, me.

Boogie Blogging Friday

Friday, June 19, 2009

"I'm a handsome, handsome boy. I had a bath and a haircut yesterday, and I smell good. You know you want to come play with me. I have a soccer ball, you know. With ropes attached to it."

The Ebola Engineer Explained

As some of you know, I am involved in a project at my job where I am forced to interact with an individual that I have nick-named "The Ebola Engineer." I call him this because every time I have to speak to him, his stupidity and incompetence make me bleed from every orifice.

The Ebola Engineer, pictured at left.

I've often wondered how people like the Ebola Engineer can not only stay in their jobs, but also believe, with all their hearts, that they are the competent ones in their group, they they are the ones who "save the day" on complex and difficult problems or projects, when the reality is so far removed from their perceptions.

And now I have the answer - the Dunning-Kruger Effect. From the wiki article:
The Dunning-Kruger effect is an example of cognitive bias in which "...people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it." They therefore suffer an illusory superiority, rating their own ability as above average. This leads to a perverse result where people with less competence will rate their ability more highly than people with relatively more competence.
I love science - it explains my world, and gives me a construct to understand that which makes me bleed out of every orifice.

The Ebola Engineer suffers from the Dunning-Kruger Effect. Too bad his coach doesn't see it...

"Be the Match" Bone Marrow Registry Drive

Thursday, June 18, 2009
Via Elana over on Girl on Girl Action*, I have become aware of the National Marrow Donor Program's "Be the Match" registry drive, going on now until June 22nd. From the website:

When you join the Be The Match RegistrySM, you become part of every patient's search for a bone marrow donor. You could be the one to save a life.

And now, during the Be The Match Marrowthon, you can join online for free June 8 - 22, while funding remains. Our Marrowthon goal is to add 46,000 new members to the registry. Be one of them!

Now, donating bone marrow to a complete stranger isn't for everyone. From what I understand, the procedure can be painful, and there are risks to any medical procedure. Registering people costs money, which is why this free drive is so cool. I registered about a hundred years ago through the Navy, and Elana's link reminded me to update my contact information through this website.

It's a good cause, if you're so inclined.


*No, it's not a pr0n site, but Elana's writing style is delightful.

Do-Re-Mi

Wednesday, June 17, 2009


This video was taken at the Central Station of Antwerp, Belgium. It's reminiscent of Improv Everywhere, but I think it's a different group.

This made me grin and do the chair dance, a worthwhile accomplishment by any measure.

Land of the Freeze-Dried Whackaloons

I believe that illegal immigration is a problem that needs to be addressed in this country. It's a complicated problem with many facets, including the issues of migratory labor, the tax base, education, Mexican drug violence and health care entitlements. These issues need to be addressed, as the consequences of not addressing them is high. The issue is illegal immigration, as opposed to legal immigration, as noted by UCF blogger Nathan.

However, that doesn't appear to be a distinction made by Shawna Forde of Everett, Washington. According to the Anti-Defamation League, Ms. Forde heads a group called "MAD," or the Minuteman American Defense. This is a group so extreme, with members so out in the weeds that other Minuteman organizations have disavowed them.

Ms. Forde, along with two other people, is currently under suspicion in the May 30th home invasion and shooting death of a man and his nine year old daughter in Pima County, Arizona, as well as injuring the girl's mother. Ms. Forde and her compatriots are being accused of invading the home in order to finance their organization's activities, and allegedly were searching for both cash and drugs.

Because, really, if you have brown skin and MAD thinks you're a drug dealer, you deserve to be shot and killed and your property stolen. Due process? Don't be silly. Due process is for REAL AMERICANS, i.e., those with white skin. The RULE OF LAW applies only to those who are BENEATH us REAL AMERICANS.

Yikes.

I really don't understand this type of extremism, but if I had to make a guess, I'd say it was driven by fear. Fear that soon the white majority will be outnumbered by people of color, fear that their unearned privilege will disappear in a more egalitarian system, fear that their sense of superiority over the brown and black people in this country will disappear along with their majority status.

How insecure do you have to be, how mentally unstable, to believe that killing people in order to financially support your political cause is okay? How do you convince yourself that your cause is so righteous that gunning down a nine-year-old girl in her own home is perfectly justified? Does killing or driving out those uppity Mexicans make the U.S. a better place to live, a more admirable place to live?

I don't know if the allegations against Ms. Forde and her buddies are true or not. That's for our system of justice to determine. But her publicly expressed views make such an accusation at least plausible, and convinces me (once again) that extremists of all stripes are to be feared and contained.

Scott Sigler is a Sick Son of a Bitch

Tuesday, June 16, 2009
I'm currently listening to Contagious by Scott Sigler. It's the sequel to the book Infected, which was recommended to me by fellow skeptic and Children's Hospital PICU doctor Joe Albietz.

I enjoyed listening to Infected. It was narrated by the author (as is Contagious), and it's sort of a horror-scifi fusion. Contagious picks up where Infected left off, and it confirms something I strongly suspected when I finished Infected:

Scott Sigler is one sick son of a bitch.

But I mean that in the best possible way.

These books make my skin crawl (literally - if I ever get a rash, I swear I'll be looking to amputate), and Scott's ability to describe icky scenes and physical maladies is really quite striking.

I won't give away anything, because the SmartMan hasn't picked up Contagious yet, but if you enjoy books that make you go, "Ewww!" and cringe and writhe in sympathy, these books are for you.

Be Cool To The Pizza Delivery Dude

Monday, June 15, 2009
I listen to a variety of Podcasts, but one of my favorites is This I Believe. I enjoy most of them, but today's selection was wiser than most. It's less than five minutes long, and well worth your time.

Be Cool To The Pizza Delivery Dude

Hail and Other Nightmares of Home Ownership

Just got off the phone with the insurance company regarding Thursday's hail-storm. I had a roofing company come out and inspect the roof today, and the damage was severe enough that I needed to make a claim. The adjuster will be calling in the next couple of days so they can come out and inspect, including our shredded screens.


In other news, the plumber will be out first thing in the morning to repair another leak in the SmartBoy's bathroom, and the handyman will be out Wednesday to repair a piece of siding that fell off during the hail-storm as well as several other minor jobs.

Home ownership comes in waves - we can go months with no repairs or jobs that need doing, and then the whole place turns to shit overnight and I spend two weeks chasing down repair people and making appointments. We've already used this plumber once and had a good experience, so now I'm hoping that the roofer and handyman service turn out to be equally professional and service oriented.

Why, yes, I am a hopeless optimist with delusions of positive outcomes. Why do you ask?

2009 Flower Pr0n, Part VII

Sunday, June 14, 2009





The Peony has shuffled off this mortal coil, shredded by the hail.

2009 Wild Flower Pr0n, Volume II

Saturday, June 13, 2009



They're Coming


They're coming.

We've holed up in the upstairs bathroom, and following our Zombie Survival Guide, we've destroyed the stair case. But now they're building a ramp made out of the bodies of our neighbors. Once they kill someone, they bring the body and dump it on the pile. In my usual fashion, I'm inappropriately curious about how beings whose brains are putrefying can figure out how to build such a structure. I don't know how many of our neighbors have succumbed - we have no way to communicate with them since the cell towers and the central office were overrun.

I'm a bit worried about the SmartBoy - he was working today, and we haven't seen him. He wasn't answering his cell before the towers stopped working. I can only hope he's okay, and that he remembers the lessons from the Guide.

We can probably last another three days up here, providing they don't reach the second floor. That doesn't seem likely, as they've already piled bodies half-way up the distance.

Good luck.


This blog entry is brought to you by BLITEOTW 2009.

Life Lessons, or Why I'm an Intellectual Elitist Despite my Best Efforts

Friday, June 12, 2009
I was having an IM discussion with a friend today (Hi, Jeri!), and the subject of intellectual elitism came up.

Now, I'm the first one to admit that I think I'm smart. I like being smart, and I like having smart people in my life. I voted for President Obama (in part) because he's very, very smart. In short, intelligence is something I value, both in myself and in others.*

However, I also value other attributes. I like people who are caring, and kind, and generous, and curious. I value honesty, and integrity, and the moral courage that allows people to make the hard choice.

As a purely intellectual exercise, I know I should place higher value on the second group of characteristics - after all, being smart is nothing to brag about. You simply had the good luck to win the genetic lottery, and it's not due to anything you did. However, the second group of virtues are things you can actually take credit for. You can choose to be a kind person, or a generous person, just as you can choose to be a complete douche-bag, as evidenced by so many people who do just that.

I know this is true intellectually. I know I shouldn't place a higher value on an attribute that is inherently not a virtue. And yet I do. If I have no emotional investment in an individual, and they demonstrate to my satisfaction that they're dumber than a damned stump, then l tend to be dismissive.

I'm not proud of this behavior, and I've been working for years to correct it, as I realize how utterly unbecoming it is. Like accepting the truth when people show me who they are, this is a life lesson that continues to elude me, and it's really starting to piss me off.

I try to be the kind of person who actively works at her faults, and doesn't believe I have nothing left to learn (really, how boring would that be?), but I'm really sucking salt water at this one. The fact that most of my friends are both smart and have many other virtues means I'm not forced to address this on a daily basis. Since I'm all about being a lazy-butt when given the opportunity, this ends up on the back burner more often than it should.

This whole "continuous self improvement" gig is a lot of damned work. Stupid self improvement.


*This does not mean, however, that I think Mensa, or I.Q. tests, or any other form of dick measurement is a worthwhile endeavor. Like the size of your penis, the capacity of your brain is irrelevant if you don't use it to good effect.

Boogie Blogging Friday


Now that the Incomparable Boogie™ is an Older Dog, it's quite possible that I have the laziest dog on the PLANET. At least his leg hair is growing back...

Mother Nature, You Are a Real Bitch

Thursday, June 11, 2009



The View from the Window



Yes, that is hail in my flower garden. I have no idea what the roof looks like at this point, but we do have a tornado warning for our county.

Good times.

________________



UPDATE: It's stopped hailing. Here's the detritus. I'm not sure about the roof yet...

Help on the Home Front

As many of you know, my favorite charity is Kiva, a micro-lending organization that allows me to lend small amounts of money to entrepreneurs in low-income countries. I like Kiva for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that it's a self-sustaining project - as my entrepreneurs pay me back, I can re-lend the money in my account to others.

I currently have two accounts - one personal account, and another with frequent commenter and gal-pal extraordinaire The Mechanicky Gal. We use our Kiva account to deposit birthday and Christmas money and loan only to single ladiez (who are usually supporting children) as a show of female solidarity with our less fortunate sisters. Word.

However, I know that Kiva has been criticized for not offering this type of assistance for entrepreneurs in the U.S. There are a variety of reasons for this, including the fact that the U.S. has an existing infrastructure for small business loans, and loans in high income countries would need to be much larger in order to allow the entrepreneurs to succeed. Regardless of the reason, there are some who choose to donate their money to organizations who work in the U.S. I don't feel that way, but I understand the reasons for those who do, and I frankly respect all do-gooders, regardless of the cause they choose.

But now those folks can have their U.S. cake and eat it, too! Kiva has partnered with several U.S. based micro lending organizations and is now offering loans to U.S. based entrepreneurs.

I think this is a good thing, and the fact that Kiva's operations have grown so incredibly fast that they're able to include pretty much any entrepreneur who needs help is made of awesome. Half the time when I go to lend money on their site they're out of loans, so I don't think adding higher-dollar loans to their offerings is going to result in a paucity of capital. Through their lenders, Kiva loans out millions of dollars a month, all over the world. I'm happy to include U.S. based entrepreneurs in my portfolio.

I love it when a plan comes together.

'Tard of the Week - Elaine Martha Velasquez

I swear I'm not making this up.

On May 6th, this mental giant's baby flew out of her car as she was driving. From the Star Tribune:
Prior to the incident, Velasquez was arguing with a man at a home in the park. She and the man got into the car, a 1992 Lincoln Town Car, and the baby was placed in the car seat in the back. The seat was not attached to the car's seat belts.

A woman reported seeing the car speeding toward the cul-de-sac and then making a left turn that was so hard, the tires squealed, the right back door swung open and the car seat flew out.

The witness heard a baby crying from the pitched car seat as Velasquez and the man continued arguing. The man then left the scene on foot, and Velasquez drove off.
A witness rescued the baby and took him to a local hospital for treatment. Thankfully, the baby sustained only a scratch on the head, and yesterday, Ms. Velasquez pleaded guilty to one count of criminal vehicular operation with alcohol. Her BAC was .10 one and a half hours after the incident.

Oh, my.

I only have one thing to say: Please, Ms. Velasquez...stop breeding.

I Think I Want to Marry This Young Woman*

Wednesday, June 10, 2009



*Not really. That would make me a bigamist, and we all know that's just wrong.

On The Nature of Friends

I am a lucky, lucky human being.

I'm lucky for a large number of reasons, not the least of which is that I am in good health (and have been my whole life), I have a large and supportive family, I have kids who are working towards becoming quality adult human beings, and I've found a Smart Man to share my life who makes me laugh and treats me with love and respect.

But I'm also lucky because at this middle stage in my life, I have been absolutely blessed by a group of incredible friends.

I have my friends whom I've met through work, or mutual friends, or my military service. Some of these people have been my friends for almost twenty years (Hi Mechanicky Gal!), and my life is unquestionably richer for having them in it.

However, in the last two years, I have been lucky enough to fall in with a group of individuals who have widened my circle of friends in amazing ways. This group calls itself the Union of Collaborating Founders (UCF)*, and we met over on John Scalzi's Whateveresque Forum.

My relationship with these people continues to evolve, and we've become a pretty close knit group as we've shared each other's triumphs and tragedies. When a member of our group suddenly lost their spouse, our response was immediate, and we felt her pain in a way that didn't differentiate between friends who know each other "in real life" and friends who only know each other on-line.

For me, the most amazing aspect of this group is that fact that of the current 22 members, I've met only five in meat-space.

People who say you can't have meaningful on-line relationships don't know the UCF. I don't know if this on-line friendship experience is unique (since it's been my only one), but I consider these people my friends, not my on-line friends.

I'm not one of those people who believe that friendships have to last a lifetime in order to be profound and meaningful. People do outgrow one another, and while such growing apart can be melancholy, it doesn't negate the friendship that came before, or cheapen the relationship. There are some individuals whom I have counted as some of my best and truest friends in this world, and yet I don't speak to them on a regular basis at this point. I think of them fondly, and keep track of them, but we live separate lives now. That's not a bad thing, and I still continue to feel blessed for having had them in my life, however long the relationship lasted.

When I was a youngster, my father once told me that true, meaningful friendships are few and far between in this life. He told me that if I ended up with five profound friendships before I died, I would be a lucky person indeed.

I am lucky. Lucky and thankful. So I'll take this opportunity to say thank you to all my friends, whether I met you in meat-space or on-line. You enrich my life, and make me happy, and hold me accountable. and I'm a better person for having known you. As my friend Jeri says, spending time with you "replenishes my soul," and I appreciate you each and every day.



*This name has no deep, profound meaning. It's essentially a name that Nathan pulled out of his ass, and we all jumped on the bandwagon because we're lazy gits and had nothing better to contribute. It doesn't stand for "Uniformed (Currently or Formerly) Counter-Intelligence Force" or any other paranoid fantasy. We're friends. That's it. Sorry to disappoint the conspiracy theorists. Now move along.

Sickly McSickerson

Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The SmartMan and I went out to dinner last night, and something I ate did not agree with me. Not disagreed with me in a work on me with a pair of pliers and a blow torch kind of way, but bad enough.

I'll be back tomorrow, y'all.

I'm Baaaa-aaack!

Monday, June 8, 2009
I'm home from San Diego, and Boogie has been walked. I'm a bit tired, so I'll return to regular posting tomorrow.

I hope you all had a nice weekend!

2009 Flower Pr0n, The Mechanicky Garden

Sunday, June 7, 2009
Amy got a little carried away with the camera...