Disrespect or Patriotic?

I do not have a picture today, but stay tuned. It's coming back soon.

Instead I have a question to pose to you:

Do you consider shirts, caps, scarfs, etc. that are American flag motif patriotic or disrespcetful?

This is not a random question I just pulled out of the blue. I am a member of several Flickr groups. (Flickr is a photo sharing site that also has groups you can join about every topic under the sun.) In one of the groups, a guy ask for critique on some photos of a guy sort of dressed in cowboy attire. Well, he was wearing a hat and a American flag bandana. Several people commented that they didn't like to see the flag disrespected like that. I made a comment that I didn't see how that was disrespect. That many "rodeo" cowboys wear this type of thing all the time as a show of patriotism. And that opened the flood gates.

You can read the entire thread here if you would like: http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157623542873659/

So what do you think? I promise that all opinions are accepted, however I do ask that in defense of your belief you remain calm, rational, and most of all respectful. And please answer the poll above this thread.

Quick Shot

My husband called me at work last week to tell me to pick out a new phone. Due to some excessive texting (not me), we had to make some plan changes. Plan changes meant new phones. I checked out the phones, but I didn't see anything I liked. When I called him back, I told him to just get me the same thing he picked out. Well, he surprised me with the enV Touch. The first thing he told me was that it has a five megapixel camera! Does he know me or what?

I shot this on my way to school this morning with my new camera, uhh, phone. Don't panic; I wasn't actually driving! I always see this fantastic skies when I'm driving to and from work. I would not normally be able to capture this. Even if I have my camera with me, it is not within reach and safely ensconced in its bag. Yay for my new phone!!



This shot (and the weather forecast) reminds me of one of my college roommates. She was from New Jersey. Every time clouds like this appeared in the sky, she would say with a sarcastic tone

"Looks like snow. Oh, that's right. It doesn't snow in Arkansas."

I don't get people who move to an area and spend the entire time complaining. It doesn't make sense to me. Why would you choose to live in a region of the world if you dislike it so much? I know Arkansas has it's fault just like any other area. I love where I live more because this is where my family is then any other reason. But like a friend said this week, "I can talk about my family, but you better not." Don't move to my state by choice only to complain about what a lousy place it is!

I'm THAT Person

You know when you go to the movies and that person sits behind you that dissects the entire movie finding flaws in all the scenes and critiquing the plot?

"Did you notice he wasn't wearing a hat in the first part of the scene and now he is?"

"Yeah right! Like that is realistic looking."

"People don't really do that."

"Ha Ha! That sign just fell in the background."

You know how annoying that is? You know how tempting it is to turn around and tell them to shut the heck up? Next time you have one of those people sitting behind you, don't turn around. It could be me!!

I can't seem to help myself. I just notice things. I do it with commercials too!

I don't know if it is because I have a short attention span or what, but I have trouble watching full T.V. shows. I love commercials however. And I pick them apart like crazy! As seen by my post tonight regarding the hands free soap dispenser.

I must have rubbed off on my little sis because she does it to. Tonight she sent me a voice recording that simply said,

"Butter...Milk...and Eggs."

I literally laughed out loud for 5 minutes.

Who does that? What kind of person would walk around the grocery store listening to their grocery list over and over? Because you know you would have to just to be able to get everything on your list. And if you only wanted 3 items, wouldn't you just jot it down? It makes no sense!!

So this shot is for my little sis. Thanks for the laugh and the inspiration for today's shot!

It's A Dog's Life

Day 25/365

This is Maddie. She has a story she would like to tell. But I'm too tired to interpret tonight. I promise I will update this blog tomorrow with Maddie's story. I should have never started watching The Singing Bee.

Okay, so I couldn't go to bed without doing finishing this. Here is Maddie's story as told to me by Maddie:

A couple years ago, I was content with my life. I lived in a nice area. I had my own crate. My human feed me, watered me, and gave me a little exercise. All he wanted in return was for me to produce a couple litters of puppies a year. Not a great life, but not a bad life either.

Did I long for a girl human? Yeah, but I was doing okay. It was hard giving up the puppies, but I knew they were going to good people who needed a puppy to love. And to be honest, they wore me out. All that whining and nursing. Don't get me wrong, I loved them. But I was getting older and my patience was wearing thin. It wasn't as easy to give birth and raise a couple pups all by myself. And their dad was never around.

Then my body started failing on me. It started with smaller litters. Then I started having trouble conceiving. It didn't take a genius to figure out that my days at the kennel were limited. Was I concerned? Of course I was! I had just become content with my life the way it was.

When my human's daughter picked me up, I wasn't sure if I should be excited or scared. I was getting to go for a ride, but what was going to be at the end of the road? I had heard of dogs being dumped. What kind of person does that? How can you dump a poor defenseless dog? Anyway, I wasn't sure what was waiting for me at the end of my journey.

We traveled quite a distance before stopping. I had almost come to the conclusion that I was being dumped when we finally stopped. My human's daughter got me out of the truck and lead me over to some other humans. That's when I met my new human. I didn't know it then. I just saw a round lady with kind eyes. She reminded me of a basset hound; very short and fat.

I wasn't sure what was going on when she took my leash, but she seemed nice so I followed her. She had a little girl human with her. The girl human was easily excited. I tried to stay calm hoping it would help this little human, but her behavior was contagious. I jumped up and gave her kisses because she seemed to like that.

I discovered the round human was called Noney and the little girl human was Lissa. Odd names, but they seemed to fit these humans. Then I got to meet the round human's mate. He was sort of scary at first. I could tell he didn't really want me. But he had kind eyes too. I could tell he loved the round human very much because he tried to be nice to me to make her happy. I decided I would win him over!

It wasn't very hard to fit in with my new humans. Noney loved on me a lot. She fed me and watered me and gave me treats. I had my own crate again, but it was a lot larger and was INSIDE with my new humans and I even got my own pillow.

I knew I had to be the best dog ever, so I made sure I didn't chew on anything even if I really wanted to. I waited until I got outside to potty. But I just knew that I would not get to stay with these great humans. I kept waiting for them to decided I wasn't what they wanted.

But they never did. The man human still complains about my hair. But I know they love me and I'm here to stay.

There is more to Maddie's story. But that's another day.

Chiling Out

Day 24/365

Being an only child, Alissa has to occupy herself alot. She's not very good at it. Most of the activities she likes to do require someone else. She will play basketball if I play with her. She rides her bike, if I ride too. She loves playing cards of any kind, with the exception of solitaire. Our coat closet is full of board games that she is fond of. See the trend here? Alissa isn't good at entertaining herself.

She does like to color with color wonder markers. And she can spend hours working on puzzles, although she will ask me or Gary to help her.

But her favorite activity to do alone is watch movies. If we didn't set limits, that child would watch T.V. 24-7!



By the way, Alissa placed 4th in the barrels yesterday!!!! She actually got a check! This is her first time to place in the money at a high school rodeo. I think I was more excited than she was!

A Boy and His Horse

Day 23/365

There are two types of cowboys in this world. Those that love horses for what they can do, and those that just love horses.

Tyrel is the former. He is the kind of cowboy that wants the best horse for the job. His love for a horse last as long as it will track a calf, work a rope, or pull a steer. He does love his horses, but he loves them for what they can do. He has already owned many horses in his seventeen years. He will own many more. Each will have its own specialization according to what he needs a horse for a the time.

Tyler is the later. He loves his horses fiercely regardless to their abilities. He loves them unconditionally, like a mother loves her children. His little miniature Miss Mandy will never be sold. She will only be ridden by Tyler's children. And I'm not sure he will even let his own kids ride her. His sweet palomino Leo can do no wrong in Tyler's eyes. He is not the fastest horse, nor the prettiest, but Tyler loves him like no other. No one rides Leo except Tyler. When he let Alissa ride Leo during the time that Buddy was injured, I was astounded.

Neither boy's way is right or wrong. Just different.

But the bond between Tyler and Leo is amazing to see.



Disclaimer: Tyler and Leo are not actually kissing in this shot. Leo loves human food. I normally buy oatmeal pies just because Leo loves them. I didn't today, but we did have bbq chips. We didn't realize he loved them until he almost knocked me down to get to them. Tyler decided to play with Leo a little. He held a chip between his lips to see if Leo could take it. He did. Without hurting Tyler. That's trust!