Filler....

I think I will just post some pics from our trip to Vancouver... I don't really have alot else to talk about today.



This is one of my favorites from the Vancouver Aquarium. It is a baby beluga whale, rising up out of the water to pose for pictures.

Another bit of fluff....

This is another animal posing shamelessly for the cameras. This time it is a very fast and cute little dolphin.

Serious air...

Again, the same little dolphin catching some serious air. Pretty impressive, no?

P.S.- Don't forget, you can click on any picture on this blog to make it bigger and bring out additional detail.

Another posing animal...

Seriously, this one wasn't even in a show at the time. He was just posing for the cameras like this... standing as still as a statue. I did catch one of him scratching using his back fin like a dog uses it's back leg... but it came out all blurry.

Do you ever feel like you are in a fish tank?

This is what it would look like if you were....

The view...

It doesn't get much nicer than this.

This was the view we had of Vancouver and the ocean from our bedroom at the hotel.

Too cute...

This little otter was survivor of the Exxon Valdez disaster. She was permanently injured, though... damage to lungs and liver that keep her from being returned to the wild. But, much to the aquarium staff's surprise, she gave birth to a pup a few years ago.

Life always finds a way.

Peaceful Vancouver...

There was a great deal of tranquility to be had... in spite of all the traffic and high rises.

The funny thing about it was that while we were walking back to the hotel from here, no less than 4 different people fell all around us while wearing rollerblades or riding skateboards. It was almost like this was the first "nice weather day" they had gotten since Christmas and everyone was trying out their new wheels all at once.
Funny, but not very tranquil. (Hard to watch a little Chinese teenager fall on the road in traffic. She came out of it okay, though.)

City at night...

Our last night in Vancouver... a different "city of lights".

Commemorative T-Shirts...

Not really a lot to talk about right now. Just a few little thoughts to share...

Still not really anything interesting out there on the job front. But, as I was searching today on oregonlive.com (the Oregonian's website) I noticed a flashing ad up in the right hand corner of the screen. It was for "Commemorative T-Shirts for Hurricane Katrina". They had a picture of Bourbon Street and the slogan was "The Spirit Lives On".

Now, not for nothing, but is this what we have become? I swear, it seems like every time there is a tragedy in this country (like Hurricane Katrina, September 11th, Bush's Re-election, etc.) or any other country (like the tsunami), all of a sudden there are t-shirts to "commemorate" them.

I can't think of a better way to trivialize, demoralize and desensitize a populace than turning thoughtless, senseless- and, in some cases, needless-tragedies into slogans and logos on a cotton/poly blend. Here you go, thoughtless person... wear it around, let more and more people see it and ignore it, wash it a hundred times and let the memories fade just like the glossy three color silk-screening.

Can you imagine if there were t-shirts about the Holocaust? "Six million and counting..." "German efficiency at its finest." And whatever other thoughtless, shitty things some asshole could think to write and stick on a shirt. Why do we allow this shit?

Janeanne Garofalo said it best when she said (and I am paraphrasing here) that there are people here in the world who just turn on the t.v. or the radio, or whatever, and don't think about and don't even care about the things that go in their ear-holes and eye-holes. They are just completely passive automatons, just letting the shit wash over them because they are too lazy to think about it, to process it and decide what they will or won't tolerate. Same thing with obesity in this country... we don't care much about what goes in our mouth-holes, either. Does it feel good, does it fill a temporary need to stave off boredom or serious thought or conflict? Then in it goes.

Sometimes I wonder if that is all we really are... just little thoughtless worms crawling our way through life between heaven and earth. Just trying to avoid pain and allow as much pleasure as possible... even if it is the kind of pleasure that will make us fat, give us an STD, rot our brains, or otherwise dull our spirits. If it is then it's no wonder the government is getting away with the shit it is. We can be counted on not to notice, not to think and not to care.

Maybe I will make some new shirts to "commemorate" some other tragedies... what do you think about these ideas?

"I was there at the beginning of the effort to overturn Roe vs. Wade! South Dakota 2006."

"Two extra conservative "right" justices can't be wrong. Supreme Court 2006."

"Don't blame me... I was one of the 30,000 wrongly disenfranchised Black Florida voters. Bush "Re"-Election 2004."

"I witnessed the downfall of the American right to privacy... and all I got was this stupid t-shirt. Bush's Illegal Wire Taps 2004-?"

"Weapons of Mass Destruction? We don't need no stinking Weapons of Mass Destruction! Bush-Iraq 2004."

"Crony-ism, Nepotism and Corporate Greed... oh my! Bush Presidencies 2000, 2004 and ?" (Please, is there anyone who doubts Jeb is going to get his turn at the trough?)



Okay, I guess I am going to stop ranting now. You know, it's funny... it doesn't make me feel better any more.

Love to all,

Sherry

P.S.- Franz did very well at his Scrabble tournament... he went 8 wins and 6 losses, which is fantastic for a first try. He also beat a significant number of players that were much more experienced than him. That's my amazing boy!! Kickin' ass and takin' names. :)

I'll post pics of Vancouver soon. I have to find the USB cable for my computer that works with that digital camera. I am pretty sure it is still in a box somewhere, though, so no promises as to **how** soon.

A Really Bad Day....

It all started VERY early this morning. I couldn't sleep, so I was sitting up and reading. My neck and shoulder were hurting- as usual, and for no good reason. I finally went to bed at about 6am.

I got up at 9:15 to take Franz to work, and was promptly greeted with sharp pains in my shoulder upon trying to move it. It has been aching all damn day, and I can't really move it worth a damn. Two ibuprofen haven't made a dent. We are leaving on a 3 day trip to Canada tomorrow for Franz's Scrabble Tournament and there is a ton of laundry to be done before packing. And now I will be doing it all single- and left- handed. Sucks.

While taking Franz to work this morning, I made the mistake of changing lanes on the steel grates of the Morrison Bridge. One of Portland's finest was waiting, all opportunistic-like, and pulled me over. Well, not so much pulled me over as made me stop in the middle of the street, in traffic. He promptly slapped me with a $242.00 ticket... to which I must respond by appearing in court and pleading "not guilty", or writing in and pleading "guilty" or "no contest"- either way, I still have to pay the damn thing. I have never plead guilty to anything in my life. And, oh by the way, I can't find my car's registration. Super.

I came back home and cried myself to sleep again. I don't deal well with being admonished by authority figures. I pride myself on being a pretty good person all on my own, without somebody else having to tell me to. By the time I woke up at 1:30, I was already anxious about not having heard anything about the job. (You remember, the "kids and dogs job" at the doggie daycare run by the agency that helps homeless youths.) Well, I actually got an interview the other day... first call I have gotten on anything I have applied for in over a month.

By 2:30pm I couldn't stand it any more. I called to check and see... and was forced to leave a message. The guy called me back at 2:41pm and told me that I "didn't make the cut, but just barely" and "we'll keep you in mind, blah, blah, blah". I thanked him and hung up. Strange, that. We thank people for telling us that we weren't worthy of a 20 hour a week $10.00 per hour job. I made better money without the fucking degree (partly because I didn't have the extra $18,000 in school loan debt)... and I worked more often, too.

Both my mother and my sister say that I will always hate my work as long as I keep applying for shit jobs like the one at the library, etc. I guess the biggest problem is I can't think of a job that isn't a "shit job". Right now, they all look like crap to me.

There are days when it really sucks to be me... this was just one of them. I know I should count my blessings... great husband, great dog, great house, great car... all things better than I have ever had them before. And, to a certain extent, I am counting them. But when a day like today rolls around, it's hard to feel grateful.

Especially when you are typing with only one hand because you can't lift your arm. Stupid shoulder.

Well, that's about all out of me. I hope everyone else is doing better than I am today.

Love to all,

Sherry