Just a Little Babble...

    The last week, or so, I've been doing my darnedest to get all caught up on emails and whatnots, and I think I am actually starting to make some headway.  If you've emailed me, and I've not responded, well...  Sorry.  But, to those of you who were kind enough to send me birthday wishes, thank you for that. 

    Anyway, yesterday, I spent a lot of time dealing with a small cabal of Bible-thumping fundamentalist Christians who apparently took a great deal of offense over a post from last week (some even demanded I take down the link to the Christian Domestic Discipline website.  Yeah.  Like I'm going to get right on that).  Personally, I don't rightly give a hoot if they're "offended" or not. 

    In those emails, however, there was a consistent, and very troubling sentiment.  And, that was the sheer and amazing glee these pseudo-Christians took in the notion that they would be dancing in Heaven at the fact that I would be wailing in eternal misery in some sort of lake of fire somewhere.  And, even more troubling, when I pointed out their rank hypocrisy, they all pretty much believed that so long as I am some sort of worthless sinner in this supposedly "Christian" nation, they could say whatever they wanted, regardless of whether or not their god liked it. 

    It's madness, really.  But, it gets old fast.
   
    Nonetheless, after all the cudgeling, and all the irrelevant chest-thumping of these ridiculous folks, I am just left to wonder whether or not people truly comprehend the levels of hatred espoused in their religions.  I mean, even those beliefs which claim to be so wonderfully peaceful have an agenda --believe as me or suffer.  And, sometimes, that gets perverted into a belief that states "believe as me.  Be a dick like me.  Be afraid like me.  Or, suffer." 
   
    I don't know.  Perhaps this upswell in hate-filled religious rhetoric comes as a direct result of how our nation's citizens live in a constant state of fear, and religions are generally powered by fear.  It saturates our every day, and fear inevitably morphs into irrational hatred.  And, in a nation which is growing dumber each and every day, it's so much easier to hate than it is to learn and understand, isn't it?

    Personally, I feel sorry for religions which have been hijacked and perverted by these extremists.  But, I also do think that it's a very good thing in that it demonstrates to our society the hazards of life beneath the evil iron boot of a theocratic regime.  Unfortunately, America is stupid, and we are a nation of gullible fools.  And, I don't believe we will see what we've lost until it's too late to get it back without a tremendous struggle. 

-DP

Here Kitty!

    Here's a treat I got from BoingBoing.

    A guy rigs a camera onto his cat and takes pictures of his daily adventures.  It's actually a pretty weird and entertaining perspective, and some of those pictures are quite stunning. 

    So, check it out, click the "tour" and enjoy a day in the life of a German cat. 

    DogCat definitely needs one of these, methinks. 

-DP

Where I Am...

    Thanks to Cinzano, apparently, I am lost. 

MISSING: Dan

Was last seen trying to do the macarena

'What will you last be seen doing?' at QuizGalaxy.com

    That's complete madness, though.  Yes.  It's true I can't do the Macarena.  However, if you ever see me "trying" to do the Macarena, please do me a favor and remove the taser from my pants as it would appear it has gone off, and I am flailing wildly as a result.  In fact, it may even sound like I'm trying to sing the damn lyrics to that horrible song, but I'm pretty sure that's just me trying to scream for help as my fillings arc across my tongue. 

-DP  

Whew... Crazy!

    Egads!

    Sorry I've not posted the last couple of days.  It's been crazy here with a family crisis that is so damn annoying that I just want to grab a bottle of Scotch, and watch twenty straight hours of Charles in Charge.
   
    Yes, people.  There's a certain sort of safety in Scotch and the shininess of Scott Baio.  If nothing else, I know that no matter how trying my life may seem, at least I am not babysitting two teenage swimsuit models with raging hormones. 

    Fortunately, the crisis has abated silently and happily, and I'm thinking tomorrow I should have a pretty damn decent birthday.  The clock will tick, and I will slide into the ripe old age of thirty-nine with a smile on my face.  As for you all, well, you can get a pool going on how long it will take me to update my age in my "About Me" section.  I'd get in on some of that action, but that wouldn't be fair, ya know?

    Oh, it's also my friend "Luv-Biscuit" Jenn's birthday, and as much as I'd love to ring her up and go out to see how long it takes for the Chicago Bar-Owners' Association to call the National Guard on us, I've got to stay in and be reasonably well-behaved. 

    Anyway, I don't know if I'll be on my computer updating this thing tomorrow or not.  So far, the only birthday plan I have is to wake up and lay in the grass of the backyard with my morning coffee to see if I can spot the ever-elusive Bunny Cloud.  I'll try to take a picture if I see one. 

-DP

I Hope The Great and Powerful Oz Likes His Steak Medium Rare...

    Well, now this could get interesting.

    We've got some wicked storms rolling through, and there are tornado warnings popping up here and there.  And, of course, I have Fireball, my trusty charcoal grill, going, and I'm getting set to toss on a potato to bake, followed by a nice, thick rib-eye (yum). 

    So, let's see; should I choose personal safety, or a really damn good dinner? 

    I think I'm going to go with the dinner so long as there's no grapefruit sized hail or anything. 

-DP
*update*   Well, odd thing...  I tossed the potato on as all sorts of lightning and thunder blasted everything.  So, I ducked inside, cowered a bit, listened to the barking of Mother Nature, and then the sun came out.  So, there was a load of thunder rattling everything with the sun shining, and when I went outside, the storm was mostly off to the east (it seemed like it was five feet away), and it was out over the lake.  It was pretty cool. 

    Oh.  By the way, the steak was awesome.  I put a nice "healthy" wedge of herb-chive butter on top of the steak, smothered the whole thing with some sauteed crimini mushrooms with a sort of butter-sherry sauce, made a potato the size of a softball with sour cream, butter and more chives, some carrots (also with butter and, yes, chives) and an ice-cold beer without chives or butter.  And, now, I am slowly fading into some sort of massive butter-saturated food coma. 

    Yep.  I think I am going to need to do a sit-up tomorrow or something.   Oy!

Sunday Miscellany

    I've learned to love Sundays. 

    Today, the weather is hanging on the fringe of what could be considered pleasant.  The temperatures are warm, but the sky is overcast and demonstrating the myriad shades of gray Nature has at her disposal.  I think it was William Gibson, in his book Neuromancer, who summed it up best when he wrote: "The sky was the color of a television tuned to a dead channel."  At least, I think that was the book.  It's been a damn long time since I read it, and since it's Sunday, I am just too lazy to go and search.  But, regardless, that's what the sky looks like this morning, and for some odd reason, I find myself wanting to abandon my coffee and replace it with a bucket of nice, hot tea.  You see, it's warm, the windows are open, and it's actually quite nice, but I'll be damned if it doesn't just look like a winter sky out there. 

    Right now, I am struggling with a hunk of short fiction I'm working on.  The funny thing is, I love writing, and it's actually turning out to be quite a fun story to tell, but I just don't want to do it right now.  As a result, I keep finding walls and reasons to keep me from writing it.  But, all my dishes are clean, all my laundry's done, the floors are mopped, the grass is cut, the cats are fed, the fridge is stocked, and I really have run out of excuses other than the fact that it's Sunday, and I just want to be one with my furniture and do nothing more challenging than push the occasional button my remote. 

    It's Sunday, man.  I want to be LAZY!  And, I think I will be.  But, if something comes up, I'll let you know. 

    Anyway, I've got to wrap this up and get to doing nothing.  I hope you all had a wonderful, wild weekend.  Did any of you out there do anything crazy? 

-DP

Fun With Kids...

    Yep.  It's Saturday.

    There's really not much going on here.  My brother (#5) is dropping in with his wife and kids to shake things up, and I'm certain I'll be saying things like "no..  no...  Put that down.  That cat has sharp claws and he really doesn't like having his head sat upon."

    Eventually, I am sure I'll just give in and fill their little hands with paper-clips and point them toward all the wonderful electrical outlets in the house as we play a little game I like to call "circuit-breaker roulette."

-DP