Friday Randomness

Friday morning, and instead of exercising like I should, I’ll write a post. Good thinking, right? So, what’s up in the world of J and her family, and the world at large?

Genevieve is still blind. Not that that’s going to change. We still don’t know if she has Cushing’s or not, and if she turns out to have it, we’re not sure what we want to do about it. Blech.

Last Saturday was Diwali, and after a day in the City that included a trip to the Conservatory of Flowers and some yummy crab melts, we put on our salwar kameez and went out to have a lovely puja with Ted’s parents and brother. It was very lovely, and Ted snapped the quick photo of the offerings, above. Ted’s mom’s curried pumpkin always comes out better than mine, even though she taught me how a few years ago. I noticed something this time that I hadn’t before…”What are these in the pumpkin, ma?” “Mustard”. Oh. I guess we didn’t have mustard seed when she taught me, so it didn’t make it in. Gonna have to find out more about that, n’est pas?

Maya had flu last week, with a fever and body aches mostly. We watched her closely, and it never got bad, thankfully. So there’s the question…was it seasonal flu, or swine flu? I guess it doesn’t matter. We had her immunized against seasonal flu, but that takes time to kick in, and it hadn’t been two weeks yet. We’ll still get her immunized against swine flu, if we can get our hands on the vaccine. I was waffling on this, because I had heard some questionable things about the vaccine, and whether it’s safe or not. I looked into it further, and it seems like the questionable ingredients won’t be in the vaccine we get in the U.S., and that while they may be in the vaccine in Europe and Canada, they’re not considered questionable there, and people have been getting vaccines with these ingredients for years with no side effects. So we’ll see on that one.

I was truly disappointed to read that one of my favorite authors, Milan Kundera, signed the stupid petition asking that Roman Polanski be released from Swiss custody and allowed to return to France, rather than extradited to the United States to face justice. I just don’t understand how people can defend his actions. He raped a 13-year old girl. He plead guilty to a lesser charge, and was sent for evaluation. He was released early, and the judge said he wanted him sent to jail for another 45 days or so, to fill out his sentencing of psychiatric evaluation. Whether he would have then be sent away for the 2 years that the system allowed for the lesser charge (unlawful intercourse), no one knows. (Or at least, I don’t. I keep hearing different things.) The judge in the original case is now dead. But the facts are, he had sex with a 13-year old girl, and he ran from justice when things didn’t go his way, like a true coward, and people are defending him. I don’t understand that at all. How does one defend his actions? Interesting to me that Jack Nicholson didn’t sign that stupid petition, and it was his house where the rape occurred.

This is ‘Fat Talk Free Week‘, a week when people pledge to not speak value judgments based on a person’s weight. No, “You look great…have you lost weight?”, or “She’s too big to be wearing that outfit”. That kind of thing. I wish every week were fat talk free week, actually. I swear, this stuff pops up at the most random times. A bloggy friend of mine had a post where she was talking about the casual behavior and clothing of people in restaurants, and how she wished for a more civilized age. A commenter mentioned, ‘have you noticed how many large people are eating at restaurants lately?’ WTF? Are large people supposed to stay home in shame? Give me a break. What if she had said, ‘have you noticed how many black people are eating at restaurants lately?’ I’m assuming that would have given people pause. Anyway, since I know that most folks won’t click the link above, I’ll copy and paste a bit from it here, about why this is important, and more than just the thoughtless comment I mentioned above, more the casual praise or criticism that is lobbed at us every day based on weight:

I can hear some of the scoffing now; all those little comments might seem like no big deal. But put yourself for a minute in the place of, say, your 10-year-old daughter who’s lingering nearby. Here is what those comments tell her: “You have no right to show your body unless it is perfectly thin” and “Being skinny is what makes you worthy of praise.”

Now, I’m not trying to say that we should advocate for a full-throated embrace of obesity-chic, but when 81 percent of 10-year-olds like your daughter live with the persistent fear of being fat and 51 percent of them feel better about themselves if they are on a diet, we should take a moment and think about what our thinness-obsessed culture is doing to the girls and women we love.

Imagine if the messages these girls regularly received were more like, “Being engaged and confident is what makes you look good” or “Being strong and healthy is what makes you worthy of praise.” It would be a very different world for them.

I feel I should mention the balloon boy, since I wrote about it last week. I don’t have much to say. His parents are turds. There’s talk that the children should be removed from their custody. I’m not sure that’s the best answer. There’s not much more traumatic to a child than being removed from their parents, so if they’re not in danger, if their parents are somewhat decent, they should be allowed to stay. But the parents should have to pay for all of the expenses that were incurred for those helicopters, any damage done to crops and so on due to the search, and they should pay a hefty fine to the F.A.A. for the trouble caused at the Denver Airport. Idiots. And there should be a fine for anyone stupid enough to give these people a reality show in the future. Don’t encourage stupidity!

Tonight we’re going to an early Halloween party. Every year this family puts on a huge bash, and we’ve been going forever. Should be a good time, but we’re pretty lazy about our costumes this year. I’m thinking I’ll just drag out my witch costume from the last two years. Easy enough, right?

Oh, my rib seems to be healing nicely from my fall off the horse. Another week or two and I’ll be back in the saddle. I miss those stupid horses. Sort of.

Maya and I found ourselves at the mall yesterday. Christmas tree up? Check. Wreathes and bows everywhere? Check. Not even Halloween yet? Check.

Happy Friday, everyone. Enjoy your weekend!