Sunday, April 9, 2017
Book review up!
I spent my Saturday night devouring Yxta Maya Murray's The Conquest and penned a brief review this morning that appears on Musings of Bookslut. Do you like magical realism? Historical fiction? An unexpected love story?
If you find this novel at your local used bookstore, snag it.
Sunday, March 26, 2017
The Appeal of the Giraffe Cam
Over a month ago, Animal Adventure Park began live-streaming a giraffe cam. The star of the show is the unborn calf that is taking its sweet time to be born. The leading lady is the almost puppy-like April, a 15 year old giraffe. Her baby's daddy, Oliver, is a rambunctious 5 year old. As a young bull, his interests are eating and mating so he is kept separate from the very pregnant April. Despite the divider, the giraffe cam frequently is witness to sweet head touching, neck circling signs of affection between April and Oliver. For weeks, thousands of people tune in. What started as the great baby watch has morphed into something else.
So what is the appeal in watching a giraffe pace around a stall bigger than my house, chewing her cud, throwing alfalfa over her body, and sweetly taking carrots and lettuce from her darling caretakers, the vet, and the park owner? Why do so many turn in for 9pm tuck in, where treats are given and the stall is cleaned? Do most, like me, watch with jealousy as the caretakers stroke the magnificent creature and kiss her belly? Or do they sympathize with the expectant mother, pregnant for 15 months, give or take 60 days?
Whatever the reasons for tuning in, April's little family has done remarkable things for giraffe conservation and research. It has brought people together from all across the globe. I was watching the cam when news outlets reported the attack in London. Do you know what I saw? Comment after comment of people reaching out to strangers. I've seen people sunk in a depression so deep find comfort through this giraffe cam. I've seen children deciding the future is theirs and they can be a part in saving our creatures.
This isn't about a giraffe. It's much, much larger.
April is already larger than life
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Throwing in the towel
I will continue to blog at least a couple of times a week, but I'm not going to do fluff pieces because I feel like I have to blog. I am cooking more frequently and I am reading regularly again. And I am writing every day - either working on fiction or doing legally type stuff - so there is that. I just don't want to bore you, dear Reader, with drivel. And I honestly have the attention span of a terrier. But I do want to talk about the inaugura... look! squirrel!
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
One of the Boys
And so the Big Top falls...
“The circus is a jealous wench. Indeed that is an understatement. She is a ravening hag who sucks your vitality as a vampire drinks blood – who kills the brightest stars in her crown and will allow no private life for those who serve her; wrecking their homes, ruining their bodies, and destroying the happiness of their loved ones by her insatiable demands. She is all of these things, and yet, I love her as I love nothing else on earth.”
― Henry Ringling North, The Circus Kings: Our Ringling Family Story
The announcement stunned some but largely came as no surprise. Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey is coming to an end after over a century of entertaining the masses. Feld Entertainment made the announcement earlier this week. And while domestic terrorists animal rights activists rejoiced, many of us were left just a bit confused as nostalgia had us longing for the circus elephants and simpler times.
But listen now and listen good - if we do not take aggressive measures, and soon, we will lose out on ALL our animal pastimes. From delighting in circus elephants to running your Papillon through an agility course to trail horses. Zoos may soon be a thing of the past, dog shows no more than a historical footnote or a trivia question. This victory for AR should serve as a warning to all animal lovers.
Don't let the animal rights activists win. Before you support them, KNOW WHAT YOU SUPPORT. Before you throw your hard-earned money their way, KNOW WHERE THAT MONEY IS GOING. Yes, there are MANY bad apples in animal sports - I will not deny that - but one bad apple does NOT spoil the bunch. Protect our sports. Fight AR propaganda. I don't want my children's children to only know about dogs through picture books and memories.
Monday, January 16, 2017
Love. Hope. Faith. Justice.
I'm not writing a lengthy blog today. I'm not posting the words of a great man taken from us. But I want you to look inside your heart. If those 4 words are not there, write them. Write them quickly. Then follow the teachings of your heart. Always.
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Political Musings
Still here? Okay. Not to toot my horn, but I am a highly educated individual who puts a lot of emphasis on education, free thinking, and creativity. As an attorney, I encounter laws nearly every day that I question. I also encounter situations nearly every day where there are NO LAWS on the books when I feel there should be. That said, I am bound by the laws we do (and do not) have. There is a system in place - it may be broken, but there is a system. And there is also a system to fix the cracks and heal the wounds. That system must be followed.
So when I see the hashtag "notmypresident" - I get a little squirrely. I hated that sentiment when Bush was elected. Twice. I hated that sentiment when Obama was elected. Twice. And I certainly hate it now. There is a marked difference now, however. That difference is that in my heart of hearts, I know Trump does not have the necessary skillset to serve as president. But we have a system and that system elected him. I'm not going to just take my ball and go home; that's not how I was raised. You have to USE THE SYSTEM TO BEAT THE SYSTEM. Trust me on this. You can boycott the inauguration all you want, but it will not change the fact that Trump WILL BE PRESIDENT. So stop pouting. Seriously. For me. For the Obamas, who have so graciously extended support to President-elect Trump. It is time to protest policies, not people.
You want change? That is how you will get it. Not by trying to turn back time and hoping for a different outcome. Not by boycotting an already-elected President.
Friday, January 13, 2017
Lula whoa!
It happened. I caved and purchased a pair of leggings. And another. And another. It all started with the elephants.
Now hear me out, these are FUN clothes. I'm tired of feeling like I'm old. I want bright. I want funky. And I want buttery soft. I hate wearing pants, except for my fuzzy pants. Now I have pants that are perfect for me. And I love my elephants. Love them. I may never wear real pants again.
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Goodnight Moon
After 4 days of ice and a day to melt, we had a gorgeous 70 degree Carolina blue sky kind of day. As much as I love Fall, there's still something about warm sunny days that makes me want to roll the windows down, turn the radio up, and drive until the sun sets. An itch to go sets in, filling me with a nervous energy. It's a day that feels like fresh starts, new beginnings, and a naive hope. To stop adulting, to erase all anxiety riddled thoughts, and go with the wind.
And after a day of desire to go, comes a moon that could swallow you whole. One could vanish in that moon.
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
It's melting!
I posted twice yesterday. No jawing at me. This totally counts.
I'm full of delivery pizza and craving a nap turned into a deep sleep. Sometimes work is exhausting. I'll spare you the details, but it can be soul destroying. Some days, I lose faith in my fellow men. So eager to destroy others. Cheat the system. Ready for a handout or an exception to a well established rule because privilege. And that's not even the clients I'm talking about. Who raised you? Because they either seriously dropped the ball or would tear your hide up.
Rant over.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Winners Bitch - A Working Title
Enjoy a taste of the roughest of rough drafts.
Iced In
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To know that for destruction ice
Is also great”
― Robert Frost
My snow days turned to ice days and frigid nights. I didn't venture outside for days. It was lovely. I had my pets. I had my books. I had my mister. A lazy Sunday turned into a rare Monday with the office closed. Monday turned into a Tuesday on a delayed schedule and permission to work from home. I spent the day lawyering in fuzzy pants. It was fantastic. Everything is still frozen, but the cold never bothered me anyway. (I couldn't resist.)
This is the curse of NC winters. We love the magic of the snow. The excitement. The thrill. And so oft we're faced with black ice. Instead of the soft crunch of snow, we have the loud snap of a layered sleet, snow, and rain. There's no snow man coming from that. No snow angels to be had either. But there's still a hint of magic when things shut down. It does make for great reading & snuggling weather. Netflix & Chill? Please. I've got Books & Coffee to warm me up.
***Also, my reading resolution is going along quite swimmingly.
Monday, January 9, 2017
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Play by Jack Thorne
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Isabel Allende - Maya's Notebook
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Disappointment
The 6-8 inches of beautiful fluffy snow did not follow its anticipated course. Instead, I woke to inches of ice. A soft snow finally began to meander its way down a few hours ago, leaving a thin fluffy covering over cracking ice. Sigh. Maybe this winter will bring the quiet snow later in the month. It'll be back in the 60s in a few days.
Welcome to January in Carolina.
Friday, January 6, 2017
Anticipation
but as many different kinds:
and snow of soft, fat flakes,
and changes the world by morning,
on the highest mountains,
riding hard from out of the West,
when you can't find your house, your street,
though you are not in a dream
or a science-fiction movie,
when it licks black tree limbs,
leaving us only one white stripe,
a replica of a skunk,
the blizzard that strikes on the tenth of April,
the false snow before Indian summer,
the Big Snow on Mozart's birthday,
when Chicago became the Elysian fields
and strangers spoke to each other,
to the inside of grade-school windows,
that covers a nest of strawberries,
small hearts, ripe and sweet,
whether it falls or not,
along with the warmth and smell of our furs,
though we have never traveled
to Russia or worn furs,
lost with ladies gone out like matches,
the snow in Joyce's "The Dead,"
the silent, secret snow
in a story by Conrad Aiken,
which is the snow of first love,
and the spacewoman on TV,
as in snowdrop, snow goose, snowball bush,
and your hair, which has turned to snow,
in velvet shoes,
and the snow after,
whiter than white, which has to do
with childhood again each year.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Saengdao
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Sick as a dog
So I've been battling a wicked cold for over a week. I finally went to the doctor's today. Result? Acute sinusitis. Now I have antibiotics and hydrocodone cough syrup. (Trust me... I had to push for the syrup. Codeine makes me itchy. The pearls don't help me sleep. This is truly all that works and about once every 2 years, I request it. The doc today initially refused. Take Codeine, he urged. Apparently he was more concerned about me possibly being addicted to hydrocodone and a pill hunter than the fact I cannot take Codeine. Maybe the fact I coughed up a lung in his office supported my claim. Even so, don't people use Codeine in a similar way? I mean, why was he pushing it on me?!?!) Here's hoping I start feeling better soon. (See my Snorlax? He is my get well charm!) I dislike not breathing and 5 boxes of Kleenex in and my nose is raw.
When one resolves to blog every day, there's bound to be some mundane boring entries. Sorry, dear reader, my brain is too foggy for quality.
In entirely unrelated news, they're calling for snow Saturday! Oh for a snow day with a book in a cozy nook!
In the realm of what I read today comes.... drug interactions! OK, I'd intended to read before bed but the syrup gives me dumb-face and I don't retain well. Allende must be savored!
Monday, January 2, 2017
Is the 6th Circuit decision worth barking over?
A dog is property. I don't care how "trendy" the hashtag #furkids is or what a multi-
It is this "reasonableness" that makes me barking mad. Some courts use the breed of the dog to justify the actions. In particular, Altman v. City of High Point (a 2003 4th Circuit case) placed a lot of emphasis on dog breed in determining that the shooting of dogs running at large was reasonable and therefore justified. The breed? Pit bulls. Altman, cited for persuasive purposes in Brown v. Battle Creek, opines that pit bulls are "a dangerous breed of dog." The dog referred to in Altman was Hot Rod, who was only half-pit according to the opinion. Hot Rod had not attacked anyone. Despite this, the court concluded that "Officer Moxley attempted to and succeeded in killing the animal, thereby removing, for all Moxley knew, a potentially dangerous pit bull from the public streets." (Emphasis mine.)
Now this is the kind of language to get riled up about - NOT the fact that officers can kill dogs. Brown v. Battle Creek used the language of Altman as one of the reasons the shooting of two pit bulls was justified. The court's reliance on this argument is misplaced as Breed Specific Legislation has failed time and time again. Particular breeds are not inherently dangerous and should not be viewed as such. Any breed can be dangerous; dogs are animals.
Furthermore, Brown v. Battle Creek cites the dog owner's criminal history, gang affiliations, and the type of drugs they were seeking as reasons that killing the dogs was reasonable. I'm sorry - say what? So because the owner is a criminal, the dog is clearly a threat? This makes little sense.
Reasonableness in killing a dog hinges on whether the dog poses an imminent threat. Brown doesn't change that. But is it reasonable that in determining whether a dog poses an imminent threat that the owner's background be considered? That the breed be a deciding factor? In this instance, despite reports indicating the dogs were "barking" and allegedly "lunging," I'm not entirely convinced the dogs could not have been otherwise "seized" in a manner that would not have resulted in their deaths, and the court's reliance on out-dated breed specific logic and the owner's criminal background makes me question the "reasonableness" of the officer's actions.
*Photo is of my own "half-pit" dangerous dog.
Sunday, January 1, 2017
A Fresh Start
It's no secret that 2016 was one painful series of sunsets. I lost count of the number of talented stars who had their lights extinguished, not to mention the number of innocent lives taken in systematic racism and violence. The Presidential Election of 2016 was quite possibly one of the most painful, embarrassing and devastating pile of poo to come out of the year. On the personal side of things, I suffered one blow after another after another. But here we are in 2017 and still we rise. The smoke of last night's fireworks is but a faint smell in the air - farewell, 2016.
Resolutions have always been something I afford little significance. Words, though quite powerful, are oft shown to be quite empty. Resolutions are those empty albeit well-meaning words. But maybe this year will be different. Maybe this is the year I'm different. Scratch that - I know I'm different this year - you don't walk through fire without a few scars, eh. So let's put some weight to these words and force them to ring true.
1) I resolve to write Every. Single. Day. (In this very blog! Oh what lucky readers you are!!)
2) I resolve to read Every. Single. Day. (Even if it's just a sentence. A paragraph. A chapter. A novella. A novel. Shoot... give me a nice tome on a snowy day and see what happens! I will track these attempts in the blog entries as well. Accountability and what not. Facebook posts DO NOT COUNT. - On a related note, I resolve to resurrect Musings of Bookslut)
3) I resolve to bring my query total to 100. No more. No less. I will query 100.
4) I resolve to sign with an agent or I will self-publish. End. of. Story.
5) I resolve to cook more. (Example... tonight I made tom khai gai... from scratch)
These are 5 simple (and do-able) resolutions. Bring it 2017... I see you. Let's do this.
***
01/01/2017 - What did I read today?!?!?!
Today, I reread for probably the 25th time Christina Rossetti's "The Goblin Market." I'm not one who frequently turns to poetry, but this poem has vibrantly lived in my head for many a year now. My favorite part?
"No," said Lizzie, "No, no, no;
Their offers should not charm us,
Their evil gifts would harm us."
She thrust a dimpled finger
In each ear, shut eyes and ran:
Curious Laura chose to linger
Wondering a each merchant man.
One had a cat's face,
One whisk'd a tail,
One tramp'd at a rat's pace,
One crawl'd like a snail,
One like a wombat prowl'd obtuse and furry,
One like a ratel tumbled hurry skurry.
She heard a voice like voice of doves
Cooing all together:
They sounded kind and full of loves
In the pleasant weather."