Further response...

Is always appreciated...


Maaron Uccolough writes:

The Deicide thing was an invention of the middle-ages. The patristics cooked it up as part of a anti-jewish program motivated by what one might call "tradition-envy." I don't think anyone would insist that the conviction and persecution of the historical jesus had nothing to do with jews (and romans). But the real kicker, for medieval thought was the part about jews somehow 'knowing' that jesus was the true messiah but not wanting to let go of the law and the jewish heritage (closed community, etc.) So, the early christian church accused judaism of hypocrisy and deceit. The christian view of history made it a simple leap from this kind of ethnic post-figuration to present and pre-figurations of jewish faith as anti-christian. It should be ancient history, of course, but for many it isn't. Just ask george w. bush. He thinks zionism's great, because once we consolidate all the jews in one place, we can have a mass conversion and history can end. No more pesky questions about WMDs, etc. This is the medieval mind at work in the politics of the present.

Indeed!

Sometimes the response...

Is smarter than that which prompts the response...


A brilliant friend of mine just wrote to me, in reply to The Passion of Laurel (Everyone's Jew).

We'll call her Waria Meidner.

She said:

One thing I've never understood, though, is the deicide business (I've seen it mentioned in the papers a lot in relation to this movie). They say it's a fundmental tenet of anti-semitism but it just doesn't make any sense. I was remember being taught the following in Catholic school:

1. God makes the world. God makes a guy. God makes a girl. She bites an apple and shares and that's original sin and now we all are marked forever with it and we have to die.

2. But God loves us. So he decides to send his Son (who is, inexplicably, also Him) to save us and make the ultimate sacrifice--he has to hang out and act like one of us (which he is, yet, inexplicably, isn't) and he has to die, and miserably, to save us all. NOTE: God is God, but also, inexplicably, a boy, a He.

3. Repeat. Jesus had to die or we would be damned. Forever (world without end, amen). But he did (die) (for us). So we're saved, but only if we accept, recognize and duly express gratitude (though that's something of an understatement) for the amazing sacrifice he made for us because he loves us (He being Jesus but also the whole Trinity, inexplicably).

4. So all the business of who killed him (assuming you buy all this stuff in the first place) is immaterial. He had to die if the sinners (that would be everyone that's ever lived) were going to even have a chance for salvation, so one might say it's all our faults for being sinners in the first place BUT if we're really gonna talk about who killed who the buck stops with the BIG GUY. He did it. Second grade logic:

1. Adam and Eve commit original sin, which is dumb, but it's not like they said: "Hey, God, send your only Son (who is, inexplicably, yourself) down here to save our sorry asses from the fires of hell." I would venture they didn't even know that was an option, given that THEY weren't the ones establishing the order of things.

2. The whole I'll send my son/myself to die (and miserably) to save you guys was His idea and if you're going to talk about the roles played by Jews or Romans at the particular moment in history, you could only say they were pawns. God had already made up his mind to have his son/himself killed to save us all and business. Which can only lead one to conclude that God is guilty of deicide...and suicide...and whatever the -cide is when you kill your own kid. But he did it for us. But it was his idea.

This presumes he's as powerful as they say he is. That is, this presumes that he is God. If he isn't, he isn't. But then all the arguments fall apart and Jesus was just a charismatic noisy guy who met his end at the hands of a brand of justice that may or may not have not been particularly just. It's a shame, but it happens every day. Even here (what a shocker).

That wraps up what I thought when I was little (with a little elaboration at the end). I think it now. But in trying to pursue the logical end to this I ended up with one last question:

(1) Killing is a sin. (2) All things ending in -cide are killing (3) God (the Christian god) committed several kinds of -cide (killing) in the process of saving us all from our sins.

QUESTION: When Jesus died, did he save his dad (and, inexplicably, himself) from the sins they were committing against eachother and themselves to save us all?

I don't know. But I hate bigots and I don't think that's a sin, either.

Eh? What do YOU think?

What a weird and wonderful...

Day I'm having...


New poems up! Right now! Today!

At Unpleasant Event Schedule, thanks to the remarkable Dan Nester...

Wheeeee Hoooooooooo!

The revealer...

Is revealed...

Jeff Sharlet, Buddha-killer extrordinaire, offerend to pay me if I'd write something about all the wack-job phone calls I've been getting about THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST.

So, of course I did it. I mean hey, he offered me 30 pieces of silver!

No, seriously, I'm proud... Read THIS!

I wish I was...

In Dixie...




Hoorray! Hoorray!

(Built in 1894 and selling for less than 80K)

Hooray! Hooray!

Kembrew...

Is on fire...

U of Iowa Professor to Join Copyright Civil Disobedience Planned February 24th

Contact:
Kembrew McLeod – kembrew@kembrew.com
Phone – 319-621-4620

Also:
Downhill Battle (www.dowhillbattle.org)
Holmes Wilson - hw@downhillbattle.org
Phone: 508-963-7832 / Fax: 775-878-0379
Grey Tuesday (www.greytuesday.org)

DOWNLOAD THE "GREY ALBUM" AT BOTTOM OF PAGE

DOWNHILL BATTLE (February 24, 2004) – In defiance of dozens of cease-and-desist
letters already served, University of Iowa professor Kembrew McLeod will join a
large coalition of websites in an online protest that will offer free downloads
of a critically acclaimed album that is being censored by a lawsuit threat from
EMI Records. The action is an act of civil disobedience against a copyright
regime that routinely suppresses musical innovation. The Grey Album, which
remixes Jay-Z's Black Album and the Beatles' White Album, has been hailed as an
innovative hip-hop triumph, but EMI sent cease-and-desist letters to any Web
site that offers it for free.

This Tuesday, "Grey Tuesday," a coalition of hundreds of sites, including the
non-UI-affiliated Kembrew.com -- http://kembrew.com -- will offer free
downloads of the Grey Album, and turn their pages grey, to take a stand against
a copyright regime that serves neither musicians nor the public interest. "Grey
Tuesday will be the first protest of its kind," said Downhill Battle co-founder
Holmes Wilson, "The major record labels have turned copyright law into a
weapon, but participants in this action will be ignoring EMI's threats and
insisting on the public's right to hear innovative new music."

"EMI isn't looking for compensation, they're trying to ban a work of art," said
Downhill Battle's Rebecca Laurie. "The record industry has become a huge drag
on creativity and it's only getting worse -- it's time to take a stand." The
Grey Album has been widely shared on filesharing networks such as Kazaa and
Soulseek, and has garnered critical acclaim in Rolling Stone (which called it
"the ultimate remix record" and "an ingenious hip-hop record that sounds oddly
ahead of its time"), the New Yorker, the Boston Globe (which called it the
"most creatively captivating" album of the year), and other major news outlets.

"It's clear that this work devalues neither of the originals. There is no
legitimate artistic or economic reason to ban this record, and this is just
arbitrary exertion of control," said Nicholas Reville, Downhill Battle co-
founder. "The framers of the constitution created copyright to promote
innovation and creativity. A handful of corporations have radically perverted
that purpose for their own narrow self interest, and now the public is fighting
back."

The reporters and news outlets that reviewed the Grey Album have obtained it
illegally from filesharing networks. "If music reviewers have to break the law
to hear new, innovative music, then something has gone wrong with the law,"
said Laurie. "Remixes and pastiche are a defining aesthetic of our era. How
will artists continue to work if corporations can outlaw what they do?" said
Reville. "Artists, writers, and musicians have always borrowed and built upon
each other's work -- now they have to answer to corporate legal teams." College
and noncommercial radio stations will also be participating in Tuesday's action
by playing the Grey Album in its entirety (possibly along with the Jay-Z and
Beatles sources).

In preparation...

For moving back down south...


(which isn't actually something we're planning to do yet, only something we dream about)

I took this QUIZ

And I discovered that, despite having been born and raised North of the Mason-Dixon, and despite the last 5 years in the middle-west, I am still (just barely)...

A DIXIE GIRL!

Yee-haw!

Now if only I could find a job back in Chattanooga...

In case you live under a rock...

And you don't know anything...


There's an intensely wonderful guy named Lee Klein, and he edits an intensely wonderful website called eyeshot.net...

And one of the stories from his wonderful site has been nominated for an award I've never heard of...

But hey! Awards are nice, and if anyone deserves an award, it's Lee...

So, if you have a sec, go HERE

and vote for the story, which is called You Are a 14-Year Old Arab Chick Who Just Moved to Texas."

... if, after reading it, you feel compelled to do so!

So far on the present front...

I've received some stuff...


And may I say that I've kept up with the thank you notes, of which my mother is likely proud... I remember back to Bat Mitzvah days, and being forced to write... over and over...

Dear Mrs (Oberfelder/Kahn/Shreiber, etc.)

Thank you very much for the (bracelet/fancy pen/book). It is very thoughtful of you, and just what I wanted. I will think of you each time I )wear/write with/ read) it. Best wishes!

Sincerely,

Laurel Snyder

And really... not much has changed. But today I got the best yet. From Marvin Bell, yet! I got a bottle (a really cool one) of olive oil from the Greek Islands. ... with a card:

Some Greece for your salad days.

How cool is that?

Another cool one was the gift certificate to the hardware store near our house. My kind-o-gift...

Dear Marvin,

Thank you so much for the olive oil. It is very thoughtful, and just what I wanted. I will think of you when I pour it on things. Best wishes...

Bewildered goats...

Lost at a party...


So, I just picked up Brad Land's new (which is to say first) book, and then spent all night reading it!

It's fantastic! And when I say fantastic, I mean breathless and upsetting and WOW!

So why don't you go HERE and check out the lay of the LAND...

Then go HERE and buy the dang thing.

Heck, buy a couple to give to your friends... now before they're all gone.

Eep. Now I can't sleep a wink. The fox haunts me.

(See, if you'd already read the book, you'd know what I was saying... then you could call me and we could talk about the book)

John Waters Donations...

Redux...


Anthony makes a good point, though I certainly don't want his money, since he doesn't have very much of it...

But you, yes, YOU! You have money. And if you want to send some to me, you can mail your tax-deductible donation to:

University of Iowa Hillel

And write "BIGOT?" on the memo lines, so it doesn't go to the Elders of Zion or to Alan Dershowitz, or tothe Jews controlling the music industry or some shit.

Ha!

That was a joke. Really, it was a joke. The Jews don't control the music industry.

Now turn off the computer and forget everything I just told you. Shhhh.

Move on...

I said MOVE ON...


Hey fellow Iowans (and everyone else too)! Call your senators and tell them to censure the BUSHINATOR. Call em now, before you forget.

Call:

Senator Grassley
Local Phone: 515-284-4890

Senator Harkin
Local Phone: 515-284-4574

and then write to let Moveon know you called...

Write to them HERE!

Move ON!

Right ON!

John Waters...

In Iowa... in a few short weeks... and badly needed, as a young Chinese woman and her white boyfriend were accosted in this fine town recently.

Some thugs calling out "Chink" and making monkey sounds beat the shit outta them.

For real! In Iowa in 2004! Faces broken irreparably in many places! Ugh!

Attendez! Attendez! Attendez!

Now, the hotel is confirmed, the flight is booked, and the roundtables are set thusly:

The First Amendment—how to know the truly tasteless from the actually illegal
11:00- 1:00 Penn State Room


Flip It and Reverse It—does it matter who’s telling the joke?
1:00-2:00 Northwestern Room


The Audience Factor— “But we’re all Jewish/ black/ gay/ female here!”
2:00- 3:00 Ohio State Room



Keynote Address—John Waters on Shock Value
8:00-9:00 Second Floor Ballroom


Meet and Greet to follow the Keynote Address.
Mr. Waters will be happy to sign autographs!

And we still need funds badly, so if you're really rick and reading this, please send me a big fat donation... seriously, or John Waters might repo my car!!!

Ahoy....

Celebrities beware...


I dunno. Do you guys think this is kosher? Is it even legal?

Today I'm sending out MORE WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENTS!!!

But this time I'm sending out to the rich and famous.

Oprah! Oliver Stone! People with names like Rockefeller!

And in the coming days, I will report back to you... and let you know whether these incredibly fortunate people have found it in their hearts to send cards to lil ol me!

Yip and DOUBLE YIP!



Who says we can't?

Not sure how/why...

But Jason is now a sexpert...

So check out Schneiderman's sex tips...

Yow-ZA! Mrowr kitty!

Thank you to Left Pedal...

For these drops of good...




which can befound here!!!

Begging...

Sucks...


As you may or may not know, I'm bringing John Waters from my hometown (GO Os!) to Iowa in two weeks. And because of university cuts, we're having to beg for cash, from friends and family.... from local businesses.

And it's worth it, because John Waters is da bomb!



But still...

It sucks.

If I ever, ever, ever think I want to go back into development/fundraising...

Shoot me!

In other news, I put my silly Breadloaf packet in the mail today...

Have you ever been to Breadloaf? It's the most magical place in the world. What, with all the wine and the blueberries and the poems and the mountains and the hikes and the silliness. And this year Dean Young and Tony Hoagland and Heather McHugh and Brigit Pegeen Kelly will all be there... none of whom were there the last time I went.

So cross your fingers for me. It's a long shot. And you should apply too! For real... it's magic.

In still other news, NO RIVER CITY comes to town tonight to play at the Mill. You should GO!

They're the best! Accordian and cello. Yum!

Man, am I ever gushy today!

Return to the land...

Of poems...


I was asked to TEACH!! Just for today... I'll be teaching someone else's poetry class while they go meet their new grandbaby.

It was SO FUN to prepare!

I spent the morning copying and snipping poems and making a worksheet... the jigsaw fun of fitting as many poems on a copy as possible. And it was so familiar, so tactile...

It took me back to college... back to when I used to help Rick (Jackson) get prepped for workshop. A pretty happy time (in many ways ) for me.

And it made me want to teach poetry. Really BAD!

Maybe someday I'll climb that ladder. Maybe.

Maybe someday, like next year, when we move to the Southeast, I'll apply for teaching jobs.

But for now, I'm off. With my old friends, Berryman, Tate, OHara, and Holub.

To class!!!!!

So like, Wow...

Other people seem to feel pretty strongly about this...


One particularly (strong) smart response came from a friend...

who shall remain nameless. But I'll call him Schnason Jeiderman.

Schnason wrote:

1) I think you are much too kind to Mel Gibson

As you point out, he is participating in a tradition
(Passion Play, Mission) that has actively led to the
brutalization (understatement) of the Jewish People
for Two Millenia. The fact that he seems concerned
about continuing the tradition but not continuing the
violence is part of his own miscalculation.
Regardless of the premise from which he acts, the
action he is taking is wrong, and the very fact that
steps one through four indicate that he has no real
concern for anyone's brutalization (he seems to seek
out his own martyrdom in film role after film role) as
inconsequential compared to the ablutionary effects of
that brutalization. He is pushing for a continued
collective judgement of jews (OK-- I haven't seen the
film, and I understand he is removing the scene in
which the jews demand that jesus be killed), and
collective judgement (and it's consequence, collective
punishment) are intellectually faulty. As Hannah
Arendt points out (and she is speaking of the Germans
after world war II), where everyone is guilty, no one
is guilty. In the case of actual offenders, they are
lessened to the status of the group. In the case of
the group, they are punished for what they have not
done.

Also, let's not forget that in the same historical
moment, we lost ten martyrs to the Romans, all of whom
died in ways as horrible and gruesome as Jesus. And
ours didn't come back from the dead. My point is not
to play "the suffering game" to point out that we
suffered more than they did (we were in fact, more or
less the same at that point), but rather to point out
the skewed nature of the narrative, which priveleges
Christian suffering and refuses to portray Jewish
suffering, despite its proximity and depth. In
suggesting that this is the only martyrdom of note, it
erases the simultaneous suffering of our people,
blames Jesus's suffering squarely on us, and then
suggests that perhaps we ought to suffer in the way we
are accused of having caused Jesus to suffer. I think
there's something of the battered "Why do you make me
hit you?" spouse syndrome here.

Inherent in his theology is the idea that we are going
to hell. Why on earth would we legitimate that idea?
I'm not sure we are obligated to have any sort of
civil discourse with someone who believes that.

Also, as you point out-- his beliefs specifically deny
the importance of reason. So why try to reason with
them?

2) Prayer

I think that prayer is deeply problematic. As a
replacement for sacrifice, it begs the question of
whether or not you think sacrifice makes sense. As
praise it seems virtuous, but it's difficult to read
our liturgy, about a God who rescues us in every
moment of need, as anything but magical thinking and a
desire for a different history than the one we have.
I think that prayer, as a jew, makes more sense as
some version of study and intellectual process. I've
always felt that the virtue of judaism is that it asks
us (note that I'm not a chasid) to struggle with our
history and laws, to come up with new understandings
of our obligations and understand our selves more
fully within a jewish context. Prayer has a strong
unifying role, and there's a lot about judaism that
celebrates unification, but I'm not that interested in
sitting in a room with other people sing Adon Olam
every friday. I'd rather take a Talmud class. Of
course, at the center of the question of prayer is the
question "what is pleasing to God." And I'm not sure
I can answer that-- or if I'm interested in trying to
please God for the sake of pleasing God or if I even
fully believe in a God who makes those sort of
demands. Oy. Don't send me to talk the goyim about
The Passion.

Don't forget...

To define your terms...


A friend messaged me to ask, "What is mission?"

Good question... so many answers, but Webster says:

2 a : a ministry commissioned by a religious organization to propagate its faith or carry on humanitarian work b : assignment to or work in a field of missionary enterprise c (1) : a mission establishment (2) : a local church or parish dependent on a larger religious organization for direction or financial support d plural : organized missionary work e : a course of sermons and services given to convert the unchurched or quicken Christian faith

It's 2e I worry about!

The passions of Mel...

The other ones...

The passion of the christ...

And the passions which follow the passion of the christ...


Where to begin on this issue...

Suddenly I'm getting calls at work, from Christians interested in having Jews come visit their churches/ youth groups/ fellowships... they want a Jew to tell them the movie is okay, so that they can say later... "Well we had a Jewish educator come to our church and SHE liked the movie!"

And I love to talk with these people. And I must admit that I WILL go see this movie, and I'll even admit that I'm excited to see it... for the same reasons you're probably excited to see it. Blood and guts and passion and history.

But just because I want to see it... doesn't make it a good thing. I want to eat a burger and fries for lunch too.

Burger and fries. Blood and guts. Either way, I'll be sweating my urge off later. On a treadmill of one kind or another.

The way I see it (and this is what I tell the people who call) there are four major "things to discuss" with young impressionable minds who've just seen the movie:

1. The function of Passion Plays in the long history of bloody pogroms, blood libel, etc.

2. Mel Gibson (as a Right-wing Christian AND as a filmmaker)

3. Recent Church History (Vatican II and the current Pope)

4. Mission (what is it?)

Now, I won't go into all of this here, as there are many many websites that offer better writing on the subject (than anything I'm capable of) but I will say this:

Passion Plays are mission. Mission is not something I like. Mission IS something Gibson likes alot, almost as much as he hates Vatican II, including the part of Vatican II in which the church apologized for anti-semitic doctrine (google "Nostre Aetate" if you're interested). And for those who believe in mission (the way Gibson believes in mission) any history of atrocities is acceptable if it saved a bunch of eternal souls. Which, if you make that leap-of-faith, it did!

In fact, the logic is totally sound if you make that leap of faith, if you believe in Christ, that he died to save our souls, and that the only way to the father is through him. ..

I can't fault Gibson for his passion or his logic, though I can question his methods.

But I DON'T make that leap, and hence I can't empathize, no matter how I can comprehend. Because I don't believe I'll burn in Hell after I die, so the logic doesn't work on me... but maybe it works on you?

Gibson's theorum goes like this:

1. Jesus died to save your soul.
2. There is no way to heaven but through Christ.
3. Nothing ON EARTH matters like eternal salvation.
4. The Catholic Chrurch has gotten too liberal.
5. Because the Church has gotten too liberal, everyone will go to Hell.
6. Good Christians should recognize that the Church has been led astray.
7. Good Christians should take matters into their own hands
8. People are often convinced best by blood and guts and passion.
9. Movies are a hugely successful medium, and a great place for blood and guts and passion
THEREFORE Mel Gibson should use his medium to redirect the Church and save many souls!

And if you buy Points 1-4... this really is true! If you truly believe in Hell and Salvation, I can't blame you. And I mean that sincerely. But lots of bad things have happened in the name of mission. Duh.

Now, none of this explains why he had to pick the bloodiest meanest most anti-semitic gospel. And none of this explains why he couldn't put in some stuff from the LIFE OF CHRIST, which teaches tolerance and peace. Or even something from the BIRTH or RESURRECTION, either of which would have been uplifting.

The theorum doesn't explain why he had to take the meanest gospel and make a movie entirely about the mortification of the body, at the hands of the Jews...

But hey, that's artistic license!

And I didn't like Braveheart either!

FREEDOM!!!!!

(Heavyhanded motherfucker!)

Nepotism BAD...

Absolute statements also BAD...


Hee hee.

But seriously, as much as I want to understand that people take the opportunities they're given... and that people shouldn't be afraid of success... and that having someone "important" take interest in your work and give you a leg up... is ok... but still...

there ARE limits...

And though I'm not a total bitch, I hope I'd have the grace to say NO if a family member or lover or friend in a position of power (not a friend I'd gained through my work, but an old friend unable to be objective) offered to help me in a way I hadn't earned.

I hope I'd turn down a book deal that leap-frogged me over other people for no relevent reason.

Why am I saying this right now? Because something weird/rotten was brought to my attention recently.... something very icky.... and it made me sad for the person who didn't say NO. It made me sad because I was surprised. I would have thought this person might have said NO and gotten there eventually through other GOOD routes. So that I could respect the work, and continue to respect the person...

But now this person has joined the rank and file of "what I hated about MFA-land."

We lost another one. Sigh.

I know this is all very vague. I don't want to be mean. I just want to say to all of you (all three of you) that read this blog...

Nothing is worth selling out the way you move through the world. No accomplishment is worth having to apologize later for "how you got to the top."

Start climbing. Just climb, dammit!

Todays random thoughts...

On a very snowy Friday...


How can I get more people to visit this side? Why do I want to get more people to visit this site?

I'm interested in religion, but I don't (very often) pray. How many people who are "interested in faith" pray? Do you?

I should be working on the revisions of "Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains." Instead I'm here, doing this.

I'm very proud of myself, because when Chris left for the Drive By Truckers show last night, I resisted my (ENFP) social obligation/compulsion to attend also, even though I didn't really want to attend. Instead I took a bath and watched Blind Date, which was a special episode for midgets. Then I read a later Agatha Christie called The Third Girl. A night well-spent.

I'm also very proud of myself because I sent (yet another copy of) manuscripts out to a publisher yesterday. So if anyone reading this has pull at Arthur Levine (impriont of Scholastic) I could use the good word.

My time is coming. I can feel it.

But not today.

Today my head itches.

I'm sure others have thought of this...

By why isn't it happening...


Last night I was watching a PBS thing about porn. (Yeah, that's right... porn on pbs!)

And I was struck by many things. I was struck by how ugly all the "producers" are, and by how unsexy the industry is...

I was struck by how there must be a lot of lonely people in the world...

But then I was struck by the idea... of sleaze tax!

Why can't we just tax the SHIT out of it!

Why can't we just tax all the things that are bad for the world...

Whatever happened to Shwarzenegger's plan to tax unneeded plastic surgery.

Anyone know?

Who is Jim Behrle...

And why is he always one step ahead of me...

Lookit this! Lookit THIS!

And you can make things like this:



or this:



which are nice, but not so nice as MY VALENTINE:



Man, I love my man! He's dreamy...

My friend Jess...

Is a total total total badass...

Check out what she did... right HERE!

(as though anybody really needs a link to McSweeney-land...

Jess is my favorite person I don't know well enough.

Also, she's hot and smart and shit!

Leg still bitten...

Neighbor sucks...


He told the cops it wasn't his dog! So off to court we go... Fiddle dee dee.

Henceforth, the neighbor in question will be named, RATBASTARD.

In other news, the Killing the Buddha reading and party were a total blast. Those guys RAWK! I met a few new JewishyIrishy types at the partay.

In still other news, The Breakfast District has printed a tiny little poem I wrote (almost as a joke) about breakfast. The poem isn't great, but THE BREAKFAST DISTRICT promises to be purty rad.

Do you want to see pictures of my dog bite?!

Today I got bitten...

By a dog... a real one...

And by "real" I mean "actual" but also I mean...

growling and lunging and bearing down on me with its teeth all shiny and white.

It was awful. It nipped on Dave's eye, just missed ripping out his eye!

And I put myself between them, so then it tore a HUGE hole in my brown corduroy jeans ans chewed on my thigh. Yow!

It did. I was screaming all kinds of cuss words, and the dogs were yelping and growling and I* felt a weird pain...

which would have felt worse if I hadn't been numb from walking in the park in sub-zero temperatures...

which I was. So I didn't realize I'd been bitten bad until we got inside and the blood unclotted and started to flow, and my leg began to stiffen.

So then we went to the ER and I got a tetanus shot, and antibiotics.

And the mean dog's owner got a lawsuit. Grrr. Now my teeth are bared.

The thing is that I feel bad for the dog. But the owner!!

Yhis fucker NEVER walks his dog, just periodically lets him loose to run from the house into the park, poo and return.

Which, in Iowa, is illegal.

Because cooped-up dogs who sit all day watching other dogs get walked...

become growly mean dogs who, when let loose...

bite!