Is it just me, or is it dumb and/or strange and/or crazy that there's more commotion being made about South Carolina Republican Representative Joe Wilson's rude behavior in regards to the Barack Obama speech, during which Wilson yells at the President "You lie!", than there is about California Republican Assemblyman Mike Duvall’s admission, in graphic terms, of improprietous behavior with lobbyists, which is, at the least, a clear conflict of interest?

I received the following email today that's being circulated around the internet, and wanted to post it here, along with my response. I just couldn't help but seize this opportunity to speak my piece on this.

As follows:

RE: FW: Dubai

It certainly would be nice to LIVE at the richest nation on earth and wake up to these views each day.

Every house has its own beach!
Now see this stuff

This is taken from world's tallest building 'Burj Dubai' @ 2,620 ft / 801m!!!

What do you think guys?

Really amazing

Look at the edge (uppermost right corner) of the picture-- you can almost see the turn of the earth

The persons who are working on the uppermost girders can see the 'ROTATION OF EARTH'

Best Regards from the poorer side of earth!

And my reply:

WTF? How can vistas from the world's tallest building include views of other buildings that tower above the clouds? That can't be real. And if it IS real, it can't be right! Hehe!

Regardless, it would suck living in a cookie-cutter house amid a sea of other cookie-cutter houses occupied by snobby rich people who all want to live in cookie-cutter-houses in a sea of cookie-cutter houses. How much imagination is involved here, really.

The first thing I'd do, if I had that kind of money, is find the remotest natural place I could find in a small town with a smattering of "common" people with imaginations, hearts and souls, where everything -- trees, houses and people -- all had their own unique character. Oh... wait... I'm already there. :-)

Speaking of trees, there seems to be a real shortage of them there, but I guess that's to be expected in an artificial oasis in the middle of a desert. Give me trees! :-)

Oh, and it's a good thing they have all of those absurdly tall buildings nearby, 'cuz they're gonna need them when their luxury houses become submerged in ocean waters that are rising due to global warming caused, in large part, by the mass consumption of the very product from which, directly or indirectly, they all became rich. See? There is justice in the world, after all.

And we thought the real estate and mortgage markets were in crisis here...

I received an email from the NRCC requesting that I take a survey, something called the "American Issue Survey", so I took it, then did some screen captures of the email and the survey. What a joke.

Sorry for the "choppy" presentation... my copy of "SnagIt" expired, and $49.95 is a bit steep for my purposes. Also, in order to actually read the email and poll, you'll need to click the image for a larger view.

Email request as follows:


Next, screen captures of the actual survey showing my responses:


But that's not all:


Okay, that's not entirely true... the last time I filled up the family Chevy Silverado 4X4 diesel truck I spent $75.00. I used a debit card, and as everyone probably knows by now, the credit card companies have imposed a maximum limit of $75.00 on fuel purchases. The tank was one-quarter full, and I paid $4.80 per gallon of diesel the previous time I filled up, the same amount I paid most recently. I'm no math wiz but I'd say my answer to the survey question was close enough.

And at the click of a submit button I was forwarded to this page, which is the NRCC "donate" page, and I never saw it coming. I don't have any money to donate. I spent it all on fuel. Oh, wait... perhaps all the money I've been spending on fuel lately can be considered a donation to the GOP, after all. I'm a dunce in economics, too, but now I'm wondering if it could be tax-deductible.

The patriarch of my kitty-cat clan went outside last night, and I've gone outside several times to call him, but still no Oscar. I hope nothing's happened to him.

Shortly after having called for him the fourth, or so, time, I noticed the two youngest of the cats staring intently out the back windows, so I thought they may be seeing him. When I walked into the room they were in, within view of the windows, I saw deer... a number of them. They saw me, too, and were startled, scrambling for cover. At first glimpse of the deer in pre-flight mode I counted four, but I'm bleary-eyed, half-blind, and there is underbrush surrounding the area where they were gathered which provides camouflage (especially at this time of year), and before they all receded from view, I counted seven, but I'm not sure I may not have missed one, or even two. What a sight!

Deer-spotting on our property has become a somewhat regular event lately, but it's always exciting no matter how often it occurs. The interesting thing is that, in the almost 20 years we've lived here, I had never seen a deer on, or near, our property. I'd always thought it odd because we live in a rural community where wildlife is abundant... we used to have alligators in our backyard pond every year until it became overgrown with grasses. It may still harbor alligators, but it's almost impossible to tell with the obstructions to the view. The deer sightings have only just begun this year, and the sad part is that I believe the reason for the sudden increase in deer-sightings here, from zero in 19 years to too many to count in the past few months, is probably attributable to the encroaching suburbs not far from here.

It's sad because, as delightful as it is to see these animals, our backyard and the area immediately surrounding it, probably is not the best habitat for deer. I wonder if they're here because the alligators really aren't. They can't possibly subsist safely even where I live because, although we're rural, there are houses on an average of one per every five acres in all directions for at least a few miles, and not a lot of traffic, but plenty enough to increase the likelihood of deer/car collisions.

It made me sad when they took flight at the sight of me. I wonder what it must be like to be ever-wary and on the run. All I could think of was that I wished that I could convince them that I was no threat... that they could trust me, and that for one brief moment they could feel peace and contentment in the knowledge that here was one who would do them no harm.

I'm such a sap.

...I was able to arrange for shipping of the antique vanity table/mirror up for auction that I wanted, so I was able to bid on it, and I won! I'm really happy about this. For me it was a first foray into the world of shipping without the trusty USPS, UPS, FedEx or DHL there to guide me. 'Course the vanity's not here yet, but I have a good feeling about the shipper, as well as the people with whom I won the auction. But my husband's going to have a fit! Well, he'll be okay once he sees how well it goes in our new bedroom, and realizes how very much I need it (I hope). :-)

Now on to my next acquisition... photography studio equipment. But I think I'll work on that tomorrow. All this excitement with the vanity auction and the shipping quest has really worn me out. :-)