Photo time

So I'm not the world's most prolific blogger, but I do post something every once in a while. I got a new Nikon D5100 camera, my first foray into the world of DSLR photography. I still have my old Canon AE-1 P from way back in the day, but I can't remember the last time I bought actual film.

The new Nikon has a bunch of cool features, which I'm just starting to learn. I've added an RSS feed to my photo gallery in the left column. If you're interested in watching me learn how to use it (and can put up with an overabundance of cat pictures), click on the feed and take a look around.

Campaign Finance Reform

Sometimes I forget that I created a blog just so I would have someplace to vent. Today was one of those days and I vented on Facebook instead. My rant was this:

Rant of the day: the amount of money spent on political campaigns in this country is obscene. People in our country go without food, healthcare, housing, and clothes while giant companies and insanely rich people throw kajillions of dollars at their favorite candidate in exchange for more favors if that person wins. It really makes me sick. I think campaign reform should be simple: you can donate as much as you want to political campaigns, but you have to donate an equal amount to charitable organizations. Either one of two things would happen; campaign contributions would drop or charitable donations would increase. Either is a win in my book.

Conversation ensued. It made me realize that I got a Public Administration degree and have almost finished a Public Policy degree because I like policy and I enjoy the process. I'm so turned off by what our political machine has become though that I have no desire to run for office. I have little hope that I could win even if I did run, simply because I would be an Indepentdent. I don't align closely enough with either of the big parties to run as one of them. And I'm ok with that! That makes sad though because I see politics as something that should be noble and strived for because of what the candidate can do for the people, not for power acquisition. If I thought I could a) win and b) enact change from within, I would be all over it. I have no such delusions though.

It got me to thinking though. What would it take to actually reform not just campaign finances but politics in general? I don't have any great ideas, but I sure wish I did. Wouldn't it be great if we the people could actually control our own political destiny?

I think there's cat food in my water

This is my third shot at writing this entry. For some reason, Blogger on the iPad ate my entries. It's a mystery that shall ever remain unsolved! Now on to my original post ...

BeBe

I have cats. Four of them. They are strange and sometimes needy. They all have their own unique issues, which requires them to be on different diets. This posed a quandary, until I realized that BeBe (aka Big, Dumb, and Puffy) was too big and dumb to jump up to get his food. He was 22 pounds at the time he needed to go on his special kidney diet and he's never been much for jumping. The obvious solution was to feed Domino and BooBoo on the top of the fridge. They're agile and jumping from floor to stove to fridge top was easy for them.

The downside to this arrangement is that the fridge kitties sometimes scatter their kibble across the top of the fridge. When the fridge is opened, kibble near the door falls down and into the ice dispenser. We didn't realize this until Jon was drinking some water one night and exclaimed "I think there's cat food in my water!"

So now, we regularly have to check the ice dispenser for wayward kibble lest we serve our guests kibble in their ice.  It's a good thing I love these guys!

BooBoo

Butters

Domino

Welcome

I've finally decided to get on the blog wagon. I've tried several times over the years, mostly for special events. This time though, I'm doing it to write more and share a bit.

I'm an emergency manager by trade and a geek by nature. I met my husband on the Internet long before it was cool and I've been a devoted techie since we got our first computer when I was 12 (a TI 99/4a).

This blog is likely to revolve around my interests. I love my cats (all 4 of them). I'm working slowly on my PhD dissertation. I'm a Soroptimist and I care deeply about women's issues. I'm a full-time emergency manager and a part-time college professor. I have a huge interest in terrorism (one of the classes I teach) and in public information (another class I teach) and the use of social media in disasters. I'm passionate about social justice and equality for all people.

I'm a country girl at heart, though I live in the city. I own guns, I like to fish, I drive a truck, and I drag race. I love to travel. I have season hockey tickets with my husband of almost 15 years (our first date was a hockey game). I love to sing and I'm always up for a round of Rock Band or some karaoke.

I'm sure you'll learn more about me if you're brave enough to stick around or if I'm entertaining enough to keep you around!