Look, It's an Eskie Puppy!

Okay...
Eskie puppy videos make (almost) everything better. Even if they do grow up into bratsy little dogs that like to wake you up in the pre-dawn hours, knowing full well that you'll have trouble going back to sleep. ;o)

I ought to go to YouTube for early-morning, puppy-based entertainment, from now on. (And Facebook shall be shunned forever and ever, amen. In that direction lie fail-proof depression triggers.)

Ugh.

That's all.
Just UGH, about every single little thing.

(Well, somebody's in a bad mood this morning...)

...Sometimes you really need a private blog, so you can gripe about every tiny thing that's irking your very soul at a given moment, without everyone in your circle of family and friends learning about your deepest, darkest inner brat.  This is one of those times.  I blame my lack of sleep.  (Thanks again, Trixie, for the latest pre-4 A.M. wake-up call.  [One of a set.  Collect them all!]  *SIGH*  At this rate, I'm going to start going to sleep at 8:30, just so I can get a decent night's rest, once in a while.)

Lie to the Children About Your Favorite Color...

...It's the only way to fight racism!! 

"Dress witches in pink and avoid white paper to prevent racism in nurseries, expert says."

Other great ideas for the prevention of racism:

• Dress fairies in darker shades (rather than the traditional pastels).
• Provide paints and crayons in "the full range of flesh tones", reflecting the diversity of the human race. (Aren't there already lots of different flesh tones in a good box of crayons?)
• When asked about their favorite colors, members of staff should be prepared to lie to the children-- for their own good.  "In the interests of good race relations, answer 'black' or 'brown'."  

That'll make so much difference in those children's lives and racial relations, I'm sure.  Yeah, more likely the kids will give the staff member a weird look.  Besides, how many people would ever name "white" as a favorite color?  Aren't blue, red, purple, and green more common choices?  How could it be construed as negative toward any race to say you like blue the best? 

"This is an incredibly complex subject that can easily become simplified and inaccurately portrayed," she [Anne O'Connor, the "expert"] said.

"There is a tendency in education to say 'here are normal people and here are different people and we have to be kind to those different people', whether it's race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age or faith.

"People who are feeling defensive can say 'well there's nothing wrong with white paper', but in reality there could be if you don't see yourself reflected in the things around you. “As an early years teacher, the minute you start thinking, 'well actually, if I give everyone green paper, what happens’, you have a teaching potential.

“People might criticise this as political correctness gone mad. But it is because of political correctness we have moved on enormously. If you think that we now take it for granted that our buildings and public highways are adapted so people in wheelchairs and with pushchairs can move around. Years ago if you were in a wheelchair, then tough luck. We have completely moved and we wouldn’t have done that without the equality movement.” 

 Well, that must be the problem, then.  It's simply too complex for my simple brain to comprehend.  Thank goodness there are sharp-witted heroes like Anne O'Connor out there, saving the world from white paper and storybook witches clad in ~whisper~ black.

How Prius Lost My Business ;o)

Please add me to the list of people who find this commercial horrible, creepy, and nightmarish:

Truly, it is awful.

I solemnly vow not to run right out and buy a Prius, in protest of this creepy ad.  (Because you know I was going to buy one, otherwise, right?)

Can't Make Sense of It...

I am unceasingly amazed by people who are simultaneously aghast at the idea of capital punishment, yet when faced with the infinitely more agonizing moral dilemma of abortion are (to use the modern vernacular) "totally down with that".

I won't deny that, though I support the death penalty in some cases, I also find myself questioning how that support fits in with my beliefs as a Christian.  My qualms stem chiefly from the concern that by executing a criminal-- even the most heinous-- we are potentially denying him/her the chance of redemption.  I must admit that in certain instances (especially brutal murders), I have trouble caring about that (no inclination whatsoever toward mercy), but I feel I ought to be troubled, because I believe that even those I personally cannot tolerate are still of value to God.  (Then again, by the time most of these criminals are actually executed, they've sat on death row long enough to give them ample opportunity to realize what they've done and to turn to God...)  To say it's a difficult, confusing issue is a vast understatement. 

So yes, I can understand where some people are coming from, when they object on moral grounds to the execution of criminals.  What I can't understand is how those same people don't bat an eye at the thought of the senseless execution of the innocent unborn.  Yet there it is.  So, a couple of convicted criminals were executed last night, and the story of at least one of them has been plastered all over the news for days.  How many abortions do you think occurred (in the US alone), yesterday?  I don't know, but I'm willing to guarantee it was more than two unquestionably innocent lives snuffed out before they had even been given the chance to draw breath-- and of course you haven't heard a peep about those.  Too many of the same people who were outraged-- offended-- teary-eyed over the former are completely unperturbed by the latter.  I don't think I'll ever make sense of that mindset.

Edited to add:
Yes, I realize that some of the outrage over one of these particular cases was based on worries that this individual might not have been guilty (though from what I've heard, it seems unlikely).  This fact doesn't change my confusion over how the same person can agonize over the death of a criminal but unthinkingly support abortion.

Edited again:
Here's an interesting, brief blog post about Christianity and the Death Penalty.

Ha!

(You have to know something about the authors and/or works mentioned to get the "joke", but at least I think it's funny...)

While googling for book/author recommendations for fans of P.G. Wodehouse, I came across a library website suggesting that if you like P.G. Wodehouse and Charles Dickens, you should try Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton.  Ok, maybe for someone who enjoys the darker side of Dickens, Edith Wharton could make a little sense, but P.G. Wodehouse?  And Ethan Frome?  Surely this "Ellen" (the librarian making the recommendations) jests.

The other recommendations for fans of Wodehouse and Dickens were just as odd:  A Changed Man (apparently about a reformed skinhead), About a Boy (it's by Nick Hornby, so I'm assuming it's drama), March (which evidently "drives home the intimate horrors and ironies of the Civil War and the difficulty of living honestly with the knowledge of human suffering"), and War Trash ("painted with starkly melancholy longing").

This is just weird.  Or did Wodehouse (of Jeeves and Wooster fame) also pen works of starkly melancholy longing about the intimate horrors and ironies of war and human suffering?  Possibly I've simply never happened to hear of them...

After the Storm

This weather report brought to you by my genuine interest in such things, despite the generally held views of the subject. ;o)

Tropical Storm Lee came through late last week / early this week and brought with it lots and lots of rain.  Top-secret confession:  I didn't really mind.  Well, I was sorry for the animals and people who had to be out in it or who suffered from flooding, fallen trees, etc., but it didn't bother me, personally.  Especially considering what a very dry spring and summer we've had, a few gloomy days were no trouble at all.  I even like them, sometimes.  More so when we don't lose power.  We did this time, but not for too long, at least.  And if the rain knocks a few degrees off the temperature, so much the better.  All told, we got just over 13 inches of rain from Lee (if our rain gauge is to be believed).

Monday afternoon, we noticed the wind shift directions.  Instead of clouds scudding by from the south, they were scudding by from the north, then dissipating altogether.  What a blissful change!  The steamy air replaced with dry (or at least drier)-- the trees across the way crisp, sharp, precise.  (Over the summer, I almost forget how clear the air can be.  You get used to a slight haze across any distance.) 

We've slept with the windows open, the past couple of nights, and woken to temperatures in the 50s.  Our windows were open all day yesterday.  True, it was almost too warm in the middle of the afternoon, but all through the morning, it was practically perfect.  Though the heat and humidity will be creeping back in by the end of the week (summer's not completely vanquished, yet), this brief interlude of autumn has been delightful.  Ahhhh, feel that cool air!  Summer's beginning to come to an end, finally.  (Or will be SOON.)  I know many people across the northern hemisphere are desperately hanging on to these last warm(ish) days, and I sympathize... but for my own sake, I'm glad the seasons are on the verge of changing.  Thank goodness, this summer does have an end, after all, and won't just keep on going forever.

. . . Don't Even Know What to Say

. . . Is this woman for real?  (Yes, unfortunately, I'm pretty sure she is.)  If there are many more like her out there, no wonder we're headed to hell in a handbasket.  Lady, please, please tell me you don't vote.  (Please?)

Warning:  This might make you angry, fill you with despair for the future of our nation, or just generally ruin a perfectly good Thursday.  Watch at your own risk. 

Ms. Maxy and the Entitlement Mentality