DEAR FURRY FRIENDS- YOU DESERVE BETTER!

Last night I watched the special Lady Gaga episode of Glee. The theme was self love and acceptance (in honour of Lady Gaga’s new release, Born this Way). It was one of the better episodes of Glee that I have seen. I watch it for the music, not the acting or the themes, but there was a song that was sung by Quin and whatserface that really got to me. It was a mix of ‘unpretty’ by TLC and ‘I feel pretty’ that ancient show tune. It was about how Rachel was going to get a nose job to look like Quin. I am not going to lie, a tear or two rolled down my cheek.

Recently in the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy, they tried to take a page from Glee and make it a musical episode. I don’t know what producers approved it, but they should be shot. It wasn’t that the singing was bad, actually- it was quite nice, but people don’t WATCH Grey’s for the singing. They watch Glee for that. I don’t like my light hearted musicals mixing with my heavy Doctor Dramas! And I hate to say it, but the majority of the world HATE musicals. I can almost guarantee that Grey’s episode got terrible ratings because probably 90% of their audience HATES musicals, but they were forced to watch it because it was the season finale. What a trick!

Stuart says I have a veneer of hardness (lacking in emotion) most of the time, but that in truth I am a big softy (like my dad). This may very well be true. I have been finding that a lot of things have been making me cry lately. I cried watching 16 and pregnant when she delivered her baby. I cried during four weddings, during an especially emotional ceremony. I cried watching a documentary on Will & Kate’s Royal Wedding where they did an excerpt from Princess Diana’s funeral with that gay knight singing Candle in the Wind. I cried during 1 Girl 5 Gays (I LOVE that show) when one of the guys told a story and started crying. I cried during 'Dear Zachary' which was a heartbreaking documentary on Netfliks. I highly recommend it.

I think my recent crying spree was actually started by something very serious and heartbreaking. If any of you have ever heard of or seen the movie ‘Earthlings’ (I haven’t) - you are courageous to have been able to sit through it. I stumbled upon it accidentally in a shallow escapade to find a music video by Dani Shay (Justin Beiber’s female lookalike). I was scrolling through her videos on YouTube and happened across her video ‘Me & You’ which is essentially a vegan singing about how we treat animals like Happy Meals and are ignorant to the true processes behind mass produced meat. The whole video was supported by clips taken from the movie ‘Earthlings’ and I was so in shock by some of the footage I saw, that I wasn’t sure whether or not to scream, cry or throw up. Personally, I didn’t think anything with such gory footage should be allowed on YouTube of all places, which is why I was so unprepared for what I saw.

I have several friends that are vegetarians after seeing movies like this but never thought I could be swayed from my carnivorous lifestyle. I am close. I’ve had images burned into my brain that have been haunting me. Images like foxes being harvested for fur coats, where farmers will kill them by stepping on their heads to crush their skulls, as to not get blood on the fur. Clips of pigs being killed by having big rocks thrown repeatedly at their skulls (like Piggy in Lord of the Flies) and cows being left to suffer with broken legs and diseases until they are slaughtered. I couldn’t even watch the whole three minute music video. I have been trying to work through the trauma by talking to people about what I saw (and mostly people don’t want to hear it). They tell me “maybe in third world countries they do that, but Canada and the US have laws and regulations ensuring our slaughterhouses are humane”. I know for a fact that isn’t entirely true.

Many years ago, I had a friend named Cory Willshaw (R.I.P.) who worked in a slaughterhouse and his job was to slit the throats of the pigs that came by his station, hanging upside-down on a pulley system. It was his only job. A repetitive motion over and over again. Sometimes he said his arm would get tired and he wouldn’t make the cut deep enough. He says he would be able to hear them screaming as they were pulled away. The next station after bleeding the pigs was a Vat of boiling hot water, where the (supposedly) dead pigs would be lowered so get all the hair and grime off of their bodies. Cory told me that sometimes when they were lowered into that Vat, they weren’t dead and he would hear them screaming as they were lowered into it. He says it haunted his dreams. This was in our beloved CANADA!

I lose sleep over thinking about these things. The same day I watched this video, was the day I heard about the cats that were found in a dumpster a few blocks from my home. Three cats that had had their right (or left) eyes dug out with what looked to be a pen. Two of the cats were just kittens and the third was an adult. Two of them also had all their teeth smashed out. That wasn’t a third world country either. That was right in my backyard! AND it wasn’t too long before it that a 14 or 15 year old girl was gang raped a few blocks (again) from my home. The cruelty of humanity knows no bounds. I am discouraged. How can I possibly think about bringing a child into a world like this? Are we fixable? I am a pessimist. I think that the world sort of works like that old saying ‘when a door closes, god opens a window’ and in that sense, when we obliterate one form of cruelty, another pops up somewhere else.

On a lighter note, I survived a week of puppy sitting. It was actually nice to come home to someone who is SO excited to see you; they can barely contain their excitement. Also, it is nice to have a reason to get out and walk to the park to throw a tennis ball. I would say the only downside is that Hanna is so big and my apartment is so small, so she just ended up doing the loop around the kitchen and living room all night. Also my slippers didn’t fare so well…I had to brush the dog slobber out of the fur. Blah! But other than that, it was nice to have a furry companion. I myself am more of a cat person than a dog person (mainly because dogs are more like babies and need more maintenance) but I imagine I will end up with one of each.

Anyway, I am done with my bleeding heart post. I am emotionally exhausted.Until next time loyal blog readers!...