I reached a conclusion.

My life is pretty darn boring. 

I did go on a photo shoot this week, and one of my favorite fellow shooters was there.  I also made a new friend who liked my comment (we were at the Mission) that if he wanted to shoot religions statues there were plenty of dead Jesuses on the grounds. It was a fun day, and we had a nice lunch.

I've wasted a good chunk of today reading this bog I found: Resume Roasts.

Here's some photos because I don't have any exciting tales about my fun filled life to share.

We had a great adoption event today.  No dogs went home (we're not one of those rescues that let people walk in off the street and walk off with a dog, pre-approved applications only!) but we had a lot of traffic and some good interactions.  Hopefully we'll get some adoptions up the road.  Took some photos with the new camera, so I thought I'd share a few.

Edited to add: two of these lovely canines have since been adopted.  Penny Lane, the cutie with her head in the grass, and Sierra (the last photo) have gone home.

Too Many Meet-Ups?

I think I belong to too many groups at MeetUp.com.  Well, there's a couple that I am not real happy with and haven't gone to any meet-ups in a while, like the one that despite claiming that there isn't a clique makes it obvious at every gathering who is "in" and who isn't.  I just joined another one, but this one sounds great.  A group for photographers and other visual artists to donate their time and talent to non-profits.  Right up my alley!  Hopefully I'll have some uplifting stories and photos to share.

I'd hate for this blog to be nothing but diatribes about people who pissed me off.

Forgiveness?

Is it all it's cracked up to  be?  I can see the value in forgetting.  Moving on.  No sense dwelling on the hurt that's been heaped on you.  Yes, forgetting is good.

I think that forgiveness needs to be asked for.  The person who lied, who stole, who slandered must admit their transgressions and ask to be forgiven.  Otherwise the best they can hope for is for it to be forgotten, and for the injured party to move on.

Speaking of moving on-I've been enjoying the company of some old friends from before the long string of truly insane boyfriends and the person who I wish in retrospect I'd never reached out to.  It's nice to once again have friends who actually like me, and don't want to change me and make the rules for my life.   

Here's a recent photograph, since I haven't posted any lately.

 Carousel at the fair

The new camera arrived yesterday.  I will be exploring the advantages of a much improved sensor.  Photos will be forthcoming.

Arguing with idiots!

I really should stop.  People who post absolutely outrageous things on forums or Facebook pages (my current nemesis is someone who disparages the No Kill Movement with insults, lies and distortions using a bunch of different made up names) shouldn't be worth my time.  I am afraid that some people who haven't been exposed to the truth about No Kill just might believe the crazy bitch, so I have a hard time keeping my fingers off of the keyboard. 

I know I'll never change her mind, her opposition is based on a very warped personal hatred, but hopefully I can help someone else see what No Kill is really about and help achieve the goal of a No Kill Nation, one reader at a time.

More Awesome Stuff

Another awesome person is Jen Lancaster.  I'm probably as bitchy as she is, but she's much more clever about it than I am.  She also thinks that bad grammar and poor spelling are to be snarked about.  I've only read the first two of her books, mostly because I only buy books if I need to add something to my Amazon order to get free shipping and I have shelf loads of books I haven't read, but those two were awesome and when I buy another book it will be one of hers.  I don't know how she feels about PETA, but since she owns two pit bulls and PETA wants to kill all pits, I'm pretty sure she feels that PETA sucks.  (If I'm wrong, don't tell me.  I want to believe that Jen is awesome.)

For some good entertainment go visit her blog-Jennsylvania.  I'll be willing to bet it makes you want to buy some books.

PETA Sucks!

Douglas Anthony Cooper is awesome.  For one thing, he's very intelligent.  Also, he knows the truth about PETA.  Here's a link to his latest article at Huffington Post.  Read it, and then click the link at the bottom for previous articles.

Failure to Disclose? Not Good!

Did anyone catch the latest IHOP commercial?  Apparently they're proud of the fact that people didn't know that they put pancake batter in their omelets.  I hope that unsuspecting gluten intolerant people who ordered omelets thinking that they were gluten free and had bad reactions can find a good lawyer.

Sometimes Googling old boyfriends isn't a good idea.

Something reminded me of an ex (in case anyone remembers my story about the string of crazy boyfriends, he was the first-thought that people were following him all over the country) so I googled him.  I didn't expect to find anything, since when I knew him he used an alias because he wasn't supposed to have left Texas.  I shouldn't have been surprised.  Up pops his real name, with a mug shot.  Arrested for "public consumption of alcohol."  It was about ten years old, but he was still pretty good looking, if a bit disheveled.  (The link and photo are not being posted, unnecessary to reveal his true identity here.)

Lies, and other made up stuff

Tonight 20/20 had an episode about liars.  They were big ass lies-someone saying they had cancer and getting mega-donations, etc.

I'm wondering.  Is a big lie worse than  a "little" lie? Is telling someone that you're dying of cancer any worse than telling someone that you "forgot" to bring back a borrowed camera when the truth is that you hadn't used it yet?

Is there a degree of fault in lies?  Or  are all liars to be judged the same whether or not the lie resulted in financial loss to the person who was lied to?

My inclination, because I've had the misfortune to be involved with a person who claimed to be my friend, but lied to me and about me, is that there is no "degree" of lying.  Unless there is a fudging of the truth when truth would cause unnecessary harm, lying is lying.  And, I hate liars.

Fiction Presented as Fact

I'm always amused by people who state things as fact that aren't facts at all.  Here's one that makes me chuckle.  Someone once stated to me that "sauvignon" means "sausage" in French.  Therefore, according to that made up fact and faulty logic, Sauvignon Blanc is just a bunch of left over white grapes made into wine, like sausage is made up of left over pig parts.

First of all, there are several words for "sausage" in French, none of which are "sauvignon": 

boudin - chair - gendarme - merguez - saucisse - saucisson  

Sauvignon Blanc description   Savage is just a little different than sausage.  

I'm now enjoying a glass of white savage wine.  I've been told that the same person who made up the sausage story is telling people that I'm an alcoholic.  I guess that fits, if her definition of "raging alcoholic" is someone who enjoys a few glasses of wine in an evening.

Random thoughts about funerals...

I recently read something about someone who attended the funeral of a loved one who had strong religious beliefs that differed from the beliefs (or lack of) of the poster.  He was disturbed by the funeral.  Most people agree that a funeral is for the living, but is there some obligation to honor the beliefs of the deceased even if you are violently opposed to them?  I knew someone who went so far as to lie to her family members about the disposition of her mother's remains to avoid a ceremony that she found abhorrent but was part of her mother's religion.  Was that honorable, or selfish? 

Fortunately my mother has expressed that she's to be cremated, ashes spread somewhere (although if it's from the top of Stonewall Mountain someone else can do it because I have unpleasant memories of forced hikes to the top of that thing from my childhood) and no religious frivolity will be involved.  My mother will most likely cling to life until she spends all of her money so that she can achieve her stated goal of leaving nothing to her children so I doubt we'll have to deal with this any time soon.

Myself?  I don't care what you do with the shell.  Perhaps I can go be one of my anatomy professor friend's teaching tools.  Imagine the surprise of the students when they cut open a cadaver and can't find the sternum.