Culture
-
Speechless
I don’t even know what to say about this…I was just reading Salon’s Broadsheet, and came across a trifecta of bullshit that should make every woman in the United States wretch, and hopefully, make both men and women understand why it is so important that we claim the term Feminist, and fight this shit. I don’t have the energy to try to paraphrase, so I’m just going to copy and paste. Some days there is just so much repulsive news that it would be, well, criminally depressing to separate it into three separate entries. So for everyone’s vomitous convenience, I present the three grossest stories of the day, in no…
-
Edelmiro Abad
Edelmiro Abad of Brooklyn at a wedding with his close-knit family: his wife, Lorraine, and in white from left, daughters Serena, 19, Rebecca, 26, and Jennifer, 23. (note: the original photo was larger, but the source I had for it discontinued it for some reason.) Beloved husband, proud father, loving son, brother, uncle and dear friend are words that best describe Edelmiro Abad. Ed touched the lives of all who knew him with loving words, a kind gesture, or his unique sense of humor. Ed lived a happy, fulfilled life with his wife of 29 years and three daughters. He also enjoyed a successful career with Fiduciary Trust for 26…
-
Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty
Has anyone else out there ever found yourself up too late, watching TV, and flipping channels, and you come across the train wreck that is “Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty“? (Let me take a moment to tell you that in searching for photos of Shannen showing her big nasty gap-toothed smile that makes me think, ‘braces’, ‘cosmetic dentistry’, and ‘frenectomy‘, I came across the news that 90210 will finally be released on DVD this fall…oh, I’m almost tempted, but $62 for one season? WTF?)So, here’s the premise of her new show. Girl wants to break up with boy, but she’s such a LOSER FREAK that she thinks it will be…
-
Overreacting?
I expected the lead-up to 9/11, the 5th anniversary of September 11th, to be full of fear. I expected BushCo to try to scare me with talk of war and terrorism. Hell, right before the midterms, I wouldn’t be surprised if they found Bin Ladin AND the elusive WMDs in Iraq. What surprised me was watching Nova last night, which was all about the structural strength of the World Trade Center. I watched them talk about how the buildings did what they were supposed to do, to a point, and what went wrong. They talked about ways that the buildings could have been better designed. They said that about 10K…
-
Who Put the Labor in Labor Day?
We did, that’s who. When I think of labor day, my mind first thinks of the end of summer…the crisp fall weather on the horizon, the cool weather clothes, school starting up again, the return of the good TV shows… Then there are the Labor Day celebrations…one last bbq of summer, maybe a trip to the beach, the lake, or the shore… For some people it is a chance to get caught up with some chores around the house, to enjoy a 3-day weekend by sleeping in one extra day, maybe see some friends. I agree with all of these things. Not a thing wrong with any of them. But…
-
Heads Up
I’ve told you once before about my cousin, Tony, who is in prison, convicted of a murder that, tragically, he did commit. Tony has been in prison now for just over 30 years, and is a very different person than he was back then. Tony’s mom, my Aunt Lori, recently began reading my blog, and had emailed me to ask if I might print and mail Tony the 3 part story about when I met my father for the first time. I did so, and wrote him a letter as well. Upon returning from our vacation in Oregon last Monday, I found a letter from Tony, including some lovely pictures…
-
Domo Arigato
I’m sleepy today. I’m kinda thinking that I would like to climb back in bed and have a nap. Working from home, with my ‘office’ in my bedroom, doesn’t help matters any. Being stuck on my project and sitting here waiting for a coworker to get back to me with some info doesn’t help so much, either. So, while I wait, I’ll fill my time by telling you about the concert that Ted and I went to last night. You’ll get his side on his blog, which will be full of interesting information about the band and all kinds of cool tidbits, I’m sure, so I’m going to be really…
-
Our Amazing Dinner
Friday evening, Ted, Maya and I were invited to dinner with our friends, Pat and Beatrice, and their friend, Unita Blackwell. If any of my 5 daily readers are familiar with the civil rights movement of the 1960s, specifically the voters rights movement in the south, you may have heard of Mrs. Blackwell. I am not terribly familiar with that movement, though I admire the hell out of it, and I see a strong correlation between the struggles of the black people in the south, and their success, and the struggles of women and gays, as well as the anti-war movement. So to meet a pioneer in this movement is…
-
It’s The End of The World As We Know It….
Oh God, the day has come…We are truly in the final days, the days of apocalypse…and what proof do I have, you may well ask? Well, I’m truly ashamed, but within the span of one week, 1 WEEK I tell you, I have found myself agreeing with both George W. Bush AND She Who Must Not Be Named. Before you pass out, or rush to have me committed to a mental institution (which, truly, I beg you to do should I ever TRULY agree with these spawn of Satan), allow me to say that I only agreed conditionally… 1st, on Monday, we were having breakfast at our hotel in Ashland,…
-
Uh Oh…
I just saw this article. If signed, children under 8 need to ride in a booster seat, and children under 12 need to ride in the back seat. What’s the big deal? Well, Maya’s been riding in the front seat for a little while now…the Volvo doesn’t have any airbags (too old), and on the Camry, we have the passenger seat pushed all of the way back. Ted reasoned that many small adults are in the front seat, so she would be OK. I read some reports that said that there is no proof that kids who have been harmed by passenger side airbags in the front seat were ‘properly…
-
Happy (Belated) Birthday, Sesame Street
I have a couple of Portland related posts in mind…one is about the yummy and not-so-yummy restaurants we went to, one about books I read or bought there…one about the beautiful world of Forest Park. But I had to stop and do this, because Issa and Mom-101 did it several days ago, and it will soon be too late to jump on the bandwagon. Stupid vacation. So, this started on Mrs. Davis’s blog, where she talked about popular culture influences you had as a child, due to the new season of Sesame Street starting on August 14th. She gave out a bunch of linky love on the 14th, but I…
-
Michelle Selden Rocks!
And who is this Rockin’ Michelle Selden, you may ask? Well, she’s an 8th grader who lives in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. Why does she rock, you may ask? Because when faced with the somewhat insane policy of segregating boys and girls in her school district, because of how our brains work differently, she stood up and said, “Uh, Hello?” She got the ACLU involved, and they sued the school district on her behalf. From Salon’s Broadsheet: The school board made its initial decision based on impressively retro theories of girl- and boyhood. Among the sources defendants cited in the proceedings was Dr. Leonard Sax’s “Why Gender Matters,” which argues for…
-
Hospital Food
I read with interest this article about Kaiser’s desire to change over to more locally produced, fresh produce in their patient care menus. I think this is a great idea…really, who could use good, healthy, fresh food more than folks on the mend? Unfortunately, ‘hospital food’ reminds me of a story that makes my blood boil a bit. Last summer, my mom had surgery at UC Davis Med Center. The care she received was 90% wonderful. Her surgeon was wonderful, the nurses were mostly great, etc. However…when it came to food, I found them lacking. My mother is border-line diabetic, meaning she can control her diabetes through diet, and doesn’t…
-
How to raise a child/Save a marriage
The other night I was up too late, watching stupid TV, and I saw two shows back to back that made me realize that we know a lot more than we think we know. First, I watched Supernanny, and then I watched One Week to Save Your Marriage. The moral of both shows, it seemed, was communication, consistency, kindness, and fun. If you haven’t seen Supernanny, you should probably watch it at least once (and once is enough, really, because it’s always the same). Just so you can laugh and feel all superior, because these kids are such beasts. They hit their parents and call them names. They beat up…
-
Do Your Kids Eat Only Crap?
I have issues with this stuff. Not for the maybe 2% of children who really need it…I know of some families with children who simply WILL NOT EAT, and they must resort to drastic measures to get nutrients into their children. Believe me, if your child is this way, I feel your pain, and I’m NOT talking about you here. Nor am I talking about the children with health conditions that mean they must go on a temporary liquid diet while they recover. This stuff is probably perfect for that. But the way this stuff is marketed, and the way I suspect it is most often used, it’s a supplement…