Positive Day

Positive Day is the idea of the 12 year old daughter of DUST BUNNY HOSTAGE. She believes she will be President one day and I believe her.

I found out about Positive Day from TRAVIS who designed the badge. Trav is a great guy who always reminds me to be more even tempered plus he loves sports and dance – what more could you ask for.

I have been thinking about being Positive and I looked up the DEFINITION.
There are many. The one I most relate to was where positive was described in relation to confidence and affirmation.

I think a lot of people misunderstand being positive. They view it as ‘if you have nothing nice to say then don’t say anything’ – and that’s not true.

It is a sign of being a positive person to question things. To offer up alternate points of view.

If you weren’t positive that there was a different way then you wouldn’t bother talking about it. Right?

I think I am a positive person. I love a good rant. I am positive about the things I “hate” and why I “hate” them.

Injustice. Bigotry. Cruelty. Ignorance.

I’m positive those things need to be spoken about. Aired out for all to see.

I am right now watching a silly morning news report about President Obama throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game. The report is part of a segment advising men about what type of jeans they should wear.

I remember when the President appeared that evening. There were all these blogs and reports about how he was wearing ugly “Dad jeans” and how he “threw like a girl”

See now, that’s negative. That’s a perfect example of being negative just because you don’t like someone. Plus what’s wrong with throwing like a girl?

Silly example? Probably. But also a simple example of misplaced negativity. There’s nothing wrong with “hating” a President’s policies but the positive way to deal with that is to stick to the subject. And have some ideas of your own.

In all the years I eviscerated George W I never once made fun of those things that were uniquely human about him. He loved his ranch. He loved his girls. He was probably a great guy to have a beer with and talk about cowboy movies. That’s all good.

Cheney isn’t human so the things I said about him don’t count.

I want to go on and explain how I feel comedy and snark and sarcasm are not negative but I’ll save that for another post.

I hope the beautiful, delightful, smart and sassy daughter of DUST BUNNY HOSTAGE approves of my view of being positive.

And as always, there is Hope …



She is POSITIVE she can reach that nipple thingie.

Inspiration Wednesday

Today is Inspiration Wednesday at WEAVER OF GRASS

I just discovered Weaver from ELIZABETH’S blog. Elizabeth is a wonderful photographer and writer and is Mum to BUSTER, who has a great blog of his own.

I visit Buster’s blog each morning hoping for a new post. He makes me smile. He has a very earnest face and a wonderful way of describing his adventures. He is also a fine spokesdog for adopting.

So with Buster in mind I thought about inspiration.

I’m inspired by people who are kind and fair minded. Especially when they are kind with no expectation of getting anything in return.

And so I thought of people who care for and are advocates for animals. And Betty White immediately came to mind …



In addition to all her work with animals Betty inspires me to acknowledge that age is but a number. She is sexy and feisty, funny and clever.

As always thoughts of feisty, funny, clever women lead me to my Nana …



She’d kill me if I said she was sexy but I do vividly recall one of my uncles saying that my Grandfather told a story of young Nana dancing in the café after a day of swimming. He said her hair was long and still wet and she laughed as drops of water flew off her hair as she danced.

I love to imagine that since her hair was a sore spot with older Nana. She hair sprayed it into submission and hated how unruly it was. Which was funny since she always told me to leave my hair alone. It was very red and very wavy and frizzed at the hint of humidity. Some awful girl in school told me I had “ugly Jewish hair”. Nana laughed and laughed at that, and then she cursed a bit in Yiddish and then gave me one of her pearls of wisdom talks.

”Dee-an-hah” – that’s how she said my name when she was in full Russian mode – “how can hair be Jewish? I read that Elvis Presley sounds black. What is that? Hair doesn’t have a religion and voices don’t have a color. That girl is probably repeating something her mother said. I know that woman, she is stupid. She refuses to speak to me at the butcher shop. Good I say – I have no time for stupid. Your hair is fine; being Jewish is your problem.”

All these years later I can still feel the look of shock on my face. Nana had nothing comforting to say?

”What?” she asked, “you want me to lie to you? No you don’t, I never lie to you Dee-an-hah, you’re too smart for lies. That girl’s mother does not like Jewish people and her daughter is following her. It is not about your hair. It is not about you. It is about her. Know that and you will always be able to deal with people like that. I feel sorry for that girl; her mother is making her life small and dark.”

And then Nana set my hair in giant rollers so that it would be long and smooth and flowing the next day.

There is much stress and drama these days within the family circle.

And the world? Oy! where to begin? Nana would have said.

I am so very grateful to be inspired by Nana to be feisty and funny and clever. And kind.

And as always, there is Hope …



Inspiration Wednesday will flow nicely into Positive Friday. Please click the badge on the sidebar to check it out.

And do visit Weaver and Elizabeth and Buster.

Pet Pride: Mia Sounds Off

Hi there pets and pet people. Mia here, at least I think I'm here - I get confused easily. I'd like to thank BOZO for this opportunity to tell a little story.

First - rumors of my coma have been greatly exaggerated! by Siren of course.

I am old and deaf. I am arthritic. I have kidney issues. I take three kinds of meds and on a bad day pooping is not fun. So I sleep a lot. Wouldn't you?

Now that's out of the way. I have a beef with a certain cat who shall not be named - Siren!

Actually to be brutally honest ...


I AM LIVID

I have a beautiful cozy fashionable pristine bed ...


My person - I don't call her Mom since I'm so much older than her - bought three different beds until I settled on this one. We gave the rejects to the animal shelter. I didn't mean to be difficult but this bed will be mine forever - the only other bed I ever had was in the barn at the rescue place and it was a bit ratty and didn't have a cover.

Now - you've all heard how Siren wants to be my friend and how difficult I am about it. I question Siren's motives.

Just look at his expression here when I caught him messing with my blankie ...



He's always playing on the Mom person's sympathy.

Just the other day I awoke ...



To this !!!!!!!!!



It's not over Siren! Not by a long shot ...



I hope you will take the time to visit my friend BOZO. I doubt he is a bed thief and I know he has many other non bed thieves linked at his site.

Tell Me How You Love Craig ...

and of course Hope is amazing, thank you very much.

Every time I embed a Youtube video - SEE POST BELOW - comments appear and disappear. At different times for different people.

Kind of like Followers and Mr. Linky appear to be doing

After all the Internet is nothing more than "a series of tubes"

and we all know how tubes can get twisted and clogged

He Figured It Out ...

Every time I think I can't possibly come up with another example of why Craig Fergsuon is brilliant he provides another example.

Watch this pre-monologue spot. It's priceless. Craig usually opens his show with insane and absurd puppet segments or bits with audience members. He's only got 2 or 3 minutes before CBS insists a round of commercials be shown - they used to interrupt his monologue but there was such an uproar from viewers that they came up with the "beginning spot" instead.

Craig does more with these few moments than most comedians do with an entire set.

Especially Monday night ...



and as always, there is Hope ...

Healthcare - 1 - 2 - 3

CBS’s The Early Show presented 3 examples of how 3 different people would be affected by the new, it should be passed in my lifetime, healthcare plan.

The FIRST example was Debbie. Unemployed for the past 6 months, suffering with a serious pre-existing condition, and no longer able to afford the $700 a month she was paying for health insurance since she lost her job.
Under the new plan Debbie and anyone making under 43K a year would receive vouchers for healthcare.
I relate to Debbie the most – I have a pre-existing condition that has caused red tape problems in the past. I was BORN with the freaking condition. I guess I was supposed to have it corrected in the womb. Or be born rich.
I paid 1200/a month for health insurance until I just couldn’t pay anymore. My premiums went up 700% when I no longer qualified as a group and then went up again another 200% as part of “renewal adjustments”

The SECOND example was a woman in Chicago who owns a small transportation company. Her payroll is $900,000. She does not offer health benefits to her employees. She claims she can’t find an affordable group plan. She’s probably right. Under the new plan she would be charged 8% of her payroll for her staff to be covered. Of course under the new plan she also might be able to find more affordable group coverage since the insurance companies will need to react to this.
When my firm was larger I covered all 6 of my employees. It was a burden. I also thought it was my responsibility. The cost increases, along with higher payroll taxes, higher small business taxes and rent increases eventually made it impossible to keep the business going. This was all during the Bush years. Don’t tell me he gave a crap about small business. That idiot cared only about large corporations and bombing things.

The THIRD example was a physician with a private practice. He has 5 employees and covers them. He earns more that $350,000 a year. Under the new plan nothing will change for him other than paying an additional 1% tax. Anyone who can really, truly bitch about 1% on 350K is a moron or someone who just doesn’t want change and could care less about people like me. Pelosi says the 350 may actually be raised to 500 or even 1 million.
WHY!? We are so fucking afraid of rich people in this country. And if you’re telling me 350+ isn’t rich then I’d like you to adopt me.

I recently learned from Elizabeth Edwards’ website that $1 of every $7 I paid in premiums went to pay the salary of ONE insurance company executive. ONE.

Health should not be a profit driven business. Personally I think Obama’s plan doesn’t go far enough. He is, once again, compromising far too much to shut up the asshats who have fucked up this country for years and now want to blame the very people they swear they’re protecting.

Imagine if the Fire Department was profit driven. Burn poor people. Burn.

Why is healthcare not as life and death.

Why is there no chest thumping and wailing over the cost of the invasion of Iraq.

My son came home last night bitching about “that bastard you voted for” and whining like an asshat over needing to choose a different lab for his blood work because his employer is attempting to consolidate. He couldn’t explain what this had to do with Obama. He was simply venting what has become a popular cry among people who think they’re suffering. I’ll show him suffering.
His firm is making record profits from the explosion of digital communication and some kind of new something that I can’t remember at the moment. His health coverage is excellent. He is being inconvenienced to, I hope, save costs and become more efficient.
Maybe he’s being set up to have benefits cut.

Why will that be Obama’s fault.

Why will that be because of poor people or better health coverage.

Why won’t he rail at the executives of his firm. At his union leaders. At the greed and corruption of those few at the very top of every American corporation.

Because it’s so much easier to blame people at the bottom. You don’t even have to get up off your fat, overly entitled ass to kick them.

They’re right there – beneath you.

In another place and time what is going on in this country right now would call for a Revolution. Not a Revolution by gun toting right wing racists who just finished banging their cousin in a trailer in Virginia.

No – a Revolution by decent hard working people. All making less than 50K. Fuck the 350K ceiling. People who never believed in piss down economics. People who are sick of the politics of fear. People who think Reagan was nothing but a really bad actor – certainly not a great President. People who think the Bush family should be investigated from top to bottom.

I don’t curse in front of Hope so I won’t close with a photo of her.

I have searched the Early Show site for video of the segment but I can’t find it. Perhaps it will be there later. If so I’ll add the link then.

Just for the Joy of It

Go by Butterfly Girl and all around hot stuff sweetie LISA'S PLACE and watch the video she posted

It gets better and better and is just plain wonderful

and as always, there is Hope ...