My mom (YOUR MOM!)

Yep, it's true...MY MOM is here visiting me. As a matter of fact, MY MOM is a pretty welcome visitor, in that she is very tidy and compliant, although she certainly does like shopping. And aside from the super cool aspect of having MY MOM visiting, because she is fun, there is the added benefit of it a) distracting me during Burning Man so I don't spend a lot of time pining away about how I wish I was there getting all dusty and blinky, b) letting me listen fondly to a semi-Canadian accent so it feels like I'm home again, and c) she lets us engage her in unusual behaviors.

For example, the other day, it was about 8 pm and we were at a loss. Should we be entertaining? Should we call it a night? Instead, I turned to Justin and said, "You know, the firing range is open until 10." And my mom said, "I'd love to go shooting!" So we rented her a .357 Magnum and she shot the heck out of the target in such a fashion that makes me concerned for anyone who tries to mug her under the assumption that she is a docile old lady. TAKE THAT, PUNK!

I'm so amused by the mixed reactions to people using guns; among other Popular Things to Hate, like fur. Justin has a fur coat. It is cute. I have absolutely no bias whatsoever towards people wearing fur; just as I do not attempt to push my "agenda" of eating meat on other people, so too do I believe that everyone should be allowed to wear and do and say what they want to wear and do and say, unless it hurts another PERSON. Do I think a person is worth more than a bunny? Hell, yes, I do. Does this mean that I have a round-the-clock bunny-torture pit in my basement, or that I nightly bathe in the blood of innocent animals and virgins? Nope.

And yet, just by mentioning his coat in passing, an acquaintance of ours got all up in arms about the fur. It was all That's bad and People who wear fur are evil and when I was flipping through the Gun World magazine in the bathroom at the firing range, after washing the lead off my hands, I noticed an anti-PETA article, calling them all crackpots. That article was wrong too. I just don't see any point in believing that other people should do something the way YOU want them to enough to hurt them, kill them, offend them, or slander them. Live and let live, you know?

So when Justin and I have mentioned that we've gone gun shooting, or when we take my mom, I've had some unusual responses along the lines of and Oh my god, you touched one of those things?The people who go there are all crazy right-wing redneck freaks. To which I say: my shooting a gun at a range is not going to hurt anyone. It definitely won't hurt anyone because I don't have very good aim. What will hurt someone? Calling them a crazy right-wing redneck freak.

Like MY MOM.