The Clam Rampant

Kasia April 10th, 2009

So the Bidens adopted a German Shepherd puppy from a breeder, and animal rights activists have been going (excuse the term) ape.

Ya know what? All things being equal, I’d rather they had adopted a shelter dog too. Lots of animals out there who need good homes…plus not a lot of no-kill shelters…it adds up to a sad situation.

But ya know what else?

It’s not my business.

Nor is it PETA’s. I’m not really even sure why the Veep adopting a pet is considered newsworthy; but the only people who were party to the transaction were Joe Biden, Jill Biden, and the breeder. Period. No one else gets a say. (Not even President Obama, unless the Bidens decided to consult him.)

And yes, I said “transaction”. Puppies, kittens, cats, dogs – they’re wonderful creatures. They’re cute, they’re lovable, and the long-suffering Canuck will gladly tell you what a sucker I am for them. But they’re not people. They are chattel. And although I am happy to report that it is illegal to torture or harm pets – even ones you own – you do still own them, at least in a legal sense.

How someone can make death threats against the Bidens and the puppy breeder for this is beyond me.

But I’ll bet you a cookie that the folks who did, see no problem with abortion.

C’mon, guys – isn’t this another “choice”?

• "Sin makes you stupid" - Mark Shea , Animals , Cranky Clam , Rank stupidity
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Kasia November 20th, 2008

Sunday night I had my downshift from “It’s so far away – it’ll never get here!” to “OH I WILL NEVER GET EVERYTHING DONE IN TIME!!!”

That was disturbing enough.

Then Monday night I had my first…well, I dubbed it my “forest-for-trees” moment, where I bit my beloved’s head off for something that was really so not worth snapping at him over. Yes, he’d goofed up; but the reason I called it the “forest-for-trees” moment is that our relationship is the point, not whether every single detail of the day is perfect.

Today I had to take deep breaths and refrain from snapping again. It doesn’t help that I’ve got other stressors going on at the same time, though that’s not an excuse either.

I am going to have ice cream for dinner.

Lots of it.

Seriously - I never thought I’d turn into Bridezilla, but I think I might be on my way.

So depressing. This definitely calls for ice cream.

** UPDATE **

So last night I was on the phone with Canuck, having nearly chewed through my tongue to avoid snapping at him again earlier in the day. I asked him if it would be in the budget to go out for a nice dinner on Saturday (not Friday, because that doesn’t really fit in the spirit of penitential Fridays).

He said sure, he thought we could work that out. Then he said:

“It’ll help, right? I mean, if you’re still going to be Queen B*t*h afterwards, why bother, right?”

Yes, he was joking. Yes, I laughed. A lot.

It’s gonna be a long two months.

• Autobiographical ramblings , Cranky Clam , My Beloved , Wedding
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Kasia November 12th, 2008

OK. So at least one or two of the Big Three have expressed interest in getting some of the money from that big government bailout/stimulus package that passed back in what, September? Now, I’m not going to debate whether the package should have passed – even at the time I recognized that it was beyond my meager economic competence to evaluate, and now it’s moot anyway because it’s long since passed. My question is a little more basic.

According to the news report I heard this morning, the Big Three and our governor, Jennifer Granholm, are earnestly pressing for this. However, (the news reported), some people object because the funds shouldn’t be used to prop up companies that have grossly mismanaged their resources. I paraphrase, but that’s the gist.

So here’s my question: As I recall, the package was precipitated by the apparently impending failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, plus a few other financial institutions that had apparently either been instrumental in originating most of the mortgages that have since been deemed overly risky (you know, when they went into default – hindsight being 20/20 and all that) or had purchased them as investments (because we know risky investments NEVER fail and ALWAYS bring high returns)…doesn’t it seem like…well, you know…the package was designed for companies that have grossly mismanaged their resources? Or is it just me?

And now I hear the City of Detroit is trying to get in on the action. Well, they definitely qualify as having grossly mismanaged their resources…

• Bad arguments , Cranky Clam , Current events , Detroit , Less-than-Christian snark , Politics , Rank stupidity
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Kasia June 22nd, 2008

Guaranteed ways to not get off on the right foot with The Clam:

1) While standing next to me during the Our Father at Mass, upon noticing that I have assumed a very introverted stance (hands clasped, elbows in, head bowed, eyes closed) rather than extending my hand for you to take so we can all take the priestly orans position and turn it into a hand-holding Kum-ba-yah fest…

Instead of reading my body language and accepting that I prefer a different posture than you…

Put your hand on my shoulder, and keep it there through the entire Lord’s Prayer.

That’s a good start. I might observe that you have a cane and assume that you are using me (instead of, say, the pew in front of you) to maintain your balance, except that you did not do it during ANY of the other standing portions of the Mass, and you did through the Lord’s Prayer from beginning to end.

It’s not the end of the world. It does, however, bespeak a certain disregard for other people’s boundaries.

2) Strike up a conversation with me in which you criticize two of my most-beloved priests, demonstrating both a stunning lack of charity toward both of them and a considerable ignorance of what you’re criticizing them for (i.e. some of their financial decisions and whether they have taken vows of poverty). Then completely ignore my efforts to tactfully hint that you might not know what you’re talking about.

3) Come to think of it, make our whole conversation be, in effect, a monologue in which you vent your spleen about a host of things that displease YOU about other people and their decisions. Like those doggone people who go off to the Third World to do missionary work instead of doing missionary work in their own country, like you think they should. Ignore any of my responses except insofar as to try to redirect and inflate your complaints.

I love not being listened to. It’s one of my favorite things. Just ask my family. (/sarcasm)

If you do all of the above – in fact, just 2 and 3 will more than suffice – you can pretty well count on a slightly tart, firm closure of the conversation, and me suddenly seeing someone that I simply MUST go say hello to. (Actually, that wasn’t put on; I really saw someone I wanted to say hello to. It was simply a happy coincidence that it got me away from the person in question.)

And if you want to ice the cake nicely, when I come back to get my things, start asking me nosy questions about the person I went to greet. I like prying even better than I like being ignored in a conversation. Really.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go start making my list of sins for Confession, with particular attention to my reactions to the aforementioned points.

Who knows? Annoy me enough, and you might end up getting a Rosary prayed for you. Won’t that be nice.

• Cranky Clam
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Kasia February 16th, 2008

So I’m in Chatham at Chez Mere de Canuque this weekend. Last night when we went to bed I was in a really lousy mood. It was probably a combination of watching the final episode of M*A*S*H (The Canuck is a huge fan) for the first time and crying at several points, then getting an e-mail that I overreacted to. Anyway, so we’re getting ready to go to sleep and I’m trying not to be snarly and unpleasant, but am still being contrary, which is pretty much as far as I can get towards the pleasant end of the spectrum when I’m in that kind of mood. At that point, I usually have to sleep it off.

The Canuck, of course, is being very sweet and trying to be helpful. He’s offering to rub my neck, which is a little out of sorts – I’m refusing. He’s offering to go over and put the computer to sleep so the light will stop irritating me – I’m refusing to let him.

Finally he looks at me and says, and I’m not kidding, “OK, but the next contrary statement you make, I’m going to go put the computer to sleep AND rub your neck. Sound good?”

What could I say? If I said no, that would be a contrary statement, and he’d go ahead and do it.

I hate how easily he can outsmart me! I especially hate when I end up laughing off my lousy mood as a result of his having outsmarted me! GRRRR!

I always lose at chess, too. Like Inigo Montoya, I have no gift for strategy. I can play well for a while, but I’m never able to checkmate my opponent. I remember one time I was playing chess with my then-best friend; I had her down to two pieces, but for the life of me I couldn’t checkmate her. The game went on for HOURS. Finally she had to come up with my strategy to checkmate her, because we both wanted the game to end but didn’t want to just quit.

• Cranky Clam , My Beloved , Silliness
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