Prop 8 again, Dick again and the Sea World story

Hello! I have rare moments to blog these days and believe me it's killing me. I have so many things to blog about. So starts the ranting or venting... Prop 8 not being turned over is a great start eh? That is a sad story but only the beginning. The courage campaign is talking about putting it on the ballot again in 2010. I'm sure that we will be able to rally together enough people to match up against the stupid Yes on 8 people that were shipped in from Utah, Colorado and the rest of those states that paid for protesters to come out here and hold signs. That's crazy right? I love love love when people say... "It's ok for you to have civil unions"... really? Thank you so much for allowing me and my life partner to spend a million dollars to have a "civil union". Those cost money that I don't have. Lawyers and such have to be involved, we have to file numerous documents and that's not even including the steps we have to take to insure our children are being covered by the law in the event something were to happen. They are ignorant. They don't care. They are the same people that want everyone to be "saved". Uh... can you say hypocrite? I'm not worried though, I'm not upset about it. I'm just patiently waiting for the people to get off their butts and get to the polls and decide that gay people are entitled to marriage like they are... enough said. Well, couple more things to say... Dick Cheney supports gay marriage! Ok, I said it. He is a supporter and agrees with me on something. Him and I talked this over and I told him that he had to give a little. Then I got a creeped out and thought maybe it was a trick and he was trying some reverse psychology on me... I'm still unsure... it's too weird that he agrees... oh, well, he does have a gay daughter. I guess if he didn't then he would not. How scary for her to tell him... So, we have that much at least. If that means anything.
Then there is the whole Dr. Tiller thing. I have only one thing to say. You can't justify murder with murder. Capitol punishment, same concept. War, a little different due to various reasons that I won't involve myself with at this time. That will be another post at another time. This guy did what he thought was right and his assassin did what he thought was right... they both have some explaining to do at some point but to kill someone because they are "a baby killer" is ignorant. It's like those righties that call liberals and our President "baby killers". Should we be calling them "grown up killers" or "war mongers". I can't really give my full on this one because I have a mid-road feeling about all of this and when I run for office I'll need to fine tune my statements but until then... let's just leave it at murdering that doctor was wrong in every sense of the word.
Now, on some positive things... my son was chosen out of a few thousand people to be the kid that feeds, pets and helps Shamu do his tricks at Sea World San Diego last week. It was phenomenal. He really didn't know what was going on. The lady came up to us before the show started and leaned over and asked him if he would like to be a part of the Shamu show and he looked at her like she was crazy. He didn't get it. Me and Amy both said "YES!, he'll do it!". He was like "am I gonna get wet?" kinda pissed off about the whole thing as if he just didn't want to be bothered. It was really funny. I explained to him that this was a once in a lifetime experience and he would be so bummed if he didn't do this. I told him how lucky he was and it was his good energy that got him picked (I'm like a hippie saying this to the poor kid... karma and all that). He realized what was going on as we walked toward the stage and he told me he had butterflies. As soon as the lady asked him I started crying. I cry a lot and especially when it comes to my kids. I'm like a hormonal mess whenever anyone says anything mean or nice to or about my children. It's nice but gets annoying, especially when your trying to video tape something or talk to a teacher at parent/teacher conferences. So, here I am crying, here he is trying to listen to the lady about what he has to do and when she mentions that, depending on which whale they use, he may need to do a "dance" to get the whale to dance, that was it. All he could think about was that he had to dance. Poor guy. He didn't... thank goodness. He was on the big screen, the trainer talked to him about believing in himself and he could do whatever he wanted... more tears... and gave him a whales tail necklace that said: Anything is possible if you believe... oh God, could this get anymore emotional for me? It was really cool. Then, all day, people kept saying good job and patting him on the back. 15 minutes of fame. He really needed this experience. He has a hard time at school and in life due to his ADHD so this was neat for Amy and I to see him get to do. Now, his sister was not as excited as we were. When I asked her if she saw him on the big screen she said "no, was he on the big screen? I didn't notice". I told her not to worry, she is going to be in the ballet Cinderella this Saturday and Sunday and all of us will be there to watch her dance AND she's going to be in the local paper so that will be her 15 minutes of fame. Actually, I see a lot of fame in her future. She is very talented and can dance beautifully and also sings pretty damn good not to mention she is gorgeous so, I'm not too worried about her getting her time in the spotlight. It's a competition though and I suppose it always will be... sibling rivalry... gotta love it.
I have run out of time but let me say, are the right really that blatantly racist and sexist that they would be this upset about Judge Sotomayor being nominated for the supreme court. It's crazy and weird that they even say so much about it. I can't spend time on this right now because this post has gone on long enough but... come on! Later, later I will get into this. I always have an opinion to give and I will give it. I'll talk to Dick Cheney about it first.

Tit for Tat

Our political discourse has become the childish game “tit for tat”. As I listen to the Republicans going on about Obama’s Supreme Court pick, Sonia Sotomayor, they say, “the Democrats gave us a lot of grief over W’s picks, so we’re gonna do the same to them”. Nanner nanner nanner! And I find myself being just as bad. I sit in front of my T.V. and yell at these nut cases like Rush Limbaugh and Prick Cheney as if they can hear me! I need to get over it, but not yet. Here’s what I think. President Obama made the right choice. He knows what he’s doing. He knows the Republicans will only undo themselves with all their criticism of this all to human Latina woman. She’s human!! That’s more than we can say about her critics! Karl Rove says she’s not too smart. Karl Rove!?! A man who’s best friend calls him “turd blossom”!?! And Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh are calling her a racist. They took one of her quotes completely out of context and think they can ruin her with it. But let them talk. The more they talk, the more people they alienate. We have a very smart President. It’s hard to get use to! I want him to fight back, but in his own way, he is. I don’t think he yells at the T.V. or calls people “turd blossom”. He just calmly goes about the work of governing the country. So how come I don’t feel “at peace” yet?? It’s time to fold these old legs into the Lotus position, put three fingers together and let myself float down stream. But first I think I need to punch one of those big blue meanies in the face!

Dick Cheney, Prop 8 and other news

Ok, let's start with the obvious... "Prick"... I quote my blog partner on that... Dick Cheney is really annoying. He is more vocal in the last 3 weeks than he seemed to be the entire time he was trying to run the country. Is he running for office? Is he still in the White House? Is he still the Vice President? Is he listening in on our phone conversations still?... He needs to shut the hell up. He looks like the penguin from Batman any way. Ok, that went a little far... sorry. Anyway, my point is that he still thinks torture is ok, he still wants us to have Guantanamo open and keeping people prisoners that had absolutely nothing to do with 911 (yes, some may have extremist views and need to be investigated but a lot of those people have normal lives and families waiting for them to get out) is completely unacceptable. He is one minute saying what the Bush administration did was not torture and the next minute saying that it was necessary and kept our country safe. Bull shit on all of it. Our country was attacked because the White House didn't pay attention when they needed too. Our country was attacked because some extremists hate us so badly that they don't care what happens and yes, we need to protect America but... correct me if I'm wrong... Al Qaeda is our enemy... not Iraq. Yes? Did Cock Cheney go after Al Qaeda as forcefully as they went after "weapons of mass destruction". Should we even be listening to him? Should the Republican party have even let him out of his crate? I'm kinda sorta thinkin' they don't want him talking so much. He's really not helping them get their voters back. It's great for Democrats. Cheney, Rush, Glenn Beck (oh, he's a piece of work huh?) they make the world go round. But you know, God forbid Obama try to save the country. He's totally crazy for trying to get some health care for our poor and elderly. Oh and don't forget how stupid he must be for trying to go green with our energy and global warming. I mean duh, global warming is a complete lie and just another democrat victim ploy to make the American people feel bad about how they live. Right? Oh and don't forget how this crazy President is raising all our taxes... that's the one that really gets me. Mid westerners who all make less than $50,000 a year and their out on the steps of their city hall with friggin' tea bags hanging off their hats and their kids holding up signs saying "Obama wants to take my piggy bank"... hello people, he's not taking your money away, he's raising the taxes on the owners of the factory you work at. The guys who pay you peanuts and live in mansions and drive Bentleys... you are getting a tax break! After 60 days in office, my paycheck was $50.00 more. Now, I don't know much, but I do know that I looked at my check and thought I got a raise. Hell no I didn't get a raise. The guys that run my business hate Obama, he raised their taxes (they drive company leased BMW's) they wouldn't give me a raise. I haven't got a cost of living raise ever! Not even when minimum wage is increased. Don't get me wrong, I love my job and the guys I work for do own the business and should be able to drive a company leased BMW but for argument sake...I don't make enough money to pay my rent. After rent, I have $400.00 left for: gas, electric, food, fuel for my car, phone, TV, clothing, etc, etc... you get the picture. I do, however, have health insurance but...(there's always a big butt) my deductible is $1,500.oo. That's a lot. Universal health care might be nice. I'm getting off the point... not unusual but this is just my thought process. And to the mid westerners who were not at the tea bag parties, I apologize and I mean no disrespect. But Cheney... that weasel rat needs to go back under the rock he crawled out from.
Now, Prop 8 is back in the news because on Tuesday, May 26 the Supreme Court will rule on whether it is unconstitutional or not to allow same sex marriage. I really hope the right decision is made. The people who are against it are the same people that believe gay people are going to hell. That sentence requires no further explanation. It says it all, right there. They think gay people are going to hell. They don't think George W. Bush or Dick Cheney are wrong for enforcing torture on human beings, they believe in capital punishment, they believe that it's ok to go to war on a country because a dumb shit and a creepy old man claim it's the right thing to do and dare I say it... they think Jesus Christ is coming back to save his followers from the fires of Hell. Ok, I'm being a little sarcastic because I know that some of the people who don't want gays to marry aren't crazy republican Christians. I know that some of them are just mean, hateful or just plain ignorant. And, if you are a heterosexual (or as Miss California calls it..."opposite marriage"...) and you are not familiar with any gay families, you may not really be able to say what is right or wrong because you don't know anyone on a personal level. That makes a difference I believe. It's different when you see the normal interaction of two Moms or two Dads. It's hard to imagine something as normal if you've never seen it. I have some friends who know me and my family and still don't believe that same sex marriage should be legal. Some friends right? I can't even begin to try and justify that one. I just really feel that the children in same sex families are just as loved and cared for as they are in "opposite marriages". Some "opposite marriages" or single parents could stand a same sex marriage to actually help their kids. It's a discussion for another entry. Dick Cheney tea bagging me got me all worked up and now I'm too tired to talk about my homo family. I'll have more to say after Tuesday... I'll be at the Ventura Gov. Center at 5:30 p.m. with my two kids either protesting or celebrating. They will be holding signs that read: "My moms are going to hell and dragging our piggy banks with them". See ya there!

Babbling Brooks

I hope no-one is grading me on how I stay on topic because if you've ever read any of my entries, I never do...

Twitter?

Not really sure exactly why I'm doing twitter but I am. It's very interesting to me to see what people are doing. I follow people that I don't know which is weird. I follow some celebrities and some news things. The White House and Gavin Newsom, NPR and Sandra Bernhardt? I don't really know how long this will hold my interest but as time goes on, I've checked it out a few times. We'll see. It's really more for people who know lots of other people and apparently, I do not know lots of people. I do know a few though and I'll still throw some "tweets" out now and again and if Oprah's doing it, it must be a good thing.
In other news... how 'bout that Obama son of a gun. He's done more in his 1st 100 days than Bushwacker did in 8 years. I'm happy and proud of him. Go to Huffington Post and watch the video of his speech at the Washington Correspondents Dinner. It is hilarious! He totally burns a bunch of people and it's very nice to see him relaxed and telling jokes. And Wanda Sykes... what? She's very funny and a homo so that's nice. Just the stem cell research alone is a beautiful thing but the going green concept and health care. We are going to have a country that is productive and makes a difference. The arrogance of the previous administration was appalling and I'm ready for a big change. Yeah Obama. The haters don't really know why they are hating. They are all bitter about the bail out and I loved the whole "tea bagging" protest. Tea bagging is a sexual term that you can google if you don't know what it means but it's definitely a Republican thing that describes perfectly what G.W. Bush did to the country when he was in office. They used that term all smiling and happy not knowing that they are talking about ball sacs. Raise taxes, pay for education... pay for the stupid war. I mean God forbid you raise taxes and pay for the things that we all get to enjoy practically for free. Who pays for my kid to go to 6th grade? Who pays for the road I drive on everyday to work, or the 911 operator that answers the phone... and the taxes that the rich pay now are like a third of what they paid before. In the 50's the tax rates for the wealthy were in the 90% range. Now they are somewhere in the 30's. The people that are complaining the most aren't paying as much in taxes as they would have been when Ronald Reagan was in office or even Bush Sr. And our taxes are mostly paying for things we need. Health care and education. The die-hard Republicans are just mad and don't really make very good arguments. At least I haven't heard any... oh socialism... that is a bad word and it's right up there with communism. That's a favorite from the folks who say that our country is being stolen and destroyed. Welcome to my feelings over the last 8 years. They just have to be all mad and grouchy. They can't appreciate what is good for us both now and in the long run. Or they can't think for themselves, only hearing what crazy Cheney and Limbaugh are saying. It's pointless to talk to someone who is a die hard though, they are not willing to hear, only blame. By the way, check out http://www.whitehouse.gov/EmailUpdates.com sign up and you'll get emailed any updates about policies and bills approved by congress. I got one today from the Pres telling me that a health care reform bill has been approved and things are moving forward. What? It's a new day when you can actually get an e-mail from the White House and The President to inform you about what our government is doing. They only hide the things like torture memos and WMD suspicions. Maybe we can actually sort of trust this President...? Naw, that would be crazy... oh yeah Obama twitters too.

The Birds and Bees of Murder

There were two cold blooded, premeditated murders at Bismark Ave. on Monday night. We have a nest of carpenter bees in the wooden beam at the corner of our patio room. Now I know what you’re thinking. Who leaves a nest of bees in their back yard!?! Well, I do! I’m a gardener and watching the birds and the bees and flora and fauna of Mother Nature is pure delight to me. Back to the murder. We started out with one beautiful big shiny black carpenter female. She drilled a hole before we were even aware of her presence and started tunneling her nest into the corner of the beam. She seemed harmless enough. Before we knew it she had attracted two males. We had never before seen these type of bees in all our years of gardening. So we’re fascinated! They are a pretty golden brown and a bit fuzzy and are commonly called Teddy Bear bees.They all buzzed around the yard since late winter and by spring we had read on line that they would mate, lay the eggs and be through with the process by the end of the summer. But in the mean time, they invited two more female bees to move in!! Another shiny black one and a black one with a yellow stripe between her wings. We started to worry. How were they all cramming into that little nest. They must be making it bigger! Oh my. This is getting serious. Back to the internet. We discover that it is common for them to invite in roommates. So now we have 3 females laying eggs!! Yikes! Back to the murder. We’ve watched these bees now for about 3 months. The males tend to fight now and again. Try to block each other from getting into the nest. We can hear little rows going on inside the nest, but for the most part it’s peaceful in the back yard. But last Monday night that all came to an end. It was late in the afternoon. Tom went out in the back to have a smoke. He called me out to the back yard to see that one of the Teddy Bear bees was laying on his back just outside of the nest and the second male was buzzing all around and frantically trying to get into the nest. The females were guarding the opening and not allowing him in. We were perplexed!! Did they fight to the death this time!?! Did he eat something poison in my garden? So we watched. The second male took off and flew around the yard in a frenzy. Dive bombed us a couple of times and kept trying to get into the nest.We scooped up the dead bee into a plastic container so we could get a closer look at him. He has very large green eyes that just kept looking at us with a vacant stare. We got creeped out and bored and went back in the house. Couple of hours later, we went out to see if things had calmed down, there was the second male bee dead outside the nest! Conclusion-----the females killed the males. Cold blooded, premeditated murders! They had done the only job they were born to do, mate with the females and that was all she wrote. They were goners! Used up and unceremoniously disposed of!! Mother Nature sure can be a Mother F______. We will watch the females now and wait for the babies. When we are sure they are done, we will plug up the hole and hope that the corner of the patio room does not collapse!! Wish me luck!

Where have I been?

Hello readers... are you there?
Well, I am for a minute or two. I have been working like a little bitch bones the past 2 weeks and I am emotionally and physically drained. I've actually cried a few times at work just due to sheer exhaustion and stress. I was sick (thought I had swine flu because the day before it hit the news, I had a terrible sore throat which turned into a cough and fever... I don't have swine flu) and my boys finished out the soccer season with a loss. It was an awesome game though and they never gave up, not for a minute. We lost 6-2 but they played their hearts out. I'm glad it's over for now. On Saturday, Lukas and I signed up for fall. This should be exciting. And... I have had 3 parents request me as their coach... one lady I've never even met, she saw me coaching and liked how positive I was and asked me for my name so she could request me at sign ups. That is so cool.
My job... my wonderful, exciting, never boring, never ending, always busy job. It has consumed me more than ever before. Here's the deal: McCafe! It's here, it's overwhelming and it's kicking my McAss!! I have put in more freakin' hours preparing for this thing than I wish to acknowledge. They have us setting up, training, selling, testing, sampling, getting certified and running around with our heads cut off and then... then... they do national advertising and coupon drops before anybody knows what the hell they are doing. It's very important that this goes well. Very important. We have supervisors, field consultants (which are corporation people who basically decide your fate), owners, field consultants' bosses, owners' bosses and anybody else scary like that coming into our restaurants and ordering really complicated coffee drinks to make sure we can do them properly and of course, I didn't today. I blew it so bad that the guy asked my boss if we should even be selling these in our restaurant. Nice! That caused a tear or two. It's like: "you know what A-hole, why don't you jump behind this counter and make a dumb ass non-fat iced mocha with light syrup while I sit in your drive-thru and stare at you"... I didn't really say that. It's too much pressure man. Too much! Any way, now he has to come back and do another little visit and of course, we don't know when, so we are always on edge and I'm gonna be having someone else make his stupid coffee while I distract him with my amazing good looks and charm. Actually this guy is as stoned faced as a freakin' statue so even my charm doesn't phase him. It's all about the coffee. It's good though, I mean an iced mocha with an extra shot of espresso is pretty damn good. I enjoy these coffees and I'm proud of them and proud to work for McDonald's but right now, I'm just tired. I told my boss I was going to punch him in the head today. That's probably not good.
In other news, twitter... not really doing it yet. Signed up but haven't attached it to my phone yet (hold on... I'll do it right now). Ok, just put it on my phone so maybe I'll start twittering from my phone. Seems like a lot of work at this point in my life, I've got a couple of kids, a wife, a whole grip of dogs and a job that absolutely consumes my energy... all the same, I'll probably still check it out. Can you say confusing? Well, I'll say it for you... I am confusing. I'm not drunk today just tired. I'll get in the swing of things soon. I'll come back with bigger and better conversation, I promise. Bye for now, my battery is low (my computer and my brain).