silly mortal politics.

so i sent the following letter to the editor today...who votes down money for the library?...fuckers, that's who!

i omitted identifying county names and such, but it should read just fine...



I am simply amused by the host of letters vehemently against the library levy lift. Everything from cries of nickel and dimming the residents of the county because the county just may need more operating money than a five year old voter approved annual increase in property tax revenue might provide, to absolute certainty that the library does not need any additional money to do its job. Despite the fact that the library specifically states that they need additional operating funds and clearly outlines why.

In a day and age when libraries are disappearing all over the country we should be proud and honored that we have as great a library system as we do. So over a quarter of County residents don't have a library card? One letter to the editor used this as a point in her argument against the levy. How ridiculous, because all it does is illustrate that nearly 75% of County residents do. Last I checked that was well over the majority and by a fine, cushy margin to boot.

Furthermore, the same writer suggested the money the library levy lift would raise would be better spent on feeding, clothing, and housing the residents of this county. All very fine notions, of course! Except why pit one against the other? Have we become so base a society as to suggest that self-education, intellectual pursuits, and exposure to ideas are luxuries? And how exactly do we figure out how to solve the problems life provides, like feeding, clothing, and housing the residents of our county for the long and definite haul if we are not first exposed to the wisdom and lessons history provides us, and the information and ideas needed in the act of problem solving?

The bottom line is it becomes less amusing and more appalling that our county would even consider voting down the library levy lift if we as responsible citizens stopped to consider our children. Our nation's kids are fat and unhealthy and addicted to video games. And will only become more so without other options and the means to self-education available. Schools are under increasing pressure to perform and produce and as a result have less and less room for what they deem as *extras*. Generally speaking intellectual pursuits and the arts. The availability of a good library picks up some of the slack, provides options and alternatives, and to some kids it can make all the difference in the world. Which then makes all the difference in our world as our children will one day be in charge of it.

I cannot imagine spending an extra 30 cents per $1000 dollars in a better way.

letters to the editor are a funny business...you've got to say what you want but have to go about it in a *specific manner* or it won't get printed...i know this because i have never had a letter to the editor printed...well, i only tried that one time, but still!...it was a great letter!

basically if you sound like a politically aware 70 year old man it gets in...

i'll keep you posted.

x.

i heart kittens.

so chico had her babies yesterday...on the duke's birthday...

and while kittens are cute and all it pretty much foiled our birthday outing because it was obvious chico wanted us around...

so we stayed...and now we've got two new baby kitties...one white one black...

kittens really are cute...well, once they are done with the birth process and all cleaned up that is...before that they are fairly disgusting...seriously...i feel very un-evolved typing that out but that's just how it is...

and kittens are cute in the same exact way that babies are cute...they are supposed to be cute...like there's no mystery involved in the cuteness of a kitten or a baby...they come this way so they won't be abandoned or mistreated because of their inherently annoying characteristics...like pooping wherever they are sitting and keeping you up all night...

what i wonder though is why this pretty much stops at the infant/baby/kitten stage?...like we don't need darwin on our side as we age?

sure, i so don't worry about being abandoned or mistreated and i certainly have figured out bathroom protocol, but seriously my inherently annoying characteristics could use a dose of *cute*...

that being said, the duke did wear his "my mom is #1" shirt out in public yesterday...

so all is not lost...unless he was being ironic...

can ten year olds be ironic?

because this ten year old has sarcasm down pat.

i wonder where he gets it?

in physical therapy news it still sucks...it's me and a bunch of old overweight people...and i'm not saying that in a judging manner, just as an observation...weight does a NUMBER on you for sure...but as you age?...man...

i know i need to be there...my neck needs to be there...i'm just a bit disconcerted by the one big room and closeness of it all...i'm all on my back, feet on the ball, weights in hand, doing pelvic thrusts to beat the band and the guy next to me is trying to move....his....wrist...just...a...centimeter...farther...than...yesterday...

i'm not making fun of the injured as i am one of them...but i do know they all look at me and my obviously designed by a sadist work-out and wonder what in the fuck *i* am doing there...or it's simply because i'm the only one in the room being treated who doesn't remember the spanish-american war...

regardless, i went home and told the lord of the ring that that CAN'T be us...i'm not spending my twilight years pushing his ass in a wheelchair or he mine because we neglected our health and physical fitness when it really mattered...

we discussed this over beers and leftover ribs from the duke's birthday dinner while we watched a marathon of dog the bounty hunter on t.v...

it's good to be on the same page.

x.

i'm calling steven spielberg's mom and asking for advice.

wingman and the duke have been making movies with the digital camera.

and seriously, i think a child psychologist would have a field day with the results.

the duke is mainly the cinematographer and wingman is his more than willing more than capable subject...OMG half the time it's like watching the coen brothers at work and half the time it's like watching an episode of jackass filming...wingman is whack, and the duke?...well the duke is the duke and it comes out in his work.

anyhow, they really get into it...especially the duke...he's got a good eye and knows how to get the best out of wingman...

so his 10th birthday is tomorrow and the lord of the ring and i decided to get him a small simple digital video camera and case...he is going to flip and i am happy to gift him with something creative and interactive...

except in viewing their films last night i realized what a BIG mistake this is!...they both film indiscriminate of background...they film and try to not get me in the mix, but hello i'm always here and so if you don't see me you certainly hear me and i'm usually screeching something in a decidedly unflattering manner or uttering my now famous tag line

"DON'T film me"

i cannot emphasize enough how i despise having my picture taken...let alone have actual moving footage taken...and you know they will be making a lot of films and what are films if you don't show them to other people?...people other than your family?...outside people?...THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD!

what the hell was i thinking!

i must love the duke more than life itself or when they were passing out brains i was in the line that said "wine"...

his birthday is tomorrow and so you know what this means don't you?

i've got 24 hours to scour and redecorate the house and lose dozens of pounds AND the screechy bitchy mom voice.

and i thought giving birth to the little bugger was the hard part!

x.

tuesday. already.

boy, the days move fast...good lord between physical therapy, pregnant cats, homeschooling, birthdays, baseball, boybarians you name it i just can't get here!

but i've got about 2.5 seconds while the boybarians are doing math so here i am...

my physical therapist passed me off to one of his minions and i am POSITIVE this bloke has seen the movie hostel one too many times...not that i've seen it mind you, i can barely watch harry potter without getting scared...but people talk you hear things and i know what it's about...and apparently so does the guy who did my routine today...

the duke did well at the chess tournament, didn't place but was playing kids who were ranked much much higher than he and gave them a real run for their money...

wingman is done with kindergarten in about a month or so...he's getting a little sad about it, poor kid...he's looking forward to homeschooling with us, but will definitely miss that daily social dose...

i am SO working on that for the both of them...there is just not much out here for us in terms of groups and activities and such...and the big city is just an smidge too far away to be do-able on a regular basis...there's a solution there somewhere, i just haven't found it...

no kittens yet, but i suspect it's any day now...so far i've got five kittens penciled in for adoption and hope to keep lining people up...i don't want to have to surrender them to a shelter or pet store...and i am NOT keeping any however cute and cuddly and lovey they are...

i mean my god my kids are lucky THEY'RE still here!

and on that note, i've got to run...wingman is making lunch today and i need to assist...bagel faces and pink lemonade...he is just a little six year old boy and i'm going to miss that when he's older...

though my ass sure won't miss bagels and lemonade. gah.

x.

the importance of being ernest.

so the duke pitched his first game last night...whatta kid!...all eyes on him and he was as cool as a cucumber...he was the relief pitcher so he didn't come in until the top of the 5th and only pitched one inning before the game was called due to time restrictions...he struck one kid out and overall did really really well...i could never in a million years do what he did...

and the most i could manage watching him last night was wringing my hands and not so silently praying that each kid from the other team got struck out!...all's fair in love and baseball.

and the duke just kept saying how much fun he was having out there...he's such a cool kid!

though he did choose wheat thins for the team snack...i'm not sure what that's all about, but he assured me all the kids would like them...and they were baked wheat thins too...i SWEAR i gave him other choices and that's what he chose...i am proud and wincing all at the same time...

nothin' like finishing a big game and washing down the loss with a bag of multi-grain baked wheat thins.

but back to the duke, he and i attended his first symphony on sunday, and this saturday is the state chess championship...he is such a balanced kid with the physical and the mental...i really like that about him...i am envious of that and i hope he retains that throughout his life...

i am just so darn proud of his pursuits, and how he approaches everything with enthusiasm, dedication, and just a general all around good attitude...

he must get that from his father because lord knows his mother is a three car pile up on a good day...

oh, and all on his own when we went to get him some new pants last week he chose a shirt that has my mom is #1 on it...i swear i didn't have anything to do with it!

though, i have yet to see him wear it in public...

and then there's this;

my little sister was visiting with her passel of kids last week and she was telling me and a friend about my niece's new middle school for next year...she really likes it but was explaining that it didn't have advanced classes...because my memory is shot i can't completely remember the whole of the conversation, but the gist of it was if a kid was advanced perhaps they'd give him/her extra work, or if he/she needed extra help they'd get it...but they'd all be in the same class...and then she was explaining something about how during the year, the whole school or class had to read the exact same book (for a project? book club?).

apparently this struck the duke in some way as i heard him mutter softly under his breath

"communists"

and if there's anything left to be said about that i don't know what it is.

he really truly is the best...he's a GREAT kid and i know i am totally utterly blessed...i don't know what it is i did to deserve him, but believe you me i know just how lucky i am...

x.

i don't know, but lesson #1 might just be to not do business with someone named mad dog.

so i started physical therapy for my neck...

it's not so much therapy as it is a butt load of hard ass exercise with someone watching your every move...

at one point my physical therapist was having me do some ridiculous exercise on the ball that involved muscles i thought had retired...he said

"okay, at this point you want it to burn a little"

and i said

"you don't get many christmas cards, do you?"

but the absolute BEST part came when he said

"oh, you don't want your stomach resting on the ball"

and i said

"that's not my stomach resting on the ball as much as it's hanging on the ball"

indeed.

in other news, the duke of fun heads for the state elementary chess championships this weekend...we were all going to go, but with two pregnant kitties due whenever in the next bit of time i decided i should stay close...

so it's just wingman and me this weekend, and oh yeah, two pregnant kitties...did i mention i have two pregnant kitties?

spring has sprung and there's gardening and baseball and the like...add in two sessions of physical therapy a week and school four days a week, not to mention something every weekend till mid june and i feel like i'm scheduled from now until kingdom come...

i'm only used to being so busy in my brain...my addled pockmarked brain...

and i STILL don't have my truck back...some bloke named mad dog was building a transmission for it BUT built and sent the wrong one!!...he's replacing it with a heftier, beefier, butcher version, but it's set everything back...and the transfer case is somewhere in california for re-hab and due to be sent back this week...

good. lord. good thing i love that damned truck so damned much or the time the hassle the EXPENSE just might seem the teeniest. bit. not. worth. it.

but like with everything the lord of the ring and i take on at least we go big...project trucks, pregnant kitties, etc. etc. etc...and that's just in the last year...we've got about 12 more in the inventory...our relationship shorthand really just comes down to one look...the what the hell have we gotten ourselves into now? look...

the first time we shared that look was about four months into my pregnancy with the duke...which is a look i think a lot of pregnant couples end up sharing at one point or another...

but as of next week it will be ten years since the duke was born and our family started and we couldn't imagine any of it turning out more perfect than it has...

and by perfect i mean at times headed towards fucked up beyond all recognition...

but, i guess that's just how we roll...yo.

x.

i guess this must be how joseph felt.

so, our new kitties, chico and the man?...well, the man finally made it back about 4 days after we came home with chico...she returned to her former apartment and we went and picked her up...

they are the bestest kitties EVER!...sweet, wonderful kitties...

except about 3-4 days after we got chico i noticed something was amiss...as in she seemed a bit full, girth wise, and had some other *noticeable* signs of pregnancy...

yup. this *strictly* indoor kitty who did need to be fixed came to us in a fix...i took her to the vet and sure enough she was about a month along...good. lord.

i don't want to say they knew and didn't say anything, but i am a natural cynic...fuckers.

but i love chico and am glad she's with us...babies and all.

at least the man came to us fixed...

that was two weeks ago.

fast forward to late last week.

i started suspecting something was amiss with the man...as in she seemed a bit full, girth wise, and has some other *noticeable* signs of pregnancy.

IMPOSSIBLE you say, as i did, she's FIXED!!

parasites? bloat?

we took her to the vet and sure enough she's pregnant...and no, she's never been fixed...and due about two weeks behind chico...

two pregnant cats.

i am having a very hard time, at this point, giving the benefit of the doubt to the former owners. double fuckers.

they had to have known...at least that something was up...i don't think immaculate conception extends to the feline set...

anyhow, again, i love these kitties so i guess it was meant to be...i certainly am glad they are with us and not in the care of their former owners...so i guess it all worked out...

except for the fact that i didn't want an actual kitten to begin with and now i'll have a whole passel of them...figures.

the whole point of this acquiring of the kitties was to placate the boybarian's want of a new baby sister or brother...now with my next few months taken up with two pregnant cats and a subsequent house full of kittens, i'm thinking it would have just been easier to have a baby myself!!

kidding! lord, i am sooooooo kidding!!!

really!! REALLY!

great, just great.

now i've done it.

x.

late evening. tuesday. fort building.

two handmade quilts pieced together, each from the idea of a new baby, each with fabric washed with colors taken from the best paintbox ever, and each stitched together with pure pure love from grandma as cover.

two larger than life teddy bears, chosen for their eyes and bow ties (i'm sure) from the other grandma. (so lucky these boybarians are to have two.) add in one larger than life gorilla named george. all three lately forgotten in favor of growing up, growing older...tonight they are, if not "center stage", the stars of the wings as they are critical *flanking* for a weaker side of the fort susceptible to enemies.

two glow in the dark with the touch of a button synchronized watches from pops (stoveman) set to whatever the setting is that connects the troops and furthers the mission.

one box of hot wheels for securing the flaps. heavy. sturdy. available. known.

a bowl of popcorn for necessary re-fueling after an evening of bowling and cousin visiting. not to mention the mission for which the fort is necessary in the first place.

two books, chosen only for grabbable proximity, as securing gear for top of fort to anchor on table.

che; a memoir by fidel castro
gardenhome; creating an urban haven a parting gift from the recent visit of our dear friends mis and lapu-lapu...

my open and currently being consumed bottle of local red table wine is just there on the table...if i didn't keep picking it up to refill my glass, because of its height and shape and visual interest it could become a crucial tool in the operation (and god laughed at the irony)...for now it has an inexplicable (to me) ring of hot wheels around that seems ever changing.

we are still here.

x.