T. Strange's Blog, page 146
July 26, 2013
I don’t understand how people are allowed to keep dogs of every size in the city, yet it’s illegal...
I don’t understand how people are allowed to keep dogs of every size in the city, yet it’s illegal to keep chickens. Yes, roosters are loud, and I’m not saying that people should be allowed to keep roosters. But someone having a couple of laying hens in their back yard…I’m sorry, they make WAY less noise than a poorly-behaved dog. The last place I lived, our neighbor had two hens. When we were outside in the yard, we would occasionally hear the odd “bruck bruck". I never heard a peep when I was inside. The same can absolutely not be said about dogs. I constantly hear dogs barking, some of them carrying on for half an hour or more. Every time I go into my yard, my current neighbor’s dog loses his shit.
I’m not saying that people shouldn’t be allowed to have dogs, though I am saying that I believe people have a responsibility, to their neighborhood and to their dogs, to train them when and how often it is appropriate to bark. I don’t think it’s good for the dogs to constantly be carrying on, especially in the summer heat.
I’m just saying that my city’s (I don’t know about other places) arguments against keeping urban chickens, which basically boil down to noise, are completely ludicrous.
What about smell, which I think is one of the other arguments. I’m not saying that a person should have a flock of fifty hens or something ridiculous like that, any more than a person would be allowed to keep fifty dogs. But a small flock of 2-5 hens…again, going back to my former neighbor. I never smelled anything, and I am known for having a very sensitive nose. Even when we went to her yard to visit the chickens…there was no smell.
I think what the ban on urban chickens really centers around (again, only in my city) is ignorance. These people have never seen a live chicken. They’ve never heard a live chicken, because then they would know how quiet they are. They don’t feel the need to educate themselves, because they’re happy to just get their eggs at the supermarket and not think.
My thought is, if and (hopefully) when backyard chickens are allowed, and someone does have a problem with their neighbor’s chickens, they can call in a noise complaint, just like you would for a dog or a party at 3am. I can, unfortunately, see people abusing the system when it comes to chickens, simply because they personally have preconceived misconceptions about chickens, not allowing them to see (and appreciate!) the living, breathing bird in front of them.
*keyboard smash*
centuriespast:
Torinomachi, Asakusa
1857
Hiroshige,...
Torinomachi, Asakusa
1857
Hiroshige, Utagawa
Japanese (1797-1858)
Weatherspoon Art Museum
teratomarty:
Greetings from New Hampshire! This bear is...
Greetings from New Hampshire! This bear is relaxing under the apple tree, having just gorged on mooshy apples. This is the view from my mama’s bathroom window.
winchesterissues:
shootbadcabbies:
Everyone should have their...
Everyone should have their own Sherlock.
IM NOT EVEN IN THE FANDOM BUT THIS WAS FUCKING ADORABLE.
July 25, 2013
Do you know what these are?
They’re raspberries,...
Do you know what these are?
They’re raspberries, obviously.
But these are special raspberries. These are raspberries I picked myself, from my own bush, from my own yard.
I’ve wanted a raspberry bush of my own since I was very young. There were raspberry and blackberry bushes behind the swimming pool where I took my first lessons. My grandparents had raspberries in their garden. I’ve even been promised a bush a time or two, but until this summer, I’ve never had one of my very own. Most of the time, there was no where to plant it, and no point in planting, in setting down roots, anyway. Because I would just have to move again, and then there I would be, and here would my raspberry bush be, not doing me any good. Just another thing to leave behind.
This summer, two friends of mine who are a couple and have one of the most amazing gardens I’ve seen, gave me a bunch of plants. So many plants that I had to get a ride home, because I couldn’t carry them all myself. One of those plants was a raspberry, or rather a clump of raspberries. They gave me some that were already more than a year old, so we could get fruit this year.
I almost cried when they handed me that bush.
To me, raspberries have become so tangled (a raspberry image, that) with my sense of identity, my sense of home, that this simple gift, this kind gesture, meant more than I could ever explain to them.
I planted those bushes, and I watched them. Tried not to interfere. Watched as some leaves died, and one of the bushes died completely. Watched as the raspberries themselves formed. My wife still wasn’t sure they would bear edible berries, but this was enough for me. It had lived, it had taken root, and if not this year, next year it would flourish.
But now I hold two raspberries. My own raspberries, picked myself, from my own bush, from my own yard.
do you always write m/m fiction or do you write f/f or m/f too?
So far, I only write (or have written, by and large) m/m. It’s very rare for me to have a female character who I am able to write, especially from her perspective. Not sure why that is.
thaxted:
Silly Photos of Spiders Wearing Water Droplets as...
Silly Photos of Spiders Wearing Water Droplets as Hats
this may be the only time I will look at a spider with genuine and completely unadulterated enjoyment
abrohamlinkin:
satansoneandonly:
hay-girl-hay-lesbifriends:
im...
Men In Heels. This video is probably the greatest tribute to the Spice Girls. Ever.
great video omg
THANK YOU THAT WAS THE BEST VIDEO I HAVE SEEN IN A LONG WHILE
On today’s episode of “What Sassy Gay Men Do Better Than I"
