Month: July 2012

I was going to go run errands and visit our Shelter Gardens, but I had a nasty allergic reaction and was felled by a flareup of a health issue I have, so I took some benadryl and spent the bulk of the day resting whenever the pain would let me.

Fortunately, I have the kind of boyfriend who is okay with plans getting changed on account of sickness, so we’re watching cartoons with my daughter and cuddling.  We plan on tidying up around here, then getting dressed up a bit and taking some fancy pictures together, just for fun.

But look for a very special blog either later today or sometime this week.

I wanted to do a big, huge, happy post today, but the realities of life dragged me away from writing.  Fortunately, I’ve got some wonderfully relaxing time this weekend with my loved ones, and I plan to do my big blog post of happiness on Sunday, after I get some footwork and errands out of the way.

Monday was spent at the doctor’s office getting poked and prodded and getting some news that made me sad, but I can face up to it.

Tuesday, we walked to Samantha’s doctor’s appointment and found out that she’s tall, but underweight, but we’ve got stuff to help her gain, and she seems to like it so far.  I also got a package from Martin Page (who is awesome personified), and that lifted my spirits a LOT.  I also got to catch up with my BFF, and we talked for HOURS about everything and nothing.

Wednesday, I got sick and ended up lollygagging around, reading and napping and taking care of Samantha instead of doing all I meant to to.  Argh.  I did fit in some exercise before things got really bad.  I also did some dishes and laundry.

Today, though, just got started.  I need to get some sleep now, but I have a big laundry list of things to accomplish by the end of the day.  We’ll see if I make it!

About an hour ago, around 5000 people started forming a wall of love and support for local hero Spc. Sterling Wyatt.  He was 21 years old, and he died July 11, 2012, in Afghanistan while serving our country.  Today, his family and friends will honor him and lay him to rest.

Unfortunately, a hate group whose name I will not even mention because I do not want to sully my blog with it is coming to protest the funeral.  They rejoice when our soldiers die, and they claim that God hates the United States because we do not punish people for being homosexuals.

Now, I don’t claim to speak for God, but I do know what I’ve read in the Bible says that what that group is doing is wrong on multiple levels.  As long as what a person does doesn’t hurt children or animals, it’s between them and God–it’s none of my business.  Besides, if God were really punishing the US for not persecuting people for being homosexuals, He would also be punishing lots of other countries who not only don’t punish homosexuals, but also permit homosexuals to marry, raise children, and go about their business peacefully. Oddly enough, those countries seem to be doing pretty well compared to the US, so their “logic” is not only ridiculous–it’s flawed on the most fundamental level.

Anyway, these people are coming to spread their message of hate, and they, of course, advertised that they were doing so and passed out information about it.

And once they got word of it, the City of Columbia, as a community, rose up and said, “We’re not having it.”  This group is still coming, but organizers got word out, and over 5000 people over two events posted on Facebook alone (not counting what measures may have been taken by word-of-mouth or other social media outlets) have said that they will stand as a living, peaceful shield of love and support between Sterling Wyatt’s loved ones and this group of hatemongers.  Organizers have asked all of the people showing up to wear red, to stand quietly and respectfully, and to ignore the group in question no matter what they do.

I am proud of my community.  People of all ages, shapes, sizes, genders, ethnicities, political affiliations, and belief systems are standing together as one today.  Today, we have put our differences aside as a community and stood strong together in the face of hate.  Together, we will show this group that love, respect, peace, and community will triumph over hate and evil.

Today this group will see the face of God in our community.  Whether they will continue to turn away and blaspheme the Heavenly Father with their hate is entirely up to them

But today, they (and we) will see what love can do.

May everyone learn from this day.

In my efforts to get The Temple of the Muses up and running, I accidentally broke the WordPress for it and had to remove and reinstall it.  Because Fantastico doesn’t allow me to choose names for my separate installs of WordPress, I killed the one I thought to be the install for Temple, only to see that the broken Temple install was still there.

Let me tell you, I freaked out in a BIG way.  You see, I hadn’t backed up my files, which meant that everything would have been GONE.

Fortunately, I had just removed the WordPress files that I had downloaded for this blog, so the blog wasn’t killed.  I just downloaded the WordPress files to this directory again, and everything was right in my little world again.

Oh, and the Temple of the Muses is coming along as planned, and I’m sure that you’ll be as pleased with the results as I am!

I also downloaded all of my blogs, just in case I ever manage to really kill this blog, and I’ll be doing backups regularly to ensure that I don’t lose any of my work.

You may have noticed that my posts have slowed down.  This is because a key on my keyboard has opted to die, and I’m waiting on an external  keyboard to arrive.  Stay tuned!

In some ways
I never grew up
A childlike soul
Full of enthusiasm
Soaring high above sorrow
And the realities of life

Only to be laid low
By a stone to the heart
Fired from the sling
Of one who sees no place
In the grown up world
For a childlike heart

Brought down to Earth, broken
My soul realizes its flaws
My heart longs for acceptance
So I murder my heart
Smother newborn joy
And strangle enthusiasm

I am just as others wanted me now
My wings are broken–
May I never fly again.

Once upon a time, a man wanted to get married.  He prayed to God, made offerings, and petitioned God through every faith practitioner he could find.  God finally came to him in a dream and said, “I have heard your prayers and petitions, and I am prepared to grant your request.  I have two women with good and loyal hearts in mind for you.  I must tell you, though–one is fat and ugly as a toad, but she is very wise and has a vivid imagination, and the other is thin and beautiful, but she is extremely foolish and dull.  Which will you choose?”

The man cursed God and said that he would rather die alone than choose either.

And so, God granted his wish.

Meanwhile, the intelligent and creative but fat and ugly woman went on to become a beauty of renown, and the thin and beautiful woman became quite wise and creative.  Both women were able to do this while retaining their good and loyal hearts, and both women found partners who accepted them as they were and loved them unconditionally.

And the women and their partners lived full and blessed lives, for they realized that beauty changes with the seasons, and wisdom can be gained by those who earnestly seek it, but lasting love is determined by the heart.

If you’ve visited my website, www.ladcygnet.com, you’ve noticed that I’m adding stuff as I go.  I feel kind of like I’ve moved into a bunker, and I’m chiseling away at the surrounding bedrock to create more rooms.  I hate asking for help, but it’s been so long since I’ve built a website of my own that I’m very, very rusty.  I feel something like the Tin Man in Wizard of Oz.  I’m using the free sitebuilder software that came with my webhosting package, but to be frank, I’m not sure if it’s making my objectives easier or more difficult to achieve.

While I wanted to do this all on my own, I may have to break down and let my boyfriend  (who has experience in programming and network administration and can throw together pretty nice-looking websites for work) lend me a hand in making this website do what I want it to do.  If I can execute all of my plans, it’s going to be amazing!

It’s hard on my pride to admit that I’m not as good as I once was, but if I can enlist some help to make this website a really great experience, it will be worth it!