After dropping my daughter off at school (Ben is home until Monday due to his surgery. He doesn't like it. There is way too much homework!), Tammy came across a dog in the middle of the road. The dog was trying to eat something off of the road. She brought the dog home, and fed it, and said that we were probably going to have to put up signs. Since I have recently insisted on chipping my pets, I suggested that she take the dog to the vet, and see if it was chipped. It was, and the vet's office has attempted to contact the owner. I'm hoping to hear back from them later today.
Update: 2008-01-15 8:31:00 PM - I meant to update the blog to say that the dog's owners came to pick him up around 5:00 PM. He was very happy to see his family. He had apparently been out since early afternoon the day before.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Busy, Busy, Busy
Things have been hopping around here over the last week. In addition to trying to clear my good name, re the ticket, I have been trying to help with a bunch of stuff around the house. In addition to all that, my son is having a hernia operation tomorrow. He's a bit scared, and this evening, decided that he doesn't need it. I don't blame the little guy. Just sad to see him have to go through with it.
Ticket
One of the tings that are really motivating me to get more organized is the fact that I got a ticket for expired registration last Wednesday. I have already taken care of it, though it should never have happened. It's one of those things that you can plan on yearly. You can even set up a reminder to dig around for the form, set to go off the month it expires.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
On Books and Podcasts
One of the things I will be sharing is interesting podcasts, books, or audiobooks that I am reading or listening to. (That was a bad sentence. Structurally, I feel like I should have typed "reading or hearing", but thats not right either.) In that vain, I want to include a recent series of audiobooks that I have enjoyed. These are the three books in the 7th Son Trilogy. I found them via podiobooks.com, while looking around to fill my iPod up with stuff when I was driving to the YRUU Rally in Baton Rouge. There are three books (1, 2, 3). The epilogue to the third was posted about 1 month ago, so I had caught up with the author about a month before, so waiting for each of the last four episodes was like waiting for new episodes of 24 during the fourth season, when you caught up with the series by renting the DVD's from Netflix (Yep, that's how I did it. It was a killer waiting for each week to roll around when I was used to watching two episodes a night.)
A New Year and New (Old?) Promises to myself
I don't even remember what my "New Year's Resolutions" were last year, so I don't know how well I did. I can say, that since I don't remember them, I either accomplished them early, or totally failed at them early. While I'd like to think that it was the former, I bet it was the latter. In the hopes that I can at least be certain next year, I will write a few down.
1) Eat healthier and exercise - Yeah, I have a weight goal. It's the top end of the "healthy" range for me.
2) Get more organized - I can be a bit of a scatterbrain and forget/overlook things I am supposed to do.
3) Exercise my communication skills - In the Christmas Party post, I mentioned how I need to do more with my friends. As a first step, I need to work on my communication skills, and start communicating. I didn't send out Christmas cards, but I had hoped to send them out as "New Years" cards. Nope, didn't happen. I won't let it not happen again!
Actually, of all of them, by far, I want to do the last one most.
1) Eat healthier and exercise - Yeah, I have a weight goal. It's the top end of the "healthy" range for me.
2) Get more organized - I can be a bit of a scatterbrain and forget/overlook things I am supposed to do.
3) Exercise my communication skills - In the Christmas Party post, I mentioned how I need to do more with my friends. As a first step, I need to work on my communication skills, and start communicating. I didn't send out Christmas cards, but I had hoped to send them out as "New Years" cards. Nope, didn't happen. I won't let it not happen again!
Actually, of all of them, by far, I want to do the last one most.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Christmas Party
I just returned from the office Christmas Party. I had a lot of fun, but I can't help but compare it to one in the past. You see, the party occurred in the same room, with many of the same people as one of the parties about eight or nine years in the past. Seeing them, in this place makes me also see the people who aren't there. Including my younger self. It made me want to spend hours with each and every person there. The time I did get to spend was too fleeting.
Maybe, this is a wakeup call of sorts. I have great friends. Many that I love very much. I NEED to make more effort to do things with them, and not just a lunch every now and again. We need to see plays, take in a concert, go to a movie, or out to the park. Recently, I've kept my friends at too much of an arms length.
I need to bring them in for a hug.
Maybe, this is a wakeup call of sorts. I have great friends. Many that I love very much. I NEED to make more effort to do things with them, and not just a lunch every now and again. We need to see plays, take in a concert, go to a movie, or out to the park. Recently, I've kept my friends at too much of an arms length.
I need to bring them in for a hug.
Friday, December 07, 2007
Preconceptions and Stereotypes
A few weeks ago, I was at a district event for church. I had the good fortune to see a woman that I had met at General Assembly in 2005. I found out that she was in the process of getting a divorce. Since I've seen her a few times since the meeting at GA, I have had the pleasure of meeting her husband. Though I didn't get to know him well, he seemed a nice enough guy. Talking of her pending divorce, and attempts at dating took me (mentally) back to our meeting. You see, one of the things I remeber from meeting her is her telling me that she was recently engaged.
We met at a session called "Often Left Out: Being Truly Welcoming to Bisexual and Transgender People". (At least one member of the panel was Bisexual, and at least one was Transgendered. The discussion basically centered around how some people, and through them organizations, churches, and companiessay GLBT but think of it as Gay and/or Lesbian (what happened to the BT?).) One woman related a story of a board meeting where a member of the board of a church that was in the process of becoming a Welcoming congregation asked if anyone else on the board knew of any members who were Bisexual or Transgender. The board member asked this directly to the woman, who was openly bi, and married. When the participant replied, "Yes, I am bi." the response was "You can't be. You're married.". The discussion that followed in our class pretty much centered around this idea of preconceptions. Bisexual people don't marry, because they like to play the field. Transgendered people are always interested in people of the same physical sex as themselves (IE homosexual). One man described his situation. His wife of many years was undergoing gender reassignment therapy. When he would be out in public with his daughter, people would react one way, and he was stereotyped as straight. When with his spouse, people reacted a different way and he was stereotyped as gay. He self-identified as heterosexual, but he was very much still in love with the person he had married. This led to the discussion how how do we look at the people that come into the church, into our places of business, and into out lives.
Seeing her brought this all back to mind. I have always tried to be mindful of what stereotypes I may be holding at any given moment. Since then I have really tried to redouble my efforts in this direction. And not just in regards to sexuality. We humans do this because stereotypes make our lives easier. Preconceived notions, developed after gathering the most minimal information, help us decide how to address the situation immediately. We do this based on political affiliation, religious affiliation, organizational involvement, the place of residence, or the music listened to. Everyone does this, though many try to minimize it. As important as that, is to endeavor to be aware when you are making the generality. Becasue if we are aware that we are making the generality, we are that much closer to abandoning it WHEN it proves false, and that much closer to NOT making the generalization again in the future, since it's already been proven false in the past.
So what brings this serious thought up? It's actually a confluence of many things. Another friend whose going through divorce. An email I received today that sets up a date when I will likely see the woman from GA again. The GL and BT panels that the Middle School OWL class went through a few weeks ago. Mitt Romney's recent discussion on religion, and some of the reactions I have heard. The video on "The Click List". Thoughts about the holiday season(So far this one's not going as bad as I feared in the earlier comment.) The post has kinda been on my mind for a little while, though in various different forms.
And in case you don't want to leave with anything this heavy, go here.
We met at a session called "Often Left Out: Being Truly Welcoming to Bisexual and Transgender People". (At least one member of the panel was Bisexual, and at least one was Transgendered. The discussion basically centered around how some people, and through them organizations, churches, and companiessay GLBT but think of it as Gay and/or Lesbian (what happened to the BT?).) One woman related a story of a board meeting where a member of the board of a church that was in the process of becoming a Welcoming congregation asked if anyone else on the board knew of any members who were Bisexual or Transgender. The board member asked this directly to the woman, who was openly bi, and married. When the participant replied, "Yes, I am bi." the response was "You can't be. You're married.". The discussion that followed in our class pretty much centered around this idea of preconceptions. Bisexual people don't marry, because they like to play the field. Transgendered people are always interested in people of the same physical sex as themselves (IE homosexual). One man described his situation. His wife of many years was undergoing gender reassignment therapy. When he would be out in public with his daughter, people would react one way, and he was stereotyped as straight. When with his spouse, people reacted a different way and he was stereotyped as gay. He self-identified as heterosexual, but he was very much still in love with the person he had married. This led to the discussion how how do we look at the people that come into the church, into our places of business, and into out lives.
Seeing her brought this all back to mind. I have always tried to be mindful of what stereotypes I may be holding at any given moment. Since then I have really tried to redouble my efforts in this direction. And not just in regards to sexuality. We humans do this because stereotypes make our lives easier. Preconceived notions, developed after gathering the most minimal information, help us decide how to address the situation immediately. We do this based on political affiliation, religious affiliation, organizational involvement, the place of residence, or the music listened to. Everyone does this, though many try to minimize it. As important as that, is to endeavor to be aware when you are making the generality. Becasue if we are aware that we are making the generality, we are that much closer to abandoning it WHEN it proves false, and that much closer to NOT making the generalization again in the future, since it's already been proven false in the past.
So what brings this serious thought up? It's actually a confluence of many things. Another friend whose going through divorce. An email I received today that sets up a date when I will likely see the woman from GA again. The GL and BT panels that the Middle School OWL class went through a few weeks ago. Mitt Romney's recent discussion on religion, and some of the reactions I have heard. The video on "The Click List". Thoughts about the holiday season(So far this one's not going as bad as I feared in the earlier comment.) The post has kinda been on my mind for a little while, though in various different forms.
And in case you don't want to leave with anything this heavy, go here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)