Culture
-
Best to NOT be Poor. Remember that.
I have a cousin, K, who is poor. She has made a lot of mistakes in her life, stupid decisions, and is stuck with the consequences. So she finds herself the single mother of four young children, trying to get off of welfare, two dead-beat dads, etc. (One may pay some child support, I’m not sure.) How to get out of this situation, you may ask? Well, let’s assume that education is the way to go. So, she goes to the local community college to take classes to get into nursing school. What about the 4 kids? Who takes care of them while she’s in class? My grandmother, who is…
-
I Heart Jon Carroll…
Why? Because he writes so well. He and Adair Lara made me want to be a newspaper columnist for awhile. I gave that idea up years ago, but I still like to read his column. Today’s is great. Apologetically, but honestly, I have to say that these are the lyrics that are going through my head after reading this column: “My hands are small, i know, but they’re not yours they are my own but they’re not yours they are my own and I am never broken In the end only kindness matters In the end only kindness matters” I know. It’s Jewel. So sue me.
-
My Cousin…
I have a cousin, Tony, who I only knew as a small child. He was about 10 or 12 years older than me, and I worshiped him. When I was about 4, we moved to a homestead outside of Fairbanks, Alaska, and we really didn’t know anything at all about living in that kind of environment. He was raised there, so he came out to stay with us and show us how to do all of the things we had to do…(when I say ‘we’, I mean my mom…I was, after all, 4). We had no phone, no running water, a coal burning pot bellied stove for heat, a broken…
-
Does this Bother You?
It bothers me. There’s a story on Yahoo today about a computer system you can use to check what your kids are eating at school. And you can limit what they can or cannot eat, how often, etc. I have a couple of thoughts on this. If we don’t want our kids eating crap at school, STOP SELLING CRAP AT SCHOOL. If you don’t want your kids eating crap at school, and the school sells crap, pack them a lunch. Better yet, do it with them, so they can see what healthy choices are. Tell them, it’s good to have some protein, some carbs, some calcium, some fruit, veggies, etc.…
-
Dream symbolism?
Has anyone seen “The Straight Story“, about a guy who drives his lawnmower a couple of states over to visit his estranged brother? Well, I kind of had that dream last night, except my lawnmower thing was smaller than this one, with no trailer, and I wasn’t going to visit my estranged brother (I have a brother, but we’re not estranged, even in weird David Lynch type dreams). I was driving across the country, which I have done a few times, but usually in a normal car. With stopping for food and sleep, the drive from SF to Philly takes about 4 days. Well, in my dream it was already…
-
Why I’m Moving to Vancouver….
I was walking the other day, listening to a podcast on my beloved iPod. The podcast was of an NPR show, To the Best of our Knowledge, and it was about Canada. One of the segments was with a sociologist, Michael Adams, who wrote this book. It’s all about how the values of the United States are not the same as the values of Canada, and how that is becomming more and more the case as time goes by. For example: In the mid-1950’s, 60% of Canadians told pollsters they went to church each Sunday: the proportion in the U.S. was only 50%. Today, only 22% of Canadians claim weekly…
-
Sometimes I Miss Philly
You may never hear me say this again, because it doesn’t happen often, but sometimes I miss Philadelphia. We only lived there for 2 years, from 1994-1996, and I never considered it ‘home’, so when I say I don’t miss it often, I’m not saying it isn’t a great city. It is. But when we lived there, I spent a lot of time being homesick for San Francisco. We would come home for Christmas, and we would both just hate the idea of going back to Philly, with its cold, cold winters, and the humid, sultry summers, so far away from our friends and family. But after awhile, we started…
-
Maybe it’s time to stop with the jokes?
The second story, when combined with the first, make for some pretty bad timing, wouldn’t you say? Hunter Shot by Cheney Has Heart Attack White House Finds Humor in Hunting Mishap
-
Another Useless Bit of Trivia….
Ted’s friend/sometimes coworker, Ramzi, called Ted last night to ask him who wrote the lyrics to “New York, New York”. Somehow, I thought that song was OLD. Like from the 1940s or 1950’s or something. Nope. I never knew it was written for the 1977 (ok, still almost 30 years old, but really, not what I meant) film, New York, New York, and starring Robert De Niro and Liza Minelli, directed by Martin Scorcese. Actually, I never knew that such a movie existed. Live and learn. Thanks Ramzi, for the question, and thanks to NPR for the info. 🙂
-
Water Babies…
I like this picture. It’s so different from swimming lessons that Maya has taken…
-
The Trouble with Boys? Or the Trouble with Schools?
Have you read about Newsweek’s article on “The Trouble with Boys“? Well, BitchPhD had some interesting points to make, and I can’t say it any better than she did, so I’ll just say, “Go, Bitch, Go!”
-
Why My Daughter is “Underprivileged”…thankfully
From the truly nausiating world of people-with-more-money-than-God-who-should-learn-about-charity-or-savings-or-maybe-just-give-me-some-of-it, comes this column from Salon, on the hyperconsumeristic spending habits of very wealthy parents of overindulged infants.My favorite quote? “…and what’s more anxiety-provoking than, My god, I have a baby?” Or maybe: “I have never seen a clearer acknowledgement that children have been reduced to accessories.” I believe you have to have a subscription to Salon to read the whole article, so I’ll copy and paste it into my ‘comments’ section, in case you’re interested. 🙂 And I know what you’ll say…”My goodness, who cares.” And you’re right, except for the editorial comment that I feel sorry for these poor kids, and the…
-
Rambling Thoughts on MySpace, et. al.
I was listening to my favorite radio station this morning, and they were talking about “MySpace.com”, and whether it is dangerous for kids or not. One man called in and said that he doesn’t think that legislating or policing the site is the ultimate answer, because kids are smarter than we are, and if they’re going to do something, they’re going to do it. So, the key is to TEACH your kids what is safe, what isn’t, and why. Teach them why they shouldn’t want to do something, like go meet people that they’ve only met online, because it might not be safe. Coincidentally, I just started a new book,…
-
Feminist Polygamy?
Do you ever listen to “This American Life” on NPR? It’s an interesting program, where they basically choose a theme and put together different kinds of stories on that theme. It’s a lot more interesting than that sounds. I download the show via audible.com onto my iPod, and listen to it when I’m walking the dog, or walking back to work after dropping Maya off at school (though we haven’t been doing that as much lately…gotta work on that). You can listen to it for free on the radio, of course, or if you are willing to sit in front of your computer and listen, but my mind wanders when…
-
Why I Prefer Showers…
So there’s this website called Post Secret, which is an ongoing community art project where people mail-in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. This one pretty much sums up my feelings for bathing (see # 76). A jacuzzi, however, is different. Take a look…some of them may speak to you. I found it via The View From Crazy. Mail your secrets to: PostSecret 13345 Copper Ridge Rd Germantown, Maryland USA 20874-3454