Gifts from a Pitbull

Marley is a rescued dog.  He was less than 24 hours a way from being shot in the head when I got him.  Small town, no animal shelter, Pit Bulls die.  No questions about it.  That isn't the story, but it might explain it.
People say I anthropomorphise my dogs too much, by attributing human qualities to them.  Believe me, I do the exact opposite to a lot of people, categorizing them by the worst dog traits they exhibit, so I think I am being fair here.
Marley brings me something in his mouth EVERY time I come home.  Sometimes it is something I mistakenly left on the counter, like a pepper mill, or something he scored from the recycling bin under the sink.  Other times it is just one of his toys, or even some kibble from his bowl.  He is very generous, and very giving.  Without fail he always meets me at the door with something.  I think he knows he was rescued, and every day he is reminding me of how glad he is to have come to live here.
I think I came home a little late, and I surprised him.  He didn't have anything and was quite distraught, so he ran back over to the couch without even greeting me, and grabbed the first thing he could find.  In this case, what he wanted to bring me wasn't terribly happy to be part of his routine.  It was Bella, Marley's companion Pit Bull.  She was resting on the couch, happily ignoring my entry, and Marley grabbed her by the collar and just pulled her onto the floor.  She was surprised to say the least.
He didn't actually get to bring her to me.  She protested a bit, then jumped back up on the couch.  I don't consider this trend to be broken though.  It sometimes isn't just the thought that counts, but the effort too.

Tig Notaro Live - Buy This - Trust Me

I could easily post this audio, I could upload and link to a place where you can download it for free.  I will not do that.  This is the best piece of comedy that I have ever heard.  I was actually sobbing and laughing through the whole thing.  You owe it to yourself to buy this download.  If you steal it, you are cheating her out of some money, but you are also cheating yourself.  Trust me, you want to buy it.
Click Here to Purchase
Here is what Louis CK has to say about this CD:

"About Tig Notaro

October 5, 2012

Greetings to the people and parts of people that are reading this. Hi. This is Louis. I'm a comedian and you bought a thing from me. Well, I'm writing to tell You that there is a new thing you can buy on my website louisck.com. It's an audio standup set by not me but another comedian named Tig Notaro. Why am I selling someone else's comedy on my website?
Well, Tig is a friend of mine and she is very funny. I love her voice on stage. One night I was performing at a club in LA called Largo. Tig was there. She was about to go on stage. I hadn't seen Tig in about a year and I said how are you? She replied "well I found out today that I have cancer in both breasts and that it has likely spread to my lymph nodes. My doctor says it looks real bad. ". She wasn't kidding. I said "uh. Jesus. Tig. Well. Do you... Have your family... Helping?". She said "well my mom was with me but a few weeks ago she fell down, hit her head and she died". She still wasn't kidding.
Now, I'm pretty stupid to begin with, and I sure didn't know what to say now. I opened my mouth and this came out. "jeez, Tig. I. Really value you. Highly.". She said "I value you highly too, Louie.". Then she held up a wad of note-paper in her hand and said "I'm gonna talk about all of it on stage now. It's probably going to be a mess". I said "wow". And with that, she went on stage.
I stood in the wings behind a leg of curtain, about 8 feet from her, and watched her tell a stunned audience "hi. I have cancer. Just found out today. I'm going to die soon". What followed was one of the greatest standup performances I ever saw. I can't really describe it but I was crying and laughing and listening like never in my life. Here was this small woman standing alone against death and simply reporting where her mind had been and what had happened and employing her gorgeously acute standup voice to her own death.
The show was an amazing example of what comedy can be. A way to visit your worst fears and laugh at them. Tig took us to a scary place and made us laugh there. Not by distracting us from the terror but by looking right at it and just turning to us and saying "wow. Right?". She proved that everything is funny. And has to be. And she could only do this by giving us her own death as an example. So generous.
After her set, I asked Mark Flanagan, the owner of Largo (great club, by the way) if he recorded the set. Largo is set up for excellent recordings. He said that he did.
A few days later, I wrote Tig and asked her if I could release this set on my site. I wanted people to hear what I saw. What we all saw that night. She agreed. The show is on sale for the same 5 dollars I charge for my stuff. I'm only keeping 1. She gets the other 4. Tig has decided to give some of that to cancer research.
Tig, by the way, has since undergone a double mastectomy. She is doing well. Her doctors say her chances of survival are excellent. So she went there and came back. Her report from the frontlines of life and death are here for you to... Enjoy.
Please go to my site louisck.com and buy her show.  You can buy it HERE.
Thank you. Have a terrific afternoon.
Louis C.K."

Paul Ryan's Clean Little Dirty Secret

I had just finished loading my dishwasher when I saw this story about Paul Ryan having his family pretend to wash dishes at a St. Vincent DePaul kitchen for homeless people.  The dishes were already clean, but they went ahead and donned spotless white aprons, wasted some water and pretended to wash them anyway.

Needless to say, I got a little nervous, so I cleaned my windows and changed the scent cubes in my Scentsy.  I was afraid that Paul Ryan and a gaggle of photographers would show up here right after my dishes finished rinsing in the dishwasher to push the START button again.  The place is a mess,  I just can't have him here until I have dusted my lamp shades and wound my clocks.  

I'll wait until I leave for work tomorrow to push that button.  If Paul Ryan is running around doing clean dishes, and I haven't even cracked open a bottle of Mop-N-Glo, the risk is just too great.

My yard looks awesome though.

Dustin Lance Black, You Gotta Give 'em Hope

The Price of a Soul

Have you ever wondered just exactly what the price of a human being's soul is? 

 Ask Artur Davis whether he got what his was worth, 

or whether he got the Bain Treatment.

Turnaround On A Bully

If you don't follow Jonathan Capehart, or live in Wisconsin, you may not have seen this video.  I don't have much commentary.  This television news anchorwoman says it all.