I recently wrote a research paper for my Politics and Culture class on the influence that Marijuana has on current California politics and I came across this interesting time-line. Thought I'd share:
Cannabis Chronology [Edited]
• 2737 BC: Cannabis referred to as a "superior" herb in the world's first medical text, or pharmacopoeia, Shen Nung's Pen Ts'ao, in China
• 1400 BC : Cultural and religious use of ganga or cannabis, and charas or hashish (resin) recorded used by Hindus in India.
• 300 BC : Carthage and Rome struggle for political and commercial power over hemp and spice trade routes in the Mediterranean.
• 70 BC : Roman Emperor Nero's surgeon, Dioscorides, praises cannabis for making the stoutest cords and for its medicinal properties.
• 100 AD : Roman surgeon Dioscorides names the plant cannabis sativa and describes various medicinal uses. Pliny reported of industrial uses and wrote a manual on farming hemp.
• 400 AD : Cannabis cultivated for the first time in the UK at Old Buckenham Mere
• 800 AD : Mohammed allows cannabis but forbids the use of alcohol.
• 1000 AD : The English word "hempe" first listed in a dictionary. Moslems produce hashish medicine and social use.
• 1150 AD : Moslems use hemp to start Europe's first paper mill. Most of the paper is made from hemp for the next 750 years, including Bibles.
• 1563 AD : English Queen Elizabeth I decrees that land owners with more than 60 acres must grow hemp or be fined 5 pounds.
• 1611 AD : The British start growing cannabis in Virginia.
• 1621 AD : Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy claims cannabis is a treatment for depression.
• 1631 AD : Hemp used as money throughout American colonies.
• 1632 AD : The Pilgrims take cannabis to New England.
• 1763 AD : New English Dictionary says cannabis root applied to skin eases inflammation.
• 1776 AD : Declaration of Independence drafted on hemp paper.
• 1839 AD : Homeopathy journal 'American Provers' Union' publishes first report on effects of cannabis.
• 1845 AD : Psychologist and inventor of modern psychopharmacology and psychotomimetric drug treatment, Jacques-Joseph Moreau de Tours documents physical and mental benefits of cannabis.
• 1860 AD : First governmental commission study of cannabis and hashish conducted by Ohio State Medical Society. It catalogues the conditions for which cannabis is beneficial: neuralgia, nervous rheumatism, mania, whooping cough, asthma, chronic bronchitis, muscular spasms, epilepsy, infantile convulsions, palsy, uterine haemorrhage, dysmenorrhea, hysteria, alcohol withdrawal and loss of appetite.
• 1870 AD : Cannabis listed in US Pharmacopoeia as a medicine.
• 1894 AD : British Indian Hemp Drugs Commission studies social use of cannabis and comes out firmly against its prohibition.
• 1910 AD : African-American "reefer" use reported in Jazz Clubs in New Orleans, said to be influencing white people. Mexicans smoking marijuana in Texas. South Africa prohibits cannabis.
• 1912 AD : "Essay on Hasheesh" by Victor Rolson. Possibilities of putting controls on cannabis use is first raised.
• 1912 AD : Hague Conference; second international meeting on drugs. 46 nations discuss opium, morphine, cocaine, heroin and cannabis. The Hague Convention for the Suppression of Opium and Other Drugs, was drawn up, requiring parties to confine to medical and legitimate purposes the manufacture, sale and use of opium, heroin, morphine and cocaine; Cannabis was not included. (From Mandeson, D. From Mr Sin to Mr Big, A history of Australian Drug Laws, Oxford University Press Melbourne 1995)
• 1919 AD : Texas outlaws cannabis. Alcohol is prohibited throughout the USA. Cannabis is still legal in most States.
• 1928 AD : UK Dangerous Drugs Act (September 28th) 1925 becomes law and makes cannabis illegal.
• 1929 AD : The Panama Canal Zone Report concludes that there is no evidence that cannabis use is habit-forming or deleterious, recommending no action be taken against cannabis use or sale.
• 1930 AD : Henry Ford makes his motor cars out of hemp with hemp paint and hemp fuel. New machines invented to break hemp, process the fibre and convert the pulp or hurds into paper, plastics etc. 1200 hash bars in New York City. Racist fears of Mexicans, Asians and African-Americans lead the cry for cannabis to be outlawed.
• 1937 AD : Marijuana Tax Act forbids hemp farming. The Act was based on the Machine Gun Transfer Act which made it illegal to pass on machine guns without a government stamp - there being no such stamps available. By applying this strategy to marijuana, Anslinger was able to effectively ban hemp without contravening constitutional rights.
• 1937 AD : DuPont files patents for nylon, plastics and a new bleaching process for paper. Anslinger testifies to congress that Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug known to man. The objections of the American Medical Association are ignored. The Marijuana Transfer Tax Bill (14th April) introduced to US House, Ways and Means Committee, passed December, prohibits industrial and medical uses and calls flowering tops a narcotic. Violations attract 200 dollar fines. Birdseed, rope and cordage are exempted from tax.
• 1937 AD : DuPont patents plastics, seizing the opportunity created by cannabis hemp prohibition
• 1941 AD : Cannabis dropped from USA Pharmacopoeia
• 1943 AD : Hemp for Victory program urges farmers to grow hemp to help war effort.
• 1943 AD : US Military Surgeon magazine declares that smoking cannabis is no more harmful than smoking tobacco.
• 1944 AD : Anslinger threatens doctors who carry out cannabis research with imprisonment.
• 1945 AD : USA 'Newsweek' reports over 100,000 Americans use cannabis.
• 1955 AD : Hemp farming outlawed again.
• 1970 AD : Social use of cannabis receives widespread acceptance despite illegality; policy of decriminalisation sweeps across USA and Britain.
• 1970 AD : LeDain Report (Canada) recommended that serious consideration be given to the legalisation of personal possession of marijuana. It finds that cannabis use increases self-confidence, feelings of creativity and sensual awareness, facilitates concentration and self-acceptance, reduces tension, hostility and aggression and may produce psychological but not physical dependence. The report recommends that possession laws be repealed
• 1970 AD : R. Keith Stroup founds NORML 'National Organisation for Reform of Marijuana Laws', in UDSA.
•1992 AD : USA Jim Montgomery, a paraplegic who smoked cannabis to relieve muscle spasm, busted for two ounces of marijuana in Oklahoma, arrested and sentenced to life plus 16 years.
•1993 AD : German High Court in Kruhe rules that cannabis prohibition is unconstitutional.
•1995 AD : November 11 : British journal of the medical profession, The Lancet, states that "The smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health".
• 1995 AD : Henrion Commission Report, the official French State Commission in charge of drug policy supports decriminalisation of cannabis and calls for a two-year trial period of regulated retail trade in cannabis. The French Government reject these proposals.
•1996 AD : Ireland announces their plans to use cannabis as fuel to replace the use of the dwindling supplies of peat
•1996 AD : California and Arizona pass Propositions allowing the use of cannabis in the treatment of certain illnesses, Clinton is re-elected and the FBI threaten Doctors with prosecution.
•1996 AD : A Swiss man, Zimmermann, is given a life sentence in the Maldives, for importing three cannabis seeds, found in his luggage as he flew in from India.
•1997 AD : An 8-year study at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine, concluded that long-term smokers of cannabis do not experience a greater annual decline in lung functions than non-smokers. Researchers said: "Findings from the present long-term follow-up study of heavy, habitual marijuana smokers argue against the concept that the continuing heavy use of marijuana is a significant factor for the development of [chronic lung disease]"."No difference were noted between even quite heavy marijuana smoking and non-smoking of marijuana." Volume 155 of the American Journal of Respiratory and Clinical Care Medicine 1997
•1997 AD : January16 : A court in Texas, USA, sentences medical marijuana user, William J. Foster to 93 years imprisonment for cultivation of one plant.
•1997 AD : After appeals for clemency from the Swiss Government and letters from CLCIA supporters, the Maldives releases Zimmermann, the man given life for three seeds.
•1997 AD : The Kaiser Permanente Study (USA) - "Marijuana Use and Mortality" April 1997 American Journal of Public Health concludes "Relatively few adverse clinical effects from the chronic use of marijuana have been documented in humans. However, the criminalization of marijuana use may itself be a health hazard, since it may expose the users to violence and criminal activity."
•1999 AD : February 23: UK: 55-year-old arthritis sufferer jailed for one year for using cannabis to relieve his pain
•1999 AD : March 4 : ALASKA: Medical Marijuana Law Starts
•2000 AD: December 22: CANADA: Legal Marijuana Operation Opens
•2002 AD: December: US Study Defies Gateway Theory That Cannabis Use Leads To Use Of Hard Drugs.
•2007 AD: April: Harvard university study shows that Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana, cuts tumour growth in common lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread
•2008 AD: Medical marijuana vending machines take root in Los Angeles. The DEA is not amused.
•2008 AD: May : UK government announces cannabis will be upgraded from class C to Class B. Its scientific experts, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, recommend cannabis should remain class C.
•2009 AD: May : Marijuana in California is now "available as a medical treatment in California to almost anyone who tells a willing physician he would feel better if he smoked." (Washington Post)
(to be continued.....)
~http://www.cannabis.org.uk/marijuana-timeline.html
August 25, 2009
June 19, 2009
Kinlie
When I was 12 I got a phone call that excused me from class. I walked back into the room 5 minutes later as an aunt. Soon after the phone call my family packed up the car and drove from Oregon to Idaho to see my sister and the new addition. A few years later I was invited to spend the summer with my sister so that I could help her with that addition plus a newer one. I eagerly packed up all the important things in my life (at age 14 that consisted of clothes and more clothes) and anxiously waved goodbye to my nagging, overbearing, and strict parents for the good life with my sister. The good life at that time meant freedom to watch MTV and stay up late. Unfortunately for my nieces, that did not make me the best babysitter. I am very sorry for that.
Despite the lack of quality time that I retrospectively spent with Kinlie and Hanna, I remember those summers fondly. My sister is 14 years my senior which made me closer in age to my nieces. Since I had desperately wanted a younger sibling, those girls answered the wish upon a star that I made as a little girl.
Until I graduated from High School, I spent every summer with them. Again, I neglected to take complete advantage of the opportunity, but I have forgiven myself for 'acting like a teenager' and see those times as irreplaceable. When I finally moved out on my own I truly missed the company of my 'little sisters'.
I pestered my oldest sister constantly to get permission for Kinlie and Hanna to come and spend a summer with me. She was hesitant for many relevant reasons: my pot smoking habit, my lack of concern over maintaining their innocence, my constant use of explitives, etc. So when she finally agreed to have Kinlie come visit me this summer, I was elated.
Despite her permission, I waited for something to fall through but it didn't. A few weeks ago my husband and I drove to Montana to witness Kinlie's graduation from high school and drove back to Seattle with her in tow. Over the next eight days we maximized usage of our time.
To summarize:
-Alki
-Greenlake
-Visiting Tom and introducing Kinlie to her cousin, Klaire
-Space Needle
-Monorail
-Downtown shopping
-UW Campus walk plus a trip to the Art Supply section of the bookstore
-Bainbridge Island and a Ferry Boat trip
-More shopping
-Pike's Place Market
-The Seattle Art Museum
-more shopping
-Kayaking on Lake Union
-tennis at Alki
-AND introducing Kin to 9 of our favorite movies.
Those eight days flew by.
We had such a great time hanging out and re-learning about each other. I spent some time showing her how to cook pad thai, edimame, poached chicken, clean and prepare shrimp, and to make "The Freeman Special" (mac and cheese with a side salad for nutritional value). She tried sushi for the first time, confronted her fear of heights at the Space Needle, and got artistic with canvases and a new pair of Converse shoes. We ganged up on my husband, sang in the car, and laughed a lot.
I expected Kinlie to sleep in until noon everyday, but she was up and ready to seize the day when the sun rose. It gave us a chance to fit everything in, but it was sure exhausting! By the time I guided her through airport security and said goodbye to her I was ready to have some "Amaya-Time". So I was a little surprised to find myself tearing up.
As I mentioned earlier, I had always wished for a little sister and found two in my nieces. Having wasted most of my previous time with them watching MTV, I had hoped to get a second chance and some quality time with one of my girls - and I finally did! I thought about that as I hugged Kinlie at the airport and tears swelled in my eyes. I finally got to acknowledge how important she is to me by clearing my schedule and devoting eight full days to her. And it was over: She was going home.
Despite the lack of quality time that I retrospectively spent with Kinlie and Hanna, I remember those summers fondly. My sister is 14 years my senior which made me closer in age to my nieces. Since I had desperately wanted a younger sibling, those girls answered the wish upon a star that I made as a little girl.
Until I graduated from High School, I spent every summer with them. Again, I neglected to take complete advantage of the opportunity, but I have forgiven myself for 'acting like a teenager' and see those times as irreplaceable. When I finally moved out on my own I truly missed the company of my 'little sisters'.
I pestered my oldest sister constantly to get permission for Kinlie and Hanna to come and spend a summer with me. She was hesitant for many relevant reasons: my pot smoking habit, my lack of concern over maintaining their innocence, my constant use of explitives, etc. So when she finally agreed to have Kinlie come visit me this summer, I was elated.
Despite her permission, I waited for something to fall through but it didn't. A few weeks ago my husband and I drove to Montana to witness Kinlie's graduation from high school and drove back to Seattle with her in tow. Over the next eight days we maximized usage of our time.
To summarize:
-Alki
-Greenlake
-Visiting Tom and introducing Kinlie to her cousin, Klaire
-Space Needle
-Monorail
-Downtown shopping
-UW Campus walk plus a trip to the Art Supply section of the bookstore
-Bainbridge Island and a Ferry Boat trip
-More shopping
-Pike's Place Market
-The Seattle Art Museum
-more shopping
-Kayaking on Lake Union
-tennis at Alki
-AND introducing Kin to 9 of our favorite movies.
Those eight days flew by.
We had such a great time hanging out and re-learning about each other. I spent some time showing her how to cook pad thai, edimame, poached chicken, clean and prepare shrimp, and to make "The Freeman Special" (mac and cheese with a side salad for nutritional value). She tried sushi for the first time, confronted her fear of heights at the Space Needle, and got artistic with canvases and a new pair of Converse shoes. We ganged up on my husband, sang in the car, and laughed a lot.
I expected Kinlie to sleep in until noon everyday, but she was up and ready to seize the day when the sun rose. It gave us a chance to fit everything in, but it was sure exhausting! By the time I guided her through airport security and said goodbye to her I was ready to have some "Amaya-Time". So I was a little surprised to find myself tearing up.
As I mentioned earlier, I had always wished for a little sister and found two in my nieces. Having wasted most of my previous time with them watching MTV, I had hoped to get a second chance and some quality time with one of my girls - and I finally did! I thought about that as I hugged Kinlie at the airport and tears swelled in my eyes. I finally got to acknowledge how important she is to me by clearing my schedule and devoting eight full days to her. And it was over: She was going home.
June 17, 2009
May 30, 2009
Margaritas and My Favorite Boys
Yesterday I was working on a paper for school and Justin was playing on his computer when I got a text from Daniel. He wanted a reason to play hooky so I invited him over. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking on the beach at low-tide, meeting his friend for drinks, and heading back to the house for margaritas.
The weather was as beautiful as it gets - with the sun shining high in the sky and a soft breeze fighting off the heat. As the sun went down, we walked across the street to sit on some boulders and listen to the waves lapping against the shore.
There were a few moments of "aah, remember this moment" because I was just so happy.
The weather was as beautiful as it gets - with the sun shining high in the sky and a soft breeze fighting off the heat. As the sun went down, we walked across the street to sit on some boulders and listen to the waves lapping against the shore.
There were a few moments of "aah, remember this moment" because I was just so happy.
May 27, 2009
Advice For Future Reference
Something worth mentioning:
If you lock the orange monster out of the bedroom so that you can get some sleep, you'd better wear earplugs. And anticipate crazy-bouncy-rolling-around-cuddles when you let him back in the room.
If you lock the orange monster out of the bedroom so that you can get some sleep, you'd better wear earplugs. And anticipate crazy-bouncy-rolling-around-cuddles when you let him back in the room.
May 24, 2009
My Life Exposed Through a Series of Facebook Status Updates
Amaya...
- just got back from Pacific Beach where her dad was shortly stationed in the Navy.
- gets to see her Molly today!
- is getting ready to walk to the park with Treasure Island and a chair.
- is having yogurt, granola, and fresh kiwi for breakfast.
- should be in bed. Early morning at the gym tomorrow. Ah, the life of the unemployed.
- found out that her neighbor tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and fractured her jaw. Jen's life isn't so bad.
- isn't sure who is to blame for waking her up at 6 this morning, but will think of someone.
- would like The View more if they had a conservative pundit that actually made good sense.
- had a relaxing weekend with the boys.
- can't wait to be lounging at the cabin!
- wonders what the significance of Jacob reading "Everything That Rises Must Converge" is?
- needs help sifting through all of these summer course offerings.
- <3s Jemaine a little more, actually
- wonders what the big deal is with the tug boats?
- John Stossel: "the drug war is doing much more harm than the drugs"
- can't believe she's lucky enough to see Jade again this weekend!
- is disappointed that her Southwest '09 class isn't going to work out.
- went to a Tang Soo Do self defense class. Bring it, Bitches!
- feels like Uma in Pulp Fiction.
- decided to chop. You might need to click on the picture to actually see it.
- just got back from the most serene walk around Greenlake with Baby Klaire.
- wants to thank Gene for re-introducing her to Lil Wayne. You're right - he is amazing.
- is debating on whether she wants drastic change or not. Update to follow.
- was driving home from class last night when two high school guys tried to pick her up at a stop light. She laughed and laughed.
- just deleted some "friends" and didn't even need the promise of a free hamburger. If you're reading this, I must like you.
- thinks people should read Aschenputtel to their children instead of Cinderella. Those step-sisters deserve to have their eyes poked out!
- gets to play with Klaire tomorrow.
- wants so badly to be productive today. Stupid body!
- can't believe how amazing Ritz Crackers taste when recovering from the stomach flu.
- is letting the thoughts settle into place.
- says I'm o.k., but my watch sick
- is heading over to Bakery Nouveau to see Connie this morning.
- wishes Lou and Isaiah a Happy Birthday!!!
- gushed about the best mocha of her life at Caffe Ladro last week. When she woke up this morning, blurry eyed, she opened a new bag of espresso beans and learned that her husband bought them from Caffe Ladro yesterday. How cute is that?
- is wondering why Jack London relates the dog to a "wolf" and how that affects the story "To Build a Fire"?
- is heading to Pesos for brunch.
- is playing on the computer when she should be doing homework.
- can't believe she's awake this early.
- can't wait to see Brit Brit tonight!
- had a great time on the Umpqua Valley Barrel Tour!
- is so excited for Gail! Check out her picture on the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/04/02/business/economy/economy-user-photos.html
- is starting to dislike facebook. Maybe I'm just cranky.
- is still sore from the tetanus shot on Monday.
- says finals week is making her go cross-eyed.
- misses Jade already.
- says Michael Scott makes me laugh: "call me ASAP As Possible"
- is kicking herself for not taking her test last night. Next week is gonna be a beyotch.
- has to act busy today since her husband is home.
- says stupid new fb. I think I'm writing to someone but then it shows up as my profile header.
- Happy St Patty's Day. How was the first day of tennis?
- can't believe Rita Studebaker is turning 98!
- btw - Friday would be great!!!! I'll probably be doing homework all week so that I won't have any to do while you're here. Hooray! Can't wait to see you!!! Muah
- is checking conditions on the pass.
- is making cookies and anticipating a special arrival tomorrow.
- is waiting for Tom to stop by with Klaire and some lunch.
- is excited to see Daniel.
- woke up early to watch the Jazz with her husband.
- thinks Hellboy I & II were better than she expected.
- is going to babysit The Klaire.
- is surprisingly busy in her unemployment.
- hopes she took one for the team.
- is returning to the scene of the crime today. Then going for a long run at the gym.
- thinks everything happens for a reason.
- is full of oatmeal and happy to see sunshine.
- wishes she could hug Kelly.
- now realizes why no one messes with the coffee - if you add more, you get grounds in your cup. Stupid work coffee maker.
- is going to eat an entire box of cookies for breakfast now that I've been encouraged to do it.
- is resisting the urge to eat Girl Scout Cookies for breakfast.
- is finally working now that her laptop was replaced.
- is squinting her eyes because it's too early to be working.
- is walking Greenlake with her family.
-
- just got back from Pacific Beach where her dad was shortly stationed in the Navy.
- gets to see her Molly today!
- is getting ready to walk to the park with Treasure Island and a chair.
- is having yogurt, granola, and fresh kiwi for breakfast.
- should be in bed. Early morning at the gym tomorrow. Ah, the life of the unemployed.
- found out that her neighbor tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and fractured her jaw. Jen's life isn't so bad.
- isn't sure who is to blame for waking her up at 6 this morning, but will think of someone.
- would like The View more if they had a conservative pundit that actually made good sense.
- had a relaxing weekend with the boys.
- can't wait to be lounging at the cabin!
- wonders what the significance of Jacob reading "Everything That Rises Must Converge" is?
- needs help sifting through all of these summer course offerings.
- <3s Jemaine a little more, actually
- wonders what the big deal is with the tug boats?
- John Stossel: "the drug war is doing much more harm than the drugs"
- can't believe she's lucky enough to see Jade again this weekend!
- is disappointed that her Southwest '09 class isn't going to work out.
- went to a Tang Soo Do self defense class. Bring it, Bitches!
- feels like Uma in Pulp Fiction.
- decided to chop. You might need to click on the picture to actually see it.
- just got back from the most serene walk around Greenlake with Baby Klaire.
- wants to thank Gene for re-introducing her to Lil Wayne. You're right - he is amazing.
- is debating on whether she wants drastic change or not. Update to follow.
- was driving home from class last night when two high school guys tried to pick her up at a stop light. She laughed and laughed.
- just deleted some "friends" and didn't even need the promise of a free hamburger. If you're reading this, I must like you.
- thinks people should read Aschenputtel to their children instead of Cinderella. Those step-sisters deserve to have their eyes poked out!
- gets to play with Klaire tomorrow.
- wants so badly to be productive today. Stupid body!
- can't believe how amazing Ritz Crackers taste when recovering from the stomach flu.
- is letting the thoughts settle into place.
- says I'm o.k., but my watch sick
- is heading over to Bakery Nouveau to see Connie this morning.
- wishes Lou and Isaiah a Happy Birthday!!!
- gushed about the best mocha of her life at Caffe Ladro last week. When she woke up this morning, blurry eyed, she opened a new bag of espresso beans and learned that her husband bought them from Caffe Ladro yesterday. How cute is that?
- is wondering why Jack London relates the dog to a "wolf" and how that affects the story "To Build a Fire"?
- is heading to Pesos for brunch.
- is playing on the computer when she should be doing homework.
- can't believe she's awake this early.
- can't wait to see Brit Brit tonight!
- had a great time on the Umpqua Valley Barrel Tour!
- is so excited for Gail! Check out her picture on the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/04/02/business/economy/economy-user-photos.html
- is starting to dislike facebook. Maybe I'm just cranky.
- is still sore from the tetanus shot on Monday.
- says finals week is making her go cross-eyed.
- misses Jade already.
- says Michael Scott makes me laugh: "call me ASAP As Possible"
- is kicking herself for not taking her test last night. Next week is gonna be a beyotch.
- has to act busy today since her husband is home.
- says stupid new fb. I think I'm writing to someone but then it shows up as my profile header.
- Happy St Patty's Day. How was the first day of tennis?
- can't believe Rita Studebaker is turning 98!
- btw - Friday would be great!!!! I'll probably be doing homework all week so that I won't have any to do while you're here. Hooray! Can't wait to see you!!! Muah
- is checking conditions on the pass.
- is making cookies and anticipating a special arrival tomorrow.
- is waiting for Tom to stop by with Klaire and some lunch.
- is excited to see Daniel.
- woke up early to watch the Jazz with her husband.
- thinks Hellboy I & II were better than she expected.
- is going to babysit The Klaire.
- is surprisingly busy in her unemployment.
- hopes she took one for the team.
- is returning to the scene of the crime today. Then going for a long run at the gym.
- thinks everything happens for a reason.
- is full of oatmeal and happy to see sunshine.
- wishes she could hug Kelly.
- now realizes why no one messes with the coffee - if you add more, you get grounds in your cup. Stupid work coffee maker.
- is going to eat an entire box of cookies for breakfast now that I've been encouraged to do it.
- is resisting the urge to eat Girl Scout Cookies for breakfast.
- is finally working now that her laptop was replaced.
- is squinting her eyes because it's too early to be working.
- is walking Greenlake with her family.
-
May 20, 2009
Sometimes I Forget Why I Blog
There are a few reasons why I write. One of them is because it's therapeutic. Another reason is to remember the little things that make up my life.
This last weekend was one of those moments I don't want to forget. I went to a cabin with my husband, my dear friend Daniel, and his friend.
We didn't realize that the ferry ride to Vashon Island would be such a hot ticket so after accidentally cutting in front of a group of cars, seeing the sluggishly slow moving line, having a confrontation with another driver, and realizing that we wouldn't get on the next ferry - or the one after that, we turned around and drove a little out of the way to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and over the Sound to a beautiful little cabin in Mason County.
The house was a pleasant surprise - much nicer than I anticipated and it happened to be waterfront - again a nice surprise. The house was stocked with everything you could possibly want or need. LCD tv, dvd players, games, loads of food, kayaks, bikes, and more. Our plan, however, was to do as little as possible so we made a conscious decision to ignore most of those things. Instead, we did have a bit of a summer romance with Sudoku Deluxe.
Daniel and his friend were great company. Daniel and I always have a lovely time being snarky and my husband enjoys his company as well. His friend, Noam, is from Israel and has only lived in the U.S. for a year and a half. Spending a weekend with him was a delight and an education.
He was practically dropped here after accepting a job and had no one to help integrate him. He spoke Enlish well and even understood our sardonic American humor but his life has been very different from mine. While growing up in Israel, Noam had to deal with constant security threats and even spent three years in the Israely Army - catching suicide bombers.
Yes, it was a very interesting weekend.
This last weekend was one of those moments I don't want to forget. I went to a cabin with my husband, my dear friend Daniel, and his friend.
We didn't realize that the ferry ride to Vashon Island would be such a hot ticket so after accidentally cutting in front of a group of cars, seeing the sluggishly slow moving line, having a confrontation with another driver, and realizing that we wouldn't get on the next ferry - or the one after that, we turned around and drove a little out of the way to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and over the Sound to a beautiful little cabin in Mason County.
The house was a pleasant surprise - much nicer than I anticipated and it happened to be waterfront - again a nice surprise. The house was stocked with everything you could possibly want or need. LCD tv, dvd players, games, loads of food, kayaks, bikes, and more. Our plan, however, was to do as little as possible so we made a conscious decision to ignore most of those things. Instead, we did have a bit of a summer romance with Sudoku Deluxe.
Daniel and his friend were great company. Daniel and I always have a lovely time being snarky and my husband enjoys his company as well. His friend, Noam, is from Israel and has only lived in the U.S. for a year and a half. Spending a weekend with him was a delight and an education.
He was practically dropped here after accepting a job and had no one to help integrate him. He spoke Enlish well and even understood our sardonic American humor but his life has been very different from mine. While growing up in Israel, Noam had to deal with constant security threats and even spent three years in the Israely Army - catching suicide bombers.
Yes, it was a very interesting weekend.
April 27, 2009
My Favorite Thing About Yesterday...
I try to write in my journal every evening before I go to bed. If I don't have anything pressing to write, I often start out by saying "my favorite thing about today is" and go from there. But lately I haven't made much of an effort.
Yesterday was a pretty great day and yet, I couldn't muster the energy to write - so I am going to try and make up for that today.
My favorite thing about yesterday was:
falling asleep on the couch with my husband last night. We were both really tired from a day full of activities and we couldn't keep our eyes open despite our interest in How the Earth Was Made.
The day started off well - I slept in until my eyes popped open (I love it when that happens) and then I shuffled into the kitchen to pour a heaping bowl of Golden Grahams. Around eleven, we were finally ready to hit the road. We snacked on a light lunch as we drove up through Seattle on our way to Mount Vernon to see Tulip Town. Traffic was bad, but not horrible as we headed North on the freeway. When we finally got off exit 221, we passed charming country homes and fields scattered with horses, cows, and sheep. By then, the clouds had broken up and we were inspired to open all our windows and the sunroof and try to absorb as much of the beautiful spring day as possible.
When we finally got out of the car we were greeted by thousands of people. Diversity abounding, many of the people in the fields had one thing in common: they were trying to take a picture for their next holiday card.
I had too much fun taking pictures of other people's pictures, as you can see.
After visiting Tulip Town and a few smaller fields that were scattered out along our Sunday Drive, we drove over to Tom's house so that my husband could see baby Klaire.
By the time we got home around six, we were beat. The beautiful sunshine had taken its toll and we just wanted to collapse on the couch. Which is exactly what we did.
The next thing I knew, it was nine and I was listening to the announcer on Direct TV. My husband and I had fallen asleep on the couch and had been listening to a repeating commercial for I-don't-know-how-long. As I reached for the remote, I woke him up. We smiled at each other, repositioned, and went back to sleep.
It was wonderful.
Yesterday was a pretty great day and yet, I couldn't muster the energy to write - so I am going to try and make up for that today.
My favorite thing about yesterday was:
falling asleep on the couch with my husband last night. We were both really tired from a day full of activities and we couldn't keep our eyes open despite our interest in How the Earth Was Made.
The day started off well - I slept in until my eyes popped open (I love it when that happens) and then I shuffled into the kitchen to pour a heaping bowl of Golden Grahams. Around eleven, we were finally ready to hit the road. We snacked on a light lunch as we drove up through Seattle on our way to Mount Vernon to see Tulip Town. Traffic was bad, but not horrible as we headed North on the freeway. When we finally got off exit 221, we passed charming country homes and fields scattered with horses, cows, and sheep. By then, the clouds had broken up and we were inspired to open all our windows and the sunroof and try to absorb as much of the beautiful spring day as possible.
When we finally got out of the car we were greeted by thousands of people. Diversity abounding, many of the people in the fields had one thing in common: they were trying to take a picture for their next holiday card.
I had too much fun taking pictures of other people's pictures, as you can see.
After visiting Tulip Town and a few smaller fields that were scattered out along our Sunday Drive, we drove over to Tom's house so that my husband could see baby Klaire.
By the time we got home around six, we were beat. The beautiful sunshine had taken its toll and we just wanted to collapse on the couch. Which is exactly what we did.
The next thing I knew, it was nine and I was listening to the announcer on Direct TV. My husband and I had fallen asleep on the couch and had been listening to a repeating commercial for I-don't-know-how-long. As I reached for the remote, I woke him up. We smiled at each other, repositioned, and went back to sleep.
It was wonderful.
April 10, 2009
Unemployment Sure Keeps Me Busy
Since I last wrote I have:
~driven home to Roseburg for a long weekend
~gone to the Umpqua Valley Barrel Tour
~finished up Winter classes
~started Spring classes (suffered through my first Spanish 103 class after a 6 year Span-absence)
~done some Spring Cleaning
~gone on 2 interviews
~done some recon work for my parents (trying to reconnect them with old friends via facebook)
~hung out with my favorite Sister-in-Law
~met a friend's new baby
~ate at Abby's pizza
~read The Yellow Wallpaper by Chopin (whoa!)
~cuddled with Klaire
~watched the Utah Jazz pull their shit together and then immediately watch it unravel with my husband
~made notecards with my photos
~met up with an old friend and had the best white mocha of my life simulateously (I'd like to give a shout-out to Cafe Ladro in Fremont)
~kicked ass at the gym
~researched ticket prices to the Basketball Hall of Fame induction of John Stockton
~talked to my mom on the phone
~pet my in-law's poodle for what I assume will be the last time (she's really old!)
~gone to a Britney Spears concert (and unabashedly loved it!)
I have been very busy in my unemployment.
~driven home to Roseburg for a long weekend
~gone to the Umpqua Valley Barrel Tour
~finished up Winter classes
~started Spring classes (suffered through my first Spanish 103 class after a 6 year Span-absence)
~done some Spring Cleaning
~gone on 2 interviews
~done some recon work for my parents (trying to reconnect them with old friends via facebook)
~hung out with my favorite Sister-in-Law
~met a friend's new baby
~ate at Abby's pizza
~read The Yellow Wallpaper by Chopin (whoa!)
~cuddled with Klaire
~watched the Utah Jazz pull their shit together and then immediately watch it unravel with my husband
~made notecards with my photos
~met up with an old friend and had the best white mocha of my life simulateously (I'd like to give a shout-out to Cafe Ladro in Fremont)
~kicked ass at the gym
~researched ticket prices to the Basketball Hall of Fame induction of John Stockton
~talked to my mom on the phone
~pet my in-law's poodle for what I assume will be the last time (she's really old!)
~gone to a Britney Spears concert (and unabashedly loved it!)
I have been very busy in my unemployment.
March 29, 2009
Ms. Magazine: Who Wants to Marry a Feminist by Lisa Miya-Jervis
I am working on a paper about Ms. Magazine for my Race, Gender, and Class in the Media course and I really enjoyed this article. Just thought I'd share.
Who Wants to Marry a Feminist?
By Lisa Miya-Jervis
The winter I got engaged, a college friend was using some of my essays as course material for a Rhetoric 101 class she was teaching at a large Midwestern university. She couldn't wait to alert her students to my impending marriage. "They all think you're a lesbian," she told me. "One of them even asked if you hate men." I was blown over by the clichZ of it all--how had we come to the end of the twentieth century with such ridiculous, outmoded notions even partially intact? But I was, at least, pleased that my friend was able to use my story to banish the stereotype once and (I hoped) for all in the minds of 30 corn-fed first-years. "To a man?" they reportedly gasped when told the news.
I'd been married less than a year when a customer at the bookstore where my husband works approached the counter to buy a copy of the feminist magazine I edit. "You know," a staffer told her while ringing up the purchase, "the woman who does this magazine is married to a guy who works here." The customer, supposedly a longtime reader, was outraged at the news--I believe the phrase "betrayal of feminism" was uttered--and vowed never to buy the magazine again.
These two incidents may be extreme, but they are nonetheless indicative. Although we are far from rare, young married feminists are still, for some, something of a novelty--like a dressed-up dog. We can cause a surprised "Oh, would you look at that" or a disappointed "Take that damned hat off the dog, it's just not right."
Let's take the disappointment first. Marriage's bad reputation among feminists is certainly not without reason. We all know the institution's tarnished history: women as property passed from father to husband; monogamy as the simplest way to assure paternity and thus produce "legitimate" children; a husband's legal entitlement to his wife's domestic and sexual services. With marriage rates falling and social sanctions against cohabitation falling away, why would a feminist choose to take part in such a retro, potentially oppressive, bigotedly exclusive institution?
Well, there are a lot of reasons, actually. Foremost are the emotional ones: love, companionship, the pure joy that meeting your match brings with it. But, because I'm wary of the kind of muddled romanticizing that has ill-served women in their heterosexual dealings for most of recorded history, I have plenty of other reasons. To reject marriage simply because of its history is to give in to that history; to argue against marriage by saying that a wife's identity is necessarily subsumed by her husband's is to do nothing more than second the notion.
And wasn't it feminists who fought so hard to procure the basic rights that used to be obliterated by marriage? Because of the women's rights movement, we can maintain our own bank accounts; we can make our own health care choices; we can refuse sex with our husbands and prosecute them if they don't comply. In the feminist imagination, "wife" can still conjure up images of cookie-baking, cookie-cutter Donna Reeds whose own desires have been forced to take a backseat to their stultifying helpmate duties. But it's neither 1750 nor 1950, and Donna Reed was a mythical figure even in her own time. Marriage, now, is potentially what we make it.
Which brings me to the "surprise" portion of our program. As long as the yeti of the antifeminist world--the hairy-legged man-hater (everyone claims to have seen her but actual evidence is sparse)--roams the earth, we need to counteract her image. And as long as wives are assumed--by anyone--to be obedient little women with no lives of their own, those of us who give the lie to this straw bride need to make ourselves as conspicuous as possible.
I want to take the good from marriage and leave the rest. I know it's not for everyone, but the "for as long as we both shall live" love and support thang really works for me. Sure, I didn't need the wedding to get that love and support, but neither does the fact of marriage automatically consign me and my man to traditional man-and-wife roles. Like so many relationships, married and un-, ours is a complex weave of support, independence, and sex. We achieve this privately--from the mundanities of you-have-to-cook-tonight-because-I-have-this-deadline-tomorrow to sleepy late-night discussions on more profound matters, like the meaning of life or how many steps it takes to link Kevin Bacon to John Gielgud by way of at least one vampire movie. But also publicly--with our name change, for example (explaining to folks like the Social Security Administration and whoever hands out passports that, yes, we both need new papers, because we each have added the other's name was, and I mean this quite seriously, a thrill). And it's this public nature of marriage that appeals. It's what allows me to take a stab at all this change I've been yammering about.
I won't pretend I meet with success all the time. Disrupting other people's expectations is hard, and sometimes it's neither possible nor desirable to wear the workings of one's relationship on one's sleeve. An appropriate cocktail party introduction is not, "This is my husband, Christopher, who knows how to truss a turkey, which I don't, and who, by the way, doesn't mind at all that I make more money than him. Oh, and did I mention that the last time our toilet got scrubbed, it wasn't by me?"
Plus, some people's perceptions can only change so much. My 90-year-old grandfather, who has been nothing but open-minded and incredibly supportive of my feminist work, persists in asking what my husband is going to do for food whenever I leave town on my own. Each time, I say the same thing: "Christopher knows perfectly well how to feed himself. In fact, he's cooking dinner for me right now." And then my grandfather gives a little surprised chuckle: those crazy kids, what will they think of next? And my accountant, who's been doing my taxes for years and knows my husband only as a Social Security number, automatically assigned Christopher the status of "taxpayer" and put me down as "spouse" on our first joint return. Yeah, it was a tad annoying, but so far it's the sum total of the eclipse of my identity by his. Not so bad, really.
By and large I do believe that we're culturally ready to accept changes in the way marriages are viewed. Increasing rates of cohabitation and the growing visibility of long-term same-sex partnerships are changing popular notions of relationships. Even trash TV holds promise: Fox's Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? debacle laid bare many ugly things about American capitalism and media spectacle, but there was one fairly unexpected result. The show was presented as a display, however crass, of old-fashioned marital values--a trade of youth, beauty, and fecundity for wealth, security, and caretaking, complete with the groom's friends and family on hand for that lovely arranged-marriage feel. But it turned out to be nothing of the kind. The bride, as it happened, just wanted the lark of a free trip to Vegas, and the groom, a boost to his moribund show-biz career. That the concept saw the outside of a Fox conference room proves that modern marriage is in dire need of feminist attention. But the widely expressed outrage and disgust that followed the show are evidence that the general public is more than ready to discard the notion that a woman's ultimate goal is the altar.
It's true that the most important parts, the actual warp and weft of Christopher's and my relationship, could be achieved without a legal marriage (and I could have kept my third-wave street cred). In the end, though, the decision to marry or not to marry is--no matter how political the personal--an emotional one. I wanted to link my life to Christopher's, and, yes, I admit to taking advantage of the universally understood straight-shot-to-relationship-legitimacy that marriage offers. But it is a testament to the feminists who came before me, who offered up all those arguments about marriage's oppressive roots and worked tirelessly to ensure that my husband owns neither my body nor my paycheck, that I can indulge my emotion without fear of being caught in those roots. Instead, I can carry on their struggle and help forge a new vision of what marriage is.
~Lisa Miya-Jervis is the editor of "Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture" and coeditor of "Young Wives' Tales," an upcoming anthology of feminist writings on partnership (Seal Press 2001).
Who Wants to Marry a Feminist?
By Lisa Miya-Jervis
The winter I got engaged, a college friend was using some of my essays as course material for a Rhetoric 101 class she was teaching at a large Midwestern university. She couldn't wait to alert her students to my impending marriage. "They all think you're a lesbian," she told me. "One of them even asked if you hate men." I was blown over by the clichZ of it all--how had we come to the end of the twentieth century with such ridiculous, outmoded notions even partially intact? But I was, at least, pleased that my friend was able to use my story to banish the stereotype once and (I hoped) for all in the minds of 30 corn-fed first-years. "To a man?" they reportedly gasped when told the news.
I'd been married less than a year when a customer at the bookstore where my husband works approached the counter to buy a copy of the feminist magazine I edit. "You know," a staffer told her while ringing up the purchase, "the woman who does this magazine is married to a guy who works here." The customer, supposedly a longtime reader, was outraged at the news--I believe the phrase "betrayal of feminism" was uttered--and vowed never to buy the magazine again.
These two incidents may be extreme, but they are nonetheless indicative. Although we are far from rare, young married feminists are still, for some, something of a novelty--like a dressed-up dog. We can cause a surprised "Oh, would you look at that" or a disappointed "Take that damned hat off the dog, it's just not right."
Let's take the disappointment first. Marriage's bad reputation among feminists is certainly not without reason. We all know the institution's tarnished history: women as property passed from father to husband; monogamy as the simplest way to assure paternity and thus produce "legitimate" children; a husband's legal entitlement to his wife's domestic and sexual services. With marriage rates falling and social sanctions against cohabitation falling away, why would a feminist choose to take part in such a retro, potentially oppressive, bigotedly exclusive institution?
Well, there are a lot of reasons, actually. Foremost are the emotional ones: love, companionship, the pure joy that meeting your match brings with it. But, because I'm wary of the kind of muddled romanticizing that has ill-served women in their heterosexual dealings for most of recorded history, I have plenty of other reasons. To reject marriage simply because of its history is to give in to that history; to argue against marriage by saying that a wife's identity is necessarily subsumed by her husband's is to do nothing more than second the notion.
And wasn't it feminists who fought so hard to procure the basic rights that used to be obliterated by marriage? Because of the women's rights movement, we can maintain our own bank accounts; we can make our own health care choices; we can refuse sex with our husbands and prosecute them if they don't comply. In the feminist imagination, "wife" can still conjure up images of cookie-baking, cookie-cutter Donna Reeds whose own desires have been forced to take a backseat to their stultifying helpmate duties. But it's neither 1750 nor 1950, and Donna Reed was a mythical figure even in her own time. Marriage, now, is potentially what we make it.
Which brings me to the "surprise" portion of our program. As long as the yeti of the antifeminist world--the hairy-legged man-hater (everyone claims to have seen her but actual evidence is sparse)--roams the earth, we need to counteract her image. And as long as wives are assumed--by anyone--to be obedient little women with no lives of their own, those of us who give the lie to this straw bride need to make ourselves as conspicuous as possible.
I want to take the good from marriage and leave the rest. I know it's not for everyone, but the "for as long as we both shall live" love and support thang really works for me. Sure, I didn't need the wedding to get that love and support, but neither does the fact of marriage automatically consign me and my man to traditional man-and-wife roles. Like so many relationships, married and un-, ours is a complex weave of support, independence, and sex. We achieve this privately--from the mundanities of you-have-to-cook-tonight-because-I-have-this-deadline-tomorrow to sleepy late-night discussions on more profound matters, like the meaning of life or how many steps it takes to link Kevin Bacon to John Gielgud by way of at least one vampire movie. But also publicly--with our name change, for example (explaining to folks like the Social Security Administration and whoever hands out passports that, yes, we both need new papers, because we each have added the other's name was, and I mean this quite seriously, a thrill). And it's this public nature of marriage that appeals. It's what allows me to take a stab at all this change I've been yammering about.
I won't pretend I meet with success all the time. Disrupting other people's expectations is hard, and sometimes it's neither possible nor desirable to wear the workings of one's relationship on one's sleeve. An appropriate cocktail party introduction is not, "This is my husband, Christopher, who knows how to truss a turkey, which I don't, and who, by the way, doesn't mind at all that I make more money than him. Oh, and did I mention that the last time our toilet got scrubbed, it wasn't by me?"
Plus, some people's perceptions can only change so much. My 90-year-old grandfather, who has been nothing but open-minded and incredibly supportive of my feminist work, persists in asking what my husband is going to do for food whenever I leave town on my own. Each time, I say the same thing: "Christopher knows perfectly well how to feed himself. In fact, he's cooking dinner for me right now." And then my grandfather gives a little surprised chuckle: those crazy kids, what will they think of next? And my accountant, who's been doing my taxes for years and knows my husband only as a Social Security number, automatically assigned Christopher the status of "taxpayer" and put me down as "spouse" on our first joint return. Yeah, it was a tad annoying, but so far it's the sum total of the eclipse of my identity by his. Not so bad, really.
By and large I do believe that we're culturally ready to accept changes in the way marriages are viewed. Increasing rates of cohabitation and the growing visibility of long-term same-sex partnerships are changing popular notions of relationships. Even trash TV holds promise: Fox's Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? debacle laid bare many ugly things about American capitalism and media spectacle, but there was one fairly unexpected result. The show was presented as a display, however crass, of old-fashioned marital values--a trade of youth, beauty, and fecundity for wealth, security, and caretaking, complete with the groom's friends and family on hand for that lovely arranged-marriage feel. But it turned out to be nothing of the kind. The bride, as it happened, just wanted the lark of a free trip to Vegas, and the groom, a boost to his moribund show-biz career. That the concept saw the outside of a Fox conference room proves that modern marriage is in dire need of feminist attention. But the widely expressed outrage and disgust that followed the show are evidence that the general public is more than ready to discard the notion that a woman's ultimate goal is the altar.
It's true that the most important parts, the actual warp and weft of Christopher's and my relationship, could be achieved without a legal marriage (and I could have kept my third-wave street cred). In the end, though, the decision to marry or not to marry is--no matter how political the personal--an emotional one. I wanted to link my life to Christopher's, and, yes, I admit to taking advantage of the universally understood straight-shot-to-relationship-legitimacy that marriage offers. But it is a testament to the feminists who came before me, who offered up all those arguments about marriage's oppressive roots and worked tirelessly to ensure that my husband owns neither my body nor my paycheck, that I can indulge my emotion without fear of being caught in those roots. Instead, I can carry on their struggle and help forge a new vision of what marriage is.
~Lisa Miya-Jervis is the editor of "Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture" and coeditor of "Young Wives' Tales," an upcoming anthology of feminist writings on partnership (Seal Press 2001).
March 26, 2009
While I Was Sleeping
Logic was in a meeting this morning that may have significant impact on our lives. While I laid in bed, sleeping after a grueling night of "My Mommy!, No! My Mommy!" arguing between the cats (my life is so tough), Logic was summoned into the conference room to learn that his boss was being transferred to another location, his team was merging with another, and a position that he is very interested in will be re-located to the Olympia branch.
His call, which woke me up, was full of anticipation and excitement. He is still interested in the position and wants to talk to me about how we can make it work while I finish school. It hadn't occurred to me that losing my job might set us up to make some drastic changes. But it seems to be one less thing tying us to Seattle. Part of me is sad.
I've grown to really care about Seattle. Once I got past the gloom, I saw the true beauty of the city which comes from its people. There are so many personalities roaming the 7 hills of Seattle and I don't know if I am ready to leave.
But, as I write this, I know I am getting ahead of myself. Logic works for the government which means nothing is going to happen overnight. And when it does happen, I know we will make the best decision for us.
It really is funny how one change can cause a domino effect in life. Already I am staring down a full-load at school and the possibility of supplementing my income by waiting tables - something I never thought I'd do again. But it just feels right.
I could have never imagined quitting my corporate job - with its 401(k), stock options, and paid vacation - to focus primarily on school and wait tables on the side. But since the situation was given to me, it seems like the best thing to do.
So I'm sure when it comes time to figure out Logic's next professional move, the situation will present itself with some great options for us. They may not be the ones I would choose for us now, but down the road they might just be perfect.
His call, which woke me up, was full of anticipation and excitement. He is still interested in the position and wants to talk to me about how we can make it work while I finish school. It hadn't occurred to me that losing my job might set us up to make some drastic changes. But it seems to be one less thing tying us to Seattle. Part of me is sad.
I've grown to really care about Seattle. Once I got past the gloom, I saw the true beauty of the city which comes from its people. There are so many personalities roaming the 7 hills of Seattle and I don't know if I am ready to leave.
But, as I write this, I know I am getting ahead of myself. Logic works for the government which means nothing is going to happen overnight. And when it does happen, I know we will make the best decision for us.
It really is funny how one change can cause a domino effect in life. Already I am staring down a full-load at school and the possibility of supplementing my income by waiting tables - something I never thought I'd do again. But it just feels right.
I could have never imagined quitting my corporate job - with its 401(k), stock options, and paid vacation - to focus primarily on school and wait tables on the side. But since the situation was given to me, it seems like the best thing to do.
So I'm sure when it comes time to figure out Logic's next professional move, the situation will present itself with some great options for us. They may not be the ones I would choose for us now, but down the road they might just be perfect.
March 24, 2009
Simplicity
I love this new layout. It's a blank canvas. Kind of like my life.
I was inspired to change this after creating a new photo-blog (found here).
The simplicity of the template doesn't distract, and that's what I want in my life: no distractions.
Let me know what you think of this, and of the photoblog.
I was inspired to change this after creating a new photo-blog (found here).
The simplicity of the template doesn't distract, and that's what I want in my life: no distractions.
Let me know what you think of this, and of the photoblog.
March 15, 2009
Yet Another Story about George
I feel guilty.
George was all alone and sad after Gracie had to be put to sleep. We let him cry for 2 months before it became unbearable. We wanted him to know that we missed Grace as much as he did and that we weren't trying to replace her, but we also wanted him to have companionship. So in January we got him a friend.
Mobey had an upper respiratory infection when we picked him up from the shelter and we tried noticed significant improvement before he was fully integrated so we figured everything would be fine. But a few weeks later George started drooling and we found a cold-sore on his tongue. A few weeks after that, his eye started to ooze. Logic took him back to the vet to learn that he has herpes and needed to be on antibiotics.
Well, this last week he started coughing. We took him to the vet yet again and she said the cough wouldn't be related to the other symptoms and its possible that he might have asthma.
As a cat-mama I am stressed out. Would any of this happened if we hadn't brought Mobey home for him?
It makes me sad to write that. Mobey is a wonderful addition to our family and he and George are fast-friends. But I can't help feeling like it's my fault for bringing a sick kitty into the house and making my other cat sick because of it.
Poor Georgie.
George was all alone and sad after Gracie had to be put to sleep. We let him cry for 2 months before it became unbearable. We wanted him to know that we missed Grace as much as he did and that we weren't trying to replace her, but we also wanted him to have companionship. So in January we got him a friend.
Mobey had an upper respiratory infection when we picked him up from the shelter and we tried noticed significant improvement before he was fully integrated so we figured everything would be fine. But a few weeks later George started drooling and we found a cold-sore on his tongue. A few weeks after that, his eye started to ooze. Logic took him back to the vet to learn that he has herpes and needed to be on antibiotics.
Well, this last week he started coughing. We took him to the vet yet again and she said the cough wouldn't be related to the other symptoms and its possible that he might have asthma.
As a cat-mama I am stressed out. Would any of this happened if we hadn't brought Mobey home for him?
It makes me sad to write that. Mobey is a wonderful addition to our family and he and George are fast-friends. But I can't help feeling like it's my fault for bringing a sick kitty into the house and making my other cat sick because of it.
Poor Georgie.
March 14, 2009
Weather Watch
It was a beautiful week but there's a storm heading this way. Unfortunately for me, a dear friend was planning on visiting but might not be able to make it over the pass now. Stupid weather.
March 11, 2009
March 09, 2009
Fast Asleep
A good friend recently told me that it's normal for someone who is laid off to be hard on themselves afterward. This pearl of wisdom came after I told her that I felt deserving of my recent lack of employment. Even though that conversation was only 2 days ago, I can honestly say it feels so far in the past.
Last night I had difficulty sleeping, so I laid in bed for hours thinking about my future. You know - the one that is wide open now. I shifted from thinking about my previous job to realizing that I don't want something similar. I had spent all last week looking for the same job with a different name when I could have been focusing on something much more suitable for me.
Regardless of how influential my performance was in my unemployment, I hated my job. It consisted primarily of the type of work I don't enjoy doing. There were statistics for how to do the investigations correctly, statistics for financials, even statistics for the employees' performances. I am not a numbers person.
I like adjectives, emotions, expressing opinions, gaining new insight, creating positive change. My previous job was none of those things.
As soon as I realized that I am truly in a position for creating positive change in my own life, I fell fast asleep.
Last night I had difficulty sleeping, so I laid in bed for hours thinking about my future. You know - the one that is wide open now. I shifted from thinking about my previous job to realizing that I don't want something similar. I had spent all last week looking for the same job with a different name when I could have been focusing on something much more suitable for me.
Regardless of how influential my performance was in my unemployment, I hated my job. It consisted primarily of the type of work I don't enjoy doing. There were statistics for how to do the investigations correctly, statistics for financials, even statistics for the employees' performances. I am not a numbers person.
I like adjectives, emotions, expressing opinions, gaining new insight, creating positive change. My previous job was none of those things.
As soon as I realized that I am truly in a position for creating positive change in my own life, I fell fast asleep.
March 07, 2009
Good Things That My Former Employer Gave Me:
in list form
- a paycheck, obviously.. and security, but this isn't that kind of list
- a better understanding of computers and software
- a camera (yay to winning the contest in December)
- friends
- a box to bring my belongings home in which doubles as an awesome toy for the cats
- unemployment insurance
- seeing David Sedaris, Lewis Black, John Edwards, David Bach, Matisyahu, David Lynch, T-Bone Burnett, and The Presidents of the United States of America up close.
- a bus pass
- sushi and beer at Umi's
- lots of pizza
- the flexibility to take evening degree courses at UW
- Excel training
- free admission to the EMP, 5th Avenue Theater, a simulated Vegas in the Westin, and the Flight Museum
- loads of free books
- a greater appreciation for Asian style food
- daily access to the internet/IM/email
- dinner at Buca di Beppo's and pool at Jillian's Billiards
- a paycheck, obviously.. and security, but this isn't that kind of list
- a better understanding of computers and software
- a camera (yay to winning the contest in December)
- friends
- a box to bring my belongings home in which doubles as an awesome toy for the cats
- unemployment insurance
- seeing David Sedaris, Lewis Black, John Edwards, David Bach, Matisyahu, David Lynch, T-Bone Burnett, and The Presidents of the United States of America up close.
- a bus pass
- sushi and beer at Umi's
- lots of pizza
- the flexibility to take evening degree courses at UW
- Excel training
- free admission to the EMP, 5th Avenue Theater, a simulated Vegas in the Westin, and the Flight Museum
- loads of free books
- a greater appreciation for Asian style food
- daily access to the internet/IM/email
- dinner at Buca di Beppo's and pool at Jillian's Billiards
February 27, 2009
Fruition
Last week I sent myself an article from the New York Times about writing a cover letter.
Today I was let go.
Coincidence?
Today I was let go.
Coincidence?
February 26, 2009
Funny and Complimentary
This was emailed to me today with the tag: "This is you."
"If you see a white woman and you are trying to figure out whether she is liked or just merely tolerated by white people, the best thing you can do is get a quick look at her haircut. It is a known fact that white people love women who wear their hair with bangs that hang straight down."
~courtesy of "stuff white people like #104"
"If you see a white woman and you are trying to figure out whether she is liked or just merely tolerated by white people, the best thing you can do is get a quick look at her haircut. It is a known fact that white people love women who wear their hair with bangs that hang straight down."
~courtesy of "stuff white people like #104"
February 24, 2009
Thinking of You
Today is going to be hard, and so is tomorrow.
I'm just glad that you have her to give you these in this time of duress.
Family Time: Like Herding Cattle
Since the visit took place in Seattle, I became the Event Coordinator for the week. It was exhausting:
Bainbridge Island twice, Space Needle, Carousel/Ferris Wheel rides, Greenlake twice, Alki, Place Pigalle for dinner w/ all the family, swimming, flu, play ground, watching my 5 year old niece read books, write and answer flashcards, walk through the Market, shopping, and LOTS of eating.
Bainbridge Island twice, Space Needle, Carousel/Ferris Wheel rides, Greenlake twice, Alki, Place Pigalle for dinner w/ all the family, swimming, flu, play ground, watching my 5 year old niece read books, write and answer flashcards, walk through the Market, shopping, and LOTS of eating.
February 14, 2009
VD on VD
George has a gooey eye so Logic took him to the vet this morning.
I'm choosing to work since I was sick for a few days and need to make up some time. Logic called to tell me what the vet said: "No joke: George hsa herpes."
How appropriate.
I'm choosing to work since I was sick for a few days and need to make up some time. Logic called to tell me what the vet said: "No joke: George hsa herpes."
How appropriate.
February 04, 2009
January 26, 2009
Douche Awards
There is a tan truck in front of my condo building that is parked in two spots. It doesn't appear to be an accident since he does this daily. And believe-you-me, it's not because he's worried about the condition of his prized position. The Adam Sandler "Piece of Shit Car" song comes to mind.
Anyway, when I finally get around to creating my Douche Award business cards, he is going to be the first person to receive it. But today's topic isn't about the tan truck, it's about those cards. If I were to add this guy's picture to my Douche Award cards, would that be copyright infringment?
January 23, 2009
Our Family
We lost Gracie a few months ago. She rapidly lost weight and struggled for three weeks with Liver Disease before we did what was humane and right. But it was not easy.
We suffered as she became a figment of our imagination - showing up for a fraction of a second in the bedroom or on her favorite chair.
Our favorite "Gracie Songs" were started and halted in mid-sentence.
Her much-loved toys lied untouched.
It was especially hard to see her in the face of her brother.The two of them looked so much alike that we would sometimes mistake him for her. He stood as a testimony to her in his appearance and the toys that couldn't be boxed up and donated. He was still with us. He still needed our affection. And he was hurting as much as we were.
We wanted to give Georgie time to mourn but as the weeks passed, it became more and more evident that he was miserable. He would roam the house at night, looking for his sister and making the most heart-wrenching meowing noises that a cat-parent could hear.
I started to toy with the idea of getting him a friend but Logic was steadfast in his belief that if we did it too soon it would be like replacing Gracie. I agreed but watched my remaining cat slide deeper and deeper into despair.
I tried to give Logic some space - I didn't want him to feel forced into the idea, but whenever the topic came up I was eager to express my concern for George. It wasn't until two weeks ago that Logic came around.
We were coming home from work and could hear George's guttural moaning from downstairs. As we opened the door, he made a run for it. Luckily, we live in a building without outside access to our unit so George only made it as far as the hallway, but it was heart-breaking to see our favorite little guy be so desperate to get away.
Two days later (I'd been preparing for this and had done quite a bit of research), we went to my favorite shelter and picked up a new friend for our George. It has taken a week of integration - following guidelines in many different books and from our Vet - but today we left the boys unsupervised and free to roam the entire house together.
Since picking up Mobey last week, George has been a little hesitant, which is to be expected. We have made every effort to show him that Mobey isn't replacing him and have tried to give him the space to cope with this new bundle of energy. But even in the rare moments of discontent when Mobey gets a little too close or moves a little too quickly, we haven't heard any guttural moaning or heart-wrenching meows. George is quickly warming up to his new friend.
And even though Logic had to stop himself mid-sentence while singing his favorite "Gracie Song" yesterday, we are now on the slow road to recovery.
Thanks Mobey.
January 22, 2009
Oscar Predictions, 2009
BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire *
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler *
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married *
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger -The Dark Knight *
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Taraji P Henson - The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler *
BEST DIRECTOR
David Fincher - The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant - Milk
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire *
Here are the rest of the nominees – but I can’t claim to have the slightest clue on who will win in these categories.
BEST FOREIGN FILM
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
The Class (France)
Departures (Japan)
Revanche (Austria)
Waltz With Bashir (Israel)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Eric Roth and Robin Swicord - The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button;
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
David Hare - The Reader
Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Courtney Hunt - Frozen River
Mike Leigh - Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin McDonagh - In Bruges
Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter - WALL-E
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E
BEST ART DIRECTION
Changeling
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Changeling
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
BEST SOUND MIXING
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted
BEST SOUND EDITING
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Alexandre Desplat
Defiance - James Newton Howard
Milk - Danny Elfman
Slumdog Millionaire - AR Rahman
WALL-E - Thomas Newman
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Down To Earth from WALL-E - Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman
Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire - AR Rahman and Gulzar
O Saya from Slumdog Millionaire - AR Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam
BEST COSTUME
Australia
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters At The End Of The World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water
BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT):
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness - From The Balcony Of Room 306
BEST FILM EDITING
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
BEST MAKE-UP
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory - Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Auf Der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon On The Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toyland)
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire *
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler *
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married *
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger -The Dark Knight *
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Taraji P Henson - The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler *
BEST DIRECTOR
David Fincher - The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant - Milk
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire *
Here are the rest of the nominees – but I can’t claim to have the slightest clue on who will win in these categories.
BEST FOREIGN FILM
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
The Class (France)
Departures (Japan)
Revanche (Austria)
Waltz With Bashir (Israel)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Eric Roth and Robin Swicord - The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button;
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
David Hare - The Reader
Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Courtney Hunt - Frozen River
Mike Leigh - Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin McDonagh - In Bruges
Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter - WALL-E
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E
BEST ART DIRECTION
Changeling
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Changeling
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
BEST SOUND MIXING
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted
BEST SOUND EDITING
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Alexandre Desplat
Defiance - James Newton Howard
Milk - Danny Elfman
Slumdog Millionaire - AR Rahman
WALL-E - Thomas Newman
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Down To Earth from WALL-E - Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman
Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire - AR Rahman and Gulzar
O Saya from Slumdog Millionaire - AR Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam
BEST COSTUME
Australia
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters At The End Of The World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water
BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT):
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness - From The Balcony Of Room 306
BEST FILM EDITING
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
BEST MAKE-UP
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory - Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Auf Der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon On The Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toyland)
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
January 21, 2009
My Heart Swells With Pride
We are so fortunate to have such a loving, classy couple representing our country. What an amazing moment in history!
January 14, 2009
January 08, 2009
New York Times Article by Timothy Egan
"
Timothy Egan - A New York Times Blog
January 7, 2009, 10:00 pm
Hibernation Blues
PORT ANGELES, Wash. — A few days into the new year, I stood outside the house and stared into the darkness of a deep winter night at this far western edge of America – defiant on a bone-chilling eve.
It felt lonely and hypnotic here on the Olympic Peninsula, where a jut of land the size of Massachusetts holds an immensity of snow, surrounded on three sides by unknowable depths of gunmetal-gray salt water.
At this northern location, at a latitude equal to Newfoundland, it’s hard not to feel the seasonal blues in all their smothering inevitability. Because there were no big-city lights on the horizon, and clouds veiled a thin moon, the darkness had a particularly strong grip.
I wanted to get inside by the fire, to drink something strong, to eat something sweet, to find a bear’s den of deep sleep. If you live in the north, in places where the sun is an unreliable companion for many months, you can’t escape the urge to hide and hoard in winter.
But this year, I’ve decided to fight lethargy with logic, to welcome the new president, the babies just born, to see something other than closure, dormancy and loss in the annual dark season.
It’s tough, and perhaps absurd, to battle biological imperative. I crave light, pruning high up in the trees around my house to open more patches of sky, keeping the strings of Christmas luminescence hanging into January’s bleakness, checking the daily sunset tables for those few jumps of the clock that will hold back the curtain of night until 4:35 p.m., instead of 4:33.
Friends suffer from that dreaded affliction, Seasonal Affective Disorder, the aptly named SAD. They park themselves next to south-facing windows by day, and full spectrum, 10,000 lux light boxes by night. They escape to the desert or the beach to the south. Still, for most of us, some variant of depression brought by the prevailing gloom of short days cannot be kept at bay.
Rage is another reaction. In Spokane, where six feet of snow has fallen in the last three weeks, a man was just arrested for shooting at a snow plow operator (no injuries, he missed), and mental health clinics say they are getting twice the number of calls they usually get.
“Man is the only animal that blushes,” Mark Twain famously said. “Or needs to.” We stand out in another way, as well: we can’t hibernate, unlike many of our fellow animals. Creatures that are capable of slowing their metabolic rates and lowering their body temperatures can close the whole shebang down for a few months, living off stored body reserves through the long winter.
Sad to say, we can’t generate heat from fat. The only way to get warmer during a season of sloth is to be active.
As a country, we’ve been through a long winter – endless, in some regards. Our departing president told us to shop in a time of war, to spend what we didn’t have, to act as if sacrifice was no longer a national character trait.
During that long winter, when everything was supposed to be sunshine, we bought homes we could not afford. We invested in funds that could not sustain themselves. We made hits out of television shows in which we watched other people lose weight – virtual virtue.
Our leaders fostered a certain amnesia about our history, trying to get us to forget that we don’t torture, that we don’t hold people without trial, that we were founded by rebels demanding basic human dignity.
That winter will soon be gone, leaving us with a terrible toll. The federal deficit is now projected to be $1.2 trillion this year, even without a stimulus package. New jobless numbers on Friday will make us shudder. It will take years to sort the mess and lift the gloom.
And then there is fresh war in a place of ancient hatreds. What else could winter bring?
But even with a reckoning at home and the killings overseas, I’ve chosen to embrace the few ticks of extra daylight coming on every day, in that Washington and this Washington. Action is generating heat, as it should, following the laws of nature for animals that can’t hibernate.
When the world is muffled, at its darkest, there lies possibility, if only for a sunless day.
* Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
* Privacy Policy
* NYTimes.com 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018
"
Timothy Egan - A New York Times Blog
January 7, 2009, 10:00 pm
Hibernation Blues
PORT ANGELES, Wash. — A few days into the new year, I stood outside the house and stared into the darkness of a deep winter night at this far western edge of America – defiant on a bone-chilling eve.
It felt lonely and hypnotic here on the Olympic Peninsula, where a jut of land the size of Massachusetts holds an immensity of snow, surrounded on three sides by unknowable depths of gunmetal-gray salt water.
At this northern location, at a latitude equal to Newfoundland, it’s hard not to feel the seasonal blues in all their smothering inevitability. Because there were no big-city lights on the horizon, and clouds veiled a thin moon, the darkness had a particularly strong grip.
I wanted to get inside by the fire, to drink something strong, to eat something sweet, to find a bear’s den of deep sleep. If you live in the north, in places where the sun is an unreliable companion for many months, you can’t escape the urge to hide and hoard in winter.
But this year, I’ve decided to fight lethargy with logic, to welcome the new president, the babies just born, to see something other than closure, dormancy and loss in the annual dark season.
It’s tough, and perhaps absurd, to battle biological imperative. I crave light, pruning high up in the trees around my house to open more patches of sky, keeping the strings of Christmas luminescence hanging into January’s bleakness, checking the daily sunset tables for those few jumps of the clock that will hold back the curtain of night until 4:35 p.m., instead of 4:33.
Friends suffer from that dreaded affliction, Seasonal Affective Disorder, the aptly named SAD. They park themselves next to south-facing windows by day, and full spectrum, 10,000 lux light boxes by night. They escape to the desert or the beach to the south. Still, for most of us, some variant of depression brought by the prevailing gloom of short days cannot be kept at bay.
Rage is another reaction. In Spokane, where six feet of snow has fallen in the last three weeks, a man was just arrested for shooting at a snow plow operator (no injuries, he missed), and mental health clinics say they are getting twice the number of calls they usually get.
“Man is the only animal that blushes,” Mark Twain famously said. “Or needs to.” We stand out in another way, as well: we can’t hibernate, unlike many of our fellow animals. Creatures that are capable of slowing their metabolic rates and lowering their body temperatures can close the whole shebang down for a few months, living off stored body reserves through the long winter.
Sad to say, we can’t generate heat from fat. The only way to get warmer during a season of sloth is to be active.
As a country, we’ve been through a long winter – endless, in some regards. Our departing president told us to shop in a time of war, to spend what we didn’t have, to act as if sacrifice was no longer a national character trait.
During that long winter, when everything was supposed to be sunshine, we bought homes we could not afford. We invested in funds that could not sustain themselves. We made hits out of television shows in which we watched other people lose weight – virtual virtue.
Our leaders fostered a certain amnesia about our history, trying to get us to forget that we don’t torture, that we don’t hold people without trial, that we were founded by rebels demanding basic human dignity.
That winter will soon be gone, leaving us with a terrible toll. The federal deficit is now projected to be $1.2 trillion this year, even without a stimulus package. New jobless numbers on Friday will make us shudder. It will take years to sort the mess and lift the gloom.
And then there is fresh war in a place of ancient hatreds. What else could winter bring?
But even with a reckoning at home and the killings overseas, I’ve chosen to embrace the few ticks of extra daylight coming on every day, in that Washington and this Washington. Action is generating heat, as it should, following the laws of nature for animals that can’t hibernate.
When the world is muffled, at its darkest, there lies possibility, if only for a sunless day.
* Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
* Privacy Policy
* NYTimes.com 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018
"
January 06, 2009
Dr. Baldasty
"I do not want you to accept these stereotypes [of race, gender, and sexuality]; rather, I want you to be as outraged about them as I am. By identifying them, we learn the nature of the problem we confront in changing the media. By identifying them, we can sensitize others to the problem as well."
The Bracket
That's right folks, it's time for another season of The Bachelor. And because I'm a glutton for punishment, I continue to watch. Every season pisses me off and every season ends in heartbreak but I manage to pick myself back up and get excited for the next go-around.
After the first episode, some friends and I choose who we think he's going to pick, but we don't stop there. No, we make a bracket and predict which moves he'll make every step of the way.
Here's what my list looks like:
WEEK TWO
Shannon
Megan
Naomi
Lauren
Nikki
Kari
Raquel
Stephanie
Melissa
Molly
Jillian
Erica
WEEK THREE
Megan
Naomi
Lauren
Nikki
Raquel
Stephanie
Melissa
Molly
Jillian
WEEK FOUR
Naomi
Lauren
Raquel
Stephanie
Melissa
Molly
WEEK FIVE
Naomi
Lauren
Stephanie
Melissa
WEEK SIX
Naomi
Stephanie
Melissa
WEEK SEVEN
Naomi
Melissa
WEEK EIGHT - The Final Rose
Melissa
Wish me luck! Oh yeah, and Jason too. ;)
After the first episode, some friends and I choose who we think he's going to pick, but we don't stop there. No, we make a bracket and predict which moves he'll make every step of the way.
Here's what my list looks like:
WEEK TWO
Shannon
Megan
Naomi
Lauren
Nikki
Kari
Raquel
Stephanie
Melissa
Molly
Jillian
Erica
WEEK THREE
Megan
Naomi
Lauren
Nikki
Raquel
Stephanie
Melissa
Molly
Jillian
WEEK FOUR
Naomi
Lauren
Raquel
Stephanie
Melissa
Molly
WEEK FIVE
Naomi
Lauren
Stephanie
Melissa
WEEK SIX
Naomi
Stephanie
Melissa
WEEK SEVEN
Naomi
Melissa
WEEK EIGHT - The Final Rose
Melissa
Wish me luck! Oh yeah, and Jason too. ;)
Template Issues
Is this too difficult to read?
I was having so much fun with pimpmyprofile yesterday but can't decide if this is functional or not.
I was having so much fun with pimpmyprofile yesterday but can't decide if this is functional or not.
January 02, 2009
Ty Wenger for Redbook
A good marriage is a bit like a pet boa constrictor: either you feed it every day or bad things happen.
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