Better a litte late... Banned Books Week 2009

Banned Books Week is nearly over, as I am no longer in the book industry it nearly slipped by. However there are still a few days September 26 - October 3 is the week that the American Library Association has choosen as the week to celebrate the freedom to read.

I am in love with this poster;

although I really like the two I used last year this one highlights children's books which are the ones most often challenged. As parents want to protect their children from the evils of talking animals as in Charlotte's Web, or from the witchcraft of the Harry Potter series, or issues of sexuality as is the case with this years most challenged book; And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell and illustrated by Henry Cole.

This book tells the TRUE STORY of two male chinstrap penguins in the the New York Central Park Zoo and their adoption of an egg and subsequent chick, dubbed Tango. Oh my goodness gracious me don't let the children know that homosexuality happens in nature!!! PUHLEAZE!!! Get over it people.

Without this turning into a political post over civil rights here it is;

The top ten most frequently challenged books of 2008

Out of 513 challenges as reported to the Office for Intellectual Freedom

1. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
   Reasons: anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, and unsuited to age group
2. His Dark Materials trilogy, by Philip Pullman
   Reasons: political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, and violence
3. TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle
   Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
4. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
   Reasons: occult/satanism, religious viewpoint, and violence
5. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
   Reasons: occult/satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, and violence
6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
   Reasons: drugs, homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, suicide, and unsuited to age group
7. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
   Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
8. Uncle Bobby's Wedding, by Sarah S. Brannen
   Reasons: homosexuality and unsuited to age group
9. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
   Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
10. Flashcards of My Life, by Charise Mericle Harper
    Reasons: sexually explicit and unsuited to age group

If this list doesn't give you enough check out; 50 Banned Books That Everyone Should Read

Just remember any book worth banning is worth reading!

Countdown

This is the time left until polls close here in Maine on November 3rd. Within hours after this countdown stops we will know if traditional Maine values of live and let live play out and we get to get married or if fear, lies and hate will keep us second class citizens in our own state.

hello again

Just as the roads here in Maine are either; a.) being re-surfaced as shown in the AP photo at left of the I-295 Northbound project in Richmond or b.) being ignored even though they need serious work as the photo by Harlan Baker at right of the intersection of Congress and Mountfort Streets in Portland. It is time for me to resurface in this blog. I will do my best to stay on top of this and try not to be quite so whiny as before. Many folks have been asking me lately why I don't blog and are shocked to find that I in fact have TWO blogs this and the more risque. All of the folks that have been asking are readers of my sweetie's over at Weldable Cookies where both are linked in her blog roll but they either didn't realize they were mine or they didn't read because there are never any new updates so here is to you all!

As far as my life and health go I am still unemployed although my back and headaches are mostly in check thus further leads me to believe that a.) I am indeed disabled because work exacerbates these issues or b.) I need to find a sugar-momma to make myself and my sweetie kept women. Direct deposits into my PayPal account are warmly welcomed LOL!!!

The sun has returned to Maine we had like 8 weeks of rain, it is now mid August and too hot, hazy and humid to do anything. So it does present the perfect opportunity for me to resurface here in the blogosphere, I'm baaaack!

Waaaa!

I am sick of being sick!!! I feel like Zeus when he has a headache so bad that he splits his head open only to have his daughter Athena pop out of his skull.

I have had a headache pretty much non-stop for a week and a half. It was the one I had in my last post. And it is still going on today. Went to the ER last night the drugs that normally kick my migraines asses only sorta helped. Now I wake-up this morning and guess what..."I"M BAAAACCKKK!" screams my head. I am convinced that I have the brain tumor to end it all. However I can not be that lucky, instead I must suffer and whine and sleep.

Wishing me luck

I missed another day of work on Wednesday(migraine) and my boss was less than impressed. I was nervous going in on Thursday because I was pretty sure I would be canned. I wasn't thank-goodness but I do get laid-off a week from today we all do as the store closes every year for a period of time around xmas. This time it is for SIX weeks. D is wondering if he is holding on to me until then but won't call me back in. Me too, that is a real possibility and I would not blame him at all.

My back is non-stop pain an unrelenting crushing weight in the middle of my lower back. I can't handle working on my feet anymore. Bending, twisting and lifting are all chores that I have to stop and think about before doing.

I have thus decided to start the tedious task of applying for disability. Keep me in your thoughts and send good energies my way that it doesn't take forever.

sinners and saints

So this past month my wonderful girlfriend D. over at Weldable Cookies has been doing this NaBloPoMo thing of posting everyday for 30 days. She being her wonderfully brilliant self picked the wonderful topic of the 7 deadly sins and the 7 virtues. Well of course in reading all of these posts she has started me to thinking. I know I know this is not usually a good thing, but when she writes that happens to people.

Well anyways I have been contemplating my level of sin (which I really don't believe in as I consider myself a non-practicing Wiccan) where do I fit into all of these categories and what does it all mean? Well here is my results from a quiz I took;

Greed:	Medium
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Low
Sloth:	Very High
Envy:	Medium
Lust:	Medium
Pride:	Very Low

Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz

Very interesting that the one my beloved paid the least attention to is where I rank highest... I know I am pretty lazy sometimes and pray that at some point in this lifetime I will catch a damned break, and stop living as a member of the working poor. I know these things are a large part of my being, but a SLOTH?!

I was also surprised that my wrath was not down there with my pride, for while it is true that I have very low self-worth I don't feel like my anger is an issue. I am not a vengeful person, hell I am nearly opposed to the death penalty. I do often wonder why we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong? In that light Gandhi said it best with "An eye for an eye, and soon the whole world is blind."

In D's postings she counted out the days and figured out how to save every one's favorite and the most fun of the sins for today the last post of the 30 days. So today being the 30th of November and all the sin was...that's right LUST and guess what...nothing... she suffered a major case of writer's block. She was all set to make it a really fun and exciting post and it fizzled.

I (at least according to the above ranking) am more envious then lustful. Say WHAT?!??!!! I consider myself to be a very sexual being, how could I possibly rank so low? Could it be because I am not the sly cat I was when D. and I got together nearly six years ago. Has she domesticated this old tom? I was a self-labeled, (and proud) U-Haul lesbian! Now I have medium lust levels?

Goddess please keep us from becoming a Pepper Schwartz statistic, PLEASE!

I don't think it is a real risk but I am just preempting a warning sign.

Well it is after 1am I guess I had better put my slothing butt to bed so I can work tomorrow.

Pain and Suffering

I feel as though I have been trampled. I hurt today all the from my spine to my belly button on my left side and a large section of my back is screaming on the right. I am home from work again. Today I am worried about it, my boss sounded mad for the first time. I think he is getting tired of my bullshit. It is not bullshit of course it is VERY real. I don't know what the hell to do anymore. Anybody got any multi-million dollar secret that they are hiding. Even a million would be great. I don't play the lottery, I don't go to Hollywood Slots. I am willing to take anyone's advice though.