Goreyboy

Fish from last week end. Who doesn't like goldfish?

My quarantine is up this afternoon so I went and bought dog food and toilet paper. Glamorous, no?

I am feeling a bit better but still tired and achey. Yes, I will be sure to go easy for a bit. I am just glad to be on the other side of it.

Not much else going on today. I made banana bread and watched bad movies while dozing in and out. I read a bit but honestly I'm still a little to head achey to enjoy it for long. I'm reading "The Race" by Clive Cussler. It is pretty fun - a detective thriller set in the early days of flight.

Things I Am Grateful For
Getting better
Having enough
Netflix on demand
Good books and GoodReads.com
Friends who make me laugh
It is warm in the house
Health insurance
Dad's house going on the market

Things I Want Today
Sugar cookies shaped like circus animals

Normally, I find the personal issue mud thrown in politics disappointing at best but in this instance it is different. Why? Because Newt Gingrich and his fellow Republican candidates are openly discussing my personal life and making pronouncements about:

My ability to be a parent and my being an “abomination against God” because of who I am attracted to:
“L: But we are talking about homosexuality. Scripture is very clear —- it’s an abomination to God.

G: That’s right. And that’s why I just agreed with you. I think that if you believe in the Bible, then it’s fairly clear. But, I’m not prepared to render judgment to individuals.

L: Do you think homosexuals ought to be able to adopt children?

G: No.”
Interview with John Lofton at the "American View"
http://archive.theamericanview.com/index.php?id=331


The validity of my relationship:

"I believe that marriage is between a man and woman. It has been for all of recorded history and I think this is a temporary aberration that will dissipate. I think that it just fundamentally goes against everything we know," the Des Moines Register quotes Gingrich (September 2011)
http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2011/09/30/gingrich-same-sex-marriage-is-a-temporary-aberration/

Or my sexuality being a choice:

Q: Do you believe that people choose to be gay?

GINGRICH: I believe it’s a combination of genetics and environment. I think both are involved. I think people have many ranges of choices. Part of the question is, do you want a society which has a bias in one direction or another?

Q: So people can then choose one way or another?

GINGRICH: I think people have a significant range of choice within a genetic pattern. I don’t believe in genetic determinism and I don’t think there is any great evidence of genetic determinism. There are propensities. Are you more likely to do this or more likely to do that? But that doesn’t mean it’s definitional.

Q: So a person can then choose to be straight?

GINGRICH: Look, people choose to be celibate. People choose many things in life. You know, there is a bias in favor of non-celibacy. It’s part of how the species recreates. And yet there is a substantial amount of people who choose celibacy as a religious vocation or for other reasons. (from interview with

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2011/12/15/390393/newt-gingrich-gay-people-choose-to-be-gay-like-priests-choose-celibacy/
(and yes, the irony of an adulterer talking about choosing not to follow “propensities” is rich)

Or my ability to serve my country (without, apparently, forcing straight guys into having sex in the tanks/barracks...):
“I don’t think that in the military you would particularly want sexual behavior to be an overt issue.” video at same link above.

So yeah, your personal life matters as much as mine does.

In response to this:
http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/27933986

Work is sucking with one bright spot. I had a Sarbannes Oxley compliance audit today and got 100%. That is a good news and a relief but I was too stressed out to really revel in it.

After work I went to the dog beach, walked about with Mr Mooney and then ehaded home. I stopped and made a tentative reservation for dinner for my birthday (I don't have a head count yet).



This past week end, I hade a software deployment, spent Saturday with Baby K at the Camden Aquarium training the seals.

There is this weird thing with the kids - when ever one of them gets in my back seat it is like a therapy session. On the drive down we covered why there is disease and cancer, the difference between Japanese and Chinese people (as in they aren't the same), why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima and divorce. It is pretty amazing what kids parrot from adults and the questions they have running around in their heads. I'm flattered they trust me to try and give them answers.



I was sick Sunday. :-( Full week end.

I need some down time, I think.


I'm watching "The Dirty Dozen". Great movie.

Things I Am Grateful For
My Audit pass and the internal support folks who helped me get it
Having enough
The ability to share things like this with the kid posse
How cute Gypsy is when she sleeps with her paws tucked in
Adventures
The ability to share experiences with the kid posse
Knowing I am not my job
Cool nights that are good for sleeping

Things I Want Today
For my back to stop hurting

Did some friend's list clean up. No offense to those cut - just making it more manageable.

You can ask me any question and I'll do my best to answer it in a separate post.

Ask your question here. All comments are screened. I'll assume it's OK to unscreen it and identify you in my reply unless you tell me otherwise.

There's a meme for your favorite photo from 2010. I've narrowed it down...


( Favorite Photo of 2010? )

I started feeling it on Saturday night, towards the end of the final act of "Carmen". It hot last night. I am stuffed up, achy and tired. :-(

One of my favorite poems by Raymond Carver

Your Dog Dies

it gets run over by a van.
you find it at the side of the road
and bury it.
you feel bad about it.
you feel bad personally,
but you feel bad for your daughter
because it was her pet,
and she loved it so.
she used to croon to it
and let it sleep in her bed.
you write a poem about it.
you call it a poem for your daughter,
about the dog getting run over by a van
and how you looked after it,
took it out into the woods
and buried it deep, deep,
and that poem turns out so good
you're almost glad the little dog
was run over, or else you'd never
have written that good poem.
then you sit down to write
a poem about writing a poem
about the death of that dog,
but while you're writing you
hear a woman scream
your name, your first name,
both syllables,
and your heart stops.
after a minute, you continue writing.
she screams again.
you wonder how long this can go on.