Sunday, October 10, 2010

Lots of Dogs Walking for the Cure for ALS in Kansas City: The Keith Worthington Chapter October 9, 2010

Rather than describe all the good cheer, love, respect, and energy of the day,
 i will just show the pictures.
Except to say: The hope and angst on faces of families
 who are where ours was, some years ago,
This is for you.   
Click each pic to enlarge

Walk for the Cure ALS Keith Worthington Chapter, kansas city 10 9 2010

Lucy Walking in Kansas City for ALS Cure

a fine wheaton at the walk for the cure: Keith Worthington Chapter in KC 2010


Could a dog be any cuter? Kansas City, ALs walk, 10-9-2010
Dogs walking for the ALS cure in Kansas City Saturday, 10-9-2010



Walking for the Cure ALS Kansas City
Roxy has tiny feet

Roxy

Roxy Want


Our families Walking for the Cure: ALS



learn more:
HERE




Great Dane Walks in KC Keith Worthington Chapter for ALS CURE


This my Pack, here.

Git back in line der, buddy.



all the in-the- know dogs wear them...

This dog had a great story, some left my head. Badnemi?
African? His name relates to the moon, and this was a really fine dog...



Look at their cute little feet, walking so fine.

White Beauty Walking for the Cure for ALS in Kansas City 10-9-2010
Click Pics to see enlarged


um, did you check wit me mum first?




Kansas City Walk for the Cure 10-9-2010
ALS, Lou Gehrig's Disease
Keith Worthington Chapter

Lucy Knows





I Stand like This for Photoshoots

Who can say No to me??


Little in a Big World


Let's Git to Walkin!









dude, this pavement is hot!

pick me up

The Walk for a Cure for ALS begins.




click on pic to enlarge cuteness

takin a break





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-cRxyKU9Ok

Links to previous posts about ALS, see a pic of my Brother,  HERE.

Yeah, I walked it.

Lovely Lucy:









The night comes:




Loyal Dog Stories HERE.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Walking for the Cure for ALS: My Brother and Lou Gehrig's Disease

Saturday, tomorrow, is the Walk in Kansas City. (Update-pics and vid from the walk HERE))
Raising money and awareness, fighting the disease of ALS, (see http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/lou-gherigs-disease.html) is not something i have been devoted to, like many wonderful people. I am very glad many work so hard; it is a crushing disease.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

You can support me tomorrow, with your good thoughts, by clicking on sites that teach about the disease promoting awareness, by donating your Hard Earned Treasure at my site.
I rarely donate to these requests even from loved friends with causes i respect--and i do not expect you to. We are all on tight budgets.  I have recently found that many folks have lost a person they loved to ALS.
So, i give you all the opportunity and if nothing more, you can learn a little about the disease.

Steve with one of the many cakes his two older sisters were always making for him...
I want to tell you about my brother, Steve.
Steve was less than a year younger than I.
It is hard to describe how he was special: he was gentle of Heart, he was Hilarious.
He was very nice to look at; this must have had as much to do with his interior loveliness as his exterior fineness.
He was very nice to listen to; he was not loud or brash but spoke deliberately and with great wit.
One might surmise his wonderfulness by the wonderful woman he married and the fabulous children he raised.
Our family laughs at all the pics of him and our other brother with cakes- since they had older sisters who were at that Cake-Baking Age (from 8 years on...), there were always plenty of cakes.



Steve left behind two daughters who are living good lives of service. I am so grateful to his wife for working on this cause.

Ja Lee said, "The process of life, from youth...to death, is to create something beautiful--the Soul."
And everyone who had the good fortune to know Steve, knows that he had a Beautiful Soul.

It did not seem possible that our lives were to go on without his life here nearby. The truth we were left with was that his Soul's work was finished, and that ours was unfinished.
I looked at a picture of Steve
feeding the dog, Duke, with a fork.
He is looking with total appreciation and love for the dog-spirit of Duke. I think he also knew that some kids would crack up at a dog eating with a fork.
When Steve looked at you, he really looked at you. Because of his gentleness and his natural humility, when you did meet his eyes, he was right there: transparent as could be.
I believe that my brother was born with an already wonderful, beautiful nonviolent soul. That's why he loved children and animals--they were transparent and vulnerable with him.
He was always creating, thinking, figuring out some way to tweak, to improve, to enhance. Whether it was skiing, running, training, cooking, playing, he was always finding ways to improve. He figured out that if he trained by running downhill, he could hyperstimulate some muscles in such a way as to increase his speed. Now, years later, that is exactly how sprinters train.

He loved boating, skiing, hanging out on the water. His kids believe, and so do i, that he is the one who invented wearing your life jacket like a pair of shorts or a diaper, allowing one to sit in the water with one's beer.

If anyone did not love this guy, i never knew it. The fruits of his life were peace, humor, creativity, kindness, gentleness, love.
I told his daughters they never had to settle for anything less than a good and peaceful man; their father showed them what that looks like.
I could go on.
Think of Steve on Saturday morning, as the families and friends of all those affected by ALS walk, run, roll, and cycle in Kansas City.

with Grandpa.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

The Cardiac Cats Are Killing Me: Wildcat - Nebraska Football at the Manhattan Clarion

So we are sitting here in Daddy O'Pigglies feeling like Buccaneer fans in the early 90's. (If you think you are gonna want to eat, better do it in the first half, 'cuz yer gonna lose your appetite.)
No,
I'm not quite there yet.
Shades of Sam Wyche.
 but the Guys at the table are.
One guy is ripping off his nicotine patch and coercing his friend to give him a smoke. there they go. out the door of the clarion.
says it will "soothe" him. Come'on, cats!
y'er makin him smoke!
Srsly, I'm looking at a guy who has a week head start on quitting smoking and the Cardiac Cats are taking that Nail and Pounding it into his heart.
And--
 He is a  Well Respected Man

The Rockin K-State Wildcat fans are singing happy birthday to Coach Snyder. He must have a roller coaster of emotions:
1. He left a hall of fame "hero", and now that he came back,
Holy Moley if he "fails"--but that is a silly way to see it.

One walks one's walk.
      One does what one loves.
           One does one's best, and enjoys the journey.
     The garden i grow when i'm 90 or 19 is not NEAR as 'successful as the
one i grow when i'm40.)
"Success"
 is not what is required, but Love and Honor.
satan was "success"ful. for a year or two.

2. Can he still reach the boys/men?
 I am becoming discouraged about this issue.
Coach Bill Snyder's heart was broken in Paradise Valley By E.R. just a few years ago, and he was one of the good guys, right?   more later... (see previous post of today...)
about honor, discipline, and conduct becoming a gentleman among the youth...

When Tony Dungy came to Tampa bay, the Bucs had tried.
Sam wyche was a good nice man, it appeared, but...
The papers ripped him apart. he was not the savior they had expected.
My grandmother sent me a note that said, "The papers have been writing of Sam Wyche. The Sports Writers are SO UNKIND!"
Bless her most kind heart.
When i was working in washington dc, a police officer was telling us about an abuse case.
he said,
This one little boy had been beaten by his mom so badly
that they wanted to move him back to his fathers house.
 the kid started crying in court.
 the judge asked the kid what was wrong.
 the kid says, my Father beats me too.
the judge takes him into Chambers, says,
"Kid, your mom beats you, your father beats you, where do you want to live?"
the kid says, tearfully,
"I wanna go  live with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they don't beat NObody..."

That was the same year that Baltimore (orioles) could not win a game.
They went longer than anyone, i think, without winning a game in the opening of the season. 20 or 22 games i think.
they said,
"It ain't over till the fat lady sings, but in Baltimore, she sings the national anthem!!!!"

BADUM BING.

Lou Holtz is talking.
our nationally televised game.
 although he coached  
quite "success"fullly
Notre Dame,
Forever,
what HE says
is important,
 is,
 for
parents to raise good kids and for each father to make sure that his kids know
How much He loves their mother.

DAG NAB IT!!
another nebraska score.
sadness.
this game had the potential to put k-state in a SUHweet position.
They have been lucky, coasting on some lucky waves.
I was thinking maybe that
 Confidence might be imparted to the players, they might play above their level, a biological change might occur so that they might play actually worthy of a ranking, after getting it. (Hey, shout out to adrienne leslie-toogood. you should be directing a major university athletic program --but you  know...)

DAG NAB IT!! another nebraska score.
more people are entering the clarion.
they ran out of medicating liquor at home.

 The police are out in force, hoping for a clean party after the game, methinks.

The SANE SART nurses might fear a call tonight.

I do.


Some People had to carry their pets out of the floods of new orleans
after the Hurricane.
This is Just A Lil Football Game.

K-State Wildcats not Scaring Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Mew.

to feel better , see some KU pics here







Women's Safety and Privacy Perpetually Violated; Ahearn Fieldhouse no longer safe for women? The skill set of a first grader.

[The skill set of a second grader. When a reporter asked me, "is it the locker room placement?" i thought, for many decades men and women have been figuring this out OK, because we learned this in KINDERGARTEN]
The Ahearn Fieldhouse Locker Room is apparently not safe for women.
(Like every other building, apartment, parking lot, street, beach, hiking trail, bar, or festival; where women are being spied on, stalked, preyed upon, beaten, harassed, raped, or assaulted--)
I am in THIS instance referring to reports from K-State Faculty
that K-State women are now dealing with one more unsafe place:
 men have been coming into the Women's locker room in Ahearn.
Really?
 Can we not have any safe place?

ladies room EXPLANATION

From Dawn to Dusk...
We are already closing and locking our windows at night, keeping the beautiful Autumn air out of our homes and apartments.
We are already NOT
jogging at night, taking a solitary hike, or giving our acquaintances a ride home.
 (Because our acquaintances are raping us.)
We are already NOT able to leave a pepsi or beer unattended for 10 FREAKING minutes, lest we be drugged;
we are already NOT filming the sunrise or sunset alone at the lake.
We are already locking our doors and windows all day and all night.
We are already putting FEAR into our children in the hopes to keep them safe.
What the HELL is the matter with men, you ask?
(It isn't all men)
This is not the "fault" of anyone in charge-[[YET- because every new assault on our freedom, on our security, on our daily lives is addressed and dealt with. One by one.]]  I bet the folks in charge of Ahearn, of security, of campus safety, are decent people.  --( UPDATE- I should have said, i meant to say, i'd put money on the idea (and i guess i take for granted that in fact, those in charge are ) the cream of the crop and live lives of good service 
Maybe their blood boils too. But how long are we going to tell women to lower their risk-instead of looking at perpetrators?

Why just mop up
 the blood,
 one pool at a time, instead of looking at the growing problem?

Women keep coming forward, reporting, risking, showing their pain, and no one is held accountable.
Rape after rape, and no one is punished.
Beating after beating, and no one is punished.
If there is no punishment, why would a man prone to these behaviors stop?

When will women be rewarded for all the sacrifice of trying to have a safe life, of trying to make others' lives safer?
Reporting crimes is a hard thing to do.
It causes everyone you love great pain.
Many people won't believe you.
Those who report are afraid of retaliation.

We can't have a locker room!?
We can't be secure in our locker room now!?

Fu'Cryin' Out loud!
Please.
There is going to HAVE to be a more comprehensive look at violence against women.
There is going to HAVE to be a way that we look at the larger picture, and put some effort into the bullying culture that a large group are getting away with.
I am so tired
so ridden with
anger and sadness
frustration and feelings of bitterness
when sweet beautiful girls and women come to me
tricked violated hurt raped hit lied to spat upon and utterly disrespected as humans.
They are too young to see that it has nothing to do with them;
that these bullying selfish thugs manifest themselves where ever they can.

If a man is caught in Ahearn Fieldhouse Women's Locker Room, what will happen?
Will it be One Strike?
Will he get a WARNING?
This is your first Last Chance.
Will he be
immediately
expelled and banned from campus?
Or will someone believe him when he says,
"Oh, Man, I didn't know, i thought that was the men's."
I PROMISE you he will say that.
Which makes the fact that he was crouching
in a hiding place near the locker room  ok  why?

I'm going to wrap my head with duct tape now


UPDATE:
According to The President's Commission on the Status of Women, the administration in this area have jumped right on this. One, they are going to talk to the people who work in
the Natatorium and Ahearn in the evenings and make them aware of what's happened so they'll keep their eyes open. There will be further discussion on how to improve the safety of the area, and in the meantime, they will start locking the north entrance to the women's locker room at 5 p.m. Since it has a panic bar, women will still be able to leave through that door, but nobody will be able to come in. The south side gets more use in the evenings, so that should be easier to watch. Bruce Shubert said they will discuss the possibility of  adding security cameras at the doors to the locker room.


Holey MOLEY!!
a Collegian reporter just sent me some questions regarding this: among the questions was,

"Do you see this as part of a larger problem across campus with men targeting women or is this an issue of locker room placement within Ahearn? "


Low Goals???
Please, help me....
 
Stop

Sigh. Yes, there is a larger issue......


Successful sex segregation 
in bathrooms/locker rooms
since the 1950's

Monday, October 4, 2010

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Are you aware of the enourmous consequense of relational violence?

HERE is a research article about those who abuse.


Because he was my boyfriend

[so, He murdered my mother but it wasn’t really murder because he was my boyfriend. [He stole my car but it wasn’t theft because he was my boyfriend. He hit me in the eye but it wasn’t assault because he was my boyfriend.]
Actually
He raped me and forced me to do things I Did Not Want To Do

But They Said it wasn’t really rape because he was my boyfriend.



two sites i am going to look at today:

http://www.cpsdv.org/

http://www.mincava.umn.edu/documents/herstory/herstory.html

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Riley County Domestic Violence Task Force Remembrance Event: October 1, 2010--Silent Witness

At the Riley County Courthouse in Manhattan Kansas, a group of people gathered to remember how we lost women, men, and children:
Lost to violence committed by those who should have loved them most.
Relational violence is mind-bending,
 as the Power to Hurt and Control others is used to temporarily assuage inferior feelings.
What a loss; how sad for us. To hurt those of our own species, our mates, our co-parents, our children.
Well, you can read about the personality style that does this HERE.  You can learn more about Domestic Violence HERE and HERE.

Here are some pictures of the Remembrance event; The Crisis Center Inc invited the Community to come.
After the pictures are some facts about this horrible crime. Here is a youtube video of one of the stark and moving readings of the event.
.: click the video twice to enlarge.
When someone says,
"WHY DOESN'T SHE JUST LEAVE HIM?" please tell them that
women DO leave, and are beaten and killed, along with their children, when they do.


Click on pic to enlarge


The Crisis Center Inc Prepares for the Event

Lost to Violence

Speakers Prepare to Read the Crimes.
Detective Darla King became visibly moved
as she read of the loss of a law enforcement officer.

Riley County Courthouse



Judy Davis, Director of the Crisis Center Inc

A K-State Student

A male silouette marks the loss of a law enforcement officer

Why Doesn't she just Leave Him?

Our own Captain Don Stubbings, K-State Police

The Riley County Courthouse.
 Perhaps there would have been hundreds of people to mark the memory of those lost if this issue was more highly discussed in the media and lindsay lohan's exploits were left to her parents to discuss.
Among those attending the event were the SANE SART nurses, the mayor, members of the Flint Hills Sexual Assault Coalition, the county attorney, and the leaders of the RCPD, along with K-State Police, students from the K-State Women's Center, and others.



The Crisis Center Inc website is HERE.

October Is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month

The Silent Witnesses remind us that domestic violence – always harmful – is often lethal.
In Kansas, intimate partner homicides constituted
· 17 % of all homicides in 2004
· 11 % of all homicides in 2005
· 9 % of all homicides in 2006
· 10.5 % of all homicides in 2007
· 8.6 % of all homicides in 2008

From 1866 - 2007, 241 Kansas Law Enforcement Officers lost their lives in the line of duty. Fifteen of those officers were killed while intervening in domestic violence cases.
The Riley County Domestic Violence Task Force was formed late in 1995 to develop and sustain a coordinated, community-wide response to domestic violence. Task Force members are: Sunflower CASA, Crisis Center, Inc., Ft. Riley Family Advocacy Program, Pawnee Mental Services, Riley County Attorney, Riley County Court Services, Riley County Police Department, SRS, and Stepping Stones Child Advocacy Center.

For victims of sexual and domestic violence, the Crisis Center provides free, confidential assistance, 24-hours a day. If you or someone you know needs help, please call 1-800-727-2785.
Friday, October 1st  12:00 p.m.  Riley County Courthouse Plaza

We will unveil the silhouettes and share the stories of a dozen Kansas victims of domestic homicide, including members of our regional community.

Riley County Domestic Violence Task Force
A Project of the Crisis Center, Inc.
785/539-7935

Task Force members include representatives from:
CASA, Crisis Center, Inc., Ft. Riley Family Advocacy Program, KSU Family Center, KSU Police Department, Mercy Hospital, Pawnee Mental Health, Riley County Attorney, Riley County Court Service, Riley County Police Department, SRS, Stepping Stones Child Advocacy Center, Community Members


For more information about the Silent Witness Program, please visit http://www.silentwitness.net/

More info regarding domestic violence:
http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/we-are-reaping-what-weve-sown-violent.html

watch the oscar-winning film,  DEFENDING OUR LIVES if you ever can.
http://www.cambridgedocumentaryfilms.org/defending.html

Friday, October 1, 2010

sweetest friday

nap time, dinner time, date time, music time, time to get a dog?
Have a laugh.
Click pics to ENLARGE  more fridays HERE
 
baby with boston terrier
baby with jack russel


baby with giant mastiff
more mastiffs HERE




baby with golden retriever



pew pew

The Daily Farm Commute

Driving in farm country is its own reward. click to enlarge

Morning on the Farm

September morning



Tree on Fire