Jun27

Why No New Posts, Alison?

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Why No New Posts, Alison?

Umm. . .umm. . .

I’ve been in a more receptive than productive mode, actually. I cruise around the web, see all kinds of things I would comment upon. . .if everyone else on earth hadn’t done it all ready. There’s not much point in simply adding another voice to the cacaphony, so I just leave brief comments and be done with it.

My internet time has been a bit more limited, too. The guys who are replacing our siding and fixing the soffits and installing the gutters and closing off the garage have been here every day, so I’ve been going out to chat, approve things, talk timelines, and all the stuff you do with contractors. Plus, I’ve been away from the garden so I don’t get in their way. Plus, they keep knocking the cable loose and I lose the internet. Heh. (This happens when the cable is loose on the ground waiting to be secured to the house, and right in the major traffic pattern between supplies and work. I’m not saying anything bad about these guys. They’re great.)

I’ve been playing around with clay, and have discovered that Fimo is way better for me than Sculpey. I’m still new at this, and don’t have enough precision to make consistent pieces, and the Sculpey becomes very soft and pliable, which makes it worse. The Fimo is stiffer, so my little adjustments don’t become big mushy things. I got some tools yesterday from Polymer Clay Express, only a couple of days after I placed the order, and they should help a lot with consistency. A couple of marking tools, forms for cabochons, bead rollers. . .In a few weeks, I’ll be able to put it all in an organized fashion in the new art studio and be able to sew again, too.

In between, I’ve been doing things around the house. Audrey now has a normal closet rod. She and Carolyn and I have all our clothes hanging from commercial hangers that are 14 inches wide instead of the normal 17 inches (10 inches for children’s hangers). No more little bumps at the tops of my sleeves. I also hung up a closet doubler rod (a rod suspended from two vertical rods that hook to the main one, so you have an upper and a lower rod) and went through my clothes, getting rid of stuff I don’t wear, stuff I don’t think I look good in, stuff I outgrew. . .more things will be on their way out when I have things to replace them with. You need to have pants, even if they make your butt look huge, because you can’t go out in underwear.

While the girls and I were out yesterday, we stopped in the Ocean Pet Center on Fischer Blvd., and met one of the volunteers for SAVE, which helps out the TR Animal Shelter because the town doesn’t support it well enough. I’m thinking of helping out – start small and see how I like it. They need people, and I love animals and like to do things that actually make a difference. We also checked out the Chinese restaurant in the same mall, Dynasty, and were pleasantly surprised. It’s a small place, only two tables, so it’s really a take-out more than anything, but it was really, really clean. That counts for a lot. The dumpling skins were a little thick, but they were homemade and tasty. We’ll just tell them next time to make things a wee bit more spicy.

We haven’t been to the beach yet. I’ve been letting the girls sleep in, we’ve had some afternoon things going on that would interrupt a trip. . .we’ll get out there soon, though. Friday we’re going to make a stop in Ong’s Hat on the way to Grandma’s house to see if it’s really weird. I hope we don’t get sucked into the vortex.

Jun20

Paul Hill

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Paul Hill

OK, this is an appalling thing, but it’s been suggested that a blogswarm will bring attention to it. As tiny as this blog is, it’ll be a contribution. July 27-29th this year, a group of sick individuals will be holding Paul Hill Days in Milwaukee. In case you don’t recall, Paul Hill is the man who brazenly shot Dr. John Britton and James Barrett, his bodyguard, because he was “avenging” aborted fetuses.

Regardless of whether you are against legal abortion or not, it should be abhorrent to you to commit such an act – a normal-thinking person would never murder in such a cold-blooded, premeditated way. As a society, we even have laws that punish such an act with much more serious consequences than accidental homicides or crimes of passion. However, Mr. Hill proudly proclaimed his guilt, held himself up to the world as a messenger of god, and blatantly entreated others to follow in his footsteps, which is why he was executed by lethal injection.

The people who are planning this “celebration”, though, are clearly not normal-thinking people. To exemplify the degree of their irrationality, and for those who elect not to visit the site, I present the fact that they plan to culminate their celebration of Paul Hill with a re-enactment of the shooting of Britton and Barrett. This is sick and repellant. Their co-conspirators, Children Need Heroes and , Street Preach, with the support of the reprehensible Army of God (Warning: Graphic Images) represent some of the worst in Christian extremism. While much of their venom is aimed at abortion, they do give some time to other people they’d like to kill – and if they can’t find it in their loving, Christ-like hearts to do it themselves, they sure as heck hope someone out there will read their sites and take up the task themselves. The people who’ve killed doctors, nurses, “ho-mo-sekshuls” and innocent bystanders are given high praise – and for those who are still alive and serving time, addresses where you can write and support them and donate money to get them out. Presumably so they can continue killing for Christ.

When people ask why atheists can’t “just shut up”, these people are one of the reasons. When people argue that bringing God into government, schools, and all possible aspects of American life would be a good thing, these people are the counterargument. And when Christians who see only the love and goodness their church preaches wonder why their religion is getting a bad rap, these people are why. Any decent human being, regardless of his or her faith, or lack thereof, should be adamant and vocal about their opposition to these terrorists. Just because they’re not in another country, or practitioners of Islam, does not make them anything else but that. The killing of people who oppose their hateful agenda is an act of terror, because it puts all other people in fear for themselves and their loved ones. The people who will be at the Paul Hill “celebration” should be recognized for what they are, and treated the same way as any other terrorist or potential terrorist. If this event finishes up without the FBI rounding some people up, it will be a sad statement about the true level of safety we’re given by the Department of Homeland Security.