There is a war that
rages in all of us -

love versus hate

which will win
depends on which gets fed.

Tonight I received an unexpected message on AOL Instant Messenger from T, who I haven’t spoken a word to in over four years. To make a very long story short, we had quite a nasty falling out that came about in large part because of rather boorish and immature behavior on my part, and we didn’t speak nary a word to each other after all was said and done. To be honest, it was hard to lose a friend I’d known for several years, and I’m glad we had a chance tonight to start mending our fences.

One can never have too many friends, especially if those friends are quality people.

As the parent of a beautiful and brilliant autistic child, I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve often been a fierce advocate on behalf of my son and all those other individuals and families who’ve been affected by autism, and so I’d like to encourage all three or four of you who happen to read this blog on a regular basis to take a virtual test drive of an all-new Chevy Malibu in the month of April.

Chevrolet Will Donate up to $1 million to Autism Speaks when Consumers Take Virtual Test Drives of the All-New Chevy Malibu during Autism Awareness Month. If you go to “Help Chevy Help Autism” during April - which is Autism Awareness Month - and take a free virtual test drive of the 2008 all-new Chevy Malibu, you will directly help Chevrolet reach its goal of donating up to $1 million to Autism Speaks and its mission of support for individuals and families affected by autism, increasing awareness of autism, and raising money to fund autism research.

Chevrolet has committed to a minimum contribution of $500,000, but every virtual test drive taken gets Chevrolet closer to its ultimate goal of $1 million.

Click here to take your virtual test drive today.

Found on Craigslist:

Exercise pole, chrome, never was installed, in box $35

Near new pole, still in box, no dings, etc. Daughter moved out. I’m too big to use this. Adjustable, mounts to floor and ceiling.
Key words: stripper, exercise, health, pole

All I can say is yikes! I hope I’m never in a position where I have to put my stepdaughter’s stripper pole up for sale on Craigslist.

H/T to Kevin B. for linking me to the ad.

I could really go for some chocolate chip cookies right now. While I’m partial to Midwest Airlines’ chocolate chip cookies, I’d settle for any kind of cookies that contain chocolate chips.

In unrelated randomness, today was a beautiful day here in scenic South Milwaukee, with the temperature hovering right around 50 degrees. Because it was such a glorious day, Nick and I decided to venture out with a trip to the jungle gym and sandbox near our apartment complex, and we followed that up with a drive through Bender Park and Grant Park. Usually Nick has a hard time coming in from a trip outside, but today he came in the house with a smile on his face. It was nice to be able to spend some time outside with Nick, because I know he doesn’t get to go out enough when it gets nice out, and I’m hoping his therapy will have enough of an effect to allow him to spend some time outside this summer. I know his therapists are planning some outings while they’re here with him, and I really hope they’ll be able to work with him to teach him the skills he needs in order to be able to get by without serious problems during outings to the grocery store, the park, or anyplace else we want to take him.

I know Patti and her mom have a hard (read, impossible) time with Nick when they’ve tried to take him outside, so I really hope this summer will be a turning point.

So as I was taking a look at the Google Analytics stats for my other blog, I came across a listing of the search terms used by folks who found my blog. Ordinarily that’s nothing interesting, but included in today’s list was the following search term:

autistic kids naked

All I can say is there’s some sick people in this world.

And maybe I’ll start by cleaning the bedroom.

my garden

in the sun and in the rain
and in the day and in the night

pain is a flower
pain is flowers

blooming all the time.

So apparently Pam Anderson is seeking an annulment from hubbie Rick Salomon after just two months of marriage. By itself, that’s not really news to me, given how fragile celebrity marriages can be - if Pam Anderson and Rick Salomon can even really be considered full fledged celebrities any more - but what really summed up for me why Pam’s marriages just never seem to work out is the following statement:

I paid off a poker debt with sexual favors, and I fell in love,” Anderson said. “It’s so romantic.

Yeah, because nothing says romance like prostituting yourself to pay off a $250,000 gambling debt.

According to a cost estimate by the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Division of Executive Budget and Finance, the cost of health insurance coverage for autistic children whose parents already have insurance is about 10 million dollars.

That’s right, 10 million dollars is all it will take to make sure the therapy for each and every autistic child is ensured of being covered under their parents’ health insurance coverage. Now sure, 10 million dollars is a heck of a lot of money, especially considering our state’s current fiscal situation, but let’s put that 10 million dollars into perspective.

• Seven million dollars could get paper mill reopened in Park Falls, the largest community in the district of Republican Representative Mary Williams of Medford.
• Four million dollars could buy one - just one, no more than that - brand new soybean crusher for the district of Republican Representative Brett Davis of Oregon.

So sure, 10 million dollars is a lot of money, but so is the 11 million dollars in “persuasion” that some Assembly Republicans got in the last state budget. I know I’m biased, but if I had to choose between spending 10 million dollars on providing health insurance coverage to autistic children for the therapy they need or spending 11 million dollars on pet projects to get Republicans to vote for the state budget, I choose health insurance coverage for autistic children.