no news is good news, at least where the media is concerned

A few weeks ago, I decided to stop watching the television news in the morning.  We've always had it on in the background while feeding the dogs and preparing to go to work, largely for the weather and traffic reports, but I realized that it was stressing me out.  Why do I need to hear about the kid that's been missing (and likely murdered by his mother) for two months?  Why do I need "breaking news coverage" of a house on fire three counties away?  Why do I need to hear yet another word about the damn "barefoot bandit" or that ridiculous young woman who killed her roommate in Italy?  Why do I need to listen to hatred and bile spewed about an election that is still nine months away?

The answer is, I don't.  I don't need to listen to the hate, the negativity, the focus on blood and pain and drama that is the standard fare of the newscasters.  They rarely show anything positive, and when they do show something positive, it's nearly always wrapped around a negative drama subject, like a charity drive for war orphans or something like that.  So I've stopped watching it entirely, although since my husband wants to keep an eye on it we've compromised on having it on the tv but on low volume so I can't hear it and get distracted and irritated by it.  And some mornings, even he has changed the channel over to the Weather Channel in disgust from all of the negativity.

I wish there was a channel of happy news, of the positive things in life along with the traffic and the weather.  Or even a balanced newscast that covered national and world news of actual merit, both the good and the bad.  Sadly, that is not the case - the media appears to prefer selling fear and hatred to sharing confidence and love, and that means there is not even balanced reporting on actual important issues.  This saddens me.

On the recovery front, Curzon is doing well enough to be a whiny little pain in the butt now.  He is unhappy to be penned up and not allowed to play with his sister, or leave with us in the morning to go out in the kennel, or run outside and play fetch in the afternoons.  So there is a lot of whining, which is annoying for everyone involved, but then again it does mean he's feeling much better, so that's good.  Here is a photo taken on Tuesday, seven days post surgery, showing that he's healing up well.  The bandage on the main incision is still attached very nicely, apart from one edge which is poking up just a bit, and when I checked the incision edge I could see it looks great.

He's now getting a slow short walk each day, about four houses down the street now and then a turn-around to walk back home.  Of course, Curzon feels I am walking him much too slowly and not nearly far enough, but he doesn't get to make that decision yet!  I'm increasing the distance by about "half of a house" every three days or so, which is giving him at least some time outside and looking at different things.

Curzon is spending most of his time doing this - napping in his big comfy bed that Chris got for him as part of the surgery recovery plan.  It's an awesome bed, I kind of wish I had one like it!   Normally this bed is in the e-pen in the dining room, where he spends his days while we're at work, but last night Chris was out so I had Curzon and his bed in my office while I raided in WoW.  Such a sleepy good boy - he is still healing and needs his rest, despite what he thinks!  I've adjusted his pain meds to be with his two meals, meaning that the evening hours are probably pain-med-free (they last about 12 hours or so), which I think is a good compromise of ensuring he has comfortable sleep and drowsy daytime when we're gone.

And of course, the princess Ezri is starting to get jealous of all the attention Curzon's getting, so to help please her here is a picture my friend took at the pool two weeks ago.  I can get her to jump in and then hold the ball up above her, and she does a very cool swirly twirly in-place sort of swim until I drop or toss it for her.  Makes for a cool photo too!