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Thursday, December 31, 2009
Once in a blue moon, we come across an opportunity to participate in a point in history that's so special, it changes who we are as individuals and as a culture. We are so very grateful to have connected with so many animals lovers in recent months as we walk into a brand new era together. Author and anthropologist Mary Elizabeth Thurston signals this new era in her musings, below. Wishing Happy New Year to all our friends and the creatures they hold dear.
The Path to a New Ethic
"History tells us that the welfare of the individual - humane or canine - is irrevocably tied to the welfare of the community. Now we have studies showing that children who care for dogs are more likely to mature into emotionally healthier adults, and that canine companionship prolongs the length and quality of life. Capable of remarkable love, the dog gives us what we crave most - a sense of belonging.
Throughout our shared history with dogs, it has been the spark of love between one person and one pet that became the catalyst for social change. That this canine "ephiphany" is now happening with increasing frequency points to a revolution in our concept of ourselves - our growing acceptance that we are part of the community of animals, not above or separate from it. With overpopulation, urbanization and habitat destruction threatening our personal links to the natural world, the role of the dog in bringing us to this new awareness cannot be trivialized.
Pet keeping is now one of the Western values being exported to cultures where animals have traditionally been viewed as consumable resources. With only the affluent in these countries able to afford keeping dogs for pleasure, pets again are becoming emblems of prestige, just as they were in nineteenth-century Europe. So we might ask, as the far reaches of the globe are transformed by a second wave of industrialization, whether the human-dog relationship in these developing nations will follow the same evolutionary pattern. Will the camera again document a canine pilgrimage from slave to soulmate as these societies grapple with concepts of self-determination and a compassionate ethic that embraces us all?" - Mary Elizabeth Thurston
Bookmark badrap.org ... No more "www" in our url.
Thanks for your patience as we re-figure ourselves for the New Year! ... (the year of a website re-design wethinks!)
Check out this song that discusses the year that was 2009.
Happy New Year!!!
Check out this song that discusses the year that was 2009.
Happy New Year!!!
Superstylish celebrity mom Sarah Jessica Parker was spotted out and about in New York this weekend with husband Matthew Broderick and their six-month-old twin girls, Marion and Tabitha. The girls looked adorable in matching fuzzy pink onesies, and they were both wearing the cold-weather baby accessory of the season, the LibraKnits Re sa Cap. In fact, fashion forward moms all over the country are choosing LibraKnits hats to keep their babies cozy and stylish. This unique company is offering only the most luxurious, posh hats on the market, in a variety of styles. The hats are knit by hand out of only the best materials found around the world, from silk, bamboo, and angora to the softest organic cotton available. Each hat is handmade for the special baby whose mom is at the peak of the fashion trends. They are offered in an array of flattering colors to make each baby look his or her best.
Created by inspirational work-at-home mom Amanda Sawyer, the quality and comfort of her products is guaranteed. Moms want the very best for their babies, and Sawyer has met the challenge to give it to them since January 2008. Her vogue infant hats are flourishing among new moms who refuse to sacrifice style just because they have children. "Our goal has always been to create the most stylish baby products we can," says Sawyer. "When someone as fashion-forward as Sarah Jessica Parker is willing to dress her babies in our hats, we know that we've succeeded."
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Dear 2010,
I have taken a vote and decided we are going to become very good friends.
2009 and I had our differences. She let me hit rock bottom and I only hope you will be a better friend, and be there to catch me, if by some chance, I slip. I decided I am not making a list of resolutions to myself, that I hope to complete, because I know that each year when I make them, they tend to go unfinished. Dieting? Yea, that seems to work good for the first 2 weeks unless of course there is a snickers sitting on my desk before then... Work out more? I could possibly do this, if you help me find my running shoes... I think they are lost in the pile of my high heels, which may take months to dig through. Study harder? Eh, well... motivation comes with the way I am feeling that day, so we will see how this pans out. Yet, my dear friend 2010, I do have ONE resolution, I hope you can help me with:
I want adventures. I need adventures. I promise, when an adventure is thrown my way, I will stand tall, with my head high and accept it, with a smile on my face. Throw them my way. I am ready.
_ Rasha
pee ess: oh and 2010, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, my dear friend, Summer & Kristen have openings in their 9 month hotel for their little ones. kthanksbye.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Dear 2010,
I have taken a vote and decided we are going to become very good friends.
2009 and I had our differences. She let me hit rock bottom and I only hope you will be a better friend, and be there to catch me, if by some chance, I slip. I decided I am not making a list of resolutions to myself, that I hope to complete, because I know that each year when I make them, they tend to go unfinished. Dieting? Yea, that seems to work good for the first 2 weeks unless of course there is a snickers sitting on my desk before then... Work out more? I could possibly do this, if you help me find my running shoes... I think they are lost in the pile of my high heels, which may take months to dig through. Study harder? Eh, well... motivation comes with the way I am feeling that day, so we will see how this pans out. Yet, my dear friend 2010, I do have ONE resolution, I hope you can help me with:
I want adventures. I need adventures. I promise, when an adventure is thrown my way, I will stand tall, with my head high and accept it, with a smile on my face. Throw them my way. I am ready.
_ Rasha
pee ess: oh and 2010, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, my dear friend, Summer & Kristen have openings in their 9 month hotel for their little ones. kthanksbye.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
"Temporary Home" by Carrie Underwood from her Play On album. Just listen to it. Once again Carrie Underwood has an album full of amazing songs. This is one of them. :) (Man, I hope it works out to go to her concert in the spring!)
Little boy, 6 years old
A little too used to bein' alone
Another new mom and dad,another school
Another house that'll never be home
When people ask him how he likes this place
He looks up and says with a smile upon his face
"This is my temporary home
It's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through
This is just a stop, on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know this is my
Temporary Home."
Young mom on her own
She needs a little help got nowhere to go
She's lookin' for a job, lookin' for a way out
Because a half-way house will never be a home
At night she whispers to her baby girl
Someday we'll find a place here in this world
"This is our temporary home
It's not where we belong
Windows and rooms that we're passin' through
This is just a stop, on the way to where we're going
I'm not afraid because I know this is our
Temporary Home."
Old man, hospital bed
The room is filled with people he loves
And he whispers don't cry for me
I'll see you all someday
He looks up and says "I can see God's face"
"This is my temporary Home
It's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through
This was just a stop,on the way To where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know this was
My temporary home."
This is our temporary home
"We were given: Two hands to hold. To legs to walk. Two eyes to see. Two ears to listen. But why only one heart? Because the other was given to someone else. For us to find." - Unknown.
The first time I knew that I loved her goes something like this: I was renting a great house up in Flagstaff. I had just moved and getting thing settled in when I got a text from her asking me if I was going to be home that day and what my plans were. I let her know my dad was over helping me get my things moved in and getting things situated. I must pause at this part in the story and state a little fact about my past relationships: Fact is before the following moment I had always been the one going extremely far out of my way to visit or see the other person. With the knowledge that my father was there she responded with a classic "oh you serious?" because she was on the last leg of the two hour drive to surprise me.
At this time I figured out she most likely was coming to see me and I couldn't be happier. Not only was I missing her profusely since it had been over two weeks since I've seen her, but for the first time I got to experience the excitement of knowing that someone would go out of their way for me at the chance it would make my day.
At that moment I KNEW that I loved her... and only hope that I do a little something every day to put a smile on her face every day just like she does on mine.
I absolutely love you, Rasha _
-Boyfriend
"We were given: Two hands to hold. To legs to walk. Two eyes to see. Two ears to listen. But why only one heart? Because the other was given to someone else. For us to find." - Unknown.
The first time I knew that I loved her goes something like this: I was renting a great house up in Flagstaff. I had just moved and getting thing settled in when I got a text from her asking me if I was going to be home that day and what my plans were. I let her know my dad was over helping me get my things moved in and getting things situated. I must pause at this part in the story and state a little fact about my past relationships: Fact is before the following moment I had always been the one going extremely far out of my way to visit or see the other person. With the knowledge that my father was there she responded with a classic "oh you serious?" because she was on the last leg of the two hour drive to surprise me.
At this time I figured out she most likely was coming to see me and I couldn't be happier. Not only was I missing her profusely since it had been over two weeks since I've seen her, but for the first time I got to experience the excitement of knowing that someone would go out of their way for me at the chance it would make my day.
At that moment I KNEW that I loved her... and only hope that I do a little something every day to put a smile on her face every day just like she does on mine.
I absolutely love you, Rasha _
-Boyfriend
Opening Statement
You probably think we have been waiting three weeks to get here. I’ve been waiting 12 years at TCU. Let me just say from everybody back in Ft. Worth, we want to thank the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, John Junker and everybody here that’s been a part of it. It’s been a long stretch for us. Twelve years ago people said this couldn’t be done. When we came to TCU, they were 1-10. We’ve worked ourselves up the ladder. We came here to try to give you a great ball game. We know we have a great opponent. I know a lot has been said, and I’m one of those guys that reads a lot. Chris (Petersen) was actually a quarterback when I was a linebacker coach at UC- Davis. Him and I go way back. You can never trust those offensive guys. We have a lot of admiration for Boise State. We have a lot of admiration for what they do and how they’ve done it. The combined records between the two schools is 48-3 in the last two years. So on behalf of our chancellor, our football team, the university and the fans, which I think you will love the people in purple when they get here. You’re going to love them because wherever they go they have a lot of class, they spend a lot of money and you are going to like how they do things. Words can’t tell you how excited we are about being here. I brought the guys back early because I wanted to make sure we got in great practices before we came here. So we got back to the way we played when we played at Utah because we know we’re going to have to play that way to have a chance against a great Boise State team. No. 3 or 4 against the No. 5, what else can you ask for?
About Andy Dalton’s improvement at quarterback
We’re very fortunate. Three years ago, we had a senior quarterback by the name of Chad Huffman that left for Major League Baseball for about $900,000. He left this redshirt-freshman quarterback by the name of Andy Dalton to start against Texas. That didn’t turn out really well back then. Because of all of the growth we were able to do in the season that he played, what Andy has done is grown up and became our leader. Not just on offense, but on the whole football team. And he has really changed the face of TCU football. We’ve been known for defense. We broke every scoring record that we possibly could, even though we have done that the last three out of four years here at TCU. He’s a leader. It used to be where he asked for people to do things. Now, he demands it. That’s what leaders do. He’s been a difference in our football team.
About his relationship with Boise State head coach Chris Petersen
He hasn’t changed. He was a winner as a quarterback and he is a winner as a coach. He’s always been under control and played with confidence. He’s a guy that I’ve always admired. He’s a family man. He’s a good football coach. He does things the right way. Boise (State) is very lucky they have a Chris Petersen at the helm because I think he leads in the right manner. He was the runner-up to the Harlon Hill (Award) if I remember right when he was quarterback, which is the best player in Division II. We went to the playoffs and we got beat out early. But Chris was always a guy that kept things positive. Obviously, through the years he has grown up to become a great head football coach.
About the team’s newfound respect after being invited to a BCS bowl
No. 1, probably the biggest hurdle we had to get over recruiting-wise at TCU was that automatic qualifying conferences said, “You don’t want to go to TCU because you will never play for a national championship and you’ll never get to a BCS bowl.” No longer is that hurdle there. Thanks to the Fiesta Bowl we’re able to do some things and we’re able to get into some homes that maybe even three weeks ago we weren’t able to do. On a national stage, I don’t know if you can even put it into words what it has been able to do for us. The thing that I like most about our football team, and what America has seen, that not only have we won but that we played very hard and we played with a lot of class. That’s what we’re going to try to do on the fourth, to make sure that the Fiesta Bowl made a great choice. You’ve got two great football teams. Who knows who is going to win this game? The last time we got together a year ago it was 17-16. I don’t know if it is going to be 52-51 or 17-16, but you know this much – both football teams know how to win. Both football teams have a lot of class. Both football teams are very physical. And they are going to give you a great ballgame because both of them want to be here. I can tell you right now that when they asked me, if I had a choice, this is where I wanted to go. And Boise (State) was the team I wanted to play. You want to play the best. I think both Boise (State) and TCU are automatic qualifying schools. I think we both belong and there are a few others. I think the Fiesta Bowl made great choices in picking two teams. And I think you’ll find that both teams really want to be here. Both teams are going to give you everything they have. We’re going to be excited about the fourth and getting out on the field.
About people alluding to the Fiesta Bowl as a championship game because you have two undefeated teams
In this day and age of college football it’s really hard to be undefeated. I don’t care what conference you play in and how you do it and how you go about it. The level of competition in Division I football now is so close and such a fine line. It’s a very fine line between the penthouse and the outhouse. You have to get yourself ready to go and understand that it is really hard to get to this point. Boise (State) has done that in the past. This is the first time TCU has done that since 1935 and 1938. So, it’s been a long time. If you look at the amount of teams that played in BCS games from different conferences and it’s a very small group. We’re very honored that we’re a part of it. But being undefeated is a special thing. When you get a team together and get a chance to do that, you not only have to be good but you have to have a great work ethic. But you have to be a little bit lucky because you have to get a couple of bounces. We’ve come so close three or four times in the last couple of years to be at this point. I’ve always come back to John (Junker) at the Fiesta Frolic and I’ve said, “We’re this close.” Everybody said you should be disappointed because you’re not playing for the national championship. No, we’re playing Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. And if you ask anybody in the country this group does the greatest job in hospitality and putting on a bowl of anybody that is out there. You’re going to find out from our kids, our players and our staff, and our alumni and our fans that we’re going to be in full force and we’re going to be glad that we are here.
About coaching in a BCS bowl game after a long coaching career
If you looked at my resume you can see that I came the low-road. I’ve been at UC-Davis. I’ve been at the Sonoma States. In 27 years early in my career, I had 11 different stops before I’ve been here now. For me, this is a dream come true. You’ve always watched TV. All coaches down deep are fans. I’ve watched the Fiesta Bowl and when they were the representative of the national championship game and know that a lot of great teams have come before us. That’s the way we want to be remembered. When we leave the state of Arizona, we want to be remembered that they were glad that TCU was there.
About TCU’s offense this year
Let me just back up about our offense. We could have scored a lot more points this year. One of the things that I’ve always felt like in this game, and you only have about 120 head coaches, is that you have to have class. We’ve had a few ballgames where we backed off a bit. I think we only threw 35 passes in the fourth quarter in the last five or six ballgames. Our offense has been balanced. I believe if you want to win ballgames you have to shorten the game. Even though it is easier to call defenses if you are scoring a lot of points. We always want to be around 50-50, 200-200 (yards offense) or 220-220 (yards offense) to be good at what we do. We’re just very fortunate this year because we had so many kids returning. We ended up having two redshirt freshmen running backs, Matthew Tucker and Ed Wesley, that came on and gave us a three-man rotation at running back. And then we had all of our wide receivers grow up. We don’t have any seniors this year. A lot like Boise (State), which they don’t have many seniors. I actually challenged our offense in the spring. We went back and changed how we called formations so we get the ball in the likes of Jeremy Kerley. We used to be a one wide receiver offense, where we would run the football and then we would have a go-to guy. We found out that people could really hone in on that. You can’t always win with great defense, and we came very close. We had to spread it out and had to get the ball in the hands of other guys. We’re very fortunate that we have some guys that we can do that with.
About how the Mountain West Conference teams have fared in bowl games this year
Beside the Mountain West, two other teams that we played both SMU and Clemson, all five have won their bowl games. But as far as the Mountain West is concerned, we have been growing. I’m not one to get on a pedestal and be a rah-rah guy when it comes to that. It’s very well documented as far as I’m concerned is that the way you climb the mountain is with your actions on the field. I thing again, you go back to that class thing. I think people take notice when you do the right things and you show with your actions. That’s one of the things the Mountain West has been able to do. Starting with the first game of the season with BYU beating Oklahoma. At the time, no one knew how Oklahoma would be. They took that challenge. They had Utah that was in a BCS game a year before. Take it back with Utah when they played in the Fiesta Bowl years before that. It’s been a continual growth. I think that is what we are trying to get accomplished. We understand that we’re going to be fierce competitors when we’re in conference. As far as bowl games, I’m a big cheerleader. But I think all of the coaches believe the same thing. The best way for us to talk is with our pads. Even though that is coach speak, I truly believe that is what’s made the difference for us at TCU. People have kind of taken notice and became TCU fans because of the way we’ve gone about it.
Opening Statement
You probably think we have been waiting three weeks to get here. I’ve been waiting 12 years at TCU. Let me just say from everybody back in Ft. Worth, we want to thank the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, John Junker and everybody here that’s been a part of it. It’s been a long stretch for us. Twelve years ago people said this couldn’t be done. When we came to TCU, they were 1-10. We’ve worked ourselves up the ladder. We came here to try to give you a great ball game. We know we have a great opponent. I know a lot has been said, and I’m one of those guys that reads a lot. Chris (Petersen) was actually a quarterback when I was a linebacker coach at UC- Davis. Him and I go way back. You can never trust those offensive guys. We have a lot of admiration for Boise State. We have a lot of admiration for what they do and how they’ve done it. The combined records between the two schools is 48-3 in the last two years. So on behalf of our chancellor, our football team, the university and the fans, which I think you will love the people in purple when they get here. You’re going to love them because wherever they go they have a lot of class, they spend a lot of money and you are going to like how they do things. Words can’t tell you how excited we are about being here. I brought the guys back early because I wanted to make sure we got in great practices before we came here. So we got back to the way we played when we played at Utah because we know we’re going to have to play that way to have a chance against a great Boise State team. No. 3 or 4 against the No. 5, what else can you ask for?
About Andy Dalton’s improvement at quarterback
We’re very fortunate. Three years ago, we had a senior quarterback by the name of Chad Huffman that left for Major League Baseball for about $900,000. He left this redshirt-freshman quarterback by the name of Andy Dalton to start against Texas. That didn’t turn out really well back then. Because of all of the growth we were able to do in the season that he played, what Andy has done is grown up and became our leader. Not just on offense, but on the whole football team. And he has really changed the face of TCU football. We’ve been known for defense. We broke every scoring record that we possibly could, even though we have done that the last three out of four years here at TCU. He’s a leader. It used to be where he asked for people to do things. Now, he demands it. That’s what leaders do. He’s been a difference in our football team.
About his relationship with Boise State head coach Chris Petersen
He hasn’t changed. He was a winner as a quarterback and he is a winner as a coach. He’s always been under control and played with confidence. He’s a guy that I’ve always admired. He’s a family man. He’s a good football coach. He does things the right way. Boise (State) is very lucky they have a Chris Petersen at the helm because I think he leads in the right manner. He was the runner-up to the Harlon Hill (Award) if I remember right when he was quarterback, which is the best player in Division II. We went to the playoffs and we got beat out early. But Chris was always a guy that kept things positive. Obviously, through the years he has grown up to become a great head football coach.
About the team’s newfound respect after being invited to a BCS bowl
No. 1, probably the biggest hurdle we had to get over recruiting-wise at TCU was that automatic qualifying conferences said, “You don’t want to go to TCU because you will never play for a national championship and you’ll never get to a BCS bowl.” No longer is that hurdle there. Thanks to the Fiesta Bowl we’re able to do some things and we’re able to get into some homes that maybe even three weeks ago we weren’t able to do. On a national stage, I don’t know if you can even put it into words what it has been able to do for us. The thing that I like most about our football team, and what America has seen, that not only have we won but that we played very hard and we played with a lot of class. That’s what we’re going to try to do on the fourth, to make sure that the Fiesta Bowl made a great choice. You’ve got two great football teams. Who knows who is going to win this game? The last time we got together a year ago it was 17-16. I don’t know if it is going to be 52-51 or 17-16, but you know this much – both football teams know how to win. Both football teams have a lot of class. Both football teams are very physical. And they are going to give you a great ballgame because both of them want to be here. I can tell you right now that when they asked me, if I had a choice, this is where I wanted to go. And Boise (State) was the team I wanted to play. You want to play the best. I think both Boise (State) and TCU are automatic qualifying schools. I think we both belong and there are a few others. I think the Fiesta Bowl made great choices in picking two teams. And I think you’ll find that both teams really want to be here. Both teams are going to give you everything they have. We’re going to be excited about the fourth and getting out on the field.
About people alluding to the Fiesta Bowl as a championship game because you have two undefeated teams
In this day and age of college football it’s really hard to be undefeated. I don’t care what conference you play in and how you do it and how you go about it. The level of competition in Division I football now is so close and such a fine line. It’s a very fine line between the penthouse and the outhouse. You have to get yourself ready to go and understand that it is really hard to get to this point. Boise (State) has done that in the past. This is the first time TCU has done that since 1935 and 1938. So, it’s been a long time. If you look at the amount of teams that played in BCS games from different conferences and it’s a very small group. We’re very honored that we’re a part of it. But being undefeated is a special thing. When you get a team together and get a chance to do that, you not only have to be good but you have to have a great work ethic. But you have to be a little bit lucky because you have to get a couple of bounces. We’ve come so close three or four times in the last couple of years to be at this point. I’ve always come back to John (Junker) at the Fiesta Frolic and I’ve said, “We’re this close.” Everybody said you should be disappointed because you’re not playing for the national championship. No, we’re playing Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. And if you ask anybody in the country this group does the greatest job in hospitality and putting on a bowl of anybody that is out there. You’re going to find out from our kids, our players and our staff, and our alumni and our fans that we’re going to be in full force and we’re going to be glad that we are here.
About coaching in a BCS bowl game after a long coaching career
If you looked at my resume you can see that I came the low-road. I’ve been at UC-Davis. I’ve been at the Sonoma States. In 27 years early in my career, I had 11 different stops before I’ve been here now. For me, this is a dream come true. You’ve always watched TV. All coaches down deep are fans. I’ve watched the Fiesta Bowl and when they were the representative of the national championship game and know that a lot of great teams have come before us. That’s the way we want to be remembered. When we leave the state of Arizona, we want to be remembered that they were glad that TCU was there.
About TCU’s offense this year
Let me just back up about our offense. We could have scored a lot more points this year. One of the things that I’ve always felt like in this game, and you only have about 120 head coaches, is that you have to have class. We’ve had a few ballgames where we backed off a bit. I think we only threw 35 passes in the fourth quarter in the last five or six ballgames. Our offense has been balanced. I believe if you want to win ballgames you have to shorten the game. Even though it is easier to call defenses if you are scoring a lot of points. We always want to be around 50-50, 200-200 (yards offense) or 220-220 (yards offense) to be good at what we do. We’re just very fortunate this year because we had so many kids returning. We ended up having two redshirt freshmen running backs, Matthew Tucker and Ed Wesley, that came on and gave us a three-man rotation at running back. And then we had all of our wide receivers grow up. We don’t have any seniors this year. A lot like Boise (State), which they don’t have many seniors. I actually challenged our offense in the spring. We went back and changed how we called formations so we get the ball in the likes of Jeremy Kerley. We used to be a one wide receiver offense, where we would run the football and then we would have a go-to guy. We found out that people could really hone in on that. You can’t always win with great defense, and we came very close. We had to spread it out and had to get the ball in the hands of other guys. We’re very fortunate that we have some guys that we can do that with.
About how the Mountain West Conference teams have fared in bowl games this year
Beside the Mountain West, two other teams that we played both SMU and Clemson, all five have won their bowl games. But as far as the Mountain West is concerned, we have been growing. I’m not one to get on a pedestal and be a rah-rah guy when it comes to that. It’s very well documented as far as I’m concerned is that the way you climb the mountain is with your actions on the field. I thing again, you go back to that class thing. I think people take notice when you do the right things and you show with your actions. That’s one of the things the Mountain West has been able to do. Starting with the first game of the season with BYU beating Oklahoma. At the time, no one knew how Oklahoma would be. They took that challenge. They had Utah that was in a BCS game a year before. Take it back with Utah when they played in the Fiesta Bowl years before that. It’s been a continual growth. I think that is what we are trying to get accomplished. We understand that we’re going to be fierce competitors when we’re in conference. As far as bowl games, I’m a big cheerleader. But I think all of the coaches believe the same thing. The best way for us to talk is with our pads. Even though that is coach speak, I truly believe that is what’s made the difference for us at TCU. People have kind of taken notice and became TCU fans because of the way we’ve gone about it.
