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My Shotgun…
OK, drinks were offered…well, one drink, but I’ll take it. So now I’ll tell you the tale of my shotgun. Go ahead, sit a spell. Now, I may be a card carrying liberal…I drink Chardonnay, give money to Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, I believe in gay marriage and a decent living for migrant workers. I’m a secular christian, meaning I don’t really think there’s a god above, but I love Christmas and Easter and Hannukah and all of that (I know, Hannukah isn’t Christian, but maybe Jesus had a dreidel? You think? I don’t know tech stuff.(quick, what’s that movie reference? The tech stuff one?) ) But I have…
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My Fabulous Fur Coat
The world has gotten a lot more complicated in the last 50 years, I think. What I mean by that is that people (most, at least) used to feel no guilt about having diamonds and wanting fur coats. And if they DID feel guilt, it was for being too materialistic. Nowadays, however, we not only know how many little minks go into a fur coat, we also know how much suffering and corruption goes into a diamond ring, and it gives us pause. My Grandma is getting older, as we all are, and is starting to give away some of her more prized possessions. This is partly because she’s getting…
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Lyrics…
Did you listen to music in high school, lay on the floor with your frinds in the dark and really LISTEN to the lyrics, let them wash over you, think about what they mean to you, to the artist, to the world in general? I know you did, Wendy, because, as you say, in some ways we were seperated at birth, but others…I don’t know. I did. I analyzed the lyrics to my favorite music, analyzed the tone of voice that the singer used…I loved it. Loved music with such a passion…it was an amazing time. I rarely listen to music that way anymore, and I’m not sure if it’s…
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Happy Birthday Mom!
Today is my Mom’s birthday…You may think you have a good mom, but my mom will trump her in almost any category…and since today is her birthday, we’ll just take out the ‘almost’ and say, Any Category. She rocks. She was a single mom, who somehow managed to take care of two young children, go to school (Berkeley), and work to support us. She moved us up to Alaska when she was but 27 years old, still single, living out in the woods on a homestead with no running water and no telephone. She worked so hard to get us whatever we needed when we were growing up…I’m not talking…
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No Thought Here…
I’ve read some pretty thoughtful blogs today…mostly Here and Here. I thought about writing a post about meeting my father when I was 21, what that was like…or the dangers of global warming…I don’t know. Instead, I’ll tell you that our garden looks nice after our Earth Day treatment yesterday, that we went to the farmer’s market this morning and bought purple cauliflower for $7 (I hope it’s good!), that I’m going to go downstairs in a minute and start a leg of lamb for dinner, which we will enjoy with the purple veggie, and that I’m gonna help Maya with her math. And, today is my beloved mom’s birthday.…
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Happy Earth Day!
Happy Day to our Mother Earth, who supports us and gives us life in all of its many forms. How will you celebrate? I know someone who is going to clean out the gutters in her neighborhood, and someone else who’s thinking of killing a rodent. Me? Not sure…I’m thinking maybe I’ll go get some flowers and plant them, and do some cleanup in our postcard sized yards. 🙂 But first I have to get dressed and walk the dog, so she doesn’t poop in the house. So get outside, say thanks to the Mother, and enjoy!
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Work/Life Balance
I was reading here about a discussion on the “Mommy Wars”, and newer “Daddy Wars” (It’s a good blog post, you truly should go check it out! Now! But come back, ok?) and it reminded me of an issue at an old job, which was who was going to put in the million hours of OT, and who wasn’t. The argument went that the parents of small children couldn’t be expected to work late, because they had to pick up their kids at daycare, they had to get to a soccer game or a ballet recital, they had to tuck their kids in at bedtime. These are very valid arguments,…
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Thankful Thursday 13
I’ve never done a ‘Thursday Thirteen’ before, and I’m totally NOT clear on the premise, so instead of trying to figure out the rules and make sure I do it correctly, I’ll just jump in and bungle it, ok? OK. The way I see it, forgiveness will come easily and quickly if I talk about things for which I am thankful, like I promised to do awhile ago. So, here we go: 13 Things for which I am Thankful 1. I’m thankful that my husband is easy going, and even though he wanted to go out for a nice dinner last night, went along with my desire to see a…
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Here’s the post where I climb up on my soapbox…
Family Dinner Table I’ve been hearing and reading about the “Family Dinner Table” lately, and I’m sure that I’m preaching to the choir here, but come on people what the hell is so hard about sitting down to a meal together? I keep reading reports that talk about how only 58% of families sit down to dinner together 5 or more nights a week, and then I hear that within this 58%, for a large number of these folks, that means they each heat up their own microwave meal and scarf it down, and then go their seperate ways. This is upsetting to me. Do you want to hear the…
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You want some Yogurt?!?!
One of the blogs I sometimes read is the ever-popular Dooce. Sometimes it’s interesting, sometimes boring, like all blogs. Well, this little post reminded me of when Maya was a baby, and would torture me by trying to get me to get her in and out of her crib over and over and over again. Don’t tell me that babies don’t have that kind of motivation. It was torture. So here’s the scene…she’s upstairs, and I’m downstairs. She’s in her crib, in a loft, so her voice carries VERY well to the downstairs. She replays the things that I say to her, to get me to come up there. “What’s…
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What are we eating?
Have you ever driven across the country in the summer on 80? What do you see? Corn. Corn corn corn. Well, I read a review in the Chron a few weeks ago about this book, The Omnivore’s Dilemna, and now I’m listening to the author talk about his book on Science Friday….wow, amazing stuff. Did you know that ecoli is caused by feeding cows corn? And that if they stop feeding the cows corn for 5 days before slaughter, and feed them grass, we wouldn’t have to irradiate beef? AMAZING. He says that we are eating SO MUCH CORN that it is starting to cause malnutrition in people who are…
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Overnight in Reno…
We went on an overnight trip last night to Reno, Nevada. Ted’s friend from High School, Scott, loves making films, and about 5 years ago, he remade an old Twilight Zone episode into a 40 minute feature, “The Shelter“. He was showing the film at a high school (Hug High School…mascot, the Hawks…fun to say, Hug High Hawks) in Reno today, so we thought it might be fun to drive up and see the film, and maybe play in the snow. News flash: No snow in Reno. It was in the 50s. Anyway, we drove up yesterday afternoon, and found our hotel. We stayed at the Siena, which was NOT…
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Superheroes
In yesterday’s post, which was a meme of six weird things about me, I mentioned that my personal real life hero is Harriet Tubman. I admire her for her grace, her courage, her determination, and her strength of conviction. She was a woman who wanted freedom, and found a way to attain it…once she had tasted the sweet flavor, however, she determined that she must free others, so she went back into harm’s way, so that she might rescue others. I’m assuming you all know of her work. Of how she, along with the help of the underground railroad, spirited slaves out of the south to their freedom in Canada.…
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Misc…
Just a few things…First, today is the first day of Passover. Happy Passover everyone, and if you celebrate with a Seder, enjoy! We’re only Jewish for Hannukah, so we won’t be celebrating…but we wish everyone who does a lovely evening. Second, today is national D.E.A.R. day. DEAR stands for Drop Everything And Read. Maya’s class does this in the mornings when they get to school every day, which is nice. If you have time in your day, sit down today and read for 30 minutes to celebrate. Why leave all the fun for the kids? 🙂 Lastly, I’m getting a lot of SPAM email. Blech. Comes in looking like this:…
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Because I was tagged…
Six Weird Things I was tagged by Black Belt Mama, so I’ve got a new meme…Six weird things about me. Define weird. Would that be unique, or strange, or both? Hmmm. I don’t know if I can come up with anything interesting enough for you folks, without giving away the store, (or using things that I’ve already used in my ‘100 things’) but I’ll try. 🙂 1. I hate cell phones. I hope I never have to get one. They suck. 2. My absolute hero in real life is Harriet Tubman. But one of my heroes in fiction is Scarlet O’Hara. How’s that for twisted? 3. Everything in life seems…