Break From Spring Break!

These last couple of weeks have been absolutely crazy. I've been on Spring Break, which normally is nice, as I can relax, be lazy, and put off for two more weeks what I had planned to do during the time that I have off. My first week I was racked with a nasty cold. Thanks, son. Oh, well. I was on daddy duty and the two of us had a fun time together, regardless of our health. I've watched some cool stuff. All About Eve, the two volumes of music videos of the Boss (must say that the 80s Born in the U.S.A. sure brought me back to my junior high years!), Garden State, which is the best movie I've seen this year, and Control Room, a documentary about Al Jazeera's coverage of the first month of the Bush War. Extremely interesting and highly recommended as well. A cool St. Patrick's Day party with neighbors and friends, and a couple over for dinner on Saturday. Since then, things have sucked. On Tuesday, we had to put our cat to sleep, which came totally unexpectedly. Our pet, Miss Emma, developed a kidney infection and more or less hid it from us until it was too late. Several hundred dollars and no improvement later, we decided that Emma's health was not in good enough condition to keep living. Putting her down was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. She was the only pet that Heather and I have had as a couple, and we considered her our little baby until our son arrived. I know that we as Americans have developed such a strange attachment to our animals (look at the chain of pet stores, car accessories, and new leash laws to see how we've made them parts of our families) and are willing to anything to keep them alive. Very similar to people; in fact, we probably spend more to keep our pets alive and healthy than we do to others who need assistance financially and medically. The night before we had to make our decision, we were able to see Anne Lamott read from her new book, Plan B, in Berkeley. Truly wonderful. This author knows how to reflect the true pain, joy, wonder, doubt, and faith of the human condition, and her new book is no different than the other books in her canon. An irreverent Christian who loves God but refuses to deny her humanity, Lamott seeks to be a better person and starts by accepting her own personhood as beautiful and "good enough". I love her writing, her politics, and her philosophies on life. Fitting that I was able to see my favorite author in the midst of a really low point in my own life. And yet, a silver lining to the cloud this week; she has a chapter titled This Dog's Life in which she discusses how she needed to put her own beloved pet down and how animals touch us in a way that we'll never forget them. I'll always love my cat and project that love into new pets, people, and the world around me, since something other than another human being chose to show love and acceptance of me.