Quote of the day:

We must dissent from the fear, the hatred, and the mistrust. We must dissent from a nation that buried its head in the sand waiting in vain for the needs of its poor, its elderly, and its sick to disappear and just blow away. We must dissent from a government that has left its young without jobs, education, or hope. We must dissent from the poverty of vision and timeless absence of moral leadership. We must dissent, because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better.

-Thurgood Marshall, US Supreme Court Justice (2 Jul 1908-1993)

Eva referred once to the fireworks all last month as "Moonpie's aversion therapy"

and... well... she's not wrong. Moonie's definitely tolerating the explosions a lot better now than she did last year. I've had to carry her home on multiple walks, but I can get her out the door during the daytime, at least, and she's playful in the house instead of curled up into a miserable, shivering ball.

I still want to murder all my neighbors.

Poetry Foundation's Poem of the Day for today:

America
By Claude McKay

Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,
And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth,
Stealing my breath of life, I will confess
I love this cultured hell that tests my youth.
Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,
Giving me strength erect against her hate,
Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.
Yet, as a rebel fronts a king in state,
I stand within her walls with not a shred
Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer.
Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,
And see her might and granite wonders there,
Beneath the touch of Time’s unerring hand,
Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.

Now my crazy neighbor across the street

is screaming about somebody being a goddamn traitor and a murderer. I wish I knew who he meant.