Speak for me

So, I've had a cold for about the past week. Which is SO unlike me. Normally, I get an inkling of something coming on, and tell it that I'm terribly sorry, I don't have time to be sick right now, you'll have to come back later.

Which usually works (and it's usually true, that I don't have time to be sick).

But this time, there were no looming holidays, or projects, or performances, or anything else, so I let it come. And boy, did it. I'm feeling mostly human now, but you wouldn't know it by my voice. Saturday, it was about 2 octaves lower than normal (and I don't have the girliest of voices to begin with, not since the Rail Europe retiling incident that changed my voice and my brain, and I just didn't have the money to go to the doctor, or I'd have long since received a hefty chunk from OSHA, I'm sure. But I digress......).

Sunday, I got about 2 words out first thing in the morning, and then it was done. ME, with no voice. Can you imagine the torture?!? And I was sure it would be better today, but no dice. So instead, I'll let some random quotes speak for me. This comes from my friend Psycho Kitty's blog, and it seemed interesting. Here ya go.

------------------------------------------------
Vacation used to be a luxury, however, in today's world, it has become a necessity.
Unknown

Refuse to be ill. Never tell people you are ill; never own it to yourself. Illness is one of those things which a man should resist on principle.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803 - 1873)

We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love, one another.
Jonathan Swift (1667 - 1745)

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862), Walden, Conclusion, 1854

If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is "thank you," that would suffice.
Meister Eckhart

Wanna go for a walk?!?

So, if you're a dog, those words should have you wagging your tail furiously and looking at the door, at the leash, door, leash, door, leash, door, leash.

If you're a human, it means I'm asking for one of 2 things:

1) Join us at the Wag 'N Trail fundraiser for the Denver Dumb Friends League, Saturday September 16. It's at the park at Surrey Ridge (between Highlands Ranch and Castle Rock, on I-25). Walk with the dogs, have a burger, enjoy a nice late summer day outside. Free to register!

and/or

2) Sponsor Sya and me as we participate, to add funds to the Dumb Friends League's coffers, as they do marvelous work in the community, saving stray anmals, spaying & neutering pets, offering pets for adoption, and educating the community about the need for these services.

My goal is to raise $200, which is enough to keep 4 dogs fed and safe in the shelter for 10 days -- hopefully enough time for them to either be reunited with their owners, or be adopted out to new families.

Thanks for your support!!!

Pam (and Sya) (and Oreo, because these things mean that the dog is out of the house for a while, and too tired to bother him when we return)

"Your opinion is needed for a new survey"

No, really.

We (the CBB and I have created a quick little survey about camping. Just out of curiosity, mind you. We're thinking of going camping with Patrick and Princess Katy, and were wondering to ourselves if our styles would be compatible.

I think they will be, but just for grins, take this little survey and let us know how you feel about camping.


But HURRY!! The survey is only valid through August 17, so pretty please make your opinion known before then.

We'll let you know the outcome on one of our blogs.......

One less place to travel.

Well, I don't post for ages, and then I go on a little tear.....

WARNING: Animal lovers may be upset by the links that follow.

So, I've never been someone who's jsut dying to travel to Asia, but now I can confidently remove China from the bottom of my List Of Places To Visit.

It seems that a particular county in China has a rabies problem, and has decided to kill the dogs in an effort to help stop it. I don't agree, but okay, if you feel that's your solution, so be it.

The trouble is, when the owners of the dogs didn't take care of the euthanasia on their own, the county enforced this policy in a hideous, inhumane, wickedly brutal way (for both dog and owner).

Rabies = bad. I get it. But bludgeoning someone's pet in front of their eyes is also bad. And having no laws governing cruelty to pets is bad, too.

Sorry, China, I'll be taking my tourism dollars somewhere else. And leaving my pets inthe care of someone I can count on to treat them with the love and respect they deserve.

Flashback...

So, I think that was probably the closest I've come to bad teenage poetry in about 25 years. Sorry about that. I'm on my way back up now.

It still sucks to have lost our drum corps (that's essentially what it boils down to), it still sucks to have lost a fantastic pipe major, but the pipers seem chipper enough, so we'll see if any drummers stick around.

Sometimes I just need a little time to indulge myself in a mood, ya know? It's rarely pleasant, but it rarely lasts, so....

That other Fame post will be coming soon enough, I promise.

Shit. Shitshitshit.

I have to write something, or I just keep it inside, This isn't going to make any sense or lead anywhere so feel free to move right on to the joke of the day or the next blog or whatever. And forgiv ethe typing, I'm a little teary right now, so I can't see the keyboard so well.

My pipe band, which I love and adore and put a lot of effort and time and money into , is dying.

Not confirmed dead, maybe not even in I.C.U., but it's certainly not looking promising.

I'm a shitty drummer, both in technique and in how mjuch I practice, but I enjoy it. I like doing the twirly-twirly thing and being the decoration for people to watch while they listen to the pipes and snares. I like helping little kids figure out how to twirl the mallets, when they ask after a performance "How do you do that?". I like inviting people to rehearsal, or talking to them about how a mini-band could be hired to plauy at their wedding reception or school function or whatever. I like traveling with the band. I like getting up too early for a road trip, I sortof like being too fucking hot in a wool kilt and black shoes on a 103° field.

I like being part of one of the best bands inthe state. I like kicking ass and taking names. I like the laughter than drew me into this corps in the first place.

So what's the problem?

I hate that my 2 leaders are taking a leave of absence, no-we-don't-know-for-how-long. I hate that I know I can't pressure them into returning, because that sortof is the reason they're leaving in the first place. I hate that the rest of us can't put together nearly as winning a drum corps without them. I hate that I can't fucking write (or read, sometimes) the sheet music for the tenor drum, let alone the snare. I hate that I couldn't be Condo-fucking-leeza Rice and negotiate a nice tidy peace settlement. Okay, she can't do that, either. What chance would I have? I hate that I've carved out al these weekends for competitions and declined other plans and now we may not even be going. I hate that this is precisely the feeling that our 2 leaders are probably feeling so why the fuck should my piddly-ass opinion matter. I hate that I don't have a fucking solution to this, and that I'm sitting here at work typing this out because talking about it isn't going to do any good, no matter who I talk to or what I say. I hate thatthe one person from the band who will probably read this is probably also on hisway out because of all this, because he's one of my favorite people.

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.


P.S. I also hate that I'm such a hideous typist.
P.P. S. I also really hate that I'm feeling this rotten, because really, I've been a generally happy person lately, aside from work, and this really is a setback.
P.P.P.S. The relatively tolerable Pam will return shortly; this is a temporary setback in my mood.