Recently had a situation in which my 4 year old kid and another kid his age were running around playing in a social setting... NOT being destructive, not getting in anyone's way, just running and laughing, when we got the dreaded statement by an old lady "Back in my day, kids knew how to behave blah blah blah"

What I find amusing is that in this particular group, people pride themselves on being progressive, anti-oppressive, human rights oriented enlightened people working toward the greater good of humanity - yet some (for instance this lady) still find it perfectly acceptable to believe that their rights are more important than those of a child simply based upon the fact that they are bigger/smarter/stronger/have been here longer etc etc etc. Remind you of any other kind of oppressor-group reasoning?

Two articles about this very thing:

http://www.canow.org/canoworg/2009/11/feminist-parenting-the-larger-picture.html


http://www.raisingmyboychick.com/2009/10/dancing-between-the-tables-on-the-personhood-of-children/

I suppose the continual drone of helicopters I can hear from my house is going to continue to be....errr, continual all day today and tomorrow. Freaky! I'm not joining in any protests because I'm too wimpy. If I ended up getting arrested, tasered, pepper sprayed, or jailed it would put a real crimp in my ability to parent or show up at work...but yay for all the people who have the time and energy to do it! I am all for peaceful protests - not so much the violent kind. I pray that my city can stay peaceful and nobody gets hurt during this summit.

Skirt without pantyhose or tights on a hot day to a job interview??



Yes or no?

okay so say you're me and you got a tattoo when you were 22. you got this tattoo from a kid that lived in the neighborhood that you did, he was around 16 years old and still lived with his parents. you actually went to his parents' house and he did that tattoo in his bedroom!!! it was one of his first tattoos and it came out a little crooked... most people wouldn't say it was a great tatoo. (i loved it anyway and always thought it looked sweet and innocent, like one of the illustrations from the book the little prince)

the tattoo kid moves to new york and greatly improves his skill. at one point several years later you end up talking to him on the phone and he says " hey you know, I will fix up that tattoo for you for free. " you mentally file it away for the next time you find yourself in nyc, but you never actually find yourself there.

anyway!!! now you are 41 and the tattoo is fading and could use a touchup! you also wouldn't mind it being straightened out a bit and maybe embellished. you think of the tattoo artist and look him up to find out he is now considered to be one of the best tattoo artists in the world!!! he has a show on cable television and a waiting list of celebrities who want his services.

do you try to contact him and see if the offer he made 13 years ago still stands? do you keep the crappy tattoo and say this is one of so-and-so's very first tattoos!? (nobody believes that the tattoo you have was actually done by the famous guy!!) or do you just forget the whole thing and go have some other non famous tatoo artist fix it up for you (which you really can't afford).

in a fast food restaurant today.....kinda made me sad

Mom to daughter (daughter is maybe 8 years old) : "So do you know who all is going to be in your class next year? Who all is in your class? Will there be boys in the class or will it be all girls?? Because you really don't want to be in a class with all girls. Girls are snotty."


Way to instill your daughter with self esteem.

My mother is spekaing before Congress today about health care issues for cancer patients!


She was recently featured in a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the American Cancer Society about the severe challenges cancer patients can face in paying for life-saving care.


The study, entitled
" Spending To Survive: Cancer Patients Confront Holes in the Health Insurance System ", is available here: http://www.kff.org/insurance/7851.cfm

A brief synopsis of it is in the news release, which is located here:
http://www.kff.org/insurance/insurance020509nr.cfm

(My mom, Phyllis Miller, is specifically mentioned in the news release - second bullet down!)

As a result of all of this she has been invited to speak before Congress along with a group from the American Cancer Society ( I am assuming the group is made up of some of the other 19 people in the study). She's speaking today, and I am really proud of her!

She's been interviewed for publications of the American Cancer Society, local news, and the Wall Street Journal ( http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123500263888517825.html ). Her trip to Washington DC is a news feature on her local news station, WJAC in Johnstown - they interviewed her before she left, are following her around in DC (she has an entourage!), and will do a final story once she returns home. (I have looked all over their website and sadly cannot find stories or video).

She promised me that when she gets that invitation to appear on Oprah, that I will get to go with her! In the meantime, she bought me a Barack Obama t-shirt......yay!! But I was hoping for the one that says, "My mom spoke before Congress and all I got was this lousy t-shirt!"

I might get to go to Washington DC to be my mom's support person when she testifies before Congress!!

weird email from shoebuy.com!

Dear *****,

One year ago, you ordered the following product from Shoebuy.com. We wanted to let you know that right now, your size and color is still available from Shoebuy.com. You can order the same product again by simply clicking on the product name below.




this was followed by a link to purchase the exact brand/name/size/color of some shoes I bought last year.... which got me thinking! do most people replace their exact shoe brand/style once per year? these were some nice quality leather shoes (sorry cows =-( ) and they are still in great shape. are shoes supposed to wear out after a year? I tend to keep shoes for at least 3 years and often much longer - I wear them until they wear out! oh well...this just struck me as odd!

I am now a student at the Humane Society of the United State's online "university" - taking classes to earn certification as a Humane Education Specialist. It's very exciting and the classes are all self-paced, which is really nice. I am very impressed with the quality of the class I am taking so far - although a little overwhelmed! The class I am currently taking is about the use of story telling as a method of humane education... I thought we would learn certain stories and story telling techniques, but my current assignment is to WRITE 6 short stories!!! Oh my gosh! I am pretty sure I CAN do it, but it feels a little scary. I haven't written any fiction in like - ever - . Help!

Went to a lovely circle at my teacher's (spiritual teacher, not the humane society teacher!) house last night and saw robins on her front lawn! The first I have seen this spring, although I know they have been around a few weeks. The stars in the sky on the way home were amazing. It was nice to be in group ritual.....I haven't been for far too long and didn't realize how much I was missing it.

We're in the tail end of a total re-organization of our home and rearranging of rooms. The temporary chaos seems to be worth it as I think the new setup is working a lot better. Once we get the downstairs kitchen functional I will be SO happy! One step at a time.

I thought I was pretty cool collecting river's umbilical cord blood and having it cryo-stored for the future, in case he needs the stem cells.

but this is beyond anything I could have imagined...apparently menstrual blood contains stem cells as well, and here is a company that will store that for you, in case YOU need some stem cells in the future:


http://www.celle.com

many people on my flist have remarked upon the passing of Bettie Page. many have posted photos of this beautiful woman.... but I found it strange that they were all photos of what she looked like in the 1950s. why do we not see any more current pictures of this beautiful woman, to see her beautifully aging?

I did some research:
In a recent interview, Page has stated she will not allow any current pictures of her to be shown, because she is 25 to 30 pounds overweight.
Bettie Page Resources

I think it is incredibly sad that her career gave her such a terrible self image - that she could not accept herself as less than perfect. it must have been excruciatingly painful for her to go through the aging process and slowly lose her youthful beauty, to feel such self hatred at having a few extra pounds that she won't allow anyone to take a picture.

so the next time you are oohing and ahhing at pictures of Bettie Page, remember how much that idealism and perfectionism damaged her as a human being.

A friend believes the reason for her reluctance is more likely insecurity. "If your grandmother looked like Bettie does today, you'd be thrilled. Her eyes still sparkle. She really looks like her old self."

too bad we will never get to see, or celebrate her beauty as an older woman.

So John Barrowman exposed himself - on a radio show?? I'm not quite getting it.

Story Here

He's more clean cut than what I usually go for, but after watching so much Torchwood all I can say is, damn, wish I was watching that radio show! =-p

So yesterday I finally made a quick stop into Dozen to try a cupcake. And seriously, I don't see what the big deal is. My vanilla/vanilla cupcake was kind of dry and the icing tasted funky. Did I just catch them on an off day or is Dozen WAY over-rated??

This expensive skin care product is called "Anti jet-lag relief". Um, isn't that kind of a double negative? Relief from anti jet-lag would be.... pro jet-lag?

You exhibit a very well-developed sense of Right and Wrong and believe in economic fairness.

You are a Social Liberal (80% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (20% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

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can't figure out how to sub to an rss feed on my friends page??? anyone help me???

I gotta show off my new icon!

Keeping it til the election is over. =-)

When you see this, post in your own journal with your favorite quote from The Princess Bride. Preferably not "As you wish" or the Inigo Montoya speech.

"Stop that rhyming, and I mean it!"
"Anybody want a peanut?"