Is it an extension of artist license? A moody defiance of all of Life's tyrants?
Oh, right. Update.
Some heavy stuff has happened since August. Most recent and sad is that our last dog, Lucky, died. He was about 12 years old and fighting an aggressive staph infection, and also started having trouble moving around in the last week or so. I can't say it was a painless death, unfortunately. He suffered a lot, even in the end which was probably due to a stroke, heart attack, or some kind of organ failure. My little brother and I buried him in the shade of a small oak tree in the middle of our field.
Britain is living with us again, since early September. Mom came back from visiting him in jail one day and said it seemed as though he'd had an epiphany and changed for the better, then she said he wanted to be out of jail for the birth of his second son (with a different girl, thankfully). She called me up late one afternoon and asked if I'd withdraw about $1,200 to pay his back child support so he could be there when it happened.
Since then he's been working for a local exterminator and trying to get into the National Guard, but that seems to be taking longer than necessary. Hopefully it'll work out before New Year's.
About the election? I'm glad Obama won. Not just because I voted for him, either. Everything I've seen of him indicates that he's a deep thinker, with a strong sense of responsibility and morality, a commitment to social justice and moderate politics, and that he has a knack for tapping some of the best minds and talents to surround himself with. Maybe Biden doesn't best exemplify that, but he does have a wealth of foreign policy experience and seems more honest than a lot of other politicians (or at least unguarded and forthright most of the time). I feel more comfortable with a man like Obama leading our nation at this time, when we're faced with serious issues ranging from our own tanked economy to two foreign wars and an aggressive Russia.
I just don't feel like a McCain administration would have been up to the task. The 2008 McCain campaign was such a huge disappointment, not just for the mudslinging but for the appointment of Palin as his VP and his pandering to the farther Right's ridiculous opinions. I've said for a while, and seen it said elsewhere, that if the John McCain of 2000 had run. he would have had a much better chance of winning (especially with moderates) and would have had more of my respect. That McCain was glimpsed a few times, like when he reassured a woman in a rally audience that Obama was a good person, and during his concession speech. I resent that he could abandon this sort of integrity so easily and consistently as during the rest of the campaign.
I still don't have a job. Haven't really been looking, to be honest. I've just been sitting around, eating into my savings and not doing much of anything. I'm completely unmotivated so long as I've got things easy, it seems.
I've been bitten once again by the fish bug, it seems. Gaia Online added a feature a few months back that lets users set up a virtual aquarium. After a while I started getting the itch to set up a real one. When I was much younger, I used to keep a running series of aquariums and betta bowls (they never lasted because I didn't really have the sense of responsibility or the knowledge to keep them well-maintained). Now all that junk is stacked up in the garage, and probably too rusty and grime-encrusted to be of much use. Those tanks are too small, anyway (out of boredom, I did take out my small 9.5 liter tank and clean it off with vinegar and boiling water, if anything I might put a betta in it).
I've got a stack of library books on tropical fish that are due back on Tuesday, I've made rounds of all the local stores that might possibly sell useful fish stuff, I've spent a lot of time online looking for up-to-date information.
Hopefully this phase will pass before I actually feel comfortable with the idea of starting up a tank again.
Some heavy stuff has happened since August. Most recent and sad is that our last dog, Lucky, died. He was about 12 years old and fighting an aggressive staph infection, and also started having trouble moving around in the last week or so. I can't say it was a painless death, unfortunately. He suffered a lot, even in the end which was probably due to a stroke, heart attack, or some kind of organ failure. My little brother and I buried him in the shade of a small oak tree in the middle of our field.
Britain is living with us again, since early September. Mom came back from visiting him in jail one day and said it seemed as though he'd had an epiphany and changed for the better, then she said he wanted to be out of jail for the birth of his second son (with a different girl, thankfully). She called me up late one afternoon and asked if I'd withdraw about $1,200 to pay his back child support so he could be there when it happened.
Since then he's been working for a local exterminator and trying to get into the National Guard, but that seems to be taking longer than necessary. Hopefully it'll work out before New Year's.
About the election? I'm glad Obama won. Not just because I voted for him, either. Everything I've seen of him indicates that he's a deep thinker, with a strong sense of responsibility and morality, a commitment to social justice and moderate politics, and that he has a knack for tapping some of the best minds and talents to surround himself with. Maybe Biden doesn't best exemplify that, but he does have a wealth of foreign policy experience and seems more honest than a lot of other politicians (or at least unguarded and forthright most of the time). I feel more comfortable with a man like Obama leading our nation at this time, when we're faced with serious issues ranging from our own tanked economy to two foreign wars and an aggressive Russia.
I just don't feel like a McCain administration would have been up to the task. The 2008 McCain campaign was such a huge disappointment, not just for the mudslinging but for the appointment of Palin as his VP and his pandering to the farther Right's ridiculous opinions. I've said for a while, and seen it said elsewhere, that if the John McCain of 2000 had run. he would have had a much better chance of winning (especially with moderates) and would have had more of my respect. That McCain was glimpsed a few times, like when he reassured a woman in a rally audience that Obama was a good person, and during his concession speech. I resent that he could abandon this sort of integrity so easily and consistently as during the rest of the campaign.
I still don't have a job. Haven't really been looking, to be honest. I've just been sitting around, eating into my savings and not doing much of anything. I'm completely unmotivated so long as I've got things easy, it seems.
I've been bitten once again by the fish bug, it seems. Gaia Online added a feature a few months back that lets users set up a virtual aquarium. After a while I started getting the itch to set up a real one. When I was much younger, I used to keep a running series of aquariums and betta bowls (they never lasted because I didn't really have the sense of responsibility or the knowledge to keep them well-maintained). Now all that junk is stacked up in the garage, and probably too rusty and grime-encrusted to be of much use. Those tanks are too small, anyway (out of boredom, I did take out my small 9.5 liter tank and clean it off with vinegar and boiling water, if anything I might put a betta in it).
I've got a stack of library books on tropical fish that are due back on Tuesday, I've made rounds of all the local stores that might possibly sell useful fish stuff, I've spent a lot of time online looking for up-to-date information.
Hopefully this phase will pass before I actually feel comfortable with the idea of starting up a tank again.