Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Just a modest proposal...

Mike Adams is back at his sarcastic best in this piece.  It's along similar lines as Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal," but does it by equating the whole bigot witch hunt going after Chick-Fil-A with the Salem Witch trials. 

It hurts to laugh that hard, especially when you have a toddler-shaped charley-horse between your shoulder blades

Got some reviews...just not on Amazon.

TinCan Assassin read it

A Girl and Her Gun read it, too.

Honestly, I'm just glad that people are reading and liking it.  That they're talking about it helps me sell more. 

Thanks, guys.

I'd say that racism as whined about by blacks was dead on institutional levels...

...this proves me wrong, and disgusts me. 

I don't understand racism.  I really don't. 

Monday, July 30, 2012

Lots of pain...

I got down on the floor to play with the kids, earlier.  The pixie climbed all over me, flopped onto my back with many hugs and kisses, and generally used me as a Mom-shaped jungle gym while trying to stay out of grab-and-tickle range. 

The imp, on the other hand...well, he stepped on me (which is against the play in the floor rules) twice, got spanked after ignoring the first "no," then jumped on my back onto his knees. 

My shoulders, from the back of my bra up (where he stepped and jumped on me) are killing me.  It's bad enough that a maximum dose of Aleve didn't do enough for me to bend enough to help the imp get dressed for bed. 

Currently, I have a dose of about 80 proof muscle relaxer next to my left elbow.  I've drank about two ounces, or so, and I'm still feeling the pain (though it's lessened.  Finally). 

I think I'm going to be down pretty hard for a good part of tomorrow, too. 

Damn it.

News about Survivors

I've gotten indications that $2.99 (minimum I could ask with 70% royalties) was too high for the book, what with it being my first book, and with it being so relatively short.  I've shifted to the 35% royalty option, so that I can drop the Kindle price to $.99.

Sorry to those of you who already bought it at the higher price.  I don't know if Amazon does refunds. 

Guess I learned a valuable lesson, here.

They sure do hire some sick bastards...

The department of education had a real winner employed at their technology offices in Brooklyn, recently.  He had the cops called on him, because he was showing signs of being obsessed with the nutjob that shot up a showing of the new Batman movie.  "He told police Holmes reminded him of him when he was younger and that he sympathized with the accused killer because he doesn't like his co-workers." 

Wow.  I think I'd be insisting that this guy be either forced into therapy and put on a midnight shift created especially for him where he didn't come into contact with coworkers, or fired.  'Cause with a statement like that on record, if he does go on a shooting spree at work, the DOE is certainly ripe for a lawsuit for sacrificing its other employees' safety to protect the "rights" of the crazy person. 

Outside with the imp again.

We got out by 7:30.  It was already 85 degrees at 7:30 (which was why I pushed to get outside early--poor little guy's more than a little stir crazy), it was 95 by 10:00 yesterday, and it was still 107 at 5:00 yesterday evening.  I have no doubts it'll be that hot again, today. 

This is the second schedule in a row that Odysseus's job has had him working 7 days in a row.  It's the second schedule in a row that's had him working multiple nights 'til midnight.  I'm really beginning to wonder if the management truly are that incompetent, or if they're just trying to drive their best, most reliable worker to quit, just because he doesn't jump to bail them out when we get the calls of "We messed up...can you come in to cover tonight?"

Thanks to everyone who downloaded Survivors over the weekend.  If I don't get any reviews out of this gamble, I'm unlikely to take advantage of the ability to offer it for free for a promotion any more.   Don't take that as a threat--it's not one.  I'm worried about someone posting it free somewhere else, and Amazon refusing to charge for it in their price match, and booting it out of their Amazon Prime lending library.  And if I'm not getting reviews, it's not worth that risk.

The Godshead is currently sitting at about 82,000 words.  I'm anticipating about another 10-15 thousand words.  Survivors was right around 46,000 words, and about 212 pages (for perspective, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets sits at about 85,000 words).  Godshead is going to be bigger and more expensive of a paperback.  

I think I'm burning out on teaching.  This summer without classes has been so nice that I'm flat-out dreading fall classes starting.  I have never felt that way before, not even as a small child in elementary school. 

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Survivors now in paperback...

The paperback is now available.  It's linked over at the right, just below the electronic version.

(OldCatMan, before you complain about the difference in cost between the paperback and electronic versions, keep in mind I listed both versions at the minimum price permitted by the publishing entity.)

Liberal children...

Last week, I read an essay by Ken Connor on Townhall, titled "Is Liberal Christianity Worth Saving?"

My quick, glib answer is no. 

On further thought, my answer is...no.  No, it really isn't worth saving.  It isn't even really the Christianity that was built upon Christ's recorded words.  It isn't the Christianity that helped to build the foundations of a Western Civilization that was able to outlast the fall of the Roman empire. 

What it is, is a bunch of spoiled children telling each other (and themselves) that God doesn't really exist, and that if there is a god, it is our own desires and inclinations, so we can really do what we feel like doing, because really, there is no right and wrong.

That's not Christianity.  Christianity is Love.  Part of love is teaching accountability.  I love my children enough to teach them that bad behavior carries consequences.  Right now, those consequences are pretty light--the imp shoving his sister earns a time out for the first offense, a swat on the rear for a second, and a full-on spank for any subsequent, with time outs added after the third.  As an adult, shoving someone is assault, and earns jail time. 

The liberal Left has been moving to reduce or completely cancel out accountability for over a hundred years: welfare programs with ever-increasing payouts for women who have child after child out of wedlock; Social Security touts itself as a retirement program, removing consequences for people of not saving money; the Community Reinvestment Act, which created the subprime market for those who couldn't be bothered to try the traditional route of paying their bills, holding a job, and saving money to buy a home...the list goes on. 

With the removal of consequences for stupid behavior, we see more stupid behavior.  With the removal of consequences for irresponsibility, we see more irresponsibility.  With the removal of consequences for bad behavior, we see more bad behavior.

Unfortunately, they can't exactly remove the consequences set by God for His children.    All they can remove is the warning.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Thanks, and welcome

BobG, who blogs at Near the Salty City, hit that follower button sometime today.  Welcome--grab a chair, put your feet up, and tell me what you want to drink.  If I have it, I will provide.

New follower...

I'd love to welcome you by name, but your name doesn't show up.

Well, welcome anyway. 

Chick-fil-a was swamped...

We took the kids there to eat, today for lunch.  I hadn't ever been there, before, but after Boston then Chicago telling the company that they weren't welcome to do business there, I had to go give them my vote of support. 

The food was okay, I guess.  I mean, I loved the waffle fries, but I got a grilled chicken sandwich, and I gotta tell you, I prefer the pre-cooked, frozen, Mesquite grilled chicken breasts I get by the four pound bag at Sam's Club.  Maybe the spicy chicken is better...I don't know. 

I will say this: they have an indoor play area, with a huge window from the seating area looking into it.  The imp spent lunch plastered to the window, watching the other little kids play while he ate.  After he finished, Odysseus took him in to go play...and the pixie stopped eating.  She wanted to go play, too.  And she hadn't eaten very much, maybe half a chicken nugget, two waffle fries, and a couple of pickle slices.  She usually will eat two whole chicken nuggets, and about twice that in veggies.  She was way too focused on getting down to go play.

Yeah, not going to happen.

So, she and I cleaned up the mess, and I picked her up and took her to the door of the play area, and found Odysseus already putting shoes back on a thrashing imp.  "No!  Play more!"

Yeah.  Uh-huh.  Not. 

What shut it down was getting into his face and telling him that if he didn't stop pitching a fit, like now, we would never go back. 

As it is, I think we'll probably go back sometime next month.  Not sooner, because he has not.  Stopped.  Nagging.  about it since. 

Maybe after he goes a month with dry pants while he's awake, we'll go again for a treat. 

Otherwise, the food wasn't that great for the cost, and the temper tantrum at the end really wasn't worth it.

Random ramblings

The imp woke me up at about 6:30 this morning, coming out of his room to play in the hall.  We don't let him get up until 7:00 at the earliest, so I had to shoo him back to bed.  And, as soon as I had that done, the pixie started waking up for her morning nurse back to sleep.  By the time I was done with that, it was time to let the imp get up. 

The imp has started to associate "tummy hurt" with "hungry."  He'll tell me, "tummy hurt.  Want eat Apple Jacks/Cheerios/cookie [granola bar]/peanut butter crackers."  If it's a granola bar or a package of peanut butter crackers, he'll go get them himself, since I store those in his reach. 

The pixie just comes running up and asks to eat her typical meal.  If it's time for lunch or supper, I'll go ahead and fix her her chicken nugget, spoon full of green beans, and spoon full of corn.  If it's not, I'll ask her if crackers/cookie/dry cereal is okay.  If she shakes her head and repeats herself, I bring out the big guns: peach yogurt.

The pixie has started using three word phrases more and more often: "put clothes on?  put shoes on.  put hat on."  She also says the opposite, including "take diaper off." 

If she's not wearing shorts or a dress with bloomers, first she says it, then she does it.  I've learned to watch her really closely, or she'll come stand next to me and then say "here go," and hand me her wet diaper.

The kids are cute.  Frustrating, and sometimes disgusting (the imp has gotten to the play in the toilet stage.  Sometimes while he's using it), but cute.

I've got Survivors (linked up at the top right) marked as FREE for today and tomorrow.  If you don't want to risk three dollars on a complete unknown, go ahead and order it while it's FREE.  (Just do me a favor and leave a review?  Please?)

I think my favorite story out of that particular collection might well be "The Good Shepherd"--not because it's not a horrible situation (it is: a minister got a teenage girl he was supposed to be counseling pregnant), but because there was a similar situation at the church pastored by the male donor of half my genetics.  Unfortunately, the girl didn't come forward like the girl in the story did.  The pastor in the story wound up losing everything--his congregation, his family, and probably his day job--instead of the girl being quietly moved away before she started to show.  

Yeah, my father might have escaped justice here on earth, but that character, who was closely based on my father, did not.

I finished another story for the collection revolving around the Greek and Norse pantheon of gods.  It won't be long before the first draft is done.  This collection is completely different.  The stories are different.  Instead of having mostly dark stories, most of the stories from The Godshead are funny.  The first story is set in the tavern that the collection is named for, and an unnamed first-person narrator (who shows up later in the collection) enters the tavern to find Odin and Zeus drunkenly arguing over which of them is a better king of the gods.  Then their wives show up.

The next story, "Drunk and Disorderly" concerns what happens when Eros and Dionysus get bored, get drunk, and go out on the town.  It's some pretty funny stuff.

I think my favorite story out of that collection deals with Hades.  He kind of took over the story--it's one of the few told first person--and he's a complete smart-ass.  He's attending a convention of underworld gods during the summer, when he's forbidden contact with his much beloved wife Persephone. 

The gods in my anthology may carry the same powers they did in the old myths, but they're very different people.  Their personalities have mostly totally moved past what I originally intended them to be.  They're a lot of fun to write.

Like I said, that collection is mostly done, now.  All I've got to do is write the falling action. 

Then?  Back to work for the university.  Right now, I have thirteen students enrolled in one class, and none in the other.  Sometime this next month, I'll probably be getting an influx of more students--hopefully, enough for both comp classes to make.  I have to have at least ten students in the other class before I can keep it. 

Right now, I've only built one class.  I'll do the other when and if it makes minimum enrollment.

Hopefully, I'll have students that are actually ready for the responsibilities of online classes, but I'm not going to get my hopes up too far.  Too often, too many of my Comp I students expect me to stay on them to keep them on task with regards to where they need to be in writing their papers.  Or, if not, let them turn the papers in late.

I am not their mother.  Nor am I their nanny.  Nor yet their high school teacher.  I do not have the time nor the inclination to baby them through doing what they're going to have to do out in the real world: budget their time, set priorities, and work on projects without an overseer. 

Well, there's my rambling for the week. 

Friday, July 27, 2012

It's Missouri, all right...

It's raining.  And the sun is shining.

For those interested...

Sometime next week, Survivors will be available as a paperback.  The price is going to be quite a bit higher than the Kindle price--$6.99.  Not really anything I can do about that, though, folks.  Sorry.

However, I do know you can download software to your computer that lets you read Kindle books on your PC or laptop.  And that's going to be a bargain, this weekend, because I've entered Survivors into a two-day free promo.  It'll go on the free list at midnight tonight, and be de-listed just before midnight Sunday night. 

If I'm being annoying in plugging my book, let me know in the comments.  I've read that a lot of readers on Amazon don't like self-published authors because they get too pushy with self-promotion, and downright abusive with any reviewers that give them bad reviews.  I'm trying to avoid the first, and can't imagine what kind of person does the second. 

Outside, again...

I'm sitting out in the back yard again, watching over the imp.  It's still livable, but there's not as much breeze as yesterday. 

Best thing about it?  The pixie doesn't like to play outside nearly as much, so they're separated, and can't fight.  'Cause they've been fighting constantly since the last time the imp stayed with Grandma and Grandpa. 

Come to think of it, they've been fighting nearly constantly for about two months, except when they decide to go into screaming giggles together, when they're sleeping, or when the imp is at Grandma and Grandpa's.

I really don't know if I'm doing something wrong, or if there's just absolutely not a damn thing I can do to stop it.

FFOT: change of topic

I was going to send up our dear, greatly-beloved zero, and his stupid fucking idea that modern armies still carry AK-47s (with the concomitant assumption that he thinks that the Aurora, CO, shooter was using one), but then I ran across another story.

Two women females nasty, filthy, excuses for human beings meatsacks in Joplin, MO, starved a three year old girl to where she weighed in at 12.5 pounds

My three and a half year old is 32 pounds.  My 19 month old is 22.5 pounds. 

These filthy extrusions from a diseased lady-boy whore's anus starved a little girl until she was the fucking size of a fucking infant. 

Okay, this is directed at the two fucking spermpurses involved in this horror:

What, were you too FUCKING busy FUCKING munching meth out of each others' fucking moth-eaten fucking carpets to notice that the little girl was hungry?  For probably her whole fucking LIFE?  Did you not FUCKING realize that people would FUCKING BE FUCKING UPSET about you FUCKING MURDERING A SMALL CHILD?  Neglect is one thing, and fucking bad enough, but this is FUCKING ACTIVE FUCKING MALICE. 

May the next dose of whatever drug of choice the two of you suck out of each others' pubes contain something that gives you anal incontinence, with random episodes of explosive watery shit, hopefully while the two of you are involved in hoovering your shag.  May each of you be sent to a separate prison, where a giantess decides you look like you'd make a great handwarmer, and fist you with no lube or preparation, and without bothering to cut her fingernails, first.  May you die from sepsis caused by watery shits flowing into your fucking cavernous cunt, complete with fucking ruptures after you get fisted by said giantess.

Then, when you end up in hell for what you did to the helpless child in your care, may you be spit-roasted by a demon with a barbed cock the size of a body-builder's thigh on one end, and one with a barbed cock the length of a baseball bat on the other, for all of eternity, with switch-ups every so often to a different demon fucking your nasty, disease-ridden vaginal cavity with a barbed cock that also self-lubricates with fucking acid, just to make good and fucking  sure that you don't fucking grow to like being double-pumped by the other two. 

If I had caught them, they would not have survived to stand trial.  I don't give a rat's ass about most adults, but children are helpless.  Abusing a child earns a special place in my heart that bypasses rage into cold hatred.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

If anyone is interested...

My book Survivors, linked over at the right, is going to be free for download from Amazon this Saturday and Sunday.  I only have one favor to ask: if you download it while it's free, could you please leave a review?

Lord, it's a pretty morning...

I'm sitting out in the back yard with my coffee just past my left elbow, sitting on the kids' little plastic picnic table.  It's about as quiet as it ever gets in town.  Next to no traffic.  No kids outside (except my son).  About all that's breaking the silence is the air conditioners, birds, insects, and the imp rustling around in his gravel box (he prefers gravel over sand). 

It's not real hot--only about 85 degrees--and just humid enough to make the breeze feel like a caress.

I've been steadily plodding away at the book I'm working on.  Odysseus is helping me with some parts of one story I kept getting stuck on by myself (it's only fair--he's the one that gave me the idea for the story in the first place).  The other story is coming slowly, building in my head before it's willing to fall off my fingers onto my keyboard.  Once those two stories are done, the second part of my second book (if you remember, my first one is linked over at the top right) will be done.  The third part will consist of about eight stories that wrap up the book by showing falling action and resolution from the main climax of the loose plot.

I will say this: both Hermes and Loki have turned into far different characters than I thought they would be.  So have Thor, and Tyr.  Hell, most of them are very different than I thought they would be.  I had plans, you know.  And very few of the characters have gone according to plan--they took on lives and personalities of their own while I wasn't watching.   

Oh, well.  It's not the first time I've been surprised like this.  Nor am I the first writer who's been ambushed by their characters.

The imp is still happily playing in his rock box, and I've still got a full cup of coffee by my elbow.  I've got four weeks before classes start.  Time to get some writing in.
 

Some silliness

All the books I've reviewed thus far have been pretty rocking good reads, but have been more on the serious side.  For those who want something lighter, Holly Lisle's Sympathy for the Devil* might well be just the right speed.

 The story starts in hell, with Lucifer and his legions working in the most horrible office setting imaginable (old, cranky computers breaking down; air conditioning on the fritz; etc.), while he reads the weekend paper--including the horoscopes.  The main character, a young widow (Dayne Kuttner) who works as an ICU nurse, doesn't show up until chapter 2.  She muses on the "unfairness" of her beloved husband--a complete jerk who drank and cheated on her--being sent to hell because of what a complete shit he was, and prays for another chance for all residents of hell.  Says she doesn't want to go to heaven if heaven is so unfair.

Sounds like the typical "What I want didn't happen, so it's not fair!!" rebellion, doesn't it?  However, the prayer was made with all faith and sincerity, so...God unleashed a bunch of hell's inhabitants into her home state of North Carolina (a number equal to one percent of the population of the state at the time).  He saw it as an opportunity for some already damned to be saved, and as a chance to prevent others from becoming damned by offering a boost to their faith.

Well...it worked.  Sort of.  Yes, there were demons, succubi and incubi all over the place; guaranteed disease free hookers; all sorts of new ways to entice people into selling their souls to get the body/career/whatever they wanted...but there was a catch.  Satan sent his Lord of Lust to try to capture our heroine's soul, and gave him a set time limit to do it in.

There were a lot of funny situations--for example, the wardrobe Satan sent along to help set up Hell's own brothel held a lot of polyester, and a lot of plaid...and nothing that fit any of them.  The cash he sent was several thousand short, and if the one in charge hadn't counted it, he'd've still been held responsible for what wasn't there.  Demons stormed a Blue Devils football game and punctured the football in the attempt to make a touchdown.  God giggling about springing this on the devil without warning (I love the characterization of God in this novel--I can't quite describe it, but He is the all good for all religions.  And He has a great sense of humor.).

It's a good, cute, fast read, with lots of short chapters.  On the surface, it's feel-good, romantic, brain and soul candy.

But it does make the reader think.  I really loved it, and I've read it several times.  Each time, I've found something different to laugh at, and something different to think about.  I highly recommend it.


*Link goes to Baen's free library site, where you can download it in whatever format you prefer, or read it online.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Might want to try changing the anti-learning culture, first...

The administration is starting a Black African-American Education Office in the Department of Education.  They say they want to better prepare black students for high school, college, and careers. 

With the attitude that being willing to try and do well in school being a white thing, and therefore a target of bullying and assault, so prevalent amongst black neighborhoods, an office dedicated to educating these individuals is not going to work.  Most black students are either niggers by choice, or (rightly) afraid of those that are. 

Fix the culture, first.  Change the attitude that good grades are something to be shunned, to be attacked for attaining.  Any attempt to do anything else first is doomed to failure. 

And here we see the real punishment for having more than one wife...

...is having more than one wife

Government manipulation...

I think, given how many farmers still rely on the Farmers' Almanac, (with a track record of 80-85% accuracy, I would, too), were it not for the various states' mandating a certain percentage of all gasoline must be ethanol (varying by states), many farmers would have probably planted sorghum instead of corn, this year.  Many chose to gamble on being able to keep their fields irrigated. 

And they lost.  Badly.  Rolled snake eyes, this year. 

But, darn it, the ethanol must flow!  The government says so!

However...anyone who lives in the Midwest has probably driven past fields full of corn that didn't tassle well, corn that died off half-size, corn that just flat out could not produce because it didn't have enough water.

Oh, here and there, you'd drive past a gorgeous, green field that stood higher than the others.  Those were the ones that read the Almanac, and planned ahead to use an irrigation system.  Including planning for the cost of water, and extra fuel for their tractors to tow the frames around.

But, by and large, most of the corn crop failed.  A reduced amount of corn means a reduced amount available.  I'd be willing to bet that the great zero will probably declare it an emergency resource and grab it all for ethanol production.  And, likely, there still won't be enough for the mandated percentage to be added to gasoline.  Which will jack up gas prices.

However, our food animals also eat that corn.  If there's no corn, ranchers are going to have to butcher their stock, because the prices for animal food are going to drastically increase.  I'm going to expect a sudden drop in the price of chicken, pork, and beef, as that stock floods the market, and I'm going to stuff my freezer full of all three. 

Next year, ranchers aren't going to have stock to butcher.  Meat prices are going to spike.

And so, we're facing another spike in both food and fuel prices.  All because some people can't keep themselves from meddling, and they happen to be the idiots that we, the people, elected.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Running backwards full-tilt

I will agree with the basic premise articulated by the federal reserve, as reported by this story, that unless steps are taken, unemployment will remain high, and the "recovery" will remain non-existent. 

That is where it ends.  I firmly believe that every step articulated in the article is a running step backwards. 

Here's what we actually need to do:

1. Cut corporate tax rates to 0%.  Sure, set it to phase back in if we must, but not before five years have passed, and cap it at 5%. 

2. Cut capital gains tax rates to 0%, for a set period of years, then cap the maximum tax rate at 10% at most.  And capital gains taxed as such are exempt from income tax.

3. Cut income tax to 13% across the board.  I'd recommend exempting the first $20,000 income from being taxed, and closing all exemptions, rebates, loopholes, and subsidies (yes, that includes corporate welfare and farm welfare.)

4.  Cap spending at 40% of taxes gathered, payment of national debt at a further 40%, and put the other 20% back for major disasters, like Hurricane Katrina.    

5. STOP QUANTITATIVE EASING, GOVERNMENT PURCHASE OF GOVERNMENT BONDS, PRINTING MONEY, OR WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT.

6. Cut minimum wage back to $5/hour.  Not everyone employed at minimum wage is worth more, and the ones that are don't stay there.

7. Get the government out of the banking, auto manufacturing, lending, education, and insurance businesses.  Hell, get the government out of everything except exactly what is spelled out in the United States Constitution.

The first five are the most important.  If those five things are done, many of the nation's fiscal problems would resolve themselves.

The absolute worst steps the government can take are any that are not backing away from interfering.

Kind of sad...

The advice in this article and this one is stuff people used to know without having to be told--stuff people watched their parents live

In the first one, "How Women Ruin Romance by Talking Too Much," the author talks about how the advice is the same given to young women entering the dating world in the fifties, and how current feminists are horribly upset by that.  However, as Shaidle said, there is a reason for that: it works.  What's the advice?  "Don't act like a slut (in public).  Listen."  And, most importantly, "Don't talk too much." 

No, she isn't meaning at all, she's meaning criticizing the guy, relating gossip about people he doesn't know (or care about), or keeping the subject on "me! me! me!" all during the evening.

I would say "duh," but there are a lot of women out there who don't know this.  They're miserable, because they want a long term relationship, and have no idea why they can't keep one, or that they're driving prospects out of wanting to get to know them better. 

The other article is about how, when, and why to use spanking kids as a way to discipline them without it tipping over into abuse.  I'd say "duh," but again, with all the experts telling young parents how it damages adults to be spanked as children (without making clear that the studies they're quoting don't differentiate between actual discipline and outright capricious abuse), I'm not surprised that parents don't understand this.  After all, my generation were often given a key to the front door at seven years old, and told to come home after school, hide out in the house, and watch TV until Mom or Dad get home (oh, and there's a sandwich in the fridge for supper.  Remember bedtime is at eight). 

It's sad that these articles needed to be written, but I suppose, on further thought, that it isn't very surprising.  Children learn what they live, and most people my age were products of either single-parent homes where the parent had to work, or two parent homes where both worked.  Most people my age raised themselves more than their parents did, and really have no clue how that stuff works.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Blearg...

Either I need my thyroid meds adjusted, or I need more sleep...honestly, I think it's more likely the former, because I have been getting between eight and ten hours most nights, and I still feel sluggish mentally and physically. 

It's made it a little hard to come up with things to blog about. 

I could talk about politics...but that's depressing, I hate repeating myself, and there's only so many ways you can say "most politicians are short-sighted, self-centered, moronic jackasses."

I could talk about policies...but, again, it's depressing, I've already talked about mandatory Medicaid, welfare, food stamps, foreign policy, domestic policy, and the war on terror current military actions overseas for almost four years, now.  There isn't much new I can say.

I could talk about teaching, but right now, I'm on summer break.  I could talk about past students, but even without mentioning names and genders, it strikes me as a violation of their rights to privacy.

I've been talking about faith and religion a little bit, lately, but I'm still trying to figure that out.  And there's only so much of that I can stand thinking about at any given time.

Books?  I've done a few reviews, so I guess I could start doing a series of book review posts. 

Writing?  I don't want to bore everyone with progress reports on current projects (it's why I save them for Saturdays--fewer people read blog posts, and thus, fewer people are bored spitless), and I'm trying to find the right balance between self-publicizing and begging people to buy or borrow and read and review my currently published work (hint: it's the one linked over on the right).  I really hate people that brag about their accomplishments, and don't talk about anything else. 

Shooting?  It's been about three months since I had a chance to go shooting when there weren't irresponsible fucksticks waving their guns around and muzzle-sweeping the shooting shelters.

Parenting?  Again, I don't want to bore people with all of the adorable/frustrating things parents of toddlers have to deal with on a daily basis.  I'm incredibly proud of my kids (especially my son who's now completely potty trained while he's awake), but they're my kids, and like Robert Heinlein said, everyone has a humongous blind spot about how precious/smart/sweet/well behaved their kids are.

Cooking?  It's been way too hot to test out/create new recipes.  We haven't turned the oven on since our anniversary.

Yeah, not a lot of topics, right now.  Especially with the current news cycle being hung up on something that could have been at least minimized were it not for the whinging Left crying about how CCW holders are no better than the scumbag who shot up a crowded movie theater, and how they want it made easier for the scumbags to go about their daily jobs of preying on the innocent safely, by disarming the law abiding. 

Almost tempted...

I'm sincerely almost tempted to buy a Kindle and sign up for Amazon Prime.  The thought of a "free" library* of nearly 150,000 titles tempts me greatly. 

One of the only things that holds me back is my complete and utter lack of time to both read and write.  I have toddlers--two on two legs and two with fur--and have to have at least half my attention on what they're doing.  I can't read a book without sinking so far into it I'm totally unaware of my surroundings.  And after the kids are in bed is when I write. 

Writing is now bringing in a (very small, admittedly) part of my income.  So that wins out over picking up a book and getting lost in it.

Damn it. 

*Those of you who have Amazon Prime and a Kindle (and therefore access to the lending library), don't feel guilty about using it--authors who publish on Kindle do get paid for it.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Brilliant

#4 on this countdown list of "5 Ways Parents Can Transform Their Wild Boys into Mature Men" is simply brilliant.  I'm gonna have to snitch that for training my son.

How can anybody say that this isn't a Christian nation?

Our legal system is based in the Judeo-Christian tradition (which also forms a good part of the Islamic legal system).  Despite the desperate attempts to deny this, and despite Supreme Court orders to remove plaques containing the Ten Commandments from schools and lesser courts, Levitical law is the basis of Western law. 

The base of this is in the Ten Commandments:

  1. I am the Lord, your God.  You shall not have any other god before Me.
  2. You shall not make any idols.
  3. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.
  4. Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.
  5. Honor your father and your mother.
  6. You shall not commit murder.
  7. You shall not commit adultery.
  8. You shall not steal.
  9. You shall not bear false witness.
  10. You shall not covet.
The first five laws form the basis of our very culture.  The last five form the basis of our laws and legal system. 

The first three laws were set up to create a culture that honored and revered a God that the Israelites were, perhaps, less familiar with than they were with the gods of the land of their captivity.  The third one, however, just points out that God shouldn't be brought in as justification for atrocities (and yes, defensive war or not, the Crusades certainly carried their share of atrocities carried out under the banner of being "God's will"). 

The fourth commandment, the one about honoring the Sabbath, was as much about physical and spiritual rest and renewal as it was about God setting up the culture to worship and revere Him.

The next law, the one about honoring your parents, I suspect was as much because, at the time, parents were the most common method of cultural transmission. 

Much like today, honestly, only it's less the children dishonoring parents and parental rights, and more the government.

Laws 5-10 are what forms the base of the pedestal our laws rest on.  Don't kill each other.  Don't fuck each other's spouses (leads to murder and inbreeding).  Don't take each other's stuff.  Don't lie about each other (libel and slander).  Don't start wanting the goodies someone else has (leads to murder and theft--or to wanting to destroy someone else's property because they have it and you don't). 

So, how do we, as a nation, stack up under this?

Not so well, honestly.  How many people do you personally know that don't see anything wrong with loving something, anything, more than they do a God they can't be sure exists?  How many people practically worship celebrities?  How many of you have heard of the Westboro Baptists, who claim that God hates us all?  How about how often people choose to use their weekends working instead of resting from their work, as commanded? 

How about the government stomping all over parental rights and responsibilities?  Does anyone know how easy it is to get their kids yanked from their home and care?  Does anyone know what the schools are teaching, or how much of it goes directly against what we are trying to teach our kids?

As for the rest...look at the inner city thug culture.  The whole culture is based around murder, theft, sex, lies, and destruction of property because someone else doesn't have it and wants it. 

Does that mean that we aren't a Christian nation?  Not hardly.  All it means is that there's room for improvement.  We have done better in our history, and we can do better today.  We have the majority. 

We just need to stop turning the other cheek to those who would destroy us.  When Christ told us to turn the other cheek, that was only for personal insults, not attacks on our very existence. 

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Gorgeous

I've had a song running through my mind, this evening. 

A few years ago, I read a John Ringo book that mentioned a song (and quoted lyrics from it) that motivated the main character.  Intrigued, I looked it up.

And took an immediate dislike to it.  I cannot stand techno.

Then, I found the acoustic version, and fell in love with the song.  Here it is, in the acoustic version.




No more needs be said.

WE HAVE HARDWOOD!!!

Little (not so) secret: I hate carpet.  It stains, it gets matted down, it gets smelly with kids and pets.  Hate carpet. 

We have carpet through the living room, bedrooms, hall, and hall bathroom.

I was dreading checking to see what was under the carpet in the living room--I thought we'd have to take the trim off the walls in one of the corners and pull up the carpet and pad to look under it. 

Then I thought of something: the kids have yanked the vent register out of the floor a couple of times, and the carpet seemed loose under it.  So, I had a sudden brainstorm, pulled the vent register up, and looked under the edge of the carpet. 

Yup.  Hardwood.  It's going to need refinished, but that's cheaper and easier to do than putting it in from absolute scratch. 

So, yay!  We have hardwood floors waiting to be revealed when the kids are slightly less clumsy!

Random ramblings

The imp scraped the skin off the bottom of his big toe, just past where it joins his foot, yesterday.  He's been walking on his heel, holding his toes up off the floor, a lot.  The poor little guy usually runs full-speed, everywhere, and couldn't without crying yesterday.  He seems to be a lot better, today, though.

We went to visit my mother on Thursday, and I left Mom alone with the imp for a few minutes.  While I was gone, he apparently chattered at her non-stop until she tuned him out.  Then he told her he needed to go pee-pee.  She didn't hear the request because she'd tuned him out, and he had an accident.  I didn't count it, because it wasn't his fault. 

The pixie is starting to put three word phrases together.  She's getting easier to understand, too, but she's so high-pitched that my mother (who's hard of hearing) can't always hear/understand her.  She's been trying the temper tantrums, but we don't let either of the kids get away with that.  She usually stops when asked if she needs a spank. 

I wish the imp was that good about it.  He keeps going.

I've finished and published Survivors.  The link is over on the right, up at the top.  I know Bill said he bought it--thanks, Bill, and I hope it doesn't give you nightmares.  Amazon has some sample chapters, if you're curious.  Just click on the link, then click on the book cover for a look inside. 

Most of the stories were written while I was in college, many while I was dealing with memories of bad times I'd repressed.  Some are experimental in form.  Others deal with the human experience in general.  Some are hopeful, but many are not.  It isn't light reading.  I actually debated with myself about whether or not to publish it.

As for the second book I'm working on--sort of a cross between an anthology of short stories and a novel--well, I'm working on it.  It's about two-thirds of the way done.  This one has some pretty comic stuff in it.  The general premise of the book was sparked by a really weird dream I had during Thanksgiving Break last year: Odin and Zeus were sitting in a tavern that only the old gods could find, drinking and arguing about who was the better king of the gods.  From that odd, funny little dream has sprung the whole concept: the Greek and Norse gods in the modern world, trying to stave off Ragnarok. 

After that...well, I have a rough idea for another book set in the same world, a book with a different take on the old Arthur legends (starts out asking "What if Pendragon was more than just a name?" and goes from there) about a quarter of the way written, a very rough draft of a third idea (urban fantasy where the main character is half elf, raised in a series of human foster homes, and is both running from and trying to learn about her father's side of the family) and a general outline of another idea.  So, I have a lot on the back burner--enough to account for the next four summers. 

I have until the third week of August before classes start.   I've got that long to finish the rough draft of the book I'm working on.  Tentative title?  The Godshead

Friday, July 20, 2012

New on the side:

I have a direct link to my newly-published book.  If any are interested, go ahead and click through.  Amazon has some sample chapters posted, if you're curious. 

Further down the page, I've added an Amazon search box.  If I mention a book and forget to link it, that should make it convenient to figure out what the hell I'm talking about.

Pets

On Independence Day, we brought home a pair of kittens from our local PetSmart: Shadow (a small, black, short haired female) and Cricket (a slightly larger black and white short haired female).  We got them from PetSmart because they don't sell dogs and cats: they host them from local humane societies.  So, our kitties are rescue kitties.  They've done me a world of good, and both kids just adore the kittens (and that sentiment is very much mutual).

Two months ago, my mother rescued a Scotty terrier (blooded & papered) from a breeder.  The breeder said she was too old--eight years, and her last few litters hadn't survived.  Well, that little dog actually turned out to be pregnant.  And now, my mom has (as of this morning) a fat Sumo Beagle, two adult Scotties (the female, and her mate, also papered), and three Scotty puppies. 

Assuming the puppies survive puppy-hood, we'll probably have a puppy in a couple more months. 

No, I haven't told the imp, yet.  I don't want him either agitating to go up to Granny's house every day, or getting his hopes up, just in case the puppies don't make it. 

Otherwise, we'll start haunting PetSmart on Saturday mornings, when they bring in the dogs, in search of the right fit for our family.

Say it again with me:

Gun-free zones = target rich environments for shooters.

I've said it before.  Often.  I'm preaching to the choir, here, I know.  But I am getting so pissed at the government officials on all levels that designate victim disarmament zones that I could scream.  Every politician that proposes and/or votes for measures that disarm the law abiding citizens, permitting criminals to prey on them without fear of consequences are no better than the criminals that commit showy murders like the most recent one in Colorado.

So, what can we do?  I don't know about other states, but Missouri has pretty lenient policies toward ignoring victimization zone signs: first call to police just results in them asking you to leave.  It isn't until the third time that there's any real penalty.

I, for one, don't go into victimization zones.  Not unless it's absolutely necessary.  And I often ignore the "disarm yourself for the convenience and safety of criminals" signs.

If there had been one person in that theater in Colorado, the shooter would have been dead right there, rather than in police custody right now.   Maybe some of his victims would still be alive, and others uninjured.

Politicians and opponents of our rights to defend ourselves from violent attack have the blood on their hands for this just as surely as the little wimp that couldn't deal with being a loser, and took a gun to a crowded theater.

I have nothing more to say on the matter. 

FFOT: brainless, out-of-touch politicians

Specifically Steny Hoyer, who has been on the public dole for his entire adult life, and Ben LaBolt, who's so clueless that he thinks the American public isn't on the verge of revolt because of mandatory Medicaid.

Steny Hoyer can FTFO for being such a FUCKING clueless fucking moronic fucking twatwaffle that he fucking thinks that fucking putting MORE people on the fucking dole through fucking giving away longer fucking terms of fucking unemployment and fucking food stamp.

Ben LaBolt can FTFO for equating hopeless surrender to active and enthusiastic consent with regards to that massive anal-rape of a law that is Obamacare.

If y'all have anything pissing you off, let loose in the comments.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Home again, home again...

Two cranky kids (neither napped) fed, two spastically affectionate kittens desperately glad to see us released from the laundry room, two tired adults ready for the kids to just...go to bed. 

So...out of my planned tasks for today, I've so far gotten two done: my first book is now available for download here, and my family is out of my hair for the most part for the next two weeks.

Now for the laundry...and the dishes.  And bathing the kids and getting them down, and getting myself fed, and so on. 

Done.

Survivors has been submitted to Kindle Direct.  They say it'll take up to 12 hours for it to be made available.  I'll give y'all a link when it's up.

Update: Bill asked for an excerpt.  I'll have to re-read the fine print to see if I can do that, but in the meantime, here's the cover blurb:

A collection of short stories exploring the pivotal moment where the decision is made: do I want to be a survivor, or just a victim?   Will I allow abuse or tragedy to limit me, or do I rise above it?  Some choose to surrender and be victims, some choose to recover and be survivors. 

Update 2: The book is here.  Click on "look inside" for the first few stories. 

Plans for today

The imp is watching Curious George.  He woke me up a few minutes ago, marching his little self into the bathroom to go pee-pee.  Such a good boy...

Our little black and white kitten, Cricket, is feeling spastically affectionate--she's walking across my chest and stropping my face.  She's also washing my nose and ears.  She hasn't stopped purring, yet.  It's not easy typing with a kitten on your chest.

I have a finished manuscript.  I have a finished piece of cover art.  All I need to do now is publish it.  I started setting up my Kindle account last night, and ran into a small road block: I never even thought about how to describe my book.  So, one of my tasks for today is to write a cover blurb. 

We're also going to be going to visit my mother.  She lives in a small house on one of my aunts' property.  At least one of the other two is planning on visiting.  So there will be at least four women around all day, with a fifth showing up later in the afternoon.  And only two males--Odysseus and the imp.  Task two: visit my family.*

After we get home, we really need to do some laundry--the kids found my dirty clothes baskets and scattered everything over most of the house.   Task three: pick up laundry and get at least two loads done.

I also need to work on getting the kitchen cleaned up.  I've got a load of clean dishes in the dishwasher that need put up, and a few dirty ones to be hand washed.  Task four: dishes (not many, thank goodness). 

I think that's all for today, but I also think it's enough.  Especially with how exhausting task two can be...I do love my family, but they've got issues

*Make no mistake--no matter how much I love them, visiting my family is nothing less than a task. 

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Idiot

Of course Bernake doesn't like the idea of an audit of the Federal Reserve's practices.  No tin-pot dictator likes restrictions on his power--observers shine a light on actions that the world shouldn't see, in his opinion. 

The term "audit" means far more than he thinks.  And whether he believes it or not, the public is smarter than he gives us credit for: "The public thinks that auditing means checking the books, looking at the financial statements, making sure that you're not doing special deals, and that kind of thing. All of those things are (already) completely open."  I think most of us know better, and I know that the House of Representatives (the house in which the bill originated) understands what an audit is.  In this case, as in the case in university audits, auditors would be looking for overspending, mis-spending, and general waste, not just back-room deals. 

Either Bernake is an idiot, or he thinks the American public is. 

Why he isn't in jail is beyond me...

Cody Slaughter applied for a job with the Border Patrol agency, and admitted during the interview that he was far more qualified to be a TSA agent: he admitted to having molested a two year old girl, as well as having inappropriate relations with a pig, a dog, and a horse. 

He admitted this, a search of his home turned up proof of this, and law enforcement let him go without pressing charges.

With any luck, somebody will decide that he's looking at their toddler in just the wrong way, and remove him from the gene pool, and save the taxpayers from having to foot the bill for trying him, finding him guilty, then housing, feeding, and caring for him for a few years.  Hopefully, in the most painful way possible. 

It's not nice to lie to children.

If the little girl muppet in the video is in public school...someone lied to her really badly.



If that little girl is a public school student, the best she can hope for is teen mother of three in low income housing in a small town where it's safe for her kids.  If she's in a public school, she won't learn to count money, count change back, won't learn to read and write well enough to do more than fill out request forms for welfare and food stamps, and then, only because she has help. 

If she's in a public school, she'll learn all about how sex works, but won't learn that it's a better idea not to have it until she's ready (physically, emotionally, and financially) to deal with the consequences.  She won't be taught how to stand up and insist on condom use, so unless she is on the pill, she will end up pregnant, at best, and with an incurable, possibly deadly, STD at worst.

If she's in a public school, it will be because her (likely single) mother either is too stupid to pay attention to anything other than the latest acquisition, or because her mother doesn't love her enough to make the sacrifices necessary to put her in a private school.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Now an even bigger fan of Dave Ramsey

Don't know who he is?  He's a guy that likes to change lives.  So many people are over their heads in debt, and so many of those have no idea how to even start getting out of it.  Ramsey tells them how to start. 

He also brags about having a credit rating of zero.  He does not take on debt.

Odysseus and I are on our way there.  We used to have a car payment.  We paid it off a bit after our second anniversary.  We used to have credit cards, but we paid those off even earlier.

Looks like we had the right idea more than six years early.  I am so glad I have no consumer debt.  I don't want any more government intrusion into my life than I have to have. 

Hmm...

I didn't know that Rahm Emanuel was a trained ballet dancer.  That he was in ballet from a young age explains so much about him.  So often, so many kids who were bullied when they were young turn into bullies when they get even a shred of power. 

I hadn't made the connection between that and the current social programming against people who smoke, and people who are overweight until I read this article, but it makes so much sense.

Someone needs to design a study correlating victims of bullying with the leftist liberal mindset.  

Equality

It's a loaded word, anymore.  Just as "rights" can be.  There are so many emotional meanings tacked onto the literal one that people have started having gut reactions to simple statements.

And sometimes, they're right to.  Sometimes "equality" and "rights" mean "I'm better than you because of x" and "If you tell me no, it's because you're racist." 

Like this guy.  He claims that white people have never been anything but racist.  However, his language choices are suspect: he claims that white people have never favored "rights" for blacks.  Not equal, just "rights."

I have never opposed truly equal rights to those different from me--everyone has an equal opportunity to work their ass off and become successful.  I do, however, oppose lowering my standards to permit them to have chances that they don't deserve.  Especially when those standards include standards of civilized behavior

I do oppose the idea that someone else has the right to take money I've earned, or take my belongings.  I've worked damn hard to actually earn both.  I do oppose the idea that someone else has the right to tell me how to raise my kids.  Looking around, it's pretty obvious that I do a far better job of training my children to behave than the busybodies do.  I do oppose the idea that someone else has more right to my home, my car, my job, or my standard of living than I do.  We achieve that standard of living on far less than the welfare dependents spend on their shoes and cell phones. 

I believe in equal rights, not equal results.  What Bob Herbert is talking about is not the first.  He's talking about making allowances because of the color of the skin of the people involved. 

Believing that black people need special treatment and special expectations just because they're black?  That's just racist.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Well, that was new.

This morning, while he was watching his PBS cartoons, before either the pixie or Odysseus woke up, the imp came over and stood next to my knee, and said, "Mama, want new toy?  Please?"

He has never asked for such before.  Not once. 

We had shopping to do anyway, and he hasn't had new toys (other than earned rewards) since Christmas, so I figured, why not? 

He decided he wanted a little plastic cylinder containing four little fat plastic cars ($5 at Big Lots), which was about half what we spent the last time we got his little sister any new toys.  I looked at the others and found one that had different cars from the one he was clutching, and got it, too. 

He spent the whole afternoon, both before and after his nap, happily playing with his new cars, and sharing them with the pixie.  I didn't have to deal with more than two squabbles all evening.

Lord, that was nice...

Collars and chains and raccoon traps

We went grocery shopping for a staple we forgot on the last trip: lentils. 

Back when George W. Bush was in office, lentils went for $.48/pound.  The last time I bought lentils before this (about six months ago), they were $.98/pound.  This morning, they were $1.08. 

But there's little to no inflation, if we listen to government sources, rather than our wallets. 

QE 1 and QE 2 are partial causes; another root cause is raising minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25.  Basically, they print money, and assume prices will stay the same.  They raise the cost of doing business to the retailers, and assume that those costs will not be passed on. 

The stage is set.

On to step two: creating a larger underclass of government dependents.

We know prices are rising.  Honestly, they're rising faster than the inflation caused by the minimum wage increase can account for (though the Monopoly money coming into the economy through the firehose of quantitative easing certainly does).  Suddenly, groceries cost a bit more than twice what they used to (though that isn't inflation--food and fuel prices somehow don't count).  Paychecks in the current economy are stable or falling.  More and more people are losing their jobs entirely.

And our federal government is there to pick up the slack with welfare turned back to pre-Clinton rules (i.e., sit on your ass and collect a check, rather than work a shit job for government minimum wage as an incentive to find something better for yourself in the private sector), and food stamps.  It's currently a financially better choice to sit on your ass and collect government bennies.

Hook, line, and sinker.  Fire up the metal works--we've got a whole new class of slaves coming in.  We caught 'em in the raccoon traps

Bastards.

Too early. Again.

The pixie woke me at about twenty after six, this morning.  I got up, got her fed, then got her back down at about twenty 'till seven, to find an imp waiting for me to open the gate between the hall and living room. 

Only, I didn't know it was twenty 'till seven until I got the TV turned on for him--didn't think to look at a clock.  If I'd realized it was before seven, I'd've sent him back to bed. 

I shouldn't get to bed quite so late tonight--I don't have nearly so much to do after the kids get their dinner and get to bed.  Last night, I had to strip the meat off the bones of a roast chicken and get that put away.  While fending off two fuzzballs trying to climb my legs to get at the yummy stuff.

So, I'm finishing off my coffee, while the imp watches his normal PBS cartoons.  And wishing he'd slept for another hour or so.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Umm...excuse me?

0bama just leaned back and let rip with a doozy from the anal sphincter masquerading as his mouth:
"If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. ... If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen."
Umm...what?  Say I were to decide to open a used book store (highly unlikely--I possibly could, with all of the books I actually own, but I very rarely can be convinced to part with a book).  I'd have to spend the time to find a building I could afford to rent, I'd have to pay the permit fees for running a small business, and I'd have to spend all of my time running the store, with maybe one day off per week.  I might or might not make it, depending on several factors, including but not limited to where I were able to afford to rent (and how high the rent and utilities were), what kind of inventory I carried, how many hours I stayed open, my costs vs. my prices, a hefty dose of hard work, and an even larger dose of luck.

No, I wouldn't credit a teacher with my success.  I wouldn't credit the government to whom I'd paid the fees to be allowed to sell books--nor the government snatching money out of my pockets in the form of taxes on every fucking thing I bought, sold, or used (like electricity and water).

As it is, I worked damn hard keeping my temper to make it all the way through my masters' degree.  I did that.  No one else could do it for me.  I don't believe that individuals who build a business from scratch would enjoy being told that their hard work, planning, and luck counts for exactly as much as the nasty hag spreading her legs for another raise in welfare (i.e., getting pregnant).  

Then again, I'm not someone who got to the White House on affirmative action, either.

Churches are made of people

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.  Matthew 7:1-2

I will be the first to admit that I am judgemental. I tend to note several things about people, and make snap judgements about what kind of people they seem to be, and whether or not I want to have anything to do with them.  


I do not, on the other hand, make value judgements: "That behavior is bad, and you're going to hell!"  It's above my pay grade--I'm not clergy.  


However, it is the job that the clergy in pretty much any church is supposed to be doing.  Refusing to do it, like the Episcopal Church has just done, removes any legitimacy as a Christian church.  

Whether they like it or not, the Bible does have very clear statements on homosexuality, and they're not just in Leviticus.  The New Testament also makes it clear, in Romans (1: 26-27), I Corinthians (6: 9-11), and Timothy (1: 8-10), that it is not behavior that God is happy with.  Nowhere is the condemnation as clear as it is in Leviticus (most of which is focused on health codes, not just moral, by the way), but it's pretty apparent that the laws against homosexuality were carried forward.


Again, I don't care who's screwing whom or how--that's way above my pay grade.  It's above the pay grade of most of the people who say hateful things about people.


It is not above the pay grade of the clergy.  They are supposed to remind us of the rules we are supposed to be following.  The Episcopal Church started hemmorhaging members when they started to tell us that all choices and paths were equally valid.  


They're not.  The people know that, and really were disappointed in their church.  So they left the church in droves.  


The current bishop, Katherine Jefferts Schori, just drove the nail in the coffin of the dying denomination.  According to one attendee at her July 8 sermon:
“Jefferts Schori then proclaims that she has the answer for this. We all need the ‘act of crossing boundaries’ to become God after which our hands become a ‘sacrament of mission.’

“In this sermon, Jefferts Schori continued her mission of destroying the Christian faith through her rhetorical device of dismissive ridicule.

“Jefferts Schori leaves a wide wake of destruction behind with this sermon: the eternal triune God has been torn down, human beings are to boldly claim our place as God, and the sacraments of the Eucharist and Baptism have been turned into things our hands make. In other words, Jefferts Schori accepts that now humanity, animals and God are one undifferentiated blob. This is essentially a form of solipsism, the belief that self is all that is known to exist. Anyone can see that this is both pure heresy and utter nonsense."
You know, the last time I heard that assertion ("Thou art God") was in a science fiction novel.  Not any kind of church, and definitely not in a Christian church.


I cannot condone this.  I will not condone this.  I will not stand for this.  


Ladies and gentlemen, I repudiate the American Episcopal Church.  God is not there.  They've kicked Him out.  I don't want to stay anywhere He isn't welcome. 



Saturday, July 14, 2012

Sadly, they're right.

Thoreau refused to pay his taxes in an area where slavery was practiced because he violently disagreed with the concept of chattel slavery.  They threw him in jail, and he still refused.  That is civil disobedience. 

I cannot remember when I ever engaged in such.  I don't believe it will do any good. 

I also tend to pay little to no attention to laws I find fucking stupid, or completely unjust. 

PJ Media's Roger Kimball wrote a piece responding to Jerry Bowyer, discussing the myriad of ways Americans do exactly what I do.  Bowyer listed several paragraphs' worth of instances; then he told us why we do it. 

When we built our bathroom, we paid a contractor who was working on proving his credentials to be licensed (i.e., was unlicensed) in cash.  When we purchase guns from a local gun store where the owners know us, we pay cash to avoid sales tax (easier for us, easier for them).  We do things like this a lot to avoid sales tax, and to avoid having to pay a lot of stupid little city fees (did you know that, if you "do the work yourself," you don't have to pay for licensing fees?  What, did you think you didn't pay those fees for contractors you hire "above the table"?)

We still use a drop-rail crib, and it will be carefully packed away into storage for our children, instead of disposed of as an "unsafe" banned item.

We ignore speed limits where the roads aren't patrolled for speeds we feel are reasonable and prudent.  Yes, we use safety belts and buckle the kids into car seats, but not because we're forced to by law.  We do it because it's smarter, and definitely safer for the kids. 

So, why do we ignore things the government requires of us?  Why don't we revolt in ways that will be noticed, ways that the starry-eyed idealists are sure will change the world? 

Well, Bowyer thinks civil disobedience is based on the belief that things can be changed, that government can be challenged and changed for the better.  This ain't it:
What I’m talking about is not based on hope; in fact, it has given up much hope on social change. It thinks the government is a colossal amoeba twitching mindlessly in response to tiny pinpricks of pain from an endless army of micro-brained interest groups. The point is not to teach the amoeba nor to guide it, but simply to stay away from the lethal stupidity of its pseudopods.

The amoeba does not get smarter but it does get hungrier and bigger. On the other hand, we get smarter. More and more of our life takes place outside of the amoeba’s reach: in the privacy of our own homes, or in capital accounts in other nations, or in the fastest growing amoeba avoidance zone ever created, cyberspace. We revolt decision by decision, transaction by transaction, because we believe deep down that most of what government tells us to do is at bottom illegitimate.
 Amen.

God help us.

Yeah...right...

Okay, we have yet another pervert giving college professors a bad name.

I'm definitely going to be making sure my kids learn enough as they get old enough to get curious and understand it, exactly how that sex stuff works.  Yes, that also includes age/maturity appropriate information on masturbation, kinks, and explicit consent.  I will absolutely not trust anyone else to teach my kids this.  Especially not someone who locks a classroom door, then shows porn.

(I'm also planning on teaching my daughter that, until and unless she finds someone that really cares about her as a person first, sex by herself is going to be a whole lot more fun and satisfying (and much less frustrating) than sex with a boy.) 

I have to wonder, though: what was a childhood rape survivor doing in a human sexuality class? 

Random ramblings

I've been up since just a bit after 7:00 this morning...the imp was up and playing quietly in the living room.  I got his Hiro of the Rails turned on, got him a cup of dry cereal, and a cup of water--then had to run in and nurse the pixie back down for a while.  She's trying to transition to one nap a day, and it works--as long as she sleeps 'til nine in the morning.

The imp is doing really well on potty training.  He might start to go in his underwear, but then he catches himself and goes to the bathroom to finish (usually at a full run while pinching it with one hand to make sure no more pee-pee comes out, yelping "No!  No!  No pee-pee come out penis!).  Last night, he declined a bathroom break before I took the pixie to nurse down.  I was putting her down when I heard the bathroom door open and close.  I checked on him after I got her down, and he looked up at me and gave me the sweetest smile. 

He'd done his bathroom run in silence, because he knew his pixie was going to sleep.

The pixie is putting together more and more two word phrases.  Her latest is, when she enters a room where Mommy and Daddy (or one parent plus kitties) is "heddo guys" (substituting d for the l in "hello").  She tells me when she needs a clean diaper, eats a pretty good meal three times a day (plus snacks and chocolate milk).  She'll be two in December, and probably be starting potty-training sometime between October and April.  I'm going to bet she gets it quicker than the imp--she's a lot more persnickety. 

Having our anniversary this week, then getting really sick with a case of food poisoning has really set me back in terms of where I'd planned to be with regards to publishing my book.  I've got the cover art sitting, waiting to be scanned in.  I don't have a scanner, the campus is closed until Sunday afternoon, and Odysseus works 4-10 until Tuesday.  I plan to take the thing in to the campus Monday morning.  In the meantime, I'm trying to get Odysseus to read the Amazon legalese, and confirm my understanding of how it works, and how the pricing and royalties work before I set up my publisher's account.  Let's just say...it's taking a while. 

The other one's been pretty darn hard to work on while I've been first, too busy to sit down; then, too sick to sit up; and now, am having difficulty focusing on writing my fiction while I'm worried about my housework that hasn't gotten done much with since Monday.  Loading the dishwasher night before last left me weak and shaky.  Fiddling around making lunch yesterday left me weak and shaky--as did fixing the kids' supper.  It's difficult to focus on what I'd like to do when what I need to do is undone, and even more difficult when I'm not sure when I'll manage to get back on my feet enough to do it. 

Sometimes it sucks, being an adult. 

Regardless, the story I'm working on is nearly finished.  I've figured an approach for an idea that Odysseus and I got in the car that had both of us giggling like loons, and think it will fit in the second, plot-heavy set of stories.  After that, I'll have one more story to write in that section before I write the section of stories with the falling action/resolution.  I've got the rest of this month, and the first three weeks of next month to get it finished.

I have an idea for a follow-on for that, but it's going to go on the back burner until my take on the Arthurian legends (which is nearly a third of the way finished) is done.  I'm planning on focusing on that this Christmas break, and see if I can finish the first third.  Hopefully, I can finish the rest next summer.

I've got one of my course sites set up.  It's got students loaded into it already, and has already made the minimum enrollment.  I haven't bothered with the other, yet, because it might well not make.  I'd hate to spend hours building it only to have it deleted and cancelled for not making minimum enrollment.  Last summer, one of my two Comp I classes didn't make, Comp II needed a new section opened up, so the last department head's nearly-final act was to assign that one to me.  The new head doesn't seem to think I'll have that problem this semester.  I hope he's right. 

Friday, July 13, 2012

Prayers for healing needed...

TinCan Assassin needs 'em--he's in major trouble.

Like I repeatedly tell my Composition students...

Show, don't tell.  Explaining how good policies are doesn't make them actually good. 

In this case, as in all others, actions and results speak far, far louder than mere words.  Unfortunately for 0bama, he's not even good at the words part without his teleprompter.

Is he really this out of touch?

Not Obama.  Biden.

Somehow, the idiot classifies himself as "middle class" despite making $129K more than Obama's defined $250K/year threshold of "rich."

Here's hoping that he can help the great zero get booted out of office this November, and maybe gets a good, Chicago-style payback for it.

FFOT: foodstamp pushers

Did you know that there are cash awards out there for states getting more people on food stamps?  Or that they're advertised on "telenovelas"--Spanish-language soap operas? 

I'd been wondering why the rolls had more than doubled within the last ten years.  Now, I know. 

How the FUCK can the FUCKING FUCKSTICK SUCKING FUCKING TWATWAFFLES IN FUCKING WASHINGTON D.C. FUCKING GET AWAY WITH FUCKING AWARDING FUCKING STATES FUCKING TAXPAYER MONEY FOR FUCKING GETTING FUCKING COCKLEACHES ON FUCKING TAXPAYER-FUCKING-FUNDED FOOD STAMPS?  HOW THE FUCKING FUCK DID WE FUCKING MISS THIS FUCKING SHIT?!? 

You know what?  I'm going to start snarking anybody I see using a SNAP card or WIC benefits.  I'm fucking sick of this, and both the pushers and the addicts can fuck the fucking fuck off.

Your turn.  What's pissed you off this week?

Thursday, July 12, 2012

"Tribal warfare"???

I don't see how anyone with even half a brain could choose to live in a city that refuses its law abiding citizens the right to defend themselves against armed thugs.  Especially with gang violence bad enough that one cop (a veteran of our current overseas conflict) referred to it as "tribal warfare." 

And any parent that lives in Chicago, sees the violence that has been disproportionately aimed at children and young teens, but doesn't move themselves and their children out of the war zone, isn't much of a parent. 

I say: remove the politicians and cops, arm the law-abiding, and let the mess sort itself out.

How about this...

Instead of raising minimum wage--which has been proven to destroy jobs--we lower it gradually until it's gone?

If employers are forced to pay $10/hour for individuals who are surgically attached to their cell phones, they're just going to pile more onto the workers they have instead of hiring new people.  Why?  Because the self-absorbed morons entering the workforce now are not worth $10/hour.

Beyond that, employers that have to pay their workers more than they're worth tend to pass the expenses on to us, the customers, raising prices on everything from food to clothing to anything else imaginable.   Those poor, deluded idiots that crow about having more money to spend will find that, while they have more money, it doesn't go any further than their old paychecks did.

Feeling somewhat better.

I'm still not back to 100%--still weak and shaky, and my ribs and abs hurt--but I'm feeling much better than I did yesterday. 

I think the pizza may have had a tainted piece of chicken or bacon on the half I ate. 

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Really, really sick...

No more chicken bacon ranch pizza for me.  Ever. 

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

I can't imagine it any other way...

Odysseus and I have been married eight years, today--October makes four years as parents.  We've been together for even longer: we met in college, dated through college (three years of that was long distance--200 miles apart), were engaged for a few years, then got married after my first year of grad school (14 years, total). 

I can't imagine life any other way.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Gah!

It's so hard to shut brainless little fuzzballs into the laundry room when they're giving you wide-eyed, innocent, "Come play with me!" looks.

I still haven't managed to get good pictures of either one of them--they're either perpetual motion machines, or hiding behind large pieces of furniture to sleep. 

I've come to the conclusion that I have four toddlers.  Two of them are just fuzzy.

Yet another "unintended consequence."

The whole "You have to lend to everybody, whether they can pay it back or not, or you're racist" Community Reinvestment Act has had some majorly interesting consequences beyond the whole housing crash. 

Because they're not allowed to vet potential borrowers to see if the loans are a good business investment, a lot of small banks...aren't lending

It's a good thing we were planning on saving as much as we possibly could before we even really consider selling our home to buy a home on some acreage outside city limits.  I don't want to bother with the BS of borrowing from banks that don't want to lend, or from banks that won't do manual underwriting, since we won't have had any debt for more than ten years by the time we're ready.

(It's already been about five years since we paid off our car--and we haven't had credit cards for longer.)

The Community Reinvestment Act is a perfect illustration of an old cliche: the road to hell really is paved with good intentions.

Can we get an EDUCATION???

Seems to me that it's lacking--badly lacking--if a supposed minister can possibly believe that sending black kids to college can cause them to be infected by DNA: "There’s white racist DNA running through the synapses of his or her brain tissue. They will kill their own kind, defend the enemies of their kind or anyone who is perceived to be the enemy of the milky white way of life." 

Okay, seriously?  Somebody needs to explain to the douchenozzle that DNA is not an infectious disease.  DNA is what gives him his controversial skin tone.  DNA does not affect a person's thought processes (unless, of course, their DNA dictates that they have a mental disease, like Wright's obviously does). Somebody needs to give the guy a basic biology textbook and get him to read it. 

Now, if he'd said that kids are brainwashed at college, I'd be in the awkward position of agreeing with the premise, even though I'd call him an idiot about what he's thinking they're brainwashed with.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Faith in my fellow man...

Last week, I posted the Nicene Creed, and talked about how I have knowledge, rather than faith, that God exists and pays attention to us bugs he created, and kind of wondered if that was good enough in the end.  For all that it's a bad movie, Constantine articulates it well right around the minute thirty mark in this clip:



A good friend mentioned in the comments that he had faith in human nature.

I do, too.

I have faith that humans tend to be venal, petty, self-concerned, and self-absorbed.  I have faith that we can be horrible, evil, shallow, petty, nasty creatures.  I have faith that, if someone can demonstrate that they are a selfish ass, they will at some point. 

I also have faith that they're capable of more.  I have faith that any human can rise above the animal nature, should they so choose to. 

Unfortunately, it's something that the current culture is telling our children and young people that they shouldn't worry about--that acting on their impulses is "normal and natural" and nothing to be ashamed of. 

I have faith that, while the possibility is there to be more, most will choose the easy path of self-indulgence.  Just because it feels better, or is what's convenient and/or easiest at the time.

Sorry if I'm a little bitter, tonight.  Despite my faith that humanity can and will live down to my expectations, I'm still depressed and disgusted by stories like this.

My sister is headed for alcoholism...

She got a 1.75 L bottle of gin (which she doesn't really like) last month.  She's been mixing it with ginger ale with a slice of lemon every time she gets a little upset.

The bottle is nearly gone.

I offered to get her something she likes because she tends to stretch that a bit more to make it last longer, and she said "The gin works fine, and best of all, it's cheap and comes in a big bottle." 

Our male genetic donor is an alcoholic as well as being a verbally, emotionally, physically, and sexually abusive bastard, and our mother (whom I dearly love, but hold no illusions about how good of a parent she is) has a weak-willed, addictive personality. 

My sister seems to have inherited both (alcoholism, and weak-willed, addictive personality) in full.   I won't say I haven't inherited the gene that makes one prone to alcoholism, but I am wary of the alcohol.

And there's not a damn thing I can do.

It's right around ten 'til four a.m...

And I have been up and down every thirty minutes or so since freakin' 1:30 a.m.

I love my daughter very much, but I very much wish she'd settle down and actually go to sleep, like a normal human being. 

At the moment, I'm so tired an angry with her that I'm not sure I can go back to sleep, and I'm afraid that, if I go lay back down, she'll start squalling again.  And then I'd just have to get back up.  Again.

And the imp will be up at seven.  Joy.

I love my kids...I love my kids...I love my kids...

Saturday, July 7, 2012

A little excited...

My friend finished the cover art for my book.  I'm going to go to the university Monday morning, and I'll see if there's a way to scan it in and save it as a JPG file. 

I'll probably need help with that.  I can do a lot with Word, but don't know much about a whole lot else. 

After that...well, there's not really anything holding me back. 

Well...

Alec Baldwin--yes, he of the public temper tantrums and bad behavior--is seriously considering making a run at being Mayor of New York City.

I can't exactly picture people voting for a man who physically assaults people in public, or calls his daughter names in screaming voice mail messages, but then again, I couldn't imagine people voting for a wrestler, either.

I still can't see how he could possibly be worse than Michael "You're too dumb to be allowed to make your own choices" Bloomberg.

Random ramblings

Boy, am I ever glad that I'm a university employee.  I can't afford Microsoft Office on my own--not even the student edition, were I a student.

The imp has been happily chirping "two new kitties at [my] house!" since Wednesday.  He adores them both, and is very gentle with them.  They love playing with him, and Shadow is snuggly enough that she actually enjoys awkward small boy cuddles.

Pixie has been running around chirping "happy, happy, happy" since we brought the kittens home.

Needless to say, it's been a bit of a madhouse with two little fuzzballs and two toddlers chasing each other around, with the toddlers having fits of shrieking giggles.  Fun, though--until the toddlers start fighting.

My friend who was designing the cover for my finished anthology was nearly done when I contacted her about it.  I'll probably contact her this evening to see how that's coming, in the hopes that we can take it somewhere, scan it in, and turn it into a JPG file. 

I also want Odysseus to read the legalese about publishing with Amazon Kindle, including (especially) the pricing and royalty section. 

I've got eight stories left in the anthology I'm working on, two in the part with the majority of the plot, and the other six in resolution to the plot.  Part one--the part with the interconnected stories not really part of the plot--is pretty much done.  

I'll probably be able to finish this book before classes start up the third week of August, but not likely my next project.  I'll have about five weeks between Fall and Spring where I'll get back up to speed on that.  I may be able to work on it during the semester, but I'm not going to count on it.   

I'm going to have to re-load my CPS, course schedule, and textbook into my fall class.  I need to check to see if I also need to re-do the discussion board assignments.  They didn't recycle my courses from Spring, they just loaded new ones.  I also need to go in and make the course unavailable to the students they've already loaded in. 

I've been assigned two Comp I classes for Fall.  I was assigned two Comp I classes last fall, and one didn't make.  I hope, since the new Department Head saw fit to give me the same assignment, that both of my classes make, this time.  I think.  Maybe if they don't, I'll have more time and energy to write and finish another book.