Dogs

So...forces conspire.  Occasionally I miss having a dog, or cat so bad, then I think wow, my life's not appropriate for that (already have the bird, don't want the mess, responsibility, difficulty getting out, taking trips, whatever.)  Well lately I've been missing my dog so much I can't stand it, then my sister, bless her heart, sends me another stupid email forward and well...spent my morning bawling my eyes out over not having a dog.  Here's what she sent, it's not a bad read:

 

A Dog's Purpose (from a 6-year old) [of course this is some email forward, gawd knows who wrote it].


Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolf
hound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy
Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we
couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure
for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for
six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family
surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time,
that I wondered if he understood what wa s going on. Within a few minutes,
Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or
confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's Death, wondering aloud
about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who
had been listening quietly, piped up, 'I know why.' Startled, we all turned to
him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more
comforting explanation.

He said, 'People are born so that they can learn how to live a good Life -- like
loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?' The Six-year-old
continued, 'Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay
as long.'


Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly. 

Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:
    When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
    Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
    Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure 
Ecstasy.. 
    Take naps.
    Stretch before rising.
    Run, romp, and play daily.
    Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
    Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
    On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
    On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
    When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
    Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
    Be loyal.
    Never pretend to be something you're not. 
    If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it. 
    When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them
gently. 

            ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY!

Sometimes someone else says it better.

Male

We sit in the womanless car, maleness twice-squared going nowhere. Two in front and two in back, in the Jill-less car, Jack, Jack, Jack, and Jack. We know how ugly we are, but what can we do, we live here. The truth is none of us can drive, though our horsepower is impressive. It may be a meeting's our goal, or a game, or something illegal. But it's all the same. The deadest end. So we tell jokes. You know the kind. Outside the car the women walk, or run and leap and make such talk; As prompts their hands to fly about, in ways ours cramped inside cannot. Close, but not too, we don't move much; it's accidental when we touch. Oh, there's nothing as ugly as we, four men in a car, not five or three. To breathe we roll the windows down. And then we roll them up again.

 

Phillip Dacey

Janis Joplin - Cry Baby (live in toronto 1970)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjD4eWEUgMM

What could you even say? Enjoy

This is just fucking beautiful.

View it.  Read it.  Apply it.  This guy's a total genius.

http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/000932.html

July 6, 2008

I am at the end of an extraordinary month-long vacation.  I've gotten so many things pulled together, met wonderful people, thrown a STELLAR bbq on the 4th, and here in about an hour I have to return to the gulag. 

In this month off, as much as I've come together in home and community, I've seen an incredible amount of tension and strife within the various communities I run with.  Especially the Radical Faeries and the moorage; old freinds having very public disputes in both places.  So I'd like to post this blurb from Wikipedia, on subject-SUBJECT consciousness, Harry Hay's premise, and founding principal of one of my communities.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


"Subject-SUBJECT consciousness, a concept proposed by Harry Hay believed by Hay to be queer people's unique perspective on the world. Hay saw heterosexual society existing in a subject-object dynamic; where men, who had the culturally acceptable power, saw only themselves as subject and therefore higher than women, who were treated as objects and property. Hay extrapolated this interpersonal-sexual dynamic (male-power:female-subordinate) into a broader social context, believing that the subject-object relationship was the driving force behind most all of societies ills. Objectification served as a barrier, emotionally separating an individual (subject) from another individual by
dehumanizing them, making them object.

When Hay looked at homosexual relationships, however, he saw a different dynamic at work. He believed that homosexual relationships were based on mutual respect and empathy for the other, a longing for a companion who was as equally valuable as the self. Hay termed this interpersonal-sexual dynamic subject-SUBJECT (which Hay capitalized for emphasis in all of his writings). He believed that this subject-SUBJECT way of viewing the world was queer people's most valuable contribution to the greater society. By empathizing with all people, relating to each other as equal to equal, society would change drastically and social injustices would be eradicated."

Visit to Tom’s Rhinoplasty

Wow.  So last week I finally took the plunge, went in and had my nose done and tonsils removed (easier breathing, fewer colds, alleviate snoring etc., quality of life thing.)  I didn't have any external bruising, which I was afraid of, and I've been recovering well I think; it's not an easy thing to do, but I'm not having a bad time of it, all in all.  The first thing a stranger says to me about it is, "Oh, that's great that you took care of that snoring thing, I dated someone who snored once and I couldn't sleep with him."  It really pissed me off, like, it's my responsibility to have surgury to alleviate the snoring concerns of potential boyfreinds? 

Beyond that, I've had some incredible dreams, caught up on some reading, and got some good work done on the house, indirectly.  Chris has been a great employee.  

Oh!  and last week I finally caught up with my friend Jeanna, we grew up together and she's fab.  Was hoping that connection would happen on myspace sometime.

Last night

"Day in, day out"

"I hunger, and I struggle" -Sappho said.

Now I know you understand that,

Sister, Brother, Friend.

Meeting Michael again

You were always my archangel, Michael. To have kissed you was to have breathed the essence of god. To have loved you, to have bared my passions to the elements for the scorn of eternity. My soul mate. My lover. My friend. You were never any of these. You simply were my love.

I picked up Eklypse and Chris today. We had sushi, then they helped me move the last of my things from my old house. They accompanied me to the coffee shop, then to the peircing parlor John runs, (John who bought my old house.)  I retured the last of the garage keys to him, and he pierced my nipple. I dropped the boys off, and then the dolly I had rented from u-haul to move the stove. A friend had suggested I drink lots of green tea, stop eating beef, excercise. John had suggested seasalt to bath the new piercing. I could have gone a dozen places for these things, but was drawn to the new Natures. I saw Micahel in the magazine aisle, holding his newborn daughter.

"Michael...do you remember me?" "John" was how he knew me then. We talked , of years gone by, of childish things, of life, of renewable energy resources. Of children, and love. We traded phone numbers. I've missed him so much.

So many times I've felt his presence here...a heaviness in my soul, a lightness in my heart, a twinge, my deeper psychic self knowing. To think we've lived within a few miles of one another these last seven years. I've loved him so much. My friend has returned to my life, and I cannot express my joy.

Meeting Michael again

You were always my archangel, Michael. To have kissed you was to have breathed the essence of god. To have loved you, to have bared my passions to the elements for the scorn of eternity. My soul mate. My lover. My friend. You were never any of these. You simply were my love.

I picked up Eklypse and Chris today. We had sushi, then they helped me move the last of my things from my old house. They accompanied me to the coffee shop, then to the peircing parlor John runs, (John who bought my old house.)  I retured the last of the garage keys to him, and he pierced my nipple. I dropped the boys off, and then the dolly I had rented from u-haul to move the stove. A friend had suggested I drink lots of green tea, stop eating beef, excercise. John had suggested seasalt to bath the new piercing. I could have gone a dozen places for these things, but was drawn to the new Natures. I saw Micahel in the magazine aisle, holding his newborn daughter.

"Michael...do you remember me?" "John" was how he knew me then. We talked , of years gone by, of childish things, of life, of renewable energy resources. Of children, and love. We traded phone numbers. I've missed him so much.

So many times I've felt his presence here...a heaviness in my soul, a lightness in my heart, a twinge, my deeper psychic self knowing. To think we've lived within a few miles of one another these last seven years. I've loved him so much. My friend has returned to my life, and I cannot express my joy.