Today was a rough day. I work at a veterinary hospital as a technician's assistant, and we had some pretty nasty cases. But what stood out to me and said "write an entry!" was the nature of two of the patients there today, with such similar stories to ones I've seen in the past. The first was a little dog with hideous recurring ear infections and a nasty, nasty eye. This eye was swollen to twice its normal size, bulging out of the head, covered with red veins and mucous. This obviously ...

Freedom of the press is essential to a healthy democracy. It's a statement that might emit some "duhs" when I say it, but think over it. Why is freedom of the press so important? News sources--where we get our information. And absolutely vital, because if we don't know the issues, events, and candidates of our day, we cannot make an informed vote. News=Informed voters=healthy democracy. Why, then, does this noble institution drag us to such lows? When we seek information, we find no...

Football these days! If the past year or so's worth of discussions are to be believed, it's certainly not about football anymore. A topic whose greatest controversy used to be the dads glued to the screen on Sundays has suddenly become a showcase for "what's wrong with ___?" Fill in the blank: America, the media/television, today's values, liberals, young people, secularists, etc. I've actually never seen the show "Desperate Housewives". When my dad and I sat down for Monday night f...

Hello, and welcome all to this week's Radio Challenge! For those who didn't catch my prior entry (The Radio Challenge!) please read over it so you know how to play. For everyone else, let's get started! And please, do give feedback--are these clues too hard, too easy, or just too much fun?! Reminders: --You have until midnight, November 18 to respond. At that point, I will post a cut-off comment, and all entries after that point will not be elligible. --Please post your answers with th...

Return...of the Radio Challenge! Welcome! For those of you who didn't read my prior diary (aka, ALL of you!), The Radio Challenge is the super-popular feature where YOU, the reader, get to compete to show your Musical Godhood and win a cool prize! Here's how it works: --Each week (or each week I feel like running it, heheh!) I will post a *new*, shiny, Radio Challenge. (ooh, shiny!) It will consist of a list of lines from popular songs. These songs can be of any genre, so don't think th...

I'm not entirely sure what makes a person one or the other. You can be conservative and hate Bush. You can be liberal and in favor of the war on Iraq. You could be either one and be pro-life or pro-choice. Has anyone ever written anything on what makes you definitively conservative or liberal? Because both espouse change, just change in different directions. Arnold had his speech saying "you might be a Republican if..." with many points I agreed with--and many I didn't. Plenty of times I'...

**Although this year's Banned Book Week is over, I offer here some ideas I have about free speech and the proper way to combat opinions you don't want spread through the media. The best defense is a strong offense--if you see something that offends you, don't destroy it. Instead, publish your point of view! This is the joy of free speech. Here is my original posting. Remember: llamas like books! --LL** 9.28.2004 // Celebrate Banned Book Week! Posted at 10:02 PM I want to ...

[See Part One for more details. Same llama category, same llama headline title!] 5.24.2004 // Paper in Fire (Part Two) Posted at 12:51 AM Ambition...this has been rolling about in my head for a little bit. Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how big will your silly dreams grow? Ambition can be a matter of rebellion. "I refuse the tiny role you have laid before me. I will be something bigger, something greater, even if I have to carve my own way through bedrock." Or..."I will prove to you ...

**Another post from my old EasyJournal. I almost didn't include it because of its personal nature, but then I re-read it and thought that some of its ideas were interesting. Basically, I'm a big dreamer always searching for my "right livelihood"--that is, the profession that I am meant to be in and that I will be happiest doing. I was really getting down on myself with these two posts, but I think the song I was quoting really caught the essence of how I felt. All of us have probably feared f...

**A not-too-old piece talking about some of my political leanings. In particular, it details how the two-party system we have now is depriving voters of their power, and offers one possible solution.** 5.3.2004 // Why I'm an Independent Posted at 4:05 PM I don't belong to any political party. Why is that? Well, the very short answer is that I don't like any political party out there, but that wouldn't be entirely correct. A slightly more correct answer is that I don't like the idea...

**My original Reccomended Reading entry...books I liked then, like now, and think you might like!** 7.30.2002 // Reccomended Reading I Posted at 12:00 AM This is pretty straightforward--Just a top-of-my-head, plain list of books I like. Obviously I can't post them all in one entry, or one night, or one week...etc. They are in no particular order, and the author disavows any association with the various and sundry shady characters who authored these books...etc etc etc. If your l...

Here begins a series of articles I previously published in my old online diary at www.easyjournal.com . I am only reprinting pieces of general interest, so don't worry about having to wade through my personal life. Here is an old humor piece I wrote for a composition class. Enjoy! 2.20.2003 // How to Save the World, Lose Five Pounds, and Become Certifiable (On a College-Student Budget) If you’re like many young people, you probably entered college expecting to find a sense...

Greetings all! This is actually ver. 3.0 of my online journal/diary/rantbook, as I had previously published on two sites which are now so overwhelmed with popups as to be unusable. My illustrious sire, aka Genghis Hank, directed me to this site for quality blogging. Future updates will include political and philosophical rants, musings on psychology and society, the resurgence of the ever-popular Radio Game, uploads from my last diary, and, of course, your LIVE link to the Llama Revolu...