The Eleventh Little Indian Boy

Wednesday, January 14, 2004:

I came home last night and caught the tail end of a documentary on the fur trapping industry. The imagery provided was so horrible. There were animals of all types being sentanced to various forms of unavoidable death. Strangulation....massive cranial trauma....close range gunshots....front leg traps....and the most ridiculous explanation for execution of them all....carbon dioxide narcosis....basically the animal is trapped and then held under water until it drowns.

Here are some random tidbits that I remember:

- The federal department of Wildlife Services, responsible for the control of predatory animals, used to fly under the banner of Animal Damage Control.

- It would be infinitely more affordable to reimburse ranchers and farmers for their losses in livestock each year than to continue funding contractors to exterminate the pests that threaten them.

- The "lower leg" trap....a clandestine iron jaw contraption....you get the picture....is indiscriminate and inhumane.

- Most of the trappers interviewed were rednecks or Canadians (no offense to the Mountie...=P...)

- For every target that is intentionally caught, there are 3 which are injured innocently. These include dogs, cats, eagles, and other small mammals.

- A red fox huddled in the corner of a small cage. Before they shot him.

Growing up in the south I can honestly say that I have killed only two animals in my entire life as a recreational shooter. On my very first expedition I shot a water moccasin and a giant bull frog. The experience was unnerving because those poor animals had no idea what was going on and in the snake's case it even wriggled closer to the search light that we spotted it with. After that weekend I've only targeted cans, bottles, and other inanimate objects whenever we go. It makes no sense to kill for sport.

Borrowing from a very old PETA phrase....I'd rather go naked than wear fur....Shut up POB....I already know what you're going to say....=P....hahaha.
LIB // 5:12 PM

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Monday, January 12, 2004:

Every night before I go to bed my teeth are routinely brushed and occasionally swished with Listerine. As my head hits the pillow I find such sweet comfort and mental satisfaction from the sense of minty freshness that blankets my mind and allows me to relax. With this in mind I noticed that despite nightly cleaning, there are still large amounts of film on my teeth and gums upon waking up in the morning. Sick! When my tongue starts to move around the cavity of my inner mouth, that distinct taste of morning nastiness also rises up to crinkle my nose. You know what I'm talking about right? The bitter sourness that burns the sensory portions of the tongue and lingers throughout the nasal canal? Hahaha....Yeah....what is up with that? Good thing I also brush in the morning....Don't even want to imagine what the buildup would be like over the course of a few extra days.

It's the start of another week. Here are a few ingredients to the soup that comprised this weekend of past: Friends that are experiencing conflict / hang in there hommies....I love you all and will be praying for you, College moving once again / it really is unpleasant to be surprised upon arrival / never go directly from bed to moving furniture / nice to be able to help a friend though, Clubbing with JBK and gang for one heck of a birthday / it really is more fun to have a few drinks than standing around dry....right POB? / very awesome to see a sister happy and care free among friends / POB threw a few blocks here and there....too funny / called it a night early but I heard that the party still went on!!! / Happy Birthday JBK!!!!, Dinner with friends at Park Chow / spinach salad with apples, feta, and currants....MMmmm / is it poke chop or pork chop? / no ginger left for the cake....boooo! / freshly squeezed apple juice.....so good that you wonder where the peel went!

I finally was able to watch The Return of the King in it's entirety last night. The first time around I caught it in Houston with my sister, but unfortunately my body was fighting the flu and I was forced to miss a good portion of the movie b/c illness forced me to go outside and cough out my sorrows. It was an even better watch the second time around. Knowing what to expect, I was able to pick up on a few finer details of the production and had increased opportunities to intimately hear the dialogue.

In the words of JetSou:

This was the first movie where I went in thinking " This movie is gonna be awesome!!", and came out saying " That movie was AWESOME!!"

I loved this movie because it was such a romantic story. Romantic in the sense that the times were so simple and charming that it was easy to become overly involved with all of the subplot lines. The characters were clearly fighting for life and death. There weren't oil subsidiaries or 3rd party super powers clouding the outcome of events. It wasn't difficult to distinguish evil from good and .....let's just say that I was moved and don't want to take any more time expressing these feelings with writing....=P.

Final thoughts: Someone out there had previously commented that Samwise Gangee was a friend that all of us would be lucky to have. I couldn't agree more. In my mind though I am hoping that more of us would aspire to be like Samwise the friend in our lives rather than spend time searching for one. The current age of man would be such a better place to live in.

The character that really impressed me at the end was Eowyn of Rohan. She was just an awesome gal. Loyal to country and king. Encouraging to Meriodac on the eve of war. Loving of Aragorn and understanding when emotion could not be returned. Brave and unafraid of taking the untravelled route. Skilled in battle ( she brought an Olyphant to it's knees and took down the strongest of the ring wraiths ). Beautiful when adorned and natural when not. The image that stands out the most in my mind is an injured Eowyn lying before the razor sharp mace of the oncoming wraith, ready to protect the fallen Theoden. That's just awesome....very inspiring....what a gal....=)




LIB // 7:58 AM

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