Yesterday in the news there was yet another public shooting! What is that, the sixth one in so many weeks? The horrible thing is that I can't even keep them straight any more. It seems to me that the absolute worst case scenario has unfolded: People have stopped being shocked by these shootings as they have become "commonplace." Obviously the involved communities are devastated, but it seems the national consciousness is starting to gloss over these reports as if they're not as deserving of our attention as Snooki's baby.
Read the comments on the shooting articles, and you will find that pro-gun lobby can hardly wait to say "Hold on, I thought guns were banned in [insert city]. I guess those anti-gun laws really work! *sarcasm*" When the nearest gun is less than an hour's car ride away and there are all sorts of exceptions put into place, local gun ordinances don't mean a lot, so their spurious argument means nothing. Personally, I'm not necessarily even in favor of an outright ban on firearms, but is it really necessary to have a nation flooded with military-grade weaponry whose only function seems to be arming militias who can't deal with the fact a black man was elected president? The reactionary wet dream that unregulated arms are a necessity for the time (coming any day now, if not here already) when righteous white people will have to take back the country from the tyranny of fascist multicultural liberals shouldn't be the basis for intelligent, enlightened public policy. Where is the common sense and the middle ground? (Ah, the dying cry of an avowed political moderate...)
Goodbye, Prince Charming
On the one hand, I have to give myself props for spending so much time today tidying up my apartment. I have my laptop set up downstairs in the dining area as a makeshift workstation. In theory it's supposed to be set up for my writing, but in practice it's been more of a gaming center. Bailey had taken to sleeping on a paper box top on the card table next to me, so I put a towel in there to create a little kitty bed for him. Anyway, too many late nights and too many snacks were starting to make the area remind me of the gaming loser from that South Park episode.
While I have gotten into the habit of coming home at lunch and doing a bit of cleaning, things were still getting out of hand. So I was proud of myself for cleaning the accumulated detritus and tumbleweeds of cat fur. Unfortunately, as I checked myself walking to the laundry center in a pair of gym shorts with an indiscreet rip, a t-shirt stretched over my gut and black socks with dress shoes, it occurred to me that I have truly thrown in the towel as far as my appearance—and any hope of having any future relationship prospects—are concerned.
On the one hand, I have to give myself props for spending so much time today tidying up my apartment. I have my laptop set up downstairs in the dining area as a makeshift workstation. In theory it's supposed to be set up for my writing, but in practice it's been more of a gaming center. Bailey had taken to sleeping on a paper box top on the card table next to me, so I put a towel in there to create a little kitty bed for him. Anyway, too many late nights and too many snacks were starting to make the area remind me of the gaming loser from that South Park episode.
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| "Do not go gentle into that good night..." |
While I have gotten into the habit of coming home at lunch and doing a bit of cleaning, things were still getting out of hand. So I was proud of myself for cleaning the accumulated detritus and tumbleweeds of cat fur. Unfortunately, as I checked myself walking to the laundry center in a pair of gym shorts with an indiscreet rip, a t-shirt stretched over my gut and black socks with dress shoes, it occurred to me that I have truly thrown in the towel as far as my appearance—and any hope of having any future relationship prospects—are concerned.
