Trichous Inductus Vomitus, Part II and Blogfia Call-out

You know, there are some weeks when nothing happens that's blogworthy.  Not the case this past week.  Thanks to Rachel and Mr. Daddy at Once Upon A Miracle, I now have a platform to share my oh, so embarrassing story.

Some time ago, I regaled you with an explanation of my affliction, Trichous Inductus Vomitus.  I knew that publically sharing my weakness would result in some harrassment good-natured ribbing.  Bill over to It's A Horse Life and K. at Preachers and Horse Thieves had a good run of how to make GunDiva puke posts a few weeks ago.  Click here for Bill's initial post and here for K's escalating post.

I should have known that Bill doesn't need much encouragement to torture me.

So...

I drove Ripley up to the Lodge earlier this week to get Estes all dressed up, not knowing that she had no place to go.  Mom and I brushed out our respective horses' manes and tails; Ash painted Estes' hooves; we hung out at the livery for a bit and then got ready to go.

I gathered everything up and climbed into the car.  It was a bit overcast out, so I opened my center console to put my sunglasses in and found something that looked like this...

Side note: just looking at the picture is making me heave.

Well, hell, I did what any tough girl with a nickname like GunDiva would do: I squealed like a little girl, slammed the console shut, and jumped out of the car, calling Bill all sorts of not-very-nice names at the top of my lungs in between the heaves.

Let me tell you, I can project from the diaphragm (and I don't mean puking - this time).  I projected my displeasure so well that Compass at the livery across the street heard me.

Bill finally dug the grossness out of my car and threw it away. 

Ash just laughed. 

Hysterically.

Brats.

~~~~~~~~~~

Blogfia Call-out

T!nK at This Is How It Feels has applied to be on a documentary about being gay in America.  I think he's got a good story to tell, especially about how he was discharged from the Army under Don't Ask, Don't Tell.  Part of how the documentary is cast is based on public voting.  What I'm asking of my Blogfia family members is to vote for T!nK (real name: Nathanael) daily and repost this if you'd be so kind.  He's currently in second place, behind a woman who has also applied, but who is not gay.  Yeah, go figure.  She's applied to be on a documentary called "Out in America", which will highlight life as a GLBT person in America and she's straight.

Gather 'Round, T!nK Could Use A Favor

Most of you know my bloggy "son", T!nK (Nathanael), from This Is How It Feels: A Survivor's Guide.  And most of you know that he was honorably discharged from the Army because he's gay.  He had to fight like a tiger to get his honorable discharge; it's actually a dishonorable discharge offense.  Can you believe that happy crappy?

Anygovernmentbullshit, T!nK has applied to be a cast member on a documentary called Out in America, about what it's like to be GLBT in America.  I think he's got an incredible story to be told, and his is just one of many.  One of the factors involved in being cast is open voting.  To vote, click here and find Nathanael (hint: he's the one stuffing his face with Ramen).  Currently, due to the number of votes he has, he's on the first page.

Oh, My! Another Award.

And, yet again, I've been remiss in posting it, but don't mis-understand, it's not because I don't LOVE it!  One of problems of scheduling posts is that it's hard for me to just pop in fun things.  I schedule my posts out because my work schedule is so crazy that Sundays are the only days I've got to write and post.

Linda at The Good, The Bad, The Worst gave me the Honest Scrap award.  This is the first award I ever saw awarded when I was a baby blogger and I've coveted it ever since; how did she know that I wanted it so badly?

Not only do I love the way it sounds when you say it, I like what it means to...that I open my mouth (or, in the case of the blog world, open my laptop), that the crap that ensues is honest and heartfelt.  I never meant for this blog to grow beyond my family and friends, but I love that it has and I've met so many new friends through blogging.

So, this is what Linda had to say about me (awww, shucks):

Gun Diva at Just Another Perfect Day is a great storyteller! This awesome lady wore cowboy boots with her wedding dress and totally rocked both!

You know, since I really, really want to sell my book, the fact that she called me a good storyteller made my day even better!  And, yes, I did wear cowboy boots with my wedding dress.

Of course, there are rules.  The first is to brag on the award (see above), give heartfelt thanks to the giver of said award (okay, I may have made that up), pass on the award to other bloggers (I'll get to that in a minute), and tell ten honest things about myself (that's gonna be hard to do - what don't you guys know about me?).

Deb at Menopausal New Mom, gets this award.  I'm pretty sure she's received it in the past, but she's amazing and honest about how hard it can be to raise children.

Crazy Texas Mommy also gets this award, as her brand of honesty keeps me in stitches.  One of these days when she's a world famous blogger, I hope she remembers me.

And I know Ashinators new best gay friend, T!nK (it's okay, I can call him that - he said so), has already received this award, but he deserves it.  His honesty earned him an honorable discharge from the Army under Don't Ask, Don't Tell (which, while we're being honest, is absolute bullshit).

I can't give this award to everyone on my blog roll, but I so would!  If I don't like the blog and find it award-worthy, I don't hit the follow button.  It's pretty simple.

Ten Things About GunDiva:

• I hate my first name because it reminds me of my great-grandmother who was a million and five years old when I was born on her birthday.  Don't get me wrong, I loved my Little Lita, but she looked like one of those shriveled up apple granny dolls.

•  All three of my children are birth control failures: Digger = OrthoNovum; Ashinator = Ortho777; Monster = OrthoTriCyclen.  At 23, I had a knock-down, drag-out fight with my doctor for a tubal ligation.  I'm still afraid of getting pregnant and it's been almost fifteen years.
• I've never owned a new-new vehicle, and I want one.  All of my cars have been disposable that I can pay for up front and not have a payment hanging over my head (well, all except for one, but he got that in the divorce).
• I *barely* graduated from college and am now a college instructor (how's that work?).  I obviously learned a thing or two, but it didn't show in my grades.  I also had a lousy advisor who had me retake 26 credits, assuring me that the better grades would replace the bad ones.  Guess what?  He was wrong and my GPA suffered for it.
• I applied to med school and didn't get in.  I rocked my MCATs, but my abysmal GPA worked against me.  It worked out for the best in the long run.
• I'm terrified of needles.  When I'm in control of them, it's all good, but if you aim the pointy end toward me, we're going to have problems.
• I'm the oldest of four children (and the best, if you ask me).
• I was a single mom for almost twelve years.
• I have threatened to kill someone and was ready to back it up (stalkers beware).
• I really, really want TALES FROM THE TRAIL to sell.  Keep sending good vibes to Johnson Publishing in Boulder, Colorado.  I want to see my book on the shelves, for sale, and I want to see it happen soon.

Random Thought Of The Day...

Just a sample of the thoughts that bounce around in my little pea-brain.

So...if someone is DADT'd (Don't ask, don't tell) out of the military, but undergoes gender reassignment, can he or she re-up in the military?  Because now he or she would be straight, not gay. 

Why?

*unless you're gay.

Why is it that the very government that makes it illegal to discriminate based on gender, race, religion or sexual orientation is allowed to do just that?

I'm talking about the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.  One of my fellow bloggers, a young, articulate, gay man serving in the Army, currently deployed in Baghdad, has just had his discharge paperwork processed for being gay.  Nathanael has been blogging about DADT and his rather abrupt dismissal from the Army for a couple of weeks now.  What I don't understand is Why?  Why were the Commanders at Fort Hood afraid to get rid of a Muslim with potential terrorist leanings because he was an American citizen, but the Commanders on the front line don't think twice about singling out our gay men and women, who are also Americans? 

I just don't understand it.  Can someone please explain it to me, because this whole DADT thing makes no sense whatsoever.  Nathanael is fighting his discharge, but he was told that if he went quietly, he could have an honorable discharge.  But if he doesn't go quietly, there's a chance that he'll be dishonorably discharged, which means that he loses his right to vote (and therefore his right to change policy, hmm...) and his right to bear arms (which, as you all know, is a sticking point for the Gun Diva).

We're not talking about someone who was drafted into service; we're talking about someone who volunteered to risk his life to help protect ours.  How is it right to say, "thanks, but no thanks"?

Go check out Nathanael's blog, join his FB fans, write to your Congressman, do whatever you can, because this is flat-out wrong.  No matter how you look at it.