I have happy memories of making Christmas cookies with my mom. As an adult, I've never done it. These inspire me to give it another shot.
CC
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Awesome Day
So today was Awesome Day, my self-created holiday for the contemplation and celebration of all that is awesome.
I've got a lot of friends who are pregnant or have just had a kid, so creation and new life has been a big focus of my thoughts this year. As ZombieKid and TheGnome get older, perhaps old enough to read this blog pretty soon, new kids show up in my life. I've never believed in having friends who were all my age. When I was younger, I felt like no one I was in high school or college with had been anywhere or done anything much and gravitated toward hanging out with adults or at least friends a few years older.
Now that I am, gulp, old enough to have a PhD (or a kid, for that matter,) I find kids and teenagers a break from my serious misanthropic self and that they find a useful change in perspective. OK, a six-year-old and I developed a rather intense mutual dislike a few months ago, but that one was justified, I swear. So, usually kids refresh me, but not always.
So, I guess the awesome thing I'm thinking about today is that life provides one a constant supply of new friends--some coming in the smallest of packages.
CC
I've got a lot of friends who are pregnant or have just had a kid, so creation and new life has been a big focus of my thoughts this year. As ZombieKid and TheGnome get older, perhaps old enough to read this blog pretty soon, new kids show up in my life. I've never believed in having friends who were all my age. When I was younger, I felt like no one I was in high school or college with had been anywhere or done anything much and gravitated toward hanging out with adults or at least friends a few years older.
Now that I am, gulp, old enough to have a PhD (or a kid, for that matter,) I find kids and teenagers a break from my serious misanthropic self and that they find a useful change in perspective. OK, a six-year-old and I developed a rather intense mutual dislike a few months ago, but that one was justified, I swear. So, usually kids refresh me, but not always.
So, I guess the awesome thing I'm thinking about today is that life provides one a constant supply of new friends--some coming in the smallest of packages.
CC
Friday, August 13, 2010
This lovely person
shaved her head to raise money for research on children's cancer. As someone who would happily pay fifteen times what I just donated to cancer research to have hair as thick and lovely as she does, I feel strongly that this sacrifice should not be made in vain.
As of this writing, she's just under 1/4 of the way to her goal. Let's do our best to get her there.
CC
As of this writing, she's just under 1/4 of the way to her goal. Let's do our best to get her there.
CC
Friday, July 30, 2010
What's the deal with being so proud of getting arrested?
I think part of my confusion is being from DC: you pretty much have to TRY to get arrested protesting in DC and most of the people who do it are seriously getting in the way of people who are just trying to get to work and live their lives. And yes, for all the symbolic value you may see in it, public buildings are places where people work and do business and you are making their lives non-symbolically-quite-concretely-in-fact more difficult even if you're just "sitting in."* From everthing I have seen, most of the time DC cops are very cool with protesters if for no better reason than they've seen so many of them and dealing with protesters is really routine.
Example: I personally witnessed this conversation at a "Free Tibet" rally I attended in DC like ten years ago-
Protester who has just crossed a police line: FREE TIBET!
Cop: Get back across the line.
Protester: FREE TIBET!
Cop: Get back across the line.
Protester: FREE TIBET!
Cop: Somebody's going to have to free your ass if you don't get back across the line.
(Protester returns to other side of police line)
Ok, I understand that cops aren't always that reasonable with protesters, but I still don't see what's so great about getting arrested. I sympathize greatly with the protesters-of-color after the Oscar Grant verdict who percieved that they were leading a peaceful, reasonable, legal protest until the skinny white anarchists showed up and made it look like the black people were rioting again. Certainly "stores destroyed in the wake of Oscar Grant verdict" news stories didn't make those distinctions.
I get that people get arrested protesting with differing levels of justification for it. What I don't get is why we're all so proud of ourselves about it. It seems meaningless at best.
CC
*I probably won't get around to posting again anytime soon, so I will just note here that the "Let's 'sit in' at the U.S. Capitol and try to disrupt the work of the very people most likely to PASS legislation like ENDA, who need to work as fast as possible given how midterm elections are likely to go" concept makes no fucking sense to me either. You want to "sit in" at the Capitol? The Senate and House go into recess August 9. Do your symbolism then, when you will be less likely to be concretely getting in the way of what you are symbolically getting arrested to support.
Example: I personally witnessed this conversation at a "Free Tibet" rally I attended in DC like ten years ago-
Protester who has just crossed a police line: FREE TIBET!
Cop: Get back across the line.
Protester: FREE TIBET!
Cop: Get back across the line.
Protester: FREE TIBET!
Cop: Somebody's going to have to free your ass if you don't get back across the line.
(Protester returns to other side of police line)
Ok, I understand that cops aren't always that reasonable with protesters, but I still don't see what's so great about getting arrested. I sympathize greatly with the protesters-of-color after the Oscar Grant verdict who percieved that they were leading a peaceful, reasonable, legal protest until the skinny white anarchists showed up and made it look like the black people were rioting again. Certainly "stores destroyed in the wake of Oscar Grant verdict" news stories didn't make those distinctions.
I get that people get arrested protesting with differing levels of justification for it. What I don't get is why we're all so proud of ourselves about it. It seems meaningless at best.
CC
*I probably won't get around to posting again anytime soon, so I will just note here that the "Let's 'sit in' at the U.S. Capitol and try to disrupt the work of the very people most likely to PASS legislation like ENDA, who need to work as fast as possible given how midterm elections are likely to go" concept makes no fucking sense to me either. You want to "sit in" at the Capitol? The Senate and House go into recess August 9. Do your symbolism then, when you will be less likely to be concretely getting in the way of what you are symbolically getting arrested to support.
Monday, July 05, 2010
A Book I didn't expect to like: Water for Elephants
On January 6, I announced that my New Year's resolution was to read some books I didn't think I would like and write about my reaction to them. I was trying for one a month and I've pretty much stuck to that as far as reading goes, I just haven't been writing about them. I gave a large list of categories of books I wouldn't normally read and asked for suggestions, though more are always welcome.
For those keeping track, Water for Elephants is a historical novel that fails the Bechdel test.
I have what I think are good reasons for not liking what I don't like. I don't expect every book to grant me an epiphany about how wrong I was to dislike its genre, though I won't be surprised if that happens once or twice. Mostly, I'm going to read with an open mind and see what I discover.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I don't know why I have a thing against historical novels written by a modern author, I just kinda do. At least partially, the issue is that I often have trouble identifying with the characters and find that historical novels spend way too much time describing the setting. I don't so much read to explore new worlds as to explore new people, so I tend to find books that spend a lot of time on the setting tiresome.
Water for Elephants really doesn't have that problem. The author does a wonderful job of surrounding you with a depression-ever circus without ever being too lavish in the details. You fill in the battered sequins and smell of horses yourself. The frame story is set in the present day. If anything more detail is used describing the main character's nursing home, but even that never seems excessive. Essentially, Water for Elephants is the story of a large animal vet who is now very old and in a nursing home, but had spent his youth traveling around with a circus during the great depression. The narrative shifts back and forth between the present day in the nursing home and the main character's time working on the circus.
This is a really well-written book. I liked it very much and have told lots of my friends about it. In doing so, I've discovered that it was a fashionable book club book from a few years ago and many people had already read it. I've never been a book club kinda girl and the "Angela's Ashes" sorts of things I perceive they read don't appeal to me. So in a sense, I've found one more reason I wouldn't expect to like Water for Elephants. I did, though.
I know someone who is on the Board of Directors of a local nursing home. This gentleman told me that the Chair of the Board of Directors found the nursing home sequences so powerful that he bought copies for the entire board and the senior management of the nursing home. IMHO, this is a great idea. In both stories, the main character is fighting to keep his dignity in a weird and hostile environment.
The plot is, at times, melodramatic, but I found that the setting and the general mood it evoked made it work. The circus and its employees tend to have a very "us against the world" sort of attitude and people who think that way tend to end up in melodramatic situations, IMHO. What it lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in the sheer pleasure of the well-drawn characters.
The Elephant was a wonderful character.* Though the main character does find love, the relationship between Vet and Elephant feels far more central to the book and far more vital.
CC
who really did read that in February/March
*Animal lovers take note: This is, again, set in a circus during the great Depression. Some scenes are going to be squicky.
For those keeping track, Water for Elephants is a historical novel that fails the Bechdel test.
I have what I think are good reasons for not liking what I don't like. I don't expect every book to grant me an epiphany about how wrong I was to dislike its genre, though I won't be surprised if that happens once or twice. Mostly, I'm going to read with an open mind and see what I discover.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I don't know why I have a thing against historical novels written by a modern author, I just kinda do. At least partially, the issue is that I often have trouble identifying with the characters and find that historical novels spend way too much time describing the setting. I don't so much read to explore new worlds as to explore new people, so I tend to find books that spend a lot of time on the setting tiresome.
Water for Elephants really doesn't have that problem. The author does a wonderful job of surrounding you with a depression-ever circus without ever being too lavish in the details. You fill in the battered sequins and smell of horses yourself. The frame story is set in the present day. If anything more detail is used describing the main character's nursing home, but even that never seems excessive. Essentially, Water for Elephants is the story of a large animal vet who is now very old and in a nursing home, but had spent his youth traveling around with a circus during the great depression. The narrative shifts back and forth between the present day in the nursing home and the main character's time working on the circus.
This is a really well-written book. I liked it very much and have told lots of my friends about it. In doing so, I've discovered that it was a fashionable book club book from a few years ago and many people had already read it. I've never been a book club kinda girl and the "Angela's Ashes" sorts of things I perceive they read don't appeal to me. So in a sense, I've found one more reason I wouldn't expect to like Water for Elephants. I did, though.
I know someone who is on the Board of Directors of a local nursing home. This gentleman told me that the Chair of the Board of Directors found the nursing home sequences so powerful that he bought copies for the entire board and the senior management of the nursing home. IMHO, this is a great idea. In both stories, the main character is fighting to keep his dignity in a weird and hostile environment.
The plot is, at times, melodramatic, but I found that the setting and the general mood it evoked made it work. The circus and its employees tend to have a very "us against the world" sort of attitude and people who think that way tend to end up in melodramatic situations, IMHO. What it lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in the sheer pleasure of the well-drawn characters.
The Elephant was a wonderful character.* Though the main character does find love, the relationship between Vet and Elephant feels far more central to the book and far more vital.
CC
who really did read that in February/March
*Animal lovers take note: This is, again, set in a circus during the great Depression. Some scenes are going to be squicky.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Yo.
Sorry I've been AWOL for a couple of weeks. My summer has been busy, if fun.
Random thoughts-
-I applaud the "don't cancel the Arizona GA" plan. At the same time, I stay well away from UU events with "Justice" in the title, so I'm skipping that one. But I should be in Charlotte next year.
-I'm really bummed about the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's husband, who was a beloved and respected professor at my law school. At the same time, I'm perversely a little pleased that lots of the news coverage focuses on him as her husband, since this stuff usually goes the other way.
CC
Criminal justice *headdesk* of the day. Not the editorial itself, but that it needed to be written.
Random thoughts-
-I applaud the "don't cancel the Arizona GA" plan. At the same time, I stay well away from UU events with "Justice" in the title, so I'm skipping that one. But I should be in Charlotte next year.
-I'm really bummed about the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's husband, who was a beloved and respected professor at my law school. At the same time, I'm perversely a little pleased that lots of the news coverage focuses on him as her husband, since this stuff usually goes the other way.
CC
Criminal justice *headdesk* of the day. Not the editorial itself, but that it needed to be written.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Heh. I'm a simple creature and I love this stuff
You know those annoying radio commercials where the president of a indentity-theft-defense outfit gives out his social security number and challenges people to steal his identity?
His identity has been stolen 13+ times.
CC
Criminal Justice *Headdesk* of the day. If you were worried that Ryan Frederick, who shot a police officer who was raiding his house in the middle of the night because an informant said there were marijuana plants growing in his greenhouse* might be freed, don't, Frederick's appeal was just denied.
*There was $25 worth of pot in the guy's house. The plants in the greenhouse were Japanese maples.
His identity has been stolen 13+ times.
CC
Criminal Justice *Headdesk* of the day. If you were worried that Ryan Frederick, who shot a police officer who was raiding his house in the middle of the night because an informant said there were marijuana plants growing in his greenhouse* might be freed, don't, Frederick's appeal was just denied.
*There was $25 worth of pot in the guy's house. The plants in the greenhouse were Japanese maples.
Wahoo! Mary Beth Buchanan soundly defeated
Longtime enemy of the Chaliceblog Mary Beth Buchanan was running for congress. Her campaign sucked and she lost.
Couldn't have happened to a nicer person. Ok, I wish it had happened to Martha Coakley.
CC
Couldn't have happened to a nicer person. Ok, I wish it had happened to Martha Coakley.
CC
Monday, May 10, 2010
After years of reading political stuff...
I'm still weirded out when columnists just straight up lie. Case in point: Maggie Gallagher's claims in the National Review online that the Human Rights Campaign "specifically cites her support for “marriage equality” in cases before the Supreme Court as a reason for voting for her."
Uhhh... Nope. The press release says no such thing.
CC
Uhhh... Nope. The press release says no such thing.
CC
Sigh.
The Washington Post's Hank Stuever thinks young people love Betty White because they have wacky grandparent complexes.
Of course she's also a brilliant commedianne with amazing comic timing.
No, that can't be it.
Sigh.
CC
Criminal Justice *headdesk8 of the day. If you were worried about that cop who had a kid ring hid doorbell and run away, then chased the kid down, had a scuffle with the kid, then shot and killed him, don't. The deputy was cleared of all charges.
Of course she's also a brilliant commedianne with amazing comic timing.
No, that can't be it.
Sigh.
CC
Criminal Justice *headdesk8 of the day. If you were worried about that cop who had a kid ring hid doorbell and run away, then chased the kid down, had a scuffle with the kid, then shot and killed him, don't. The deputy was cleared of all charges.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Adam & Eve mentions your unmentionables.
Apparently, sex toy retailer Adam & Eve will ship your purchase unmarked, but then starts sending you promotional mail. Admittedly the customer at the link had her items send to her work address, which means she's gutsier than I am, but still, given what they sell, they probably shouldn't be doing that.
Anyway, Goodvibes.com doesn't do the "sending you a bunch of catalogs" thing. Since I know that the Chaliceblog is primarily read by sexy people, I thought y'all should know.
CC
Joe Arpaio week continues on "Criminal justice *headdesk* of the day."
Anyway, Goodvibes.com doesn't do the "sending you a bunch of catalogs" thing. Since I know that the Chaliceblog is primarily read by sexy people, I thought y'all should know.
CC
Joe Arpaio week continues on "Criminal justice *headdesk* of the day."
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Bleh.
Husband is out of town. I'm doing some contract work and working on papers.
You may recall from a previous "Criminal Justice *Headdesk* of the Day" that several months ago there was a federal drug raid in Missouri where a big SWAT team stormed a family home, killed the family dogs in front of a little kid and then charged the family with "child endangerment" because there was a small amount of pot in the house.
I'm sure I mentioned at the time that the most obvious danger to the pot was SWAT teams coming in with lots of firearms and shooting dogs. Anyway, there's video of that raid now, which is not to say I suggest you watch it.
Still, it's nothing you wouldn't see in any war movie. I guess that alone pretty much says it all.
CC
Since I'm behind, we will call this yesterday's Sheriff Joe Arpaio themed "Criminal Justice *headdesk* of the day. It is actually one of the nastier things I've ever seen, and I was reading nasty police stories for years before I started this feature.
You may recall from a previous "Criminal Justice *Headdesk* of the Day" that several months ago there was a federal drug raid in Missouri where a big SWAT team stormed a family home, killed the family dogs in front of a little kid and then charged the family with "child endangerment" because there was a small amount of pot in the house.
I'm sure I mentioned at the time that the most obvious danger to the pot was SWAT teams coming in with lots of firearms and shooting dogs. Anyway, there's video of that raid now, which is not to say I suggest you watch it.
Still, it's nothing you wouldn't see in any war movie. I guess that alone pretty much says it all.
CC
Since I'm behind, we will call this yesterday's Sheriff Joe Arpaio themed "Criminal Justice *headdesk* of the day. It is actually one of the nastier things I've ever seen, and I was reading nasty police stories for years before I started this feature.
Monday, May 03, 2010
As a Dolly Parton fan, I must say
Ouch.
At the same time, I'm bitterly wondering if the reaction to a much whiter town having a massive flood and needing federal disaster relief will have fewer jerkass overtones. On the one hand, it would be nice to see some of the nastiness avoided. On the other, it will bum me out if it turns out that racial animus is a really big part of what caused e-mail forwards like this to go around. In some ways, I would almost rather I did see a few jerks if only for my own peice of mind on the subject.
CC
At the same time, I'm bitterly wondering if the reaction to a much whiter town having a massive flood and needing federal disaster relief will have fewer jerkass overtones. On the one hand, it would be nice to see some of the nastiness avoided. On the other, it will bum me out if it turns out that racial animus is a really big part of what caused e-mail forwards like this to go around. In some ways, I would almost rather I did see a few jerks if only for my own peice of mind on the subject.
CC
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