We've got a lot to see before we go
When I got my cat in January, the vet said she was 1.5 years old. So now that it’s July, I figure she’s got to be about 2 years old sometime soon. And I knew I wouldn’t forget her birthday if we celebrated it on the Fourth of July. So hurrah! Happy birthday, Frida! You’re TWO YEARS OLD. Let’s hope we have many more years together! Hopefully those years will including you stopping nibbling on my toes every morning!
Take it, Mr. Adams.
“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.
I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.
You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. — I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. — Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.”
He was only two days off. So it’s the thought that counts, right? I’ll be spending my Fourth with friends, grilling and watching fireworks. What’s more American than lighting stuff on fire? Celebrating the right to light stuff on fire, that’s what’s more American.
This Fourth feels different; maybe where we are in the world right now has some bearing on that. Would our founding fathers be please with what they see today?
This is scary, shocking, alarming, all of the above. According to the Post, at least 3% of the district has HIV/AIDS. From the story:
“Our rates are higher than West Africa,” said Shannon L. Hader, director of the District’s HIV/AIDS Administration, who once led the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s work in Zimbabwe. “They’re on par with Uganda and some parts of Kenya.”
Chew on that. From an epidemiological standpoint, this is facinating. From a social standpoint, this is absolutely frightening. This is still very much a problem in America, not just a medical problem, but a stigma issue, just as much.
It’s still March, so not really spring, but I have to clean because the maintenance people are coming in tomorrow to change the air filters, etc. I laundried, vacuumed, recycled, cleaned. It always feels good to clean.
It’s also the ides of March. I hope nobody was stabbed today!
Some of the best Sundays are when one can sit back and indulge in domesticity. I pulled out the crock pot and breadmaker and made some beer braised pork and a fresh loaf of bread. While waiting, I found a crewel I had been working on a while ago and started work on it again.
On another note, Sad Sunday: It looks like Jade Goody is really close to death. The media has been oddly transfixed with her story. I’ll admit, it’s definitely compelling.
So I’ve started listening to the radio while I’m working with things that don’t require me to be listening to an interview or something like that. The office is quiet, and despite this, it’s very hard for me to concentrate.
I’ve heard some music on the radio that’s new to me, and I’ve heard some stuff that really is new. Here’s what I’ve got:
Everything that Happens will Happen Today by David Byrne and Brian Eno. What a weird combination, but what I’ve heard is a weird combination of electonic and gospel. This came out in August 2008. Byrne’s collab with BPA on Toe Jam is pretty fun, too.
The Hazards of Love, the Decemberists’ new album. It drops next week, I think, March 24. “The Rake’s Song” is so deliciously dark and a nice contrast from the flourishes of The Crane Wife, although it was an excellent album. WNRN, the local indie station down here, will be playing the entire thing next Sunday.
Abnormally Attracted to Sin, Tori Amos’ new record, set to be released in May. I love Tori, no doubt, but the whole concept album thing is getting a bit trite (except for Scarlet’s Walk, which I think was the best of them and became the soundtrack to my life for a while.) This one is supposed to be about religion and sin, not surprisingly.
We are the Same by the Tragically Hip! I’m really excited about this one, not just because I love the Hip, but “Morning Moon” sounds really good. A lot different than the shock we got with “In View.” They’re going on tour this summer, and I’d love to see them, but they’ll be too far away. Pooh.
Anything else new coming out that’s good?
Frida is recovering well from her surgery! There haven’t been any complications, other than the fact that she’s turned into a complete love bug.
I’m going away in two weeks and I’ve got to find someone to cat-sit. She hasn’t really had contact with other people, so we’ll see how that goes.
Friday the 13th, eh? What fabulous things happened this week:
We found out that Bristol Palin and her babydaddy Levi broke up “a while ago.” America is always the last to know.
Bernie Madoff is going to jail. Probably for a long time. The maximum he can get is 150 years in jail. Pretty much a life sentence. I’m sure he’ll make PLENTY of friends where he’s going.
Jim Cramer v. Jon Stewart. Cramer didn’t even have a chance.
Muntander al-Zaidi will not be throwing shoes for the next three years.
The Democratic Party will put up a sign in King Rush’s hometown. This is the best they could do?
It’s Pi day! Go eat some pie!
So I have been REALLY bad about keeping up with this blog. See, after spending 8-9 hours a day in front of a computer at work, it’s really hard to muster up another hour or so and put together something meaningful in the process.
I’ll keep trying though. So since it’s Saturday, it’s time for a cat update. And how! She had surgery yesterday, her spay, and also a check-up with booster shots and more deworming. Delicious! But they said the worms were all gone, which is great.
But she did fine, and I went to visit her groggy butt at the vet on Friday (she spent the night there). Now she’s recuperating and sleeping on the couch in the sunshine. Good medicine.
Even though I’m sure she’s in a lot of pain now, she will feel so much better in the long run. And I will too.
It’s a beautiful day outside. Go play!
I got a letter in the mail from the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank Network. As any charity would, they’re asking for donations, and I suspect they’re in more need right now with so many jobs lost (8.6% is the figure for February).
I am going to donate, because I can, and more people need help right now. The first time I got a letter from the food bank back when I first moved down here, I was kind of taken aback because, frankly, all of the people pictured on the envelope were white.
And that’s sad that’s the first thing that came to mind. Coming from outside of Baltimore, we have so much poverty not so far away, and so many of the homeless in the city are black, if only because the majority of the city is.
But not all people who are hungry are homeless. And not all homeless people are of a certain color. And there’s the working poor, and people who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
We can see the mountains from town, and there’s also a trailer park not far from where I live. It’s being torn down soon, and Habitat for Humanity is building a community there. So things are being done, but of course, when there are no jobs and more lost every day, it’s hard to break the cycle when everybody is hurting.
Go take a can of food or 10 to the food bank. They need it.
So after a very long day on Wednesday (I drove to D.C. for a conference and drove back. Left at 5 a.m. and got back to town at about 8 p.m.), I went to the Ani DiFranco show at the Paramount.
Now, I’m not an obsessive Ani fan, but I do appreciate her music and figured she’d put on a good show. Not that I doubted it, but she is an excellent live performer. The setup was her, a drummer/wood box player and a string bass guy, and they went for a good two hours or so.
Most of what she played was new, as is typical for a tour (Red Letter Year is her most recent album), but she pulled a few older songs out. As I was leaving, though, I heard a few people say they wished she had played more of her older stuff; the angry womyn bleeding on a white chair, fighting with men, etc.
But now she has a kid, and she was married once, so I can kind of understand that that’s not where she’s at right now. I mean, her new record is pretty much about her kid. And she’s a folk singer, and folk singers sing about the times they’re in, and that’s what her time is right now.
She had a great post-election song about Barack Obama . I hope it’s released someday.
Either way, whatever she sang about, it is still amazing to me that such a tiny woman can be so powerful.
