What do you want for your birthday?

Well, I wanted a pistol, but that's not happening until I get a job, so today we are going to the rifle range for some shooty goodness with the Tokorev and then it's off to the tree farm to buy a few fruit trees.

Lime, Avacado and Peach

Hubby's taking me to dinner tonight to a new Hibachi grill place up the road and then of course, I will go out and celebrate with my dart friends for a different kind of shooty goodness.

Overall, it's going to be a nice day.

Romney can go EFF himself..Perry too

“It’s not the model for the nation… in Massachusetts, 93 percent of people were insured,” Romney said, mentioning that fixing health insurance cannot be done nationally because of states like Texas, where Romney said 25 percent of the population is uninsured"

Yeah, and the people's republic of massachusetts is doing so well...rrrright.

This guy is John McLame II. He is a liar. He is a liberal. He is bad for this country.

Well, If he thinks he can cut us out of the herd like a quarter horse, put us in a bad light to draw attention away from his dismal record, he is underestimating the American People.

Romney reminds me A LOT of governor good hair..I mean Perry. Perry has been hinting about running for prez. I assure you, you do not want Perry for president. The only reason he has been in office so long is that the lineup of political opponents has been so dismal. Perry struts around in tight jeans and ten gallon hat down on the border when the election cycle rolls around and has not done shit about the border situation in all the time he's been in office. He is neck deep in the Trans-Texas corridor debacle. Two, and only two scenarios are possible in this situation: either his pockets were set to get heavily lined with green, or he is as big a dumbass jock as he appears.

Perry has youtube videos our there of some speeches he's given, and when you watch them you just want to go "Hell Yeah".

Those speeches are 18 carrot bullshit. Perry is like every other politician out there. He will tell you whatever you want to hear in order to get re-elected, because "being governor is cool...and chicks dig me!"

One of my categories for posts is TIAC. It is an acronym from a science fiction novel. It encapsulates the concept that if you package and market something just the right way to the American People, the will buy a Turd In A Can.

Both Romney and Perry are a TIAC

This can't be good

China divests itself of short term US debt

I hope my puny little vegetable garden grows faster....

Next we'll get arrested for quoting someone

"Senators want to put people in jail for embedding YouTube videos"

Mike Massnik subtitles this "From the not-understanding-the-technology department"

I think he gives the Senators way too much credit...

Memory Associations

I was meandering around over at Brigid's place and she had a music post from Mark Knopfler that I really liked. While I posted a comment about having the opportunity to see Dire Straits live many years ago, it reminded me that I caught a television broadcast of Dire Straits wherein Chet Atkins made a guest appearance. I seem to recall that Mark was a great admirer of Chet. So with the awesome power of the interwebs I went on the hunt.

There's more. I'll be back in a while.

Postscipt: After watching the video a few times it is a little creepy in a Deliverance sort of way. At the same time, it reminds me so much of Beckville, Tx around 1965 or so. Part of my roots.

Today's Music Choice

Sarah McLachlan is a very talented woman.  She is a well rounded musician who plays piano, guitar, writes her own songs and sings like an angel, even live.

First song up is 'Fear'.  It's simply amazing.

Next up we have Angel

Then one of my favorites, Building a Mystery.  I like this particular video because she gives a little background on the song.

I don't think that anyone can deny that this woman is a true talent.

Natural Selection

Yet again, a baby bird has misstepped and fallen from the nest.  He's sitting in the grass in the shade, chirping for his mommy, who I hope will come and feed him.  I have, once again put the cover on the cat door so that Miss Kitty doesn't go and get herself an easy meal.

This has really gotten me thinking though.  What kind of stupid bird builds a nest on a flat surface right next to a hole in the floor?  I mean, I can understand the attraction of being indoors where it's warm and dry but the big hole in the floor next to the crib would be a deal breaker.  Of course, birds aren't the smartest creatures on the planet, there is a reason for that insult we like to toss around when we call someone 'bird brain'.  I just wonder how this particular species of birds manages to survive when it builds its nest in such dangerous places.

The animal lover in me wants to take care of the bird, but the other side of me says to leave it to nature.  If we were talking about a human baby, well of course that's a different story, however, it's a bird.  Apparently from a line of very stupid birds.  I'll leave it be and if it doesn't survive, I'll dispose of the body with its sibling.

There are several nests in the attic, but I know this one came from the same nest because he's in the same general area is the bird from the other day.

What exactly does my butt look like anyway?

Apparently that's what Miss Kitty was trying to find out last week.

We have a new coffee table which has a glass top and the hubby tells me that Miss Kitty was sitting close to the edge of it, leaning way over and looking up at her own ass.

Guess she was curious.

Herding Hermit Crabs????

Shortly after my better half and I were married, he bought me an Australian Cattle Dog, otherwise known as a Blue Heeler.  His name was Patch.

That was my darling boy.  He was a very loyal companion, though a little obsessive.  I could not walk out of the room without him following me, and I couldn't walk across the room without his watching my every move.

He was very protective and his herding instinct was great.  He would herd the kids and try to even herd me, though asserting my dominance early on, he knew better than to do that often.  He was probably one of the most intelligent dogs that I've ever known.

Over at Lagniappe's Lair there are great stories about Murphy the beautiful German Shepherd.  More specifically, about Murphy's recent swimming adventures.

This of course reminds me of Patch and his love of the water.  It's a bit unusual for a herding dog to love water like that, but Patch really did.

We would be down at the creek and Patch would get hot and decide to go for a swim, or simply lay in the creek.  If I went kayaking, I had to really be careful because Patch would almost always swim out to my boat and try and follow me.  I didn't want him to tire out, so I would have to send him ashore and tell him to stay, which he would, reluctantly.  He didn't like that though, especially once I got out of his sight, but he would sit there and wait for me to return, ever so faithfully.

The first time that the hubby and I took Patch on the boat and to the cut, (where the end of the creek meets the Gulf of Mexico), he loved it.  He was about 5 months old and in short order proved himself to be just like his mommy (me) a salty dog.  We are called salty dogs because the salt water is in our blood and we are drawn to it and we thrive in it.

So, we beached the boat and as I was setting anchor, Patch jumped out of the boat.  He ran up and down the beach, in and out of the water, chasing and biting at the waves.  He was having a grand old time until he noticed something funny in the water that looked they were lost.......   about 20 hermit crabs walking along the bottom.

Patch, being the helpful pup that he was, was in water up to his chest, and yet he dunked his entire head, eyeballs, nose and ears (well the tips were still out of the water) under the water and gathered up each hermit crab one by one and piled them up on the shore.  Once he had the vast majority of the poor things, he laid down behind his pile of displaced crabs and watched them.

After a few minutes, the crabs, thinking that the coast was clear, would come out of their shell and start to make their escape back into the water.  Patch would immediately jump to his feet and give them a little bark, which would drive them back into their shells.  Every now and then, Patch would get distracted and one would make his escape and would get almost to the water.  Patch would run and scoop him up in mouth and bring him back.

He was something else and every now and then, I miss him terribly.  About three years ago, I had to put Patch down because he snapped at my grandbaby and I wasn't going to take the chance that he would bite her.  He was starting to even get cranky with me so I had to make the hardest decision of my life.  He was 10 years old but I will say that he did have a very good life.  He was loved.

Birds of a Feather

Well, I have good news and bad news.

I'll go with the bad news first.  The baby bird that fell out of its nest did not survive.  He has been laid to rest on the side of the house in my ivy that grows by the fence.  Poor little guy, but my darling social Darwinist hubby rightfully says that if he can't stay in the nest, well, that's just natural selection.

The good news is that the other day when the hubby and I were leaving the coast, we spotted a bald eagle.  I thought I had seen one in the neighborhood down there about a year ago, but thought that I was going nuts.  Well, I am not going nuts, it was definitely a bald eagle.

Bald eagles have been showing up in the Houston Suburbs as well.  There are about 4 nests up in the Woodlands and they've been showing up in places like Baytown and Sugarland as well.  It's nice that they're around, there's something really majestic about watching those beautiful birds in flight.

The first time I ever saw a Bald Eagle was when I was in the Seattle area visiting friends.  We were at some park and they were out and about, doing what I love to do most (fishing) and what a sight that is.  I learned that they fly way high to hunt so that the fish can't see their shadow on the water, then when they spot their prey in the water, they dive straight down and grab them up in their talons.  It's really incredible.

So now, I'm sitting here on the couch, my granddaughter, who spent the night last night, just woke up and she's laying her head on my shoulder, watching me type, patiently waiting for me to cook her breakfast.  Life is good.