m & m's

Should I worry that my site has gotten a hit from Washington, DC?

Given the obvious contempt I hold for the asshole who inhabits the White House at present, maybe I should. This is a president who thinks it's his inalienable right to eavesdrop on the private telephone conversations of American citizens. This is an administration hellbent on overturning Roe vs. Wade and imposing their morality on my body. This "Justice" Department thinks it's perfectly reasonable, even commendable, to require confidential medical records relating to abortion because Bush and his partisans think their theocratic goals have more value than the relationship between a health care professional and her patient. This group believe it's necessary for them to find out who has had an abortion and where and by whom. I wonder if the death penalty will be made retroactive...

This is a president who feels he has the legal right, and probably the "moral" obligation," to bypass the legislative branch of the United States government in order to maintain the ability to utilize torture as an interrogation technique. But then again, this is the administration who thought it was just fine to invade a sovereign nation for...now what exactly have we gained from this? What was the point again? I really must pay more attention during those riveting "press conferences."

Following Hurricaine Katrina last summer I wrote on my blog that, for the first time in my life, I actually felt ashamed to be an American. Ashamed! I thought the feeling would be fleeting. I thought I would wake up one morning soon, breathe the free air and feel my chest swell with pride of living in this country again. I do not look forward to the July Fourth fireworks this year. What is there to celebrate about being an American in this age?
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Wow! That was deep! On to something a little lighter.I just had the most sensuous experience.

sen·su·ous ( P ) Pronunciation Key (snsh-s)
adj.

1. Of, relating to, or derived from the senses.
2. Appealing to or gratifying the senses.
3. 1. Readily affected through the senses.
   2. Highly appreciative of the pleasures of sensation.

Thanks, Dictionary.com.

"Highly appreciative of the pleasures of sensation," that would be me. Some day I'm going to write my dissertation on the senses.

Anyway, I got home from work around 11:30 tonight which was *so* very luscious! I hardly ever get home much before midnight. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning! I unloaded and changed into some of my mostest comfiest things, played with Sadie a bit and checked e-mail and phone.

Well, after I'd bribed Sadie with a chewy bone to buy an hour's peace, I finally caved in and walked her after she flung herself on my lap around 12:30. It was warm around here today. It might have gotten up to 80F (27C). My apartment was rather warm when I got home. (Gee, I wish I'd left some windows open. I detest the heat. I'd much rather be cold than hot.) So I donned my windbreaker, leashed my pup and stepped outside. The sky is clear, the moon is a day or two past her full and Jupiter hovers a tantilizing distance away. There is the merest wisp of a breeze...you'd stir up more with a moderate walk. My cheeks are flushed from the hour in my hot apartmenet and the breeze kisses my skin. Sheesh, this is getting really soppy. Okay...it's a nice night outside.

We walked past the apartment in the 200 building where the creepy man with the cowboy hat and long, olive coat lives with his equally creepy white shepherd. The Rottweiler puppy, as has become his habit, jumped up to the open window to whimper at my little temptress. (Oh yeah, she's *that* kind of bitch.) He's a beauty. He's less than a year old and seems genuinely interested in friendship first. "He'd make a good match," says the yenta in me. Next thing I hear is a harsh voice snarling, "Shut up!" I was devestated. I'm such a Pollyanna I just assume everybody loves their dogs as much as I love Sadie and treats them as kindly. I walked away and muttered, "That's abusive, Prick." I wish I'd had the courage to knock on his door and tell him as much but, as much as I value principle, I value safety more.

I broke a couple of flowery twigs from the weeping cherry tree on our walk tonight. As we stood at the end of the 200 building, after our trauma with the mean man, I brushed the soft petals over my cheek. It gave me goose bumps all over and sent a shiver down my spine. This tiny sensation touched all the feelings inside me and the spiritual became physical. If the physical is detached from the spiritual, does it not lose meaning? Aren't the two inextricably entwined?

Anyway, when we got close to our apartment, I let Sadie off leash for a short run. Well, my post-work relaxation technique must have distorted my sensibilities a bit because next thing I know I'm pulling weeds from around an azalea I've planted on the hill outside my door, all the while hearing REM's "Gardening at Night" in my head and silently laughing at myself. My Sadie is like a kid caught between toddler and school-age. Isn't that a wonderful time...still engulfed by one's experience of sensation, newly conscious of one's surroundings...tinted with the first blush of conscience, consequence and inhibition? I wish I could live my life like that. As I diligently weeded and imagined I could hear Mike, my new downstairs neighbor, thinking, "This woman is a fucking nutcase," Sadie managed to wander all the way to the top of the hill.

If the gardening didn't wake him, the ensuing dog chase surely did.

Me: Sadie. (whispered) Sadie. (emphatically whispered) SADIE. (croaked) SADIE! (quietly yelled)

Sadie: ::rustle, rustle::

Me: Time to go to bed, Sadie.

Sadie: "La-dee-da-dee-dum! I'm not listening!"

Me: Treat, Sadie? Want a treat?

Sadie: Let me sniff this log. What's this tasty thing?

Me: If you make me climb this hill, I'm going to kill you!

Sadie: ::wonders what the new word, "kill," means...wonders if it's something tasty::

These kind of moments are some of the fondest I recall from raising my son. Those steps out into the real world, not craving the safety of the familiar and comfortable. The outstretching of damp, new wings. I really wasn't angry. It was one of those moments when you try so hard to be stern while you're stifling your mirthful pride.

I trudged 3/4 of the way up the hill, half falling out of, half crippling my ankle in my old-lady Clark's clogs. When I get 3/4 of the way up, guess who flies by, laughing with her four-footed haughtiness at my bipedal lumbering! I could have kill't her! I made her sit on the rug when we got in and lectured her until she threw herself at my feet, begging for mercy. I then proceded to give her the cold shoulder. (Why do I have to use all the tricks with my dog that my mom used on me?)

I spurned her when she made an overture after I'd resettled on the couch, telling her to go lay down. This time she got *both* the 'go' and 'lay down' parts and did as I said. A couple minutes later, when I lamented my harshness, I patted the couch, inviting her to join me. Little Missy got the last dig in...you should know this so you don't think I'm a total bitch. She lay her head back down, ignored me and promptly fell asleep.
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Oh. My. God. I just found the most awesome thing I've ever seen...an online Yiddish dictionary! Then that heavenly find led me to Mental Yentl, the Meditation Matchmaker, which I'll have to explore on a future cruise. I'll report back to you on this one
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For another fun diversion into language, check out the Urban Dictionary., another place where I looked up the meaning of the Yiddish word "yenta."
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The Tennessee Guerilla Women are now some of my biggest heroines. Check out Equal Rights for Sperm here. Imagine what the world might be like if men were banned from masturbating. (Sorry, guys!)
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I started this last night but got too distracted to finish it, at least if I wanted to get some sleep. Sorry about any resultant irregularities in time frame. Do you think blogging will eventually be the thing to create an irreparable rift in the space-time continuum?

Have a blessed Easter, all who celebrate it. And a joyous Passover for those who celebrate that! If there are any other religion I should be honoring on this day, please let me know!
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