On Protests and Free Speech

I was slightly amused today when, on my way between court and lunch, I see a batch of about 15 protesters. Judging by the signs, they appeared to be protesting Communism. I found this amusing. So much so, that I could not stop myself from driving past again in an effort to figure out exactly what message they wished passers-by to receive. Given the totality of the signage, I guessed they were protesting the recently enacted health care legislation.

Now, I am all in favor of the right that we have to peaceably assemble and speak our beliefs. I don't have a problem with these people announcing their views to Main Street, in spite of the fact that my views differ significantly from theirs; and I even commend people for taking advantage of this right, when so few people are active in politics these days.

However, I have a large problem when such a protest is not a debate or commentary on ideas, but rather an excuse for name-calling and racial slurs. Many of the signs I saw had pictures of what I can only describe as Vaudeville-era "black-face." That is, a dark-skinned face, enormous white eyes, and a ridiculous red grinning mouth. This is offensive to me. If you don't like President Obama, I totally respect that. So say, "Down with Obama!" or "Impeach the President!" or whatever you want. I have no respect whatsoever for people who hold up signs with the clear meaning that because the President is black, we should not trust him. Many of these signs also called President Obama a liar. Now, I don't know if he is or not. But he didn't lie about his intention to reform healthcare. In fact, the reforms that were passed were significantly less than those proposed during the debates. e.g., no "public option" or government insurance plan. If you don't like the healthcare legislation, say so! On none of these signs was there the word "healthcare."

If these protesters desired to protest the healthcare legislation, it would make much more sense to hold the rally prior to the time it's actually law. If their desire was to simply Obama-bash, this is fine, too. But they should actually state what their problems with him are, or they won't convince anyone who doesn't already share their beliefs. From what I could tell, they don't like President Obama because he's a Communist, a liar, and/or because he's black. He's clearly not a member of the Communist party, or he couldn't have run on the Democratic ticket. And since it's unclear exactly what they're saying he lied about, this isn't likely to get them very far. And if their dislike of him is based on his skin color, they should take another look at all those American flags they were waving around, and possibly the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as well.

My Computer's Unplanned Vacation

So my pretty little computer is back from its unplanned vacation. It needed a sojourn to the Sony workshop because some cable that goes to the left touchpad button either broke somehow or was faulty to begin with. It seems to be all better now. And the warranty covered it. They also seemed to have avoided messing up any of my settings, which is also a plus. (Yes, dad, I did back things up before sending it away...)

So, I was able to download the pics of my stuffed foxes I'm working on. It's so much fun!! They're very fuzzy. Not yet cute, because right now it's just bodies and tails. Plus, they're making me learn all kinds of new stuff.

On Doggies and Sports

So, I've gotten over my mystery illness, and things have gotten back to normal. Well, at least as normal as my life ever is... My doggies did get a little confused that I went to work every day this week. It never ceases to amaze me how different they are from each other, and yet how well they get along. Betsy's favorite thing to do is play. Play with me or Adagio, play with toys or not, she doesn't care. Adagio likes the playing, but prefers to keep close to me, to get pats, and give kisses, and to sleep on my feet. They even sleep differently! Adagio curls up in a tight ball (complete with nose under tail), and doesn't move or make a sound, even when I accidentally stepped on his tail one time. Betsy sprawls all out (sometimes upsidedown), she's always twitching, and making funny noises, and she'll pop awake to investigate the least sound or movement. I just think it's funny. I keep trying to take a picture of them sleeping together (sometimes they put their heads or paws on eachother), but the sound of the camera turning on wakes Betsy up.

This week I've mostly been knitting my messenger bag and watching the olympics. I like figure skating, hockey, short-track speed skating and half-pipe snowboarding. I can't really get into those sledding events -- luge and skeleton and whatnot. I guess it would make more sense to me if it was more like an actual race, with lots of sleds going at the same time. And the long-distance-type events I just get bored with. (There's some type of cross-country skiing thing going on right know, where they stop periodically to shoot some kind of target with a rifle.) And I just don't understand curling. I suppose if I were raised in Canada I would love it, but I just can't grasp what the goal of the thing is. It's like cricket. Brits seem to think it's the best game ever, but I just can't wrap my brain around it. I don't even understand who's won a match when the nice BBC guy runs down the scores. I mean it's not even a cricket "team." It's a "side." I actually tried to get a Scottish cricketer I worked with to explain it to me, but we both gave up after a while. I guess that although I can converse intelligently about any number of different kinds of sports, there are some which I'm just not meant to understand.

Home Sick (blah!)

So, I've been home sick since Monday, and it's getting really, really old! There are some illnesses that you can have and go to work anyway, and there are some that you can't. This particular stomach problem is one that I can't take to work! My stomach finally has settled down today, I just feel all weak and wobbly. Might have something to do with not being able to eat much all week. Mainly crackers and tortillas. Still not a good idea to drive to work or stand in a courtroom, but better than the last three days. Hopefully, I can get to work tomorrow. My office will be a mess!! And as much fun as it is to play on the computer, watch t.v., and knit all day long, it really is getting old. Even I can't sleep all day!! I did start working on a cool felted bag. And I've spent lots of time cuddling with doggies. But I'm dreading my voicemail. If I were very good, I'd check it from here. But I'm really not in the mood to hear my clients yelling at me for not being there. It's not my fault I have a malfunctioning stomach! I have at least been checking my work email, to make sure nothing catastrophic has occurred in my absence. And I assume someone would call me on the phone if there was an emergency. Anyway, I don't really have anything exciting to say, as you can probably tell, I'm just bored. I do like this high-speed internet! I can actually watch video without waiting a half hour for it to buffer. Now that you're all at least as bored as I am, if you've managed to make it through this post, I'll leave you alone now.

I Return

No, I did not stop knitting. I did not leave the public defenders' office. I did not fall off the face of the earth. The short reason for my long disappearance is that my computer died.

Adagio and Betsy are both great. Betsy is 2 1/2 already, and Adagio's nearly three. I can't believe it! It sure doesn't seem like 2 whole years ago that I could pick up Betsy with one hand! They've both adjusted well to my being Adagio's mommy, and there is no friction in my little family, aside from occasional sibling-esque rivalry. They came with me on Christmas vacation -- Adagio's first ever road trip. They were great in the car (slept the whole way) and no one was car sick. I wasn't worried about Betsy at my mother's house -- she'd been there before. But Adagio was much better than I expected. I thought there might be house-training problems, since Adagio'd never been in a place he couldn't go outside whenever he wanted. No problem --

not one! His only issue was the upstairs hallway. I don't think he'd ever been in an upstairs before, and he seemed to think the floor would drop out somehow and drop him back down to the first floor. Strangely, he handled the stairs themselves better than Betsy did her first time. (She's the more adventurous of the two, by far, and it took her about 3 days before she tried them!) Adagio braved them with only about ten minutes of coaxing, he just didn't like that hallway.

I also haven't been idle with the knitting, either. I knitted everyone striped gloves for Christmas, and I knitted myself a green cable cardigan. I also knitted myself convertible mittens. I don't have pics of everyone's gloves, but here are the convertible mittens and the cardigan.

Now, to figure out my next project. I was thinking maybe felting...