I’ve been in a more reactive mode than proactive. I’ve been so busy around the house doing, doing, doing, that when I sit down at the computer, I want someone else to do the work while I just read about it. That’s OK every once in a while, but in addition, many of the things I’ve been reading have made me angry – I blog, of course, to speak my mind, but I don’t want this entire site to be bitching and moaning.
The shootings at Virginia Tech were tragic, and many bloggers came out with legitimate concerns, but there were plenty who twisted things to push their own agendas. I wrote about Debbie Schlussel and Dinesh D’Souza, who continued their blogerific contortions trying to turn it into a terrorist plot and evidence that atheists don’t deserve to live, respectively. Plenty of other religious agendas made it into the news and the blogosphere, all with the aim of pinning blame or trying to explain that the shootings were good because they fit into “God’s plan” somehow. Of course, there were also the pro-gun bloggers who insisted that concealed weapons for everyone were the answer. The reality that all across America there are places where people are carrying concealed weapons and everyone knows they’re carrying concealed weapons and the gun violence hasn’t gone down a whit makes no impression. Nor does the fact that if someone pulled out a weapon on Mr. Cho (for example. This would apply in any shooting situation) and Bob Smith pulls out a weapon to kill Mr. Cho, then when Betty Jones and Chad Green and Lenny Gormley come into the room with their guns drawn, they don’t know whether to shoot Cho, Smith, or even each other. Cho might not have gotten a chance to do more than pull his weapon, but innocent people would still have been shot.
The fighting between Bush and Congress about war funding gives me agita as well. Here’s the man who sent troops out without body armor, with inadequate weapons, vehicles, and other defenses, and sent the wounded back to hospitals that were in shameful condition telling the world that if he doesn’t get more money, the troops will suffer and it will be all the fault of the Democrats.
I could write on and on about the things that are stabbing me in the brain, but not only are we all hearing enough about them already, but there are other bloggers out there who have said how I feel more eloquently than I can.
Instead, I’ve been cleaning the house (much easier to do regularly now that I have Adderall) and spiffing up the yard (it’s time. Fall and Winter debris that came after our last cleanup is covering all the lovely new plants that want to poke up through the ground). The kids have been on vacation all this week, so we went to the aquarium, caught up on some TV and movies, they saw friends and each had a sleepover, and yesterday we assembled a new loft bed for Audrey (which means that all her stuff is in the hall, the living room, and my bedroom. Anyone want an IKEA twin bed with storage underneath? Anyone? Please?) I was out all day Wednesday, visiting with Gayle and Barry and Sophie after getting a new crown at the dentist’s office up there, and we also had a couple of contractors over to look at fixing the windows and replacing the siding. We also had to hang around and wait for the hot tub repair guy. It’s working now, but we haven’t used it because the rain started right after. WE have a teensy smidge of sunshine right now, which may bode well for more yard things. Otherwise, I have to help Audrey finish with her room. I hope I have enough vacuum cleaner bags. We could make a whole herd of bunnies with the stuff that collected in her dungeon o’chaos. You know what, though? It’s only Saturday. We have today. We have tomorrow. If we don’t get outside for a few more days, there will be other days. And if we make any progress at all in Audrey’s room, it’s better than nothing. And if we just take a day off and hang, that’s good too. And I will try to keep my blog a happier blog, because I’m really more happy than opinionated. Much of both, for sure, but definitely more happy.
