[Gossamer's Scrapbook] The Ethereal Canyon I

[Paragon]

So how's the baby!? I demand you get on here and give us lots of stories and pics now. Oh wait, you're probably super busy with him aren't you! Anyhow, let us know all the details when you can, and here's a cake to say congratulations. It can be an early birthday cake if you'd like too! I thought it was very Drykas-y.

[Aidara]

Just want to be the first to point out 100 pages of scrapbook

Ridiculous.

[Gossamer]

. Baby Pictures Because well you asked and I'm a proud momma! First, the ever important homecoming video. I showed it to Jules already and it seemed to make her and everyone on my FB laugh, so without further ado... Drifter being introduced to a herd of horses that haven't had a new one in their posse for years. Then of course, tons of pictures. We need to take some of Matt and I with him, but so far we've just been the ones taking pictures. He's such a good boy. He's had nothing but adventure for the past two days hes been home. So, for those of you not up on the goings on... I adopted a racehorse. He's a 17hh thoroughbred, 8 years old, and 1680lbs. He's sweet as apple pie and about as gentle as a kitten. Drifter has a sad story. He was a washout at the track for being to big and lazy. Then he was sold at auction to folks that wanted to turn him into some fancy mexican dancing horse. That didn't work so well so he was discarded and starved in very muddy conditions. He was horribly abused and rescued by Rolling Bay Rescue in Everette, Wa one day before he was supposed to be shipped to a slaughter auction. At the rescue he's been babied and rehabilitated with a wicked cracked open hoof (the crack was all the way up his foot into his fur) on a 'maybe won't survive' basis. But he not only survived but thrived, after being on Bute (a horsie pain killer) for two months solid and having his foot living in a rubber boot with constant medicine packed into it. And he once he was ready for adoption, the rescue which I'd been friends with for a while started sending me pictures (because I'm a sucker and mentioned I'd never adopt a rescue horse ever unless one came along that was the size of a abrams tank) to lure me in. They convinced me to come see him (which wasn't hard... road tripping for horse stuff is always a go!) and even Gillar was charmed. Even though I have a four stall barn, we made him a lovely enclosure with a horseport (you park a horse under it right? not a car...) and decided he'd be fine there so long as he has a warm winter blanket (which is in the mail). Thus he came home yesterday... and we adore him already. Drifter is a big boy. I had to describe him to a friend as a normal sized horse someone blew up in Photoshop to the size of a draft. He's truly a gentle giant too. His color is deep bay with absolutely no white points. He turns blood red in the right light or against the sunset. He has black shadowing and black points which is common with bays. So without further ado, here he is! This last one I just threw in here to give you guys some scale of how huge this boy is. That's him on the left standing next to a very average to large sized 15.3 thoroughbed mare. .

[Phoenix]

I still think hes gorgeous no matter how badly photogenic he is. You can see the beauty behind the bad picture he takes!

ALSO EVERY TIME I WATCH THIS VIDEO, I LAUGH HYSTERICALLY AT TUCKER TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH THEM, Braying.

hahahahahahhahahahaha

[Laszlo]

Oh god. I totally lost it when the donkey bayed. That was hilarious.

[Gossamer]

. Donkey's Bray! Grammar Nazi's aside, I have my own pet peeves with regards to horses and donks. Reins are the things attached to the bit. Kings reign over their kingdoms. And of course Donkey's bray... with an 'r'. Dogs bay - and folks on the computer 'bay' too. Though that's not to say that mini donkeys wouldn't bay if they could figure out how to use a computer, which of course is the slang for shopping on ebay. They sell stuff like jollyballs and horse treats so I'm sure they'd be motivated enough to do their thing there. Lord knows, though there's been no case studies as far as I know, that they are smart enough. Ours likes to rambo under the fence, masquerade as a dog ("no donkey here, just us dogs playing in the yard..."), and lead midnight sortees into the barn to get extra grain - or in the case of a few nights ago - chicken feed. Mini donkeys are hellishly protective and basically awesome at guarding even full sized horses from things like coyotes and feral packs of Pomeranians. In case anyone is interested too, here's my FB update for today about how Drifter is doing with the herd. I won't include the wise-ass comments about basketball abuse without boarders going to come get me either. Drifter is currently playing ball with a mini donkey - I think - though the ball is now totally flat and just a pizza shaped piece of rubber. He's not sure how to play ball, but he runs when the donkey chases him with the basketball in his mouth (yes he can pick it up even inflated), and then he turns and paws at it when the donkey drops it at his feet unexpectedly. He's sniffed it, booted it, and then has turned and followed the donkey not quite chasing as the donkey kicks the ball across the field. And then they both rolled on it together in some sort of horsie dude rite. I think that constitutes playing. Though, RIP basketball, you didn't survive the almost 1700 lb TB rolling on you and now join the other flat basketball out in the pasture. .

[Laszlo]

Oh goodness, you got me there. xD

It was really quite fascinating watching them get together. The playful dark ones made me laugh too (like a mischievous pair of twins). That big one has her hooves full it looks like.

[Phoenix]

I'm one of those weird people who put voices to the animals in my head when I watch videos like that.

But I'll spare you all.

[Gossamer]

. The Whole 'Sexuality' Thing. Yes, I'm saying that in a very very annoying tone. So it seems okay that people inundate their scrapbooks about issues on what they do in the bedroom, like any of us even care. I recently loved a post by our beloved Ron (whom someone pointed me too knowing I'd love it since I avoid most scrapbooks that talk about sexuality like the plague - or conversely scrapbooks that are filled with how much the scrapper loves themselves and their pcs), intrepid DS of Ravok, which in essence threw out the whole 'Who cares? Why is this a big deal?" aspect. I laughed, agreed with a lot of what he said, and could have cheered. It was about time someone said something to that fact. I'm actually of that nature too. The whole truth is I find discussions of sexuality, who gets to marry who, who's stooping who, and who should have rights boring. Yea, I said it. Boring. Why? Because as citizens of this country you already have rights. Any discrimination that can be proved is awarded on in a court of law, regardless of what sort it is be they gender issues, sexuality issues, religious issues, etc. And frankly, I don't want it in my face. Woah... what? Wait? Did I just say that? Yup. I was that girl in highschool that HATED the Captain of the Football team macking on the Cheerleader Captain in the hallway and always threw them the 'drop dead' look as I nerdily waltzed by intent on my studies. I don't care what sex you are. I don't care what sex your attracted too. I don't even care if you think your the wrong sex and want to change that. To me, its no big deal - go be happy, just don't break any laws doing it. If you can't get married in your state, sure work to change it if you want to get married... but since you haven't conformed to anything else considered 'normal' why do you want marriage so badly? Are you striving for normal? And what happens when gay marriage is legal all over the US like it will be someday soon? What will you have to fight and what will you want to do next? Where's the next battle? Is about rights or something totally different? Like making noise and causing a scene because you love the spotlight so much? It's my birthday so I get to be as vocal as I want. Actually, I get to be as vocal as I want any day... but today I'm feeling particularly bold. Here's the deal. I honestly don't care... what you do so long as you aren't breaking any laws. I just don't want to be inundated by your sexual issues when there's no need. I really find all the drama surrounding these issues unnecessary - read in the newspaper, seen on youtube, heard on TV, expressed in rallys etc. Companies are scared shitless to discriminate. Insurance venues just want headcounts on the books and don't care who the policy holder is or who is the beneficiary (and close to 75% or more recognize domestic unions or non-marriage legal partnerships). Inheritance in a will can be given to anyone via a legalized Will. Anyone can buy a house together or jointly own property. You can give power of attorney over you to anyone you want. Visiting hours at hospitals recognize GLBT relationships and have to let you in. And why are our lawmakers having to spend so much time on what I think should be a non-issue when there's a huge global problem of unemployment, poverty, and a thousand other things that effect EVERYONE. So WTF is the big deal? Seriously. I know everyone has a cause. I have a few myself. But I think a lot of GLBT folks are doing themselves a disservice with all the vocalizations. Remember, your a minority and the majority of people don't really give a rats ass. That's the cold hard facts. I have to live with it in terms of issues of animal abuse, hunting, etc. I have to live with folks not being accepting or tolerant of fat. So what if your gay? I'm fat. I'm female. I'm Native. I bet that opens a whole new can of worms you gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders have never even remotely had to deal with. And that's not even discussing religious discrimination. So one little country in Africa murders men for being gay. The whole of Eastern Europe used to murder people for being Jewish... and the Jews still haven't found peace in the middle east even with the establishment of Israel. I feel for them, like I feel for countries suffering from poverty, tyranny, and a whole host of other things etc. Hell, I even feel for the Christians in the US whom I think are some of the most discriminated against folks anywhere. Think being gay is hard? Try being a white christian male under the age of thirty. Everyone gets hired before them to make quotas. Everyone pays lower insurance rates than them. They get shafted routinely and you never hear about it. Why are we hearing about gay rights so much? Lets talk about something really important. Let's talk about kids getting through the school system here in this country without being able to read? Lets talk about poverty and people starving in this country - one that's supposed to be one of the most wealthy on the planet? Lets talk about being fat over a cheeseburger, a 42 oz soda, and some piping hot french fries. It makes about as much sense. So I saw a video today.. loved it, wanted to share it, but now I think it deserves its own post rather than becoming lost in this one. Sorry I got sidetracked on how annoying I find GLBT issues - not that I find gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgenders annoying - why the fuck do you guys let people lump you all together anyhow? That would annoy me too. Seems to me being lesbian is vastly different than being gay or transgendered or just wanting to stoop everything that you think is hot regardless of gender (Yea.. I'm waving at you my buddy who I won't name here for obvious reasons - you can take credit if you want later). I wanted to say something earlier, but sometimes you really need a catalyst. Ron's blatent honestly I think reflects the majority of the opinion out there and on this site. People just don't voice it because they are afraid of certain individuals not thinking they are clones enough to fit in. Or, conversely they are straight and want to talk about it all the time in some underlying need to be seen as cool or hip on the issues. Whatever. Motivations like that are always kinda shallow and seen through instantly. Me, on the other hand, could care less - either of what you think of my opinion or of what you think of me. I'll have fun regardless. .

[Gossamer]

. Best Fat Video Ever OMG Jen just said the word FAT... OMG OMG OMG! A new blog I'm reading (by Amanda) which I found looking for a T-Shirt in hot pink that read "Easy Keeper" on it (horse joke... nevermind you non-horsey peeps) left me laughing and kinda happy and wanting to share it with the other fluffy people on the forum. I can use the term plus-sized, fat, or even supersized without holding my breath or worrying about judgement. People will judge regardless. You can't stop them and you probably shouldn't try to influence their judgement. It's just a no-win situation either way. They like what they like or they don't like what you like... or or or. Maybe I'm emboldened because I routinely contribute to a Plus Sized Rider Forum and well am used to talking to and about horse lovers and their issues when those horse lovers are larger people - men, women, children. That Amanda had this posted on A Fat Girl and a Fat Horse blog left me laughing and I had to share it with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It is a small victory against someone saying something like... "OMG I was so mean to myself and my body today by eating a jr. whopper! I'll regret it and exercise it off for days." Yea.. someone said that to me recently and I just about come unglued. I was super proud of myself for not saying a word... but seriously? You are being mean to your body eating a jr. Whopper with about five calories? Go get a fucking LIFE person with image issues! And watch this video. You might learn something. "STOP PUTTING LIFE ON HOLD!" .