Family

I can't describe what it's like being a member of a family who stops talking to each other at the drop of a hat, but I can describe the events surrounding it to some degree.

Some background first: My Aunt and my Grandma had a very close relationship throughout my childhood. I believe they went to church together every Sunday, then spent the rest of the day together as well. But...

About 20 years ago a decision was made. My Aunt's house was said to be too small to hold the entire family for Xmas. So, Xmas was moved to the clubhouse at my Grandma's condo instead. From that year on my immediate family also stopped visiting my Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin.

10 years ago or so the first steps were made to re-establish communication with them. The step was small, awkward, and behind my Grandma's back. From that point on written communication continued in a polite way, but in-person visits did not.

Skip ahead to my Grandma's 90th birthday party. I wasn't told that my Aunt was going to be there. But, as I stood talking to a group of people, I saw her face outside the window. I couldn't believe it. My chin hit the floor. What was she doing here? Was the feud over? ...When they entered my Aunt said "Erica?" and I said "Yes" and went over and hugged her. My Uncle and Cousin looked elsewhere around the room obviously not looking to be next in the hug line... Then my Aunt asked where my Grandma was, I pointed her out, and that was it. For the rest of the evening we didn't talk. I felt like I was the one that angered them and caused the feud...

What kind of family cuts ties for 20 years? And what kind of family has such a cold reaction after not seeing each other for so long?

The end of the ich?

As of Sunday Ed and I noticed that the big pleco who I doubted would survive this round with ich was pretty much free of the ich dots. The water chemistry looked good (about 10ppm of NitrAte, no ammonia, no NitrIte), so I skipped my Saturday water change since the levels of copper and salt seem to be right-on for getting rid of the ich.

...but as of yesterday the tank was disgusting. I really, really want to do a vacuum in there. I think I'm going to do it tonight...

In a week or so I'll consider the ich gone and I'll stop adding copper and salt when I do a water change, and I'll start lowering the temp back down to 80*F.

Now I just have to watch out for fungus and bacterial infections since the fish will be healing from the ich now... I hope I'm out of the woods with this, though...

Ich continued...

So, I still have ich in my tank. The new pleco's been getting worse and worse in fact today I noticed that his eyes are now cloudy and the right one looks like it's peeling -ew!

The cichlids are still active. The acei may have fewer spots on them, but all-in-all they are looking fairly good. The original pleco, for the past couple days, has looked like it's been breathing fast. I'm a bit concerned (paranoid?) about that because everything I'm doing to combat the ich is reducing the oxygen levels in the tank as well, so hopefully I don't kill them with the treatment...

But Wednesday I ran out of Aquari-Sol after adding a 1/2 dose in the morning, so after work I went to pick up another bottle and some salt to add as well. Unfortunately, they didn't have Aquari-Sol... So, I spent about 20min looking at all my different options. It seems Machalite Green is the medication of choice, but I'm pretty sure I've used that before and it turned all my decorations green. It wasn't a big deal back then, but now I have a big, expensive piece of WHITE limestone holey rock in my tank that's too heavy to take out and I'd really rather not have it turn green... So, I was left with copper-based meds (similar to Aquari-Sol) or Formalin (formaldehyde). I decided to stick with copper meds and ended up choosing Mardel CopperSafe based on dosage since I have a large tank and the Aquari-Sol's dosing of 12 drops per gallon meant I had to count out 12 x 72 drops a day >:-P.

I didn't notice until I got home that the instructions on the CopperSafe say 1tsp for every 4 gallons treats a tank for a month. Call me skeptical, but... a month!?! That actually creates a problem for me -when I do a water change, how do I know how much to add back in? ...So, tonight I went back to the store and bought an Instant Ocean copper test kit and I also got their hydrometer as well to test the salt level. The copper tested out at about 0.20 and the salinity came out to be about 5 or a specific gravity of 1.002. So now I know.

I'll do a water change this weekend with a good gravel vac. Last weekend I did an over 50% water change, I'll probably do the same again this weekend. Other options are dips (I'd rather not) or maybe setting up my 10gal as a quarantine tank for at least the big guy and treating it bare-bottomed with the stainy green stuff to see if I can get rid of it before he dies (or kill him in the process, which almost seems merciful at this point).

All I know is that instead of my tank being relaxing, fun, or pretty to look at, I can't even look at it anymore. I go out of my way to capture spiders in the house and take them outside instead of killing them and here I am causing pain and suffering to these fish with my ineptitude. And to make matters worse the information online is contradictory and generally unhelpful. ...blah.

Election Day!

**UPDATE:**
For the November 2008 election I've gone back to documenting candidates on my other site here:
http://ericasworld.logic.net/politics


I've been so busy following the Presidential Primary that I lost track of time and failed to research what other offices are being voted on! So, here's my notes on who's running where I'm at and whatever I find about the candidates until I figure out who I'm voting for:

FYI: Blue is the candidates who are only on the Democratic ballot. Red is the candidates who are only on the Republican ballot. Purple are the candidates who are on both ballots.

Presidential Primary:
...I think we'll skip this one. If you don't know by now, you probably shouldn't vote.

Senator:

• Dick Durbin -Official Site, On the issues,
  
• Steve Sauerberg -Official Site
  
• Andy Martin -Official Site?
  
• Mike Psak -Official Site
  

13th Congressional District:

• Scott Harper -Official Site
  
• Judy Biggert -Official Site, On The Issues, GovTrack,
  
• Sean O'Kane -Official Site, VoteSmart, (Supported by the Christian Coalition)
  

Delegate to the National Nominating Convention 13th Congressional Dist (Vote for 5) (Vote for 4):

• There are the same number of delegates running to vote for each candidates as the number you are supposed to pick and since I don't know or care about the delegates, personally, I'm moving on...

State Senator 42nd Legislative District:

• Linda Holmes -Official Site, CBS voter guide, Vote Smart,
  
• Terri Ann Wintermute -Official Site,
  

Representative in the General Assembly 84th Representative Dist:

• Dennis Grosskopf
  
• Tom Cross -Campaign Site, Illinois Issues, Vote Smart,
  

Clerk of the Circuit Court:

• Chris Kachiroubas
  

County Auditor:

• Bob Grogan
  

County Coroner:

• Pete Siekmann
  

County Recorder:

• Fred Bucholz
  

States Attorney:

• Joe Birkett
  

County Board District 5 (full 4 year term, vote for 2):

• Joseph MArtin "Joe" Wozniak -Daily Herald (profile), Daily Herald (budget question)
• Gerald A. "Gerry" Cassioppi -Daily Herald (profile), Daily Herald (budget question)
• James D. Healy -Daily Herald (profile), Daily Herald (budget question)
  

Commissioner of the Forest Preserve District 5:

• Carl Schultz
  

Judge of the Circuit Court 18th Judicial Circuit (to replace Edward Duncan, Jr):

• Rick Stock -Official Site, Daily Herald (Profile)
  
• Blanche Hill Fawell -Official Site, Daily Herald (Profile)
  

Judge of the Circuit Court 18th Judicial Circuit (to replace Kenneth Moy):

• Dorothy French -Official Site, Daily Herald (Profile)
• John J. Kinsella -Daily Herald (Profile)
• John W. Demling -Daily Herald (Profile)

Precinct Committeeman Naperville 034:

• No Candidates!?!
  

Propositions:

1. Shall DuPage County be authorized to impose a public safety tax at the rate of $0.0025 upon all persons engaged in the business of selling tangible personal property at retail in the county on gross receipts from the sales made in the course of their business?

• Yes
• No: Beacon Article
  

2. Shall the Fox Valley Park District in Kane, DuPage, Kendall and Will Counties, Illinois, acquire and protect land for nature areas, open space and for park and recreation purposes, including along the Fox River; improve and develop trails and fishing access; improve and renovate neighborhood and community parks and playgrounds, sports fields and facilities, and Blackberry Farm; and issue its bonds in an amount not to exceed $44,850,000 for the purpose of paying the costs thereof?

• Yes
• No
  

Ich! (or "Ick")

I keep recording my fish stuff in various notebooks, then I loose them or they get wet and it's no longer usable or congruent. So, why not record it here on the blog that changes week-to-week. Will I forget and go back to my notebook tomorrow? Who knows, but for now I'll pretend like this will be permanent...

So, after Xmas I lost my fantail goldfish and was left with 2 goldfish and a pleco in a 72 gallon tank. It seemed like a waste, so I got some pictus catfish and a couple more plecos to try to battle the algae problem that's developed since I got a stronger light system (for my real plants). A couple days later my goldfish started getting really listless and the one who's had fin rot for quie some time was doing really poorly, so I moved the goldfish back into their original 20 gallon tank and started treating them with Maracyn II and then Jungle All-In-One. They started getting better, but the new catfish and plecos started dropping one-by-one. I didn't figure out why until late (they had ich), so my treatment (Aquari-Sol) was late and I lost every one of them. I then had only the one original pleco in a 72 gallon tank.

I continued treating for ich since I knew the parasites were still in there. I treated for 1 week solid, then a half ("maintenance") dose for another week. At the same time I researched cichlids and decided to get some once the tank was clear. After 2 weeks, I figured I'd be good, so I picked up a 4-inch bushynose pleco and 6 cichlids -all juveniles: 2 yellow labs, 2 acei, and 2 Pundamilia nyererei. For a week they were fine, but starting yesterday I'd see them brushing up against the rocks to scratch an itch and I also started seeing the tell-tale little white dots on them (it looks like salt).

So today I did a water change, increased the temperature from 27.2*C to 29.4*C (by 1 degree an hour), and started the Aquari-Sol treatment as well. The new pleco is the worst off as far as I can tell -he's got dots everywhere (but they are spaced out) and he's been leaping to the surface and getting air (although they say plecos do that, he had't been before). Not sure if that's an ich thing or because of the temperature increase, but so far it's only been increased 1 degree C, so...? Other fish have only a few dots that I can see, but like I said, they've been scratching, so they are definitely infested. I really hope I'm treating early enough this time! :-(

Genesis, Chapter 1

Watching atheist videos on YouTube leads you to believe that the bible is a horrendous book that defends all kinds of immoral acts. The reaction videos made by christians explain away each accusation by saying it was taken out of context. So, I decided to find out for myself. I bought my very own bible and began reading it recently.

First, on the subject of buying a bible. Which one of the 3,395 versions does a person pick up? This reminds me of a quote from a book my Dad and I really loved while I was growing up called "Touch The Earth". The quote:

"Brother, you say there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why not all agreed, as you can all read the Book?" (Red Jacket)

So, after some research and reading reviews, I picked up The King James Study Bible: King James Version (KJV), hardcover by Thomas Nelson Inc ISBN-13: 9780785211631. (CHECK.)
Wow. What a mistake!

This version of the bible has about two-thirds more footnotes than actual bible content, and that wouldn't be a bad thing if it wasn't so heavy-handed and overt in trying to hammer home the points in the bible that contradict (and therefore prove wrong) the theory of evolution. Yep, much of the "help" they give you is not about trying to sort out translation issues and context of the age when the book was written, but is instead helping you translate it in a way that makes their case against science. This is turning me off of this book and translation really fast. What translations did they stretch and/or massage (doctor) in the actual text to make their case? I don't trust it.

So, now what? Well, it's not as convenient as having it in paper, but there is biblegateway.com -I think I'm going to start reading it there instead. The upside to reading it this way is that I can look at several different translations side-by-side to help me decide what was meant by a certain part of the text. The downside is the loss of the footnotes that did point out important translational nuances, the context in relation to the time it was written, etc. But I guess I have the rest of the internet for that.

Which brings me to the point of this post. Genesis 1. I already don't quite know what to make of this first story. Apparently god made a dome over the earth with water (on the earth) below it and above it (???). Not to mention the fact a number of lesser scientific issues that the chapter contains: the moon being a "light", there being days and nights before the sun was created, the sun and stars being affixed to the "dome in the sky". Although, writing this, I suppose it could be suggested that the universe and everything we can see beyond it could still be inside the big dome in the sky... But, I've heard that coming up in future stories is the fact that it rains when god opens up the windows of that dome, which wouldn't really work if the dome was so far away... but that's for a future time when I actually read that part I guess.

Anyway, the way I see it, if it's literal it makes no sense given our scientific knowledge of the day, and taken as a parable, well I don't see the point. So, I decided to rely on Google for more info. I chose "genesis 1" as my search terms soas not to inject bias into the search. Results 1-5 were just online versions of the bible.

Result 6 was: http://www.christiananswers.net/bible/gen1.html Which contained the bible text along with the question "Does God expect us to read Genesis 1-11 as a record of authentic historical fact, or is this simply a collection of parable-like stories?" in the margin. The answer in one word is yes, it's meant to be taken literally.

The 7th result was: http://www.asa3.org/ASA/topics/Bible-Science/6-02Watts.html which dives deeply into the text and how exactly it's reasoned out, but comes to the conclusion that no, the text is not meant to be taken literally and that the purpose of this chapter was just to say that the earth was "fine-tuned with human existence in view" (quote from link above).

The 8th result: http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v19/i1/days.asp attempts to answer whether the days described were 24hour days or if they may have been longer. The answer, defended by the Hebrew word chosen for "day" among other contextual clues is that the earth was in fact created in six 24-hour days.

The 9th result is the skeptic's bible, which is hilarious, but not really helpful or authoritative in trying to interpret the story.

And the 10th result was just another site with the text of the bible. So, as it sits now we have no idea if this story is to be taken literally or figuratively, but I'm moving on anyway. Maybe this story will become clearer later on?

Religious rambling

I've been spending a lot of time on YouTube lately surfing the atheist vs christian debates. They raise some interesting questions and philosophical debates. I've been wishing I had a video camera to participate, then I decided to try recording myself on my cell phone to see if it'd come out well enough to upload, and I chickened out. I hate seeing myself on camera. Blah.

For those who haven't seen the videos, they are a constant back and forth (as I'm sure you can imagine) where the atheists regurgitate Dawkins and Hitchens ad nauseum while the religious people regurgitate Kirk Cameron or one of those other creationist people. Of course, just like in real life no one ever convinces the other person and the debates quickly end up stuck in one circular argument or another.

But they tend to come down to a handful of questions. One of them is: "If we don't get our ethics from religion, where do we get them from?" See -interesting.

The last video I saw was a christian going over the 10 commandments. He said that a rule against adultery could only have come from god because humans have such a hard time obeying it that we would never have come up with that on our own. Funny. I think most cultures have come up with the idea of marriage which includes hinduism, islam, as well as indigenous cultures on most continents. This means that non-christian as well as christian countries and cultures came up with the idea of being faithful (although several cultures, including christianity include in that polygamy, but we'll skip that for now). Many of his other arguments for the divine origin of the commandments such as "thou shall not kill" or steal, etc were that "well, if that was allowed we'd have anarchy". True! And because that's so obvious and can be reasoned out, that's why we never needed god to come up with such rules!

So, I started thinking about a small group of people from different cultures (races, religions, whatever). If you were to take them and put them in a house (reality tv style), they'd soon have to come up with a set of rules to determine how they'd get along with each other in the house. They'd start out with what's acceptable and unacceptable behavior -what rules would you come up with? How about "Leave my stuff alone and I'll leave your stuff alone." Seems reasonable. Or "If you cook, clean up after yourself." Simple, easy stuff right? These are rules that should be easily understandable and agreeable to people no matter what their background. That's because it's all based on a negotiation -I don't want you to do "X" to me, so I won't do it to you if you promise not to do it to me.

Let's assume, then, that our group of people make up a list of rules to live by. Now they need punishments for breaking the rules. Would "an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" be such a stretch for anyone? No. Is this because god made us this way or is it evidence that humans wrote the Bible? Depends on which side of the debate you're on.

But look outside of ourselves at other cultures with other religions and you'll see that all cultures consider stealing, rape, murder, etc as being wrong. These ethics do not belong solely to the christians! It's a simple matter of "I cannot be secure in my possessions if it's ok for others to take them, so in order to protect myself, I'll support a law against stealing." It's simple logic, so I think the argument for basing laws off of a religion is way off base.

With laws based on logic, we can reason out exceptions (like murder by accident or for self defense) or determine if they cause more harm than good such as laws against gay marriage when allowing them would not do harm. If we were to base laws on the Bible, it is clear from reading it (which I'm doing right now) that slavery is endorsed, beating slaves is ok (as long as they don't die right away), rape is ok if they are a slave, stoning is a reasonable punishment for blasphemy, etc.

Am I over exaggerating? Well, no -it's all there, but I'm sure most people wouldn't endorse such laws. But I'm just trying to show that it's not that easy. Who do we trust to draw the line? And how many people who don't believe in christianity are prevented from living freely by some of the laws that are already in place?

An example of a religiously based law that many states and counties have adopted are those that legislate against selling cars, liquor, etc on Sundays. Why should those of us who don't believe in the need to rest on Sunday be prevented from carrying on as normal? There's no reason for it. Is it ethical? No. Repealing such laws would give non-believers back their freedom without causing the religious any harm. If you choose not to buy cars or alcohol on Sundays, just don't. Or if it's about having to work selling either, then that's a scheduling issue that you can negotiate with your employer like any other retail job would have you do. So, anyway, it's an unethical law, and I can assume we'd only have more if this christian movement to gain politcal power goes any further.

Google Reader

I just started using Google Reader and I'm finding the ability to save and share the stuff I find interesting kinda cool. My shared stuff is here and updated frequently:

http://www.google.com/reader/shared/02489598110106339821

The Presidential Primary

Right before the holidays I started researching candidates. I usually take elections quite seriously, and this one even more so since I have to avoid making the same mistake I made in 2000 when I voted for Bush the first time. So I printed out each candidate's "On the vote" page and hauled the 30 page monstrosity with me to Canada with the intention of reading it on the plane or something. Well, that never happened. It seems the internet has made me lazy, I've done most of my research this time around on YouTube. But my mind's not made up yet. All I know is that if Huckabee becomes president I'm moving out of the country. That man scares me -a lot!

On the Republican side, unfortunately, the front runners seem to be nutjobs -in fact they're all pandering to the religious right and as an atheist I can't exactly support someone who wants to make laws based on religious principals. How about ethics, logic, and morality (without cheating by looking it up in your Book) instead? No, stem cell research, abortion, and gay rights mean I can no longer vote for these Republican puppets for the Evangelical Church.

Except for McCain and Ron Paul. McCain... I voted for him in the primary when Bush ran the first time. I liked him a lot back then. Since that time he's been on TV a lot and I've been left with a bad taste in my mouth. I'd definitely like him over Romney or Huckabee though. In fact if Huckabee becomes president, I'm moving to Canada until this country gets back on track. We aren't the "land of the free, except for the Patriot Act". It's the "land of the free and home of the BRAVE!" and yet all it took was 2 planes and 2 buildings and we ran to Washington and signed our rights away in exchange for perceived security. I'd call it unAmerican if it wasn't for all the ribbons and flags on the cars of people who support such tactics. Yikes.

Ron Paul, or should I say "RON PAUL!". Yeah, he's a wacko too if you dig into his platform a bit. I wonder how many of his supporters realize he's pro-life. Anyway, he'd do much more good than bad in the Whitehouse and it's encouraging to hear him actually speak intelligently about the problems the country's facing when it comes to our economy and it's ties to the Federal Reserve, the Patriot Act and other unConstitutional laws that take away our freedoms, the IRS and taxes... At one point I was ready to vote for him on these issues because his vision of America is what I was brought up to believe in. Not only does his ideas make sense, he's a real guy -he talks like a real person, he tells people in the audiences where he speaks that he believes their position on X is wrong and he takes time to educate them on the topic and explain why he holds the view that he does. THAT'S what I think we all want to see in our candidates. But what we get instead is people who follow strict party platforms, evade questions, and otherwise live up to the "politician" stereotype we've all come to know. In that respect, Ron Paul is a breath of fresh air and I know I'm going to regret not supporting him, but I think the time for his ideas have come to pass. People in general have become more than just lazy when it comes to government run programs -we've come to RELY on them. I just don't see how the very American and actually "Free" ideas that he stands for can work in what has become a socialist country whether we like it or not.

On the Democratic side we have Hillary. **Shutter** I really can't put my finger on why I don't want to see her win. Her politics aren't that much different than Obama's (or anyone elses?), but she just rubs me the wrong way. That crying stunt from yesterday? Pathetic. Will she cry infront of leaders of other countries too? "**Sob** I'm sorry, but this trade agreement is just so personal too me!" Pah-leese!

Obama is inspiring, there's no two ways about it. He's got your average Democratic agenda, which makes my decision tough because they support some of my most important issues where the Republicans let me down (again: stem cell research, abortion, and gay rights), but their philosophy on other issues like the environment scare me. They just don't think about small businesses and the impact that their well-meaning legislation will have on them. Or, if they do, it means all kinds of red tape when there's so much already! But anyway, yeah, Obama is my #1 choice right now, but mostly because he's electable and is probably our best shot at regaining our country's reputation after "W" drug it through the mud.

Anyway, I'm off to research McCain. Luckily I have over 3 weeks left to decide!

A lesson on not judging people...

I just wanted to post about how wrong I was about the person I spoke of here -I saw her again at same Starbucks, but this time we sat sortof behind her. Ed pointed at her laptop and I said "yeah, I saw it" dismissively. But, he indicated again that I should read what was on her screen. ...okay, I was curious, so I looked -it looked like she was in a 12-step type program about "Coming Out To God" (and I think that's the title of a book she had beside her).

That lead me to think about how, based on her laptop which was covered in "gay stickers", I had previously assumed she was one of those "angry lesbians". How wrong I was! She is, instead, one of those hurt by the church's refusal to accept gayness as a trait instead of a choice. I totally sympathize with her now. -it's hard enough to accept on it's own without the church telling you your attraction is wrong or (at the extreme end) yelling "God hates fags!" as you walk hand in hand with your partner without thinking about the consequences.

How very sad for the world that this cannot be accepted (yet). It will. Eventually. And all you people who make us feel bad about WHO WE ARE... I hope you feel as foolish and apologetic as those who've defended apartheid, fought against women's right to vote, etc.

Oh, and I've learned my lesson not to judge people too :-( Sorry to you, whoever you are, Starbucks woman... I wish I had the courage to say something supportive to you then and there, but we're on way opposite poles as far as the religion thing goes, so I didn't even know where to start. You've got it WAY harder than I do.

...but what about those stickers? -I suppose I could admire the courage to display something so personal while you seem to be struggling for acceptance -even for/from yourself. But it seems that, in this case anyway, the root of it is just overcompensation, then right? Perhaps. But, I guess I don't really feel like making sweeping generalizations anymore... :-(

Dream: Threat on marriage cruise

Last night I dreamed we were on a cruise where Ed an I were to be married. Ed popped in and out of the dream, but I was mostly alone. This was kindof a sequel to similar dreams I had before we got married...

First, there was a flashback to the previous dreams where I was on IM in the cabin alone at night and some guy and I were having a conversation. But, when he found out where I was and why, he started threatening me -saying he was going to kill me, rip me to shreds, etc. Not too long after I found out that others on the ship were getting similar threats and 2 girls were already missing and one was found dead in "suspicious circumstances". So, I was scared. At night Ed wasn't there. When the threat became known throughout the ship, my brother stayed with me in the room.

...I think the threatening person may have been me? (I went to bed being angry with Ed...)

Dream: Ed and the fish tanks

I had a dream last night that began with me getting up in the morning and noticing that the fish tank was really cloudy and silty looking. The lights weren't on yet (they are on a timer that turns them on about 10min after I wake up), but I could still tell the water quality was really, really bad.

I stepped back and realized that he had switched the fish tank and TV around (this makes no sense given our current living room arrangement, but...). And I saw that in this configuration the TV was closer to the couch and it allowed more room for us to get down the hall. So, I was more ok with what he had done after understanding why he did it, but still kind of annoyed that the fish had to suffer for it.

Then, from there, I noticed 2 new fish tanks -cubes, both freshly set up from an aquarium store. Ed said he had them out on loan or that they were returnable -he just wanted me to have them if I liked them. Sweet! But, he didn't just get the aquarium, there were plants (both real and fake) and all other kinds of accessories and new fish as well. (Enough to stock a store.) But, half the fun is picking all that stuff out. From there, stepping back on more time, the area of wall was then taken up by all kinds of 10gal tanks, all dirty and stocked with all kinds of different fish, etc.

There was even one with a snapping turtle and a 3-legged frog. When I started thinking that the turtle was probably to blame for the missing frog leg, it took a wild jump at me and I woke up.

Dream Log: Overnight Dinner Party?

The basic idea in the dream was that Ed and I were invited to a dinner somewhere. It felt like it'd be a family thing, but uncomfortable, like maybe it was my Dad's side of the family.

There was a lot of time to kill before leaving and for all of the time except when it was time to get dressed for the party, it was someone else's house.

Towards time to go to bed, we went upstairs, but to get to the 3rd floor where we'd be sleeping, you had to go up one set of stairs, then down another, and then up again. It was very odd. I told Ed and the other person who was with us (my brother?) that I had seen this before and asked (my brother?) if this was really the only way up -he said it was.

We briefly went out on the upstairs balcony, but the house wasn't very well kept and it looked rotted and covered in moss. I went as far as the roof line, and wouldn't go over although I was teased by Ed about not being willing to go any further while he danced around and stuff.

Then we started getting ready for the party. I looked in the mirror and was mad that my hair had grown so that the haircut I just got a few weeks ago no longer looked like it had much style -it was basically back to the long, straight cut it was before -boring. My clothes were also boring. I looked through the closet and didn't find much except a dark-colored tie-die sweatshirt that I liked the look of and it was comfortable, but I knew it wouldn't be appropriate for the party, so I eliminated it as a choice. -I never actually picked anything out.

We went downstairs -I think it was morning, and we looked for our host, who was thinking about performing at the party. We found him playing with a sword. This is where he turned into Mike B. He started having this imaginary sword fight with himself. Pretending to struggle, etc. Then my brother (or whoever) joined him with (something). Eventually a Japanese sword was brought out to use in sword practice. Mike rolled it and twirled it around untl he got the air inside moving so it made a very low, soft hum. It was supposed to make a noise or something when used in sword play, but I grew bored and went to look at the Japanese pottery and stuff on display in the house. -The patterns painted on them were exquisite!

Then I was alone (waiting for people?) in a restaurant setting. Then I thought I was waiting for food that I had ordered. The waitress kept walking by, but I got nothing. I got up to pretend to go to the bathroom because it was close to the display area where the kitchen put the finished food, and it all looked nicely made, but not all that appetizing. It occurred to me that I had passed the table before and saw 2 of the same dishes still there. I sat back down and told the waitress she might not want to serve those dishes because they were old. She apologized that my food wasn't out yet, and I continued waiting...

Things that will kill you: Fluoride in your water

An over-consumption of fluoride can lead to: poisoning, kidney failure, osteoporosis, brain damage, and more! http://fluoridealert.org/health/index.html

Supporting a cause VS being confrontational about it

I've yet to come right out and say this on my blog because I have no idea who reads it. I know my Mom's read a couple of my photography-related posts that were linked to from Flickr, but I don't think she reads it regularly. Anyway, I consider myself bi. There. That should be fun if my family finds it...

Anyway, I deeply believe in supporting gay rights. In fact, I can't understand how anyone can deny that it's a cut and dry civil rights issue. So, there's a part of me that wants to put that HRC sticker on the back of my car.

Similarly, I want a Darwin Fish or something to counter all the religious cr@p people put on the backs of their cars.

Both are reactions to feeling attacked. Is it really a fault to be attracted to people of the same sex? Science says it's not a choice, and I have felt this way all my life. My only choice was to restrict myself to men and the result is that I've always questioned myself to the point where I felt asexual at times. Everything in my life has to be carefully controlled and outwardly perfect just like I was raised to be when our family was being torn apart by alcoholism. (Which is no one's fault, it's just a disease we need to find better treatments for.)

And, the religious (Christian) fundamentals (I try hard not to lump everyone into that group, but...) are trying to push science out of schools when our schools are doing so poorly already. They interrupt a Hindu guest's opening prayer in the Senate, while calling for more religious tolerance (huh?). And they fight to exclude the recognition of other religions by protesting stores that wish people "Happy Holidays" rather than restrict their kindness to Christians by wishing their customers a "Merry Christmas".

So, what am I to do? I feel the need to fight back. Explain my views. So, I started thinking about getting a couple bumper stickers. Until...

I walked into Starbucks one day, ordered a mocha, and went to sit down. I noticed that the lady beside working feverishly on her laptop had a rainbow sticker on there. Cool. She's a "friendly". I went on with my sipping, reading my cup, talking to Ed, etc. Then, I glanced over again and looked at the rest of the stickers on her laptop. Wow. There must have been at least 10 -the whole top was covered in stickers, and every last one of them related to her sexuality.

It was then that I realized that that's not who I want to be. Despite our similar positions on GLBT issues, she's more like the people I hate than those I'd want to align myself with. The problem -no matter what side of either debate we are on, is militantism. So, you're a Christian and I'm an atheist. As long as we respect each other's beliefs, why does it matter? Don't try to push me to believe what you believe, and I won't argue with you about why I think your beliefs are silly. End of story. -Sure, gay marriage isn't quite as easily dismissed because there's laws being considered, and that means a side must be taken, and a vote cast either for or against. But, if that same mindset were applied, I think we'd all be better off.

To push this (probably farther than I should) -I mean, what are the arguments against gay marriage? Well, you have a majority Christian nation who's led by a church who interprets one line in the Old Testament as saying homosexuality is bad. (Of course, that line is just a few pages away from several lines explaining that God wants you to make sacrifices of "burnt flesh" to him, but hey, that's the OLD Testament, no one really believes that stuff anym... oh, wait...). And the other argument is that it'd corrupt heterosexual marriage (how is that, exactly?). The one issue that may hold water is homosexual couples raising children, but that's a seperate issue anyway, isn't it? I mean, a gay couple can't produce children on their own... Yes, I know they can find a donor and produce a child that way -my answer for that is this: There are no parenting classes or consideration given to heterosexual couples who want to marry. Known violent offenders can marry anyone, including each other. Retarded couples can marry and have children...

Blah. This is just making me angrier. What do I, as a reasonable adult do? Fight back and add to the horde of people who take an in-your-face stance on their positions? Or do I sit back down and just hope people come to their senses on their own. One thing's for sure, you'll never change anyone's mind with a bumper sticker. So, how do you quietly make your arguments known? Perhaps my answer lies in my first reaction to the woman in Starbucks when I thought she just had one rainbow sticker... Hmm...

A correction about the Starbucks woman is here.

Things that will kill you: Food dye

The following blog entry covers the various ways food dye can kill you such as: cancer, organ failure, allergic reaction, mental retardation, chromosomal damage, and obsessive compulsive disorder:
http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2007/09/19/the-7-wonders-of-the-food-coloring-world/

Got exhaust on the WRX

Ed bought me a full ERZ "ebay exhaust" for around $325 shipped and we got it installed over Labor Day weekend. I won't write about how the install went, 'cause I'd rather forget about it. Between stripped bolts and an "extra" bolt found stuck between the tranny and a frame member, it was kindof a mess. I suspect it was due to the body shop we used after our Dec '05 accident. :-P

Anyway, it's on and you can hear the wastegate open now. Funky. Sounds like a mean cat purring at idle, and just gets meaner the faster you go.

The exhaust looked really well made, especially considering the price. No fitment issues whatsoever, the gaskets all looked good... the only complaint was that we were missing 5 or 6 bolts. -A quick ride out to Lowe's fixed that, though. All-in-all I'm quite happy. It's LOUD without the silencer, and a little less loud without it, but it sounds nice, so we'll see how long I can go without a fix-it ticket for it >:-P

My take on this Senator Larry Craig thing...

I see this whole thing as being very sad.

Senator Craig was born in 1945, and therefore, grew up in the 1950's. An era that held homosexuality as a "sickness" that was "contagious" as you can hear and see for yourself in the 1950's era video "Boys Beware" here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1342644952171097956

How horrible to grow up thinking you are "sick" for being gay. It's now known that homosexuality is very much a biological trait, but we haven't quite reached the level of acceptance that's required for even a Democrat to come out as gay in most places, much less a Republican.

So, for his entire life, Craig (assuming he IS gay) has been told that his feelings towards men are unnatural, sick, and harmful to society. I assume that HE believes this too, based on his voting record.

Why are we surprised, then, when he must release his repressed needs, that he choose to do so in a bathroom. It's dirty, right? The washroom is a private place for taking care all of our disgusting, embarrassing, animalistic needs, isn't it logical that he and others choose that location to take care of their "dirty" sexual needs as well?

Perhaps when we, as a society, can accept gayness as a trait, much like gender or race, we'll move on from teaching our children to hate themselves to the point where they are so repressed they seek out anonymous sex in airport bathrooms and try to pass measures against people of their own kind who's only crime is to love someone of the same gender.

To further illustrate how we ourselves have created this problem, countries like Canada, are celebrating the marriage of their gay public officials (link to story) instead of wallowing in scandals such as Senator Craig's, Mark Foley's, etc.

The housing market's falling! The housing market's falling!

Perhaps I'm being stupid or overly optimistic, but here's why I'm not panicking...

Say you bought a house about 3 years ago, at the height of the housing boom. You thought it'd be a smart investment. Interest rates were low, so you bought in.

But, you were smart about it. You did your homework by using one of the many online tools that took housing cost + interest rate and gave you an idea of your monthly payments, so when the mortgage company told you that you were approved up to $300,000 -you knew you'd be looking for something that was about half that in order to keep your mortgage payments closer to what you were already (easily) paying in rent soas not to have to change your lifestyle to afford the house.

So, you ended up buying a home for $185,000. Then the housing market fails. Homes are going for about 25% less than they were when you bought in. Your house value plummets to $136,500 in 5 years when you go to sell your home to move into a home in the same town, but with a bigger garage so your WIFE can work on HER car in the comfort of an enclosed, temperature-controlled environment as well. **Cough**, right, let's move on... Yes, so you sell your house for $136,500. Ooh, rough break, right?

So, you take your $136,500 and you buy into a house for $185,000 again. Doh! Back where you started, right? Nope. Because the housing market fell 25%, you bought into a home that was worth $231,000 before the housing market fell.

My point is, if you own 1 house that you live in (it's not an investment), then it doesn't really matter what the housing market does because whatever your house is worth, as long as you move right into another house, your housing dollar should be roughly equal when you buy as it is when you sell. In other words, when you're selling and immediately buying again, then it doesn't matter if it's a "buyer's market" or a "seller's market" -you'll always get screwed on one end or the other!

(**I am not a real estate agent. I may just be justifying the fact that I bought into a house just a few years ago. I could be totally wrong about the way the housing market works. If you make any decisions based on this blog article, it'd be incredibly stupid.**)

No one suspected a post on the Spanish Inquisition!

I'm going to share what I'm learning while I read "The Spanish Inquisitioin" by Joseph Perez, published by Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-11982-8

I'm reading this more out of curiosity about they psychology of it than I am out of religion bashing and intend to just note the facts here for those interested in the short-story. Truth is, I'm finding it interesting, but can't quite keep track of all the facts in my head, so...

This was getting too long, so it was moved to:
http://ericasworld.logic.net/the_spanish_inquisition