Manhunter/Red Dragon

Graham home.  Marathon, Florida.  Save yourself, kill them all.

Where's Penny?

Lucinda

I haven't seen any groundhogs for at least a few days: maybe even a week.  I hope Penny is okay.  I miss seeing her.  Maybe she went with an early hibernation.  I've read that groundhogs start hibernating after the first frost, which I'm pretty sure hasn't happened here yet.
It always cheers me up to see groundhogs.  A day without groundhogs is like a day without sunshine.  They make my life better.
At least I've still got the squirrels.  I like them too.  I've been thinking about feeding them again.  I haven't done it in a while.  I've seen the food that some of my neighbors have left out for birds and squirrels: stuff like white bread, white rice, and even Pringles.  I wouldn't give them processed foods like that.  I'd only give them pure, unsalted nuts: preferably still in the shell.  It's fun to toss a whole walnut to a squirrel and see her seize it between her paws.
Some people think people shouldn't feed wild animals.  We shouldn't make them dependent on us, but I think the occasional, healthy, whole walnut would make a nice treat for them.
Well, there's not much more to say.  Think of animals as your brothers and sisters.  Treat them well.  Don't eat them.   

I Love Penny

Got your back.

I finally named her.  She may be the last groundhog left in this immediate area.  There might be another, but she rules the territory around my windows.  It is possible that she has chased all her sisters and her mother away.  She has claimed the hole she grew up in as her own.  The hole is right next to the building I live in.  The first groundhog I ever named, Sheila, used to live in this hole.  Anyway, her name is Penny.  I think it fits her well.  She's very cute, but, then again, the vast majority of them are.  She's been frightened a little too much lately.
The birds were driving me crazy.  Whoever designed the kitchen fans in these buildings is a real dummy.  Birds seem to think they make perfect bird houses.  Since I love animals, I put up with them for the longest time.  Thump!  That's the sound of a bird landing behind the kitchen fan.  You could hear that several more times than you would ever want to in any given day.  Chirp, chirp, chirp!  Birds make so much noise.  Especially baby birds, who are probably saying "Feed me!" most of the time.  I'd finally had enough.  They made so much noise on a daily basis; they were driving me nuts.  I began to try to scare them away.  They'd make their noise, then I would go over to the fan and tap hard on the outside of it: hoping it would scare them away.  It was just a temporary solution, though.  They always came back.  I called the office about it.  The office manager said they can put a cover on it, but they don't like to, because the fan keeps the units from getting too smoky.
I said, "I don't care about that; these birds are driving me crazy!"  Besides, I don't fry, or burn, anything.  I bake potatoes, boil pasta, and so on.  I never do any smoky cooking.  So they put the cover on.  Things were fine for months, but I recently heard the birds again.  I went outside to look, and, sure enough, the cover came off and was hanging open on one side.  But when I went outside to look, I scared Penny.  She had been grazing, and she ran into her hole when she saw or heard me.  So I called the office again and asked them to put the cover back on.  But the next day, I kept hearing the birds.  Since I saw one of the maintenance guys spraying freakin' bushes, instead of covering my fan, I called the office again to say that no one had done it.  I was told it would be done that day.  I went for a walk.  When I returned, I checked to see if the fan had been covered.  Poor Penny, I scared her again.  She dove into her hole.  But then she stuck her head out to look around: very cute.  Finally, the fan was covered.  And no birds were trapped inside.  There were none in there at the time; I checked.  

Please Treat Animals Well

Now that's a horse that I would ride.

I was walking near a Wal-Mart.  I noticed a young man addressing a seagull in an impolite way.  If he had taken action against the seagull, I would like to think I would have intervened.  I would have told him to leave the seagull alone.  Or what?  He might have asked.  Or I'll knock your teeth down your throat.  He probably would have been shocked.  He likely would not have believed that a skinny, short, "old" guy would confront him like that.  But no, he just gave a disdainful look to the seagull and walked on. 
I often get offended while watching TV.  While channel surfing today, I came across a hunting program, which, of course, make me sick.  This hunter picked up a dead duck, and said to his buddy, "It landed right at my feet.  It literally hit me in the knee on the way down."  Predictably, his idiot buddy laughed.  I changed the channel in disgust. 
Duck Dynasty, I hear, is an extremely popular TV show.  I don't have cable; I've never seen it.  From what I've read, it's about hillbillies that have gotten rich by helping people kill ducks.  I'm rooting for the ducks: not the hillbillies.  I don't care how long their beards are.  If I was given power of life and death, and was forced to choose who would die, either a duck or one of the Duck Dynasty hillbillies, I would spare the lives of the ducks every time.  I don't care how long their beards are, every single duck in the world is cuter than they are.  F___ those Duck Dynasty ass_____. 
Trust me, it always feels good to treat animals well.  I don't know if I believe in karma, but I do at least sometimes.  If you're going around and dealing out death and violence, then maybe you should expect some to come back in your direction.  Don't you think things would work out better for you if you tried to be good instead of evil?
If you love all the animals, and live your life that way everyday, then I love you.  But it's not enough.  People like us need to try to change the hearts and minds of those who eat meat and don't care about animals beyond their pets.  The animals literally don't have a voice; we must speak up for them.       

Holy Hell!

Lucinda

Today is the worse of two bad days in a row.  Yesterday, I realized that I lost my cell phone Saturday night.  Then I went for a walk and got bit by a dog.  It was ridiculous.  I was walking past a dog grooming shop.  To my left, I saw two dogs.  One was being walked by a woman, the other by a young girl.  The young girl let go of the leash, the woman yelled, and the dog approached me.  She was a cute small dog, and I love animals, so I was kind of like "hi."  Then the dog sunk her teeth into my right leg.  Holy crap!  I was shocked.  I started running down the street with the dog chasing me.
Unbelievably, the woman yelled to me, "Don't worry; she doesn't bite."
"She already did!" I yelled while running away from the biter.  It, again, was ridiculous.  The woman was trying to get the dog on the loose, Bella, while holding on to the leash of the other dog.  Bella had broken my skin in 4 places, and now I have at least 1 bruise there. 
She kept yelling, "Bella!" but it didn't seem to do any good.
Meanwhile, I became concerned.  This dog was off the leash right next to a busy street.  I was worried that she would get hit by a car.  So I ran into a parking lot: hoping she would follow me.  She did.  I was a little shocked, I was angry, and I decided I'd had enough, so I continued my walk.  Then I started to think about things like rabies.  If an animal, that's infected with rabies, bites you, it can kill you.  So I walked back toward the woman.  She was still yelling Bella's name, and she was still on the loose.  I yelled to her, "Does she have her shots?!"
"Yes" she answered.
So I walked on.  I got to my destination, turned around, and walked toward home again.  I don't have health insurance, but I have been to a free clinic around here.  They will treat you, but they ask for a $10 donation.  I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to die.  I got the idea to go into the groomer's and see if that woman was there.  If she was, I would ask her for money.  Why should I have to pay to make sure I'm not gonna die from rabies?  I went in there, but I did not see her.  By the way, she didn't even apologize to me.  I did think to write down the phone number of the groomer's, which was on a sign in front of the shop.  When I got home, the first order of business was to call the groomer's and ask if they make sure the dogs have their shots before grooming them.  The nice woman on the end of the phone insisted that they do.  She pretty much put my mind at ease.
Today, I went to pick up my cell phone from where I lost it.  On the way back, my car overheated and started belching smoke.  Then it did what it never did before; it failed to get me to my destination.  I didn't have my AAA card on me, so I walked home (from the highway).  It took me 40 minutes to get home.  I was at home, on the phone with AAA, when someone rang my buzzer.  My first instinct was to ignore it.  Then I thought, what if it has something to do with my car?  Sure enough, a NY state trooper was at the door.  He asked if my car broke down.  I said yes, and that I'm trying to deal with it.  Then he let me know it had already been towed.  It turned out to be $150.  It would have cost nothing, or a little more than nothing, if AAA had towed it.  I called a nearby garage and told them what happened.  The mechanic on the phone seemed to think it might be an expensive problem.  I asked the towing company to tow it to this garage.  This has been a pretty difficult 2-day period.          

The Whale

A free groundhog

The Whale is the name of a movie I saw recently on DVD.  It is a beautiful documentary that is narrated (very well) by Ryan Reynolds.  It is about a young male Orca, named Luna, that became separated from the rest of his pod.  He found himself off the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Orcas are social creatures: like us.  Since he had no whales to hang out with, he tried to make friends with all the humans he encountered.   I don't want to reveal too much.  It is a great movie.  It's rated G.  There is no offensive material in it whatsoever.  By the way, the breath-taking scenery alone is a reason to see this movie.
I don't know what to say.  I love animals.  They are in my thoughts everyday.  I wish humans would stop imprisoning them and eating them.  So far, I don't think much of capitalism.  Greed is the main reason why animals like pigs, chickens, and cows are treated horribly.  They cram as many as they can into a building without concern for how much space each animal has.  On a personal note, I'm unemployed, looking for a job, and my savings are running out.  The gap between the haves and have nots keeps widening in this country.  I feel like we ruined this beautiful natural world with our sick society.  Nature is perfect; there's nothing wrong with it.  We haven't improved upon it; it is superior to anything we have done.
What would it take to get people to stop eating meat?  We certainly don't need to.  For the most part, it's bad for our health.  The healthiest foods are whole foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, and whole grains; meat can't compare.
I find myself at a loss for words.  Stop eating meat and eggs.  Treat animals with respect and kindness; they belong here as much as we do.  They should have the same freedoms and protection from violence that we have.      

Start Caring

Viva las groundhogs!

It's so clear that most people don't care about animals beyond pets.  God forbid they control what they eat, if they did, then we might cease to be a nation where most of the citizens are overweight.  When you eat meat, in many cases, not only do you not care about the animals you're eating, you also don't care about your own health.  Things are completely backward.  People would rather be fat and unhealthy than stop eating meat and improve their health.
As one of the minority of people that loves all the animals, including mice and rats, I feel the need to voice my opinion.  I believe that animals should have the same rights as we do when it comes to freedom and protection from being beaten and killed.  People like me will never be content until it's a crime to attack any animal.
If you can't quit eating meat, first of all, you're weak.  Second of all, if you eat meat and you're fat, then you deserve to be fat.  Thirdly, if you eat meat, and you've gotten heart disease or cancer, then it's possible that you deserve it.  There are exceptions.  I would not say such things about disabled people and children.  But if you eat meat, then you are actively supporting cruelty to animals, and you deserve whatever bad karma is coming to you.
Here are examples of places of evil: butcher shops, steakhouses, and fur shops.  I hope that all businesses that profit off the exploitation of animals will go out of business as soon as possible.
I'm anti-violence.  As long as murder is against the law, it would \make sense that war is illegal as well.  Killing is killing.  We'll give Johnny a medal because he killed a bunch of Arabs in the Middle East.  But when Johnny comes home with PTSD and kills his family, that's where we draw the line.  I've never owned a gun, and I plan to never own one.  I bet the odds of getting a chance to successfully use a gun to shoot an intruder in your home are astronomical.  But people say this is why they need guns.  People who own guns are much more likely to shoot themselves: either accidentally or on purpose.
Every single day, an incredible amount of violence and cruelty is inflicted upon countless animals by people.  It's gotten to the point where I don't bother bugs in my home.  If you feel the need to kill every bug you see in your home, then you may be a real coward.  I'm not afraid of bugs.  Why are you?  There are exceptions.  I have seen spiders, then gone online to see if they were dangerous.  I knew a guy who was badly hurt by a brown recluse spider bite.  So as long as the bugs aren't potentially dangerous, I will not hurt them.

You Are an Animal

Just like us, bald eagles like to go to the beach.

And so am I.  Don't you see all the things we have in common with animals?  Many of them, like us, have 4 limbs.  I could go on forever: nose, mouth, eyes, ears, blood, heart, lungs, drink water, eat food, sleep, excrete, breathe and so on.  We're animals.  We just happen to be the worst this world has ever seen.  What species of animals has done more damage to the world than we have?  Some of us have been greedy, selfish, and vicious to a point that any other animal couldn't even imagine, let alone match.
They belong here as much as we do.  There's a whole food chain, and all of us fit into it.  Of course we keep messing it up by introducing invasive species to places where they don't belong.  We just do what we want: usually only thinking of ourselves.
People who love animals are merciful, gentle people.  If we weren't, then we would be terrorists.  We'd be shooting up steak houses, butcher shops, and fur stores.  I watch the news often, and I've heard about a lot of shootings and terrorist attacks, but never one that was perpetrated in the name of animal rights or liberation.  Sure, I've heard about Animal Liberation Front members breaking in to labs, rescuing the captive animals, then burning the place down to the ground after all the animals had been removed.  That's my idea of a hero.  I've read about how animals are treated in labs.  They are maimed, tortured, and killed.  It's 100% wrong to experiment on live animals.  If you don't have a problem with it, then I don't have a problem with scientists experimenting on your children.  Educate yourself on the subject.  It is wrong to torture animals: period.  They should have the right to be free and live natural lives.  Ever put yourself in the place of the animals being experimented on in labs?  If so, your life would likely be a complete nightmare. 
They say the pen is mightier than the sword; I hope so.  I haven't seen many sword-wielding animal rights activists.  Those of you who aren't vegetarians, and feel no need to make any sacrifices on behalf of animals (my brothers and sisters), just realize how angry us real animal lovers are at selfish people like you.

Animals Are Better Than People

I took this picture 9/11/01.  I have ones that aren't blemished like this, but I can't find them.

Animals didn't invent war, we did.  Animals didn't invent guns, we did.  Animals didn't invent nuclear weapons, we did.  I could go on like this forever, but perhaps you get the point.  People have done things that animals couldn't even imagine doing.  Sure, some animals have killed and eaten youngsters of their own species.  But at least there was a good reason.  They were hungry.  They were trying to survive.  Perhaps it's all they know.  Some people have killed children for reasons that animals would never kill for.  We have evil in us; they do not.
We should try to follow their example.  Look at groundhogs.  They're vegan; they eat grass and weeds.  Sometimes, they squabble amongst each other, but, for the most part, they're peaceful.  Tonight, I watched mama groundhog lay down near the entrance to her hole/home.  It looked like she was enjoying a nice evening before retiring to her hole.  Just a cute little furball who will never use chemical weapons on anyone and won't fire any tomahawk missiles either.
So much needs to change.  Many more people need to start caring about all animals: not just their pets.  What's the point of loving your cat or dog while you eat murdered pigs, cows, turkeys, and chickens?  What did these animals ever do to you?  It's very easy to be a vegetarian who avoids all foods with eggs in them; that''s what I do.  It's extremely easy to be a vegetarian.  Why not give it a try?  Educate yourself.  Read a book like Animal Liberation by Peter Singer.  If you don't like the first chapter (I didn't.), then skip it (I did.).  The issue is simple.  Animals are confined intensely in cruel conditions before they become food and/or clothing.  The worst part isn't that they're killed, it's how they're treated before they're murdered.  They are treated like machines.  They are packed into warehouse-type buildings.  Their keepers are usually more interested in money than how well these animals are treated.  If meat isn't expensive, part of the reason is that they're treated very badly.  Money comes before their welfare.  I disagree.  Each and every animal is worth more than all the money in the world.  Life is worth more than money. 

Love Animals

Happy doggy!

I don't fully relate to people who aren't vegans or vegetarians.  We don't need to eat meat, and we'd be much healthier if we didn't.  It's so tragic that people are willing to destroy their own health in order to ensure that animals like pigs, cows, chickens, and turkeys will live miserable lives in captivity until they are unnecessarily murdered.
Watch the documentary Forks Over Knives.  It is an eye-opening experience.  The basic message is don't eat meat, dairy, and processed foods, and you will be much healthier.  If you think that movie is a fluke, then watch Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.  In that doc, a man who was overweight and on several medications switched to a diet that contains lots of fresh fruit and veggie juice and lost a lot of weight.  He was also able to get off of all the medications he had been on.  This man also convinced an obese truck driver to eat mostly fruit and veggie juice.  The transformation was incredible.  The truck driver was miserable as a meat eater.  Once he consumed mostly fruit and veggie juice, he lost weight and seemed to be much happier. 
That's an important message.  When you eat foods like broccoli, which is basically a superfood, you're eating all-natural medicine.  As many know, delicious blueberries are rich with antioxidants.  Instead of eating dead meat and popping all sorts of pills, you could eat fresh fruits, veggies, nuts, beans, seeds, and grains.  If you're overweight, you'd probably lose weight.  If you're a pill-popper, you might be able to ditch most, if not all, of your medications.
They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks.  I guess not.  It's pretty clear that people would rather get heart disease and cancer than stop eating meat.  How about this?  You're an adult, so maybe you should have control over what you put in your mouth and make smart decisions instead of stupid ones.  And maybe you shouldn't be poisoning your kids with unhealthy foods like meat. 
I suppose that it's been like this forever.  A small part of the population cares about ALL animals (not just pets), and the majority doesn't give a damn about most of them.  It's sad.  Just be careful.  If you're mistreating an animal, and someone tells you to stop, you'd better listen.  If I'm the one telling you to stop, and you don't, you might get your face smashed in.

I Got Time to Blog

Groundhog.

It was so smart of me to mention the standup comedy contest.  I just failed to advance to the finals.  But it was only my second time doing it, and it went much better than the first time.  It was a good crowd, though.  I was lucky to perform in front of a house that was nearly full.
I've previously mentioned here that I've seen nasty birds pecking at, and, I assumed, bullying groundhogs.  But I recently saw something quite strange.  A bird went so far as to jump onto the back of a groundhog, who seemed to do nothing to get the rider off of her.  The bird pecked at the groundhog, and I couldn't help wondering if the purpose of the pecking is to remove bugs from the groundhog's fur.  After all, as cute as they look, I don't know how clean they are.  They live outside: mostly underground, so I suppose they have to deal with their share of parasitic bugs.
I'm so happy to have met a very nice vegan woman.  We had a date, and it went very well.  It's more important that someone I'm dating be vegan or vegetarian than anything else.  It doesn't hurt that she's very pretty with a great smile.  I'm so glad she let me cuddle with her.  For those that don't know, touching, even non-sexual, is so incredibly beneficial to those being touched.  Massage, for instance, can do a world of good to someone.  It can help heal physical ailments.
Once again, I felt the need to intervene on behalf of my beloved groundhogs.  I heard kids talking around the area where the groundhog home is.  I looked out the window, and a kid was trying to fill the hole they live in with debris.
"Stop doing that," I said out the window.
The 2 kids looked up at me.  "Why?"  one of them asked defiantly.
"Cause there are animals living in there," I replied.
"Do they bite?" the kid asked.
I did not answer that.  I should have.  They certainly bite each other; that's for sure.
This kid did something strange.  He proudly pulled a $10 bill from his pocket and showed it to me.  "I'll give you $10 if I can fill this hole," he said with all kinds of braggadocio, as though $10, in his world, equaled a million dollars.
I declined his offer, and eventually, they left.  I went out there to clear whatever he had put in the hole.  The branch was the easy part, but he also had thrown a rock down there that I wasn't able to reach: even with my baseball bat.  But I was overjoyed to see that, later, the groundhogs had gone out anyway.  That rock hadn't stopped them, and that was the important thing.