Hate is a Very Strong Word

Heroes are *not* born, they're *made*

I've said this somewhere before, but let me state it here too... I've never considered myself an activist. That's not to say that I don't have strong opinions & feelings on things, because I do. I most certainly do. Most of the time I have no idea how to get involved in the crusade but if I feel strongly enough, I know I can find a way. The last thing I'll ever do as a living breathing caring person is have someone tell me what I should be okay with.

If you've ever been unclear on what I stand for, believe in or feel is the absolute right thing - let me fill you in.

Animal Rights - I feel that animals should be treated less like animals. I believe that if you neglect an animal, starve an animal or cause any harm to any animal on purpose - you should have to face severe consequences. I believe in Patrick's Law for stronger animal abuse legislation and to educate the public on all animal welfare issues. "Treat me kindly, my beloved friend, for no heart in the entire world is more grateful for your kindness than mine. Don't be angry with me for long and don't look me up as punishment. After all, you have your job, your friends, and entertainment. I only have YOU. Your devoted pet." And remember that April is Prevention of Animal Cruelty Month.


Human Rights & Equality - I feel that no one should be treated unfairly, bullied or discriminated against because of their gender, color, sexual orientation or gender identity. I feel that same sex marriage should be made legal not only in every US state but legal for the world. I believe that people (mostly the older generation - in my opinion) fear change, difference and the unknown. I also feel that it is our duty to educate the ignorant & help be a collective voice.

Environmental/Animal Issues - I believe we need to stop destroying natural habitats for "our convenience". So what if we have to drive an extra mile or more to the highway everyday if we save the homes of many species dependent on a section of land. Seriously. I have a lot more on this subject but I'm trying not to write a novel here.

Those are my main three that I'm very passionate about and I am open to debate any time and any where. Just ask my Mom. Haha We rarely see eye to eye on a lot of issues and we can debate it 45 minutes at a time while I drive into work or on my way home. Seriously though, if you'd like to add anything, feel free to comment or drop me an email: kimberlee [dot] bourdon [at] gmail [dot] com

What do you stand for?

“If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything.” Malcom X

Blizzard of Oz 11'

Welcome to Oz and our very first, possibly, real snow in 2011. We knew it was coming, thought it was somewhat exaggerated (Scoff! 9-14 inches?) and some of us actually prepared for it anyway. While the droves of panicked Lawrencians flooded the grocery section of Target last night buying up milk, diapers, formula & bread – I was casually strolling the aisles in search of Red Pepper hummus, the perfect companion flavor of  Wheat Thins, a package or two of brat-dogs & some buns. Not to mention that last night I made heaven on a plate with my rendition of Nachos ala Kimberlee, but I digress. This doesn’t make me smarter than the other folks, just cooler :p

So here I sit after a hummus breakfast attempting to get some work done (real-job sort of stuff) while snowed in with 3 kids who are hyped up on brownie bites, sugar cookies & Sunny Delight. I may need to take my chances outside!

Year of Twitter – Flatlined

It's been a little over a year since I decided I needed to be a full fledged tweeter & meet local people. I was really into it and I did meet people, some that I really thought I had a connection with too. Back in October of last year, I wrote a post titled "Things I’ve learned from Twitter:"

1. Twitter is down sometimes more than 7 times briefly in my workday. I’ve actually named the Fail Whale after seeing it so many times. Hello Charlie!
2. Having local strangers on your follow list sometimes turns into great friendships.
3. Not all businesses are spam. Some are just letting you know what you’re missing if you don’t work locally. @in_gre_di_ent ½ Sammy of the day Turkey Avocado Club Shaved turkey breast, avocado, bacon, spring greens, Roma Tomato… (Seriously had me at “avocado”! Damn I wish I worked in Lawrence).
4. Don’t judge others only on who they follow/tweet with and always remember that the only person that should be held accountable for being a dick, is the one being a dick.
5. On any day of the week I know I can count on at least three people willing to entertain me with their tweets.
6. Don’t ever piss off Sunflower Broadband.
7. Hawks tweets less than he ever plurked.
8. There is always a lunch planned somewhere in Lawrence, and I’m missing it.
9. There happens to actually be *cool* moms in Lawrence, and I’ve found them on Twitter. Lawrence twits are anything but dull.
10. Lawrence.com (@lcom) is a tease and will dangle concert tickets in front of my face.

Bonus: There will always be a Kanye West joke.

AND…. How could I forget this? :p RT @Luthi @Jells you forgot one: Luthi is super awesome and funny and stuff

Of course that was in the beginning. I can't say that the list has changed much, but I know there's a lot I could add to it and not all as positive.

I went to monthly "tweetups" where the local tweeters would hook up at a local establishment once a month & be social because isn't that what social media is about? Usually though they would tweet at the tweetup. Tweeting "OH" (Overheards), who was there, what we were eating, who had what phone, etc etc. After a few tweetups I realized that it wasn't as social as I had hoped it would be. Then being myself kicked in and I wasn't as filtered in my tweets as I had been in the beginning. I spoke out if I disagreed with something, even if I knew I was in the small minority. I believe this is what got me blacklisted. Disagreeing with the agreeable. Blacklisted might be too bold of a term but it sort of feels right so I'm going to use it. Tweetups seemed less fun. A couple of the organizers obviously didn't like me either because I spoke out or because they saw me as someone they couldn't get along with. I've said it before & I'll say it again - to know me is to love me. There are many things that I am, but one thing I'm not... is a sheep.

I still continued to go, with breaks when I just didn't want to deal with it, but it wasn't until the very last time in July I went that I realized why I was going to stop going. My best-friend was visiting from New York and I thought taking her to a tweetup would be nice. It really wasn't. We sat at the table behind the tweetup folks in the same room at Johnny's Taven because the other table was full. We felt like outcasts. One of the organizers (out of 3) came to say hello & talk to us but you could tell he only did it because he felt he had to. I could go on & on about tweetups but I won't. I just stopped going & I'm okay with that. That isn't to say that I won't go to another if I feel like it later on down the road.

Twitter is what it is. You can't have a big group of people & not expect some drama and/or politics. That's just not how life works, adults or not. I'm not going to change who I am or how I am to fit into any group and those that respect that are welcome to be a part of my life. That's not to say that some good things haven't come out of twitter either.

Last year I got trapped in my apartment, some piece broke off in the door & I was literally trapped. I tweeted my dilemma & rescue. It was hilarious! Or the time that I really wanted to make fried pickles but didn't have an egg. Renee (chookschick) brought over two fresh laid eggs from her flock. There has been a lot of good experience but they definitely don't outweigh the bad. That's why I'm still on Twitter but not actively attempting to be part of the community anymore. I'd say follow me if you aren't already but that would be asking you to be overly patient with me to see if I ever get back into a tweeting groove. I pop into Twitter every so often but Facebook is where my heart is for now.