Continue reading »]]> I’m incredibly surprised at myself for keeping so quiet about this issue until now. What seems like a million years ago now, I participated in “Grey Day” as a sort of grassroots effort in 2000 for People of the Internet to self-regulate how they generated their web content. It was the advent of “hot-linking” and posting whole swaths of copyrighted content on your website, because who cares? The C&D you got in your inbox very quickly informed you of who cared indeed.

Basically, it was trying to send the message that if everyone steals content for their websites, no one will make anything any more and everything would just be drab and blah and boring and “grey.” So, stealing is wrong, mmkay, don’t do it. It was a cute effort, but ultimately didn’t work. People still steal content on the Internet. All the time. There’s tons of ways to do it. And lots of people don’t even think they’re doing anything wrong.

I don’t like copyright infringement. It makes me kinda grumpy. I like copyright infringement on the Internet even less. People who honestly believe “Everything on the Internet is free” need a boot to the head as far as I’m concerned. Just ask Cooks Source magazine how free the Internet is. I’m fascinated by copyright law. I have extended family members who’ve made it their specialty (I come from a very litigious family).

So, with the hub-bub of SOPA/PIPA/Censorship, etc it’s very odd that I’m not being more active or vocal on it. If there was ever a day to be so, today’s the day. I’ve already written one of my senators, Ben Cardin. He supports PIPA and I was shocked and appalled. Then I saw text from a press release that he’s a co-sponsor of the bill to have an active role in it since he is no longer on the committee that would give it the most attention and also that he wouldn’t vote for it as-is. So, if you’re in Maryland, be a dear and encourage him to stick to his guns on that one.

So, what’s finally spurred me to comment? Google and this: End Piracy, Not Liberty. The last paragraph is the crux of the whole SOPA/PIPA thing: As written, it won’t work to stop piracy.

Continue reading »]]> So, I’m in Dallas for work. When away from home, I avoid restaurants I can eat at when home like it was my only purpose in life. Technically, I’m in Addison. There are 3 things in Addison: a big fancy mall, hotels, and 873,000 restaurants. Finding an interesting place to eat is not even a little bit hard.

Two coworkers and I ended up at a place called Blue Mesa Grill. Wonderful place. Nice atmosphere, great food, and a ridiculously large tequila menu.

One of my companions and I ordered margaritas. I opted for a blood orange sage and he went for grapefruit tarragon. Our waitress switched them when she brought them. I knew from the first sip I had the wrong drink. My dining companion looked at the drinks and said, “Yeah, you’re right, but you’re not getting this back. Mine now.”

I had the waitress check to make sure the drinks had been swapped. She carried it off back to the bar, confirmed, and brought it back. I put in another order for the right drink and before she got too far, hollered, “Well, there’s no need to let that one go to waste…”

Hehehehe.

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I am about to share a letter from Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) but before I do so, I want to preface with a few things:

1. I don’t like telling people how their politics should lay out. Don’t tell me how mine should. If we can agree on that ground rule, we can talk.
2. I very strongly believe that even though the person in office is not the one I voted for, they still represent me and my interests. So when I write to that person, I do expect them to hear what I say and respect the gravity of their office and their civic responsibility to represent their constituents. You don’t only represent the people who voted for you.
3. I’m sharing this letter at this time in correlation to the recent “personhood” amendment that was shot down in Mississippi yesterday. Mr. Bartlett shares similar views as to what that state amendment was trying to legislate.
4. I do like Mr. Bartlett’s positive environmental work he has advocated. It would seem the environment is his strong suit and I would urge him, in the future, to focus on that instead.

In January, I wrote to Mr. Bartlett to express my disappointment in his co-sponsoring of H.R. 3. If you don’t want to click the link, it’s the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. To summarize, I don’t feel these issues really belong at the federal level and I felt it was an unwarranted attack on female reproductive health services. There are already laws prohibiting federal funds being used for abortions and the wording of the proposed legislation was clunky, at best, and dangerously vague at worst.

Unfortunately, I did not save the original text I had sent to Mr. Bartlett.  He sent me this charming response SIX MONTHS later:

Dear Mrs. Lathrop:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (H.R. 3).  I appreciate the opportunity to respond.

I am a proud original cosponsor of this legislation. H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, was sponsored by Representative Christopher Smith (R-NJ). This bill would prohibit: (1) the expenditure of funds authorized or appropriated by federal law or funds in any trust fund to which funds are authorized or appropriated by federal law for any abortion or for health benefits coverage that includes coverage of abortion; (2) any tax benefits for amounts paid or incurred for an abortion or for a health benefits plan (including premium assistance) that includes coverage of abortion; and (3) the inclusion of abortion in any health care service furnished by a federal health care facility or by any physician or other individual employed by the federal government.

I earned Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Human Physiology.  It is inarguable that life begins when the woman becomes pregnant.  I believe that abortion is the unjustified taking of human life.  The Constitution protects the freedom of the people to express their moral and religious views and their right to life.  I will continue to work to uphold the Constitution and protect the right to life.  I will also continue to work to restore the value of human life and fight for the rights of unborn members of the human family.

Thank you for contacting my office.  I hope you will continue to keep me informed on federal issues that are important to you.  In the meantime, I encourage you to visit my website http://www.house.gov/bartlett where you can sign up to receive e-mail updates regarding my legislative activity.  It is a privilege to serve you in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Sincerely, Roscoe Bartlett
Member of Congress

A brief summary of my opinions on his response:

1. Thanks, Mr. Bartlett, for summarizing the bill I wrote to you about. I think I knew what the text of the legislation included when I wrote you, otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered.
2. Life begins at conception? “Inarguable”? Watch me. First, there must be agreement on the definition of “life” and already I see that he and I have VASTLY different ideas of that definition. A fertilized egg cannot survive outside the womb. Therefore, it cannot live, so it is not yet alive. And really, that’s where I’m going to leave it.
3. I apologize that I don’t have a fancy degree in Human Physiology. How nice to throw your education in my face as assertion of your “rightness.” Why do I feel like I got “mansplained” at?
4. Claiming to have Science as your support but then instead backing up your opinion with rhetoric about the Constitution and Religion is an affront to Science.
5. Whether or not to bring another person into the world is a personal choice to be made by a limited circle of people and the Federal Government is not on that guest list. Listen to me very carefully when I say this: BUTT. OUT.
6. I do not argue your right to express your religious views. Go on with your bad self. I do, however, argue the right of anyone to impose their own moral or religious views on others via legislation. There’s expressing your views and opinions and then there’s writing laws saying, “My views and opinions supersede yours. My religion says I’m right and you’re wrong.”
7. Mr. Bartlett, you really, truly and honestly lost when you fully admitted to your dedication to a personal crusade while fulfilling the duties of elected office. That’s not your job. Your job is to fight for and represent your constituents. As one of those, I’d much prefer you pay more attention to the needs and requests of the existing ones rather than the hypothetical-not-yet-born ones. Thanks.

Maybe I’m just taking crazy pills. Maybe my ideas for the way our representatives are supposed to work is completely backwards. But if I’m right. And they’re doing everything all wrong. Then the loud yelling of the crazypeople has won. And we’re all doomed.

Continue reading »]]> The Power Outage Effect is having the all-consuming urge to heat something in the microwave, charge my phone, or check the internet when the power is out. I’m having the same effect with the looming government shutdown and associated furlough.

I am potentially about to be without a paycheck and there are things I want to buy. BUY ALL THE THINGS!

There are purchases I wanted to make with my savings/tax refund to beautify my home and instead I will need that money for exciting things like my mortgage and other house associated bills.

But damned if I don’t want to be out buying the computer parts I need to fix my other desktop or ordering the furniture I want for the basement. I just know it would be monumentally irresponsible to do so. Ah well, this too shall pass.

Speaking of passing things, Congress (hint hint).

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So, we needed to get our gutters cleaned. They were gross. It caused us problems during the Snowpocalypse of 2010 with hugemongous icicles forming on the side of our house. They dangled from the gutters and attached to one of the spare bedroom’s window.

And then it melted.

Into the window.

Onto a box of comics.

So, yes, needed to get that taken care of. We also had a few additional things around the house we wanted done like the light switch in our master bathroom needed replacing and we wanted our beer fridge moved to the garage.

A handyman was called, he came out and did an estimate for us and took a look at everything we wanted done and took a look around the house. He found a few extra things that we needed to have looked at and said he’d be back.

While cleaning the gutters, they found some fairly significant holes in the frame of our master bedroom window. While repairing the light switch, they found burn marks on the 2nd light switch and replaced it as well. While moving the fridge, they noticed that the window in the kitchen wasn’t terribly insulated and was leaking in cold air like a pro. While replacing the fan in our guest bathroom, they found mold in the insulation.

Everything they did, they found something else wrong with the house. Going to the doctor? Much the same thing, to me. I’m terrified of going in for something simple and being told I need a complete inner tune up and everything must go because it just plain doesn’t work any more.

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The mild-mannered feline pictured at left is my eldest and first kitty, Felix. I adopted him in Richmond when I was going to college there, much to my cat-allergic roommate’s chagrin. He wasn’t always mild-mannered, of course. And he still has some terrible habits. When he was wee, he would pounce my head in the middle of the night. Bored kitty was bored. He taught himself to fetch, and whenever I did two chores in particular, he tried to help me with them.

The first chore was laundry. When I sorted my laundry and emptied everything out of my hamper, Felix was in it the second the last sock was removed. Being a meanie, I would close the lid on him. He could care less. When I was feeling jolly, I’d throw one of his toys into the hamper just to watch him hop in after it . . . and then I’d close the lid on him.

That particular hamper is long gone, sadly, however every empty laundry basket since has been fair game for kitty-hopping. I suspect the motive is to inspect the vast emptiness such baskets provide and to contemplate it. Cats are very existential. . .

The second chore Felix liked to help with, and is somewhat related to laundry, is changing the bedsheets. I thought it was a particularly kitten-y thing to do. But alas, he still gets excited about changing the sheets to this very day, 10 and half years later.

Take the sheets off the bed and immediately, there’s a wide-eyed predatory Felix on the mattress pad, chasing invisible gremlins along its surface.

Putting the fitted sheet on the bed is an invitation for sheet spelunking and diving under before the third and fourth corners can be tucked into place. (I should mention here, I have made an entire bed with a big lump in the middle because he refused to come out from under the fitted sheet)

Adding the top sheet is like a declaration of war. Forget military corners, just try and get those edges tucked under the bed without coming back with a bloody nub.

If you’re the type who likes to fold over the top bit of sheet to cover the middle blanket, its best to just let Felix go diving at the fold. He prefers the sheet flat at the top and will let you know by attacking the fold, diving under the fold, and chasing the fold back up to the top of the bed until the fold has been vanquished.

Also, it’s not just me he likes to help with changing the sheets. So, yanno, if you need a good laugh and a simple chore to take three times longer than it ought to because a senior cat is recapturing his kitten-y youth, c’mon over.

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This year has been a crazy roller coaster of things! Some bad but most everything very good. We’ve been in our little blue house for a whole year now and married for almost 7 months. We lost a very sweet and beloved kitty but are looking to find a dog to round out the menagerie.

Games have been played both video and boxed. Crafts have been crafted. Comics have been collected.

2011 has quite a bit of adventure planned already but I’m still basking in the warm glow of this year. It’ll be hard to top but I’m sure we’ll do our best to try.

Hopefully one of those 2011 things will be me posting in this thing more often!

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Two weeks ago, my 9-year-old cat, Fiona, was acting most unwell. She was very lethargic and didn’t appear to be eating, drinking, or using the litterbox. I took her to the vet and after a quick exam, some blood was drawn and an xray was done.

Her test results did not come back with good news. She had anemia and it wasn’t clear why. After another trip to the vet, she was admitted to an emergency hospital for monitoring, additional testing and a blood transfusion.

We waited several days for the test results to come back and they were very not good. Fiona was diagnosed with myelodysplasia which is basically blood cancer without being full blown leukemia from the Feline Leukemia Virus (FELV). The only treatment option would be chemotherapy which would be stressful, costly, and have a very low chance of success. Our action is to continue giving her pills until, basically, they stop working and she gets utterly beyond the basic treatment.

Last week was extremely difficult as we didn’t expect her to make it through the end of the week or even the weekend. Her anemia messes with her circulation and her extremities will cramp up and kind of stop working. When that happens, we soothe her by massaging her hips and shoulders until the spell passes. Basically, it’s Advanced Pettins. Pet a soft cat to make her feel better? Twist my arm, why don’t ya?

She eats, plays, and pesters us for attention, food, water, and treats. I don’t think she has a real concept that she is very sick. She gets very unhappy about having to take her pills, fighting it feebly. But they’re working, making her comfortable and able to enjoy her fuzzy life. Every extra day is a wonderful gift.

She will be the first pet whose loss will cause me actual grief. So, I’m very thankful that I don’t have to say goodbye, yet and that she’s still able to enjoy her life right now. She’s a good kitty and deserves to be happy and loved.

I did say two kitties. Our youngest cat, Luna, is a rock star drama queen. I can only assume, because we are hyper sensitive about Fiona, any sign of abnormal behavior raises huge red flags.

Sunday, Luna was acting funny, limping, and throwing up a little. She is the same idiot who swallowed a quarter diameter sized piece of leather that got stuck in her intestines and needed surgery to remove it. She wasn’t keeping food down, so I panicked and took her to the emergency vet.

Luna hates veterinarians. Hate hate haaaaates them. To the point that she treats all strangers like veterinarians — with hate. I warned the vet techs of her hatred and to also not stick anything near her bum unless they felt like losing an arm. They took my warning to heart and informed me that in order to examine her, she would need to be sedated. Great.

I could hear her yowling from the waiting room and the techs assured me that she was sedated, just bitchy and chatty. The x-rays came back and they didn’t find anything unusual in her guts that would be an obstruction and certainly nothing shaped like a fish hook that I was afraid she’d eaten. It did reveal that she was overweight and constipated.

Yup. Kitty needed to poop. An enema was ordered. (Ewww)

They also noticed that her knees will sometimes go in and out of joint, which would explain the limping. If she jumped and popped a knee out, that’d hurt for a little while, so limping is understandable.

So, I take my drugged kitty and rush her home to lock her in a room with a litterbox so she can feel better. Luna never made it into the litterbox that night. My rock star kitty spent the night stoned and covered in poop. (Ewww)

In the middle of the night, we heard another thump from her solitary confinement. She’d thumped around the bathroom a little bit and puked on the floor. I cleaned it up before she met the ultimate rock star fate and slept in her own vomit. (Ewww)

While still slightly high, she got a bath the next morning.

At some point in the recent past, she got a very small piece of string in her that made its way through her system without causing another obstruction and incurring additional surgery. That probably played a key part in her bowel discomfort.

We can only guess Luna was jealous of the attention being paid to Fiona and held off emptying her bowels to score some Special K and a heavy dose of sympathy. Instead, she ended up high and covered in her own poop, pee, and vomit and scored a truly dignity scarring bath.

Continue reading »]]> I am a bad blogger. I promised an update during the long weekend and didn’t deliver. I apologize. Lots. I even had a fun post about shoes drafted that I never bothered to post. Some day soon. Promises.

It has been super hot here the last few weeks. We haven’t hardly had a chance to enjoy our kickass patio set we bought because the heat and humidity has been so oppressive. Such is life in Maryland. Our in ground garden has been pretty productive now that we’ve fended off the deer and weeded it. Our container garden has not done as well. Note to other container gardeners: ceramic pots create too much heat and cook the roots of your plants. Next year we’re going to fork over the cash and go with some whiskey barrel pots instead.

The most exciting thing was the earthquake yesterday. It woke Trey and I both up at 5am when it happened. I remember my cat growling waking me up. Apparently, Trey woke up and asked why the headboard was shaking. I told him the whole house was shaking and that it was an earthquake and to go back to sleep (I do not remember saying this, but he swears I did). He told me it wasn’t an earthquake, this is Maryland, it was just a low-flying plane. When he got up and checked the Internet, my earthquake claims were confirmed.

It is a little known fact that there is a very large, dangerous fault line underneath the Eastern seaboard. It is often forgotten because it is not very active at all. We’ve been hearing a few more reports of other earthquakes steadily moving west. Like dominoes.

Next week, we head to San Diego for our honeymoon. This includes two days at the San Diego Comic-Con. We are very excited. Trey gleefully enjoys telling people where we’re going for our honeymoon. Then, even more gleefully, he enjoys telling people that it was MY idea to go to Comic-Con for a honeymoon. I am the nerd girl. It is true.

So, that’s really all I’ve got going on. Work has been picking up in busy-ness rather steadily the last few weeks. Planning for the honeymoon has consumed a lot of my leisure Internet time. Sitting down and writing has not been foremost on my mind, sadly. I hope I’ll have more to say post Comic-Con.