The Next Dark Age
We're in it Now
Too Tired.
And so is my dog. My observation is that he is like a greyhound – either going 80mph or sacked out like a total slug. But this amused me:
http://img.widgets.video.s-msn.com/fl/customplayer/current/customplayer.swf
Pet Adoption Photos
CBS Sunday Morning ran a great little story about a photographer in Dallas that started taking glamour shots of dogs awaiting adoption with a local rescue:
http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/cbsnews_player_embed.swf
Now, granted, dachshunds are probably an easier gig that pitbulls or rottweilers. But the idea that “marketing” is a big part of the battle..rings very true to me. I remember the first time I read that if you are trying to adopt out a black dog, you should put a brightly colored bandana on him or her. Of course. Why didn’t anyone think of that before?
Marketing. That’s what we need to do better.
Where Gibbs Spent the Football Game
One of his incisions was infected, so he has had to wear the cone a bit longer. And go back to the doctor every day for bandage changes. Hopefully, they all come out tomorrow. Because:
After the game, Gibbs went into his crate with a Kong and I went to the hospital to see my mother. When I came home, he had torn up the bandages. Oddly, the wound was still covered, but obviously the cone wasn’t doing its job. As I took him to the backyard to do his business, he dragged the cone into the mud.
The cone came off. I changed his bandages myself – have to remember to restock – and it didn’t look too bad. I really, really hope we are done with this now.
This dog needs to go back to camp.
True Compass: A Memoir, by Edward M. Kennedy
Book 44
I snapped up Senator Kennedy’s memoir just as soon as I found it in the clearance section of Half Price Books. But I decided to listen to it on audio. The narration was good, but it took awhile to get used to hearing a not-Boston accent telling the story in the first person.
My friend Jamie had already read it and when I asked him if it was worth it, he said that there wasn’t a lot of new material, but the chapter on Chappaquiddick made it worth the time. I love a good Kennedy book, so I was all in.
Of course, there is plenty of spin here, but Kennedy does a good job of owning that this is his perspective and he is totally biased where his family is concerned. I particularly appreciated his recollections of his father and his perspective as the youngest of nine.
He maintains that his father had high expectations of his children, but never told them what to do. He recalls a profound moment when Joe told him that he would still love (Ted) if he chose not to have a serious life, but wouldn’t have much time for him..as there were so many other children doing interesting things.
That would have worked on me, too.
So yeah, idolizing the brothers and following the path. He owned that he married too young and that he and Joan were ill-suited. That can happen to anyone. He absolutely doesn’t say a thing about any other women until after the divorce.
The Chappaquiddick story was pretty good. His story is the same (he was driving the girl home, he hardly knew her, doesn’t remember all that much and it was all his fault). Otherwise, he lets the record stand, except to say that seriously, he wasn’t sleeping with the girl. He also talks about how he had been drinking too much since his brother Bobby’s death. The context he gave that I hadn’t considered before was this:
When his brother Jack was killed, Ted was so worried about Bobby drowning in grief that Ted himself held it all in and never properly grieved. Such that with Bobby’s loss, Ted was starting over at square one. And really, feeling very alone. I buy that. And I buy that the human mind will make/allow one to forget things that are traumatic. I’m not saying I condone it, but I buy it.
He talks a lot about the presidents from Kennedy on to Obama and his relationships with them. He had the harshest words for G.W.B., but interestingly, he has a lot to say about Carter. I think we all knew they weren’t buds, but Kennedy doesn’t even say nice things about post-presidency Carter.
One last thing: he notes that Congress used to be in session five-days-a-week, and people stayed late and talked face-to-face and sometimes included their families. Now, it is a Tuesday-to-Thursday session where people talk on Blackberries and maybe on the phone. He talks a lot about how members of Congress with whom he had good relationships even if their political views differed. Now it seems like…not so much.
For me, that point made the book worth reading.
Blanket 49
This will go down in history as the Blanket I Made While my Mother Was in the Hospital (Part 1). I finished most of the centered, with the variegated yarn, the first time she was in. After that, it was too big, so I started bringing in scrap yarn to make scarves for the winter.
So. Loops & Threads Impeccable yarn in Lavender and..I think it was called Lilac-something.
What If?: Stories to Spark Diversity Dialogue by Steve L. Robbins
Book 43
Steve L. Robbins writes a really powerful preface to this book. He talks about emigrating to the U.S from Vietnam with his mother, who married a U.S. serviceman in 1970. Because of many of his early experiences, Robbins has made promoting inclusion his life’s work. I was totally sucked in to the story.
However, as I continued to read, many of the other short stories failed to pack the same punch. For example, he talks about maps and driving directions and getting lost and then says our “people maps” also might have inaccurate or incomplete information. This connection wasn’t really working for me.
However, Robbins completes each chapter with a list of takeaways focused on the workplace. I can appreciate that. It is also an easy read.
I would be interested to hear Robbins speak (I missed him at SHRM this year) and I would be open to reading more of his work. But I can’t quite give this one a whole-hearted recommendation.
Trio Animal Foundation
I can’t watch those ASPCA commercials. The ones about the sad little homeless dogs. I volunteer in animal rescue, I know the horrible stories out there, I don’t feel the need to raise my awareness and I change the channel.
Wright-Way Rescue, the place where I found Gibbs, actually offers to take people on their trips to high-kill shelters to pick out the few they can save.
Those Facebook pages that post the dogs on “death row” hoping for a last minute rescue? Not a chance that I am going to look there.
I don’t remember when the Trio Animal Foundation first landed on my radar, but it was probably through its work with the Animal Welfare League – the group that had their A/C units stolen for the copper wires. Trio is an organization that pulls together resources to help homeless pets receive the medical care they need. It is not a shelter itself, but sponsor animals with several groups in the Chicago area. So I started following their Twitter feed.
“Trio” is a dog that was used as bait in a dog-fight and lost a leg. At the age of four weeks.
More recently, “Dozer” is a dog that was shot by his person. With a gun. He is now safe and receiving treatment.
Yesterday, they posted about a dog they are sponsoring, rescued from a hoarding situation that has been in the headlines around town.
As a casual student of social media outreach, I am fascinated that Trio keeps getting me to click. I think it is because I know that any animal Trio posts about has a fighting chance. “Dozer” for example, is not out of the woods yet, and for awhile it looked pretty grim. But Trio has given him the best possible chance for a happy, healthy life.
Retail Therapy
It isn’t reasonable to call it “retail therapy”, because I needed shoes.
OK, that sound you hear is my mother laughing her head off. But my summer loafers are dead, as are both pairs of ballet flats. So I went into DSW, determined to find one or the other.
In the same aisle, I found both. In my size, which absolutely never happens.
To replace my loafer, I found this from Naturalizer:
OK, they are really a slide, but they have the feel of a loafer. Across the aisle from Anne Klein:
The ballet look with a bit of a wedge heel, and they feel great. The dilemma was which to choose? Then I heard my mother’s voice in my head telling me to shut up and get both. (Sigh.)
So as I was walking up to the front, I thought about how that only took five minutes. Normally, I will come in because I have $10 off and time to kill. I shop when I have a discount, so that I don’t end up spending more money out of desperation when I really need something. This time, I went in with a purpose and was done rather quickly.
Then I remembered that the other thing I would normally do is start in the Clearance section. I did a 180 and headed over, fairly certain that I wouldn’t find anything I liked better than the two pairs I had already found.
You know what I found? My Nine West ankle boots. I bought a pair last season and loved them. Here was another pair, on clearance. In my size!
Seriously, people. I don’t think I have ever, in my life, purchased three pairs of shoes for myself at the same time. I can’t say that I feel guilty, though. And since I came home to a leaky ceiling that will become $2,000 in expenses to the plumber and I don’t know how much to replace and paint the drywall with my birds over at the Refuge for two days…
I guess I can call it Retail Therapy.
Volunteer Appreciation Day and Blanket 48
Today, my chapter of Project Linus held its annual volunteer appreciation tea. It was, of course, the first I’ve attended. I started making blankets for the group in January and began attending events once or twice a month since March.
I’ve said before that I am not a skilled or talented crafter, but the ladies at Project Linus have all made me feel very welcome and given me tons of reassurance with my very simple stitching.
The tea itself was extremely well done. As a volunteer, I tend to feel guilty if a group spends a bunch of money to thank me. But today, we met at our regular Blanket Day place – a local church – and heard from the staff of hospitals, shelters, and even a courthouse program for children. They told us stories about how they have seen Project Linus blankets make some pretty crappy days a little bit better for a lot of kids.
Then – a lady that teaches stretching exercises to arthritic patients gave the group a lesson that included care for hands, wrists and elbows. Seriously, we should all be taking better care of our hands.
There was a themed blanket-making contest – which I didn’t dare enter – with some work that was so great I rather wished they would auction it off. There were sponsored door prizes and goodie bags and a lovely lunch. None of it was terribly extravagant, or made me feel like the organization should be spending its money somewhere else. I was really impressed with the creativity.
Finally, I got a good start on a blanket, that I finished late this afternoon:
The fleece was from Penny’s stash and the yarn was Loops & Threads Impeccable in Lavender. Three rows of single crochet.
Blanket 47
Horrible cell phone picture of rainbow fleece edged in Loops & Threads Impeccable yarn in Royal:
I imagine my blanket production is going to slow because I think I am going to use all of my scrap yarn to make more scarves for our friend Janis’ church. It is, however, football season. And I tend to stitch faster during football season.
The Next Dark Age 