Now, it may come as no shock that my apartment complex is filled with, shall we say, people who are slightly further to the right than I. After all, I do pay my rent to Zions Property Investment and my office window is in the shadow of the Church Office Building.

Overall, I have no real problem with this, my neighbors are nice enough and I have had no real problems with them (aside from the screaming three-year-old that, despite our rather thick apartment walls, still manages to pierce through with loud shrieks and hollers).  But MRW did warn me of one neighbor in particular – yes, she told me of My Republican Neighbor.

MRW occasionally runs into MRN, and one time in particular she found herself in quite the interesting conversation. Apparently it wandered for a bit, but it made her cringe nearly top to bottom.  The problem was the cringe-worthy items came only after she revealed that I was, in fact, a filthy liberal who (at the time) was a double filthy community organizer.

Apparently, after that point, MRN was eager to meet me and discuss very subtle and refined points regarding the differences between the Republican and Democratic party platforms. That, or he wanted to try and corner me on gay rights and environmental issues. Ya know, one or the other.

Well, MRN finally caught up with me…post work out.

I did feel bad for the guy at first – and it wasn’t because he actually didn’t know how to respond to intelligent answers to his bullet-point questions.  No, no, I felt bad because (as MRW would be happy to point out, doing the laundry and all)  I was drenched in sweat. Now, I don’t know if MRN was just overly eager to talk to me, or just focused on my Peter Corroon for Governor T-shirt (great shirt to exercise in by the way), regardless – I had my earbuds in and didn’t hear him; so, to catch my attention, he may have slapped me on the back, getting a good amount of bodily fluids on him in the mean time.

Feeling obligated at that point, I proceeded to talk to him. And, well, he had some very…*cough* interesting ideas about what was wrong with the country (almost everything, unsurprisingly,  had to do with my political ideologies). He seemed utterly amazed that anyone could be a liberal, let alone be able to defend it.

The fact that I might actually know a thing or two about not only what I think, but where he is coming from, did quite the number on him.  At the end I doubt he will think twice about where he stands on issues, but at the very least he knows that there is at least one person out there who is willing to challenge him – and in the end, I have to smile at that.

I expect a few more encounters, and I will be sure to fill you in.

This past Saturday, MRW and I headed down to our local PetSmart with the intention of adding a new member to our family. We were motivated by my incessant shouting of “I WANT A KITTY!” and MRW’s relationship with a CAWS volunteer (who informed her of the adoption fair).

The night before we purchased some of the basics – litter box, litter, food, scraching post et al. and waited until the next day to make our decision.

Well, sure enough, we looked at a few of the kittens and cats that CAWS had available and finally decided on a beautiful 4 year old Russian Blue.  He has quite the personality and is a talker, but we are very happy with our decision.

Being a Russian Blue, we naturally racked our brains to come up with an appropriate name. Sure enough, MRW stumbled upon the name “Ruski” after much soul searching between the both of us. In short, it appears that our bipartisan marriage has produced an evil commie-pinko cat with socialist sympathies, and (I am sure) breaks the political power stalemate that has existed for the past year.

In all seriousness, though, please consider adopting from CAWS – they are a no-kill group that fosters animals until they can find a permanent home.  Ruski was a great find and our decision was not an easy one thanks to so many well adjusted animals. to learn more about CAWS, visit www.caws.org and learn how to make a donation.

Oh, and for future reference, Ruski will also be known as MCC (My Communist Cat).

Happy 4th of July!

Hey everyone, sorry for the long delay in actually posting something!

I know many of you…well some of you…well one of you…ok I don’t really know if any one noticed, but I sure did, that I have not put up a post for a good month.  But I do have my reasons, some more legitimate than others.

First and foremost, the pace at work picked up a bit and included many massive writing projects, sapping my creative (?) talents (??) and giving me little desire to write. Furthermore I took on an additional, temporary, board position that brought my total commission/committee membership (and the work associated with that) up to four. Finally, despite the wishes of MRW, I may have been irresponsible and purchased an xbox when she left town – needless to say an important decision on my part (gamertag agreenblinker if you are so inclined).

So I do have a few ideas cooking that are not redistricting related and you should start to see those guys get pumped out over the next few weeks. So sit tight – I am back in the mood to write and am ready to go!

Also, Blue in Red Zion turned 4 earlier this month – so I just wanted to say happy belated birthday blog – now go play Call of Duty: Black Ops (I hate it when parents dictated their children’s lives, I guess I will just have to do that myself).

I hear that that mean old socialist Obama is coming for your carrots! Good thing Representative Christopher Herrod (R – Provo – District 62) is proposing HB 249 – Growing of Food.

The bill would ensure that you would be able to grow your own food in your back yard.

Yup, that’s it, Representative Herrod wants to take up the State of Utah’s time and resources to ensure that you can have peas in your garden.

This all sprang forth from the feds moving passing the  Food Safety Modernization Act. Now, even though the the Food Safety Modernization Act specifically says that it does not affect things like home gardens, that apparently is not enough to ease the concerns of Herrod, the Tea Party, and the Eagle Forum.

AND I SAY THANK GOD!

I mean, just because a bill specifically says that it does not touch something, and just because no one with any rational thought would think that the feds will start digging up our beets, that isn’t enough by damn. Thank goodness Herrod wants to ensure you have a garden and that you can wave this bill in the face of those black suited men when they come knocking with shovels.

I just can’t wait for this law to show up on some sort of “stupid laws” website. I am just so glad we are talking about this and not about real things such as the budget or improving our schools.

Urgency Score:

Click here to contact Representative Herrod.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

At least that appears to be the mantra of Representative Ryan Wilcox (R – Ogden, District 7).

By pure coincidence, I am writing about Wilcox’s HB 114 – Utah Time Standardization Act exactly one year after I talked about the same bill when it was proposed by Representative Kenneth Sumsion.

Yup, nothing has changed from last year (aside from the name of the title of the bill). Wilcox wants to do what Sumsion couldn’t – take us off daylight savings.

I will reiterate the points I made last year. Odds are this is a pathetic attempt to shake our fists at the federal government and their oppressive spring forward liberal agenda.

Damn you Obama for forcing me to have one more hour I have to shut the blinds as I sit at home and watch tv. Curse you Nancy Pelosi and your communistic ways to reduce energy costs by not having to turn on as many lights. A hearty fist shake to Hillary Clinton and her socialistic agenda of encouraging people to go outside and meet people!

Sigh

I said it last year, and I say it again. Do we really need to spend an hour (even if it is an extra one) on such stupid legislation?

Urgency Score:

Click here to contact Representative Wilcox.

Remember, just because it is logical does not necessarily mean it is the only answer.

Oh, wait, that is every session…

BUHL – Diane K Boyd, 69, of Buhl, passed away peacefully at home with her family close by Friday Dec. 24, 2010.

She was born on February 21, 1941, in Boise, Idaho, to Oren and LaVerne Hutton of Twin Falls, Idaho. Diane grew up throughout Idahoand spent most of her childhood living around the Snake Riverin southeast Idaho. Diane graduated from Wendell High School and attended college at Boise Junior College and San Jose State University.

Diane had a long and very successful career at Sears, which began in Twin Falls, Idaho. In 1979, she moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband, Mick Boyd, as both of them enjoyed good career moves. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Diane accelerated her career as a department manager as well as an executive manager in charge of the western regional buying office for home appliances which gave her the opportunity to transfer to Seattle, Wash. Her continued success earned her another promotion as store manager in Pocatello, Idaho. She had a reputation of being a very strong female executive with many “first woman” accomplishments, as well as being a strong motivational speaker. Diane retired from Sears with admiration and recognition from her peers and executives throughout the company.

Diane’s decision to retire was led by her passion for life and desire to spend more time with family as well as use her strong business acumen to give back to the community. As the Twin Falls executive director of the United Way, she worked closely with community organizations and businesses and was successful in her fundraising efforts as well as introducing the Success by 6 program to Twin Falls. Diane became more involved in volunteer work after working with the United Way. She always had an affection toward mentoring others. She was a member of the College of Southern Idaho Foundation Board of Directors which raises funds for scholarships. She was also on the board of directors for Idaho State AARP. As a director, she met regularly with the Idaho State senators in Washington, D.C., to advocate for senior citizens. Beyond the three organizations mentioned she was also on the State Board for Girls Scouts of America for Idaho, involved in business development for Gooding County, member of organizations such as Mentor Club, PEO, and the Boys and Girls Club.

Diane loved to read and play bridge with her friends. She also enjoyed traveling with her husband to Hawaii and Tucson and on cruises. She enjoyed hosting parties and socializing with family and friends. She had a very strong sense of fashion and design as she loved to design and decorate her house and others. She always enjoyed shopping with friends and her daughter. She was known to love fast cars.

Diane had compassion for people especially as she mentored or talked with women who were breast cancer patients to help them cope and get through the treatments as well as side effects.

She is survived by her husband, Kenneth “Mick” Boyd of Buhl, Idaho; her children, Gary (Jennifer) Scholl of Des Moines, Iowa, Toni Bowen (Lonny) Attebery of Salt Lake City, Utah, Connie Lupton of Boise, Idaho, Lisa (Paul) Haring of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Kris (Glenn) Barrett of Boise, Idaho, her sibling, Larry (Vicki) Hutton of Star, Idaho; and nine grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Oren and LaVerne Hutton; and her son, Jerry Scholl.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 30, at White Mortuary “Chapel by the Park,” with Pastor Chris Reinke officiating.

Memorial contributions may be made in Diane’s memory to the College of Southern Idaho Foundation: College of Southern Idaho, P.O. Box 1238, Twin Falls, ID 83303-1238 or the Boys and Girls Clubs of Magic Valley, 999 Frontier Road, Twin Falls, ID 83301.
The family would like to thank friends and neighbors for the compassion they have shown with food, phone calls and visits as well thanks to all of the staff at Mountain States Tumor Institute and St. Luke’s Hospice.

Published Tuesday, December 28, 2010 in the Times-News of Twin Falls, Idaho

My grandmother was an astounding woman and words do not express how much I will miss her.

Love you Grandma