can $15 change the course of history

I have been reading this novel called The Appeal by John Grisham, it was a best seller in say March-ish. It has been so interesting and inspiring that I donated $15 to the Obama '08 campaign. Now I don't think my $15 will change the course of history but I do see how money has the potential to run absolutely everything in a political race- and if my $15 donations can help secure that another white upper crust conservative will not get appointed to the oval office so be it then bring it on.

I don't want to give away the book, but it is basically about a small time law firm that wins a large case against a large chemical corporation that has been polluting the ravines of a small town in Mississippi. Think Erin Brockovich meets Michael Clayton. I mean a lot of issues are touched on, although race hasn't overtly factored in the fact that it is a small town of working class, supposed ignorant, southerners plays a significant role up against the designer suit wearing corporate, well-educated, business (men) putting forth a butt load of cash to change the guilty verdict during appeals.

The fact that a "crazy liberal wielding feminist" judge (who is actually moderate but opposes the death penalty) becomes the target of heated campaigns trying to elect the perfectly purchased opposing candidate with perfect family values.

But what this narrative has shown me is that candidates can be purchased with specific intentions of upholding certain laws, certain agendas, even to turn certain verdicts that are not in the interest of big corporate environmentally destructive business. And if this is the case I think Mccain is certainly someone bought and paid for by those "family values" folks being used to uphold the morally conservative way of life.

I was going to stay out of it-this whole election business until it came time to vote, but this book has really shown me how those people with resources (money) are able to win. The people with money are more likely to be white, middle class, hetero, men. Boo! The people with less money (generally speaking) are school teachers, working class people, and the people who often (though def. not always) support more liberal or progressive candidates. So while I may be a poor hippie student with little to give and debt up to my ears (thanks to getting sick and that lovely thing called education) I am donating my $15 in hopes that if anyone who supports can give what they can that we can change the "face" of this country to something new and different. It may be a stretch but one I have come to realize I kinda sorta have to make...

top moments of the trip to the midwest

This past week I traveled to the Midwest mostly for a wedding of one of the gentleman's friends. But along the way we made some awesome stops and had some very good times.

first highlight: I slept in my Subaru Outback for the first time at a rest stop in Nebraska during a huge horrible storm. We were going to camp but the weather became too yucky so we grabbed our pillows, sleeping bags, and my blankie and slept in the front seats of the car. I kept being for sure something bad was going to happen but we were fine. And I actually slept-a little.

second highlight: Stopping at a place I believe was called L.T.'s Organic Farm restaurant outside of Des Moines, Iowa. I was starving we couldn't figure out where to eat when all of a sudden we see a sign for this restaurant and we decide we can't pass it up. We pull up and the farm is being worked entirely by Indian people (yes Indian not Native American's). We ask if they are open because we are the only people there they say yes and take us inside the big farm building to the restaurant. The place is excellent because there is only one thing on the menu and you can have in vegetarian or not-we opted for not since we had just seen the chickens running around and knew they were free range and organically fed. It turned out that day the food was Indian although they do Caribbean, and Mediterranean as well. We ended up with one large plate of chicken masala, spinach sauteed with garlic, bean mixture in tomato and coconut milk broth, and rice. Oh my gosh it was some of the best food I have ever eaten in my life I would highly recommend it.

third highlight: Decorah specifically, camping a pulpit rock, visiting a couple of friends and meeting their new pup. I love Decorah in a bittersweet way, it holds very pleasant and very daunting memories for me. I stayed just long enough to see the river and wake up to its banks. Did eat some T-Bock's which I always love, especially those white cheddar cheese curds and local beef. Played with a cute and pretty well-mannered pup. Saw people I needed to see, and ate whippy dip and went to bed. It was probably the most well-rested I had been on the whole trip.

fourth highlight: Viroqua, Wisconsin. we were going to stop here to get organic ice cream but the farm that makes Sibby's wasn't open yet so we opted for the Viroqua Co-op which sells Sibbys. It was a great find. We got organic no hormone cheese curds, breakfast which was delicious, and sweet potato chips, homemade hummus. Some really great car snack food which made the drive to the Dells that much better.

fifth highlight: Wizard Quest, Wisconsin Dells. It was a treat getting to see the Dells anyway, especially this year after the flooding when I wasn't sure we were going to be able to go at all. But we made it through some pretty severe road detours, we are assuming due to water damage, to Wizard Quest. It is an interactive fantasy game where you must enter the realms of fire, water, earth, and air. In these realms you have to answer questions in order to unlock and free the wizard of that realm. If you do it in an hour and a half you win. Well it was awesome although a little cheesy-but honestly it was so cool. And we were the only people there without children but oh well. At one point I had to crawl through a tunnel that was in a pit of balls and I honestly thought I was going to get stuck there and die. I finally made it through although I pulled a hip muscle in the process-but it was a blast and we won!

sixth highlight: Going to West Bend and meeting the gentleman's family. It was quite humorous. Meeting her niece and nephews was a trip, it was the epitome of "Look what I can do!" And they wanted to come to Colorado to live with us, which we weren't too sure about but we played a long so they would help us unload our stuff. I also had my first hard roll experience, which, wasn't as good as I thought but fun to try. Also went to a real Midwest Wedding, as one of two queer lesbians in attendance. That was a pretty interesting experience-talk about a place a person might feel like they don't belong. But it was fun and alcohol always eases those sorts of things. And the people there were very nice and they love the gentleman, they are her very good friends from high school and she was playing in music in the wedding-which was awesome. In the end her family sent us home with so much food we had to pack some extra sacks to take it with us and we were both a little sad to leave.


and with that we returned home to a life of chaos and craziness. Oh well it was good while it lasted!
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dogitics...

Dogitics: The politics of dog behavior as socially constructed by their human pet owners.

In light of the fact that I recently got a dog, Indigo (I know how gay right) I have been noticing the crazy behavior of other people with dogs. I go to the dog park at least once a day, usually I take morning shift and the lady takes the afternoon. She never has any issues-which makes me think all the crazies must come out in the morning.

But first a little about Indigo, Indie, Muffin, Butt Head, my baby. She is a great dog. We rescued her from the one and only pet rescue in EP, The Pet Association. They rarely if ever have animals and we saw our sweetie being advertised in the paper. She had just given birth to puppies who had already all been adopted, which was fine because we wanted an older dog anyway. At seventeen months she is pretty much a puppy in her own right. And she is a blue heeler, Australian Shepherd (Aussie) mix. This means she is a herding dog. Her breeding and socialization makes her apt to play hard, and chest bump, or nip ankles of other dogs or people. Now I believe she could be broken of this, but why? There is no need. She plays hard, runs hard. The one thing she doesn't do is swim, she runs in the water and kind of floats but she doesn't really swim. She was given up because the family who previously owned her couldn't afford to feed her and trust me she gave everything she could to those puppies. Slightly emaciated we took her to our home, insisted on feeding her organic dog food, and spoiling the rotten shit out of her.

Come the dog park. When we first went she was skinny enough to squeeze through the bars to get into the lake. She is also obsessed with sprinklers so when they go on to water the fields she tries desperately to jump the fence and eat them. There are few dogs who keep up with her, and she loves little dogs. She doesn't hurt them or play too rough, but she is active. And most little dogs like her to run with their dogs and tire them out.

What I do not undertand-well there are many things, but some dog people are weird. They may take their dog to the dog park and then not allow them to play with any other dogs in the park. Impossible feat-but some try very hard. Other people keep their dogs on the leash the entire time at the park creating tension and anxiety for the dog. Yes the dog might be aggressive, but they need exercise (Hello Dog Whisperer anyone.) Many dog issues are caused by inadequate amounts of exercise. Keeping the dog on the leash does no one any good and potentially gets everyone else tied up.

And then there are little dog people. In Estes Park there are two sides to the dog park, one for smaller dogs with no access to the water and elements like tunnels etc. Sometimes bigger dogs go over there-usually if the owner wants to make sure the dog won't get into the water. Then there is the big dog side where there is more ball and Chuck-it throwing, and many of the dogs go swim or float as in my dogs case. But every once in a while you get a "Little Dog Person" who insists on bringing their little dog to the big side. I don't have a problem with this as long as they understand that my dog and all the other big dogs are in act going to try to play with the little dog.

Bringing me to yesterday and my idea of "Dogitics." Indigo was playing with her buddy Franklin who is a part lab, part whip-it mix. He is very energetic, he also likes to play hard. It is good these two dogs are friends-they can wear each other out. Then there was an older couple with their five poodles and huge German shepherd dog. Their large dog was insistent on tackling my dog, stealing her all etc. Do I care-NO! It's the dog park and dogs play at the DOG PARK. But when Franklin attempted to sniff and play with the little poodles the people flipped out. "No keep your dog away, he's too crazy. He's going to hurt my dog" Blah blah blah. Franklin's owner called him, but one of the poodles, Cassie, continued to try and play with him.

Then the people let Franklin in the lake without asking the owner. Now if this would have been my dog I would have been upset. This has happened before with kids, or mentally challenged adults at the dog park. Usually I just let it go-or go close the gate. But it was obvious the people had let Franklin into the water on purpose to keep him away from their dogs. Indigo is young and puppy-ish and her favorite thing to do is find a dead fish somewhere by the lake and roll in it. She also likes to run around the fence-ending up outside the dog park not in it. I don't usually take her to the water by myself because she doesn't have enough manners yet. But when it happens I let it go although I do find it frustrating. But the owners of Franklin said nothing although I could tell she was fuming.

Then as the older people began to leave Franklin again tried to play with the poodles. The man of the couple kicked Franklin out of the way and continued to shout at him. I was furious. I turned to them and said, "Why would you kick someone else's dog? Why would you kick anyone's dog? His owners are right there if you have a problem talk to them."

Of course this sent them into a tirade. "He has no manners and he's really going to hurt one of my dogs he almost broke her leg and blah blah ."

"But it's a dog park, the dogs are going to play with each other. If you are worried about your little dog getting hurt them take them to the other side. Dogs play with each other. And even my dog plays hard."

They then started talking about needing dogs to be under control. How my dog needed to be under control, which I told them she is. She is under control, she does listen and she doesn't hurt anyone-EVER!

Int he end they walked away saying "Give me a break" and such. But as they were leashing all six of their dogs little poodle Cassie continued to run up for more. The lady ran after her," Cassie come here. Come here Cassie." Screaming and screaming, but Cassie wanted to play with Indie and Franklin. Finally she went to her owner. And the scenario was called off.

But it made me think about people and dogs and how dogs are like their people. I understand that a big dog could definitely really hurt someone so they need to know manners. But is it ok to discipline someone else's dog? Would you do it to someone else's child? And little dog people versus big dog people-what does that say about someone? And should the dogs have to be separated? I would think not, unless you were worried of your dog being hurt by someone. For example once Indigo started kind of playing with a dog through the fence and I was asked by her owner through the fence before I got into the park, "Which side is your dog going on?" The one by the lake I replied. "Oh good, this dog has a bad hip and she isn't supposed to run on it." Why would you bring your dog to the park if she wasn't supposed to run, play, or get too excited. That's what people's homes and yards are for. I just don't get it...


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dog

I'm not a vegetarian anymore...

I have been doing a lot of reading about diet since getting sick. You know supposedly diet is everything for my conditions-of course because I saw like 10 doctors they all gave me different advice. One doctor: You need a high fiber diet, more fiber than most people. Here take this pamphlet it will help you. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains. Two days later my gyno: You may have interstitial cystitis and there is no cure but often diet can help. Here's some information look it over and make your own decisions. Of course I look it over and it is like bland Sally bland diet-basically impossible to be a vegetarian on, involves eating chicken and rice and that's about all. Can only eat Blueberries and Honey Dew Melons for fruit and juice. My diet is also racist-NO ETHNIC FOOD! Do they realize who they are dealing with? So I am frustrated to say the least-of course I want to feel better but what to do.

Then I started reading about all the problems with soy and talking to my friend Becky, who's thyroid is all out of whack from her massive soy consumption throughout the years. Soy is just as much a GMO as any other plant and more so because now everyone and everything uses it as a filler in their products. It is also a producer of human-like mimicker hormones which, can cause severe cramps, PMS, and other menstrual issues for women. and they cause problems for men too, the manifestation just seems to be different. It mainly creates hormonal imbalances-which is also a contributor to acne and other skin and hair issues. As a person with somewhat bad skin I was really amazed to learn this was the case-I had always heard to stay away from Cow's milk because of the hormones that get pumped into the cows causing infection and pus infestation in milk. But I guess I will have to move onto rice milk or organic regular milk.

Doesn't it suck that we have to buy organic in order for our food to possibly be safe? And I don't even trust that organic means organic all of the time-so what do we do? Spend and spend and spend...that's my guess.

So on my quest to do what is best for me in this ego-centric world-I started eating meat again. I try to have it be organic and free range but I'm sure not all of it has been. And honestly I feel so much better. I have also eliminated most soy products from my diet as I have found it is the soy bean itself that produces the hormones that could be causing my endometriosis-not just the fact they are not organic and thus GMO's although I am sure that does me no good either. Sometimes I think doing what is best for oneself makes them more productive and able to do other good in the world. This doesn't mean not thinking about others or animals but it means finding a balance. I probably will go back to being a vegetarian eventually once I am not anemic and bleeding constantly-until then I am like Phoebe on FRIENDS when she is preggo-a meat eater.