22 September 2009

Puppy Love + More

So, three and a half weeks ago I adopted a 9 year old yellow lab from a local lab rescue group. There have been some ups and downs - in spite of having wanted a dog for several years now, I think I wasn't fully prepared for what it would actually be like - but really, she's been a joy. The day before I got her, Colin and I discovered a large park right down the street from my apartment, so I've been taking her there on most days after work. In addition to just enjoying her company, it's been a lot of fun to participate more in my community - just being out there, smiling at people, making small talk with parents when their kids approach me and want to pet her. Yesterday a little boy no taller than she is came up, very bravely, and wanted to pet her...he got covered in puppy kisses in short order. His mom and I just looked at each other and laughed.

In other news, if anyone wants a free tarot reading, you can send an e-mail to yoursongs1986@yahoo.com with a question, and I'll give a reading to the first 15 individuals I hear from. I recently picked up a deck and started playing with the cards - I've been told that I give pretty good readings, and I'm trying to see how well that translates online. If it seems viable, I might start up an online side business. I think giving useful advice might be a function of how well I can read people (no pun intended, actually) in person, though, so we'll see how this goes.

13 September 2009

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I was fairly appalled to see the outcry over President Obama's speech to schoolchildren last week.

I'm not really a supporter of some of his policies.

But I *am* a supporter of the values he spoke about during that speech. And just as much, I'm a supporter of the idea of maintaining respect for the office of President. I want my children, when I have them, to grow up seeing the President as an honorable person - one who has achieved the position through the same hard work and perseverance that he was talking about, and one that has the best intentions for the nation at heart. I want my children to debate the ideas, and not simply attack and mistrust the person.

I don't want politics to become so ugly that we can't at least maintain some sense of idealism about the person that is, at least in theory, leading us all.