I hate cute!

But I love my dogs so much that I just had to share this photo that Ransom took this morning.


That's all. 

Has anything really changed?

I am a few days away from finishing The Tudors, the Showtime series on Henry VIII. It's been great fun, though not great television. Watching Henry fight with his wives, his nobles, his government and his church is always entertaining. Just as I did when I watched Pillars of the Earth, I sit incredulous at the workings of the church (Catholic in Pillars, Church of England here.) The corruption, the striving for power, the pretend certainty of church leaders that they were doing God's work while getting richer and richer – it's all pretty disgusting.

Then today I read in the New York Times that the Vatican ordered Irish bishops in 1997 to NOT report suspected child molesting priests to civil authorities. And I ask again, has anything really changed?

I don't think so. Not really. Just as it was in the sixteenth century, the church is interested in nothing as much as preserving its power and its wealth. Back then it was heretics burnt at the stake or hanged, drawn and quartered. More recently it is little boys sodomized and sexually abused. It's all the same to the church. Keep the faith. Keep the power.

I am disgusted.

Again.

And here's a nice footnote: the Times reports that the Vatican has been working since last Spring on a policy for what its bishops should do with their suspected perverts; the last line of the article reports “In November, Cardinal William J. Levada, the prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said the Vatican would soon issue new guidelines to bishops worldwide.” Fourteen years ago they had time to tell the Irish bishops to hide their crimes, but today they are still working on guidelines to protect children?

How anyone can believe in these criminals is beyond me.

Down from Olympus

Well, down from Waterbury, Connecticut, actually. Zeus, the beautiful two-year old husky here pictured, has joined the family. We found him through the Siberian Husky Club & Rescue of Southern New England. He was living in Waterbury with some folks who could no longer keep him. Though he hasn't been to the vet yet, he seems happy and healthy. He is certainly a ball of energy and is in need of training – to say nothing of a surgeon's scalpel. (Getting him neutered is part of the contract.)

So far Tasha is doing her usual stay-out-of-my-face, we-are-the-queen act and Cassie is looking forward to the post-op Zeus: more of a friend and less of a suitor.

So the pack is back to full strength. Many years ago when our first dog, Brendan, passed away we thought of keeping just two. After a few months though, it didn't “feel” right. We had been a pack of five for over ten years. So we got another dog and have kept three ever since. It’s good to be back where we belong.

ps: a historical note. I’m writing this on January 10, 2011, the anniversary of the day I met Sandy Adams, my first boyfriend, as well as the day Malette lost his beautiful son Ian and Ray and I lost our Dad. I’m missing them all today.

Ch-ch-ch-ch Changes

A new House of Representatives has been sworn in and the Republicans are back in charge. A change. Maybe.

From where I sit the country seems to be more conservative than ever I have known it. Another change. Pretty likely.

And yet, acceptance of gay people is undoubtedly on the rise. That’s a change, and a great one.

Life is all about change. Change or die is, in terms of evolution at least, carved in stone. With people, change is avoidable. Some make a lifestyle of avoiding change. They may get older but they don’t grow.

Here are some changes in my life, some big, some not so:

• we are searching for another dog. We’re meeting today with a woman who runs the local Husky Rescue Center, in hopes of finding an adoptable male. Lucky has been gone over there months now; it’s time.
• I’m getting a new knee later this month. I know the recovery will be painful and six weeks long, but I am convinced it will be worth it.
• Cablevision fixed their problem. We now have all the channels we pay for. It took from September 22 until January 5, so one thing that has not changed: they are still the worst company in America!
• Ransom and I mark 25 years together in three months. He has a big birthday coming up this year so we’re celebrating both events with a transatlantic crossing from Rome to New York in October.
• before that, I’m taking my first-ever organized tour; I fly to Istanbul on May 14. Ever since seeing a video with images of Hagia Sophia (below) at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in the early 70s I have wanted to go.

One thing that has NOT changed: I’m still a rock ‘n’ roller. Give a listen to a real classic: click here.