The Chemist answered these questions on his blog, questions posed by Somewaterytart, and he said anyone could go ahead and do them on their blog, and I have to wash my kitchen floor, so I'm going to sit here and answer these questions instead.
1a. What year did you first start using e-mail (on a daily basis)?
1994, I think. I was most definitely using e-mail in 1995
1b. What year did you first start using a cell phone?
1995, I think. Then I stopped using it in 1998, and didn't get another one until 2001
1c. What is the ring-tone on your cell phone?
Ring tone 2 from the ring tones that were programmed into the phone when I got it.
2. From where you are answering this, can you see out a window? If so, what do you see?
It's dark, so I can't really see anything, but if it were daytime, I would see the garage, the two dead cars that continue to take up space in our driveway, antagonizing our neighbors, and the trees that border our yard from our neighbors yards.
3a. What one physical characteristic would you change about yourself?
I wouldn't have a deformed hip, or I would have a longer neck.
3b. What one personality trait would you change about yourself?
I wish I were less lazy, but entropy and I, we are constant companions.
3c. Thing you like about yourself the most?
My sense of humor, mostly because it allows me to appreciate all kinds of humor except for The Three Stooges and winger humor, because neither of them are funny.
4a. Favorite spectator sport?
hurling and hockey
4b. Favorite team and/or player in that sport?
Galway and the now defunct Hartford Whalers
4c. Professional sports team and/or player you would most enjoy seeing crushed in defeat?
Yankees
5a. Favorite bumper sticker saying?
I like any anti-Bush stickers I see, and stickers that are meaningful to me personally, but probably make no sense to the person behind me on the road, like Can't Stop the Signal or Proud Member of the Reality Based Community. But the only bumper sticker on any of the cars we own is on our dead white Saturn, and it says "May the Force Be With You"
5b. Bumper sticker saying that really pisses you off?
W04, Bush 04, Bush/Cheney, and DOMA bumperstickers raise my blood pressure.
6a. Do you believe in astrology?
no
6b. Do you believe in extra-sensory perception of any kind?
I have actually experienced some sort of extra-sensory perception. The other day, for some reason, the phrase "smells of onions" was wandering randomly through my brain, and that night on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart said that very phrase.
Also, when I was 16, I went to arts camp, and after 1 full day, I told everyone who lived on my floor (Foss 5 1/2 at Wesleyan University) what their houses/yards looked like, and I was nearly 100% accurate. To be perfectly honest, though, I really just made assumptions based on what towns they lived in and how rich I perceived them to be. IOW, it wasn't really ESP, it was really an educated guess.
And, of course, I was almost 100% accurate in determining the etymology and meaning of the word "wev", so maybe I'm psychic after all.
6c. Do you believe in ghosts?
No
6d. Do you believe in God?
Sometimes I wish there were a God, but I can't really make the leap of faith to actually believing in him/her.
6e. If you answered "No" to 6a, 6b, and 6c, and "Yes" to 6d, please explain.
n/a
7a. Favorite movie ever?
Raising Arizona
7b. Funniest movie ever?
Same, although I would also throw in the Monty Python movies, and the Rome section of the movie Night On Earth
7c. Scariest movie ever?
Bob Roberts, because it's all so real now.
7d. Worst movie you've ever watched in its entirety?
I have actually watched Barbie Rapunzel, Barbie Swan Lake *and* Barbie The Princess and the Pauper. But the worst has to be 9 and a Half Weeks.
8. If you were appointed Supreme Dictator of the United States for a day, what one thing would you outlaw? (Note: None of this "I'm not that type of person" crap. Indulge yourself.)
Ownership of media outlets by publicly traded companies - media should be accountable to their readers/viewers, not the stockholders of the energy company that owns the newspaper.
9. Are you happy?
Mostly
10a. How many foreign languages are you fluent in?
None. I know a little Spanish, less French, lots of Italian musical phrases, and loads of religious Latin.
10b. How many computer languages are you fluent in?
I don't even understand the question, that's how few.
11a. What was your major when you entered college?
Theater - Directing
11b. And what was it when you graduated?
I'm still in college, but my major is music education now.
11c. And what would it be if you could do it all over again?
Music education
11d. And if you were to go back to school now strictly for pleasure/self-improvement?
Creative writing
12a. What one thing about George Bush do you loathe more than anything else?
I can't decide between his inability to speak English after graduating from a school like Yale, or that fucking smirk.
12b. Member of the Bush Administration you actually think is evil (as opposed to merely stupid, incompetent, wrong-headed or short-sighted)?
Cheney
13. Do you "share" music with your friends, and if so do you feel guilty about it?
I share my love of certain artists with my friends, and I let people borrow my CDs, but that's all the sharing I do. I'm an idiot when it comes to online music sharing.
14. Favorite comic strip?
Bloom County and Life In Hell are my two old favorites. Of current strips, I like The Boondocks
15a. Do you consider yourself romantic?
sometimes
15b. Have you found your One True Love?
I don't believe in such a thing. I think there are many people on this planet that I could love and who could love me back, and I happen to be lucky enough to have found one of them when I was 17 years old, and we've been together since then.
15c. Do you use cute nicknames for each other?
No
15d. If so, what are... No, scratch that.
16. Ever owned an "exotic" pet, and if so what was it?
Are goats considered exotic? I've had chickens, ducks, geese, turtles, snakes, goldfish, cats, dogs, a lamb named Sean and a goat named Caligula.
17. Physically-grueling activities: Love 'em or hate 'em?
Love 'em, but can't do 'em because of my bum hip.
18. Have you ever gotten a Letter to the Editor published? If so, what was it about?
Yes, I have - once in The Hartford Courant, about the biased media coverage of the situation in Northern Ireland - this was when Reagan was president, and he was very supportive of Margaret Thatcher's Northern Ireland policy, and the coverage of how Catholics were living in NI at the time was non-existant, we only heard about the IRA and the Protestants.
In May of this year I had a LTE published in the New York Times - this was when Newsweek retracted their story about prisoner abuse. I suggested that since Newsweek retracted the story because of the unreliable source, that Bush should have to retract his war.
19. Would you say you're competitive?
Very.
20. As a percentage, how much of what you've achieved in life would you say is due to "dumb luck" (e.g. where you were born, who your parents were, random chance, connections you've made with people, etc.) versus hard work, careful planning, and determination? Please round to the nearest 10th percentile.
90% - but I wouldn't say all of that dumb luck was good luck. I was born in the US, which means I'm better off than nearly everyone else in the world, but I was born to an abusive alcoholic parent, which sucked, and I was raised by parents who really hindered me when I tried to better myself.
21. What actor/actress would you want to play you in the Movie of Your Life?
Kate Winslet
22. Favorite philosopher?
I don't have one
23a. What is the most enjoyable job you've ever had?
Even though it means I have to go to church every Sunday, I love getting paid to sing.
23b. Putting aside talent, training, compensation, and any other practical consideration, what job would you most like to have?
critically acclaimed short story author
23c. OK, now taking all the practical stuff back into account, what job do you wish you could have?
music teacher
23d. If you won Powerball, would you continue to work any kind of regular job?
My powerball plan, which would go into affect if I ever won Powerball (which is unlikely since I have never bought a Powerball ticket) is to quit my current job, go back to school full-time, and get a job I like out of it.
24. Biggest phobia?
I cannot make myself jump into the water. I can dive in, but I can't go feet first.
25a. How often do you worry about death?
I used to never worry about it, but sometimes when I can't sleep, I worry that I won't be around to meet my grandchildren.
25b. What's the closest you've ever come to dying?
I almost drowned when I was 4. I wonder if that has anything to do with my answer to 24?
25c. If you could be immortal, would you want to be? (Note: If you answered "Yes" to 15b, assume that person could be immortal with you.)
No, but I would like to be around for a good long time.
26. What period in history would you most like to visit?
The future
27a. Do you think we'll ever achieve interstellar travel?
Yes
27b. If you could travel in space, even if it were "just" to a Moon base, e.g., would you go?
Hell yeah
28. Name someone of your own gender that you consider "hot". (Note: Answering this does not mean you're gay, although feeling intense discomfort about answering it might. Oh, and if you are gay, name someone of the opposite gender you consider "hot".)
Kate Winslet
29. Book(s) you've tried to read but just couldn't get through that you still plan to read?
Heart of Darkness
30a. Favorite alcholic beverage?
Girly drinks - toasted almond, margaritas, daquiris, etc.
30b. How often do you drink alcoholic beverages?
If you average it out over the course of my life, probably once every three years.
31a. Do you enjoy taking surveys?
Sometimes
31b. Are you pissed off that I said this was going to be 40 questions and, including sub-questions, we're already at, like, 52?
No, like most people, I can talk about myself all day long.
32. How many of the 50 states have you been to? (Note: For purposes of this question, "been to" can include driving through on the highway, but it cannot include airport stop-overs where you did not leave the airport.)
11 - Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Florida, Nevada
33. Person you'd most like to have a beer with (excluding friends/family)?
At this very moment, my answer is Rob Corddry, I think he's damn sexy.
34. Person you'd most like to punch in the mouth?
Sean Hannity
35a. Describe your style of driving.
I vary between competitive (when I drive in the city), distracted (when I'm tooling around town - I like to look in people's houses as I drive by at night. It's really a wonder that I've never had an accident) and zen (when I'm driving on the highway, in traffic - I try to just chill and enjoy the music.
35b. If you could have any car in the world -- for daily use, not a "trophy" car -- what would it be?
a hybrid of some sort
36. Your Myers-Briggs personality type?
EMCJ? ICMJ? I don't remember what it was, and I'm not taking the test again.
37. Favorite color? Explain.
I don't have just one.
38. Favorite season/location combination?
Autumn in New England. Cold enough to wear a sweater, but not freezing. Beautiful leaves, Halloween, my birthday.
39. Do It Yourself or Hire A Professional?
I take option C, denial that something needs to be fixed. Which I guess ultimately results in hire a professional.
40. It's Friday afternoon, almost quittin' time. Can't wait to get home so you can _____.
go swimming.
7/30/2005
7/29/2005
Reminder: Firefly Friday
If you happen to be home and not busy at 6pm EST tonight, why not check out Firefly on the Sci-Fi channel.
Tonight they are airing the pilot episode Serenity in its entirety, starting at 6pm.
If you like what you see, buy the DVD! And get excited for the movie, opening September 30.
And you can even buy the comic! (I got the Jayne cover yesterday, I'm still looking for Mal and Inara.)
Tonight they are airing the pilot episode Serenity in its entirety, starting at 6pm.
If you like what you see, buy the DVD! And get excited for the movie, opening September 30.
And you can even buy the comic! (I got the Jayne cover yesterday, I'm still looking for Mal and Inara.)
Save CBGB's
My big sister Tree alerted me to this story, about the possible end of the venerable music establishment.
I've never been inside the joint myself*, but it's where Tree got her first taste of freedom. And, more universally speaking, where many great bands have played - bands like The Ramones, The Talking Heads, 80's CT favorite Miracle Legion, among many others.
I know that there are a lot of things we liberals are asked to do everyday - write our representives in Congress, call our Senators to tell them how we think they should vote, and of course there are more pressing issues right now, like Latonyia Figueroa, but please take a moment to see if you can write a quick letter to Mayor Bloomie, to get him to exert some political pressure to keep CBGB's alive.
*My close to CBGBs experience occurred in 1987. I was on a field trip to NYC with the chorus and drama club, to see Big River (with the awesome John Goodman as Huck's Pappy). Before we went to see the show, we were supposed to go to South Street Seaport, but the drama club director packed me and my best friend B into a cab and took us to Greenwich Village instead. I bought a really nice skirt just down the block a smidge from CBGBs, from a woman who was selling stuff on the street. I think I paid $3 for the skirt, which was a black and silver gypsy type skirt.
I've never been inside the joint myself*, but it's where Tree got her first taste of freedom. And, more universally speaking, where many great bands have played - bands like The Ramones, The Talking Heads, 80's CT favorite Miracle Legion, among many others.
I know that there are a lot of things we liberals are asked to do everyday - write our representives in Congress, call our Senators to tell them how we think they should vote, and of course there are more pressing issues right now, like Latonyia Figueroa, but please take a moment to see if you can write a quick letter to Mayor Bloomie, to get him to exert some political pressure to keep CBGB's alive.
*My close to CBGBs experience occurred in 1987. I was on a field trip to NYC with the chorus and drama club, to see Big River (with the awesome John Goodman as Huck's Pappy). Before we went to see the show, we were supposed to go to South Street Seaport, but the drama club director packed me and my best friend B into a cab and took us to Greenwich Village instead. I bought a really nice skirt just down the block a smidge from CBGBs, from a woman who was selling stuff on the street. I think I paid $3 for the skirt, which was a black and silver gypsy type skirt.
Digby on the DLC
Someone should give Digby a job with the Democratic Party. He is too sharp to just be posting his opinions on a blog.
Start by scrolling down to the entry called Fighting Liberals, and work your way up. Lots of good stuff.
Start by scrolling down to the entry called Fighting Liberals, and work your way up. Lots of good stuff.
7/28/2005
Our goodwill ambassador
I got an e-mail from my friend who is hosting Sio. My friend works at University College London, which is also Sio's first choice for college, so my friend took Sio on a tour today.
According to the e-mail, Sio charmed her way into the Head of the Chemistry department's office for a meeting, and everyone adored her, as is usual.
We call her our goodwill ambassador for a reason - she makes us look like the best parents in the world.
According to the e-mail, Sio charmed her way into the Head of the Chemistry department's office for a meeting, and everyone adored her, as is usual.
We call her our goodwill ambassador for a reason - she makes us look like the best parents in the world.
7/27/2005
No swimming tonight
My eldest has arrived safely at my friend's London home, and of course, my friend has already put in a bid to adopt Sio.
Meanwhile, there's a lovely afternoon thunderstorm ruining my daily excercise program here in CT. After a hot and muggy drive home from work, I was looking forward to getting 500 meters in tonight, but the weather had other plans. I used to love thunderstorms before I learned how to swim.
Meanwhile, there's a lovely afternoon thunderstorm ruining my daily excercise program here in CT. After a hot and muggy drive home from work, I was looking forward to getting 500 meters in tonight, but the weather had other plans. I used to love thunderstorms before I learned how to swim.
7/26/2005
Things I saw at the pool tonight
* A little girl, maybe about 4, who could do the crawl stroke like Michael Phelps
* My former swimming teacher and his girlfriend snuggling** before they did their laps (**that's not a euphemism)
* A large Muslim family - looked like a grandmother and grandfather and their children and their children's children. The grandmother went into the pool in her hijab, and the grandfather was singing to the grandchildren while they splashed around. I don't know what he was singing, but it was making the kids giggle like crazy.
* A little brat mouthing off to her mother, and then taking a sip of soda and spitting it out on the sidewalk. The mother wasn't around so I told the girl that was disgusting and sent her to get some water to wash it up.
* A little boy doing made up karate moves - he was about 3 and he was in his own little world, totally without self-consciousness
* My former swimming teacher and his girlfriend snuggling** before they did their laps (**that's not a euphemism)
* A large Muslim family - looked like a grandmother and grandfather and their children and their children's children. The grandmother went into the pool in her hijab, and the grandfather was singing to the grandchildren while they splashed around. I don't know what he was singing, but it was making the kids giggle like crazy.
* A little brat mouthing off to her mother, and then taking a sip of soda and spitting it out on the sidewalk. The mother wasn't around so I told the girl that was disgusting and sent her to get some water to wash it up.
* A little boy doing made up karate moves - he was about 3 and he was in his own little world, totally without self-consciousness
Will Marshall, DLC dunce
Will Marshall thinks his fellow Democrats are unpatriotic, apparently because we aren't sufficiently jingoistic for his taste.
I don't know where to begin in pointing out the many places he is wrong. From saying that "Michael Moore Democrats" reject the very idea of fighting terrorism to complaining that we should just ignore that torture behind the curtain, the whole essay is chock full of GOP talking points and stereotypes.
I've mentioned it before, but I wanted to reiterate my preferred analogy for the discussion of my patriotism. As a parent, I am my child's biggest cheerleader, and my kids make me feel prouder than a peacock. I have a knee-jerk defensive reaction when someone tries to hurt them. But that does not stop me from correcting them when they go astray. That's the kind of patriot I am. Our country has gone massively astray - we've become bullies capable of ruthless cruelty, and as is usually the case with bullies, our actions come from fear.
GOP style patriotism is, to stretch analogy, more like the parent who says their child would *never* lie, *never* cheat, *never* be mean to the other kids. They show up for a disciplinary hearing with a lawyer to make sure their little Jimmy or Jenny doesn't have anything negative on their permanent record, even if they did punch that boy or smoke those cigarettes in the bathroom.
I am a white coastal liberal (although if you call me elite I might have to kick you in the shins and show you my bank balance), but I'm pretty sure parents in the heartland are no different than parents on the coasts - for the most part, we correct our kids when they misbehave, and try to set them back on the right path. And we really don't care for those parents who refuse to see that their children aren't perfect and need guidance - they make our jobs more difficult by not doing right by their kids.
As always, Digby's response is essential reading.
I don't know where to begin in pointing out the many places he is wrong. From saying that "Michael Moore Democrats" reject the very idea of fighting terrorism to complaining that we should just ignore that torture behind the curtain, the whole essay is chock full of GOP talking points and stereotypes.
I've mentioned it before, but I wanted to reiterate my preferred analogy for the discussion of my patriotism. As a parent, I am my child's biggest cheerleader, and my kids make me feel prouder than a peacock. I have a knee-jerk defensive reaction when someone tries to hurt them. But that does not stop me from correcting them when they go astray. That's the kind of patriot I am. Our country has gone massively astray - we've become bullies capable of ruthless cruelty, and as is usually the case with bullies, our actions come from fear.
GOP style patriotism is, to stretch analogy, more like the parent who says their child would *never* lie, *never* cheat, *never* be mean to the other kids. They show up for a disciplinary hearing with a lawyer to make sure their little Jimmy or Jenny doesn't have anything negative on their permanent record, even if they did punch that boy or smoke those cigarettes in the bathroom.
I am a white coastal liberal (although if you call me elite I might have to kick you in the shins and show you my bank balance), but I'm pretty sure parents in the heartland are no different than parents on the coasts - for the most part, we correct our kids when they misbehave, and try to set them back on the right path. And we really don't care for those parents who refuse to see that their children aren't perfect and need guidance - they make our jobs more difficult by not doing right by their kids.
As always, Digby's response is essential reading.
I hope Jon washed his hands
Santorum was on The Daily Show last night. I could see why he was the GOP's boy, because he didn't stray off his message for a moment - virtues, character, in the book, read my book, buy the book.
But what a dolt he is! I always knew he had a tendency to say stupid things, but there is really nothing going on in that brain. He doesn't even understand the words he's saying. He is so fixated on his belief about the ideal family that he just ignores the reality that there ain't no such thing.
One of the dribbles of Santorum that came out of his mouth last night was that the government should legislate ideals. I wonder if he gave a second thought to any other governments that try/ied to legislate ideals?
But what a dolt he is! I always knew he had a tendency to say stupid things, but there is really nothing going on in that brain. He doesn't even understand the words he's saying. He is so fixated on his belief about the ideal family that he just ignores the reality that there ain't no such thing.
One of the dribbles of Santorum that came out of his mouth last night was that the government should legislate ideals. I wonder if he gave a second thought to any other governments that try/ied to legislate ideals?
7/25/2005
Insanity
This story has been posted at various blogs: Justin Logan and Matt Yglesias, among others, have already documented the insanity.
Philip Giraldi wrote the following in the most recent edition of The
American Conservative magazine (not available online):
I just wanted to highlight this sentence:
Now, I support making plans for how we would respond to another
terrorist attack, but they are planning to start a war with nuclear
weapons involved if we are attacked again, and once again, they
won't be going after the person/people who actually attacked us but
a place that has good targets. (Rumsfeld famously wanted to go to
Iraq because Afghanistan didn't have any good targets.)
This administration is utterly insane.
Philip Giraldi wrote the following in the most recent edition of The
American Conservative magazine (not available online):
The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick
Cheney's office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command
(STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in
response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United
States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran
employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within
Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including
numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many
of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be
taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in
the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually
being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United
States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning
are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing--
that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack--but no
one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections.
I just wanted to highlight this sentence:
As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran
actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the
United States.
Now, I support making plans for how we would respond to another
terrorist attack, but they are planning to start a war with nuclear
weapons involved if we are attacked again, and once again, they
won't be going after the person/people who actually attacked us but
a place that has good targets. (Rumsfeld famously wanted to go to
Iraq because Afghanistan didn't have any good targets.)
This administration is utterly insane.
7/22/2005
The Mean Girls administration
But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.
In February of 2003, Joe Wilson went to Niger to verify information about a suspected link between Africa and Iraq - specifically, an agreement that Niger would provide uranium yellowcake to Iraq.
In his New York Times op-ed, Mr. Wilson tells that after meeting with various officians and people associated with the uranium business, he determined that no such transaction had ever taken place. Anyone wishing to purchase uranium would have had to go through a complicated process involving a consortium of nations. In addition, the U.S. Ambassador to Niger stated that she thought she had already debunked the Memorandum of Agreement that prompted Mr. Wilson's visit.
Mr. Wilson reporting his findings to the CIA when he returned from Niger.
The White House was instructed by the CIA that the links between Niger and Iraq were dubious. More than once. Nevertheless, in January of 2003, President Bush includes sixteen words in his State of the Union speech: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.
By March of 2003, the documents that indicated the sale of uranium yellowcake were proven to be forgeries. Nevertheless, Bush took us to war against Iraq.
Mr. Wilson's op-ed was published on July 6, 2003. Within a week of the publication of Mr. Wilson's Op-ed, his wife Valerie Plame was outed as a covert CIA agent.
Tomorrow is the 3 year anniversary of the meeting at Downing Street that was recounted in the Downing Street Memo. Three years since Matthew Rycroft took minutes at a meeting between the U.S. and the U.K. to discuss Iraq.
But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.
It's not difficult to use common sense to put some pieces together. Prior to his Niger trip, Mr. Wilson was told that the Vice President's office was interested in finding out about the uraniaum. Mr. Wilson made his report. Despite Mr. Wilson's finding, and despite the U.N. inspectors reports that there were no WMDs, Bush took our military and sent them to war in Iraq.
Mr. Wilson came forward to tell how he thought the Bush administration was using debunked information when building his case for war. Based on Mr. Wilson's report, the White House knew that the "sixteen words" Bush used in the SOTU address was a lie.
What does the Bush administration do when someone crosses them? Ask Richard Clarke. Ask Paul O'Neill. They are the Mean Girls administration, sliming and smearing all who oppose them. They outed a covert CIA agent, an action that clearly hurts our national security, to get back at someone who was telling the truth about them.
They hurt our national security for political expediency. They lie to get a war. They must be stopped.
7/21/2005
7/20/2005
new to blogroll
I've just added Burb Rocking to the blogroll. It's not political, (yet), but it's a group blog my older sister started, and I'm a contributor, so I have to blogroll it. Plus, there are pictures, which I like but use sparingly myself (as you may have noticed).
John Roberts
Information on the nominee.
If he gets on the court, which is likely, we shouldn't be surprised
to see not just an end to legal abortion in the U.S., but an end to
legal contraception* and affirmative action. Bad news for American women and American minorities
*If Roberts is in the mold of Scalia and Thomas, who Bush calls
his "ideal", he does not believe the Constitution grants any right to
privacy, although what does Article IX do but say that the people have rights that are not enumerated within the Constitution. Since it is likely that Roberts is an "ideal" Bush jurist, he should be questioned strongly about not just his judicial decisions, which are limited as he's only been on the bench for two years, but whether he agrees with the expressed judicial opinions of Scalia and Thomas.
UPDATE: I took out some erroneous information. 20.9% of American women have abortions. That's still pretty significant, and you probably know someone who has had one. (If not, hi, nice to meet you, I had an abortion. There, now you know someone.) The Alan Guttmacher Institute is a fanstastic resource for information on reproductive issues, and that's where I got my updated information. Thanks to John Howard for making me take a second look at the numbers.
If he gets on the court, which is likely, we shouldn't be surprised
to see not just an end to legal abortion in the U.S., but an end to
legal contraception* and affirmative action. Bad news for American women and American minorities
*If Roberts is in the mold of Scalia and Thomas, who Bush calls
his "ideal", he does not believe the Constitution grants any right to
privacy, although what does Article IX do but say that the people have rights that are not enumerated within the Constitution. Since it is likely that Roberts is an "ideal" Bush jurist, he should be questioned strongly about not just his judicial decisions, which are limited as he's only been on the bench for two years, but whether he agrees with the expressed judicial opinions of Scalia and Thomas.
UPDATE: I took out some erroneous information. 20.9% of American women have abortions. That's still pretty significant, and you probably know someone who has had one. (If not, hi, nice to meet you, I had an abortion. There, now you know someone.) The Alan Guttmacher Institute is a fanstastic resource for information on reproductive issues, and that's where I got my updated information. Thanks to John Howard for making me take a second look at the numbers.
7/19/2005
The nominee
Edith Clement Brown is the nominee for the opening on the Supreme Court. She doesn't seem to have rendered any opinions on many controversial subjects, which I suspect is why she was chosen.
I don't like her. She's a Republican, she's a Bush supporter, and a member of the Federalist Society. I don't trust people who support George Bush. IMO, if you support George Bush, that's evidence of a problem with your judgement.
ETA: maybe she's not the nominee...yet...but the rumor mill is swirling.
I don't like her. She's a Republican, she's a Bush supporter, and a member of the Federalist Society. I don't trust people who support George Bush. IMO, if you support George Bush, that's evidence of a problem with your judgement.
ETA: maybe she's not the nominee...yet...but the rumor mill is swirling.
7/18/2005
The human body is 70% water
Except for mine, which is about 20% water right now. The rest of the water that used to be inside my body came out in the form of sweat today, as Loki and I spent 5 hours (there and back) in our non-air conditioned car, in the about 3968% humidity air of New York. We passed by 2 boroughs as we drove on the NE Thruway and we couldn't see either one of them because of what appeared to be smog.
The good news is that Sio is winging her way across the Atlantic Ocean right now, and will be landing at Heathrow in about 3 hours or so. Although it will be 1am her time when she lands, she did have the foresight to spend the entire car ride asleep in the sweltering heat of the back seat. She's supposed to call me when she gets to Corfu, which should coincide with the time I am eating breakfast.
It's still damn hot and humid here in CT, and to add to the joy, I can smell a goddamn skunk right outside my kitchen window. I hate summer in New England.
The good news is that Sio is winging her way across the Atlantic Ocean right now, and will be landing at Heathrow in about 3 hours or so. Although it will be 1am her time when she lands, she did have the foresight to spend the entire car ride asleep in the sweltering heat of the back seat. She's supposed to call me when she gets to Corfu, which should coincide with the time I am eating breakfast.
It's still damn hot and humid here in CT, and to add to the joy, I can smell a goddamn skunk right outside my kitchen window. I hate summer in New England.
On the road again
We're leaving in a few minutes to take Sio down to JFK. She'll be flying to London this evening, and tomorrow morning she'll be going to Greece. On Wednesday, she'll be taking a boat to Albania for an overnight stay. Then back to Corfu. They'll be taking day trips all over Greece while they're there.
When she goes back to London, she'll be staying with a friend of mine who is going to take her on a tour of University College London, which is Sio's first choice for college. After a few days with my friend, she'll be staying with family for the remainder of her trip.
Please think good thoughts for Sio on her travels, that she stays safe and has a great, life-changing in a good way time.
When she goes back to London, she'll be staying with a friend of mine who is going to take her on a tour of University College London, which is Sio's first choice for college. After a few days with my friend, she'll be staying with family for the remainder of her trip.
Please think good thoughts for Sio on her travels, that she stays safe and has a great, life-changing in a good way time.
7/15/2005
7/14/2005
Seen and Read
SEEN
Loki and I saw Batman Begins on Friday night. Christian Bale is an interesting actor, IMO. There is something reserved and tightly contained about him, but his character's emotions are not far from the surface. I felt enormously sympathetic towards his Bruce Wayne, and I didn't expect to feel so moved by a comic book movie.
Great things about the movie: In addition to Bale, Gary Oldman reminded me of what a fine actor he can be. Morgan Freeman doesn't even have to say anything to win the audience over - he is casting shorthand for "good guy".
Good things about the movie: Michael Caine was pretty good, although a little obvious in some of his delivery.
Not so great things: Tom Wilkinson was in the wrong Batman - his performance was jarringly kitschy in an otherwise realistically presented film. Katie Holmes made me really hope she and Bruce wouldn't get together. I couldn't take her baby-voiced self-righteousness seriously.
Things I haven't decided are good or bad yet: Cillian Murphy gave a fine performance, and he his limpid pools of blue are deeper than Elijah Wood's, but I had a hard time buying him as a prominent psychiatrist because he looks like he hasn't started shaving yet.
I recommend, primarily for Bale - he provides an emotional center to the story that I think previous Batman movies lacked.
(Something that made me wish for an alternate universe: imagine Christian Bale playing every big role Tom Cruise has ever played. Bale has intensity to rival the wee Clam, but so much more depth.)
(I was thinking that Freeman should play a bad guy, just to go against type, but then I remembered Nurse Betty, where he's a cold-blooded killer...who I still felt incredibly sympathetic towards. He just emanates warmth.)
READ
I just finished reading Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith. The violent faith in this book is the Church of Jesus Christ and Ladder Day Saints. Krakauer weaves the history of the Mormon faith together with a contemporary story of a brutal murder commmitted by Ron & Dan Lafferty, two members of the fundmentalist Mormon community. While Krakauer is careful to note that most Mormons are industrious, cheerful, and wholesome, he explores the history of the religion, which includes fraud, massacres and sexual abuse.
Krakauer's focus is on the fundamentalist Mormon community, which split with the main church when the latter denounced polygamy. There are fundamentalist communities in the United States, Canada and Mexico, which practice "plural marriage", sometimes marrying girls of 13 or 14 off to men who are not only generations older than them, but oftentimes related to them.
The Mormon faith believes that followers have a very personal relationship with God, and they consider themselves "prophets, seers and revelators". In the case of Ron Lafferty, he claims God revealed that he should "remove" his sister-in-law and other people who Lafferty believed encouraged his wife to leave him. He shared this "removal revelation" with members of his fundamentalist ward, yet no one attempted to stop him.
The courtroom scenes were particularly interesting to me. The defense attorney wanted his client deemed not guilty by reason of insanity. The prosecutor took the tack that millions of people believe in God, and perform rituals and practices that could be deemed insane when taken out of context (transubstantiation, anyone?). In addition, aside from his religious beliefs, which were way out of the mainstream, he wasn't at all insane - he had qualities of Narcissistic Personality Disorder, but he wasn't schizophrenic or psychopathic. He followed the faith her learned from his family and community, and that faith led him to commit an act of extreme violence. Essentially, the prosecutor argued that if we were to believe that Ron was insane, we would necessarily have to deem any person of faith insane.
I recommend the book if you are interested in the topic of fundamentalism.
Loki and I saw Batman Begins on Friday night. Christian Bale is an interesting actor, IMO. There is something reserved and tightly contained about him, but his character's emotions are not far from the surface. I felt enormously sympathetic towards his Bruce Wayne, and I didn't expect to feel so moved by a comic book movie.
Great things about the movie: In addition to Bale, Gary Oldman reminded me of what a fine actor he can be. Morgan Freeman doesn't even have to say anything to win the audience over - he is casting shorthand for "good guy".
Good things about the movie: Michael Caine was pretty good, although a little obvious in some of his delivery.
Not so great things: Tom Wilkinson was in the wrong Batman - his performance was jarringly kitschy in an otherwise realistically presented film. Katie Holmes made me really hope she and Bruce wouldn't get together. I couldn't take her baby-voiced self-righteousness seriously.
Things I haven't decided are good or bad yet: Cillian Murphy gave a fine performance, and he his limpid pools of blue are deeper than Elijah Wood's, but I had a hard time buying him as a prominent psychiatrist because he looks like he hasn't started shaving yet.
I recommend, primarily for Bale - he provides an emotional center to the story that I think previous Batman movies lacked.
(Something that made me wish for an alternate universe: imagine Christian Bale playing every big role Tom Cruise has ever played. Bale has intensity to rival the wee Clam, but so much more depth.)
(I was thinking that Freeman should play a bad guy, just to go against type, but then I remembered Nurse Betty, where he's a cold-blooded killer...who I still felt incredibly sympathetic towards. He just emanates warmth.)
READ
I just finished reading Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith. The violent faith in this book is the Church of Jesus Christ and Ladder Day Saints. Krakauer weaves the history of the Mormon faith together with a contemporary story of a brutal murder commmitted by Ron & Dan Lafferty, two members of the fundmentalist Mormon community. While Krakauer is careful to note that most Mormons are industrious, cheerful, and wholesome, he explores the history of the religion, which includes fraud, massacres and sexual abuse.
Krakauer's focus is on the fundamentalist Mormon community, which split with the main church when the latter denounced polygamy. There are fundamentalist communities in the United States, Canada and Mexico, which practice "plural marriage", sometimes marrying girls of 13 or 14 off to men who are not only generations older than them, but oftentimes related to them.
The Mormon faith believes that followers have a very personal relationship with God, and they consider themselves "prophets, seers and revelators". In the case of Ron Lafferty, he claims God revealed that he should "remove" his sister-in-law and other people who Lafferty believed encouraged his wife to leave him. He shared this "removal revelation" with members of his fundamentalist ward, yet no one attempted to stop him.
The courtroom scenes were particularly interesting to me. The defense attorney wanted his client deemed not guilty by reason of insanity. The prosecutor took the tack that millions of people believe in God, and perform rituals and practices that could be deemed insane when taken out of context (transubstantiation, anyone?). In addition, aside from his religious beliefs, which were way out of the mainstream, he wasn't at all insane - he had qualities of Narcissistic Personality Disorder, but he wasn't schizophrenic or psychopathic. He followed the faith her learned from his family and community, and that faith led him to commit an act of extreme violence. Essentially, the prosecutor argued that if we were to believe that Ron was insane, we would necessarily have to deem any person of faith insane.
I recommend the book if you are interested in the topic of fundamentalism.
One Stop Shopping
There was a time when I started my blogging day by heading over to Daily Kos. But those days are gone. Now I head over to Shakespeare's Sister, and blog posts like this one are the reason why. She's a daily necessity, and if you aren't reading her, you should amend that immediately.
7/12/2005
On Rove
I am loath to get too excited over the growing furor about Karl Rove - bags of scum are slippery, after all. He may well survive this.
And if Rove does resign or get fired because of the Plame leak, I don't think that means he is done playing a role for this White House. Even if he ends up in big trouble (of the prison variety), I don't think that would make the current administration shun him.
No, this has to be tied to the whole administration. It will not be satisfying to me if Rove gets frogmarched out of the White House only to continue his role from behind bars. I want this story to tie together with all the other scandals (OBL still free, no WMD, billions missing in Iraq, Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, DSM, etc.) to besmirch this whole foul administration. The cancer in this administration is not a tumor called Karl - the whole stinking body is riddled with the disease.
And if Rove does resign or get fired because of the Plame leak, I don't think that means he is done playing a role for this White House. Even if he ends up in big trouble (of the prison variety), I don't think that would make the current administration shun him.
No, this has to be tied to the whole administration. It will not be satisfying to me if Rove gets frogmarched out of the White House only to continue his role from behind bars. I want this story to tie together with all the other scandals (OBL still free, no WMD, billions missing in Iraq, Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, DSM, etc.) to besmirch this whole foul administration. The cancer in this administration is not a tumor called Karl - the whole stinking body is riddled with the disease.
7/11/2005
Music History
or the soundtrack of my life, inspired by a post at Pandagon.
1969-1976 - Country music, variety show acts, showtunes: Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, The Osmonds, Sonny & Cher, Bobby Vinton, the Jackson 5, soundtracks to the Wizard of Oz, Sesame Street, Bambi, Lady and the Tramp. Also Irish music - The Dubliners, The Savage Brothers, lots of people whose names I can't remember.
1977-1978 - I started choosing my own music, and even then, I mostly liked people I could sing along with - Billy Joel, The Beatles, The Kinks. I listen to certain David Bowie over and over again, writing the lyrics down until I've memorized them.
1979-1981 - I am obsessed with Led Zeppelin and The Who. I think Mick Jagger is sex on two legs even though I'm not quite sure what sex is. This somehow morphs into interest in Black Sabbath and other metal bands that I can't quite remember the names of.
1981-1983 - Somewhere in there, my older sister and I saw David Byrne on TV, and we were hooked - Talking Heads and the B-52's. I don't understand why everyone likes the new version of Michael Jackson, when it was clear to me that he wasn't singing anymore, just making noise.
1983-1984 - my Duran Duran years. My best friend in Jr. High also introduced me to Prince and Parliament. I loved Midnight Oil. Also listened to The Thompson Twins, Eurythmics, U2. I resist all things related to Madonna, but I am fond of Weird Al.
1984-1986 - Teenage angst - yes, I listened to The Cure. My cousin moved back to the U.S. from Ireland and got us hooked on The Jam. I start listening to punk - Sex Pistols, The Ramones, The Clash, PiL, Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, Black Flag, etc.
1986 - I spend the summer at the Center for Creative Youth and become obsessed with Bob Dylan.
1987 - my senior year of high school. The Violent Femmes, Frank Zappa, still listening to punk and Dylan.
1988-1989 - I introduce my new boyfriend, who loves Styx, to good music. He is so grateful that he knocks me up *and* marries me.
1989-1996 - Loki will refer to these as the dark years. Showtunes, showtunes, showtunes. I listen to every Stephen Sondheim show over and over again. Sio knows all the words to Black Boys from Hair. March of the Falsettos, Ain't Misbehavin', Little Shop of Horrors, Ruthless! the Musical, etc., etc., etc. I also listen to lots of k.d. lang and Tori Amos. I get interested in traditional Irish music and start listening to The Chieftains and Cherish the Ladies.
1997 - the year Monkey was born. I don't know if I listened to anything while she was getting tested for every disease under the sun because she wouldn't gain any weight.
1998-present. Fairly eclectic. I still listen to almost everything listed above. Ben Folds, Nellie McKay, Outkast, Marvin Gaye, White Stripes, Incubus, Stevie Wonder, I could go on.
1969-1976 - Country music, variety show acts, showtunes: Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, The Osmonds, Sonny & Cher, Bobby Vinton, the Jackson 5, soundtracks to the Wizard of Oz, Sesame Street, Bambi, Lady and the Tramp. Also Irish music - The Dubliners, The Savage Brothers, lots of people whose names I can't remember.
1977-1978 - I started choosing my own music, and even then, I mostly liked people I could sing along with - Billy Joel, The Beatles, The Kinks. I listen to certain David Bowie over and over again, writing the lyrics down until I've memorized them.
1979-1981 - I am obsessed with Led Zeppelin and The Who. I think Mick Jagger is sex on two legs even though I'm not quite sure what sex is. This somehow morphs into interest in Black Sabbath and other metal bands that I can't quite remember the names of.
1981-1983 - Somewhere in there, my older sister and I saw David Byrne on TV, and we were hooked - Talking Heads and the B-52's. I don't understand why everyone likes the new version of Michael Jackson, when it was clear to me that he wasn't singing anymore, just making noise.
1983-1984 - my Duran Duran years. My best friend in Jr. High also introduced me to Prince and Parliament. I loved Midnight Oil. Also listened to The Thompson Twins, Eurythmics, U2. I resist all things related to Madonna, but I am fond of Weird Al.
1984-1986 - Teenage angst - yes, I listened to The Cure. My cousin moved back to the U.S. from Ireland and got us hooked on The Jam. I start listening to punk - Sex Pistols, The Ramones, The Clash, PiL, Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, Black Flag, etc.
1986 - I spend the summer at the Center for Creative Youth and become obsessed with Bob Dylan.
1987 - my senior year of high school. The Violent Femmes, Frank Zappa, still listening to punk and Dylan.
1988-1989 - I introduce my new boyfriend, who loves Styx, to good music. He is so grateful that he knocks me up *and* marries me.
1989-1996 - Loki will refer to these as the dark years. Showtunes, showtunes, showtunes. I listen to every Stephen Sondheim show over and over again. Sio knows all the words to Black Boys from Hair. March of the Falsettos, Ain't Misbehavin', Little Shop of Horrors, Ruthless! the Musical, etc., etc., etc. I also listen to lots of k.d. lang and Tori Amos. I get interested in traditional Irish music and start listening to The Chieftains and Cherish the Ladies.
1997 - the year Monkey was born. I don't know if I listened to anything while she was getting tested for every disease under the sun because she wouldn't gain any weight.
1998-present. Fairly eclectic. I still listen to almost everything listed above. Ben Folds, Nellie McKay, Outkast, Marvin Gaye, White Stripes, Incubus, Stevie Wonder, I could go on.
If I'm quiet today
It's because I'm making arrangements for Sio to stay with various friends and family members when she goes to London in a couple of weeks. She'll be there for 6 days, she's planning on touring UCL with my friend who works there on the 28th or 29th, and then she's on her own as far as plans. She's done a bunch of touristy things there before - museums, the Eye, etc., but I'm sure she's keen for suggestions, so if you have any, please leave them in the comments.
BTW, just to show you how lucky this kid is, she's going to Greece before she goes to London. Yeah, we could have used the money spent on this trip (less than $1K) to fix up stuff around the house, or as a downpayment on a new car, but I'm a more grasshopper than ant.
BTW, just to show you how lucky this kid is, she's going to Greece before she goes to London. Yeah, we could have used the money spent on this trip (less than $1K) to fix up stuff around the house, or as a downpayment on a new car, but I'm a more grasshopper than ant.
7/08/2005
My London
My first trip to London was in 1988, the year I got pregnant, got married, and dropped out of college. I went to England and Scotland on tour with my college Madrigal Choir and Orchestra - we were a 16 voice choir and a 20+ seat orchestra, performing songs by Vivaldi, Aaron Copeland, Benjamin Britten and Brahms, among others. We traveled north and then swung back around to spend the last 4 days of our trip in London. We stayed in a hotel that was rather fleabaggy, but was a short walk to the Paddington station, and that wonderful tube opens up the whole city for you.
I have a couple of indelible memories from that first trip - I learned how to play poker in London, and I got my first legal buzz in a nightclub somewhere near the Piccadilly Circus station. Our first night in London, we went to see 42nd Street at the Drury Lane Theater. After the show, we were walking by a rowdy pub and saw a dwarf get tossed through a window.
Our last day in London, we had a concert scheduled at the Royal Festival Hall. The weather during our trip had been almost miraculous - 10 days of sunshine as we traveled around England, our only wet day occurred on a day long stopover in Windemere, a rest stop before we pushed through to Fife, Scotland. This last day, the sky was threatening rain all morning. By the time we arrived at the RFH, the sky was done threatening and let loose a torrent. We set up the Orchestra and warmed up our voices. We were all feeling blue that our trip was nearly over, but we put our sadness aside to focus on the music.
The last number we performed at that concert was a rousing gospel song (which I can't quite remember the name of, which is going to drive me nuts). As we sang the words (that are on the tip of my tongue but not quite there yet), the clouds parted, the sun came shining through the rain, and I swear to all the powers of the universe that a rainbow appeared over the Royal Festival Hall.
My second trip to London was quite different. Loki, Sio, Monkey and I went to England during February vacation in 2003, just a few weeks before Bush officially launched the Iraq invasion. We initially were going to tell people we were Canadian, but we didn't, and we ended up having some wonderful conversations with folks we met all over the country about Bush and the war and how many Americans were still sane.
That vacation started in London - we stayed at the County Hall Travel Inn, just across the river from Big Ben and a quick walk to the London Eye. We were only there for an overnight, and then we rented a car and drove all over the place. We went to Stonehenge, Bath, Glastonbury, and after 4 days we made our way back to London to visit with my family. We were going to stay at the County Hall Travel Inn again, but my cousin Eileen and her husband Mick insisted we stay with them.
Although I'm only first generation American, I have a lot of Yankee in my personality, and I am sometimes standoffish around people I don't know well. This was the first time I met Eileen and Mick, and we clicked like we had grown up together. We stayed with them for 4 days, 4 days of Mick's whistlestop tour of *his* London, a city for which his love was boundless and contagious. 4 days of staying up until 2 in the morning laughing and talking and singing. I went to England to visit museums and see the sights, and instead I had the best time of my life sitting with a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits in a kitchen in Winchmore Hill.
I have a couple of indelible memories from that first trip - I learned how to play poker in London, and I got my first legal buzz in a nightclub somewhere near the Piccadilly Circus station. Our first night in London, we went to see 42nd Street at the Drury Lane Theater. After the show, we were walking by a rowdy pub and saw a dwarf get tossed through a window.
Our last day in London, we had a concert scheduled at the Royal Festival Hall. The weather during our trip had been almost miraculous - 10 days of sunshine as we traveled around England, our only wet day occurred on a day long stopover in Windemere, a rest stop before we pushed through to Fife, Scotland. This last day, the sky was threatening rain all morning. By the time we arrived at the RFH, the sky was done threatening and let loose a torrent. We set up the Orchestra and warmed up our voices. We were all feeling blue that our trip was nearly over, but we put our sadness aside to focus on the music.
The last number we performed at that concert was a rousing gospel song (which I can't quite remember the name of, which is going to drive me nuts). As we sang the words (that are on the tip of my tongue but not quite there yet), the clouds parted, the sun came shining through the rain, and I swear to all the powers of the universe that a rainbow appeared over the Royal Festival Hall.
My second trip to London was quite different. Loki, Sio, Monkey and I went to England during February vacation in 2003, just a few weeks before Bush officially launched the Iraq invasion. We initially were going to tell people we were Canadian, but we didn't, and we ended up having some wonderful conversations with folks we met all over the country about Bush and the war and how many Americans were still sane.
That vacation started in London - we stayed at the County Hall Travel Inn, just across the river from Big Ben and a quick walk to the London Eye. We were only there for an overnight, and then we rented a car and drove all over the place. We went to Stonehenge, Bath, Glastonbury, and after 4 days we made our way back to London to visit with my family. We were going to stay at the County Hall Travel Inn again, but my cousin Eileen and her husband Mick insisted we stay with them.
Although I'm only first generation American, I have a lot of Yankee in my personality, and I am sometimes standoffish around people I don't know well. This was the first time I met Eileen and Mick, and we clicked like we had grown up together. We stayed with them for 4 days, 4 days of Mick's whistlestop tour of *his* London, a city for which his love was boundless and contagious. 4 days of staying up until 2 in the morning laughing and talking and singing. I went to England to visit museums and see the sights, and instead I had the best time of my life sitting with a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits in a kitchen in Winchmore Hill.
7/07/2005
7/06/2005
If I seem quiet
It's because my blogging muse has done and left me. Meanwhile, my fiction muse is working overtime, so I've been working on a couple of short stories. One is about a Martha Stewart type whose "to-do" list includes murder; another is about a future where Oprah is the Goddess of the most prominent religion. If I decide they are worth finishing, I'll post some excerpts at some point.
In the meantime: there is no one who makes me want to believe in Hell more than Karl Rove makes me want to believe in Hell. The idea of him roasting for all eternity makes me feel so happy and peaceful inside. The fact that people like Rove aren't smited down on a routine basis is evidence against the existance of God.
In the meantime: there is no one who makes me want to believe in Hell more than Karl Rove makes me want to believe in Hell. The idea of him roasting for all eternity makes me feel so happy and peaceful inside. The fact that people like Rove aren't smited down on a routine basis is evidence against the existance of God.
7/05/2005
Feminism
Amanda at Pandagon, riffing off an article on Salon, was writing about feminism this morning, and her post reminded me of the first time I encounted a negative reaction to the word feminist.
My older sister tells people that I was a born feminist. Like most children, I was exquisitely aware of what was fair and what wasn't, and I could see that girls were treated unfairly as plain as the nose on my face - we couldn't play baseball, we couldn't play football, we had to wear shirts no matter how freaking hot it was outside, we were admonished as unladylike when we climbed trees or caught snakes or did any of the things that I, as a young tomboy, thought of as fun.
I remember my temper rising in CCD as we learned about Adam and Eve - how dare the church pass off this ridiculous story as being truth? Women have the babies, so they had to come first - it seemed obvious to me that Adam must have had a mother, he had a bellybutton just like the rest of us - and I knew how we got our bellybuttons, so I was not impressed by the supposed Word of God.
Anyway, I identified strongly with the concept of feminism, because it's common sense - if everyone doesn't have equality, then no one has equality.
When Sio was a year old, I got a job at a newspaper. I worked in Classified advertising with a bunch of women - the supervisor, also named Maureen, who was an older woman who raised 5 kids by herself when her husband died from an allergic reaction to an anesthetic when he went in the hospital for surgery; Judy, who was raising 2 kids by herself because her ex-husband was in jail; Ethel, a Norwegian woman who was devoutly Christian and always looked like a million bucks; Cheryl, who was kind of ditzy and couldn't quit smoking even after she had part of one cancerous lung removed; and Sue, who was married to the mayor of the town and worked part-time now that her children were grown and out of the house.
These women were all really lovely to work with, and we had a lot of fun as we worked. Maureen was a tough old broad on the outside, but was absolute marshmellow on the inside, and since we shared both a name and a birthdate, she took an instant liking to me.
One day we got on the subject of feminism, and I was shocked to hear Ethel and Sue speak so negatively about feminists. "But you're women!" I said. "That's like saying you're against yourself!"
Sue said I was too young to understand. "The feminists were just really radical," she said.
"Well, I think they'd have to be," I said. "Look at how long it took for women to get the right to vote. You need radical people to get the ball rolling! Should Maureen make .30 cents less than a man in her position, just because she's a woman?"
"Hell, no!" Maureen said.
Sue didn't like confrontation, particularly not with the supervisor, so that was the end of the conversation. Her husband, the mayor, turned out to be a crook, so she ended up getting divorced from him a few years later. I wonder if she ever thought back to our conversation as she tried to recover her life after a divorce that cost them everything?
My older sister tells people that I was a born feminist. Like most children, I was exquisitely aware of what was fair and what wasn't, and I could see that girls were treated unfairly as plain as the nose on my face - we couldn't play baseball, we couldn't play football, we had to wear shirts no matter how freaking hot it was outside, we were admonished as unladylike when we climbed trees or caught snakes or did any of the things that I, as a young tomboy, thought of as fun.
I remember my temper rising in CCD as we learned about Adam and Eve - how dare the church pass off this ridiculous story as being truth? Women have the babies, so they had to come first - it seemed obvious to me that Adam must have had a mother, he had a bellybutton just like the rest of us - and I knew how we got our bellybuttons, so I was not impressed by the supposed Word of God.
Anyway, I identified strongly with the concept of feminism, because it's common sense - if everyone doesn't have equality, then no one has equality.
When Sio was a year old, I got a job at a newspaper. I worked in Classified advertising with a bunch of women - the supervisor, also named Maureen, who was an older woman who raised 5 kids by herself when her husband died from an allergic reaction to an anesthetic when he went in the hospital for surgery; Judy, who was raising 2 kids by herself because her ex-husband was in jail; Ethel, a Norwegian woman who was devoutly Christian and always looked like a million bucks; Cheryl, who was kind of ditzy and couldn't quit smoking even after she had part of one cancerous lung removed; and Sue, who was married to the mayor of the town and worked part-time now that her children were grown and out of the house.
These women were all really lovely to work with, and we had a lot of fun as we worked. Maureen was a tough old broad on the outside, but was absolute marshmellow on the inside, and since we shared both a name and a birthdate, she took an instant liking to me.
One day we got on the subject of feminism, and I was shocked to hear Ethel and Sue speak so negatively about feminists. "But you're women!" I said. "That's like saying you're against yourself!"
Sue said I was too young to understand. "The feminists were just really radical," she said.
"Well, I think they'd have to be," I said. "Look at how long it took for women to get the right to vote. You need radical people to get the ball rolling! Should Maureen make .30 cents less than a man in her position, just because she's a woman?"
"Hell, no!" Maureen said.
Sue didn't like confrontation, particularly not with the supervisor, so that was the end of the conversation. Her husband, the mayor, turned out to be a crook, so she ended up getting divorced from him a few years later. I wonder if she ever thought back to our conversation as she tried to recover her life after a divorce that cost them everything?
I don't want to go back!
Loki and I had such a lovely weekend - hanging around the bookstore, going to the beach, taking the ferry to Block Island...I'm not ready to get back into normal life again!
7/03/2005
Light Posting
Despite the potential deliciousness of Karl Rove getting frogmarched, there will continue to be light posting through the next 2 days. My excuse: it's in the low 80's and sunny, with a beautiful breeze and low humidity. That weather combination happening on a holiday weekend when for all intents and purposes Loki and I are childless is too good to pass up.
7/01/2005
Ode to a Goldfish
I won't speak of justices leaving the bench
or whether the new guy will be bad or a mensch
I can't talk of justice deferred or denied
For Fiona, the calico goldfish, has died.
For nearly six years, she lived in a bowl
with green pebbles and plants and a shell that we stole
from Bahamian beaches, in sunnier climes
Where we traveled with family in money-er times
She almost died twice while under our care
Fi floating on top of the water did scare,
but a call to the vet fixed her problem with ease
We relieved her "fish gas" with beans and with peas.
For six years her bowl sat near our kitchen sink
The cats left her, (tho from her bowl they would drink)
There will be sorrow and tears will be shed,
For Fiona, the calico goldfish is dead.
RIP, Fiona (Oct. 1999-June 2005)
or whether the new guy will be bad or a mensch
I can't talk of justice deferred or denied
For Fiona, the calico goldfish, has died.
For nearly six years, she lived in a bowl
with green pebbles and plants and a shell that we stole
from Bahamian beaches, in sunnier climes
Where we traveled with family in money-er times
She almost died twice while under our care
Fi floating on top of the water did scare,
but a call to the vet fixed her problem with ease
We relieved her "fish gas" with beans and with peas.
For six years her bowl sat near our kitchen sink
The cats left her, (tho from her bowl they would drink)
There will be sorrow and tears will be shed,
For Fiona, the calico goldfish is dead.
RIP, Fiona (Oct. 1999-June 2005)
6/30/2005
Lesson Learned Too Late
I was just over at the Heretik's, reading this post, and I came to the following bilge from Scotty:
Gee, Scotty, you know when it would have been a good time to learn that lesson, if in fact that is a lesson you learned? How about on August 6, 2001? How stupid do you have to be to ignore a report that says bin Laden determined to attack?
And Scotty, your fucking master should have resigned for his failure to learn that the words "bin Laden determined to attack" actually meant that bin Laden was determined to attack. Even if Bush didn't deliberately ignore the August PDB, he is guilty of a terrible incompetence for letting 9/11 happen. So please, Scotty, keep reminding us of the colossal failure that Bush exhibited before and after 9/11.
MR. McCLELLAN: And who made any suggestion of a link to the attacks? What the President was talking about was that September 11th taught us important lessons. It taught us that we must confront threats before they full materialize, before they reach our shores.
Gee, Scotty, you know when it would have been a good time to learn that lesson, if in fact that is a lesson you learned? How about on August 6, 2001? How stupid do you have to be to ignore a report that says bin Laden determined to attack?
And Scotty, your fucking master should have resigned for his failure to learn that the words "bin Laden determined to attack" actually meant that bin Laden was determined to attack. Even if Bush didn't deliberately ignore the August PDB, he is guilty of a terrible incompetence for letting 9/11 happen. So please, Scotty, keep reminding us of the colossal failure that Bush exhibited before and after 9/11.
Blair continues his non-defense defense
Here's a quick little timeline:
There is a meeting between the U.S. and the U.K. at Downing Street in July of 2002.
The Downing Street Memos give us an account of what occurred at the meeting.
In October of 2002, the U.S. Senate gives Bush the authority to wage war on Iraq.
In November of 2002,
Blair and Bush go to the U.N. for a final Iraq resolution. We now know that this "final opportunity" for Iraq to come clean about its weapons programs was just a legal covering that the Blair administration insisted upon, because the case for war at that point was flimsy. Then the Bush and Blair administrations used the lack of weapons discovered by weapons inspectors between November of 2002 and March of 2003 as evidence that Hussein was hiding weapons.
And here we have the tony Tony:
Stop playing games, Blair! The fact that you went to the United Nations does not contradict or negate the contents of the Downing Street Memos! In fact, it supports the information that the Downing Street Memos gives us - Bush wanted war, you wanted a stronger legal covering, so you guys gamed the system.
Look at the timeline - Bush wants war against Iraq prior to July of 2002. In October of 2002, he gets authority from the U.S. Senate. In November of 2002, he goes to the U.N. You cannot suggest, Mr. Blair, that the open process you claim to have undertaken with the U.N. was the determining factor for invading Iraq. The decision for war was already made.
There is a meeting between the U.S. and the U.K. at Downing Street in July of 2002.
The Downing Street Memos give us an account of what occurred at the meeting.
In October of 2002, the U.S. Senate gives Bush the authority to wage war on Iraq.
In November of 2002,
Blair and Bush go to the U.N. for a final Iraq resolution. We now know that this "final opportunity" for Iraq to come clean about its weapons programs was just a legal covering that the Blair administration insisted upon, because the case for war at that point was flimsy. Then the Bush and Blair administrations used the lack of weapons discovered by weapons inspectors between November of 2002 and March of 2003 as evidence that Hussein was hiding weapons.
And here we have the tony Tony:
TONY BLAIR: They take bits out here of this memo or that memo, or something someone's supposed to have said at the time, and what people ignore is we went through a very open, obvious process through the United Nations and the issue was how did you -- because the view I took, as the president did, was we had to enforce United Nations resolutions against countries that were developing and proliferating WMD, that after Sept. 11 the world had changed, we had to take a definitive stand.
Stop playing games, Blair! The fact that you went to the United Nations does not contradict or negate the contents of the Downing Street Memos! In fact, it supports the information that the Downing Street Memos gives us - Bush wanted war, you wanted a stronger legal covering, so you guys gamed the system.
Look at the timeline - Bush wants war against Iraq prior to July of 2002. In October of 2002, he gets authority from the U.S. Senate. In November of 2002, he goes to the U.N. You cannot suggest, Mr. Blair, that the open process you claim to have undertaken with the U.N. was the determining factor for invading Iraq. The decision for war was already made.
6/29/2005
Right now, both of my children are away from home, and instead of using the time productively*, I've been worrying over my life. I come home, I take the dog out, I wash the dishes, I watch TV. Tons of TV. Flip, flip, flip the remote.
I tried to shake myself out of this yesterday by going to the bookstore, thumbing through some memoirs of other peoples lives. I was struck by the fact that no matter how upsetting or crazy parts of my life have been, there will always be someone who's had it much worse. Ordinarily, this would make me feel grateful, but yesterday, it made me feel like an underachiever - instead of embracing the chaos, I worked to get out of it. Is this some kind of survivor's ennui?
I've been trying to go swimming because if I can't think my way out of a period of angst, I find that a repetitive physical activity will jog me out of it. But I've been stymied every day this week: on Monday, my bus broke down, so I had to take another bus home that dropped me about a mile away, so I had to walk, and my hip was killing me by the time I got home, so I couldn't even think about riding my bike to the pool. Tuesday, I had to pick Sio up for her day off from camp, and do the grocery shopping, so no time for swimming. Today, there are thunderstorms, so the pools are closed.
How can I be 35 years old and not know what to do when I'm alone? I mean, there are lots of things I could do - I could clean, I could read, I could practice the piano, I could go for a walk, I could take a nap...but there is nothing that I could do that I want to do. I don't know what I want to do.
*When asked by my friend Leslie what Loki and I were going to do with no children in the house, I said "we're going to have sex in the living room."
I tried to shake myself out of this yesterday by going to the bookstore, thumbing through some memoirs of other peoples lives. I was struck by the fact that no matter how upsetting or crazy parts of my life have been, there will always be someone who's had it much worse. Ordinarily, this would make me feel grateful, but yesterday, it made me feel like an underachiever - instead of embracing the chaos, I worked to get out of it. Is this some kind of survivor's ennui?
I've been trying to go swimming because if I can't think my way out of a period of angst, I find that a repetitive physical activity will jog me out of it. But I've been stymied every day this week: on Monday, my bus broke down, so I had to take another bus home that dropped me about a mile away, so I had to walk, and my hip was killing me by the time I got home, so I couldn't even think about riding my bike to the pool. Tuesday, I had to pick Sio up for her day off from camp, and do the grocery shopping, so no time for swimming. Today, there are thunderstorms, so the pools are closed.
How can I be 35 years old and not know what to do when I'm alone? I mean, there are lots of things I could do - I could clean, I could read, I could practice the piano, I could go for a walk, I could take a nap...but there is nothing that I could do that I want to do. I don't know what I want to do.
*When asked by my friend Leslie what Loki and I were going to do with no children in the house, I said "we're going to have sex in the living room."
6/28/2005
Huh
It's interesting that Rumsfeld can make an observation like the following:
without a hint of irony.
emphasis mine
Rumsfeld said he does not "known much about" Ahmadinejad. "But he is no friend of democracy. He's no friend of freedom. He is a person who is very much supportive of the current ayatollahs, who are telling the people of that country how to live their lives."
without a hint of irony.
emphasis mine
6/27/2005
Some call it a meme, I call it a questionnaire
I've been tagged.
1. What were three of the stupidest things you have done in your life?
a)Dropped out of college
b)forgot to pay a credit card bill that ruined my credit for several years
c)Third on the list but the number one stupid thing I've ever done: voted for Nader in 2000 (although if I lived in a state that was up in the air, I would have definitely voted for Gore. I was not as politically aware then as I am now. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa)
2. At the current moment, who has the most influence in your life?
My kids, my husband, the liberal blogosphere.
3. If you were given a time machine that functioned, and you were allowed to only pick up to five people to dine with, who would you pick?
Mark Twain
Oscar Wilde
Joe Orton
William Shakespeare
David Niven
4. If you had three wishes that were not supernatural, what would they be?
I'm not sure if I can answer this question. Does it mean that the wishes (which, I think wish fulfillment of the magical variety definitely falls under the category of supernatural) would have to be something that could be accomplished by non-supernatural means?
Aside from wishing I understood the question, here are my wishes:
a) I wish I didn't have to worry about money (I don't want to be fabulously wealthy, just to not spend several hours every month sweating over whether or not I can pay all my bills, and not have to worry about paying for college)
b) I wish I could take a few years off from work to finish college.
c) I wish to live long enough to meet my great-grandchildren.
5. Someone is visiting your hometown/place where you live at the moment. Name two things you regret your city not having, and two things people should avoid.
Regret not having: an independent bookstore within walking distance of my house and an easy, convenient and quick way to travel around town
People should avoid: the mall area, the post office on Main Street (which is run by a bunch of religious whackos)
6. Name one event that has changed your life.
Giving birth
I'm supposed to pass this one to 5 people, but I would feel snubbed if they didn't reply, and my readership has dropped some, so let me just ask the first five people who read this to put their answers in the comments.
1. What were three of the stupidest things you have done in your life?
a)Dropped out of college
b)forgot to pay a credit card bill that ruined my credit for several years
c)Third on the list but the number one stupid thing I've ever done: voted for Nader in 2000 (although if I lived in a state that was up in the air, I would have definitely voted for Gore. I was not as politically aware then as I am now. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa)
2. At the current moment, who has the most influence in your life?
My kids, my husband, the liberal blogosphere.
3. If you were given a time machine that functioned, and you were allowed to only pick up to five people to dine with, who would you pick?
Mark Twain
Oscar Wilde
Joe Orton
William Shakespeare
David Niven
4. If you had three wishes that were not supernatural, what would they be?
I'm not sure if I can answer this question. Does it mean that the wishes (which, I think wish fulfillment of the magical variety definitely falls under the category of supernatural) would have to be something that could be accomplished by non-supernatural means?
Aside from wishing I understood the question, here are my wishes:
a) I wish I didn't have to worry about money (I don't want to be fabulously wealthy, just to not spend several hours every month sweating over whether or not I can pay all my bills, and not have to worry about paying for college)
b) I wish I could take a few years off from work to finish college.
c) I wish to live long enough to meet my great-grandchildren.
5. Someone is visiting your hometown/place where you live at the moment. Name two things you regret your city not having, and two things people should avoid.
Regret not having: an independent bookstore within walking distance of my house and an easy, convenient and quick way to travel around town
People should avoid: the mall area, the post office on Main Street (which is run by a bunch of religious whackos)
6. Name one event that has changed your life.
Giving birth
I'm supposed to pass this one to 5 people, but I would feel snubbed if they didn't reply, and my readership has dropped some, so let me just ask the first five people who read this to put their answers in the comments.
6/24/2005
Serenity
I started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer at the very end of season 3, after the series put their finale on hold due to Columbine. I quickly became a fan. I became more devoted to the show when I bought the DVDs of Season 1, 2, and 3 and found them to be even better than the show I fell in love with. I resisted Angel until Season 4, but I thought it had an exciting story arc, and got better almost until the end. (There were a few season 5 episodes that I was not too thrilled with, but the concluding episodes were outstanding. I think as a parent, the Angel/Connor storyline resonated for me.)
I didn't come to any of these series as a sci-fi/fantasy fan. I was a fan of well-written dialogue and interesting storylines, and both of these series met the bill. I have criticisms of Joss Whedon's writing - he sometimes becomes a little too enamored of a particular phrase (count the number of times various characters say "It's a thing" in the last two seasons of Buffy), but I like how he takes cliches of the genre and turns them inside out.
I first heard about Firefly from pissed off Buffy fans who were mad that Joss's attention was diverted from their beloved vampire slaying heroine. They felt the show suffered from Joss's absence and placed the blame squarely on the new baby. (Personally, I felt Marti Noxon was the real culprit in the diminishing quality of Buffy - for evidence, I point to Point Pleasant, a show that, to paraphrase Buffy, both sucks and blows)
But I have a lot of faith in Joss Whedon as a creator and writer, and I was very excited as I started to follow the news of Firefly. I got concerned when Fox put the pilot on hold, and I began to wonder if maybe my faith was misplaced.
But then I saw the first episode (which was actually the second episode, re-tooled with lots of exposition since Fox wasn't running the pilot), and my faith was restored. My love for Buffy and Angel revealed itself as a mere infatuation when compared to my deep and abiding love for the Firefly class ship Serenity and her crew. I checked the ratings and sent postcards and donated money to try to convince the Fox execs to keep the show. I got pissed with every promo for John Doe and Joe Millionaire, two crap shows that were the darlings of Fox execs. But alas, the series was canned. The final episode that Fox aired was the pilot episode, and I couldn't believe the idiots at Fox didn't realize what a gem it was. I got the DVD's the day they were released and savored the series in the order in which it was intended to air. I was kind of heartbroken, to be honest.
Last night I got to see the advance screening of the Firefly movie, Serenity. Before the movie started, Joss Whedon filmed an introduction to tell the rather remarkable story of how a cancelled TV series became a major motion picture.
The movie itself? Was hilarious, heartbreaking, tragic, hopeful, terrifying (seriously, it's really scary in parts), moving, with so much action it made the movie title ironic. In a metaphoric way, the story of Firefly, the cancelled show that became a movie, is the plot of Serenity. If you want to catch an advance screening, check the website cantstopthesignal.com, or sign up with the Browncoats. I had high expectations going into the movie, and I was kind of blown away, which I think means it's a pretty damn good movie.
I didn't come to any of these series as a sci-fi/fantasy fan. I was a fan of well-written dialogue and interesting storylines, and both of these series met the bill. I have criticisms of Joss Whedon's writing - he sometimes becomes a little too enamored of a particular phrase (count the number of times various characters say "It's a thing" in the last two seasons of Buffy), but I like how he takes cliches of the genre and turns them inside out.
I first heard about Firefly from pissed off Buffy fans who were mad that Joss's attention was diverted from their beloved vampire slaying heroine. They felt the show suffered from Joss's absence and placed the blame squarely on the new baby. (Personally, I felt Marti Noxon was the real culprit in the diminishing quality of Buffy - for evidence, I point to Point Pleasant, a show that, to paraphrase Buffy, both sucks and blows)
But I have a lot of faith in Joss Whedon as a creator and writer, and I was very excited as I started to follow the news of Firefly. I got concerned when Fox put the pilot on hold, and I began to wonder if maybe my faith was misplaced.
But then I saw the first episode (which was actually the second episode, re-tooled with lots of exposition since Fox wasn't running the pilot), and my faith was restored. My love for Buffy and Angel revealed itself as a mere infatuation when compared to my deep and abiding love for the Firefly class ship Serenity and her crew. I checked the ratings and sent postcards and donated money to try to convince the Fox execs to keep the show. I got pissed with every promo for John Doe and Joe Millionaire, two crap shows that were the darlings of Fox execs. But alas, the series was canned. The final episode that Fox aired was the pilot episode, and I couldn't believe the idiots at Fox didn't realize what a gem it was. I got the DVD's the day they were released and savored the series in the order in which it was intended to air. I was kind of heartbroken, to be honest.
Last night I got to see the advance screening of the Firefly movie, Serenity. Before the movie started, Joss Whedon filmed an introduction to tell the rather remarkable story of how a cancelled TV series became a major motion picture.
Hi, my name is Joss Whedon. Before we begin the special screening, I have a little story I want to tell you. It's about a TV show called Firefly.
Firefly went on the air a few years ago and was instantly hailed by critics as one of the most canceled shows of the year. It was ignored and abandoned and the story should end there, but it doesn't, because the people who made the show and the people who saw the show (which is...roughly...the same number of people) fell in love with it a little bit...too much to let it go, too much to lay down arms when the battle looked pretty much lost. In Hollywood, people like that are called 'unrealistic' ... 'quixotic' ... 'obsessive'.
In my world, they're called 'Browncoats'.
Whether you've watched the show, or saw the DVD's, or whether you've never set foot in the Firefly universe before tonight, the fact that you're here means that you are part of something...something that is a little bit remarkable. This movie should not exist. Failed TV shows don't get made into major motion pictures unless the creator, the cast, and the fans believe beyond reason.
It's what I've felt. It's what I've seen...in the DVD sales, the booths at the cons run by fans, the websites, the fundraisers... all the work the fans have done to help make this movie. It is, in an unprecedented sense, your movie...which means, if it sucks, it's your fault. You let us down, but let's not dwell on your failures because the work is not done.
I have to finish making it. Obviously not quite the final cut and you will notice some placeholders in music and effects, but we're very close. Once we are finished, we have to get people to see it. Now, obviously the studio is going to do their thing. There will be ads and trailers and all that joy, but this movie doesn't have stars and it doesn't have a giant mega-budget or even a simple salable premise. What it has is us, the people who believed unreasonably.
If this movie matters to you, let somebody know. Let everybody know. Make yourselves heard. If you don't like the movie, this is a time for quiet, silent contemplation. But, when the unfinished credits roll, if you still call yourself a Browncoat, remember the millions of people who don't...who might.
I want us to do this together. The cast is going to be appearing wherever they can. I'm going to be blogging and stumping and whatever I can think of. We've got Can'tStopTheSignal.com up and running...I'm fairly certain. We're all doing everything we can to make this the event that it should be.
Just remember, they tried to kill us...they did kill us...and here we are. We have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty. Thank you for helping to get this movie as far as it has gotten.
Welcome to Serenity.
The movie itself? Was hilarious, heartbreaking, tragic, hopeful, terrifying (seriously, it's really scary in parts), moving, with so much action it made the movie title ironic. In a metaphoric way, the story of Firefly, the cancelled show that became a movie, is the plot of Serenity. If you want to catch an advance screening, check the website cantstopthesignal.com, or sign up with the Browncoats. I had high expectations going into the movie, and I was kind of blown away, which I think means it's a pretty damn good movie.
Words, words, words, I'm so sick of words
I think the reporter here asked the wrong question:
The primary questions that the Downing Street Memos raise are not about the cost of war (although the lack of planning for the post-war environment does come up), but about the case for war. The question I would have asked is whether or not the president mislead the American people and their elected representatives in Congress about the case for war. Let's start there, before we advance to all the other choices this administration made about the war.
Really? So what was this all about?
The issue is not what the Bush administration SAYS. Look at what they DO. Their actions reveal how much planning was put into a post-war Iraq - little to none, and all piss-poor. Their actions reveal how they view 9/11 - 3,000 Americans murdered is just an opportunity to pursue their craven foreign policy. Their actions reveal how they feel about the troops - we have soldiers who are asking their parents to buy body armor for them.
I don't want to examine the words of the Bush administration, I want to look at their actions - that's where we see their intentions.
GREGORY: But if you're talking about the number of troops necessary, the level of American casualties, the force and intensity of the insurgency. . . did the president mislead the American people about the cost of the war or was he just simply surprised by what happened?
The primary questions that the Downing Street Memos raise are not about the cost of war (although the lack of planning for the post-war environment does come up), but about the case for war. The question I would have asked is whether or not the president mislead the American people and their elected representatives in Congress about the case for war. Let's start there, before we advance to all the other choices this administration made about the war.
ROVE: I would go back to the president's statements over the last several years and I would defy you to find one speech which he talked about Iraq where he doesn't say there would be difficult times ahead, that we had a long road to hope that a great deal of sacrifice was going to be called for by both the American people and by the Iraqis to achieve this goal. Look, we do not underestimate the ferocity and the anger and the viciousness of the people that we face. We are in a war. Some people may treat it as a law enforcement matter and be worried about indictments from the U.S. attorney from the southern district of New York. But we recognize this administration and the American people we are in a war and the only way you have a successful outcome in the war is to aim for a complete and total victory, which is exactly what we're doing.
Really? So what was this all about?
The issue is not what the Bush administration SAYS. Look at what they DO. Their actions reveal how much planning was put into a post-war Iraq - little to none, and all piss-poor. Their actions reveal how they view 9/11 - 3,000 Americans murdered is just an opportunity to pursue their craven foreign policy. Their actions reveal how they feel about the troops - we have soldiers who are asking their parents to buy body armor for them.
I don't want to examine the words of the Bush administration, I want to look at their actions - that's where we see their intentions.
6/23/2005
Phew
When I was younger, I looked forward to tests. I especially loved those standardized, fill-in-the-bubble types, which generally revealed that I was a genius and could take over the world with my sparkling intelligence that spanned every subject.
(BTW, my skill at standardized tests is #1 on my list of evidence of how standardized tests are a bullshit way to measure whether a students education has been a success.)
As I get older, I find that any sort of test (or audition or performance) is more nervewracking now than it's ever been before. I'm not sure why.
As I was driving to my interview this morning, my stomach was doing gymastics. I almost didn't go, I felt so queasy.
But I went, and I kicked some interviewing ass.
The interviewer asked me about what I could bring to their office, and I started talking about my management style, about how I've successfully implemented big procedural changes while keeping morale high. I talked about successful sales campaigns, incentive programs, the way I've dealt with employees who are performing under par, etc.
And when I was finished, the interviewer went through some of the problems they are experiencing with their customer service department, and, although he didn't say it outright, my skills and knowledge align perfectly with the issues they need to deal with.
I don't know whether I'll get an offer, but I feel great about how the interview went.
(BTW, my skill at standardized tests is #1 on my list of evidence of how standardized tests are a bullshit way to measure whether a students education has been a success.)
As I get older, I find that any sort of test (or audition or performance) is more nervewracking now than it's ever been before. I'm not sure why.
As I was driving to my interview this morning, my stomach was doing gymastics. I almost didn't go, I felt so queasy.
But I went, and I kicked some interviewing ass.
The interviewer asked me about what I could bring to their office, and I started talking about my management style, about how I've successfully implemented big procedural changes while keeping morale high. I talked about successful sales campaigns, incentive programs, the way I've dealt with employees who are performing under par, etc.
And when I was finished, the interviewer went through some of the problems they are experiencing with their customer service department, and, although he didn't say it outright, my skills and knowledge align perfectly with the issues they need to deal with.
I don't know whether I'll get an offer, but I feel great about how the interview went.
6/22/2005
Good things that might happen
1. I have a job interview tomorrow morning. The job is at a newspaper, for a position that is definitely higher profile than secretary*, and the office is about 2 miles from my house - close enough for me to ride my bike. I don't know what the benefits are yet, and that will be a big factor in my decision. I don't know what the pay is, either. And I don't know whether or not it's a good place to work. But it might be a good thing, and it might happen.
2. I may have a ticket to see a preview of the movie Serenity tomorrow night. If it happens, I can thank a very nice young lady I met during NaNoWriMo last year.
Sorry I'm kind of quiet today, I'm hellishly busy, and now I need to get my desk organized in case I have to say sayonara to my office!
*Not to denigrate secretaries. I work with 15 people with Master's Degrees who would cease to function at work without their secretaries. I have a lot of respect for secretaries. I'm not really good enough to be a secretary, as a matter of fact.
2. I may have a ticket to see a preview of the movie Serenity tomorrow night. If it happens, I can thank a very nice young lady I met during NaNoWriMo last year.
Sorry I'm kind of quiet today, I'm hellishly busy, and now I need to get my desk organized in case I have to say sayonara to my office!
*Not to denigrate secretaries. I work with 15 people with Master's Degrees who would cease to function at work without their secretaries. I have a lot of respect for secretaries. I'm not really good enough to be a secretary, as a matter of fact.
6/21/2005
SEX
Loki got a very special* Father's Day present this year. He was looking for Sio, and he walked in on her and her boyfriend making out. I believe the boyfriend's hand may have been under Sio's shirt.
That night, after the boyfriend went home, and Sio was asleep, Loki asked me if I had talked to her about sex.
"Of course!" I said.
"Well what did you tell her?" he asked.
"I told her this: sex is a wonderful thing. It feels good, and there will come a time when you really want to have sex. But women have to be careful, and not just to protect your feelings. There are real negative consequences that can do more than just make you feel heartbroken: unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, for example. Of course, you can use contraception and condoms, but there are failure rates for both of those. You're a living example of contraception failure. So right away, you need to look at the failure rates and decide if the risk is worth it.
So maybe you decide it is worth it. You have to plan to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The time to make your decision about whether or not you are going to have sex is *before* you are in the throes of passion. You can't go on the pill on Monday and expect to be protected on Tuesday. And frankly, I don't think you should *ever* have sex with a man who makes a stink about wearing a condom. A guy who protests wearing a condom does not respect you enough to be worth the trouble.
My hope is that you will come to me before you decide anything. The decision is yours, but I want to make sure you are safe. My hope is that you will put yourself first - don't defer your dreams for the thrills of sex, don't let it distract you from your goals. My hope is that you will wait until you're an adult, and in a better position to handle the negative consequences should you experience them. But no matter what, you can always, always come talk to me and we will work through everything together."
Loki was a little concerned that my attitude was too permissive, but I had to remind him that this is Sio we're talking about. She has a good head on her shoulders, and she has a long history of making wise choices.
"You just have to trust her to make a good decision about this," I said. "If you want to be the bad guy, go ahead, but that makes it easier for her to ignore your opinions and defy your wishes. You'll be the enemy, and the boyfriend will be the man on her side. Is that how you want it to be?"
"No," he grumbled. "I just wish they didn't have to grow up and deal with men. Men are assholes."
"Not all of them, not all the time," I said.
"Yes, they are, all of them, all the time," he said.
"Let's just go to sleep," I said.
*the same kind of special you feel when the dentist tells you you need a a root canal.
That night, after the boyfriend went home, and Sio was asleep, Loki asked me if I had talked to her about sex.
"Of course!" I said.
"Well what did you tell her?" he asked.
"I told her this: sex is a wonderful thing. It feels good, and there will come a time when you really want to have sex. But women have to be careful, and not just to protect your feelings. There are real negative consequences that can do more than just make you feel heartbroken: unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, for example. Of course, you can use contraception and condoms, but there are failure rates for both of those. You're a living example of contraception failure. So right away, you need to look at the failure rates and decide if the risk is worth it.
So maybe you decide it is worth it. You have to plan to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The time to make your decision about whether or not you are going to have sex is *before* you are in the throes of passion. You can't go on the pill on Monday and expect to be protected on Tuesday. And frankly, I don't think you should *ever* have sex with a man who makes a stink about wearing a condom. A guy who protests wearing a condom does not respect you enough to be worth the trouble.
My hope is that you will come to me before you decide anything. The decision is yours, but I want to make sure you are safe. My hope is that you will put yourself first - don't defer your dreams for the thrills of sex, don't let it distract you from your goals. My hope is that you will wait until you're an adult, and in a better position to handle the negative consequences should you experience them. But no matter what, you can always, always come talk to me and we will work through everything together."
Loki was a little concerned that my attitude was too permissive, but I had to remind him that this is Sio we're talking about. She has a good head on her shoulders, and she has a long history of making wise choices.
"You just have to trust her to make a good decision about this," I said. "If you want to be the bad guy, go ahead, but that makes it easier for her to ignore your opinions and defy your wishes. You'll be the enemy, and the boyfriend will be the man on her side. Is that how you want it to be?"
"No," he grumbled. "I just wish they didn't have to grow up and deal with men. Men are assholes."
"Not all of them, not all the time," I said.
"Yes, they are, all of them, all the time," he said.
"Let's just go to sleep," I said.
*the same kind of special you feel when the dentist tells you you need a a root canal.
6/20/2005
6/17/2005
Last Day
Today is the last day of school for the minors in our house. Both of my sisters with children are sort of bemoaning summer vacation, because neither of them work over the summer. One is a teacher, one is a lunch lady.
Meanwhile, your hostess the wage slave just got asked one of those questions that can make you* cry: Monkey asked me if I could please take the summer off so we could hang out together. I will have to remember this feeling as I sit through remedial algebra, to trigger a little more motivation to finish my degree in Music Education. I don't think I will complain about the kids being home all day.
Sio has a big huge summer planned: 2 weeks working at camp, trip to London and Greece, possibly a job at a very nice hotel. In addition, she will be going to school over the summer to organize the costume room, and to meet with the Computer Science teacher for a few projects (she's taking AP Computer Science as an independent study next year).
Monkey is going to overnight camp (the same one that Sio will be working at) for 2 weeks, then she'll be at the Parks & Rec day camp for the remainder of the summer.
My mother-in-law is coming for a visit in mid-July, and thankfully I have an excuse to stay at work - I'm saving up my time off for potential hip replacement surgery. MIL is a wingnut. A nice wingnut, as wingnuts go, but a wingnut nonetheless. Because I take good advice, I won't say anything about her husband.
I'll try to go swimming every day at one of the public pools. And I'll take a day off here and there for a day trip to one of the fine beaches of Rhode Island (because it really is not as much fun on the weekend).
And I have my Ben Folds/Rufus Wainwright concert in August.
And - fingers crossed - the end of the Bush era to look forward to.
Meanwhile, your hostess the wage slave just got asked one of those questions that can make you* cry: Monkey asked me if I could please take the summer off so we could hang out together. I will have to remember this feeling as I sit through remedial algebra, to trigger a little more motivation to finish my degree in Music Education. I don't think I will complain about the kids being home all day.
Sio has a big huge summer planned: 2 weeks working at camp, trip to London and Greece, possibly a job at a very nice hotel. In addition, she will be going to school over the summer to organize the costume room, and to meet with the Computer Science teacher for a few projects (she's taking AP Computer Science as an independent study next year).
Monkey is going to overnight camp (the same one that Sio will be working at) for 2 weeks, then she'll be at the Parks & Rec day camp for the remainder of the summer.
My mother-in-law is coming for a visit in mid-July, and thankfully I have an excuse to stay at work - I'm saving up my time off for potential hip replacement surgery. MIL is a wingnut. A nice wingnut, as wingnuts go, but a wingnut nonetheless. Because I take good advice, I won't say anything about her husband.
I'll try to go swimming every day at one of the public pools. And I'll take a day off here and there for a day trip to one of the fine beaches of Rhode Island (because it really is not as much fun on the weekend).
And I have my Ben Folds/Rufus Wainwright concert in August.
And - fingers crossed - the end of the Bush era to look forward to.
6/16/2005
30 Days
I watched the premiere episode of this new series last night. Created by Morgan Spurlock of Supersize Me fame, it proposes the theory that 30 days experiencing a different kind of life can change your life forever.
Last night, Morgan and his fiancee Alex tried to live on minimum wage for 30 days. And oh, the misty water-colored memories it brought back! Loki and I were actually making more than minimum wage when we got married, but due to the cost of living in Connecticut, I'd say we were doing about as well as Morgan and Alex were in the episode.
We lived in the cheapest apartment we could find that was actually habitable for human beings - it cost $425/month, and we had a lovely view of a graveyard that was a popular place for drug deals to go down. We lived on the 3rd floor, had no shower, only a tub, and we never once turned on the heat while we were there because we couldn't afford it - we just bundled up or snuggled up or walked to the hospital down the road to hang out in the spacious and warm lobby, reading the old magazines.
I was on a message board about the show and I noticed that even while people were sympathetic to the plight of the working poor, there is an attitude that poor people should punish themselves for daring to be poor - similar, in a way, to the attitude expressed by people over at Gilliard's blog about the girl in Aruba, who some seem to think deserve what happened to her because she made some foolish choices.
How should they punish themselves? Let's start with the basics: they certainly should never splurge and eat out - that's just wasteful. Let them eat ramen noodles! They shouldn't be messing around with sex, even if they have birth control - birth control can fail, so it's way too risky - so poor folks, abstinence only until you get a better job! You injured yourself? Suck it up, dude - health care is for people with money.
I realize that people can make bad choices, and depending on the circumstances of your life, one bad choice can be so devastating that you wish you could go back and do it differently. But we only expect poor people to live lives of Spartan perfection. There are people who can live that way and do live that way, and kudos to them. But human beings in general won't do it.
And when you live that way for a while, even when you make good choices, you can find yourself getting knocked down, hard, and it can whittle away at your spirit.
Loki and I scrimped and saved for a car back then (public transportation in CT is not great). We didn't turn on the heat, we ate ramen noodles and only ramen noodles, we didn't leave the apartment, etc. We needed the car to get out to find better jobs - where we were living, there was very limited public transportation, so we had to work at places within walking distance.
So we get the car - we paid $500 for a 1979 Chevy Malibu. I got a job as a certified nurse's aide, which paid $8.00/hr. Loki got a job working in the lab at the hospital, which was a 5 minute walk from the apartment and paid almost $9.00/hr. We were rolling in the money!
But things go wrong with the car, you end up paying over $300 to fix it. You get rolling again, but someone behind you slides into your car, pushing you into the car in front of you, so now you have a car that needs body work, you are at fault for hitting the person in front of you, and then your car insurance goes up.
You start to realize that no matter how careful you are, shit happens. You never get ahead because it costs money to make money. I remember showing up for a job interview in my nicest clothes, including a pair of shoes that I spent $12 precious dollars on. I sat in the waiting room, and I looked at everyone else who was interviewing for the job. I looked like a hobo compared to them, even in my nicest clothes. I did my best, but it was for a bank teller position, and your appearance is important, so I didn't get the job (even though I am an engaging interviewee - when I get an interview, I usually get offered the job.)
I remember suffering through an abcessed tooth, because I didn't have any dental insurance. Eventually, the whole left side of my face swelled up, so I didn't have a choice - even at the grocery store they don't like deformed people manning the cash registers. The electric and the gas didn't get paid that month because I had to spend $120+ to get the tooth pulled, and I suffered through the pain of recovering from the abcess because I didn't have medical insurance and the painkillers would have cost $60 that I didn't have. (And the pain? Worse than childbirth. By a lot.)
Next week's episode doesn't look quite as interesting - I think a couch potato tries to use drugs to improve his physical appearance, kind of meh - but I will be tuning into this show in the future.
Last night, Morgan and his fiancee Alex tried to live on minimum wage for 30 days. And oh, the misty water-colored memories it brought back! Loki and I were actually making more than minimum wage when we got married, but due to the cost of living in Connecticut, I'd say we were doing about as well as Morgan and Alex were in the episode.
We lived in the cheapest apartment we could find that was actually habitable for human beings - it cost $425/month, and we had a lovely view of a graveyard that was a popular place for drug deals to go down. We lived on the 3rd floor, had no shower, only a tub, and we never once turned on the heat while we were there because we couldn't afford it - we just bundled up or snuggled up or walked to the hospital down the road to hang out in the spacious and warm lobby, reading the old magazines.
I was on a message board about the show and I noticed that even while people were sympathetic to the plight of the working poor, there is an attitude that poor people should punish themselves for daring to be poor - similar, in a way, to the attitude expressed by people over at Gilliard's blog about the girl in Aruba, who some seem to think deserve what happened to her because she made some foolish choices.
How should they punish themselves? Let's start with the basics: they certainly should never splurge and eat out - that's just wasteful. Let them eat ramen noodles! They shouldn't be messing around with sex, even if they have birth control - birth control can fail, so it's way too risky - so poor folks, abstinence only until you get a better job! You injured yourself? Suck it up, dude - health care is for people with money.
I realize that people can make bad choices, and depending on the circumstances of your life, one bad choice can be so devastating that you wish you could go back and do it differently. But we only expect poor people to live lives of Spartan perfection. There are people who can live that way and do live that way, and kudos to them. But human beings in general won't do it.
And when you live that way for a while, even when you make good choices, you can find yourself getting knocked down, hard, and it can whittle away at your spirit.
Loki and I scrimped and saved for a car back then (public transportation in CT is not great). We didn't turn on the heat, we ate ramen noodles and only ramen noodles, we didn't leave the apartment, etc. We needed the car to get out to find better jobs - where we were living, there was very limited public transportation, so we had to work at places within walking distance.
So we get the car - we paid $500 for a 1979 Chevy Malibu. I got a job as a certified nurse's aide, which paid $8.00/hr. Loki got a job working in the lab at the hospital, which was a 5 minute walk from the apartment and paid almost $9.00/hr. We were rolling in the money!
But things go wrong with the car, you end up paying over $300 to fix it. You get rolling again, but someone behind you slides into your car, pushing you into the car in front of you, so now you have a car that needs body work, you are at fault for hitting the person in front of you, and then your car insurance goes up.
You start to realize that no matter how careful you are, shit happens. You never get ahead because it costs money to make money. I remember showing up for a job interview in my nicest clothes, including a pair of shoes that I spent $12 precious dollars on. I sat in the waiting room, and I looked at everyone else who was interviewing for the job. I looked like a hobo compared to them, even in my nicest clothes. I did my best, but it was for a bank teller position, and your appearance is important, so I didn't get the job (even though I am an engaging interviewee - when I get an interview, I usually get offered the job.)
I remember suffering through an abcessed tooth, because I didn't have any dental insurance. Eventually, the whole left side of my face swelled up, so I didn't have a choice - even at the grocery store they don't like deformed people manning the cash registers. The electric and the gas didn't get paid that month because I had to spend $120+ to get the tooth pulled, and I suffered through the pain of recovering from the abcess because I didn't have medical insurance and the painkillers would have cost $60 that I didn't have. (And the pain? Worse than childbirth. By a lot.)
Next week's episode doesn't look quite as interesting - I think a couch potato tries to use drugs to improve his physical appearance, kind of meh - but I will be tuning into this show in the future.
6/15/2005
Quote of the Month
"Republicans sodomize sheep and drink piss straight from the cock. Straight from the coooock."
-Jon Stewart, presenting a truly offensive statement to contrast with the level of outrage from the Republicans at Howard Dean calling them "White Christians"
-Jon Stewart, presenting a truly offensive statement to contrast with the level of outrage from the Republicans at Howard Dean calling them "White Christians"
quickies
Super busy day today, so just a couple of quick little things:
1. I spent a chunk of my morning in a meeting with a bunch of fuel oil, diesel and gasoline vendors. They said they don't know what is happening with the fuel oil market anymore. A few years ago, having a price change a half a cent in a day was excitement. Now they come back from lunch and the prices are up 8 cents. They pointed out that they only make 2 or 3 cents on the gallon, it's the energy traders like Morgan Stanley who are making out like bandits. I think it's pretty amazing to sit around with a bunch of guys in this field and hear them complain about the greedy bastards at the top of the oil chain.
2. Last night I picked up Chris Hedges book, "War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning". Wow, what a beautifully written book, and lots of food for thought. I didn't have any money on me, but I'll be purchasing this one when I get paid this week. I only made it through chapter 2 when they booted us from the store.
3. I was the first person in my family to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and I was already devoted to Firefly before it ever aired even a single episode. Last week, I was supremely pissed because I missed getting tickets to a preview of the Firefly movie, Serenity, which is playing about 3 miles from my house next Thursday. I spent about an hour trying to get tickets only to find they sold out in the first 6 minutes. So you can imagine my jealousy when Sio came home from school yesterday with a ticket to see the preview. One of her friends bought 14 tickets, and Sio got one of them. But she didn't get one for her dear mother, who sacrificed 9 months of food because I was so sick when I was pregnant with her, who went through labor and delivery without so much as an aspirin, lest the painkillers interfere even one iota with my precious child, who gives her everything she wants (that we can afford). Nope. No Serenity for me.
1. I spent a chunk of my morning in a meeting with a bunch of fuel oil, diesel and gasoline vendors. They said they don't know what is happening with the fuel oil market anymore. A few years ago, having a price change a half a cent in a day was excitement. Now they come back from lunch and the prices are up 8 cents. They pointed out that they only make 2 or 3 cents on the gallon, it's the energy traders like Morgan Stanley who are making out like bandits. I think it's pretty amazing to sit around with a bunch of guys in this field and hear them complain about the greedy bastards at the top of the oil chain.
2. Last night I picked up Chris Hedges book, "War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning". Wow, what a beautifully written book, and lots of food for thought. I didn't have any money on me, but I'll be purchasing this one when I get paid this week. I only made it through chapter 2 when they booted us from the store.
3. I was the first person in my family to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and I was already devoted to Firefly before it ever aired even a single episode. Last week, I was supremely pissed because I missed getting tickets to a preview of the Firefly movie, Serenity, which is playing about 3 miles from my house next Thursday. I spent about an hour trying to get tickets only to find they sold out in the first 6 minutes. So you can imagine my jealousy when Sio came home from school yesterday with a ticket to see the preview. One of her friends bought 14 tickets, and Sio got one of them. But she didn't get one for her dear mother, who sacrificed 9 months of food because I was so sick when I was pregnant with her, who went through labor and delivery without so much as an aspirin, lest the painkillers interfere even one iota with my precious child, who gives her everything she wants (that we can afford). Nope. No Serenity for me.
6/14/2005
6/13/2005
Liberal Pie Fight
Okay, I'm sure you know all about the pie fight over at Kos. Various bloggers have been weighing in on it. I just read Steve Gilliard's post about it.
Just for the record, I could not give less of a shit about the pie fight ad. I don't even notice the ads on most of the blogs I visit. I understand that some people find the ad offensive. I don't think the ad warrants enough attention to be offensive, but I certainly understand those who feel otherwise.
But the vitriol directed towards those who are offended by the ad has been eye-opening. Demeaning, condescending, obnoxious, belittling comments have been directed towards those who were bothered by the ad. And it's been expanded towards anyone who dares to stand up and say that the issue's that matter to woman are important, perhaps too important to be sidelined.
So let me move from the pie fight to the abortion issue. Kos wrote today that he thinks abortion is horrible. He is pissed at NARAL and is really not happy with voters who favor a single issue. I hear what he's saying, and I understand, from an electoral perspective, that his opinion has value.
But I have a uterus. I have two daughters, too. I understand how at campaign time, it might not be bad to talk about the issue of privacy rather than about pro-choice, but it feels much more urgent when you are actually in possession of the body parts that are on the table for discussion of compromise. There is no equivalent imposition on men (unless of course there is a draft). Of course this is an issue that is going to be more resonant and personal to some of us.
So here I am, a woman, a mother, a loyal Democratic voter, and I'm telling my party: I want a Democratic majority, and I want the soldiers to come home, I want a sane foreign policy, I want equal rights for all people, I want all Americans to have health care, I want a clean environment, I want to cut down our dependence on oil, I want NCLB to die in favor of a less ignorant education policy *and* I want to have autonomy over my own body. I don't see how any of those things can be sidelined, or put down as not *as* important. If the Democratic party doesn't stand up for those things, then I'll try to find a party that will.
I really believe the key to electoral victory lies in taking a stand. I've said it before. Look at the shit that the Republicans stand up for: polluting factories, mercury in the water, corruption in the boardroom, torture, creating classes of people with fewer rights than others, let the rich get richer, screw the poor. It's all complete shit, and they proudly smile and serve it up like it was apple pie a la mode. And they win. Maybe the Democrats can learn something from them - not how to be more like them, because that would be retarded, but how to stand up for the things you believe in. The Democrats (the voters, I mean) believe in a lot of good stuff, why run away from it?
All this pie stuff has also revealed how much a lot of the big bloggers hate it when women stand up for themselves. They really hate it when we tap them on the shoulder and say "you're full of shit, dude." So they tell us that what we are saying isn't really important, that we're being selfish, or bizarre, or that our arguments have no merit. And that's fine - if you want to disagree with me, and tell me so, I'm a big girl, and I can stand up for myself. Maybe you will even convince me. But you won't do it by hurling insults and attacks, and insinuating that I'm a humorless bitch. I'm really not.
Just for the record, I could not give less of a shit about the pie fight ad. I don't even notice the ads on most of the blogs I visit. I understand that some people find the ad offensive. I don't think the ad warrants enough attention to be offensive, but I certainly understand those who feel otherwise.
But the vitriol directed towards those who are offended by the ad has been eye-opening. Demeaning, condescending, obnoxious, belittling comments have been directed towards those who were bothered by the ad. And it's been expanded towards anyone who dares to stand up and say that the issue's that matter to woman are important, perhaps too important to be sidelined.
So let me move from the pie fight to the abortion issue. Kos wrote today that he thinks abortion is horrible. He is pissed at NARAL and is really not happy with voters who favor a single issue. I hear what he's saying, and I understand, from an electoral perspective, that his opinion has value.
But I have a uterus. I have two daughters, too. I understand how at campaign time, it might not be bad to talk about the issue of privacy rather than about pro-choice, but it feels much more urgent when you are actually in possession of the body parts that are on the table for discussion of compromise. There is no equivalent imposition on men (unless of course there is a draft). Of course this is an issue that is going to be more resonant and personal to some of us.
So here I am, a woman, a mother, a loyal Democratic voter, and I'm telling my party: I want a Democratic majority, and I want the soldiers to come home, I want a sane foreign policy, I want equal rights for all people, I want all Americans to have health care, I want a clean environment, I want to cut down our dependence on oil, I want NCLB to die in favor of a less ignorant education policy *and* I want to have autonomy over my own body. I don't see how any of those things can be sidelined, or put down as not *as* important. If the Democratic party doesn't stand up for those things, then I'll try to find a party that will.
I really believe the key to electoral victory lies in taking a stand. I've said it before. Look at the shit that the Republicans stand up for: polluting factories, mercury in the water, corruption in the boardroom, torture, creating classes of people with fewer rights than others, let the rich get richer, screw the poor. It's all complete shit, and they proudly smile and serve it up like it was apple pie a la mode. And they win. Maybe the Democrats can learn something from them - not how to be more like them, because that would be retarded, but how to stand up for the things you believe in. The Democrats (the voters, I mean) believe in a lot of good stuff, why run away from it?
All this pie stuff has also revealed how much a lot of the big bloggers hate it when women stand up for themselves. They really hate it when we tap them on the shoulder and say "you're full of shit, dude." So they tell us that what we are saying isn't really important, that we're being selfish, or bizarre, or that our arguments have no merit. And that's fine - if you want to disagree with me, and tell me so, I'm a big girl, and I can stand up for myself. Maybe you will even convince me. But you won't do it by hurling insults and attacks, and insinuating that I'm a humorless bitch. I'm really not.
6/12/2005
Things are happening
I just have to throw out a huge thanks for the efforts of After Downing Street, the Big Brass Alliance, and Shakespeare's Sister. The Downing Street Memo is starting to get some attention, and new information has come out in the Times that implicates the Bush and Blair administrations in ginning up a phony case for war.
What a disgusting way to treat the men and women who volunteer to sign up to defend the country. Yeah, yeah, I'm not crying any tears for Saddam Hussein, I certainly wouldn't want him as the leader of my country. He seems like the kind of guy who might make up reasons to attack other nations, for example. He's also the kind of guy who thinks torture is an acceptable way to gather information.
I think a big chunk of the reason why they wanted to do this was to bolster their legacies. For Bush, I think it was primarily personal - he wanted to do something bigger and better than daddy. For Blair, I suspect his intentions were more along the lines of being the man who paved the road to peace in the Middle East. But essentially, these men sent over 1700 Americans, I'm not sure how many Brits (last count I could find was from 2003), and countless Iraqi civilians to their deaths to glorify themselves in history.
Meanwhile, the actual guy who attacked us on September 11, 2001 is still roaming around somewhere. Or dead. Hey, who cares about him, anyway?
What a disgusting way to treat the men and women who volunteer to sign up to defend the country. Yeah, yeah, I'm not crying any tears for Saddam Hussein, I certainly wouldn't want him as the leader of my country. He seems like the kind of guy who might make up reasons to attack other nations, for example. He's also the kind of guy who thinks torture is an acceptable way to gather information.
I think a big chunk of the reason why they wanted to do this was to bolster their legacies. For Bush, I think it was primarily personal - he wanted to do something bigger and better than daddy. For Blair, I suspect his intentions were more along the lines of being the man who paved the road to peace in the Middle East. But essentially, these men sent over 1700 Americans, I'm not sure how many Brits (last count I could find was from 2003), and countless Iraqi civilians to their deaths to glorify themselves in history.
Meanwhile, the actual guy who attacked us on September 11, 2001 is still roaming around somewhere. Or dead. Hey, who cares about him, anyway?
Winding down
Insanely busy week has come to a close.
Yesterday Loki and I got out of work early to watch the 1st & 2nd grade talent show. Monkey did an awesome rendition of the National Anthem and got a standing ovation. I managed to keep all the rowdy second graders in line backstage, and the show went off without a hitch.
Yesterday night, Sio and I sang in our Gilbert & Sullivan Pops concert, which went much better than it really had a right to. Our choir director is usually on top of everything, but this concert was surprisingly slapped together - we got one piece of music as the audience was filing into their seats! My solos were big hits, particularly my turn as the Fairy Queen in the segment we did on Iolanthe. Got lots of compliments after the show.
My favorite song was Sio's duet on "I Have a Song to Sing, O" - she did a beautiful job both with the singing and acting.
Tonight, Sio is at the senior prom with her boyfriend. They both looked gorgeous. Loki and I were talking after they left, about Sio's boyfriends. Her first boyfriend was very formal, a very nice kid, and one I strongly suspect has a "coming out" party somewhere in his future. The new boyfriend is very quiet, seems like a nice kid, and I would say extremely unlikely to be even a little gay. He has a blog (which I won't link to because I'm not supposed to know about the blog), and he writes a lot about Sio -- very sweet stuff, though, nothing that would make a mother too upset.
I met his mom tonight, and she mentioned that she married the boy she went with to the senior prom. I suspect she's angling to have Sio for a daughter-in-law someday.
Yesterday Loki and I got out of work early to watch the 1st & 2nd grade talent show. Monkey did an awesome rendition of the National Anthem and got a standing ovation. I managed to keep all the rowdy second graders in line backstage, and the show went off without a hitch.
Yesterday night, Sio and I sang in our Gilbert & Sullivan Pops concert, which went much better than it really had a right to. Our choir director is usually on top of everything, but this concert was surprisingly slapped together - we got one piece of music as the audience was filing into their seats! My solos were big hits, particularly my turn as the Fairy Queen in the segment we did on Iolanthe. Got lots of compliments after the show.
My favorite song was Sio's duet on "I Have a Song to Sing, O" - she did a beautiful job both with the singing and acting.
Tonight, Sio is at the senior prom with her boyfriend. They both looked gorgeous. Loki and I were talking after they left, about Sio's boyfriends. Her first boyfriend was very formal, a very nice kid, and one I strongly suspect has a "coming out" party somewhere in his future. The new boyfriend is very quiet, seems like a nice kid, and I would say extremely unlikely to be even a little gay. He has a blog (which I won't link to because I'm not supposed to know about the blog), and he writes a lot about Sio -- very sweet stuff, though, nothing that would make a mother too upset.
I met his mom tonight, and she mentioned that she married the boy she went with to the senior prom. I suspect she's angling to have Sio for a daughter-in-law someday.
6/09/2005
But remember, these meetings were BEFORE we went to the UN
Raw Story is reporting that one of the questions asked at yesterday's joint press conference has been changed, and there is video to prove it.
But I'm stumped by Blair's defense:
Emphasis mine.
Can someone explain how this is a defense? Blair is stating that this memo, which says that the U.S. was fixing intelligence and facts around the policy of removing Saddam Hussein from power via military action, was written before they went to the United Nations....where they continued making what we now know was a deceptive case for war, fighting against weapons inspectors, etc. So is it really a defense to point out that they were planning to do this before they went to the U.N.? Help me out here, what am I missing?
But I'm stumped by Blair's defense:
Q Thank you, sir. On Iraq, the so-called Downing Street memo from July 2002 says intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy of removing Saddam through military action. Is this an accurate reflection of what happened? Could both of you respond?
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR: Well, I can respond to that very easily. No, the facts were not being fixed in any shape or form at all. And let me remind you that that memorandum was written before we then went to the United Nations.
Emphasis mine.
Can someone explain how this is a defense? Blair is stating that this memo, which says that the U.S. was fixing intelligence and facts around the policy of removing Saddam Hussein from power via military action, was written before they went to the United Nations....where they continued making what we now know was a deceptive case for war, fighting against weapons inspectors, etc. So is it really a defense to point out that they were planning to do this before they went to the U.N.? Help me out here, what am I missing?
6/08/2005
The kids are all right
I may have mentioned that this is a busy week in the LW household. We have a concert, a CPR training session, a prom, and one event that I was really looking forward to, the 1st & 2nd grade talent show. But instead of watching the show from the audience, I will be hearing it from backstage, because I volunteered to help out.
I had a lot of fun with the kids, though. I was a real hard-ass about their volume and behavior backstage, but I made them all laugh, too. And I'm pretty impressed with the variety of talents - in addition to singing and dancing, we have a mime, several magicians (including a Houdini escape artist who escapes from handcuffs), a couple of wannabe stand-up comics (which is something that terrifies me, as much as I'd love to do it), and one girl who is dressing like an elf and *gargling* "Jingle Bells" (which is just awesome, though I'm saying this as a woman who juggled while singing "50 Nifty United States" at her senior year talent show*, so perhaps there is no accounting for taste.)
Whenever I volunteer at school, I always feel my inner control freak wanting to take over, particularly since I tend to volunteer for arts/stage productions, a universe in which I feel quite confident. I managed to only take over a little bit today, and it worked out really well - I didn't step on anyone's toes or take on more than I can reasonably chew.
And now I'm going to try something novel, going to bed - I've been an insomniac all week.
*Can you believe I didn't win?
I had a lot of fun with the kids, though. I was a real hard-ass about their volume and behavior backstage, but I made them all laugh, too. And I'm pretty impressed with the variety of talents - in addition to singing and dancing, we have a mime, several magicians (including a Houdini escape artist who escapes from handcuffs), a couple of wannabe stand-up comics (which is something that terrifies me, as much as I'd love to do it), and one girl who is dressing like an elf and *gargling* "Jingle Bells" (which is just awesome, though I'm saying this as a woman who juggled while singing "50 Nifty United States" at her senior year talent show*, so perhaps there is no accounting for taste.)
Whenever I volunteer at school, I always feel my inner control freak wanting to take over, particularly since I tend to volunteer for arts/stage productions, a universe in which I feel quite confident. I managed to only take over a little bit today, and it worked out really well - I didn't step on anyone's toes or take on more than I can reasonably chew.
And now I'm going to try something novel, going to bed - I've been an insomniac all week.
*Can you believe I didn't win?
6/06/2005
Blogswarm 6 June 2005
Curiouser and curiouser.
Kudos to Newsday for this article - I particularly like the second paragraph:
Bushco wanted this war and rigged the game so they could have it. It's that simple.
Kudos to Newsday for this article - I particularly like the second paragraph:
A former Bolton deputy says the U.S. undersecretary of state felt Jose Bustani "had to go," particularly because the Brazilian was trying to send chemical weapons inspectors to Baghdad. That might have helped defuse the crisis over alleged Iraqi weapons and undermined a U.S. rationale for war.
Bushco wanted this war and rigged the game so they could have it. It's that simple.
6/05/2005
We're good
John at Upon Further Review has tagged me with another little questionnaire, and so I'm answering it, and then we're even steven.
Total volume of music files on my computer -- there is very little music on my computer. I think there are some songs from The Electric Company and some funky Christmas carols, and that's it. I don't even know how those ended up on there, although I must have had something to do with The Electric Company ones, because I loved that show. I have never knowingly downloaded a song, I'm so old fashioned, I even still use my turntable regularly. But not for rap, just for regular listening.
The last CD I bought -- Ben Folds 'Songs for Silverman'
Song I'm listening to right now -- Today, I listened to the above CD, but Gilbert and fucking Sullivan is what's running through my mind right now, curse those operetta writing bastards.
Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me-- Drown in my Own Tears by Aretha Franklin, With Karate I Kick Your Ass by Tenacious D, Tunnel of Love by Bruce Springsteen, Caterpillar Girl by The Cure, and Still Fighting It by Ben Folds.
I pass it on to Shakespeare's Sis (surely she is loafing around, with nothing to do), The Fixer (now that I know he's a regular reader), and The Chemist.
Total volume of music files on my computer -- there is very little music on my computer. I think there are some songs from The Electric Company and some funky Christmas carols, and that's it. I don't even know how those ended up on there, although I must have had something to do with The Electric Company ones, because I loved that show. I have never knowingly downloaded a song, I'm so old fashioned, I even still use my turntable regularly. But not for rap, just for regular listening.
The last CD I bought -- Ben Folds 'Songs for Silverman'
Song I'm listening to right now -- Today, I listened to the above CD, but Gilbert and fucking Sullivan is what's running through my mind right now, curse those operetta writing bastards.
Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me-- Drown in my Own Tears by Aretha Franklin, With Karate I Kick Your Ass by Tenacious D, Tunnel of Love by Bruce Springsteen, Caterpillar Girl by The Cure, and Still Fighting It by Ben Folds.
I pass it on to Shakespeare's Sis (surely she is loafing around, with nothing to do), The Fixer (now that I know he's a regular reader), and The Chemist.
6/04/2005
Good parents
So I got to thinking about those parents who operate from the starting position that their child is perfect. Their perfect children piss rainbows and shit gold nuggets. When their children are disciplined at school, the parents come to the principal's office with their lawyers*, to defend their flawless spawn.
We all know what happens to those children. They turn into monsters. They come to believe that they are perfect, and that they can do no wrong. Everything they do is justified, because they are the ones who did it.
I think that relates to this great nation of ours. The so-called patriots on the right who think any criticism of United States policy is "blaming America first" are the parents who refuse to correct their children when they do wrong. As I've been reading the defenses of Richard Nixon in the wake of the Deep Throat revelation, the parents of perfection are coming out in force, to defend their lying, stealing, criminal child.
True patriots are good parents - they take their stewardship of this democracy seriously, and work to correct the nation when it's on the wrong path.
So forget the authoritarian parent vs. the nurturant parent frames. Bad parents let their kids get away with stuff they should be disciplined for. Good parents recognize when their child needs to be corrected, and they do so - lovingly, but firmly.
Liberals are good parents. People who believe "America, right or wrong" are essentially telling us they don't care. I care, and that's one of the reasons why I'm a liberal.
*one of the guys I sing with is a principal. It happens more often then you might think.
We all know what happens to those children. They turn into monsters. They come to believe that they are perfect, and that they can do no wrong. Everything they do is justified, because they are the ones who did it.
I think that relates to this great nation of ours. The so-called patriots on the right who think any criticism of United States policy is "blaming America first" are the parents who refuse to correct their children when they do wrong. As I've been reading the defenses of Richard Nixon in the wake of the Deep Throat revelation, the parents of perfection are coming out in force, to defend their lying, stealing, criminal child.
True patriots are good parents - they take their stewardship of this democracy seriously, and work to correct the nation when it's on the wrong path.
So forget the authoritarian parent vs. the nurturant parent frames. Bad parents let their kids get away with stuff they should be disciplined for. Good parents recognize when their child needs to be corrected, and they do so - lovingly, but firmly.
Liberals are good parents. People who believe "America, right or wrong" are essentially telling us they don't care. I care, and that's one of the reasons why I'm a liberal.
*one of the guys I sing with is a principal. It happens more often then you might think.
6/03/2005
It's Oh So Quiet
If it seems kind of quiet on Laughing Wild in the next week or so, it's because our real life is going to be crazy busy. In the next week, we have 2 birthday parties, SATs, several meetings at work, singing at church, rehearsal for fucking Gilbert & Sullivan (listening to lots of G&S probably violates the Geneva Conventions - the music bores into your brain and you cannot rid yourself of it), dentist appointments (not for me, thank goodness), ophthalmologist appointments, shopping for a costume for the Gilbert & Sullivan concert, the Gilbert & Sullivan concert itself (after which I will be rid of them hopefully forever!), second grade talent show rehearsal and the show itself (Monkey is singing the national anthem and playing Ode to Joy on the piano), trucking Sio out to camp for CPR training, trucking her back with 1 hour to get ready for the prom, the prom itself, Performing Arts awards at the high school, and of course, all that is on top of all the regular day to day things you need to do, like eating, sleeping, walking the dog, doing the laundry and working at our despised jobs.
And on top of all of that, our one and only car is acting up. It is hesitating at lower speeds. What I really don't need right now is a huge car repair bill. (And from our perspective, anything more than $300.00 qualifies as huge.)
And on top of all of that, our one and only car is acting up. It is hesitating at lower speeds. What I really don't need right now is a huge car repair bill. (And from our perspective, anything more than $300.00 qualifies as huge.)
Googlebombing
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
George W Bush
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
Iraq war
At last - cat blogging
Here is our male cat, Casmir, actively engaged in his second most favorite activity. His very favorite activity is very similar, only with a human trapped underneath him.
6/01/2005
My spawn is better than your spawn - or maurinsky kills a metaphor, and beats it while it lies dead on the ground
Over at Pandagon, Amanda has a post up commenting on John Tierney's continuing discussing of competition; specifically, how women aren't as competitive as men.
My own theory is that women are *more* competitive than men, but they hate losing so much that they will often opt out of competition rather than risk losing. Although I may be extrapolating too much from my personal feelings about winning & losing.
As I child, I hated losing - at anything - so much that I was not above cheating to win. More than once, I upended a game board when it was clear that I was going to be defeated. I was a big time sore loser.
I learned how to lose graciously when I played team sports - particularly softball. It was easier, of course, because the whole game wasn't in my hands - when we lost, I didn't have the shoulder the full blame.
(And through all of it, I was always a gracious winner - I never gloated or taunted the losers, although I will do it now when I'm playing a game with one of my brothers-in-law, just for laughs.)
Anyway, my evidence for the competitive nature of women comes from my experience in Motherhood Competition, East Coast division.
There are many divisions, of course. From the moment you are pregnant, you can participate in the "Pukiest Pregnancy"*, "Gained Most" or "Gained Least" competitions.
When the baby is born, there are competitions for "Lightest" and "Heaviest", "Most Hair", "Cutest", "Ugliest", "Longest", "Shortest", "Funniest Shaped Head". There are sub-divisions for "Longest Breastfeeder" - a very cut-throat competition - when you drop out, you will be accused of negligence and child abuse.
Things heat up in the Toddler Division: "Earliest Walker", "First to be Potty Trained", "Most Words". There is an elite group of moms that compete for their children to be the youngest baby to do everything. I suspect a lot of them shave months of their childrens age when they report in.
It doesn't stop at school, either, although the track is much different and the competition very subtle. You might not realize that volunteering to chair a carnival for the PTA will not actually move your standing any - people will still look at the way your child dresses and snicker about your attempts to move up in the Motherhood Stakes.
Most moms I've met seem to lose their zest for competing when their kids hit high school. You suddenly realize that while you signed up for a sprint, it's really a marathon, and the finish line is so far away, and the requirements for winning seem so fuzzy and ill-defined, and the child you've been proudly displaying like a show horse is really not interested in competing on your behalf - you just realize it's not worth it.
Some moms keep it up forever. We hate those moms.
My own theory is that women are *more* competitive than men, but they hate losing so much that they will often opt out of competition rather than risk losing. Although I may be extrapolating too much from my personal feelings about winning & losing.
As I child, I hated losing - at anything - so much that I was not above cheating to win. More than once, I upended a game board when it was clear that I was going to be defeated. I was a big time sore loser.
I learned how to lose graciously when I played team sports - particularly softball. It was easier, of course, because the whole game wasn't in my hands - when we lost, I didn't have the shoulder the full blame.
(And through all of it, I was always a gracious winner - I never gloated or taunted the losers, although I will do it now when I'm playing a game with one of my brothers-in-law, just for laughs.)
Anyway, my evidence for the competitive nature of women comes from my experience in Motherhood Competition, East Coast division.
There are many divisions, of course. From the moment you are pregnant, you can participate in the "Pukiest Pregnancy"*, "Gained Most" or "Gained Least" competitions.
When the baby is born, there are competitions for "Lightest" and "Heaviest", "Most Hair", "Cutest", "Ugliest", "Longest", "Shortest", "Funniest Shaped Head". There are sub-divisions for "Longest Breastfeeder" - a very cut-throat competition - when you drop out, you will be accused of negligence and child abuse.
Things heat up in the Toddler Division: "Earliest Walker", "First to be Potty Trained", "Most Words". There is an elite group of moms that compete for their children to be the youngest baby to do everything. I suspect a lot of them shave months of their childrens age when they report in.
It doesn't stop at school, either, although the track is much different and the competition very subtle. You might not realize that volunteering to chair a carnival for the PTA will not actually move your standing any - people will still look at the way your child dresses and snicker about your attempts to move up in the Motherhood Stakes.
Most moms I've met seem to lose their zest for competing when their kids hit high school. You suddenly realize that while you signed up for a sprint, it's really a marathon, and the finish line is so far away, and the requirements for winning seem so fuzzy and ill-defined, and the child you've been proudly displaying like a show horse is really not interested in competing on your behalf - you just realize it's not worth it.
Some moms keep it up forever. We hate those moms.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)