For those about to debate ...

Some of my favorite puppies at the shelter have gone home (Dixon, Drew, Jeanne and Clover) - but there are a few new canine faces!

Janie Mac - I got to meet her briefly on Sunday, and she seems like a very happy puppy dog, with lots of energy and love to share! Just look at that sweet face - who could resist a puppy dog like that?

Auggie - He's losing his vision, but still has a great smile - and from the look in his eyes, you can tell that he's trying to gauge who is in the run with him. Auggie loves to give "hugs", and is a very sweet, affectionate boy.

Kasee - She was found by an employee, tethered to a pole with a handwritten sign from the owner saying that she couldn't be taken care of anymore. While she might have been a street dog, she's starting to adapt well to the shelter!

Nugget - This sweet, very shy darling just wants to be loved ... but she's too shy to approach humans to get loved! It takes some time for her to warm up to humans, but when she does, and show her that humans are good by talking to her and petting her soft puppy coat!

"There will be good days and bad, which means that some days I may be cranky and some days really cranky!" - Peter Jennings, on his upcoming chemotherapy.

I am a huge nerd. I grew up watching Peter Jennings on ABC's Nightly News, a fan of his voice and delivery. He always came across as approachable, yet dignified - unlike Ted Koppel, who looks like Alfred E. Newman with a beaver pelt for a toupee, and a very dry, stoic delivery of the news.

So the news of Peter Jennings' diagnosis with lung cancer was a surprise to me. It was almost like hearing that a family friend had been given that diagnosis - but of course, it has the detachment that comes with celebrity. We can relate, but we cannot truly understand, because we are separated by so many degrees - and its best kept that way.

But, I digress.... I like that quote of Mr. Jennings' (it feels odd to call him "Peter"). It shows that he's keeping a sense of humor, despite such a weighty situation and diagnosis. I admire that in people, and hope that he will have a quick recovery - with his family and friends keeping him strong.

Out Damn Spot!

Yes, it's the end of Red Ink in schools. Apparently, there are parents that think of it as being "too traumatic" on their sprogs' egos.

Pardon me while I cry a river, and call for the waaahmbulance to pick you up.

What have we come to, that kids are being coddled to this point? That red ink is "damaging" to their fragile self-esteems, and teachers are going to other colors, like purple and blue - because they're more "feel-good" colors?

I don't know about anyone else, but red ink worked for me. It pointed out where I did wrong - and how to make it right. And isn't that the point? It certainly didn't traumatize me - or anyone else I grew up with.

Then again, we also made mud pies, ran with scissors, turned appliance boxes into majestic castles and (sometimes) ate paste in kindergarten for a cheap thrill. Yet, we turned out okay.

I'm on what seems to be my 50th different seizure medication in as many months - Keppra, while keeping me seizure-free, had a nasty side effect. One that made the hair loss and weight gain from Depakote almost seem tolerable.

( Keppra )

Hopefully, this will be ending very soon, as I am being weaned off the Keppra - and going onto Lamictal. Granted, I'll be spending the first week on 3 different seizure meds, and the schedule for going on Lamictal is utterly screwy (only to keep patients from developing a rare, but potentially fatal rash) ... but anything is better than Keppra Hell.

Last night, Kellie and I watched an old episode of South Park - one where the boys were going head-to-head (as it were) over who could get a Platinum album first, with Cartman enlisting Butters and Token to start Faith + 1, a Christian rock band ... while Stan, Kenny and Kyle had their band, Moop.

Anyways - Moop got busted by the FBI for downloading music from the Internet, and ended up being taken to Lars Ulrich's house (Lars is the drummer for Metallica ... and their Resident Bigmouth, for those that didn't know), to see the effects of their downloading music.

FBI Officer: "Lars Ulrich was going to have a gold-encrusted shark bar put into his back yard. But, since people like you have been downloading Metallica's music from the Internet, he's going to have to wait a few months to do it..."


Anyways, this morning - while in the shower, I got to thinking about something: on The Daily Show, "The Week In Bono" had a segment that had Bono deferring comments on something related to U2 to: The drummer, Larry.

When Napster was first popular, and Metallica came out, all piss-and-vinegar against it, who was the band's mouthpiece? The drummer, Lars.

Coincidence? I think not. ;)

With everything happening recently - especially with Terri Schiavo - people are talking more about end-of-life decisions, including Living Wills, Advance Directives and DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) Orders, to ensure that their wishes are respected ... and they do not end up in the middle of a huge mess like this.

So many sources for Living Wills and such have been referenced by others - but I don't think anyone has mentioned *where* to keep the information. The good news is - MedicAlert does offer Advance Directive Storage and Access.

Currently, only U.S. residents can store the Advance Directives - but they are accessible worldwide, 24/7. Yes, you might be wearing a MedicAlert bracelet (or just carrying a card in your wallet) to indicate that you have an AD on file - but, it's better than having dueling family members, and public officials attempting to determine what is "right" for you when you're incapable of making such a decision for yourself.

I borrowed this from mock_the_stupid, because it's quite funny ... and of course, the waaahmbulance is coming out on this one.

At Least I'm Not A Plagiarist!


My opinions?

1) The girl committing plagiarism is getting what she deserves. A crappy paper - full of nonsense cobbled together from not-very-reliable sources.

2) She went trolling on AIM to get the paper, for the love of all that's decent in the world!

3) I think it's funny as hell that she ended up being taken in by someone that is a part of a comedy troupe. People are calling him an evil asshole - but I think that he's an evil genius.

Shelter Kitty Drama!!

Really. It seems that at the shelter, the Alpha Male Cat, Zeus (mis-spelled "Zeuss" or "Zues" on the site) has been un-seated. By a younger, bitchy cat named Rico. Don't let the sweet façade fool you - Rico apparently served Zeus, when Zeus tried to show him who his daddy was in the Community Cat Room.

Zeus, ceding control - and his favorite green chair - backed down from terrorizing Rico, and resigned himself to tormenting the usual feline suspects.

And to make matters worse, Zeus' Kit-teen bitch ... pardon me, evil minion, Diego, has been adopted. So, he either has to make nice with the cats he'd terrorized in the past - or look for a new Kit-teen to do his evil bidding.

Unless Rico takes him away, my guess is that Zeus' new Minion will be: Miles.


And so concludes Alpha Male Kitty Drama for this week. ;)

For those that have just joined me - or haven't been able to keep up with the whole story - this is what has been going on with my step-dad in the past 2 years:

( 2003 in Review )

January 2004
Another re-cap

July 2004
One year Cancer-Free!

October 2004
Family - Ties that bind, gag and don't care either way.

January 2005
Not the happiest of New Years


Tomorrow, I will write an update about the past few weeks. Right now, I'm just feelling a little overwhelmed and drained (and not just from using the HTML skillz, either) ... so, thanks for reading - and thanks for the thoughts. :)

So yay on that! :-)

Also yay on the fact that we're having a 5 1/2 hour work day today - which means that we can leave 2 hours early, for Good Friday. This is probably due to the fact that a lot of the companies we deal with are closed all day - or closing at noon. Whatever the case, I'll take it, because I like the idea of having a shorter work day.


I'm almost through reading the Lewis Black book - thankfully, it was a book that I could pick up and put down with no problems. Once I'm done with that book, I'll continue reading Watership Down, and the Orrin Devinsky book on epilepsy. Then, its onto Suze Orman's new book for the "Young, Fabulous & Broke" Generation.

Once I'm through those books, I want to get Anthony Swofford's Jarhead, and perhaps some of the books from my Amazon.com wish list. Just because I'm a big nerd, and I love to read - constantly.