Day: July 11, 2006

Crankypantsing

Pet Care for Assholes

Shelly

I mentioned previously the moderator of an art group I used to belong to, and all sorts of weirdness surrounded her management of the group–and not just from my POV, either. I’ve since heard some ridiculous stories about her from other folks.

So, anyway, someone in another group posted a link to her LJ, so I thought I’d go see if she was as assy as I remembered.

Aaaand… I walked in on a discussion of her dog’s anal glands, how they were requiring increasingly frequent expressing, and how she was unsatisfied with the way the vet’s staff was handling the problem. M’kaythen! There were several replies, with most of the advice being of the “put a diaper on him” variety. Poor dog. So I left a neutral comment asking whether or not the vet had discussed the issue with her, in terms of possible causes and treatment plans. I said that the dog could have an infection, or worse, and that he may need meds or even the removal of the glands. I was completely ignored. Again, poor dog! You can’t just leave something like that. The dog is in fucking *pain*, asshole. Not only that, but I cannot imagine what it must smell like in her house. But anyway…

So, I checked back, and she did finally take the dog to a new vet. He had an infection (duh!), and is now on meds. On the one hand, I’m glad she got help for her dog, but on the other, I just want to smack her. I just don’t get how people who profess to care about their pets can be so uncaring about them. I could understand it if she was poor, and couldn’t afford vet care, but she’s not. She’s just clueless and lacking in basic empathy.

Actually, it’s the last part that gets me. From the tone of her posts, it’s clear that her major concern is the smell and the inconvenience of her dog EAGing all over her furniture. She never once indicates that she’s even considered that her dog might be experiencing any discomfort. The thing is, there are brazillions of folks like her, and I bet all of them think they’re good, conscientious pet owners. And not a one of them has an empathetic bone in their bodies.

She also mentions switching vets, because she’s unhappy with their service and bookkeeping. She doesn’t know if the shots she paid for were administered. I know there are vets out there who prefer to do shots in a back room, without the owner present, but I sure as fucking hell would not patronize one. No way is a vet, or a tech, taking my dog out of my sight for an vaccinations.

On the bright side, this time she mentioned her “laundry lady” without inserting “Korean” at the beginning.

Crankypantsing

Edited for Content

Shelly

A federal judge has ruled that it is illegal for 3rd parties to edit films for content. Companies like CleanFlix are now prohibited from selling or renting films from which they have removed sex, violence, profanity, or any other potentially offensive material. Existing sanitized discs and video tapes must be turned over to the studios for destruction.

Sayeth the judge: “What is protected are the creator’s rights to protect its creation in the form in which it was created.”

Amen.

What to do if you are offended by cursing, sex, etc.? Do a little research before buying or renting movies. You wouldn’t go to a theater and expect a film to be edited to your liking. Why should DVDs be any different? If you don’t want to see sex and violence, don’t watch movies containing sex and violence. Easy peasy.

Ironically, I came across a blog post by someone who had just watched The Libertine. They were disturbed by the story, which surprised me. What, exactly, did they expect from a movie about John Wilmot? The mind wobbles.

Art

Shrine (reworked, in progress)

Shelly

100_2277

I was really unhappy with this one, but it was out of sight and out of mind. I pulled it out earlier this evening, thinking that I might see if removing the old, bone “wings” and replacing them with a set of luna moth wings would help. How to attach them, though? Acrylic medium was out, because it would damage the delicate powder coating of the wings. I decided to see what beeswax would do. I hoped, because it could be poured onto the surface without using a brush, that it would protect the wings. It seems to have worked pretty well.

If all goes well, there will be a frieze of cicada shells running along the bottom. Like the luna moth wings, though, I need to figure out how to attach them. They’re light-weight and fragile, so they’re difficult to manipulate.

Bonus: the house smells like beeswax, which is divine.