Since I'm new to blogging, and since I don't really care for social media in any way, shape or form, I'll just use this spot to...vent.  I'll start with a little info about myself, then go from there.  First, I'm fifty-three years old.  I'm a recent widow; my husband of thirty years passed away September 30, 2014.  He was my soul mate, and I miss him horribly.  To add insult to injury, I had to plan his cremation on my birthday, which is October 1.  Needless to say, I no longer celebrate birthdays.  I'm a long-time atheist, but didn't recognize myself as such until fairly recently.  I grew up with religion, kinda, and did attend church, where I was 'saved'.  When I got older, I did get baptized; however, it didn't stick very well.  I can't subscribe to a 'higher power' that would use punishment because it wasn't pleased with the way things were going.  It supposedly gave us 'free will', which means we have the choice to live and believe as we wish.  But, to hear the bible thumping jesus freaks tell it, their white-magic god rewards those who are blindly faithful to it, and punish those who are not.  They subscribe to the notion that they are the perfect 'soldiers for christ', while at the same time belittling and humiliating factions of humanity for their beliefs, their skin color, their sexual orientation, their gender, ad nauseum.  It's enough to put me off my food.

There.  That finishes my first rant.  Chime in if you wish.  Or don't.  I really couldn't care less.

I was in a very bad way when I posted this.  The holidays are nightmarish for me.  My brother passed away Christmas Eve 1994.  He was 31.  He died 20 days after his birthday.  My father passed away New Year's Eve 1995.  He was 60.  He died 20 days after his birthday.  So the holidays are meaningless to me.  Add to that, I was grieving deeply for my soul mate.  So, I came off a little hostile this first post.  I'm better now.  I still don't give two figs for what anyone thinks of me, but I'm in a better mood to not care.