Choices & Cruelty

Sometimes I'm annoyed by the people around me. Sometimes they end up being my family. I got an email this morning from my sister's husband, and the subject line just said 'branding'. I had no idea what it was, but I prayed it wasn't what I thought. But it was. Forty-five full color pictures of a bunch of mountain people branding cattle. As in burning holes in their skin. And my 12 year old niece participating in the whole thing. It was really sickening. And there is a large part of me that wants to tell them how cruel what they're doing is and not to send me such things anymore, but I know I'd be banned from their household if I did. I mean, what's next, pictures of them slaughtering the cattle? Can't wait for that one. And they would say that I'm the crazy one. Now, I understand that there's cattle rustlers in them thar hills, but there's also a myriad of ways to identify said animals without subjecting them to 3rd degree burns that cause excruciating pain every time the animal moves for weeks to come. Do they really not think about this? Or do we really not give a damn about doing something to an animal just because we're going to kill it in a few months anyway? Is the point that their short lives should be as horrible as possible? I'm not about being vegetarian or boycotting leather. I love steaks, hamburgers, and especially bacon. I desperately want to own a pair of leather pants. I'm still a little grossed out by fur, chandeliers made of animal horns, and of course, and dead animal heads attached to the walls. But I still think that we should at least try to be nice to the little critters while they're still alive and breathing and we're pretending to be their benevolent protectors. And if you insist on being a backwards redneck who still lives in the 1900's, please don't subject my small niece to thinking that this is normal and acceptable behavior. I want her to realize that animals aren't just things we play with and then kill, but they live and breathe and feel pain just like she does. And that should be taken into consideration all the time.

Anyway, is it bad that I'm almost more horrified that my niece is quickly being transformed into a redneck than I am about the branding?

So on another note, my head is really hurting from the flailing elbows from the other day. It hurts every time I raise my eyebrows, which is pretty much all the time. I keep trying to find the bump, and there is none, which is frustrating. Damn these head injuries.

I also have a date to the museum party (I mentioned that, right?) on Thursday. And it's not the old boy. It's the new boy. I left him a message last night, and when he called me back, he was out with some friends and stepped outside to call me back and talked to me until his food came. And then he told me not to send him messages on facebook because he had just gotten the one I sent about a month ago, and then proceeded to start to tell me what I had asked in that message until I told him I had already figured it out. Is this making sense? So anyway, he seemed as normal as ever, so who knows what's going on in that boy's head. Maybe I'll get an idea on Thursday. I figured I'd give him a chance to give his input on my attire, since he's going to have to be seen with me. These are the choices: demure, dignified, cute, flouncy, sassy, or sexy. What would you choose?