Sour Grapes

there's an entire story in today's paper consisting of Billie Jean King's opinion about Danica Patrick's IndyCar race win. Danica is the first female race car driver to win an IndyCar race. it's a huge accomplishment, and one that she has worked long and hard for!
well...BJK has her panties all in a bunch about the media coverage and attention that Danica is getting. King begs to differ when people call it the most significant women's victory in sports history. she wants to remind people that she had it much harder 35 years ago as a woman tennis player. and she wants us to remember that she beat a man, Bobby Riggs, in a now infamous match. King thinks her victory was more special than Danica's.
I say baloney! BJK was a great tennis player and she certainly deserves praise for making strides for women in professional sports. but she played a sport that already had female athletes competing against each other. the match against Riggs was just a media circus, and an opportunity for publicity for the sport of tennis.
Danica is competing in an all-male sport (at least before she came along). she doesn't have the opportunity to race in women-only races. she MUST compete against men if she wants to drive race cars professionally.
i love you BJK, but why try to steal Danica's thunder? it's her turn to be in the spotlight. step down already. sheesh!

happy birthday to me!

what was happening in 1965?

Average Cost of new house $13,600.00
Average Income per year $6,450.00
Average Cost of a new car $2,650.00
Average Rent per month $118.00
Gas per Gallon 31 cents
Loaf of bread 21 cents
Sony introduces it's Betamax video recorder
Popular Films: Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, Goldfinger, My Fair Lady
Popular Musicians: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Moody Blues, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones

falling baby

did anyone else see this story on CNN? it seems that a post office employee who was delivering a package to a house caught a 1 year old baby after she fell out of a 2nd story window.
the details tell us that the mother put the child down for a nap on a bed that was pushed against the wall under a window, and the window was open (no screen or anything). according to the mother, she turned her back for just a moment and the baby crawled out of the open window. the baby fell onto the head of the postal worker as she was standing below the window. luckily she had good reflexes and was able to grab the baby after being bonked on the head. she saved that child's life!
the story also says that no charges have been filed against the mother.
can you believe it!? no charges??????? that mother is an idiot and almost got her precious little girl killed! how can anyone be that stupid?
www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/22/baby.caught.ap/index.html#cnnSTCVideo
here's the link to the video of this story

crazy cats cont'd

Chaya (a.k.a. scaredy cat) - came into our home after i ran her over with my car on I-495, she's a loner and doesn't hang with the other cats, likes to play by herself, will push her way into the bedroom at night to visit with me, has a chin, her meow is a cute little squeak, she's always hungry

Harry (a.k.a. Bubby, Boo Boo) - he's a terminal adolescent, likes to run around the house as fast as he can like a crazy man, picks on his sisters way too much, can say "mamma", he's very long and heavy, his face looks like a lion's, he's not very graceful, he can be a big cuddle bug at times

crazy cats

our 4 cats are all very different. not just in appearance, but in temperament and personality too. over the next few days, i will describe their general personality traits and regale you with some of their most famous and funny antics. come back soon. you don't want to miss these stories!

Pickles (a.k.a. "The Queen") - your lap is to be available to her at all times, she expects you to pet her and scratch under her chin for as long as your hand strength holds out, she can be very aloof, she looks at you like you're a peasant when you annoy her, ever heard the term caterwauling? that's what she does when she wants to play and it sounds creepy, she's laid back most of the time, and the most gentle of the four (unless provoked to the breaking point by her brother)

Millie (a.k.a. "Hippie Chick") - our pretty little Calico girl, very fastidious, has been known to clean the heads of her brother & sisters, has a neurotic tendency to scratch at walls and doors, she's a talker and will let you know what she wants, she's also sometimes a bit sassy when she is told "no", she fights incessently with her sister Chaya (they have slap fights), she's a great cuddler when she's in the mood

Pictures of Ty

ok, so this post is just to tell you that there are pictures of the cutest girl in the world at: www.marieeldreth.myphotoalbum.com

child abuse

so i'm driving to work this morning and traffic was stop and go on I-95. at one point when i was at a complete stop, i glanced over at the car next to me. what did i see? i saw a woman driver who was puffing away on a cigarette, the windows were all up, and there was a toddler in a booster seat in the back. the entire car was filled with smoke.

is this not child abuse????? how is it EVER ok to force a child to inhale second-hand smoke? the child has no choice. he/she is trapped. it is common knowledge these days that smoking causes cancer, and that second-hand smoke is just as dangerous if not more so. what are these adults thinking?! they say they love their kids, but yet they put their own unhealthy desires ahead of the health and safety of their children. research has shown that children of smokers are more prone to asthma and respiratory infections, and don't do as well in school as non-smokers' kids. why would you want to make your kids sick? it's a form of poisoning. if you smoke around your kids, you're poisoning them and should be prosecuted as such! i don't know how smokers justify this in their own minds. can anyone tell me? i'm very interested to hear an argument that would convince me that this is ok.

some states are now passing laws that make it illegal to smoke in a vehicle when a child is present. hooray for those states!

freedom of speech

ok. here's the deal. Bush threw out the first pitch at a Washington Nationals baseball game, and the crowd booed him. now i'm reading letters to the editor of the Washington Post and other papers from people who are offended and think it was unpatriotic. one guy even went so far as to say that he bets that none of the booers would have the guts to fight for our freedom and help spread democracy around the world. huh? did the rest of the world ask for it? do they really want to be like us?

isn't freedom of speech (i.e. booing the president) part of democracy? don't we live in a "free" country where we should feel safe expressing our views? if an elected official does something we don't like, it is our obligation to tell him so. it is our right and duty as American citizens to say what we think. keeping quiet is the same as condoning the behavior. don't be one of those people who likes to bitch and complaing, but doesn't do anything to change things. stop all your whining and DO SOMETHING!

write a letter to the editor of the local paper about an issue that's important to you. check the state government web site to see what bills are currently under consideration and call your state rep or senator if you see one you have an opinion about. every person is important and every voice can be heard. you can make a difference. believe me, i've seen it myself. if you want more suggestions about ways you can get involved, leave me a comment and include your contact info. i'll be glad to help anyone who wants to boo the president, or whatever.

"We must become the change we want to see in the world."

- Mahatma Gandhi

my 2nd post

i was just thinking about this stinking presidential election. who else is already sick of the debates, yard signs, and crappy commercials? raise your hands.

at this point, i just want the whole thing to be over! i voted for Hillary in the primaries, and i still support her as our next president, but either she or Obama will certainly be a million times better than that nutcase we have in office right now. i will even go out on a limb and say that McCain would be 2 or 3 times better than Bush. am i right, or am i right?! come on all you sheeple and think for yourselves! THINK!

let's just get a Democrat in there and start cleaning up the big pile of stinking mess that is Bush's legacy to us. my friend has offered her house as the place where we'll have our "Goodbye Monkey Face" party in January. monkey foods, monkey games, "pin the brain on Bush", pinata so we can beat the crap out of him, etc. fun, fun, fun!!!

wow! my first post!

well. isn't this exciting! my wife has been bugging me to start a blog for a long time, so here it is.
i'm not sure if other people will want to read my forethoughts and opinions, but that won't stop me from writing.

so...let me welcome you to my blog! i will be posting my opinion about all things that are interesting to me. i will tell you what i think about G/L/B/T issues, the war, politics in general, the presidenatial election, animal rights, care of our children and defenseless, stupid people (sheeple), violence, bodily functions, sports, weed smoking, etc.

please come back often, and i welcome your responses to my 4thoughts.