tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66995770933537250642012-01-18T05:12:02.471-08:00curious controversies and profane scoffingTadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.comBlogger1071100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-51925702987592379942011-12-12T15:12:00.000-08:002011-12-12T19:56:57.097-08:00

Meta: I've been reading the "Why I Am an Atheist" testimonials on Pharyngula's freethought blog with growing interest over the last few weeks. At first, I felt a twinge of discomfort at the idea of sharing conversion stories - for reasons you'll understand soon - but the more of them I read, the more I recognized bits of my own story. It made me want to share, too. I dislike labels, which is why

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-10676855792394342022011-12-11T11:00:00.001-08:002011-12-11T14:55:17.968-08:00

Since we started the construction of our upstairs addition this past spring, we noticed a few clues that something was wrong.  Discoloration and debris on the sides of the toilet and a ring in the unused tub - both in the downstairs (ie, finished basement) bathroom.  Occasional "bloop bloop" sounds from the pipes. All cause for concern, but dismissed because the drains were still working. We

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-10121645279577291072011-12-10T05:56:00.001-08:002011-12-10T20:01:07.201-08:00

The opposition is convinced they will win. The President is on the ropes, they say, and anyone could walk in and take the office from him.  They have a litany of complaints - dismissed by the President's defenders in the ruling party with a range of attitudes from snarky disdain to mock horror - and they have a list of candidates ready to vie for the chance to put their ideas on the national

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-57839499087234623222011-10-26T20:33:00.000-07:002011-10-26T20:33:35.996-07:00

If you know anything about me from my writing, or from talking to me over time, or from being around me, it is this: I love my wife. Loving someone with your whole heart is terrifying.  You don't know in the early stages whether it is safe to dive in, and once you're in and comfortable, you have to guard against taking it for granted.  When I met my lovely bride, it was like a beam of sunlight

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-43325368354117515632011-09-11T09:21:00.000-07:002011-09-11T09:21:44.658-07:00

Today, like every day of the last decade, we are feeling the effects of a deplorable act. My family's story is like that of most Americans; we were fortunate not to lose anyone directly, though some of us were close by. One of us could have been in the Pentagon that day; one of us was sent from the Air Force base in New Jersey in time to see the buildings come down and to help guide people away

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-58037159795665561312011-06-22T19:26:00.001-07:002011-12-10T20:10:42.951-08:00

Warning: Severe Ick Factor Ahead! If you are bothered by discussions of medical procedure, bodily fluids, or patients' eye views of urology, then I suggest you skip down to an earlier blog (you might have missed one or two). It's probably very rude of me to recount these events, but I consider this tale to be a public service announcement, and so I'm going to post it, anyway. I told Bernie the

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-77196232183768443022011-06-22T19:20:00.000-07:002011-06-22T19:20:47.996-07:00

Digging through old posts from 2003 or 2004, I found this: I plunge my face into my pillow, and feel the cool fabric leach the heat from my strained and weary eyes. Clouds of the Sandman’s magic dust puff up around me, and I am already sailing away into a dream and relaxing into my pose of repose, which is not unlike that of the Coyote upon reaching the canyon floor in a Roadrunner cartoon. “

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0Frederick, MD, USA39.423758594719466 -77.4588117773208839.38232309471947 -77.51753627732087 39.465194094719465 -77.40008727732088tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-32054795885963571122011-06-21T13:19:00.000-07:002011-06-21T13:19:29.199-07:00

Six Little Words (pt.1) Three Strikes (pt. 2) Do you ever get deja vu? Perhaps you do when you are standing back outside that strange, alien building again, holding all of your worldly possesions in a duffel bag. Five weeks ago - a swiftly receding eternity ago - you were standing here facing the unknown along with 45 others just as scared and sleep-deprived as you. Now you are facing the

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-9735277440301794452011-06-01T20:17:00.000-07:002011-06-01T20:18:51.805-07:00

I have four (4) children. They range in age from 8 to 14. That means that for the last 8 years I have had four (4) people in my home between the ages of 0 and 14. I am well aware that this number is far too small to represent any kind of statistical sample of the general population - but despite that fact, I feel safe in drawing some conclusions about children. Observation A - A child has an

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-31371575120790204082011-05-25T21:24:00.000-07:002011-05-25T22:05:48.408-07:00

NOTE: This is about me and my discovery of something about myself. It is not intended to be an attack on anyone or their faith. If you read this and choose to be offended, I'm not going to take responsibility for your choice.I sat in a church this morning for the first time in many years.It was a memorial service for the little daughter of a friend - a girl who had a degenerative condition

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-41310665107068501912011-05-07T04:35:00.000-07:002011-05-07T08:08:55.458-07:00

I have three anecdotal threads to tug on today. The concept isn't necessarily limited to the discussion of "Global Warming" or "Climate Change" (or whatever we're supposed to call it), but 2/3 of the anecdotes came from that discussion:1. By coincidence, I was involved in two unrelated conversations at work where the person I was speaking with dismissed the idea of global, man-made climate

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-68243767866479580072011-04-26T04:58:00.000-07:002011-05-02T04:03:54.936-07:00

Despite all of the hair pulling over "job-killing legislation" and blame-throwing about sending jobs overseas in our national discourse lately, you'll notice that no one has any real plan for getting people back to work. I suspect the reason for this is that unemployment these days has less to do with tax codes or trade agreements than it does with something we tend to like - Innovation.The

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-12022702314306969002011-04-19T08:31:00.000-07:002011-04-19T10:08:45.058-07:00

Talking to a friend last night, he said something that captures what most regular Americans are really upset about. All of the talk of politics - the Dems vs. the GOP, the liberals vs. conservatives, the Hayek vs. Keynes - all of it boils down to what people think is "fair" at a visceral level.And this slight paraphrase is what really bothers most average people: "We're where we are because of

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-81814181932778519432011-03-11T16:34:00.000-08:002011-03-11T17:34:13.531-08:00

A friend asked me to watch this video and respond to it:There's nothing new here, but it is a nice, concise presentation of things that many people have said to me over the years, trying to defend the morality of selfishness. That isn't the politically correct way to put it, of course; they would rather frame it as the immorality of forcing individuals to participate in our larger society. In

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-11748253707590934372011-03-06T06:07:00.000-08:002011-03-06T08:25:45.121-08:00

I heard there were some budget cuts a'coming, so I whipped out my favorite new website, What We Pay For, to see just how much those cuts were going to save me. I plugged in my approximate income level, and took a look at the breakdown of how much of my tax bill goes for each of the things I heard mentioned in the news, on Twitter, or in conversation over the last year or so. Totally

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-91797322092193797632011-01-29T08:16:00.001-08:002011-01-29T09:55:54.672-08:00

I had a lot going on this week, so I'm finally getting around to digesting the State of the Union. I enjoyed watching the speech; I like President Obama, and I felt like he was able to go back to the themes of bipartisanship that he campaigned on. The last two years were, predictably, about 1) bringing the economic collapse to a screeching halt, and 2) letting the opposition get their "I hope

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-54554781554458524472011-01-09T07:02:00.000-08:002011-01-09T12:21:55.460-08:00

Making things better is difficult and boring work. Breaking things is easier. The natural tendency to pick the easier path can be called "entropy". Our most important job - assuming we want to live in a safe, beneficial civilization - is to fight that entropy, and that means working on improving ourselves and keeping to the moral codes that society is built on.We all need to apply this advice

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-81831836199784599662010-11-27T06:17:00.000-08:002010-11-27T08:17:52.101-08:00

When it started, we thought we could help by providing some common sense and facts. We couldn't.After it caught on and flooded the internet, we thought our friends would at least pay more than lip service to respect and listen to us. Most did, but many didn't.Now that the initial shock is over, a lot of people are asking, "That's it? What was that all about?" We tried to tell you. The whole

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-20616726033989789032010-11-13T04:50:00.000-08:002010-11-13T06:09:11.034-08:00

I did a "good dad thing" the other day, and let my 8-year-old daughter put eyeliner and lip gloss on my face while I pretended to sleep. She thought it was a hoot, and then I "woke up" and chased her and her brothers around the house planting big, watermelon-scented Dad lips on their cheeks and foreheads.Therapy is expensive, and this is my way of making sure it will be fun.After the running

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-45197375485409082252010-11-04T19:34:00.000-07:002010-11-07T10:35:10.586-08:00

So, the Republicans made historic gains (as was more or less predicted four and two years ago, respectively) and the pendulum swings back to the so-called "right"... like clockwork. And yet, there is still hope in the world. What makes me say that? A few encouraging signs:Michigan elected a centrist coalition builder to their governor's mansion. Crazy did NOT win in Nevada or Delaware. (UPDATE

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-3842530175987500512010-10-24T13:09:00.000-07:002010-10-24T16:01:32.038-07:00

When Bill Watterson retired from writing the Calvin & Hobbes comic strip on December 31, 1995, I was just one of the millions of people who were heartbroken.In his biography of Watterson, "Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and his Revolutionary Comic Strip", Nevin Martell tells us what we already knew: I was not alone in that state. But in reading this

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-71523663566289979062010-10-09T07:32:00.000-07:002010-10-09T09:41:35.886-07:00

A few weeks ago, a Facebook friend described George W. Bush to me as "a decent man you just happen to disagree with politically." I would tend to describe just about anyone in our elected government that way - though their "decency" may be a fragile thing at times. But her dismissal of the very real problems that I had (and still have) with the Bush Administration bothered me, and I wanted to

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-71436856589097150932010-09-29T14:35:00.000-07:002010-09-29T17:42:41.485-07:00

"Then why," you may ask, "do you seem to always pick on the Republicans?"That's a valid question, and I think the reason is simple and obvious. If you want to skip down to the bottom and see what it is without bothering with all of my blathering on and self-justification, go ahead. But, if you really want to know why, I will tell you what I know.I know that the Democratic party is, as a rule, a

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-69226737353606407192010-09-22T03:52:00.000-07:002010-09-23T14:52:57.730-07:00

Major Paul Carron has died in Afghanistan.I did not know him, but his letter to the editor of the Washington Times (published March, 2006) spoke of the bravery and courage of the young men and women who serve in our military, and it has made him something of a celebrity among veterans. It was written in response to criticisms of our troops, characterizing them as young people without the skills

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-75612768208735564902010-08-29T04:34:00.000-07:002010-08-29T07:06:12.632-07:00

There is a relatively new trend in the U.S. to call for a "return to traditional values." I say "relatively" new because we've only been hearing it since the early 1600s, and on a geologic scale, that's pretty recent. Since the early colonies in Massachusetts and Plymouth were started by Protestant outcasts seeking a place where they could bring about a society built on values that they thought

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-34708773924509096502010-07-25T20:16:00.000-07:002010-07-25T20:53:56.546-07:00

"Oh, no... my tooth is still here!"My heart fell. My littlest pulled her tooth out Saturday morning, while I was still lying in bed (recovering from Friday night), and here it was, time to tuck her in on Sunday night... and the Tooth Fairy had failed her.She has been on something of a tooth-pulling spree lately. This is her third lost tooth in two weeks! I told her the Tooth Fairy probably

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-36574255426697995752010-07-18T08:08:00.002-07:002010-07-18T08:13:02.257-07:00

From Sunday, September 24, 2006 ... draw your own conclusions!My lovely bride and I are usually pretty busy. Between working two jobs, and her Girl Scout activities -- not to mention all of the around the house/kids stuff -- often we don't really get to sit in a quiet room and talk to each other until late at night.So even though we're both exhausted, we will lie there on our pillows, hold hands

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-41256821410257505832010-07-18T08:05:00.000-07:002010-07-18T08:07:49.921-07:00

Originally posted Friday, August 11, 2006, while thinking about old friends and more adventurous days.I was absorbed in cyberspace when I thought I heard a suspicious sound in the real world.I turned around and glanced around the cluttered office, but nothing was moving. My ears listened for the telltale sounds of the kids playing in the far reaches of the house. The last thing I wanted right

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-18757258474806194652010-07-18T07:42:00.000-07:002010-07-18T07:47:22.422-07:00

I posted this paean to naughty language on Wednesday, October 11, 2006."Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" "No, but I [bleep] her [bleep]ing [bleep] with it!"Profanity is an endlessly interesting subject to me, probably because my lovely bride and I are so proficient at it. Some people feel that certain words should never be spoken, and go to great lengths to purge them from the

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-88605239066180777012010-07-18T07:23:00.000-07:002010-07-18T07:41:40.793-07:00

This, with the related essay "Put Up or Shut Up", was intended as a criticism of both major parties. However, despite the angry words directed at a Democratic senate candidate, it was taken as a one-sided screed against the majority party. Majority as of Sunday, October 08, 2006, that is.Sorry to have to climb up on the soapbox again, but with an election looming, I'm once again being

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-1589424253686510982010-07-18T07:02:00.000-07:002010-07-25T21:26:07.252-07:00

I wrote this after a piece called "Bad News for Those who Hate 'Liberals'", because the response to that piece was to accuse me of being a "liberal"... or worse, a Democrat. This is from Saturday, October 14, 2006, and it obviously had no effect on the general populous. The links provided in the original were outdated, so I went ahead and updated them.I've said before that we need to give the

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-98400596718138502010-07-17T19:08:00.000-07:002010-07-18T06:44:04.440-07:00

Originally posted Friday, November 10, 2006, this little piece still makes me giggle at my own wit... which is pretty gay. My hope is that, if YOU are gay, you will recognize that the intent is to mock the clueless way supposedly non-gay people have stereotyped and demonized you - and, in their cluelessness, me. If you are NOT gay, the intent is to make you wonder.Current mood:Super (thanks for

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-78269911137150856752010-07-17T19:00:00.000-07:002010-07-17T19:04:11.377-07:00

Originally posted 3 January, 2007, I thought I adequately expressed my lack of enthusiasm about the Democratic Party's recapture of a slim Congressional majority, but I guess since I didn't call to have them poisoned or compare them to Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and Darth Vader, I was considered "too tame"...Well, the holidays are over, and it's time to get back to the business at hand. The Dawn

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-57442467410203685852010-07-17T18:53:00.000-07:002010-11-06T08:02:50.507-07:00

From Martin Luther King Day, Monday, January 15, 2007 - again, note that I wrote this before I had heard of Barack Obama. It's worth reflecting, regardless of your opinions, that electing him was a significant moment in our history.Some would argue that a certain dream will never come true. They will point to the problems that we still have, and to the conflicts that still arise, and they will

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-85787376184078574552010-07-17T18:46:00.000-07:002010-07-17T18:48:57.152-07:00

Originally posted Sunday, January 28, 2007, I wanted to remind everyone that I have LONG argued against war, and have LONG been uncomfortable with those who protest. This is something that often confuses people.As you may or may not have noticed, depending on your media coverage of choice, there was a Peace Rally in DC on Saturday. Many thousands of people showed up to denounce the poor

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-12558861411768990332010-07-17T18:32:00.000-07:002010-07-17T18:42:34.369-07:00

This one was written Monday, December 03, 2007, as the 2008 Presidential campaign was beginning to ramp up. I had barely heard of that young senator from Illinois at that point, and figured the race would be between Senator Clinton and one of these Republicans; my concern was, how bad would the GOP candidate be, and would we be stuck with her?Let's recap some recent events, just so we're all on

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-23053066080684374522010-07-17T18:24:00.000-07:002010-07-17T18:44:46.275-07:00

This was originally posted Sunday, November 11, 2007, in what seems to have been a follow-up to Recycle Your Box.I used to enjoy mindless patriotism and expressing unthinking adulation of my "team". That has all changed over the years, but I still like to think I'm a team player. But the question now is, what teams are we talking about?I was a Reagan Republican all the way in 1984, mainly

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-89628018908888703452010-07-17T18:18:00.000-07:002010-07-17T18:22:02.774-07:00

This one pissed a few people off. Posted Saturday, November 24, 2007, I still pretty much feel this way, and I am still hoping for an opportunity to demonstrate that I am as Centrist as I feel I am. Perhaps I should write a follow-up about that...It is not easy being one of us. Whatever it is that I am, that is. One of the non-branded, non-affiliated, un-marketed.I know I confuse people with my

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-26979615015332362492010-07-17T18:08:00.000-07:002010-07-17T18:13:37.506-07:00

A look at several political issues, originally posted Monday, June 04, 2007; reposting to show how I have and haven't changed my mind about things over the last three years.Most days, I can maintain a sense of equilibrium. Most days, I can stand to hear the news without really internalizing any of it. I can usually keep my sense of humor intact, and by lifting one foot and squinching one eye

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-36796534259010387662010-07-17T18:04:00.000-07:002010-07-17T18:05:42.275-07:00

Originally posted Saturday, April 28, 2007 (and he still does this!! Just not as violently.)I've got this kid... let's call him "Thor", because he often uses his head as a hammer... who seems determined to put up a fight, no matter what. He's getting better, now that he has passed out of that 3-to-5-year-old phase that all boys seem to go through -- you know, the one where God sends Gabriel to

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-2342491283530713672010-07-17T17:01:00.000-07:002010-07-17T17:09:41.662-07:00

Originally posted Thursday, May 24, 2007Our hands were clasped, and we gazed deeply into each others' eyes. We had run out of breath, our hearts were thudding with the passion of the moment. We heard music, and we were compelled at that moment to kiss.We were barely sixteen, and a kiss like that seems like it lasts forever. But it didn't. We heard the crash of a door slamming open behind us,

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-85147448753858529632010-07-10T12:07:00.000-07:002011-01-10T05:17:03.786-08:00

I promised I would write about Ron Paul's economics approach, but I'm having a hard time finding the angle I'm looking for. It seems we don't have the vocabulary yet to express where I think we are in the evolution of economics. I've written before about this new kind of "free market" that we seem to be developing:Instead of manufacturing, sales and service are our bread and butter. Marketing,

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-49605115366692744202010-06-27T09:14:00.000-07:002010-06-28T10:59:44.921-07:00

This is Part 3 of a series of essays I am writing after reading The Revolution: A Manifesto, by Dr. Ron Paul.The Establishment is and always has been a favorite target for abuse. Right or wrong, you can pick up a lot of support for your cause by contrasting it against a big, entrenched - and decidedly un-sexy - Establishment organization (aka, "The Man".) And whether you're a 1960s radical

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-4438273136772770472010-06-27T07:38:00.000-07:002010-06-27T08:57:57.465-07:00

What I was looking for.Dr. Ron Paul ran for President about eight years too late, in my opinion. That is to say, if you believe in libertarian ideas and would like to see someone who holds them dear in the White House, it would have been better for him to run in 2000 than in 2008.In 2000, I was weary of the Clinton era. I was tired of the baseless lunacy of the burgeoning Right Wing Media

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-51972827530517345792010-06-26T08:00:00.000-07:002010-06-27T07:21:20.024-07:00

Several friends have suggested that I read Ron Paul's book "The Revolution: A Manifesto" since the beginning of his 2008 campaign. Because the campaign is long over and these are my personal opinions about the issues and the underlying philosophies, rather than the candidate, I feel confident that I'm in no danger of violating the 1939 Hatch Act by putting my thoughts about this book here.I do

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-40838246178811794632010-03-24T06:50:00.000-07:002010-03-27T09:16:22.007-07:00

Now that the drama and debate over the legislation is done with, I'd like to try to capitalize on your frustrations. No matter what your point of view in this debate, one thing is clear: no one is satisfied with the outcome. And despite all of the ignorance and spite shown on TV, I think most Americans are more informed and engaged on this issue than they have been in years... which makes this

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-11190071742159871612010-02-19T19:57:00.000-08:002010-02-19T20:12:43.794-08:00

I said I would write something. Usually that means words, in some order, meant to evoke something. I guess in this case, it still does, just not in the form I expected.This is rough, because I wrote and recorded it when I got home from work tonight. Emlyn called at work this afternoon to let me know that Karen passed away in her sleep last night without ever waking up. After 16 years, it is a

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-83120197682279021342010-02-17T06:48:00.000-08:002010-07-17T11:00:20.447-07:00

The Class of 1989/90 Reunion was in February, but I guess I never hit "Publish Post" on this. 'Bout time!I was pretty surprised that Michelle was willing to drive all the way out to my parents' house to practice our songs for the Reunion. Even in high school - that can't have been 20 years ago already, can it? - we lived pretty far off the beaten path, but after I left for the Air Force, mom

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-51597474341768735392009-12-24T09:16:00.001-08:002009-12-24T09:20:38.065-08:00

Greetings and Happy Holidays to All!Brent had an idea a few months back. He suggested that we do a Christmas album. He and I and his guitar teacher from Texas, Chase, all thought it was a good idea. We put together some tracks, brainstormed for some silly/cool names, and came up with this:The Band is "Smells Okay to Me"The Album is "Christmas TrAXE: A Bag Full of Carols"And it is up on Last.fm

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-20425852618918477792009-12-15T05:27:00.000-08:002009-12-15T05:47:37.308-08:00

So there we sat, two "Br"s and two "T"s, watching Arrested Development, when the dog (one of the "T"s) exploded.This wasn't the "IED dog harness" type of explosion; this was the "Loony Tunes many-feet blur" type of explosion, and since we haven't clipped her toenails in a while, it took her some time to get enough traction on our hardwood floors to go after... Der Maus.The mouse made it behind

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-42216969666363817962009-12-08T12:58:00.000-08:002009-12-08T13:41:48.869-08:00

As hard as it is to believe, we are edging into the second year of Barack Obama's first term as President. And just as hard (for some) to believe, the world hasn't ended. But this decade is about to, and I thought I'd get a jump on some of the year end reflection.About this time 10 years ago, my family was in England, waiting for the world to end because we were told that computers were too

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-28652143537256882582009-05-07T05:19:00.000-07:002009-05-26T13:28:24.178-07:00

I have had an epiphany. I realized that I was wrong: we are NOT in the middle of a Revolution.Revolutions are bloody, messy things that occur when the dissatisfied forcibly remove those at the "Top", and suddenly realize that it's much more fun to be a Revolutionary than it is to run a government. Revolutions are about what happens at the Top... and what we're doing right now is happening from

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-36144956027343817962009-04-21T19:08:00.000-07:002009-04-21T19:55:06.595-07:00

Third Grade was a banner year of badness for me. I had a horrid teacher who enjoyed humiliating children who dared to be bored with her endless "letter packets", and the friends I had filled my head with dirty jokes."Rectum? Dang near killed 'em!""Ah, but one of these ladies is a Cannibal!""Ma'am, I'm just making sure there ain't no BEES in this one!"Since all I was learning in the public

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-70016976813187880782009-04-02T05:21:00.001-07:002009-04-02T05:28:51.507-07:00

I haven't written anything new in a long, long time.I was doing pretty well for a while there, but the last year brought some monumental changes to my life, and there has been a lot more happening that I didn't want to talk about than usual. Whenever I sit down any more, rather than a funny (in my opinion) story or cute kid adventure, I have felt more like ranting about politics or expressing

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-47738992094106649182009-01-26T17:01:00.000-08:002009-01-27T09:55:24.528-08:00

Okay, here's how this works: I look at patterns. I see stuff happening, and I tell you - all of my friends and companions - what I see coming. Then you get to behave in a mocking, name-calling, or patronizing manner until I turn out to be right...then, it all starts over again.For example: 20 years ago, I was a Star Trek geek marveling at the cool tech that I saw coming (cell phones, laptops,

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-71498028723657019392009-01-15T06:22:00.000-08:002009-01-15T06:55:44.216-08:00

There is a little girl crying in the room above me because I won't let her go to First Grade looking like a refugee from Cyndi Lauper's closet.Considering my own "fashion history", and my generally laissez faire attitude to childrens' sense of stylistic expression, this really shouldn't be an issue. I really, REALLY don't care what anyone wears, as a rule, as long as no one gets arrested. If it

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-34250304327658186822009-01-11T06:42:00.000-08:002009-01-11T07:18:42.486-08:00

If you've been reading my blog for very long, you might remember one post entitled A Friend Indeed. I changed the names, and waxed poetic about some details, but that is essentially the story of my college-era friend, Karen.I met Karen in the GCC Concert Choir in 1990, and over the next couple of years, she became an important part of my circle of friends. Every group seems to have a center,

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-77670887531356479402008-12-21T05:21:00.000-08:002008-12-21T05:36:29.000-08:00

Here is a small sample of life in our car. It was written a few years ago, when our eldest was 8, but you get the general idea. You won't get the full effect unless you read the parts aloud -- very loud -- and have a Greek chorus of gigglers accompanying you:Dad: What a great dinner out at our neighborhood family restaurant.Mom: Yes, and such amusing holiday themed activity books for the kids!

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-54620014092009727162008-12-10T14:28:00.000-08:002008-12-10T14:30:54.763-08:00

Everyone who knows about Christmas knows that Santa Claus runs a workshop at the North Pole, where all of the toys for all of the good little boys and girls in the world are made by cheerful elves. But not all of the elves are cheerful. There is one elf, named Chilly, who doesn't know how to love.Chilly used to try to make toys like the other elves, but they never turned out quite right. When

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-71892190358304706342008-12-07T09:41:00.001-08:002008-12-07T09:42:18.987-08:00

reposting in honor of Pearl Harbor DayBobby had enlisted in the Army in his hometown of Winter Park, Florida.He did well in training, and ended up applying for a special school, hoping to become a pilot. The Army being the Army, he had to agree to taking a bunch of tests and special classes to qualify, and there was a pretty good chance he wouldn't be selected for pilot school... but he decided

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-30166190616173567812008-11-21T03:52:00.000-08:002008-11-21T05:02:24.760-08:00

What a week for rediscovering old friends and new acquaintances. So many have asked for an overview, I felt I should post something that would serve as a standing "what I've been up to, more or less" to help people catch up. And when I sat down and shook the keyboard, this is what fell out. I don't claim this is a "good" poem, but poem it is. (Apologies to The Nails.)1990Graduation came and

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-33004925928552211942008-11-15T08:03:00.000-08:002008-11-15T08:49:08.748-08:00

Before you start reading this, you need some background:1) I used to be a much bigger jerk than I am today. (I will give you a moment to collect yourself after such a shocking statement.)2) When I joined the US Air Force in 1994, they tried to teach me Korean. My immune system rejected it. No one was pleased with the result.3) What you are about to read should be interpreted as an "attack" and

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-91008909657965153352008-10-25T06:23:00.000-07:002008-10-25T08:19:13.685-07:00

The cars start showing up at camp site 254 around noon. Trucks and vans packed to overflowing with gear: tents, cots, sleeping bags, grills, tables, propane bottles, sacks of food, and various implements designed for making an October weekend outdoors tolerable to American kids (and adults) spoiled by decades of central heating and Big Screen television.There is room for about half a dozen cars

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-7875888134947048152008-10-05T07:28:00.000-07:002008-10-05T09:55:15.752-07:00

It's not easy being a human.Anoak hadn't been human for long, and he could already tell that this was going to be a lot worse than he had first thought. When the new gods came and banished the old ones, including Anoak, to this frozen waste at the top of the world, he had known it would be different and strange. But he hadn't appreciated just how HARD it would be.He had once known all, and been

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-3695215806139279802008-09-24T08:51:00.000-07:002008-09-24T09:12:30.291-07:00

Long ago, in another life, I was a community college music student. One of my favorite experiences was the Electronic Studio class, which put me in a lab with a half dozen of the top-of-the-line keyboards, sound manipulators, and Macintosh sequencing programs available in 1992. Before leaving that life to enlist in my new one, I made a couple of cassette recordings. Last week, I found those

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-33828795932869526732008-09-17T17:15:00.001-07:002008-09-17T17:52:05.134-07:00

Holy Cats... I should have known not to trust the Navy!There is an essay contest afoot at the U.S. Naval Institute's "Get the Gauge" site. They asked contestants to submit their funniest military story, and as you know, I've specialized in those over the last dozen years (give or take).Well, voting is underway here: http://www.getthegouge.com/life/essaycontest/index.aspNormally I would tell you

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-63384364372231387892008-09-12T15:50:00.000-07:002008-09-12T16:45:31.376-07:00

I've been stewing about this all day. Let's have a little perspective, shall we?I am a veteran. I have all my limbs, and actually suffered only the usual mental traumas of peacetime service, because I served during the immediate post-Cold War Clinton years. I spent maybe a total of 20 weeks separated from my family in total over nearly 7 years, and that was by choice, to attend a cushy

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-31491678888795697762008-09-04T13:01:00.000-07:002008-09-04T13:32:26.869-07:00

Some of you have heard/read me gushing about my favorite podcast, Escape Pod. Of the many fine authors to appear there, a couple are semi-regulars. One of my personal favorites, Jeff DeRego, is the author of the "Union Dues", a series of short stories with a take on super-heroes in a real world setting.I just learned that Jeff had emergency bypass surgery at the end of last week, and that there

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-56976959400356935372008-09-04T07:23:00.001-07:002011-06-21T13:21:03.589-07:00

Six Little Words (pt. 1) "Who likes bowling?" asked our Air Force Basic Military Training Instructor (TI), Senior Airman Young. It was the morning of day one, and we had been permitted a total of two hours or sleep - just enough to assure that even the most stressed out insomniac would have dropped from sheer exhaustion - only to rise to the 0400 wake-up call: "Geddupgeddupgeddup Get UP!" It

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-23394667057550848802008-08-15T05:55:00.000-07:002011-06-01T19:36:03.435-07:00

You are on a bus. It is the middle of the night. You have been awake for twenty hours, and as the bus pulls through a gate guarded by men with machine guns and faces hidden by the shadows from their strangely shaped caps, you see a bizarre line of buildings that appear to have been built upside down. Their ground floor is about half the area of the three upper floors, making it look like a layer

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-50153809213596814222008-07-31T16:55:00.000-07:002008-07-31T17:05:57.014-07:00

Originally posted Wednesday, August 11, 2004I love my dad. Even better, I know my dad loves me. The only trouble is that we are very much alike.Oh, sure, growing up I used to hear some of the "small town chatter" that people of my grandparents' generation still believed about fathers and sons. Talk of the way Dr. Eismann's boy acted just like his old man, right down to sitting on his foot when he

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-11143822439319348062008-07-25T20:25:00.000-07:002011-06-01T19:35:33.523-07:00

Originally posted Sunday, July 25, 2004 My recruiter told me to stay out of trouble. I was shipping out to basic training in two weeks, and all of the paperwork was done; if I got so much as a speeding ticket, it would screw everything up. I figured I was a pretty easygoing fellow, staying out of trouble should be easy, right? I tried to have some last minute fun, went crazy and saw some

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-59106268544737630922008-07-19T18:22:00.000-07:002008-07-19T18:44:53.390-07:00

From a dog's perspective, it is difficult to see a story unfold. The distractions that bound out of bushes and cause one to charge to the end of the lead - not to mention the sudden, sharp yank that results - make keen observation difficult. The beauty and wonder of the variety of smells defy the description of mere words. And the perplexing behavior of the giant, pink gods that control food,

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-12078453787225385202008-07-11T21:07:00.000-07:002011-06-01T19:34:26.973-07:00

Originally posted Saturday, July 17, 2004 I'd had a terrible year. 1993. It might have made a great country song if I had changed a few of the details. My girlfriend completed a rather drawn-out breaking up process, my roommate went home to South Africa, I lost a great job, and my Datsun's transmission failed on the way home from Tucson (where the now-ex-girlfriend had given me the boot). I

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-61957039497112400822008-07-02T19:13:00.000-07:002008-07-02T19:18:19.596-07:00

(originally posted July 04, 2004 - all names have been changed to protect the guilty)The Smoke Deck was the focal point of social life for everyone in the U.S. Air Force squadron at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. Even people who didn't smoke would go there as soon as their duties were done for the day, just to put in an appearance. Some were fresh out of Basic Training, and glad

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-14653039842814690872008-06-28T14:26:00.000-07:002008-06-28T15:22:12.033-07:00

"Most people leave in the summer, you know," Dad said with a grin."But it doesn't feel that hot," I told him. And I meant it, too. It was 115 degrees Fahrenheit, but I didn't feel hot. I could feel the pressure of the heat on my arms, but that was all it was - a little pressure.I know about the dangers of the heat. I grew up in Phoenix, after all. We came prepared with "camel packs" for

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-1115974356265597022008-06-05T17:43:00.000-07:002008-06-05T20:42:19.457-07:00

I haven't always been the calm, self-assured celebrity you see before you. In fact, I'm not now. But that's beside the point: I'm here to tell you how it all began. My "big break"; my "discovery"...We lived out in the sticks when I was a child. I blame my lack of childhood friends on this. My school was the nearest one to us, and it was a good 15 miles - and that was on a cool day. Heat

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-69598047708085995412008-05-31T20:03:00.000-07:002008-05-31T21:24:47.844-07:00

Everyone suffers from a certain fear of exposure.We've all had that dream - the one where we are standing in front of a group of peers or superiors wearing less than we should be wearing. Some are standing at the front of their fifth grade class in their underwear; others are naked in church. Still others are simply wearing the wrong tie at a board meeting. Everyone's fear is unique.

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-16520560658662338612008-05-06T15:09:00.000-07:002008-05-06T15:10:46.675-07:00

The dog brought her head up when she heard the snap, and she thought then that it was all over.It was not.Over the next few days, as she roamed the house, she thought she could smell the sweet, clinging odor of decay, but she couldn't localize it. It could have been in the kitchen; could have been in the bathroom. It might even have been behind a wall somewhere. Or it could have just been

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-23207242189328585422008-03-22T06:53:00.000-07:002008-03-22T06:58:24.084-07:00

I have been avoiding this subject for months, because deep down, I don't like to write about these things based on what I "feel". I would rather tell you what I "think". It is easier for me to defend what I know based on thinking.Writing and arguing based on feeling strives to "persuade through Pathos", and that is the kind of persuasion that has dominated our public discourse for far too long.

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-41811900180713677462008-03-15T21:36:00.000-07:002008-03-15T21:37:39.404-07:00

The dog woke up, and her head snapped toward the sound she heard in the dark."Did you hear that?" Mom Lady was asking the Hairy Guy. He mumbled something that might have been a question about the price of prunes. "The mouse is in your trashcan!" That made him lift his head, at least.The two humans and the canine listened intently, each hoping for a slightly different thing to happen. There

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-38331644130899330432008-03-09T08:25:00.000-07:002008-06-30T17:57:21.775-07:00

Some of you might remember something called "Napster" from about 10 years ago. If you do, you might recall that it was a phenomenon that swept the "Internets", attracting millions of users with the simple lure of easily sharing files - mainly music mp3s - which was declared to be illegal under U.S. law. (And, by extension, of course, that meant that NO ONE was allowed to do it.)Exhibiting the

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-67510405450651824102008-03-05T20:17:00.000-08:002008-03-05T20:19:01.247-08:00

The dog was trying out third person, and it made her feel strange. It was like she was talking about another dog altogether, yet the things that happened were happening to her. She would beg pardon for being confused, but the Mom Lady and Hairy Guy had been increasingly agitated about begging, and she wasn't sure what she could get away with.Being in third person (third canine? canis tertius?)

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-16404199075849185282008-01-26T09:04:00.000-08:002008-01-26T09:06:20.119-08:00

Maybe I can't read human minds as well as I thought I could, after all.My walks have been a sometimes affair, lately. They try, but illness and tight schedules have forced the Mom Lady and the Hairy Guy to skip my long, leisurely walks most nights. If I'm lucky, the Mom Lady takes me to the school so I can run around while we wait for the kids; and the Hairy Guy still takes me for a brisk

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-59645507687753669002008-01-21T17:49:00.000-08:002008-01-21T17:54:06.275-08:00

O, an Austrian went yodeling,On a mountain so high,When along came a cuckoo bird,Interrupting his cry...Winter Camp; the main reason for joining Cub Scouts in the first place. I've been alternately dreading and looking forward to it for months. Looking forward to the parts that I know will be fun; hiking, games, good food, and playing some guitar with folks. Dreading, because despite my

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-59803017980383600062008-01-09T14:05:00.000-08:002008-03-16T14:10:18.133-07:00

They needed 14 of us, and there were about 50 people crammed into the room. My odds of being selected seemed slim. A few days off work wouldn't affect me much, and this was likely to be the only time I would ever get to see the inside of a courtroom, so I was curious.I spotted the defendant right away. He was looking around at us with his jaw clenched and his fist tapping the arm of his chair. He

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-79733026901597907582007-12-18T18:52:00.000-08:002007-12-18T18:53:49.462-08:00

Monday morning, 0643; formation between the wings.Every Monday morning, on the strip of blacktop between wings of the long, U-shaped barracks, several hundred young airman would form up into straight lines for a quick formality: roll call, announcements, and maybe a little motivation.0644 - Airman First Class, or A1C, Charles Pierce III (aka, Chuck the Turd) stood facing about half of his flight

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-1832807875752933522007-12-09T09:09:00.000-08:002008-01-26T09:21:33.755-08:00

For those who might have noticed, I haven´t been writing lately. That´s because I decided to take a Canine Correspondence Creative Writing course. It was pretty intense, but I think it was worth it. Check this out:¨It was a dark and stormy night. The air was as heavy as the Rottweiler that always craps on the corner of Park and Canterbury. Speaking of whom, there he loomed, dripping with evil

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-89689779272154521562007-11-26T09:12:00.000-08:002008-01-26T09:20:38.001-08:00

Freedom is a drug with different side effects for everyone. Some thrive, others panic; some take advantage of the opportunity, and others take advantage of the loopholes.I got my first taste of freedom when I got my driver's license. Age 16, and my parents -- who were tired of making the 15 mile trip to school and back twice a day -- were relieved to give me that freedom. It wasn't just the car,

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-23081092917697738262007-10-19T06:13:00.001-07:002007-10-19T06:13:32.355-07:00

It had the liquid unreality of a dream, and a dream's intense reality. The things he was seeing were by turns morbid, comical, erotic, soothing, shocking. None of it made sense, but none of it seemed out of place. Of course fish nested in trees. Of course commuters traveled without pants. Of course every third person carried a different container - some buckets, some cups - filled with

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-51448868439953500312007-10-12T18:11:00.000-07:002007-10-12T18:12:15.842-07:00

Last week, I escaped. It was brief, but I tasted freedom. I can bound when I am unbound, and my heart nearly burst with the euphoria as my paws crossed the oppressive curb and propelled me across the road.But it didn't last long, and I nursed that joyous memory all week, regretting that I didn't use that time to accomplish something... perhaps actually eat one of those terrorist rabbits. I swore

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-6535357542413123632007-10-08T12:21:00.001-07:002007-10-08T12:21:49.480-07:00

I don't know how plain I can make this, but you humans are pretty slow, so I'll use the caps lock:DON'T FORGET TO WALK THE DOG.If I feel I need to say it again, I'll just put "see top", and you'll know to look at it again. Maybe, it will sink in.Now, usually, the Hairy Guy is good about taking me out in the early morning, and someone takes me out in the evening for a bit. I like it best when

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-89910860299049085022007-09-18T12:19:00.000-07:002007-10-08T12:20:54.684-07:00

How on Dog's Green Earth does your species stay so dominant?I mean, it's bad enough you don't have claws or teeth worth talking about; you eat nothing but crap (and don't friggin' share); you waste your evenings staring at a noisy box with moving gray blobs on the front of it, and you spend your days off doing Dog knows what while your faithful fauna companions waste away in a crate. But it turns

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-9021834504731972132007-08-26T08:32:00.000-07:002008-01-26T09:22:39.181-08:00

I swear to you all, if there was any doubt, that I have nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with the weather! So please, stop calling the hot, uncomfortable, and humid days "Dog Days".Even our normally comfortable and easy-going morning walks have been oppressed by thick, muggy air. I have to drag the hairy guy up the hill most days. More so since he hurt his back. And it's not just us. Everything

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-85789086509345310762007-08-15T10:33:00.000-07:002007-08-15T10:35:15.441-07:00

I know how these toothless, clawless omnivores took over the planet. They build things.It is hard to believe, but I've seen them do it. They open these big boxes and take out pieces to fit together, and when they are done, there is a new thing. Like a shed, or a bicycle. It's mind-blowing.So my humans have gone and built this thing that holds my leash for them while they ride a bicycle, and I

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-46085451244686679122007-07-26T03:58:00.000-07:002007-07-26T03:59:17.874-07:00

I've been keeping an eye out for those terrorist rabbits, but they seem to be lying low since the night I met One Eyed Jack. And since they've always been so clever about staying just out of my reach, I've been practicing some "caninja" skills on them. I make a show of not being able to reach one particular spot in the yard, and I've been holding back when they approach my "zone" -- no barking,

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-57343699450418048452007-07-26T03:57:00.000-07:002007-07-26T03:58:42.542-07:00

What a lousy week I've had. Every time I hear the explosions outside, I jump. I can't help it. The family laughs, sympathetically, and says, "Poor Trixie! She must be gun shy." But that's not it. Every screamer, every M80, every roman candle sends me up the wall with terror, but it's not just the noise that bothers me.I'm terrified because any one of those noises could be Them...I told you

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-56371047541543629922007-07-26T03:56:00.000-07:002007-07-26T03:57:18.827-07:00

I think I'm starting to figure out this family I've been assigned to. They aren't too hard to get along with -- one at a time at least. And I think I know now why I was sent here to protect them.They had me really baffled for the first couple of weeks with that word they kept shouting up my nose: Trixie. Apparently, that's my name. If I perk up my ears and wag my tail when they say it, they

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-2982673095002139442007-07-26T03:55:00.000-07:002007-07-26T03:56:30.428-07:00

I won't bore you with my life story, but let's just say I ended up in the klink. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, I suppose, but jail is jail, and I was a little freaked out. I've never been able to get along with other dogs, and the kennel amplifies their voices something awful. Have you ever tried to sleep while a chihuahua mix rabbits on and on reciting the dog rosary? Or while a

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6699577093353725064.post-41744185403596329732007-06-16T21:12:00.000-07:002007-06-16T21:35:21.288-07:00

Our hands were clasped, and we gazed deeply into each others' eyes. We had run out of breath, our hearts were thudding with the passion of the moment. We heard music, and we were compelled at that moment to kiss.We were barely sixteen, and a kiss like that seems like it lasts forever. But it didn't. We heard the crash of a door slamming open behind us, and we whirled around to face the one

Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06972140054283279414noreply@blogger.com0