The last triops died last week, followed by the arrival of a moth that KC had gotten from the farm in caterpillar state. Winter's broken arm led to the arrival of a black kitten which Winter has named Blacky, but then nicknamed 'Spaz'. He explained it like this: "Mom, you know how my name is Winter but my nickname is Taz? My cat is named Blacky, but I want his nickname to be Spaz."

KC's moth laid a bunch of eggs, which resulted in the arrival of a dozen caterpillars. Sometimes when I am picking up the house in the morning, I hear inside my mind Elton John's "The Circle of Life" as the kitten scampers at my feet and the very tiny caterpillars wiggle themselves out of the airholes of their clear bowl home lid.

Nikki-chick dyed her hair black, which looks very Betty Boopish. The short length and bangs, with her huge blue eyes, along with her polka-dotted glasses, gives her a sorta emo-goth-punk kinda look. I got tickets to the MSI concert next month in Rhode Island; KC, Nikki and I will go, Winter said he wasn't into the music but would have gone to the concert if it wasn't for his broken arm.

Kenny's promotion is slated to take place within the next few weeks, so I'm working on painting the ceilings, walls and doorframes this week to prep this house for selling. There's a bigger house for sale only a block away, and Kenny has pretty much insisted we need a larger home. By June, I should have things situated enough to look into putting this house on the market. With everything else going on, it feels somewhat goofy to be adding moving to the list of changes, but the positives of getting more space for the assorted collectors in this house should make it more of a relief to move rather than stressful. I've pretty much given up on quitting smoking at this time, with everything going on at once, but I have cut down on the habit and hope this next week of painting cuts the habit down even more. My goal now is to focus on quitting in the late summer or autumn. I'd at least like to quit, again, by the end of this year.

Found somebody who is researching the fraud and corruption within government services and will be mailing them my findings to add to their own. Noticing a lot more news coverage, which leads me to believe that change is soon to come. It's funny, now, to hear the same cries for more funding, it used to enrage me, but now I realize that the more these agencies whine for money, the better case they make against themselves. Citizens are tired of throwing money into systems that don't work (re: schools, war on drugs, etc), so the more those who speak for these agencies beg for more funding, the more society will want to know what exactly they were doing with the money they did have. Which, of course, is part of the reason for their failures: bad financial planning, suspect spending, and fraudulent claims.

I was trying to figure out a way to go to the Freedom Summit, but for now I think I should plan something like that for next year. I just don't see how I'd be able to find the time to get away for an entire weekend this year. With my favorite anarchist, Amanda Phillips, speaking at this year's event, it was hard to come to the conclusion that I could not logically do everything we've got going on here in Cape Cod right now and also leave for a weekend. I am going to drive up to New Hampshire this month, but only for a one day/night. I'm hoping to find out more about the Milly's Tavern meeting a group of Free Staters have every month.

I've also been looking into Libertarian groups that are local to Cape Cod, but can't seem to find one that is organized and active. I'm going to look harder before I consider starting one myself. I'd like to join something already in progress rather than start one from the ground up. But, if a local group doesn't exist, I want one to form, so will see what I can do to make it happen. My main intent would be to stop any tax increases, of any kind, and the only way to achieve that is through voting. Sometimes all it takes is a small group of a few dozen people to literally block big government from getting bigger. Seeing our house tax double in a five year period was enough for me to recognize that something has got to change, and because it's obvious that the changes won't take place within the government agency's requests for 'more funding', the change would have to be within me, personally, to vote during every local election to stop the increases. What do any of us get for those increases, as citizens? Do schools teach better, do grades go up with each federal and state increase? Nope. Does it cost twice as much now as it did five years ago to keep *paperwork* on home owner's property tax? Nope, it doesn't. Who benefits from these tax increases? A few government workers who get their pockets lined with yearly pay raises in a time when the rest of society is paying more out of pocket for every aspect of living: gas prices, electricity, heating costs, food prices, the basics in everyday living. I think of the senior citizens in our area, those who are retired and can not count on pay raises to meet adjusted costs for tax hikes and living expenses, and my heart sinks for them. No wonder so many of them are crabby and have a bleak view of today's world. Imagine working your whole life paying taxes into a system that in the end takes more and more from you at a time in your life when you can no longer make up for the differences. It's got to be extremely frustrating.

I signed a pledge to vote for smaller government at every election. It's small steps like this that make a difference. It's not as complicated or confusing as it seems, just simply voting can make an impact in your local community, and keeping government from intruding further into our freedoms and wallets is worth the small price of a few hours each year filling out a ballot.

I also found an incredible list of Libertarians, people in the public eye, people I have admired throughout the years that I had no idea were Libertarians. Some I suspected were, but some of the others I was amazed to find out were vocal in their support of the Libertarian party:

Film & Television
Dean Cameron
Drew Carey
Dixie Carter
Tommy Chong
Clint Eastwood
Don Galloway
Edward Herrmann
Kennedy
Kenny Kramer
Leah Lail
John Larroquette
Denis Leary
Sam Longoria
Russell Means
Sean Morley
Trey Parker
Penn & Teller
David Ruprecht
Aaron Russo
Kurt Russell
Tom Selleck
Howard Stern
John Stossel
Jimmie "JJ" Walker
Wil Wheaton
Humorists / Comedians
Dave Barry
P.J. O'Rourke
Tim Slagle
Doug Stanhope
Cartoonists / Comics Creators
Peter Bagge
Rex May (Baloo)
Paul Pope
Mike Shelton
Ted Slampyak
Music
Dr. Demento
Robbie Fulks
Melanie
Mojo Nixon
Neil Peart
John Popper(Blues Traveler)
Jimmie Vaughan
Johnny Walker(Soledad Bros.)
Dwight Yoakam
Joe Young(ANTiSEEN)


The full list is at the link, and they list Matt Drudge, but Matt isn't pro-choice and he's also against drug legalization. I'm trying to find a link to any interview he has done where he explains why he is against abortion and drug legalization, as I'm sure he has an interesting justification for both of those viewpoints.

Also found this very funny, intelligent blog during my search for local Libertarian groups:
http://massbackwards.blogspot.com/2005/04/batter-up.html

Getting on with my day here, got to get the ladder up here and start the painting in a few hours after the kids get off to school. Hoping to put in 5 hours of painting each day for the next 3 days, which should be enough time to get the ceilings situated. Weather looks great to keep the doors open for ventilation, mid to high 50s. Some music, some icetea, and lots and lots of reaching up, making things brighter. :)