Who Do I Think I Am??

This one's about repopulation, babies and pain.

30DBC PROMPT: "Both National Geographic and USA Today have recently run articles regarding the "de-extinction" of lost animal species. Do you think that extinct species of animals should be brought back, and why (or why not)? (For example: dodo birds, woolly mammoths, dinosaurs, etc.)"

What's up y'all? Looks like you get two days' worth of prompts in a row from me...I submitted this one at the start of the month (sorry!) and I'll have tomorrow's "Funny Friday" prompt as well. Let the backlash begin!!

The reason I came up with this prompt is because I saw an article in USA Today about it: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/31/de-extinctioning-passenger-..., and while looking for that article online, I found this one: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/04/125-species-revival/zimmer-text. They both made me wonder, and so I thought I'd throw it out there in the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" .

Basically, the USA Today article says dinosaurs aren't coming back, but that it might be possible to bring back other extinct species. I think that'd be kinda cool, but I also have fantastical ideas that never seem to pan out, so who am I to say anything? However, since I'm the jockey of this keyboard, I'll find something to say. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mi5Wh8zGHU

How damn cool would it be to have a pet woolly mammoth? Finally, a pet big enough to ride! Of course, this is assuming science has also figured out how to domesticate them as well. Ten bucks says they get that all situated before they cure cancer. Cancer itself is a huge profit-maker for drug companies, so there's no reason to cure it; the woolly mammoth market is untapped and science is leaving money on the table until they get one in everybody's backyard safely.

Who needs electric cars or oil and gasoline? You wanna really go green? You wanna totally eliminate your carbon footprint? People, you ride a woolly mammoth to work. Strap on a saddlebag or something like that and go grocery shopping. Hell, you can even train it to pull a cart of your buddies around on a night of drunken debauchery, with no worry of a DWI! The mammoth is your designated driver!

Maybe we'll even put taxi cabs out of business...but no worries about job losses. Someone's gotta care and feed and clean and train the fleet of mammoths. Hear that? That's the sound of the economy already getting better at the thought of the woolly mammoth turning back the country's clock and becoming the greatest invention of the 21st century. Get on board, y'all! Let's go forward with the past!

[Ed. note: No animals were harmed in this part of the entry.]

BCF PROMPT: The image:

** Image ID #1937027 Unavailable **

And: "What emotion is the most overwhelming when you experience it?"

Interesting image. Looks like a small child. Maybe too old to be a baby, but a small toddler. Walking age, let's say...walking up to one of those sliding glass shower doors.

Which makes me wonder: who gets the idea for a picture like that? Standing in a shower with a camera or a phone? I mean, it's creative, but the idea of it all is just a little weird.

Like I'm one to say anything.

But emotions are a different game altogether. And there's so many to choose from! I'm just going to go with the big umbrella statement and say "pain". First though, a disclaimer: I rarely show any emotion, regardless of the situation. Everything stays inside. Healthy? No. But it does have its benefits. You can look at me and think nothing's wrong, but inside it's the zombie apocalypse versus the Power Rangers versus the Justice League Of America versus a tag team match of God and the devil against a woman in the midst of giving birth and psychotic ex-girlfriend bent on retribution. That's the best way I can describe it.

That's pain. That's depression. You don't see it, but it takes its toll. Something like one in four people have some kind of mental illness, and that's what depression is classified as. And I hate talking about it, because nobody likes to talk about it. But I am. And it's not something to be taken lightly or easily brushed aside. There really isn't a cure either. Late-night tv host David Letterman once said, "I thought I could just do some jumping jacks and I'd be fine, but I wasn't...I was depressed." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt95c073me0 Hell, I even had (what I thought were) friends that just magically thought that because they had dogs and they were sooooooo cuuuuute that there was no reason to be depressed. Yeah, sorry, that's not the answer.

Pain manifests itself in many different ways. Physical pain can heal (I keep telling myself that...but it's not helping my ankle). Emotional pain is entirely different. It can take months, even years. You can think it's gone, and years later you can be prompted by anything to flash back a tiny memory that makes you hurt all over again.

And that's all I'm gonna say about it, because now I feel like Captain Bum-out. It's weird how pain and sadness work.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

Ironically, I came across this song earlier today on Facebook. Oddly fitting.

VITAL STATS:

Boring, rainy day. Nothing going on but me getting worked up about having to go to physical therapy tomorrow. And the anxiety attack about that should kick in any time now.

So with that I'm gonna get outta here, try and get in a walk around the block if I can stand it (no pun intended), and call it at day. Peace, spay and neuter your mammoths, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!