Wahmbulance!

So, Here’s the Thing:

The news out of Virginia Tech is horrible.  I feel really bad for all the families and friends.  It’s just a terrible thing.  Though I’m not sure why there is so  much speculation on the shooter’s immigration status – he was pretty much American, having been here since age 8.  The pressures of going to engineering school, as I and anyone else who has attended one can attest, combined with parental pressure to overachieve, can do a number on anyone.  Though I’ve never witnessed anything so awful as a shooting, I’ve definitely seen a few freak-outs and more than one breakdown.

It’s a bad situation for everyone, and no two ways about it.

But, here’s the thing:  the number of those killed is a fraction of the men, women, and children killed by suicide bombs, IEDs, and other sectarian violence in Iraq. 

Why the hell aren’t we having a national week of mourning for that?

Ugh.
x

The first time my mom gave me that "Spawn of Satan" look.

Well, the first time I remember, anyway.  Family_X legend is replete with tales of "The Look" during my toddlerhood.

One of my earliest memories, and my first political one, is of the front page of the Detroit (I'm guessing here) Free Press the day President Ford was sworn in.  I remember the paper lying on the banana green shag carpet (oh yeah!), still folded, and I pointed to the picture of the President and commented to my mother, "That's President Ford."

Stunned, she busted out "The Look" for the first time in my memory.

It's a little hard to describe "The Look," Dear Reader, but it entails shock, fear, and the sudden realization that her little girl has a larger vocabulary than most adults... and if any other said adults were indeed present, she also got shifty eyed, hoping no one heard me so she wouldn't have to explain that nobody sold their soul to to the Devil to get my immense, word filled brain, it just happened that way.  No, really.  Swear.

Apparently, some of my maternal grandparents' friends disapproved of a little kid being able to out-think them 80% of the time, and goodness knows my grandmother could make your life a living hell if her friends disapproved of something.   Or anything.  "That child is possessed by a VOCABULARY DAEMON, I tell you!"  I can almost hear them whispering in the kitchen now, thinking I was outside catching lizards with a flyswatter.

Shut up, the flyswatter was very efficient.  I just stunned them.  Geez.

Speaking of daemons:

I don't remember exactly, but I might have even seen this live on TV. 

Whether I did or not, I am very clear on pointing out President Ford to my mom, and my very first experience with "The Look," which apparently took place on August 9, 1974.

isn't august 9th when they landed on the moon?
mlle_x

Headline of the Day!

"Vice President Dick Cheney’s pregnant lesbian daughter Mary will make a “fine mom,” President Bush said."

Any sentence that refers to a "pregnant lesbian daughter" is OK by me.

Damn!
mlle_x

Just your regular "priest kills a nun" story.

Nothing really new in this story, just your average loner priest committing murder with satanic overtones and getting away with it for twenty six years.

Until you get to paragraph two.  That's where the shocker is.  SHOCKER!

Twenty six years ago was NINETEEN HUNDRED AND EIGHTY, Dear Reader.  1980!  Holy SHIT!

How well I remember it!  Hockey Gold!  Reagan shot!  John Lennon dead!  Me and my sister prancing around the lanai (that's Florida for "patio") to that "In the Mood" chickens singing thing!

OK, maybe we don't need to remember that last one.

MY POINT IS, Dear Reader, there are people ALIVE TODAY who are twenty six years old, can buy smokes, drinks, can vote even, who are adults and shit,  who were born that year!  AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHwhatamIdoingwithmylife!!!!!!

forty is the new thirty... forty is the new thirty... forty is the new thirty...
mlle_x

Help out some 4 legged Katrina Victims.

I know that tons and tons of us have helped out Katrina Victims in many ways - volunteering, donating to the Red Cross, I even heard a great story on NPR this morning about a woman who lives in South Central who had no money to donate to the victims, but offered to braid the hair, free of charge, of victims relocated to a shelter in downtown LA, so that they can look presentable when they go looking for work.  See?  People are really nice, most of the time.

I know that the recovery effort for people is nowhere near well enough funded, but I would like to ask for some help for the four-legged and otherwise not-human (and no, I'm not talking about any of my ex-boyfriends here) victims of Katrina.  I have a friend who had to leave behind two cats, thinking he and his family would be back home in two or three days - that was before the levees broke.  For those two kitties, who must be terrified, and all the other pets and livestock who really can't understand what happened and where their people went, there are places to help.  Here are three:

The Humane Society is doing a huge job, rescuing scared and starving animals all over the region.

Noah's Wish exists solely for the purpose of saving animals in disasters.

Petfinder has a database of animals that need foster (hopefully) or permanent homes.  I signed up to foster cats, birds, and guinea pigs!

Thanks for your caring and support for lost pets and other animals!

mlle x

DON'T FORGET

OK y'all.  Time to get back to school.

1)  Yesterday was the Last Day of Summer.  If you are still carrying a straw bag, or, God forbid, wearing white shoes, FOR SHAME!  SHAME I SAY!  Read why here.  Oh- but read it backwards.  Mlle X, however, will still be wearing flip flops until Thanksgiving - it's the Los Angeles way, y'all.  Rules are rules.

2)  On a serious note; Please consider helping four legged Katrina Victims at The Humane Society or Noah's Wish.  The idea of so many pets lost and scared is overwhelming.  Please help!

3)  Along those lines, consider having your pet microchipped.  The Duchess will meet Big Brother at a Kitten Rescue event here in Los Angeles (Kitten Rescue are the folks who forced The Duchess on yours truly, to my eternal delight).  Check into similar events in your area.  They tell me it's about like getting a shot, except without the goo? Well, that's good, I guess...  Now, when the Big One comes (not the stock market or real estate crash, tenderfeet, I mean the NINE POINT OH) Little Duchie will find her way back to me tout de suite.

B)  And last but not least:

         

Y'all.  It Reams.  It Cleans.  It Scrubs.  It Absorbs.

What more could you ask for?  WHAT?

I'm out-

mlle x