It's the Economy

In the woods, there are some nuts and berries. Also birds. Georgia browses for a while and catches, then consumes, a wood dove in four gulps. The outer edges of the dove's wings are sheared off by her molars, and they drop, bloodless, to the ground. The next day, she finds and tries to consume these outer wings.

The Dog Outdoors

I spent more time and energy preparing to adopt a dog than I have on almost any decision I have made in all my years, except maybe for planning my own freedom as a kid.

My brother told me several years ago that he just didn’t understand why anyone would choose enslave a creature by keeping it as a pet. He had been an allergic child, and still reacts fiercely to dander and pollen, and I had already cared for two cats by then. I explained that it was a reciprocal relationship, but we both grew up surrounded by secular humanism of all sorts in a small family pack, and I understood him. I did not change his mind.

In William S. Burroughs’ allegory, The Cat Inside, the high hermit contrasts the carrion-rolling, shit-eating habits of the Dog, with the fastidious inscrutability of the Cat. The reader is left to ponder what totalitarian and craven instincts might draw one to the Dog. And what a peaceful hedonist must a cat-lover be, accepting the soft brush of a cats fur, or her purr, when it is given, in the spirit of sensuous independence.

That’s the problem with reading - it doesn’t actually change anything, by itself.

1000 Monkeys

Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private
and wash your hands afterwards.
Robert Heinlein

It had been a year since the Boy Wonder, a career bureaucrat, landed a
high-profile position in the Department of Healing.
The cabinet was shuffled, and a good woman from Rugged Independence,
Petrolea, had just been appointed Minister of Healing.
The ripples of confusion from these changes radiated throughout the
Department, and the General Direction headed by Boy Wonder.  His naked
ambition followed along right behind.

Small Game Count

I have never really developed any abstract thinking skills of note. Neither, it appears, has Flaherty and company, proroguing the numbers, so the real story is overshadowed by the small game count. So much for transparency - cuts to existing programs euphemistically called "freeze" and "review," will not be blind cuts. Rather, the erosion of principles of inclusion, and human rights will continue, untransparently, as outcome based spending is diverted to the deficit and the directed handouts called economic recovery. So here's me and my ilk, gathering nuts and berries, not putting anyone out of business, not torturing, and hoping the boomers don't turn us into soylent green by shortsighted decisions and favours to friend & tribe.

Safe

 ...Jessica Lloyd, Marie France Comeau, Ardeth Wood, Tammy Lyn Homolka, Leslie Erin Mahaffy, Kristen Dawn French, Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz.