The Book of Abby

This has been bugging me for a while...

A.e.larkie — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:22:27 GMT

I am sick and tired of seeing ads on TV that portray women in an inferior way.

Offender #1: Twix. If I have to see one more commercial that paints a woman as an uptight idiot, I am going to formally complain to the company. In fact, I might just formally complain anyway.

Offender #2: Go Daddy. This is the worst because there is a woman spokesperson who is belittling her own gender. All Go Daddy does is use porn stars and sports to promote web hosting. It's sick and degrading.

And it's not just TV ads. It's movie promos as well. The worst offender right now is Katherine Heigl's new movie. First of all, she's done this before. She makes movie after movie that portrays women to be prey and fodder for low brow and perverted men. This movie is going to be released and just like her past few movies she's going to condemn it for being degrading to women. Why sign on to do the movie if you don't like the message it sends? It's asinine. Also, this new movie portrays itself as being a how-to guide for getting men. News Flash! There isn't really much of a difference between men and women. It's all TV and Movie lies to make both sexes feel insecure and confused so that we will go see their dumb movies and watch their shallow TV shows.

Ok, I'm done. I've run out of anger. I feel better now.

Top Five Cartoons and Their Creators

A.e.larkie — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:17:12 GMT

I love cartoons. Even though I am in my twenties and have an above average intelligence, it warms my heart to watch my favorite animated shows. The best laughs and the deepest thoughts I've ever had have occurred while watching cartoons. Here are my top five:

(1) South Park created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. For those of you who have never given South Park a chance, I urge you to watch it. If you take away the swearing and crude humor, you are left with one of the freshest, most thought-provoking shows on television today.

(2) Metalocalypse created by Brendan Small, also the creator of Home Movies. These are two of the best cartoons ever, and demonstrate the genius and range of their creator Brendan Small. He may not be as famous as my number 4 choice but I would argue that he is just as, if not more, talented.

(3) The Venture Bros. by Christopher McCulloch. This show lampoons old school cartoons like Johnny Quest. Its characters are unique and leave a lasting impression, plus they get extra points for having Patrick Warburton, you know, Elaine's boyfriend from Seinfeld.

(4) Family Guy and American Dad by Seth MacFarlane. I am adding Seth MacFarlane not because of his two wildly popular shows but because he has had stints as a writer on several of my most favorite cartoons, including Johnny Bravo, Dexter's Laboratory, and Cow & Chicken.

(5) King of the Hill co-created by Mike Judge. This show is in it's 13th season and is funnier than I think one would expect, in fact, I didn't realize how funny it was until I started watching it in re-runs. The best part is that Mike Judge created one of the most controversial shows of the '90s, Beavis and Butthead.

Well, that's my top five. Now I would like to list, in no particular order, all of the other cartoons that I also love.

The Simpsons

Futurama

The Boondocks

Aqua Teen Hunger Force

The Brak Show

Space Ghost Coast to Coast

Frisky Dingo

Harvey Birdman

Sealab 2021

Squidbillies

Ed, Edd n Eddy

Animaniacs

The Tick

Freakazoid

Mission Hill

Tiny Toons

Rugrats

Spongebob Squarepants

Courage the Cowardly Dog

The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

Fosters Home for Imaginary Pets

The Fairly Oddparents

The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack

And in the category of stop-animation:

Robot Chicken

Moral Orel

Kablaam!

Gumby

I'm sure there are some that I am forgetting but now that I see them all listed like this, I think I need to find a new hobby.

In Opposition to Puppy Mills

A.e.larkie — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:46:57 GMT

I have a confession to make - my terrier came from a Puppy Mill. I'm not proud of it, they are despicable places, but I do love my dog and I'm glad that I was able to rescue her from such an awful place. I'm also glad that I was able to see what a Puppy Mill looks like in person, for myself, because now I can truly say that they are horrible, inhumane places.

When I was 17, I wanted a dog for my birthday. Our Beagle, Zeus (who passed away this January), needed a friend and he wasn't getting any younger. At this time Zeus was not neutered, but since he was having prostate problems we had decided to get it done at the beginning of the summer, after my birthday. Now, talking my parents into letting me get another dog was not an easy task and when they decided to let me, I was thrilled. The first place we went was the SPCA of York County, Pennsylvania. We went and looked at the available dogs and, bless their hearts, there were two Beagles, a girl pup and old boy, who just looked like they deserved to come home with us. I asked my mom if she would consider adopting both of the Beagles, because after all, the older dog looked like he didn't have many years left in him and I knew we both would hate to see the old boy die in a cage or be killed because no one wanted him. She said she would definitely do it. We then went to the desk and told the people that we were considering the two Beagles. They asked us to fill out the forms. When they got the forms back they told us that we couldn't have the female until she was spayed and that could take three months or more, and the same for the male, and further more we couldn't even have the female because our dog wasn't neutered yet. We told them that we were planning on getting Zeus neutered in the coming month and that we would even be willing to foot the bill and arrange to have the other two dogs spayed and neutered, as well, by our personal veterinarian. But they said that they couldn't allow that, that it was against the rules. I couldn't believe it! We wanted the dogs and we were willing to pay for the surgeries and they still said no.

Unfortunately, I was 17 and I didn't want to wait for three or more months for a dog. Not to mention my parents and I were made to feel as though we were guilty of cruelty to animals because we had a kennel we used to put Zeus in outside. The only thing we used the kennel for was to put him outside if it was nice day, especially if we were going away for a few hours and didn't want him cooped up in the house, or we locked him up if he happened to roll around in something disgusting and he was waiting for a bath, otherwise he was free to roam around the yard as he pleased. The kennel even had a dog house with a heat lamp in it. That dog was treated better than most children and the SPCA made us out to be animal-beaters just because we had a kennel. So, we decided to look elsewhere. Still, to this day, I remember the looks of those two Beagles in that cage. They were so happy to have someone come to visit them. I don't know if they ever got adopted or if they were eventually both put down. Either fate was possible.

So after a few weeks, my father announced to me that he saw an ad in the merchandiser, and had arranged for us to go see some dogs at another kennel. It was all the way down in Peach Bottom, which was almost a two hour drive. When we showed up it looked like a normal farm, and it looked clean, but you could already hear the dogs barking from the roadway. The woman who owned the place asked what we were looking for and we told her that we weren't sure, so she decided to take us into the barn first. The barn is where they kept all of the higher priced puppies, small and pure bred, they were put into horse stables, in dozens, and had toys and pine chips to sleep on. They looked healthy and happy. But these dogs cost around a thousand dollars or more and no way my dad was paying that, so we went to look at the kennels outside. It was appalling. Whatever thoughts I had about this being a nice, clean place were quickly squashed. It was horrific. Large dogs, different types of Labradors and Boxers, were put in large sized rabbit hutches, two, three at a time. The medium-sized dogs in groups of fives and sixes. They barely had room to walk around, let alone lay down to sleep properly. The smell of feces and urine permeated the air. And the smaller dogs, different types of terriers and schnauzers were put into cages by the dozens. Most cages were single rowed but some were stacked on top of others. These dogs were walking on filth and were helpless looking, their food was indiscernible from the mess and the water was dirty. It broke my heart. I felt as though I could have taken that woman and locked her in one of those hutches, to let her stew in her own filth and drink dirty water, to be bitten by starving, skittish little dogs, for treating animals this way. It was absolutely monstrous. I thought this was a disgusting, inhumane place, and I knew I had to rescue a dog from this hell-hole, and at the same time I was disgusted with myself for doing so because I knew I was funding the exploitation, but it needed to be done. We chose a cute little female Jack Russell from on the pens, and I called her Lola. She's about seven years old now.

She sat under my feet the whole ride home and stuffed herself under the front seat because she was scared. Right away she had problems. She wasn't house broken, but caught on quick and it took a year or so to break her of the nervous habit of peeing when she got excited. We had her spayed as soon as possible, and at her first check-up we found out that she had "kennel cough." Kennel cough is when a dog has a parasite growing in its lungs. Lola used to cough up and then chew and swallow pieces of this parasite. It was disgusting to listen to. She also, to this day, refuses to eat standing at her bowl. In the hutch that she shared with the other dogs she would have to grab as much food as she could and go somewhere else with it. That's what she does. She would get a mouthful and take it to her pillow, away from Zeus. Now, that Zeus is gone, she still does it. The only time she doesn't is if it's special food like Mighty Dog or if she's lucky enough to get a scrap of meat in her dog dish, then she'll stay put. If it's kibble, she takes it somewhere else. It also was hard on her to adjust to car rides. At first she kept getting car sick and throwing up, but now she loves to stick her head out the window and can even take a nap on the passenger seat without getting sick. In the beginning, it was obvious that she didn't know how to play nicely, and she still doesn't, and she still gets very testy towards our cats. Now she even gets territorial about the beds. If she's in my bed and a cat jumps up she flies into a fit of growling. But I just put her under the covers and she calms down. She's adjusted pretty well, for having been raised in such a horrid place, but she has a look about her that suggests she'll never get over it, and I'm reminded of where she comes from every time she takes a mouth full of kibble under the kitchen table.

The thing that hurts the most is to know that other dogs from that Mill weren't as lucky. And the worst part is that Pennsylvania, where I live, is the state with the most Puppy Mills, and yet we condone, legalize, and regulate the horrid exploitation of animals. Even though there have been laws passed limiting the number of kennels a person can have and regulating the sizes of said kennels and outlawing their stacking, it hasn't done any good. Puppy Mills should be illegal altogether. There's absolutely no need for animals to be bred in such a manner, and the business of selling animals for profit is tantamount to harvesting organs or selling children. It's one thing if a person decides to breed their dog one or twice before getting it spayed or neutered, and selling them for a reasonable price, but there should be laws on how high those prices can be and limits on how many times a dog can be bred. As for pet shops, they shouldn't be allowed to sell dogs (or cats), but rather should be obligated to work in tandem with the SPCA to adopt as many animals out as the can. Right out of high school, I worked for PetSmart and I know for a fact that they only adopt cats out through the SPCA, and host local shelters for the adoption of dogs. This proved that it can be done and the selling of dogs is unnecessary.

I also feel that the SPCA needs to change some of it's rules and regulations when it comes to adopting animals to good homes. I have a large yard and lot of love, those Beagles would have been in heaven with me. And there are a lot of people who can say the same thing. I think the problem lies in the fact that the SPCA lacks follow up. If you were to bind a person to contract that is backed up by the local authorities (many areas have animal cruelty divisions), then many more animals could find good homes. If a family is willing to spay or neuter the animal then it should be allowed to go home with that family as soon as possible and the family should have a six week period where they must get the animal spayed or neutered and receive its shots(or within six weeks of the animal being old enough to do so). If these requirements are not met, then the animals will be removed. A way to make sure that the surgery is completed in a legitimate way and not forged would be to have veterinarians in the state be responsible for calling the shelter personally and faxing all of the necessary forms directly to the shelter. There is no need for animals to have to euthanized while in the care of the SPCA. These deaths are avoidable and the SPCA should be working towards minimizing the number of healthy animals being euthanized. Most importantly, the SPCA shouldn't have to do this all by itself, the families of the adopted pets and the local veterinarians should all be willing to do their part to ensure that these animals are protected, and should always hold up their end of the agreement. Anyone who truly loves animals would be willing to do so, and will always make time to make and keep appointments pertaining to their pet.

As for Puppy Mills, I already said that they should be made illegal. And the legal definition of what makes a Puppy Mill should be more clearly defined. Personal breeders will also be restricted to no more than three litters at a time, and a Puppy Mill would be defined as any breeder with more than three litters on their property. All breeders would be obligated to register their dogs with the AKC and the State. Failure to do so will result in massive fines and in some cases seizure of dogs as property. Also all of the Puppy Mills (property included) that are shut down should be given to the care of the SPCA, especially the cases in which the number of animals on the property are too great for the SPCA to take into their established facilities and would result in unnecessary deaths. The breeders who own the Puppy Mill will be able to stay on as a care taker for the animals and will be able to facilitate in the adoption of the animals, but will not be allowed to profit off the adoption of the animals and can only charge the necessary amount for the upkeep and care of the animals, a price that will be determined by the State. If the breeder wishes to not stay on as a caretaker then they will have to forfeit the property on which the Mill resides to the State temporarily until the animals are assessed and determined fit for adoption, and then until the animals are all safely moved to shelters or are adopted out from the seized property will the residence be given back to the owner. As for the medical care of the animals, veterinarians will be urged to volunteer their services (but not required), to either house or treat the animals temporarily or to help find them homes. Government assistance should be given to those veterinarians who are willing to do so. Also private families will be able to take in animals from Mills on a temporary foster basis and should be allowed to assist in the placement of these animals in proper homes. Of course high risk animals will not be placed in homes with children or personal pets, because these animals usually require special treatment. High risk animals would be those animals that have been abused or exhibit aggressive behavior. Families who choose to foster animals will also be paid a small government stipend to pay for the cost of food. No more than three animals will be allowed to a household.

My belief is that these amendments to rules and regulations are not too much to ask and if everyone in the community who consider themselves "animal lovers" would be more than willing to follow these changes. People who run Puppy Mills are not animal lovers and only see these poor creatures as a commodity that can help them turn a profit. It is consumerism to the most heinous degree and there is no reason why animals should be tortured in this manner. It's unhealthy and unconscionable and must be stopped.

Happy Holidays!

A.e.larkie — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 07:58:29 GMT

I know I have a bad habit of always being a day late and a dollar short, but all of this Christmas crap has got me to thinking.

Every year, and I mean every year, all of the talk show pundits (who are usually the most closeminded and uninformed of all people) start harping on and on about there being a "WAR ON CHRISTMAS."

There is no such thing as a "War on Christmas." No one cares if you celebrate Christmas or not. No one. Celebrate it all you want. Just because some people choose to be inclusive and considerate by saying 'Happy Holidays' doesn't mean that they are trying to eradicate Christmas. All they are trying to do is be nice. People who say 'Happy Holidays' recognize and accept the fact that Christmas is not the only winter holiday and that some people might actually be sick of hearing 'Merry Christmas' when they don't celebrate it.

Also, it's irritating when people who refuse to acknowledge other winter holidays get self-righteous and offended when people say 'Happy Holidays' to them. As if Christmas were the only real holiday or the only one that should matter to anyone. It's ignorant and rude and they should be ashamed of themselves.

My advice would be to get over yourself and accept the fact that there is diversity and culture in this world, because it's never going to go away.

What's Wrong With People?

A.e.larkie — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 12:42:20 GMT

I've realized something recently that I'd like to get some feedback on.

There seems to me to be a growing number of people who lack a social filter. That part of the brain that tells you when someone is a stranger and you shouldn't tell them intimate details about your private life seems to be non-existent in some people. It honestly feels like some people can't tell the difference between a person who is a friend, an acquaintance, or a complete stranger in the grocery store.

There could be a few reasons for this: (1) It could be that people just lack basic etiquette; (2) or that some people just don't care even though they have etiquette; (3) today's people could be mentally and emotionally more damaged than previous decades; (4) or people could be at a point where they no longer seek real relationships built on trust and quite frankly don't know how to act appropriately towards any other human beings.

What does anyone else think? Have you ever encountered one of those people who want to tell you their whole life story? Or about a very intimate detail of their life that is something they shouldn't be telling random people on the street?