Yawn. Faux spring has come and gone. Gearing up for Valentine's day. I'll be bringing a gallon of juice to my daughter's preschool and calling it a day. I'm the juice mom. Not for me, labeling little gift tags of candies. Nope, just a gallon of juice. I'm known for it at this point. What am I doing for Valentine's Day? Cleaning out my closets. I have a jump off that will be with his daughter over the weekend. I'll be with mine, so...
Hate Valentine's Day? Have kids! Then the day becomes an occasion to dress them in red or pink, schlep snacks to and from school, and hide the excess candy when your kids aren't looking. The kid runs the sugar out of their systems, you scrub the excess artificial coloring and smeared chocolate from the child, your clothing, and your house, and you both fall asleep. Easy, if expensive, solution.
I have to sign her up for ballet and art lessons. I was reading something in my art book that said if you ask a four year old "can you dance? can you sing? can you draw?" and they go "yes!yes!yes!", but twelve year olds are way more self conscious and say "no, not really." I hope my kid maintains her confidence.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Veggies
Reading this NYTimes article about "when picky eaters grow up". As usual, I read the article and scroll down to the comments. Even an innocuous topic like vegetables can bring out the bitch in people. Commenters complain about their annoying acquaintances who grill servers about a dish, asking for "extra this and none of that". One commenter attributed the habit to people whose parents cook specifically to a picky kid's specifications.
I almost want to cry. I started and stopped a reply three times before I came here. I always feel the need to defend myself. Why should I? It's me sweating over a hot stove to turn out macaroni and cauliflour and cheese (don't tell her about the cauliflour, please!) on one burner and fettucine Alfredo on another. It's my daughter, growing and gaining steadily and meeting all her doctor's benchmarks.
Her doctor told her to keep pushing vegetables, but shoot for five servings of fruit if that's what she could get down. We do that. I'm actually eating a little better since there's so much fruit in the house. People tend to conflate picky eaters with junk eaters, but our only household vice is cookies after dinner and cinnamon rolls on Sunday mornings. It's only the two of us, anyway, so I'm used to cooking small portions. I can halve or even quarter a recipe in the blink of an eye when I need to.
Everyone in my family is kinda particular. I like my chicken wings a goldy beige, while my sister's have to be cooked to a deeper brown. Mommy? Bake hers and put the sauce on the side. I'm an extra pickle, extra onion, light mayo girl. Mommy and sis are no pickle, extra onion. Drive through staff joke with us that "we'll give you your mom's onions". And Leila's burgers better be bone dry and plain. Lettuce is a vegetable, too, you know. To me, respecting my family's preferences, even if they are considered 'picky', is a manner of affection.
Additionally, you know those people who say "you'll sit here until you eat those peas?" Yeah, they wish. Leila is the type to fall asleep in her chair, hand over her mouth.
I almost want to cry. I started and stopped a reply three times before I came here. I always feel the need to defend myself. Why should I? It's me sweating over a hot stove to turn out macaroni and cauliflour and cheese (don't tell her about the cauliflour, please!) on one burner and fettucine Alfredo on another. It's my daughter, growing and gaining steadily and meeting all her doctor's benchmarks.
Her doctor told her to keep pushing vegetables, but shoot for five servings of fruit if that's what she could get down. We do that. I'm actually eating a little better since there's so much fruit in the house. People tend to conflate picky eaters with junk eaters, but our only household vice is cookies after dinner and cinnamon rolls on Sunday mornings. It's only the two of us, anyway, so I'm used to cooking small portions. I can halve or even quarter a recipe in the blink of an eye when I need to.
Everyone in my family is kinda particular. I like my chicken wings a goldy beige, while my sister's have to be cooked to a deeper brown. Mommy? Bake hers and put the sauce on the side. I'm an extra pickle, extra onion, light mayo girl. Mommy and sis are no pickle, extra onion. Drive through staff joke with us that "we'll give you your mom's onions". And Leila's burgers better be bone dry and plain. Lettuce is a vegetable, too, you know. To me, respecting my family's preferences, even if they are considered 'picky', is a manner of affection.
Additionally, you know those people who say "you'll sit here until you eat those peas?" Yeah, they wish. Leila is the type to fall asleep in her chair, hand over her mouth.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Zippy! A new way to cheat the system...
Read where some employee of Chase mortgage department tells people how to push shitty loans through the system. Shame and a pity.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
OMG Obama! Not you too!
Apparently Obama's ads talking about Social Security are bull-shitty. Don't stoop to their level, B! We can win this thing honestly, I believe it!
Washington Post Article deflating Obama's claims.
Washington Post Article deflating Obama's claims.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Where would they deport me to?
They've revamped the US citizenship test. I don't even know the answers. shame and a pity. I'm off to read up now.
http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/100q.pdf
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/01/citizenship.test/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Civics instructors are worried about straining their programs to teach immigrants this information. I might volunteer for something like that.
http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/100q.pdf
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/01/citizenship.test/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Civics instructors are worried about straining their programs to teach immigrants this information. I might volunteer for something like that.
I Am Not Catholic
I can't find the link to the article, but CityBeat wrote something about a Life Peace Zone, basically a zoning law that would prohibit abortion clinics from operating in certain neighborhoods. You know I think it's bullshit. Here's what I wrote the City Council:
I write to voice my violent opposition to the concept of a Life Peace Zone. If the religious people of our community would like to have Roe V. Wade overturned, that's a different fight. But making it harder for women to get to Planned Parenthood and similar reproductive health care centers is pointless and petty.
Poor women, the kind who use Ohio Medicaid and Planned Parenthood frequently, tend to find out that they are pregnant several weeks later than their middle-class counterparts. They spend less time under a doctor's care, less time taking prenatal vitamins, and spend more time possibly exposing their fetuses to cigarettes, alcohol, and other hazards. This results in a higher possibility for low birth weight and fetal problems. The infant mortality rate is already high in Hamilton county, at 9.8 for every thousand live births. Gerrymandering reproductive health care centers can only make it more difficult for women to seek early care. Making it harder for women to detect a pregnancy so they can make good decisions can hardly be considered pro-life.
Another glaring concern is the continued debate between medical professionals and religious people about what exactly constitutes an abortion. Some believe birth control pills and the morning-after pill to cause abortion. Even the Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services believes this drivel, although it's hard to understand how birth control pills could fail to stop ovulation and then spring into action to keep a fertilized egg from implanting.
The fact that I live on the West Side near Elder and Seton should not keep me from being able to get birth control. I am a grown woman who attends church sporadically and since I don't ever want to have an abortion, I am diligent about using contraceptives that will prevent me from having to have an abortion. The parents of Elder and Seton students should be able to control and teach their children whatever they think is right, but I'm an adult who still reserves my Constitutionally protected (for now) right to privacy as it relates to my health care.
Gerrymandering our health and pandering to religious constituents may get you votes, but what will it cost the women and children of this city?
I write to voice my violent opposition to the concept of a Life Peace Zone. If the religious people of our community would like to have Roe V. Wade overturned, that's a different fight. But making it harder for women to get to Planned Parenthood and similar reproductive health care centers is pointless and petty.
Poor women, the kind who use Ohio Medicaid and Planned Parenthood frequently, tend to find out that they are pregnant several weeks later than their middle-class counterparts. They spend less time under a doctor's care, less time taking prenatal vitamins, and spend more time possibly exposing their fetuses to cigarettes, alcohol, and other hazards. This results in a higher possibility for low birth weight and fetal problems. The infant mortality rate is already high in Hamilton county, at 9.8 for every thousand live births. Gerrymandering reproductive health care centers can only make it more difficult for women to seek early care. Making it harder for women to detect a pregnancy so they can make good decisions can hardly be considered pro-life.
Another glaring concern is the continued debate between medical professionals and religious people about what exactly constitutes an abortion. Some believe birth control pills and the morning-after pill to cause abortion. Even the Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services believes this drivel, although it's hard to understand how birth control pills could fail to stop ovulation and then spring into action to keep a fertilized egg from implanting.
The fact that I live on the West Side near Elder and Seton should not keep me from being able to get birth control. I am a grown woman who attends church sporadically and since I don't ever want to have an abortion, I am diligent about using contraceptives that will prevent me from having to have an abortion. The parents of Elder and Seton students should be able to control and teach their children whatever they think is right, but I'm an adult who still reserves my Constitutionally protected (for now) right to privacy as it relates to my health care.
Gerrymandering our health and pandering to religious constituents may get you votes, but what will it cost the women and children of this city?
She's a Post Turtle
A doctor struck up a conversation with an old rancher. Eventually the topic got around to Sarah Palin and her bid for vice president. The old rancher said, "Well, ya know, Palin is a 'Post Turtle'". Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a 'post turtle' was. The old rancher said, "When you're driving down a country road you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a 'post turtle".
The old rancher saw the puzzled look on the doctor's face so he continued to explain. "You know she didn't get up there by herself, she doesn't belong up there, and she doesn't know what to do while she's up there, and you just wonder what kind of dummy put her up there to begin with".
And here's a law she signed, for Christian Heritage Week:
http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2008/09/palins-christian-heritage-week.html
That bothers me. My family is Christian. I'm confused, and I can tell you my family does not need the government to help them evangelize and spread the word. But whatever. I'm sure people will say it's no different than Black history month or Hispanic heritage week, etc.
The old rancher saw the puzzled look on the doctor's face so he continued to explain. "You know she didn't get up there by herself, she doesn't belong up there, and she doesn't know what to do while she's up there, and you just wonder what kind of dummy put her up there to begin with".
And here's a law she signed, for Christian Heritage Week:
http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2008/09/palins-christian-heritage-week.html
That bothers me. My family is Christian. I'm confused, and I can tell you my family does not need the government to help them evangelize and spread the word. But whatever. I'm sure people will say it's no different than Black history month or Hispanic heritage week, etc.
I'm So Proud!!!
So I'm sitting by myself in the lunch room and these two ladies sit near me. They have name tags with the Obama symbol on them, so of course I strike up a conversation. They've been putting posters up, but someone's been taking them down. I say "defacing them or taking them down?"
"Just taking them down."
"Probably student activities. They have to stamp each poster before it goes up."
So they go upstairs to ask. Turns out they have to have a student group behind them. I remember this totally random email I got.
"Hey, Obama mamas, I'm in the Black Student Union!"
So they email the Black Student Union leader and bam! Legitimized and revitalized, they get to put up more posters and even get a table in the high traffic atrium area.
President Obama, I'm not ready for a cabinet position but you can definitely reward me with a car or something. I just sent you Ohio on a silver platter. Bush won with an average of nine votes per voting precinct, so far they've signed up twenty people to go downtown and vote early.
"Just taking them down."
"Probably student activities. They have to stamp each poster before it goes up."
So they go upstairs to ask. Turns out they have to have a student group behind them. I remember this totally random email I got.
"Hey, Obama mamas, I'm in the Black Student Union!"
So they email the Black Student Union leader and bam! Legitimized and revitalized, they get to put up more posters and even get a table in the high traffic atrium area.
President Obama, I'm not ready for a cabinet position but you can definitely reward me with a car or something. I just sent you Ohio on a silver platter. Bush won with an average of nine votes per voting precinct, so far they've signed up twenty people to go downtown and vote early.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Are You Registered To Vote At Your Current Address?
Are you registered to vote at your current address? You better be. If not, what do you want an engraved invitation?
I've heard that people whose houses are being foreclosed upon aren't registering at their current addresses. All you have to do is get your mail forwarded to the place you're staying. With your ID and a piece of mail with your current address, you can vote a provisional ballot. Better yet, go to the Board of Elections and give them your new address so you'll be on the list of eligible voters for the polling place near you. Good luck and don't waste your vote.
I've heard that people whose houses are being foreclosed upon aren't registering at their current addresses. All you have to do is get your mail forwarded to the place you're staying. With your ID and a piece of mail with your current address, you can vote a provisional ballot. Better yet, go to the Board of Elections and give them your new address so you'll be on the list of eligible voters for the polling place near you. Good luck and don't waste your vote.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
November 5
Whether I'll wake up elated or feeling like the sky just fell in pieces around my feet, I'll have to hit the ground running. Everyone in my family decided to be born in November, so all the parties should keep me busy.
Sometimes I think Hillary's dragging her feet in getting behind Obama because a McCain presidency might strenghten her case in 2012. Highly cynical and probably a product of me trying to write a novel in which women double and triple cross one another for a living, but it's what I think. Good thing no one reads this blog. Part of me wants the attention but part of me imagines spending the rest of my natural life moderating ignorant comments.
Comments are the worst part of the internet. Honestly, they can all be summed up like so:
1)First!!!
2)First!!!
3)First!!!
4)I agree, girl, good post.
5)This is BS! McCain/Palin 08!!!
6)McSame/SnowJob Square Glasses! No way, no how, no more! Eight is enough
7)Hey have you raed [visualize a link to conservative website] Down with socialism!
8)It's read not raed, fucktard (because misspellings in a comment box totally correlate with one's political leanings, right?)
and on and on...
I have better things to do, like crafting comprehensive sex ed for my kindergartner. So far we've gotten to "no, a baby will not fall out of your butt. You're only 3." In a plan my friend calls "vaguely threatening", I intend to first give the 'tech report' as I call it at the age of 7. At 12, we talk about kissing and boundaries (yes, I rounded third at the tender age of 13) and have a recap of the tech report. At 14, she'll be cleared to daytime date, i.e. go get coffee or whatever the kids spend too much money on in the future, as long as she's home before dark. Yes, sex happens in the daytime, this is merely a logistical rule. I can't drive at night and I won't be able to pick her up if she misses the late bus. Periodically, I will ask her if she has considered sexual activity. Hopefully the thought of me saying "sexual activity" will pop up everytime she does consider it. If she has, I will tell her to hold out until she, I, and her doctor can get together and talk about it. Basically, I want to demystify the process. I'm not religious, so her having sex is not some Heaven/Hell moral importance thing for me. However, I intend to clutch my chest and call on Jesus when she finally says she's ready for that medical powwow. If the pattern holds she'll be 16.
From there, I outfit her with birth control, probably Depo, and a variety pack of condoms. There's no earthly reason to have unprotected sex. Still hoping my voice will pop up in her head and make her say, "dude, take me home." Really, I just don't want my baby having sex while she's in high school. The risks way outweigh the benefits. Most HS boys don't know what they're doing anyway.
From there, I'll check in regularly to make sure her periods are regular and she's feeling okay about being a sexually active person. I'll be so bland and medical about it, but she'll still do that teen thing and roll her eyes. The point I want to get across to her is that sex is primarily a health issue and I'm in charge of her health. I can't be there every time she crosses the street, but I'll definitely teach her how, right?
Sometimes I think Hillary's dragging her feet in getting behind Obama because a McCain presidency might strenghten her case in 2012. Highly cynical and probably a product of me trying to write a novel in which women double and triple cross one another for a living, but it's what I think. Good thing no one reads this blog. Part of me wants the attention but part of me imagines spending the rest of my natural life moderating ignorant comments.
Comments are the worst part of the internet. Honestly, they can all be summed up like so:
1)First!!!
2)First!!!
3)First!!!
4)I agree, girl, good post.
5)This is BS! McCain/Palin 08!!!
6)McSame/SnowJob Square Glasses! No way, no how, no more! Eight is enough
7)Hey have you raed [visualize a link to conservative website] Down with socialism!
8)It's read not raed, fucktard (because misspellings in a comment box totally correlate with one's political leanings, right?)
and on and on...
I have better things to do, like crafting comprehensive sex ed for my kindergartner. So far we've gotten to "no, a baby will not fall out of your butt. You're only 3." In a plan my friend calls "vaguely threatening", I intend to first give the 'tech report' as I call it at the age of 7. At 12, we talk about kissing and boundaries (yes, I rounded third at the tender age of 13) and have a recap of the tech report. At 14, she'll be cleared to daytime date, i.e. go get coffee or whatever the kids spend too much money on in the future, as long as she's home before dark. Yes, sex happens in the daytime, this is merely a logistical rule. I can't drive at night and I won't be able to pick her up if she misses the late bus. Periodically, I will ask her if she has considered sexual activity. Hopefully the thought of me saying "sexual activity" will pop up everytime she does consider it. If she has, I will tell her to hold out until she, I, and her doctor can get together and talk about it. Basically, I want to demystify the process. I'm not religious, so her having sex is not some Heaven/Hell moral importance thing for me. However, I intend to clutch my chest and call on Jesus when she finally says she's ready for that medical powwow. If the pattern holds she'll be 16.
From there, I outfit her with birth control, probably Depo, and a variety pack of condoms. There's no earthly reason to have unprotected sex. Still hoping my voice will pop up in her head and make her say, "dude, take me home." Really, I just don't want my baby having sex while she's in high school. The risks way outweigh the benefits. Most HS boys don't know what they're doing anyway.
From there, I'll check in regularly to make sure her periods are regular and she's feeling okay about being a sexually active person. I'll be so bland and medical about it, but she'll still do that teen thing and roll her eyes. The point I want to get across to her is that sex is primarily a health issue and I'm in charge of her health. I can't be there every time she crosses the street, but I'll definitely teach her how, right?
Monday, September 15, 2008
What If...
If Obama loses, I will not move to Canada. I might threaten it but I won't. I'd have to keep fighting for the type of change we want when we get to chanting O-BA-MA and Eight is Enough. I'll stand my ground, after a day of crying like I got kicked in the face. But click on the title of the post for a good article about it.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Sarah Palin and Rape kits...
Feministing.com reports that While Sarah Palin was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, rape victims were required to bill their insurance or pay for rape kits, a $1200 package of forensic tools. This is shitty and even if she couldn't personally change the policy, she damn sure should have spoken out about it. Like a rape victim wants to get calls from her insurance company months down the line: "We can't pay for this rape kit thing." If your computer was stolen from your home, would you want to pay the cop to dust for fingerprints?
At first I was just calmly supporting Obama but at this point I'm actively going against McCain/Palin. This is crazy.
At first I was just calmly supporting Obama but at this point I'm actively going against McCain/Palin. This is crazy.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Jamie Lynn Palin...what, you know you thought of it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/us/03gustav.html
The levees are holding up, thank God.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Bristol "Jamie Lynn" Palin is none of my damn business, just like my reproductive choices are none of her mother's. I'm thinking they should just move the age of consent up to 18. If I wasn't old enough at 17 to be taught about condoms, then why was it legal for me to be having sex? Of course I'd be mad as hell if my teenager went to 20/20 (the nickname for our juvenile jail) for gettin' busy on prom night, but if we want to stick our heads in the sand about adolescent sexuality, the age of consent is where we should start digging.
The levees are holding up, thank God.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Bristol "Jamie Lynn" Palin is none of my damn business, just like my reproductive choices are none of her mother's. I'm thinking they should just move the age of consent up to 18. If I wasn't old enough at 17 to be taught about condoms, then why was it legal for me to be having sex? Of course I'd be mad as hell if my teenager went to 20/20 (the nickname for our juvenile jail) for gettin' busy on prom night, but if we want to stick our heads in the sand about adolescent sexuality, the age of consent is where we should start digging.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
"Were you in it for me?"
Gawn, Hillary! I'm listening to the radio and I come across this delightful BBC reporter interviewing an attendee at the DNC. Then they play part of Senator Clinton's speech. For fear of misquoting and knowing that you'll definitely reread about this come sunrise, I'll paraphrase. She asked the people there and those watching 'were you voting for me or were you voting for the people in our country who are invisible?'She named examples of people who were struggling and said that McCain wasn't going to do the job in helping them.
That's exactly what I needed her to hear. I feel like a Democrat is a Democrat. Voting for McCain may go against Obama and exorcise the taste of losing from Clinton supporters, but damn, it's not gonna make Ms. Clinton proud!
She needs to whip up an ad restating her view STAT. The McCain campaign are running an ad that shows where she said Obama wasn't experienced enough and asking "was she right?"
Yeah she was right, when she was running against the man. Between Obama and Clinton, Clinton obviously has more time in the Senate and more time in politics period. The only thing is, it's not between Obama and Clinton anymore. Let that shit go and vote for the person who best represents your views. Clinton supporters, don't you remember anything she stood for? Still stands for?
That's exactly what I needed her to hear. I feel like a Democrat is a Democrat. Voting for McCain may go against Obama and exorcise the taste of losing from Clinton supporters, but damn, it's not gonna make Ms. Clinton proud!
She needs to whip up an ad restating her view STAT. The McCain campaign are running an ad that shows where she said Obama wasn't experienced enough and asking "was she right?"
Yeah she was right, when she was running against the man. Between Obama and Clinton, Clinton obviously has more time in the Senate and more time in politics period. The only thing is, it's not between Obama and Clinton anymore. Let that shit go and vote for the person who best represents your views. Clinton supporters, don't you remember anything she stood for? Still stands for?
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Rich people get better service? You're Kidding...
Polly Blitzer, a former magazine beauty editor who now runs a beauty Web site, said she believes that a turf war is going on this summer between free-spending Europeans and locals over the chic bistros, spas, boutiques and department stores that she, a native New Yorker, used to consider her playground.
She said the point was driven home to her on a recent trip to Bergdorf Goodman to help her fiancé select a pair of shoes to go with his tuxedo for their wedding.
Wearing the sort of outfit that usually acts as a siren for department store salespeople — a Tory Burch shift dress and Jimmy Choo slingback heels — she instead found herself waiting behind a European couple in sneakers and bike shorts who “had made such massive purchases that we couldn’t get anyone to give us the time of day for our size 11 ½ Ferragamo party slippers,” recalled Ms. Blitzer, 32.
The Europeans, she said, “brought over bags and bags of shoes” while the salesman wrapped their orders and chatted them up about restaurants and travel. “I didn’t want to do the ahem-I’m-sitting-here thing, but we had to sit there for 5 or 10 minutes while these big spenders small-talked.”
She was always used to first-class service, she said, adding, “But now, there’s an ultra-first.”
No, sweetie, you're second. Second-class shopper. Go ahead, dear, absorb the humiliation. Embrace it. "ahem-I'm-sitting-here"...Exactly. You're sitting. They're spending. You ought to be thankful, Ms. Blitzer. The kids at Columbia and NYU are paying good money to learn this sociology lesson: People with more money get treated better. Even on the playground.
Agoraphobia and its Uses
Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by intense fear related to being in situations from which escape might be difficult or embarrassing (i.e., being on a bus or train), or in which help might not be available in the event of a panic attack or panic symptoms. Panic is defined as extreme and unreasonable fear and anxiety.
Agoraphobia. (n.d.). The Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders. Retrieved August 06, 2008, from Reference.com website: http://www.reference.com/browse/tgemd/3405700019
Difficult or embarrassing? Oh yes. Getting off of a bus two stops after you've gotten on is embarrassing indeed. "Girl, is this all?" the driver asked.
"I forgot something," I said, grinning as I dashed away from the registered sex offender and the pissy drunk guy who both decided to sit next to me.
I've been here ever since.
I'm thinking agoraphobia might have its uses. I wanted to get a book done this year before I turn 23. This may seem like needless and unneccesary pressure on myself, but I've been writing variations on a theme since I was 12. Time to get 'er done, if I do say so myself. Unfortunately when I was 12 I didn't know about France, heroin, paternity testing, or gender studies, so I have some research to do.
Aren't you dying to know what my book is about? Girl, if you get an idea, shoot me a comment because I have no idea what the damned thing is about.
Agoraphobia. (n.d.). The Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders. Retrieved August 06, 2008, from Reference.com website: http://www.reference.com/browse/tgemd/3405700019
Difficult or embarrassing? Oh yes. Getting off of a bus two stops after you've gotten on is embarrassing indeed. "Girl, is this all?" the driver asked.
"I forgot something," I said, grinning as I dashed away from the registered sex offender and the pissy drunk guy who both decided to sit next to me.
I've been here ever since.
I'm thinking agoraphobia might have its uses. I wanted to get a book done this year before I turn 23. This may seem like needless and unneccesary pressure on myself, but I've been writing variations on a theme since I was 12. Time to get 'er done, if I do say so myself. Unfortunately when I was 12 I didn't know about France, heroin, paternity testing, or gender studies, so I have some research to do.
Aren't you dying to know what my book is about? Girl, if you get an idea, shoot me a comment because I have no idea what the damned thing is about.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
For Friday: Why (Not) Cincinnati
Why Cincinnati and it's people annoy the fuck outta me:
http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/gov/2007/08/is-park-district-too-white.asp
Look, I don't think that we can really expect numbers to match whole population numbers. But a diverse business can be a better business. I can't say with certainty that white people just don't understand, nor can I say that black people will understand better. But it makes sense to get people on your staff and in your city government who may just know the sting of being put out of a park because of your perceived social class, and express it to other employees. And I hate the type of comments that get published to the Enquirer. You can measure diversity in the workplace. But you can't measure who 'wants to work'.
I hate people who are too set in their ways, too sure they're right. For generations they've been told, straight up or on the low, by their families and communities that we (me and every other LMC (lower middle class) person in this city) had the exact same opportunities as them but we just didn't try hard enough. They don't see a damn thing outside of their subdivisions and they don't want to. Have they seen this map showing how many school districts are in the city, and the obvious disparity between their funding? Do they know the correlation between home values, property taxes and school quality? Do they know anything about school choice or the lack thereof? Maybe they do and they don't care, but I don't like Cincinnati because uninformed people make uninformed decisions that affect us all. I feel that some Cincinnatians really don't care about the city as a whole as long as their neighborhood/job/kids' school is unaffected. We can be insular and selfish.
Dear Prudie answered a letter from a guy who, long letter short, says "what do I do when people send me emails slandering and lying about my preferred candidate?" "Keep hitting the delete button," she says. A while ago, I chose not to participate in the discussion boards on the Enquirer's website, I felt it was giving me wrinkles. It just galls me that people act on such silly prejudices and pass them on for their kids to act on.
But that's everywhere. Conservatives get that way because they have something to conserve. I'm on the boat now pull up the ladder, basically.
But I love it here. I love the mental map that's in my head and the bus schedule (except for the truncated hours and the hub and spokes system). I love the WTF weather and the OMG forturnes of the Bengals and Bearcats. Big Strong Men Will Very Rarely Eat Pork Chops. I love that that makes sense to me now. I love this and this, or should I say 'dis' and 'dis'?
It's home, what else can I say?
http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/gov/2007/08/is-park-district-too-white.asp
Look, I don't think that we can really expect numbers to match whole population numbers. But a diverse business can be a better business. I can't say with certainty that white people just don't understand, nor can I say that black people will understand better. But it makes sense to get people on your staff and in your city government who may just know the sting of being put out of a park because of your perceived social class, and express it to other employees. And I hate the type of comments that get published to the Enquirer. You can measure diversity in the workplace. But you can't measure who 'wants to work'.
I hate people who are too set in their ways, too sure they're right. For generations they've been told, straight up or on the low, by their families and communities that we (me and every other LMC (lower middle class) person in this city) had the exact same opportunities as them but we just didn't try hard enough. They don't see a damn thing outside of their subdivisions and they don't want to. Have they seen this map showing how many school districts are in the city, and the obvious disparity between their funding? Do they know the correlation between home values, property taxes and school quality? Do they know anything about school choice or the lack thereof? Maybe they do and they don't care, but I don't like Cincinnati because uninformed people make uninformed decisions that affect us all. I feel that some Cincinnatians really don't care about the city as a whole as long as their neighborhood/job/kids' school is unaffected. We can be insular and selfish.
Dear Prudie answered a letter from a guy who, long letter short, says "what do I do when people send me emails slandering and lying about my preferred candidate?" "Keep hitting the delete button," she says. A while ago, I chose not to participate in the discussion boards on the Enquirer's website, I felt it was giving me wrinkles. It just galls me that people act on such silly prejudices and pass them on for their kids to act on.
But that's everywhere. Conservatives get that way because they have something to conserve. I'm on the boat now pull up the ladder, basically.
But I love it here. I love the mental map that's in my head and the bus schedule (except for the truncated hours and the hub and spokes system). I love the WTF weather and the OMG forturnes of the Bengals and Bearcats. Big Strong Men Will Very Rarely Eat Pork Chops. I love that that makes sense to me now. I love this and this, or should I say 'dis' and 'dis'?
It's home, what else can I say?
Slow News Day
Well, Clooney called it. Matt Damon is the Sexiest Man Alive. I wonder if they all get together and talk about their relative sexiness.
A friend complained that she was expected to get $20 gifts for her friend's 4 children, while the friend would only be spending $20 on her only child. I'm like "do you want to tell her you're pregnant with triplets and force her to pony up? The only surefire way to get someone to spend $80 on you is if you spend $80 on yourself."
That's something I've never understood about Christmas. You get mad because someone bought you something cheap and or hideous, but each of you could have bought your own gifts. That takes the emotional exchange out of it, but if you're whining about who paid for what and what your 'balance' is after the holidays, just quit! Eliminate deadweight losses!
I'm probably not going to spend much at all. I still haven't come from the kids' side of the Christmas tree (getting) to the adults' side (giving). I feel guilty, honestly. But how dumb would it look for me to buy presents for my aunts and uncles and then have to borrow money from my mom to pay my bills in January?
Yeah, bills. Not rent to my mother, which can be deferred on occasion. Real, U.S. Mail utility and phone bills. I have never dealt with this before. Honestly Pookie's daddy should be in jail because he married a big ol' kid. When we were together I paid no attention to these sorts of things.
I am quite weary of talking/thinking/typing about money, celebrities, and physics. But celebrity gossip distracts me from the fact that I have no money and no physics homework finished. I might go home and give myself a facial. I'm so annoyed that Karrine Steffans and her ilk have made facials synonymous with something nasty I'd rather not think about. *shudder* Ok, I can't shake the term facial it's been officially nastied up, just like when I go to the hospital I can't walk past on-call rooms without smirking. I am going home to wash, steam, and moisturize my face damn it.
And I'm gonna watch Private Practice, which I missed the last few weeks of. I've been feeling kinda down. This would be a good day for some sort of chili or soup, but I'm feeling rather lazy. Tre was kinda depressed too he said he's stuck in town for the next 15 years, he doesn't anticipate a real recovery for his mom. I sure hope she gets better, but honestly it's not like we can't find nursing care for her if we move. I don't know where I'm going to be, but we'll take care of her. I'm not closing the door on anything yet.
The police and sheriff's deputies raided Washington Park yesterday. Two people got on the bus panting because the cops had run them off. I asked what happened. "Two drunk guys started fighting and they decided to arrest everybody," one woman complained. Describing herself as 'off-white' with black grandparents, she complained that downtown was no longer a place for her. She'd gone to Washington Park Elementary, her kids had too, but now they couldn't even sit in the park. I can say that the park often seems to be a shady resting place for people between hangovers, but I've never seen a sign saying 'park for good people or non-scruffy (I'm at a loss for words) people ONLY'. They have private parks they're called country clubs. A city park is for the city's people, ain't it? And to have two police cars, two deputy cruisers, four cops with tazers out kind of flies in the face of all the county's hand wringing about our public safety budget. Arresting people because they scare the preppies seems contradictory with complaints that the jail is overcrowded.
More news when it angers me.
A friend complained that she was expected to get $20 gifts for her friend's 4 children, while the friend would only be spending $20 on her only child. I'm like "do you want to tell her you're pregnant with triplets and force her to pony up? The only surefire way to get someone to spend $80 on you is if you spend $80 on yourself."
That's something I've never understood about Christmas. You get mad because someone bought you something cheap and or hideous, but each of you could have bought your own gifts. That takes the emotional exchange out of it, but if you're whining about who paid for what and what your 'balance' is after the holidays, just quit! Eliminate deadweight losses!
I'm probably not going to spend much at all. I still haven't come from the kids' side of the Christmas tree (getting) to the adults' side (giving). I feel guilty, honestly. But how dumb would it look for me to buy presents for my aunts and uncles and then have to borrow money from my mom to pay my bills in January?
Yeah, bills. Not rent to my mother, which can be deferred on occasion. Real, U.S. Mail utility and phone bills. I have never dealt with this before. Honestly Pookie's daddy should be in jail because he married a big ol' kid. When we were together I paid no attention to these sorts of things.
I am quite weary of talking/thinking/typing about money, celebrities, and physics. But celebrity gossip distracts me from the fact that I have no money and no physics homework finished. I might go home and give myself a facial. I'm so annoyed that Karrine Steffans and her ilk have made facials synonymous with something nasty I'd rather not think about. *shudder* Ok, I can't shake the term facial it's been officially nastied up, just like when I go to the hospital I can't walk past on-call rooms without smirking. I am going home to wash, steam, and moisturize my face damn it.
And I'm gonna watch Private Practice, which I missed the last few weeks of. I've been feeling kinda down. This would be a good day for some sort of chili or soup, but I'm feeling rather lazy. Tre was kinda depressed too he said he's stuck in town for the next 15 years, he doesn't anticipate a real recovery for his mom. I sure hope she gets better, but honestly it's not like we can't find nursing care for her if we move. I don't know where I'm going to be, but we'll take care of her. I'm not closing the door on anything yet.
The police and sheriff's deputies raided Washington Park yesterday. Two people got on the bus panting because the cops had run them off. I asked what happened. "Two drunk guys started fighting and they decided to arrest everybody," one woman complained. Describing herself as 'off-white' with black grandparents, she complained that downtown was no longer a place for her. She'd gone to Washington Park Elementary, her kids had too, but now they couldn't even sit in the park. I can say that the park often seems to be a shady resting place for people between hangovers, but I've never seen a sign saying 'park for good people or non-scruffy (I'm at a loss for words) people ONLY'. They have private parks they're called country clubs. A city park is for the city's people, ain't it? And to have two police cars, two deputy cruisers, four cops with tazers out kind of flies in the face of all the county's hand wringing about our public safety budget. Arresting people because they scare the preppies seems contradictory with complaints that the jail is overcrowded.
More news when it angers me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
