My Crazy Life

How Can We Bring About Positive Change from the LDS Conference Rhetoric?

2010-10-05T09:06:00.001-06:00

I'm so alarmed by the recent rash of suicides among the LGBT youth in America, and after this weekend, living in Salt Lake and being fully exposed to the information disseminated at this weekends General Conference, I'm very sad that the leaders of the LDS church, the default religious leaders of my community, are still encouraging division among brothers & sisters. It's just so wrong! And so I, like so many others, am once again driven to speak out about my own feelings.

The widespread dissatisfaction with the LDS church leadership I am currently witnessing is not a new phenomena. It's been this way since the very inception of the LDS church - the public at large didn't like what Joseph Smith was doing with his new religion & congregation. This disapproval (though it was mostly disapproval at what Joseph Smiths did with others' wives and various con jobs he was wrapping up on the side) is what led to the mobs that drove the Mormons from every city they settled in until they ultimately turned to the inhospitable Salt Lake valley. Surely there have been spikes in the negative public image at various points in history. Things were pretty bad back in 1978 just before blacks were gifted with the priesthood through a new revelation. Certainly things have been heated since Proposition 8 came along, thrusting the involvement of individual members (at the encouragement of church officials from the pulpit) into the limelight. So this recent rash of youth suicides I mentioned... It has brought this newest chapter in the long civil rights path of our young country to a head once again.

Justin Aaberg, 15, Anoka, Minn., July 9, 2010
Billy Lucas, 15, Greensburg, Ind., Sept. 9, 2010
Seth Walsh, 13, Tehachapi, Calif., Sept. 19, 2010
Tyler Clementi, 18, Ridgewood, N.J., Sept. 22, 2010
Asher Brown, 13, Cypress, Texas, Sept. 23, 2010
Raymond Chase, 19, Monticello, N.Y., Sept. 29, 2010

Children are killing themselves because they are alienated from their peers in every way. And their peers alienate them because their own parents and leaders have taught them to fear and scorn anyone that is different from them. And this back-to-school trend is absolutely not the beginning of youth suicides. I got a mailing from the Human Rights Campaign that talked about the suicide of Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, an 11 year old Massachusetts boy in 2009, due to bullying because he "acted like a girl". There are so many. It's truly tragic and alarming. My own 11 year old son is the victim of bullying and ridicule at school this year, simply because he has long hair. Kids call him a girl and tease him mercilessly, just because of their perceptions about sexuality!

This weekend was the LDS church's fall session of their General Conference. This is an opportunity for the membership to hear messages from the top leadership of the church. And as is typical at this time each year, things are heating up. I've read a few news articles yesterday and today, excerpting Boyd K Packer's talk, but after several LDS members claimed his message is being taken out of context, I decided to listen to the entire talk on the church's own website lds.org.
Packer begins by proclaiming the fear and confusion facing the young people of the church today. He refers to the churches revelation "The Family: A Proclamation to the World", issued 15 years ago. He quotes it in part by reading the following:

We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

He then further quotes LDS scripture to define union between a man and woman as a commandment from God. He goes on to discuss the concept of free agency, so prevalent in this religion. He talks about how sacred is our ability to create life. He talks about obedience and prayer. He promises that an obedient, willing & prayerful husband and wife will be gifted with children, happiness & a personal relationship with God. These blessings, including children, may come now or in the hereafter. He also stipulates that "pure love presupposes that only after a pledge of eternal fidelity, a legal & lawful ceremony and ideally after a sealing ordinance in the temple, are those life giving powers released to the full expression of love. It is to be shared only and solely between a man & woman, husband and wife with that one who is our companion forever." He warns that Satan is miserable and impotent, and that he can not stand any happiness and seeks to tempt us to sin and therefore, into misery. He likens pornography to a plague, "relentlessly trying to invade every home mostly through the husband and father". He talks about the spiritual fatality caused by this plague. He then promises that the priesthood can protect us from this plague, or any other bad habits and addictions. He warns parents to protect their families from these plagues. He warns not to succumb to these counterfeits for marriage. His next quote lays out exactly how he feels about homosexual tendencies, and the italicized portion is the quote which has sparked so much upset and so many claims of being taken out of context.

Any persuasion to enter into any relationship that is not in harmony with the principles of the gospel must be wrong. In the Book of Mormon we learn that wickedness never was happiness. Some suppose that they were preset and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn tendencies toward the impure and the unnatural . Not so. Why would our heavenly father do that to anyone? Remember, he is our father."

He quotes more scripture and goes back to talk of breaking addictions through the power of the priesthood. Then he goes on to tell a story of a child who brought a kitten to class with him. the children asked if the kitten was a boy or a girl and the teacher quickly asserted that it didn't matter. But the children persisted and finally one boy said he knew how to tell - they could vote on it!

You may laugh at the story. But if we're not alert, there are those today who not only tolerate but advocate voting to change laws that would legalize immorality, as if a vote would somehow alter the designs of Gods laws & nature. A law against nature would be impossible to enforce. For instance what good would a vote against the law of gravity do? There are both moral & physical laws, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundation of the world that cannot be changed."

He warns that if the membership does not protect the LDS idea of family, the very foundation of civilization will be threatened. He begins to wrap up his address with a message of repentance for your unworthy habits and addictions. He promises peace & happiness for families who are obedient to these laws.

Now, after going over the entire address, I can safely say nothing is taken out of context. With that in mind, here's what I think of his words. I've noticed that President Packer tends toward this theme. He harps on homosexuality, intellectuals, feminists, morality, pornography, etc. I wonder what sins he sees in himself that make him so fearful of these things. In a facebook note linked below the comments suggest Packer is gay and another commenter, a church member, is insulted at the "disgusting things" implied about President Packer. I was far more offended by the statement that being gay is disgusting, than I ever would be, were it implied that my religious leader was gay! Her paradigm demands that she see that as disgusting. I see it not as an inflammatory remark to imply such, but simply an obvious possibility based on human behavioral psychology.

Anyhow, skipping further speculation on Packer's sexual tendencies, I see Packers early comments about the family and free agency as a way to ensure that his congregation perceives homosexuality as a choice. His provision that a husband and wife may be gifted with children only in the hereafter is typical of the LDS church's advice of delaying blessings & happiness till the next life, in exchange for suffering in this one. Just as they counsel their homosexual members to live celibate lives now in order to possibly be free of these desires someday, maybe not till the next life.

When he quotes the scripture "wickedness never was happiness", he implies gays are miserable. He mixes together references to homosexuality as this "fake unnatural love" with the feelings of shame & guilt associated with pornography in order to confuse his congregation and make them fearful of homosexual relationships. Packer's switch from addictions to homosexuality & back again works to suggest to the congregation that homosexuality is somehow a bad habit or an addiction to be overcome.

When he talks about voting on natural laws, my blood really starts pumping. Gravity is indeed an irrevocable law that can not be changed, even if we were to put it to a vote. The ridiculousness of this statement is unmatched in his talk, since gravity is a proven scientific fact, demonstrable in every aspect of our daily lives. Morality however, is a fluid social agreement, based on the times we live in. For instance, it used to be moral for a Mormon man to have several wives. Currently I believe several wives is considered immoral among the Mormon leadership. Until someone can prove to me a constant, unchangeable law of morality, I won't have this conversation.

It just makes me want to cry for these manipulated children when he ends with an admonishment to repent. The entire message of fear is couched in language of parental love and concern. Well I'm not buying it!

As a personal side note, that from-the-pulpit fear mongering couched in fake love, and dripping with old-man creepiness I might add, is a large reason for my departure from regular church attendance, and a contributing factor in my decision to "resign" from their membership officially.

This sort of fear mongering and hate rhetoric fan the flames of homophobia. My 11 year old son, the same boy who gets teased for his long hair, has 3 friends. Today he came home and informed me that his parents told him he can no longer have sleep overs. His parents told him yesterday evening that sleeping over with friends led to temptations they need to protect him from. Wow.

So now we see stuff like this facebook note that very closely reflects my own feelings on Packers address, as well as fantastic official statements like this one from The Human Rights Campaign. Joe Solmonese, president of HRC says:

Words have consequences, particularly when they come from a faith leader. This is exactly the kind of statement that can lead some kids to bully and others to commit suicide. When a faith leader tells gay people that they are a mistake because God would never have made them that way and they don’t deserve love, it sends a very powerful message that violence and/or discrimination against LGBT people is acceptable. It also emotionally devastates those who are LGBT or may be struggling with their sexual orientation or gender identify. His words were not only inaccurate, they were also dangerous.

Educated LDS friends talk about how they don't agree with Packer's statements about homosexuality not being preset. I don't understand how someone can pick and choose which tenets of their gospel they can agree with. If my religious leader is preaching something that rings false to me, this is a red flag for the entire belief system in my opinion. One very telling comment touched me.

When I hear the words of President Packer, my heart hurts and I feel uncomfortable. I interpret this as a departure of the spirit. When my own leaders counsel causes this departure of the spirit, what am I to make of it?

As Duane Jennings, co-director of the Salt Lake chapter of Affirmation says... this weekends conference comments about gays are "evidence that the church hasn’t really changed, and that its positive moves [like supporting Salt Lake City’s anti-discrimination statutes] have been just an attempt to improve its image in the wake of Proposition 8.” I'm afraid of what may come from this latest log on the firey civil rights debate. I don't think we've seen the last of our losses unfortunately. And like Isaac Higham, I feel that "the blood of the innocents drips from the hands of those who strangle the life and the hope out of them through their bully pulpit." But as renown author John Krakauer extensively demonstrates in his book "Under The Banner of Heaven", the LDS church has a rich tradition of violence and separatism. Their leadership believes in the blood atonement and it could be that none of this even bothers these men.

All I can do is hope more people will feel the truth and see how false this message is. I believe that someday we will move past hate, and even past tolerance, and past acceptance, into a real and complete love of each other, for all our similarities and our differences! And I think this message of fear from President Packer is just the sort of vehicle to bring about some of that change! I have faith that at least some people will instinctively want to move away from this message of division and fear, and find something that feels closer to God, without the strings of fear and brainwashing attached. And what a wonderful thing it is, when we start our quest for a higher truth! Some beautiful journeys have just begun!

Current Projects

2010-09-21T12:13:00.000-06:00

I know I haven't posted on here in a while. Either that means "my crazy life" just isn't quite crazy enough to be post-worthy, or it's too crazy to get around to posting. I'm not sure which. But I AM writing regularly these days and if you'd like to follow me there, you can check it out here. Right now I'm covering the current season of Dancing With The Stars and having a great time. I've got bigger plans so I'll keep you posted as things develop!

Is God part of The Grand Design?

2010-09-03T14:28:00.000-06:00

In "The Grand Design," by eminent British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking and U.S. physicist Leonard Mlodinow, Hawking asserts that a new series of theories makes a creator of the universe redundant, according to the Times newspaper which published extracts on Thursday.

"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist," Hawking writes.

"It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going."

He refers to the 1992 discovery of a planet orbiting a star other than our sun when discussing the possibility of a creator. "That makes the coincidences of our planetary conditions -- the single Sun, the lucky combination of Earth-Sun distance and solar mass, far less remarkable, and far less compelling evidence that the Earth was carefully designed just to please us human beings,"

These simple elegant statements are opening my mind up wide. I'm getting more and more Atheist by the minute! Hahaha Okay not exactly. But I am more and more comfortable letting go of the idea of a father/God figure, so similar to the Mormon God I was raised with. And stated so simply, it is all so clear to me that there was no need for a God in the creation of the universe. I never bought the "created in 7 days/6000 year old universe" theory, and I never bought the premise that God zapped Adam & Eve into being like magic. I was always much more comfortable with the idea that God worked with the laws of science & nature to facilitate the creation of our world over time. But this was an unexamined premise that only lived vaguely in my mind. And when I do examine it more closely, things don't fit together quite right. If God existed before anything, out in the ether of space, floating in the darkness, and God created all the universe... well then we aren't on the same evolutionary path and we'll never progress to where God is now. And that just doesn't feel true to me. I don't know, but I feel the rightness of the idea that we continually evolve and progress. There may or may not be a god in some form or another. I definitely don't think there is an old man, clothed in white robes, watching over us all, keeping a tally of our good and bad choices every second of every day. And while it feels like my beliefs have been unconsciously drifting this way for some time, bringing these thoughts into the light now, I definitely agree more and more that is is unlikely a supreme being set the creation of the universe in motion. What do you think?

TV Mania

2010-04-09T23:48:00.002-06:00

Inspired by Sus I thought I'd throw a little blog out there - something simple. A list of the TV shows I'm currently hooked on.

Dancing With The Stars
Dexter
Flashforward
Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution
Nurse Jackie
Secret Diary of a Call Girl
The Tudors
United States of Tara
Weeds
Who Do You Think You Are

2010: The Year of Miracles

2010-01-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

This week my husband and I are starting a 10 week seminar to continue the work we started in our Landmark Forum. Landmark was pretty amazing for me, simply because it helped me open my eyes about all the non personal things I was taking personally (Okay that's a super-simplification, but all the same, it was great for me.)

The seminar leader told me last fall that he is calling 2010 the year of miracles. I could use some miracles this year! I see amazing things coming our way this year, really. But I definitely have some work to do. So in the spirit of the new year, I've decided to reevaluate the tasks I refuse to compromise on, as well as set a couple new goals to work on.

The last time I reevaluated my tasks, I came up with these three: Listen to my Seed Capital CDs (a set of instructional discs I really needed to listen to), workout on my lunch break and update the wiki my ex-husband and I use to communicate regarding our sons homeschool progress. I had set a standard for myself that I would be bigger than any of my reasons or excuses and do each of those things every single work-day. And my goals served me very well. Until I left eBay in November, I was very good about keeping my commitments. But now that I've finished the CDs (several times) and am no longer at eBay, I think they need a little retooling.

So what am I going to be unreasonable about now? What will I do each day no matter what kind of small reason (read: excuses excuses) comes to mind? Well, my larger goals tend to influence my daily tasks since I like to look at the overall things I want to accomplish, then break them down by what I need to do each day in order to reach my goals.

So what are my big-picture goals? Hm... that's a good question.
I'm in the middle of my clutter-purging project, so it would be great to get the main floor of my house done in the near future. It would also be nice to have all the walls painted. Right now, we have a room here or there done, but completion would be awesome.

I still have my book half done. And of course it's not going to finish itself!

We started a new school curriculum late this year so we will likely finish in mid-July unless I can really steam through all this material with Dante. That includes not missing any available school days, not having any "light" days with fewer lessons, and skipping anything optional or redundant. Dante's language arts skills are a bit below where they could be so he tested into LA4 instead of LA5 (he's in 5th grade this year). But that means, while a lot of it is new to him, several of the lessons are on things he already knows. So we should be able to complete the rest of it in time for his summer break if I can keep us on task all year.

To clean up our house, we broke it down into small sections and assigned one section to be cleaned and organized each day. A shelf, a table, a dresser drawer etc. So Anthony and I are going to do the same for the main floor - split it into manageable portions and do them one day at a time. Sometimes it's hard to just keep up with the regular dishes, laundry, toys etc that need picking up each day, but I'm going to give up all my reasons and excuses and make sure the one assigned extra thing gets done each day. Before March, my house will be ready for painting.

I'm going to write 20 minutes every day, no excuses.

I'm going to be uncompromising on our school lessons each day. If the lesson is scheduled, it will be completed. By mid-June we'll have well over 80% completed and can easily move on to the next levels in the fall He's starting 6th grade math this month already so that's one I don't need to worry about, and Science and History are on track - I just wish there was a way to catch him up in his LA courses... I'll continue to think on that but at least we can ensure that despite our late start last fall, he will be ready for summer break on time!

I also want to join my husband in one of his goals. He exercises with Dante a lot of days but we also do yoga pretty regularly and I think any night he does yoga, I'll join him in that. It's good for me and I love it.

Also, there are a couple of social events my BFF and I have begun to organize pretty regularly and I'd really like to continue with those. So I want to commit to continuing the monthly dinner-party we've been hosting over here, as well as organizing the next of our Mutual Facebook Friends Girls Brunch. It seemed kind of a trivial goal to me at first, but I am naturally a homebody and pushing myself to spend time with my larger social circle is really good for me emotionally.

It really is going to take a small miracle to get my closet cleaned out, but I'm ready for the challenge!

So here's my list:

1. Complete 1 task beyond the usual house-cleaning chores each day.
2. Write 20 minutes on my manuscript each day.
3. Complete each days scheduled lessons in History, Science and Language Arts.
4. Join Anthony for Yoga.
5. Continue to organize a dinner party each month and plan our brunches for January April, July and October.

There are some things that may seem to be missing from my list. For instance: we wanted to move out of this house a while ago but things seem to be moving more slowly than we would like and at this point it feels more reasonable to work at being ready to move (all this house cleaning and painting is really a step in that direction) and just take it when it comes.

It's going to be a good year!!!

Is That The Mouth You Kiss Your Mother With?

2009-04-16T08:16:00.000-06:00

My mommy made the most awesome dinner last night: Garlic steamed spinach greens, lemon & walnut rice pilaf and almond crusted chicken breasts. Oh it was so yummy. Later we had a little conversation about it on Skype and since I've been such a blogging deadbeat latly, I thought I'd take the easy road and share the amusement here for all to enjoy!

Wonder-Rachel says: Noah still has spinach in his mouth.
Pastry Mama says: OMG!
Wonder-Rachel says: I bet Kristiina and Mummu would like the lemon & walnut rice pilaf...
Pastry Mama says: yeah - probably......
Pastry Mama says: and Mummu would probably like it with the brown rice that is called for.
Wonder-Rachel says: Yep
Wonder-Rachel says: She loves all that shit.
Pastry Mama says: are you calling brown rice, shit?
Wonder-Rachel says: Only in the sense that anything that is a noun is in peril of being called shit by me at some point, yes.
Pastry Mama says: LMMFAO

Why I Hate The Snow (F words involved)

2009-03-29T09:58:00.004-06:00

FUCK! I never should have posted yesterday and now the universe is punishing me!

Would you like to know the next weeks forecast?
Today: Blowing Snow
Monday: Snow Showers
Tuesday: Chance of Snow
Wednesday: Chance of Snow
Thursday: Rain and Snow
Friday: Rain and Snow
Saturday: Rain and Snow

Reason number whatever why I hate the snow: Because snow's a fucking bitch with a sick sense of humor! Gr.

Why I (don't always) Hate The Snow

2009-03-28T20:02:00.000-06:00

There are exactly 2 times I like snow. If snow comes in any other forms I curse it with the mouth of the foulest sailor and I despise it with all my heart.

One form of acceptable snow is only possible on one day each year. This is obviously Christmas snow. Despite my issues with Christmas, I still celebrate and even I would rather it be white.

The second form of acceptable snow came today in Salt Lake City and some may say isn't actually snow in the way I seem to be saying, but let me remind you this is my blog and I can say whatever I want. Today it was 60 degrees. The sky was a beautiful blue backdrop, the sun was shining, and the mountains jutted into the air: dark and jagged, dusted with crisp white snow the only place snow stays white. And I was driving: windows down, t-shirt on, radio blasting my favorite way to drive

Now I have to post this so I can shut everything down for Earth Hour! :)

Happy Birthday to Me

2009-03-18T13:52:00.002-06:00

So I'm beginning to question my sanity after agreeing to do this 50,000 word writing project in March. My boys turned 10 and 2 this week and today I'm 32! You have no idea how many birthday cakes are being baked in this house this week! But I'm pressing on and it's going well. I'm behind but not too badly.
I thought I shouldn't let my birthday go by without posting - even though there's no way I can actually crank out a meaningful post today! I will tell you though that I have several blogs in me, waiting to get out:

1. The story of Bear and the cream of coconut
2. The story of Bear and the toilet swim.
3. The coconut cream tart escapade (boy am I glad I didn't do those, only helped a little),
and of course
4. Stuff about all the birthdays this month!

So there you have it. Now I have to get my kid to piano lessons and get going on all this birthday cake baking! I'll be back in April!

A Dream So Real

2009-03-07T01:27:00.002-07:00

Some of you may know my sister invited me to join her in National Novel Writing Month (four months after the fact) and I agreed to also write a 50,000 word novel by the end of March. It's been an interesting beginning, I'm very optimistic, and only a tiny bit behind so far.

But I've decided a good way to be a little more accountable for my writing is to do as my sister is doing and update my blog daily with a word count of how much I'm writing. Please ask me how it's going, check for updates etc. I need the encouragement.

3/1: goal-1670 actual-1774
3/2: goal-1670 actual-1708
3/3: goal-1670 actual-634
3/4: goal-1670 actual-0
3/5: goal-1670 actual-0
3/6: goal-1670 actual-4226
3/7: goal-1670 actual-1020

week 1: goal-11,690 actual-9362

Busted Stuff

2009-02-24T12:56:00.002-07:00

I'm learning as I go. It would be nice if we could learn our life lessons without having to deal with the broken mess we make along the way... but I guess that's how we benefit from all this mess in the first place is when we have to deal with it.

Last week I had a brief and ugly exchange with someone I used to be related to. It wasn't something I'm particularly proud of, even though I still feel I handled things fairly well. Even feeling I had a right to stir the pot I stirred in response to a slight at me, I can admit there are aspects I would have changed. But if that was it, the whole thing would be forgotten by now.

Here's what's still got me chewing my cheek over this: Here we are in this messy life, all jumbled up together, loving and hating each other. So when something goes on between two people, wouldn't it be wonderful if it was just between the two of you? But it never is. Because we're all tied in together, we're all involved in it all. When we say and do things to someone, we say and do them to the other people who make up that portion of the web of our lives. And the things we might not regret saying, we end up regretting anyway. I may have lost another piece of my family this week.

Weight of the World

2009-02-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

Being a writer this is a classification I've come to believe comes from within, as opposed to resulting from any job description, having a story inside, trying to free itself onto the paper, wanting with a life of it's own to come out into daylight feels like an obligation. I don't just want to write my stories, I need to write them.

Some stories press harder at the edges of our unconscious, desperate to come to life. I think the biggest stories are the ones that come from our own experiences, our own trials and suffering - the things we know about most intimately from our own past. I think these stories need to be told. As writers, we need to give these stories life, almost like children. It's compelling, cathartic, educational. I have so many stories in my head and heart waiting to get out and of course publication is a future goal, but completion must come first.

A friend of a friend has reached that stage. She's completed her story. I'm sure the journey was healing and illuminating and insightful for her already. But what real writer would want to stop there? Of course as I said, we strive for publication. The true birth of that baby we've nurtured for so long. Her story is intense and compelling - the story of growing up in a home where Mom was only sometimesMom. Sometimes she was someone else entirely. Reading her story, it was clear she had a heavy burden to bear. I've had my own heavy weights to carry in life, my own experiences with a mother who needed us as much as we needed her, my own story bubbling to the surface. So I know that need to bring it to life.

Tiffany is ready to give her story to the world but needs to convince publishers that readers are interested in a story from a regular not-famous girl just like anyone else. So she's posted a little bio and the first two chapters on her blog. Someday I'll be posting my own first chapter on my blog. What an exciting day that will be. I encourage you to go read her story - for your own enjoyment as well as to support another writer striving to finish her project! Go read and leave a comment to show support, post a link on your own blog encouraging others to have a look, and maybe she'll be able to get the whole book out! Finishing a book is a huge accomplishment that a lot of writers yes even unpublished, you can be a writer never reach! When one does hit this huge milestone, we should all rush to support and celebrate that achievement! Yay Tiffany - Congratulations and good luck!

Remember Two Things

2009-02-08T16:07:00.005-07:00

FIRST
Last night I was sitting on my bed around 1am eating a Big Fat Steak Taco from Del Taco, dreading the moment I crawled into bed to go to sleep. Alone
It's strange since I slept alone for years in California and it was awesome. I loved it and really wondered if I could share my bed with Anthony when we moved in together. As much as I adore him, there was a moment in the beginning when I wondered if I could make a case for separate beds... But no more. I was not excited about going to bed alone. Probably mostly because I had no choice in the matter. When Anthony used to work Friday nights at Bricks I loved having those few hours in bed all by myself to really sprawl out and take up space. But sitting there on my bed facing the first of probably 4 nights apart, I didn't like the idea much. So I sat at the end of my bed I never sit at the end of my bed - this is just plain strange for me flipping through channels and landed for a minute on the show Going on 17.
Have you seen this show? Or one of it's predecessors? I can't remember what the show was called before but they have to keep changing it because Jim Bob & Michelle Duggar just keep having more babies!!! Well they were planning a float for the Christmas parade in this episode! And whadaya know? They want to do a live nativity! So they start building a little stable frame on a trailer, covering it, placing some bales of hay etc... They're going to tow it with this monstrous rock-band style tour bus they have. Someone gets the bright idea to decorate the bus with huge Happy Birthday Jesus banners and outline it all in Christmas lights! So they do this and at one point as Jim Bob is hooking up all the cords inside the bus, he starts to talk about the new low voltage, low heat LED lights they have this year and how much they spent on all the over 2000 lights, etc, and he said something that really got me thinking... Ready for it?
The Duggar's are going green he boasts as he tells of the lower energy usage of the LEDs etc.
And I'll tell you it blew my mind even before considering the absurdity of that statement as a father trots in and out of his huge tour bus that he uses to haul his family nineteen around in. Because in that moment I thought to myself:

And what is the carbon footprint of a whole person that lives to old age? or of 18 people that live to old age - did I mention Michelle is pregnant again? In fact I don't think I've seen her NOT pregnant in a season unless you count the episodes where she gives birth!

I am not going to make any pronouncements about how many children someone should have. But I am going to say right here for the whole world, that the Duggars are not going green.

SECOND
Because this sounds fun and I don't have enough on my plate already, I think I'll add some requisite crafts to my near future! Comment and get a prize! Just because I love my readers so much. :)
This comes from my pal Sus and I thought I'd see what I get from her and try my hand at a few projects myself.

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It’ll be done this year. (might be a little while)
4- You have no clue what it’s going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that’s for sure!
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog.

The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

And since a lot of my readers are non-bloggers... the first 5 non-blogger comments will also get something.
Wow. Did I just double my commitment? Oops. :)

Deed Is Done

2009-02-06T14:27:00.005-07:00

So I got tagged in a little housekeeping photo-blog yesterday by my friend Sus. Lucky for me I didn't catch up on my reading and see it till this afternoon! Noah has been sick & needy for three days so my house is kind of a mess. But again, lucky for me, last night was my night off and I did a couple dishes! lol So I have taken the pictures, the deed is done. Now I shall post them here and then you can be sure I'll spread the love. Hehehe

The rules are to take the pictures just as they are right now. If I'd had creamer for coffee today I'd have taken pictures of an unmade bed and a girl in PJs.

1. My Kids

Like I said Noah is sick so he's a little cranky and just wants to watch Playhouse Disney shows on DVR. Dante is taking an afternoon break from his school work to keep him company while I take pictures. Yep Noah is clutching a mini-Mater in his hand. He Looooves Mater.

2. My Closet

My closet can only be seen in halves so here they are. I need more hangers. Most are holding two or more shirts each! Do you know what this many visible hanger ends says? It says We are all sleeveless shirts and we belong in California or Las Vegas!

3. My Favorite Shoes

This is SO hard. I'm a girl - I love love love shoes. But of the dozens I own, the "favorites" are probably at the top of the heap so let's have a look. You can see my Sketchers slip ons the third pair I've owned and loved since nursing school, a pair of black leather lace-up boots I got these from the Gap over 10 years ago and wear them all the time, my silver dancing shoes HAHAHA Where did those crawl out from! I don't know the last time I went dancing LOL, my tiny thin flip-flops these feel like I'm not even wearing shoes, my memory-foam slippers since I teach and work at home, I wear slippers a lot.

4. My Kitchen Sink

I'm just lucky it doesn't ask for a picture of the oven range dirty or the kitchen counter a few more dirty dishes than in the sink!

5. My Fridge

We have no light in our fridge. We replace the bulb and it burns out sounds like a bigger problem than just the bulb to me... I'm hoping for a new fridge in the next year! But with the flash on my camera you can see it all amazingly well. I should just take pictures whenever I want to see what we have!

6. My Laundry Room

as I've said before, hubby does the laundry more than I do so it's all his doing that this room isn't a complete wreck!

7. My Favorite Room

That's the bedroom hands down. I've always loved my room best. And lets face it: all the best things happen in the bedroom anyway!

8. Self Portrait

So I'm gonna tag my friend Val! Let's see it Val. Get out that camera and take some pictures. xo

So Wonder-Rachel... tell us about Mr. Right.

2009-02-04T09:44:00.001-07:00

I got this fun Meme from my cousin at her blog:

Where did the two of you meet?

We met at The Off Broadway Theater when he was performing in Quick Wits, their original improv-comedy show.

What was the first thought that went through your head when you first met him?

Wow. He is so cute! Oh he's looking at me! smiles And oh my gosh now he's coming over here - I think he's going to talk to me!!!

Do you remember what he was wearing?

Nope. But I remember one thing I saw him in a lot in those days: his black GAP polo shirt - his uniform for bar-backing at Bricks. And I thought he looked so sexy in black.

Where did you go for your first date?

We had a late dinner at the Applebee's in Taylorsville on Redwood Road. He waited tables there at the time.

Where was the first time you kissed?

I don't remember our first kiss. It was 13 years ago and it's a little fuzzy. I do remember I wouldn't kiss him till I had broken things off with my boyfriend. Yes, I was seeing someone else that night our eyes locked in the lobby of The OBT. And said significant other was out of town so there was waiting involved! But the significant kiss I do remember is the kiss we shared about 5 years ago. After breaking up and going our separate ways almost nine years earlier, I looked him up when I was in town visiting family at easter and we met for coffee. Sitting in his jeep in a parking structure near Starbucks, we kissed just a little. He smelled the same as I remembered and I was smitten all over again.

When was the first time you realized you liked him?

Oh the first time I spent any time talking to him I knew I liked him. He's intelligent and funny and entertaining and inclusive... I liked him right off.

How long did you know him before you became a couple?

Well I guess I only knew him a few days before we started dating but we never really defined it as an exclusive relationship back in '95. Then all those years later we were seeing each other but living in different states so we weren't really a "couple" then either. I guess I would say the Las Vegas trip in Spring of 2004 was the defining moment. We had planned a weekend in Vegas since it was a good half-way point and he had friends going that particular weekend. When I got to his hotel room he pulled me inside and we commenced reunion kissing. At one point when we were pausing for air he just beamed at me and said "I love you." and at that point we decided it was kind of silly to pretend we weren't a madly-in-love-couple any longer. So I guess it was several years.

How did he propose to you?

It was so romantic. I was seriously stressed, dealing with my ex and co-parenting our son. Anthony took me out for a drive the day after Valentines Day I love that part. We ended up in the parking lot at the base of the trail up Mt. Olympus an old make-out spot for us way back in '95. It was quiet, dark, snowing, we got out to look at the lights and he pulled out a ring. It was perfect.

Do you have kids together?

Yep, we've got the toddler-tornado, and we do a pretty damn good job parenting Dante together as well.

Have you ever broken the law together?

Yes.

Do you trust him?

More than I trust myself

Do you see him as your partner in your future?

Absolutely.

What is the best gift he gave you?

It's a toss up between Noah and his patience & understanding. Yes, seriously I am that difficult to deal with!

What is one thing he does that gets on your nerves?

There's really so little... I'm sure he could come up with a long list of character flaws for me actually he should be able to come up with such a list but he probably couldn't (see previous answer), but I can only think of how he bounces his leg all the time. It bugs me when we're at our computers in the loft since it shakes the floor and feels like an earthquake, or if we're sitting next to each other it vibrates me. It's pretty trivial though! lol

Where do you see each other 15 years from now?

15 years from now we'll still be seeing each other in bed quite often. Hehehehehe

What causes the most arguments?

My short temper, hands down.

How long have you been together?

Such a tough question! I guess about five years if we don't count the mad crazy romance right after I graduated, and the 9 years apart in between...

Who Do you Tag?

Oh lets see...
Well Mr. Right of course... And how about my pal Susan if she's got the time in her busy mommy life... and maybe X wants to get personal... I'd love to hear how my sister Melanie met her husband since I wasn't around for it but her blog is private so you can't see it, I know absolutely nothing about NUGO's relationship, being as we're online-only buddies... and last but not least, I like this kind of story since I'm a hopeless romantic so I tag anyone else who reads this & wants to play! :)

The Space Between

2009-02-02T13:14:00.001-07:00

I have this pink ceramic box that's shaped like a book. I keep spare change, a special necklace that's broken, my debit card, Drivers license, Costco card, Library card etc., scraps of paper, receipts, hair bands... It sits on a bookshelf by my bed. I came into my room and didn't notice it was missing, but I noticed Noah was missing. I looked around and didn't see him right away. Then the curtains at our sliding glass door rippled. Our bed sits about 15 inches in front of the doors and Noah loves to pace round & round the room going behind our bed in his circuit. So rather than walking around to see if he was behind the curtains as we usually do when he hides, I peeked straight over and behind the headboard - what do you think I saw?

Noah had somehow snagged it off the shelf and was checking out the contents behind my bed! As soon as he realized he'd been spotted he made a break for the open spaces of the bedroom but I cut him off. Still he was clearly very pleased with himself.

Someone somewhere is sitting on a giant pile of money...

2009-01-31T11:29:00.005-07:00

I saw this today while reading a comment on an archived post in my cousins blog The Profound Thoughts of a Frivolous Mind. "Don't you feel like someone somewhere is sitting on a giant pile of money?" This was in reference to dealing with insurance companies. And I would agree that there are some Insurance top-dogs that are surely hoarding the cash. This economy seems to be killing everybody. We're all in the same boat and we're all feeling it. Oh except for some. And I found out yesterday who is sitting on the biggest pile of OUR money...

Exxon Mobil Corp.

Yes, you can read all about it at Yahoo News or anywhere else I'm sure. Here it is: Exxon Mobil Corp. on Friday reported a profit of $45.2 billion for 2008, breaking its own record for a U.S. company... So the record for the most a US company has EVER made in a year was just set by Exxon Mobil, pushing the old record down to the number two slot - old record ALSO set by Exxon Mobil.

Am I allowed to say "Greedy fucking bastards" on the radio? No? Well I guess it's good I'm not on the radio anymore and this is my blog huh? Because that's exactly how I feel about Exxon Mobil right now.

And lets not forget about credit card companies either. I have only SLIGHTLY less disgust for them, and this is only because I myself (we can't include the few small credit cards I married in this statement) have no credit card debt and haven't for several years. Here they are screaming & crying for bailout money. Federal interest rates are at record lows and credit card companies are charging record high interest rates. Now that federal interest rates have dropped, do you think card rates will go down? Don't bet on it. Do you think they'll lower rates when they get all that sweet bailout cash? Don't bet on it.

I can think of quite a few people that are sitting on huge piles of money.

Who knew Showtime would eventually bring polygamy back in vogue?

2009-01-23T16:32:00.003-07:00

X has been kind enough to pass on five fun and thought provoking questions so that I may entertain all you readers with something other than pictures of my munchkins, ramblings about my writing project and unprovoked political diatribes. This comes from my request after her own revelations last week - fun post, you should go take a look. For all interested in their own "Hey read all about me" interview questions, I would love to send you a few. Now here are my answers to five questions I never expected to answer!

1. If you became a polygamist tomorrow, who would you want your second wife to be and why?

I had to think about this one for days but when the answer came to me I thought "Oh duh. Why didn't I think of that sooner?" You think I'm about to say Alessandra Ambrosio don't you? Well yeah, that would be one option... but I think I would go with my girl Cindy. Why? Because she's the closest I've had already to a female partner and I think we'd do better together than anyone else. I love her and think she's amazing. And maybe one of these days she'll actually come for a visit. And really that's as close as it would get to this strange polygamist fantasy. sigh

2. What do you think happens when we die?

I am finally in a place in my life where I'm content to not know. It's a comfort that I don't hold to any hopes that may not come to be, especially after losing loved ones - I would hate to operate all my life under the assumption I would see my dad again and then be wrong.

3. If you could bestow your children with one talent, what would it be?

I would make them charismatic communicators. Being able to speak to others, get your point across, sway opinions to align with your own... these skills are invaluable.

4. When was the last time you felt true jealousy and what caused it?

Anthony and I had an understanding about the exclusivity (or lack of it) in our relationship early on while I was still living in Ventura. We were so far apart, it wasn't reasonable to be alone all the time. So I think the last time I felt real jealousy (not the kind I felt last week as my mother attended the presidential inauguration ceremony) was toward the end of that arrangement, right before we finally admitted to each other that we were more than just FwB's, were madly in love, and wanted to be together.

5. If you could change just one thing about the Mormon religion, what would you change?

Okay there isn't one thing that if changed, would bring me back, so I had a hard time thinking what one thing could possibly be important to me at this point. Since I'm pretty live & let live... but then it came to me. I would only have them stop knocking on my door. :)

****
Here are the meme details:
If you'd like to play along, just follow these instructions:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me." (And realize I might take a while to get back to you.)
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions. (Eventually!)
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions. Be sure you link back to the original post.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

My Experience at the inauguration of Barak Obama

2009-01-20T16:59:00.003-07:00

This post was guest written by my mother, Michele Bennett. I will return to post more after the envy-green fades & I can see enough to type again.

Hello My Friends and Family!

Through the serendipity of being related to a senator, I was able to score some tickets to the inauguration of our 44th president, Barak Obama. I realized that because I am currently living in this area, it was an opportunity that I might not have again and I should take advantage of this chance. Any inauguration is a moment in history, but this inauguration seemed like an especially pivotal moment, so I felt particularly compelled to make the effort to go.

For those of you who don’t live here in the area of Washington DC, let me tell you – IT IS COLD! There had been predictions of the largest numbers of people ever to attend an inauguration, of extreme cold temperatures and of snafus in an aging and overcrowded public transit system (while at the same time almost forcing us to use this aging system because cars were not allowed in the downtown core). I toyed with the idea of spending the night at the spa where I work, so that I could avoid the metro system and just walk to the ceremonies, but I don’t sleep well in my own bed. Sleeping on a massage table was unappealing in the extreme. So, I decided that I would sleep at home and brave the transit system with the masses. I went to REI the day before to obtain some cold weather gear. (I know, you are all exclaiming that I come from the snow belt and should already be outfitted for the cold, but alas, I am not. And, somewhere in my move from Utah to Washington DC, I lost my gloves.) My trip to REI was strange. REI originated in the pacific northwest, so those of us from the west think of REI as the ultimate store for outdoor gear – complete with a rainroom to test out your wet weather gear. Many people here have never heard of REI and the store here is very small. But, those that have discovered REI had cleaned it out of all things made for cold weather. There were no hand & foot warmers left, no long underwear, and two pair of boots, neither of which were my size. So, I left the store with some new gloves (complete with liners) a hat, some over-the-knee socks and a couple of probars (sustenance for the long wait inside a perimeter without food available), and grateful that I found that much.

I awoke to a weather report that said it was 9 degrees out and wouldn’t get much warmer when the sun came up. I do tend to be a little claustrophobic, so the thought of a crowded metro was a little daunting. I lay in bed at 5AM debating with myself. I could watch the ceremonies on TV. I didn’t really need to go out. It would be much warmer. For half an hour, this debate went around in my head. Finally, the argument that no one else in my family or circle of friends would be able to see this event won out and I dragged myself from my warm bed. I put on tights, long-johns, over-the-knee socks, pants, walking shoes, a sweater, a light quilted jacket, a heavy wool coat, a big scarf, a hat and gloves with liners and headed for the train. I felt like the small child in the movie “The Christmas Story” who is so bundled up that he can’t put his arms down. At 6:30 AM, the train was filled to capacity with a noisy group of cheerful and excited people all headed to watch history made. No one was sleeping. No one was complaining. All were grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the moment. When I arrived at Union Station, I headed toward the yellow security checkpoint. I had a yellow ticket and we were all assigned to our color-coded checkpoint. The line to get to the checkpoint was several blocks long but moved fairly well. With so many thousands of people moving through the line and all excited, we were all conversing with others in the line. I was standing near a young couple, just married talking about this – the first time they voted, their first time to witness an inauguration, their first time ever in Washington DC. It was so cold, but they had big furry parkas and were excited that they had tickets in the seated section. I began to inquire how they had been able to come by their tickets. The young man said “I’m an intern for Senator Bennett from Utah.” Turns out that they are from Logan and he is a senior at Utah State. What a small world it is. We shared some stories and the comraderie of the occasion. Once we were through the checkpoint, they went to their seats and I went toward mine. By the time we reached our seats, it was still only 10AM and we had over an hour before the ceremony started. I decided to take a few pictures. I went to a stairway to get higher to take some pictures, but since the only camera that I have is my cell phone, I got two pictures (attached to this email) before it wouldn’t work anymore (too many cell phones for towers to be able to handle all the service, so it just shut down). I headed back to my seat and realized that I had lost one of my gloves (yes – one of my newly purchased gloves – complete with liner). But, I still had one glove and the other hand stayed firmly in my pocket. We sat and visited with the people around us. Sitting in front of us was a cute family with two daughters, approximately 8 and 12. The 8-year-old was bouncy and happy to be there. The 12-year-old was not happy at all. For half an hour, she complained about the cold, about her parents forcing her to come out way too early, and that she wished that she were home. Her mother gently chided her about her complaining and her father tried to lighten things by taking pictures of the girls. He tried to get her to stop crying, saying that she wouldn’t want to be crying in the pictures, but she just explained that she would remember this as the “worst day of my life!” At one point, she turned around and looked at me, so I took the opening to say to her that someday – and in the not-too-distant future, she would be proud to brag to her friends and later to her children, that she was here at this particular event, whereupon, she gave me a very dirty look.

Then the ceremony began. Aretha sang – sort of underwhelming. Then Nancy Pelosi, who conducted the ceremonies, introduced the “esteemed senator from Utah, Robert Bennett.” I of course cheered. I was the only one who did so and realized that everyone around me was staring, wondering who was this strange woman cheering for some republican senator from Utah. But, hey! He’s family. One must cheer! Senator Bennett then introduced the supreme court justice who administered the oath of office to Joseph Biden. Then there was a quartet, a piano, a violin, (Itzak Perhlman) a clarinet and a cello (Yo Yo Ma)! I was astonished that any of them could make their fingers work – and work so well in the cold. They did and it was astoundingly beautiful. Then it was time for Barak Obama to take the oath of office. The reverence was palpable. It was like being in church. The oath is 35 words, uttered by every president since George Washington said them for the very first time. After he gave his oath, he gave his address to the nation. What a truly inspiring orator! He called us to service. I haven’t been LDS for a very long time, but one of the things that I truly admire about the religion of my heritage is that it is founded on the cornerstone of service. This man, whom we now have as our president, is defined by his affirmation that we all have the opportunity and the responsibility to be of service, whether it is the fireman who charges into a burning building or the parent who nurtures and teaches a child. He demonstrated that impetus the day before his inauguration by spending the day in service. His wife was at a soup kitchen handing out meals and he was in his jeans and tennis shoes at a teen shelter, chatting with homeless and/or runaway teens while painting the shelter. One of the girls at the shelter made the comment that she hoped to be moving soon to a real house, and President Obama said “I’m moving tomorrow. It’s an old house.” So unassuming, yet so at ease in his ability to inspire – and he does inspire. He has inspired me and I have run into others who have never given a thought to volunteer for anything before, who are moved to volunteer, to do something – anything – to be of service to others.

I left the ceremony in a crowd of people as we sang the National Anthem together. We all felt moved and inspired. We all felt as if we are truly bound together by hope and common purpose. We returned to Union Station to make our way home again. At the station, we decided to find a little lunch. So had thousands of others. There was almost no place to sit, so we invited an older woman who appeared to be alone to sit with us. She told us her story. She came from Detroit on a bus with others from her church. They had no tickets. They were so far back in the crowd that they couldn’t see or hear anything. Yet, they still felt blessed to have been here to bear witness to this moment in history. There was another young woman here with her three small children – one a two-month-old baby, who came here from Texas. She also had no tickets, and couldn’t see or hear anything, but felt compelled to be here. There were so many like that, who came from far away, just to be here, just to share the moment with others.

Yesterday was Martin Luther King day. Dr. King said that he wished for his children that they be judged not for the color of their skin, but for the content of their character. I saw that take shape today. I was here. I was witness to it. I am blessed for having participated.

I have attached two pictures – the only two that I was able to take before my phone shut down. But, you will get an idea of just how close I was. It was truly wonderful!

Love and cheer to you all from Washington DC
Michele

Gun Safety and Grandma

2009-01-15T16:20:00.002-07:00

I wanted to get this posted in a timely manner since the questions I got are so pressing... or maybe I'm stalling because I've hit a rough spot in my other writing.

OGUN asks: Wonder-Rachel, what's the color of your favorite trigger-lock?

Well I guess the logical answer here would be pink. But I'm not really sure if a pink trigger-lock exists. And the trigger lock that came with my gun is blue. So I guess that's my favorite. Though thinking more about it, maybe blue should be my least favorite trigger-lock color since I really hate mine and never use it. In fact, I couldn't even tell you where it is! The thing about trigger-locks is that if a kid monkeys with it enough or if it's not on just right, the gun can go off. This is why I bought a cable lock. It's black. The revolver chamber rolls fully out of place & the cable threads right down the barrel - no chance in hell that baby's goin off.

And Sus wanted to know: When can I hear some of that hot "Rachel Sings Whitney Houston" that I remember from so long ago? :)

Alas, now I only sing in the shower. If you want to come over & hop in sometime, I'll try to remember a few bars of The Children Are Our Future. Anthony was always trying to get me to sing Karaoke when we were dating (before my awesome eBay night job)but here's the thing: The last time I sang in public was the final of many recitals Grandma Stamm made me sing in. So I sang Mozart to friends, family, neighbors & strangers at countless recitals for years. Since then no one has been able to prevail upon me in quite the way that Grandma was capable, and I have never performed since - quite happily I might add. Now I sing at home and leave the public performance to my capable and willing cousins and as always, my beautiful & talented Grandmother.

And that's all we have time for today folks.

Why are we here?

2009-01-13T23:06:00.004-07:00

Procrastinating Blogger Update: I have written almost two chapters (or possibly well over two chapters but I've still only broken it into two parts. hahaha). Perhaps, when it's all all done I'll put something up here.

So back to business...

Why are we here indeed... I'm sneaking up on you with this one because I already know the answer I'm going for here.

I'm wondering what we take with us when we shuffle off this mortal coil see I'm feeling all authory so I'm throwing in cheesy quotes from my own fave. I know I won't be taking the paintings on the walls much as I love 'em, or the awesome collection of baking pans I've been slowly amassing, or even my damn wedding ring! But does it matter that when I die I don't take the ring?

No.

Why?

Because I take the man.

No, I don't mean when I die I'm going to murderously haul my husband into the great unknown with me. I mean that in whatever form we find ourselves on the other side, I'll have the experience & enrichment of our relationship to take with me.

So why would we be here but to learn & grow and take as much as we can with us into the next phase/era/dimension/whatever? And how do we do that? By enriching our lives with as many personal and social relationships & interactions, by always striving to learn more and more about whatever you want just as long as your mind is active, by being open to anything new that comes your way I'm not saying be accepting of everything, I'm just saying open to the possibilities.

I think I'm feeling irritated by a glaring & recent lack in this department. I've been guilty in the past of neglecting personal relationships and have, in the recent past, tried very hard to be better about maintaining communication, being a better friend... It's hard for me. A combo of depression & busy life makes for days that fly by but I'm better than I was. So it surprises me when other people seem so unwilling to be friendly at all. Are you so selective in the people you speak to that I don't make the cut? I hate to harp on it, but this feels seriously like it's because of that certain club I don't belong to. Hm.

Well, I think I've hit on something besides the hot cocktail waitress at Fridays last weekend with this idea that we're here to know people - as many people as we can know. It's just a thought I guess, but it seems to ring true and I've found that to be reliable for me.

Wafa Sultan interviews on Al Jazeera television

2009-01-12T11:08:00.008-07:00

I got a link to an interview shown recently on an Arab financed TV station in Dubai, Al Jazeera television. The woman is Wafa Sultan, an Arab-American psychologist from Los Angeles and I've included the link because her tone of voice and body language is wonderful - I recommend everyone watch it if possible. As well, the body language of her male colleague is very telling - he is so dismissive and condescending.
Arab TV Broadcast

The clip has been edited - I think the interviewer may have said a few things that were taken out due to being repetitive or inconsequential once she made her reply. So it's mostly Wafa Sultan speaking about the clash between Western & Eastern culture and some back & forth with the obnoxious bearded turban guy who clearly will never agree with her.

I've also included a transcript of her interview since popular opinion is that the clip from Arab TV won't be around for long. So I'm sorry if it's gone. I'm amazed at the things she says, and that they were broadcast on that station. I think it's something that needs to be said and needs to be heard. I admire her for saying it because this sort of logic is completely dismissed by eastern traditionalists when delivered by a westerner. Likely, it will be dismissed coming from her as well because she's "a heretic" as her condescending colleague points out. I respect her for saying what she says - she has every right to say it, coming from that heritage. I don't know that I have the right to be so outwardly critical, or would I then be making myself into what she criticizes when quoting her colleagues terms for us... But I do hope to always be an example to other humans in how I live & interact with my fellow man, and I am really at a loss as to how to be an ambassador to the Muslim nations at this point in time. How do you befriend someone that doesn't want to be your friend? (Gee, I feel like I know a little about that one, living here in Utah) I guess my approach would have to be an attempt to get rid of the "us & them" idea. But it's hard to be friends with isolationists. And this battle going on is serious, with no end in sight. There's no reason for those intent on making war to stop. The only thing that will change the situation is a shift in thinking. Hopefully with enough people speaking out, it will slowly occur.

Wafa Sultan: The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations. It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between human rights, on the one hand,and the violation of these rights on the other hand. It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts, and those who treat them like human beings. What we see today is not a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash, but compete.

Male Arab Muslim Interviewer: I understand from your words that what is happening today is a clash between the culture of the West, and the backwardsness and ignorance of the Muslims?

Wafa Sultan: Yes, that is what I mean.

Interviewer: Who came up with the concepts of a clash of civilizations? Was it not Samuel Huntington? It was not Bin Laden! I would like to discuss the issue if you don't mind...

Wafa Sultan: The Muslims are the ones who began using this expression. The Muslims are the ones who began the clash of civilizations. The prophet of Islam said: "I was ordered to fight the people until they believed in Allah and His Messenger." When the Muslims divided the people into Muslims and non-Muslims, and called to fight the others until they believe in what they themselves believe, they started this clash, and began this war. In order to stop this war, they must reexamine their Islamic books and curricula, which are full of calls for takfir and fighting the infidels. My colleague has said that he never offends other people's beliefs. What civilization on the face of the earth allows him to call other people by names they did not choose for themselves? Once, he calls them Ahl Al-Dhimma, another time he calls them "People of the Book," and yet another time he compares them to apes and pigs, or he calls the Christians "those who incur Allah's wrath." Who told you they are "People of the Book"? They are not the People of the Book, they are people of many books. All the useful scientific books that you have today are theirs, the fruit of their free and creative thinking. What gives you the right to call them "those who incur Allah's wrath," or "those who have gone astray," and then come here and say that your religion commands you to refrain from offending the beliefs of others? I am not a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew. I am a secular human being. I do not believe in the supernatural, but I respect others' right to believe in it.

Male Arab Muslim Colleague she refers to: Are you a heretic?... Are you a heretic?

Wafa Sultan: You can say whatever you like. I am a secular human being who does not believe in the supernatural...

Male Colleague: If you are a heretic, there is no point in rebuking you, since you have blasphemed against Islam, the Prophet, and the Koran...

Wafa Sultan: These are personal matters that do no concern you! Brother, you can believe in stones as long as you don't throw them at me. You are free to worship whoever you want, but other peoples beliefs are not your concern, whether they believe that the Messiah is God, son of Mary, or that Satan is God, son of Mary. Let people have their beliefs. The Jews have come from the tragedy (of the Holocaust), and forced the world to respect them, with their knowledge, not with their terror, with their work, not their crying and yelling. Humanity owes most of the discoveries and science of the 19th and 20th centuries to Jewish scientists. 15 million people, scattered throughout the world, united and won their rights through work and knowledge. we have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people. The Muslims have turned three Buddha statues into rubble. We have not seen a single Buddhist burn down a Mosque, kill a Muslim or burn down an embassy. Only Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people and destroying embassies. this path will not yield any results! The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them.

My apologies

2009-01-07T17:34:00.003-07:00

I'm very distracted lately and it's kept me from posting much of anything on here. I've been working on writing something. Something longer than 4 inches of computer monitor. It has me completely wrapped up. I hope you're all still interested in returning to check in on me, when I come up for air. If there's anything you're wondering about, want to know, want me to write about Some examples might be "Wonder-Rachel, what's your favorite color?" or "Wonder-Rachel, what are your views on trigger-lock laws" etc. ... Leave a comment and maybe I'll be able to find some inspiration from your suggestions and write a few computer-inches on the topic!

Intentions for 2009

2009-01-04T16:10:00.001-07:00

New Years Resolutions always seem to be promises of weight loss that are forgotten by February. Since I don't need to lose weight and I'm not a huge fan of purposeful failure, I usually try not to make resolutions. That and I can never seem to think of anything good till well after New Years, at which point I feel like I've missed some sort of deadline. Like my resolution would mean nothing if I wasn't working on it all of the years 365 days.

But I believe in the power of intention, as you may know or might have guessed from a previous election post. So, inspired by a great New Years post written by my online blog buddy OGUN, I've decided to state a few intentions for the next year.

1. I intend to make more eye-contact when conversing with others.

2. I intend to work on my writing project weekly.

3. I intend to work on the constant job of de-cluttering my house weekly.

4. I intend to finish painting our walls.

5. Would it be pushing it to say I intend to get a new fridge? LOL

Wonder-Rachel has no office PC

2008-12-31T18:26:00.004-07:00

I had to go into work today. My laptop got infected a few days ago. So today I appeared in the back corner/dungeon area occupied by our awesome IT Department. Steve spied me and asked how I was doing.

"I caught a virus" I told him.

He groaned but dutifully jumped right on my laptop and cleaned it right up - with all the typical IT awesomeness I mentioned before (Please don't confuse IT with GSD - they are both supposed to solve our technical difficulties here at work but the Global Service Desk doesn't do shit).

Anyway, still... I was just a teeny bit disappointed that when I said I caught a virus, he didn't make some crude joke about using protection. I would have - I'm so not PC.

Eight is Enough (not a smiley post)

2008-12-29T10:37:00.001-07:00

I guess eight years is enough time to put a face on why I started hating Christmas. I could at least try to think about it in concrete terms for once. Especially since this year I've decided to stop hating it - today couldn't be a better day to say why I started.

First, in December of 2000 I moved to California. I had really stepped outside the church by this time - not just in little actions here & there, but in real thought and belief. Even after my affair, divorce, 2nd marriage & Dante's birth I still went to church pretty regularly I know, why the fuck would I bother at that point?. Maybe I was amazed & grateful that I hadn't been excommunicated after my affair with Michael. Maybe I felt some obligation to show that gratitude with further attendance. And for a long time I wasn't consciously aware yet how far off my beliefs were growing. When I went to California it was a severing. I didn't leave a forwarding address, I didn't contact my new ward, attend meetings, I was fully into my new job at that point and in CA the money was very different than in Seattle so I didn't need financial assistance from the church, even without Michael working - at all. So I very clearly walked away from the god of my girlhood days at that point. I've never taken to hypocrisy so it wouldn't be long before I started questioning the Christmas celebration & my place in it anyway.

And now the subconscious correlation of a seemingly unrelated event: Scotty, my step-dad, died eight years ago today. Which is probably the second reason I don't like Christmas much. To add to it, he loved Christmas like no one I know. He was the only parent I knew who was awake before his kids on Christmas morning & wanting to get us to the presents ASAP.

In the late 90s my family (Mom, Scotty, Jesse & I) lived in Seattle, but eventually everyone moved away: Mom was in Indiana. Jesse was in Missouri. Dad, Ramona & Kristiina were still here in Utah where I was NOT returning. Then Scotty went to California to help his sister with Betty-Grandma in 98 and I was the last one left in WA for two years. Michael, Dante & I moved to Ventura, CA on December 12, 2000 where his parents lived - 100 miles from where Scotty had moved to Westminster - just 17 days before he died.

It was unreal. I dropped the phone and walked away after my mom told me he was dead and locked myself in the bathroom. I didn't even hang up the call. I think I didn't want to acknowledge the call had even happened. It still doesn't seem real sometimes. Even a little over two years ago when I found out I was pregnant with Noah - there was a moment where my impulse was - call Scotty. He'll be so excited. It's happened a lot over the years. You get the impulse to call. Then - a couple seconds delay - then Oh yes, he's dead. And it hurts all over again. And no amount of better-place or see-him-again or he's-with-us-in-spirit or remember-the-good-times bullshit can make the pain of loss of a parent feel any better. Even eight years later. So maybe that's part of why I don't get super-excited at Christmas time.

But I'm done hating Christmas, and I'll celebrate along with everyone else. It may not be on December 25th, since Dante is always with his dad that day, but at least I promise not to try to kill Santa anymore. Maybe now that I know why I hate it so much , I'll be able to separate that event from the holiday that falls so close.

The Red & Green Xmas Survey

2008-12-19T00:14:00.002-07:00

A few weeks ago I had begun to author an entertaining post about my decision to finally murder Santa. It went along the lines of my usual Christmas rant: I'm not Christian, I certainly don't want to celebrate the commercial aspect of the holiday... thus, exactly what am I celebrating? Anyone who knows me has heard me complain about my personal/religious/family/community conflicts surrounding the holidays. Well Anthony and I had a very intellectual and enlightened discussion about the whole thing and decided we wouldn't teach Noah about Santa. Dante is so close to figuring it all out anyway I figure now was the perfect year to murder Santa.

Then Noah learned two new words this week: Claus and Ho-Ho-Ho-Ho!

Fuck. Fine. So now I'm resigned to diving headlong into the Santa/baking/giving/celebrating aspect of the holidays foreverafter. And in my attempts to resurrect Santa and the spirit of xmas in my life, I have set a few tasks for myself. The first two are the obvious ones...

PUT UP THE TREE We have little ones, this is a necessity - so we have a tree now and it's very pretty.

BUY & WRAP PRESENTS FOR THE KIDS. Okay so that's pretty much done.
DO SOME XMAS BAKING. This helps me feel like there are some redeeming aspects of the holidays that even I, the heathen, can celebrate. I've done a bit. Hubby has been a big help. And likely I'll crank out a billion cookies after Dante leaves for CA. But this year I won't be able to send any baking with him. Not enough time. I wish I had pictures of the hot cran-apple tartlets I gave to family last night but oh well. Here are the apple-pie tartlets I made last week - good stuff!

POST THAT XMAS SURVEY. So here it is!

If you feel so inclined, gimme your own responses to any of the questions below, or paste the whole damn thing into the comments section & tell me all about yourself! lol I got this from my mom and my husband so I guess it's my turn...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. It takes longer, but I think it looks nicer.
2. Real tree or Artificial? We have an artificial tree we've set up each year, but I do like the smell of real trees.
3. When do you put up the tree? after December 1.
4. When do you take the tree down? A couple of days after we all open our presents. (That's never on Christmas for us - sometimes it's the first week of January. This year, December 22 but we'll likely leave the tree up till after Dante gets back on January 5!)
5. Do you like eggnog? Grocery store eggnog, yes.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Hands down it was the My Little Pony Dream Castle.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Anthony
8. Easiest person to buy for? Dante
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Nope. My own little babies mean more to me than that one, no offense.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Neither. I'm terrible. I'm considering a yearly card in March since xmas means nothing to me but March is when we have all our own birthdays.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Geez I've been trying to come up with an answer to this one for days! Finally I realized I don't really have any memorable least favorite gifts! If someone cares enough to give me a fucking present, I'm damn happy to get it! That's just me.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story of course! "Fra-Gee-Lay! ...must be Italian!"
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? When the money comes in!
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Oh yeah. Gift exchanges are great for that!
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?Pot-roast, rolls & gravy!
16. Lights on your house/apartment? No lights! We've had enough broken bones thanks!
17. Favorite Christmas song? I know I know - I rail against all the CHRISTmas stuff and wonder why I celebrate since I'm not Christian, but I like Still, Still, Still and I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay at home!
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Let's see... You know Candy & Brandy & Lyric & Bunny... Destiny, Kendal & Dylan & Honey... Wait, sorry, those aren't the reindeer!
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star. Angels are kind of too over the top & fluffy-foo-foo.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Whenever the fuck I feel like it! Or whenever fits in with Dante's trip to see his dad.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? All the traffic, wasted ad newspaper & needless consumption.
23. 3 Favorite ornaments? The painted puzzle piece picture frame of Dante that he made in 1st grade, Two red eggs Anthony & I got at the Bennett Grown Grand-children's xmas party and all the bows I made myself.
24. Does your tree have a theme or color? Yes it has two and it alternates each year which one it wears. This year it's in orange & gold tones. Next year, like last year, it will be in Pink. It's beautiful.
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A hand-steamer or a pole for the playroom!

Let the feats of strength begin!

2008-12-16T09:50:00.001-07:00

Festivus is here and the feats of strength have begun. Lately Noah does this thing where he gets into the kitchen pantry & begins pulling all our large Costco size bottles off of the bottom shelf and bringing them to us somewhere else in the house, one by one. This is no small job for a toddler of not-yet-two-years! Anthony said several nights ago: "Yeah, start hauling the bottle of Canola Oil around and then I'll be impressed kid." That's why I snapped a picture of the Feats of Strength collection that took place the very next day while he was at work. Since this picture was taken he has added two more items to his Feats of Strength: Two full 3lb jars of Jif Super Chunk peanut butter. He's a little go-getter. HAPPY FESTIVUS!

Waiting at the Window

2008-12-15T10:03:00.004-07:00

I come from a huge family of Utah Bennetts. When I was a little girl my great grandpa Bennett was still the head of the family and each year at Christmas time there was a huge family party held at McCune Mansion. My grandpa was one of several siblings - the third son of Harold & Emily Bennett. He and my grandma had 8 kids of their own, and his brothers and sisters all had similarly large families. At this time aunts & uncles were adding cousins to my family all the time. The party was huge every year. I remember running all over that mansion, hiding and playing games, causing mischief. We had fancy dinners & wonderful programs there each year. The whole family is very talented, very outspoken and very desirous of the limelight. It was always a boisterous event. And at the end of the night Great Grandpa would always sing a few songs. When Great-Grandpa went on his mission to England in 1919 he brought home 4 song books by A A Milne, all of which are now out of print. The songs were all about Christopher Robin (which I think was A A Milne's sons name) and Great Grandpa sang them to his children as they grew up. Grandpa sang them to my mom and sometimes she'd sing them to us. But really the memories I have are of Great Grandpa Bennett singing them to us at the Bennett family Christmas party. My favorite was Waiting at the Window - a song about two drops of rain. The direction at the beginning of the music isn't legato or andante etc, it tells the performer "fast or slow - depending on which drop is winning" lol
Saturday night me & my cousins gathered at my Grandpa Bennett's house for their third annual Grown Grand children's Christmas party. Grandpa calls himself an actor who sings, not a singer who acts. And each year he has prepared a reading. Last year it was The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins (One of Seuss's few non-rhyming and oldest stories as well as Grandpas favorite). This year he had selected some poetry & I started thinking about Great Grandpa's Christopher Robin songs.
"Grandpa, can you sing?" I asked after he'd finished the poems. I told him I very much miss the song about the two drops of rain. A lot of my younger cousins looked at me like I was smoking crack. But the older ones all nodded smiling & Grandpa went to find the old tattered music book to be sure he got the words just right.
He sand Waiting at the Window and Vespers. I cried just a teeny bit. It was great. Then I kicked myself all the way home for not pulling out my camera and recording the little ditties for YouTube. I'm an idiot. But here is the poem by A A Milne for anyone interested. I wish I could post the song.

WAITING AT THE WINDOW

by A.A. Milne

These are my two drops of rain
Waiting on the window-pane.
I am waiting here to see
Which the winning one will be.

Both of them have different names.
One is John and one is James.
All the best and all the worst
Comes from which of them is first.

James has just begun to ooze.
He's the one I want to lose.
John is waiting to begin.
He's the one I want to win.

James is going slowly on.
Something sort of sticks to John.
John is moving off at last.
James is going pretty fast.

John is rushing down the pane.
James is going slow again.
James has met a sort of smear.
John is getting very near.

Is he going fast enough?
(James has found a piece of fluff.)
John has quickly hurried by.
(James was talking to a fly.)

John is there, and John has won!
Look! I told you! Here's the sun!

Bitches go down

2008-12-11T23:04:00.006-07:00

Real Instant Message sent into my team chat room tonight, by me:
I don't usually work tonight but I always get emails that system maintenance happens Thursdays and our work tools go down.

[10:22:00 PM] Rachel says: So is this bitch gonna go down on me tonight?
[10:22:13 PM] Rachel says: The tool I mean.
[10:22:19 PM] Jake says: haha
[10:22:36 PM] Rachel says: Oh! sorry, wrong window!
[10:22:52 PM] Jake says: (rofl)
[10:24:46 PM] Jane says: LMAO

Meanwhile in the next room (or rather the window I meant to say that in):

[10:23:16 PM] Rachel says: I'm laughing so fucking hard I'm crying.
[10:23:35 PM] Rachel says: wow that was... embarrassing.
[10:23:41 PM] Maximo says: lol, what?
[10:23:45 PM] Rachel says: look in team chat.
[10:24:07 PM] Maximo says: lmfao
[10:24:18 PM] Maximo says: that's the best ever
[10:25:03 PM] Maximo says: wow
[10:25:23 PM] Maximo says: that is so awesome
[10:25:46 PM] Maximo says: my head is hurting, Rachel
[10:26:41 PM] Rachel says: I hadn't noticed it was the wrong window yet. If Jake hadn't said haha, I probably would have cracked some joke about you asking yourself the same question.
[10:27:56 PM] Maximo says: I don't think I can work the rest of the night. I seriously think I might just sit here.

Wow. I don't know what more I could possibly say to top the genius that is spontaneous-me.

Why I Hate The Snow - Episode 2

2008-12-09T09:41:00.005-07:00

I'm one of the lucky ones. I get to work from home 9 out of every 10 shifts. Twice a month I have to go in to the office. And since I work a swing shift and my bosses are off and heading home by the time I've been there a while, I can usually drive home on my lunch break and finish the night here. So even then I still get to work the second half of my shift in PJs and then endure a ten second hallway commute to roll into bed. Ah, the good life. My window scraper has probably been used less than a dozen times since I started working from home over two years ago.

My wonderful husband is not so lucky. He gets up early every day and leaves at 7:30am to drive into the office. Then at 5pm he jumps into that commuter mess and heads home in time to see me already working and spend the rest of night playing Mr Mom while I watch & comment, confined to my office in the loft. Yep, he's an incredible man. And now that it's cold and snowy, he deserves to park his car in our garage. I mean, we've got one, why not use it for at least one of our cars? No one can fault a man for not wanting to leave his car out in this nasty weather to risk powder burial every night. But it does put me in mind of my second why I hate the snow experience of the year...

Why I Hate The Snow: The loud garage door directly under the boys' room wakes up Noah the minute his dad leaves for work in the morning and my sleep goes from seven hours down to six.

Why I Hate The Snow (the first)

Faithless Fuckers

2008-12-08T12:17:00.004-07:00

Last week my husband and I were indulging in a little late night DVR. Our two favorite shows are Dexter & Californication: We record them on Sunday night & watch them on Thursday night. I look forward to 9:30pm all day long lemme tell ya.

So last week both my two favorite shows busted out my favorite word.

Fucker

Yep. I know. Powerful huh? So powerful, sometimes it just needs it's own line.

When I was three or four years old I had picked up this new word and decided I was going to teach it to all the little kids in the area. It was fucker. Specifically fucker. Not fuck or fucked or fucking. Fucker. Specifically. It's one of those very few very early memories I can still see clearly in my mind. I remember creeping my tiny 2 foot something tall body quietly past the enormous bathroom door as my huge mommy curled her hair far away up in the air. I remember trying to be very quiet. I remember getting to the porch and feeling relief. I don't really remember gathering the neighborhood kids around me. That stuff wasn't nearly as exciting and tension filled as making it outside. Anyway of course my mom heard it all from her spot in front of the bathroom mirror. That tiny little house on Jefferson Street probably wasn't more than 750 square feet total. So no matter how long the hallway past my mom seemed in my short-legged little three-year-old memories, the bathroom could not have been very far from the porch.

So back to the television appearance of my favorite word...

Dexter is having a hell of a time trying to figure out what to do with the unwanted partner-in-crime he's found in ADA Miguel Prado. Meanwhile Miguel's wife has decided he must be cheating on her. So while he's trying to cover his tracks with Lieutenant LaGuerta, Sylvia shows up and assumes he's cheating with his old flame Maria. They confront on the lawn and Sylvia screams Fucker!! I agree. Even if he wasn't really cheating on you. I mean, come on people. Is his being there to cover up a murder any better?

And this week on Californication Hank walked in on a tender little tete-a-tete between his flame Karen & his slimy buddy Ashby. Fucker!! he shouts. And then proceeds to wreck the apartment as he chases the offender down.

All very entertaining. I was giddy to hear my specifically favorite swear word prominently showcased in both my favorite programs. I was also interested to observe that both uses were in love-triangle instances. I suppose love and sex bring out our most animalistic tendencies and words.

And for a moment I shall beat a dead horse...

2008-12-07T09:01:00.006-07:00

So if you've been reading a while you may remember a post I wrote, My Letter to Voters, back in October. It was inspired by a post a friend of mine sent around to pray every night at 6pm (pacific) about the presidential election. It wasn't directly about Prop 8 like some of my later posts were, but as time went on, my communication with my friend centered more & more around Prop 8 than around the election. I think she took a much more Gods-Will-Be-Done stance on the presidential race and didn't say much. But she was very clear about her support for Prop 8 for the duration (she lives in CA), and it was clear she assumed she KNEW Gods will and it was fully in favor of banning gay marriage, without question.

Her MySpace page was full of YouTube clips and anecdotes about the evils of Gay Marriage lessons in schools for weeks. I can understand where this was coming from. She's highly religious, faithful, a mother to small children... I get it. It bothered me that she was being so closed-minded and, I felt, actively discriminating. But at some point you have to agree to disagree. So it goes, if we can be reasonable people we can let go of differences and remain friends with people we have so little in common with. After the election she posted some praise god notes about how marriage was saved and god was victorious etc etc.

Two days ago she posted another story. It was titled "What do you mean WE?!" and went on to tell a story of her pastor. He was driving one evening and saw a remaining Prop 8 yard sign and said "Thank you God, we won." And God responded "What do you mean WE?! From my point of view, it was all you." He goes on to explain that God pointed out how everyone was so focused on protecting the children, no one considered the hate & pain they were spreading and all the Gays who were now hurting because of their actions. She wrapped it up by saying how this struck her and she wanted everyone to go out and listen and pray with and care for another fellow child of God, and let them know you care about their pain.

I wanted to light myself on fire.

What have I been trying to tell you for WEEKS?!?!?!

Two things come to mind:

1-How nice of you to say effectually "Okay, now that I've won and my own interests are safe, I can safely (& uselessly) sympathize with your plight."

2-You just thought of the pain you might be causing other people NOW?! YOUR OWN FUCKING BROTHER IS GAY! AND YOU JUST THOUGHT OF IT NOW?!"

Wow. I just can hardly believe the obliviousness of some people. After previous related posts I emailed my friend and let her know I had posted something, would like for her to read it and hoped she would understand my position as well. She even commented some, though I didn't change her mind obviously. Anyway, today I won't bother linking her to my blog. No sense in letting her know how asinine I think that whole post was, or how I'm seriously in danger of spontaneous combustion due to a lack of logic employed by some people these days.

Related Posts:
My Letter to Voters Posted Mid October
No on Prop 8 Posted late October
In the wake of Prop 8 Posted early November

Well they've got us by the balls now

2008-12-04T19:36:00.005-07:00

Quote me on that.

I thought the moment called for some profound words. I was perusing our take-home copy of my first-ever home purchase loan. Looking at my own loopy signature there on the pages so many pages, those were the profound words. If I hadn't been on the phone with my sister at the moment Anthony handed the packet to me, it likely would have gone more like this: Well those fuckers got us by the balls now.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited. Happy to have our house back - to have the house back in our names (and mine actually on it this time around)! Happy, despite the fact that with property values in UT finally dipping like the rest of the country, we'll likely be upside down on our loan soon enough. Happy despite the dripping water heater and the fridge that can't keep a bulb lit I should have RC Willey on speed dial with how many appliances have given out & will go out in the near future at our house. I'm happy that the threadbare carpet, dingy paint and bare wood stairs are mine. All our half-finished home improvement projects might actually find a bit more inspiration coming from me in the months ahead now that it all belongs to me again.

What a strange and mixed emotion is owning a home. But to be sure, the phrase applies: They've got us by the balls now.

A Feast with the Beasts - our Thanksgiving day at Hogle Zoo

2008-12-03T21:47:00.005-07:00

Thanksgiving day dawned gray and wet, but we had a date for a Feast with the Beasts so we bundled up and headed to Noah's favorite place: Hogle Zoo!

There, we met up with my Dad who delivered to us my cutie niece Meghan - we were without Dante (in CA again) and she was boarding with my parents for a week while my sister & her husband went on a cruise (poor suckers - Fun & sun... but no Pumpkin Stomp!) and my two other nieces stayed with a different grandma, so we thought we'd drag her along with us. I think she loved it.

So armed with umbellas, we headed for the elephant habitat, where they were said to be stomping pumkins at 10am sharp. And they were...

Apparently this is yummy stuff for elephants cuz they chowed down!

Next stop: the great apes - for yummy Thanksgiving pie (well, I didn't taste it but I'm sure it was delicious)!

And this curious little monkey got a paper mache turkey

He wasn't sure what to make of it at first. He snuck up, took a swing at the mysterious object and jumped back as it rolled off the pedestal.

Then he quickly reached inside and yanked out some chopped veggies to munch on.

Meghan was squeeling with delight over the little monkey while Noah was staring in awe of the huge orangutan in the next habitat. She was getting her own thanksgiving treats and impressing the crowd with her strength by shaking her climbing tree with all her might.

And on our way by, Meghan & I still got a peek at the orangutan.

The rhinos are always a favorite but they never seem to be close enough to get a good look at them (see Zebra shot below)!

But we got lucky on Thanksgiving and both Noah and Meghan were happy to see them munching hay so close to the observation window.

Noah even gave an excited squeely "why-wo!" to impress us.
Both mountain lions were up and pacing. I was sad Dante wasn't there to see them. They're his favorite.

Up at the Asian Highlands habitat the tigers were getting pumpkins too.

And it was SO crowded at this point, we didn't get any more pictures of the cats! But Noah managed to spend a fair amount of time with his favorite big cats:

The statues. Hehehee

Some other favorites we saw:
The giraffes,

a grassy-ass black bear,

and the aforementioned shy zebras.

A favorite we did NOT see: The Red Panda. My favorite and so shy! But it was getting cold & windy so we decided we'd had our fill. We hit the Conservation Carousel and then headed back to my parents for some turkey dinner of our own!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Precious Moments

2008-11-26T14:51:00.005-07:00

My boys are 8 years apart but they're pretty good buds - they'll be 10 & 2 this spring. Dante goes away every month to visit his dad in California. It's been interesting and a little sad to see my baby recognize the absence and miss his "big bubba" each time Dante goes. And there is a definite change in him. I think he likes the alone time with Mommy, but I can tell he misses his brother too.

Today I called Dante to check on him since he was home alone at their condo while his dad worked. We were talking and then I said "Hey Noah, you wanna talk to Bubba?" His face lit up and he reached for the phone, grinning ear to ear. He got the phone to his ear and squeeled "Hi!" which is the first time he's ever said anything to the voice in the phone! Dante laughed and talked to him for a second and Noah answered with some long crazy baby-talk! He even said Bye when I told him to. It was so sweet - the first time he decides to really talk on the phone is with his far-away brother. I cried a teeny bit.

COLDPLAY!

2008-11-25T10:09:00.003-07:00

Yeah, I went to Coldplay on Saturday night. Since this is a busy week and I don't think I'll have much time to post, I thought I'd at least get up these awesome shots of the show. I am truly a photographic genius.
This is the band on the main stage, and some laser action there across the middle:

This is the band on a little side stage. The floor was lit up disco style and they had a piano there... can you see it? The little box on the light box - lower right:

And near the end of the show they all ran off stage & reappeared at the back of the stadium. They ran up into the stands where there were 4 empty seats, a few instruments and a microphone. The spotlight followed them up into the stands and they played 3 songs there near the back. Chris said it was the part where they all played instruments they didn't know how to play (all but one guy who he said can play anything). He said it would sound terrible but be full of passion & soul. It was fun.

It was a really good time. I've seen 4 other shows at Energy Solutions arena: The Cure, Def Leopard, Oingo Boingo & Pearl Jam. I'm not a huge fan of the venue since typically the sound quality sucks, but it was a damn good show. I had a damn good time.
Here's me & Anthony in the stands in the dark. I know, I should really sell these photos to a magazine huh?

Relativism & Recycling

2008-11-18T14:18:00.004-07:00

I've always had a very live-&-let-live attitude. I have my areas of high standard - I don't think they coincide with most traditional ideas on morality, but I've got them. Recycling for example: I am ashamed of how little we as a society recycle. I try to recycle anything and everything they'll take at our curb. Even still I include myself in this judgment.

Really most of the things I judge harshly are my own behaviors, as opposed to those of others. Maybe you could say I've always felt we live in glass houses. So because of this, obviously I would never judge anyone for falling short of moral targets I've never bothered aiming at myself. Examples of this might be premarital sex done it, don't give a damn who else does it, who cares - even though my parents tried to raise me that way or keeping the sabbath holy Sundays are the ONLY day to brave Costco here in SLC!, etc etc. Never thought less of anyone who indulges in the same things I do, or who indulges in their own set of personally questionable practices.

But the other day I was at Costco (on Sunday) thinking about how here in the valley (I hear it's a slower more Utahish Sunday if you visit a Costco further north or south in Provo) there's not a whole lot of difference between Sundays & other days. I remember my sister telling me they always go to Costco on Sunday, then park their car in the garage & sneak all the groceries in the back door so their neighbors won't see them shopping on Sunday my parents church lessons held on my sister in a way they obviously didn't hold on me. I think I know a lot of church-goers that do this. So I started to wonder... If someone CLAIMS the moral high ground (not saying my sister does this, she's very cool about our differing ideas/ideals), feels superior, saved, whatever - should I be able to hold them to a higher standard than I hold myself? If someone professes to believe that God has given them commandments not suggestions - commandments. and they believe in him and this whole heaven & after-life thing, but then they do all the things I might do - shopping on Sundays, shagging a non-husband (before I was married obviously) etc, shouldn't I think less of that? Shouldn't I be right to see that they're holding themselves to an ideal that they then choose not to live up to?

I'm not saying I do think this way even now that I've made the observation. I still think I live in a glass house. But it puts me in a questioning philosophical sort of mood nonetheless. I'd really like to hear what other people think of all this. Are you disappointed by people who don't live up to the standards they profess? What if we were great friends out to lunch and I told you that 40% of land-fill waste is recyclable paper This is one of my favorite pet-stats and I do tell it to my friends often - then you came to my house and saw that I didn't have a recycle can. Shouldn't you think less of me? I do have a recycle can btw.

Finding Nemo In My Living Room (and asian cartoon warriors on my front lawn)

2008-11-10T10:27:00.005-07:00

So I know I'm a little late with the Halloween post, but in my defense, I came down with an awful flu bug ON Halloween so I've been recovering since then and hey, I can only post so much! So the week before Halloween we took the boys (and my sister and her three girls) to Hogle Zoo for Boo at the Zoo trick or treating. It was a lot of fun, and more crowded than I've ever seen it. My husband read an article that said attendance at the zoo that day hit a record high, breaking the record set years earlier when ZCMI hosted a free-all-day event.
It wasn't a huge costume production for us: we threw their costumes on, tried to leave as many accessories at home, skipped hair & makeup and headed for the zoo. Dante was Inuyasha, Meghan (niece #1) was Mulan, Anna (niece #2) was Sleeping Beauty,

Eloise (Niece #3) was a dalmatian (who didn't like her hood very much)

and Noah was Nemo.

We didn't even worry about hair-combing. And little Anna, my spit-fire niece that reminds me so much of myself, had to wear a shirt under her off-the-shoulder Sleeping Beauty dress or flash the world her little girl chest.

It was a fun day, even if it was so crowded we could barely breathe. At least we didn't get parking tickets like so many others!

For real trick-or-treating, the kids were a bit more polished (I know the date on this picture isn't Halloween: Dante & Meghan dressed up in full regalia for the Utah Symphony event they go to each year and it was the only picture I had since Dante went to CA to see his dad again this year - like every year).
Dante wants me to post this picture because you can see his sword Tessaiga:

But I like this one better because you can see their faces:

Noah didn't love getting his face painted but he seemed to tolerate it well enough. His first night of trick-or-treating was great fun. He started to get the idea about half way through. "Okay, they give me candy and I wave bye-bye and move on to the next house for more candy. I can do that."

He got a ton of candy, most of which mysteriously disappeared while he slept (Wonder-Rachel says as she innocently wipes chocolate from her face), and I think by next year he'll know how to say "Trick or Treat" on his own.
So despite my own flu-bug misery & the near rain we had to worry about, I think the kids had a great time this year.

Why I Hate The Snow

2008-11-07T11:02:00.005-07:00

To my regular readers: this will be a fun little mini-series that will appear throughout the next several months. I will post items in no particular order.

Today I went downstairs to do my daily load of laundry - this is the only way I manage to get it done. My husband of course is a laundry saint. So if I want to be any help at all, I have to employ the one-a-day method through the week. As I was pulling laundry out of the basket, sorting into piles of white, pink & red, blue & black, green & brown, nasty towels... I heard my cat Pilar meowing at me from the door. "Hello kitty" I said as I heaped laundry around the room. She daintily picked her way through the piles to the back corner where her littler box was sitting: not exactly clean, severely lacking in sand, and dormant all these past warm months. She meowed again and I was hit with the first example of the season.

Why I Hate The Snow: Pilar is going to want me to start scooping her littler-box again.

This is my beautiful white calico kitty Pilar where she made herself comfortable in a drawer I forgot to close a couple weeks ago. I love her dearly but I'm still not sure the litter scooping is worth it.

In the wake of Proposition 8

2008-11-06T08:03:00.005-07:00

"Common sense, and concern for the common good, trumped ideology, bigotry and power politics here in California," said Brian Brown, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage in California.

Okay, supporters of Proposition 8 have every right to be pleased right now I suppose. But that doesn't mean they can discard the definitions of words and say whatever the hell they want and think they're making sense at all.

Ideology was not trumped with the passage of Prop 8. This twisted ideology of what religious freaks think marriage should be is what won the day out there.

Bigotry was not trumped! Bigotry won the day.

big⋅ot⋅ry
1. stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own.
2. the actions, beliefs, prejudices, etc., of a bigot.

Proposition 8 is the definition of bigotry!

Power Politics was certainly not trumped here! The campaign was won plain and simple, by the side with more money. Just as every campaign is won. Supporters of Proposition 8 were louder and spent more money. Not enough people came out against 8 soon enough to make a difference. The fear campaign initiated by Yes on 8 was enormous, ubiquitous and complete. And complete bullshit. Even here in Utah I heard all about it - saw more than I wanted to see.

Here is my question: How is that those who think homosexuality is wrong can spend years denouncing gays for their promiscuous lifestyle, then turn around and deny them the right to legitimize their relationships? The two ideas completely oppose one another! And why is it that religious groups want government to stay out of schools when school prayer is at stake, but when marriage curriculum becomes an issue (which quite possibly isn't actually an issue, just another fear tactic used by Proposition 8 supporters), now government should step in and dictate that schools teach only heterosexual marriage?

Another awesome quote from Brian Brown, apparently a man who didn't pass English in high school: "Government did not create marriage, and neither politicians nor legislators have the right to redefine its basic meaning,"

Interesting Mr Brown... so asking the state of California to impose a constitutional amendment isn't involving government in the definition of marriage? This guy's an idiot.

The situation is this: Homosexual couples and families are reality. To say they can't get married does nothing to stop them from becoming couples and families. So now Christians are not performing some noble act of ridding the world of an abomination. They're merely in the business of destroying families. How ironic.

Well if more than half of California (and Arizona and Florida - I'm really disgusted at this point) wants to deny homosexual couples the right to commit their lives to their partners in a sacred and ceremonial way, they've succeeded, for now. But lets call a spade a spade: They're bigots. Plain and simple.

Update: I just emailed this directly to Brian Brown.

I'm overjoyed

2008-11-05T13:05:00.003-07:00

I was working last night so I had my headphones plugged into my computer to listen to streaming coverage as the election results came in. It got exciting for me when they announced Ohio. I've heard the statistic before that no candidate has ever won without Ohio, so that sparked a little more excitement in me just as it did everyone gathering at Grant Park. No surprise about who Utah's electoral votes went to. I will hold back all my usual anti-Utah-spew this time - just know it's all still there in my heart waiting to be shared. But really who needs Utah's electoral votes anyway? My two other home states came through for me to push Obama over the top! I love you Washington and California! And of course you too Oregon - I may even make you home next! My husband came rushing into my office from his TV coverage to tell me, right about the same time I heard it on my internet coverage. We were overjoyed! So I waited till 10pm far later than I should have taken my lunch break and clocked out to watch Obamas victory speech. - listening would not be enough. He inspires me every time I hear him speak. I believe in what he says. I feel his passion. I share it. I cried. I'm a crier, so what? And I had goose bumps all over my body as he told the story of our history. The story of America telling the world Yes We Can! ...damnit, here I go again with the water-works! I really believe we can do some amazing things if we can find a way to care for each other and work with each other. I've always hated partisan bullshit and along with all my hopes for our future, I guess my all-encompassing hope is that we can come together as one people to affect change in our country. I don't see it happening any other way. But I know it can happen. And I know this election marks a huge change in our history. It makes me proud to know that my boys will grow up in this reality of diversity and tolerance. I know our nation has a long way to come away from racism but this truly is a huge step forward. And I'm so grateful I have this to be proud of - I don't know if I could face the rest of the world if we'd elected McCain. But while we celebrate we can't forget that the road ahead is beyond challenging and daunting. It is downright frightening. Our president-elect faces a host of misery, and we must all be patient and do our part to take this country back to its roots of being a country - as he quoted - "of the people, by the people and for the people". And I do have high hopes that this is completely possible!

Yes, I voted - and it feels so good!

2008-11-04T11:29:00.006-07:00

To really get into it, sing that title to the tune of Reunited and it Feels So Good
I voted today! Got the boys up (well Noah was up at 6am cranky & sniffly), got us all dressed and fed, piled us all into the car and drove through the snow to the elementary school down the street. Noah isn't feeling well (he has the cold I'm just getting over - poor baby) so that was kind of a nightmare. He was extra cranky and so needed to carry both Beeya (his Bear) AND Ooh-ooh (his monkey) all over with him. Not easy for a 95 pound girl to haul around 25 pounds of puffy-coated baby clutching two stuffed animals! LOL But I did it and I'm pretty excited. My ex-husband would be shocked and mortified to know I voted all democrat this time. Hm, I guess it's no surprise we're not so compatible anymore huh (wow that's the understatement of the year).

I voted for Barak Obama (obviously) and I'm pretty excited now. I also voted to issue bonds to raise funds for Hogle Zoo and Tracey Aviary. I have so many great childhood memories at both those places, and my boys really love going to the zoo. We're regular visitors. :)

Now it's like Christmas Eve... will I get what I want? Have to wait and see... oh the anticipation!!

This is a way cute video of Noah - he's in love with the polar bear on our Renew the Zoo campaign sign. We had to preserve it for posterity. Ironically he had his own agenda this time. Most times he loved to go through naming every last part on the bear face over & over.

Dracula versus The Hunchback

2008-10-30T13:19:00.005-06:00

So this Friday & Saturday are the last two chances to see Dracula versus the Hunchback at The Off Broadway Theatre in Salt Lake City. Hubby & I went last week and it was really awesome. Fantastic spoof comedy, fun audience participation... It was great. And whenever I go back to the OBT I have a great time. I used to work the candy bar & box office in high school & right after HS I met Hubby there. Now years later my brother is in shows there & it's so much fun to go back. I love to see Eric & Sandy, and seeing Jesse act with Eric like our dad used to do is really great.
So I got a few pictures in the lobby.

Dracula!

The Hunchback!

The Hunchback, Esmerelda & Jenny

I have to say that Jenny was a side part but probably the best one in the show (sorry Jesse! - I love you!) She was hilarious! Both Hubby and I were riveted to her antics every moment that she was on stage!

Me & my baby brother, the hunchback sorry about the flash - big shiny metal behind us!

The Cupcake Charade

2008-10-29T09:11:00.002-06:00

I decided to make cupcakes last week for Dante's soccer party. I let Dante & his friend Tyler ride their bikes to the store for cake mix & frosting because when I say MAKE cupcakes I mean by adding oil, eggs and water of course. I'm not my sister after all. And I got the awesome idea of frosting them red since they are Team Inferno with red jerseys.
I hit a snag when I found the box made 24 cups and I had a one dozen pan. So I knocked on a few doors around the neighborhood but no one was home. Except Jill. So I gathered my courage and knocked on the door (Jill and I don't get along ever since she said Dante broke her Santa yard sign and I slammed my door in her face). We played nice like all hateful women do, and I asked to borrow a muffin pan for the boys soccer party (Yeah it helps that Joey is on the team too). Amazingly she didn't have a single muffin pan. Is that strange? I don't know. But she had bread pans galore and was happy to loan them to me. So I took them and decided I'd make do.
Dante helped crack the eggs and they both helped me rinse the dishes.

Noah looks like he got a little drunk on cupcake batter:

And then he got very mad when it was all gone.

There were 12 in my muffin pan and 6 cups nestled perfectly into two large bread pans. After 15 minutes in the oven I pulled out 12 perfect cupcakes and 2 loafs of cake. A dozen round and a dozen that needed to be pulled apart around a bunch of fallen squared muffin cups.

Once they were cooling we set to making red frosting. HAHAHAHAHA! Let me just say that no matter what you do, if you start with white frosting, and you use red food coloring, you're going to get pink. Period.

The good news: not one of the boys at the soccer party gave a damn that their treats were bright pink. I was going to get a picture of them eating them happily to prove my success, but it just happened too fast. I blinked and all the cupcakes were gone.

Yay! Look what I got!

2008-10-27T23:17:00.003-06:00

So Sus has awarded me with the:

Apparently I must share my 6 favorite things to keep my award & status. So...
These are a few of my favorite things:

First!
My boys - I love their smiles. I love their laughter. I love the smell of their heads after a bath. I love the way they look when they're sleeping. There is absolutely nothing in the world that can make me feel the way I feel when I'm with them.

Second!
My husband - I know, how unoriginal I'm being. But I can't help it, it's true. He's amazing. He makes me laugh, he keeps me sane (I was about to say calm, but there are times when no one alive can accomplish that! lol), he's totally hot! ...what? ...it's true.

(the next 4 are in no particular order)
Third!
My tweezers - I have two pair of Tweezerman tweezers. I recommend these above all other brands. One, they're simply far superior to any Maybeline or La Cross crap you'll buy for half the price (you get what you pay for), and two, they offer lifetime free re-sharpening (if you pay shipping to send them in). I've come to feel like my tweezers are an extension of my fingers. I really go crazy when I can't find them.

Fourth!
Books - I escape in books. I can only imagine where life would be without them! Mine personally would be very dull. And obviously without books in general, life would be nothing like it is today. Maybe we'd all still be scratching on cave walls, I don't know.

Fifth!
The Internet - Man! Do you remember having to go to the library to find things out? It's hard to believe that even up through High School I couldn't just sit down at a computer and find virtually any piece of information I was curious about. What was that movie that one guy was in? imdb.com here I come. How high a fever is too high? WebMD you are my friend. Directions to a friends? How late is that new restaurant open and while you're at it, what's on the menu? Seems like there's nothing you can't find online these days.

Sixth!
Bed - I love to crawl into my soft white sheets after a long day and feel my body sink into the mattress. It feels so good to get horizontal and snuggle down under my fluffy covers.

There's so much more. Despite all my "issues" I really love life. I'm passionate & animated (at least I think) and I bet I could fill a list with SIXTY of my favorite things without breaking a sweat, so these six are really just a surface-scratching. But that was fun. :)

And so ends the tale...

2008-10-23T20:53:00.003-06:00

Tuesday I came home from the Ped's with the boys and there was an evil baby spider lurking between my doorknob and door frame. It peered at me with tiny little beady eyes (I say tiny but really how tiny could they have been if I was able to see them?!) He was dark and hairy with an orange spot. He had little chomper fangs - ew I shiver just thinking of the little menace now.
Well obviously I didn't want to get my hand near him so I kind of kicked at the door a little bit. This was a brilliant idea (as far as safety of the SPIDER is concerned) since my foot is far too large to get between the knob and the frame, and he is far too small to be squashed by a huge athletic shoe banging against the doorknob far above his head. So I settled for alarming him with my furious foot-banging until he ran down the door - to get away from the noise I think. Then I grabbed the knob, opened my door (to make more room for my big foot on the small door-step) and began a vigorous stomping campaign. Stomp and miss. STOMP! - and another miss. Now he was making a break for the edge of the porch! I could see him running for the shelter of the railing and the bush. One more quick as lightening STOMP right at the edge of my porch... But oh so sad for me - the spider hater - not fast enough. He was down over the side and safe in the shadows.
Yesterday I came back from the Gyn's (yes it was a week of Drs appointments here at our house) and who is there to greet me? My nemesis the hairy evil baby spider. Hangin' out between the knob and the frame again! Oh. I. don't. think. so! I grabbed a vine from the bush that's constantly trying to choke our porch railing, yanked on it to get a little slack, and started sweeping at the mini-monster. He dropped to the ground in a hurry, surely hoping for another amazing escape. But this was just what I waited for. I was poised and ready for anything he could throw at me! And then he wiggled under my door and into my house! Damnit NOOOO! I threw the door open and he scuttled back out. STOMP! He was nowhere to be seen, surely under my shoe THIS time. I dragged my Sketcher along the porch and exposed a sticky streak of former spider. YES! I WIN!
And so ends the tale of the spider in Wonder-Rachel's door.

No on Prop 8 in California

2008-10-23T09:06:00.004-06:00

I know I don't live in California anymore, but it seems the state is a starting point in our nation. Ideas and movements tend to start in our largest metropolitan areas and spread to the rest of the nation over time. I've been getting bombarded with Yes on Prop 8 propaganda from a friend of mine that still lives in SoCal and it's really had me thinking.
There's an ad the Yes on 8 campaign shows - a little girl runs into the kitchen as her mom is preparing dinner: "Mommy Mommy! Guess what I learned in school today!" her mother smiles and asks her what? "I learned a prince married a prince and I can marry a princess!" Oh the horror. Yeah, they're trying pretty hard to "protect marriage" down there in California right now. And if you ask a Prop 8 supporter why they want to take these rights away from gay couples, they'll tell you all about protecting their children, the school curriculum, etc. And they'll quickly point out to you this is not unfair to gay couples in the least: gay couples already have all the rights married couples have anyway! They can be joined in a civil union (I believe this classifies them as "domestic partners"?), they are entitled to share health benefits, etc etc. Well doesn't that all sound nice? So why would they even need to be married huh?
I'm sorry. When I married my husband, it had nothing to do with our tax status or sharing health benefits, or even being deemed somehow legally legitimate. I married him because I am madly in love with him and it was important to me that I commit my life to him in tradition and ceremony.
The whole thing makes me a little mad.

What is it with boys & wheels?

2008-10-16T19:23:00.005-06:00

I took Noah over to the school to watch the last half of Dante's soccer practice. Of course most kids live nearby so a lot of them just ride their bikes over to the school field. We get to the school playground and there are bikes everywhere. And this is the first time he hasn't made me chase him out into the parking lot or follow him all over the too-big playground. No, tonight he was far too interested in the bikes. He circled round & round one, touching the frame, spinning the pedals, jabbering away passionately the entire time.
I thought, so is this love of any kind of wheeled transportation just born into boys?

My letter to voters

2008-10-16T01:02:00.001-06:00

So like I said: I can post whatever I want here... I posted a funny McCain election pin on my eBay blog in honor of the last presidential debate tonight - I figured I should post something political here as well. Anyway I wrote this a few nights ago and figured I should post it here as well.

I read a MySpace bulletin from a Republican Christian friend today that began like this:
"This is the scariest election we as Christians have ever faced. From the looks of the polls, the Christians aren't voting Christian values. We all need to be on our knees.
Do you believe we can take God at His word? Call upon His name, then stand back and watch His wonders to behold. His scripture gives us, as Christians, ownership of this land and the ability to call upon God to heal it." It went on to tell the story of Churchill in WWII asking all of England to pray each night at 6pm for the bombing to stop - and it did. Then it asks everyone to stop what they're doing at 6pm Pacific time each night and take one minute to pray that (among other things) The Bible will remain the basis for our laws in America etc.

This offended me. It was clearly stating that Obama (ahead in polls) is not Gods preferred candidate and if enough of us show our devoutness to God, he will make McCain victorious.

Do you believe in the power of prayer? The power of positive thinking? What about the power of thousands (even millions?) all combining that intention at a single moment? I believe in that power. Do I want it brought to bear in force and support of McCain? Absolutely not.

Many people are fervent supporters of Obama. Others I know feel like the presidential race is nothing more than a choice between the lesser of two evils. And I will admit that there are things about my own chosen candidate that bother me. But there is one thing I am passionate about and that is the inheritance I leave to my two sons. And I'm not talking about money. I'm talking about the life I gave them & this planet that sustains that life. Now, being a mother, more than anything, environmental issues are on my mind. It used to seem like a hobby or pet project that could be dismissed - tree huggers. But it is more & more evident that if we don't change the way we think about our lives and impact on this planet, things will reach a point we may never come back from. And I am not willing to sacrifice the home of my children!

I could go on but I won't preach. I hope you feel like I do and I hope you see some of the differences between the candidates. I don't know how much better my choice will be financially, or with foreign policy (I feel he's still the better option) but I DO think Obama will try harder to preserve our planet. And that's important to me. So I ask, if you're willing, that you set the alarm on your cell phone for 6pm Pacific (7/8/9 depending where you are) and take a moment each evening (you don't even have to do anything that would be evident to those around you) and apply that power of positive thinking, that power of suggestion, that power of prayer - and intend that we will elect the man that will really "heal our land."

Thanks for reading, I love you all and feel free to pass this along.

He does everything himself these days

2008-10-15T12:02:00.002-06:00

How does Noah make everything look so damn cute? Even juice boxes are made cute by this kid!

(later):HA HA HA!!! I didn't even notice the crucifix! He found this crucifix around the house (no idea where - we're not Catholic or even Christian) and LOVES to wear it around his neck! lmao

This shirt doesn't fit!

2008-10-14T21:54:00.000-06:00

Shirt NOT Medium – wrong sized – I’m not a FATASS!
This is clearly a case of discrimination - eBay sellers must have access to unlimited personal buyer info. The seller had a picture of the buyer and said to himself "This guy can't wear a medium! I'll send an XL instead."

Nice shirt, but didn’t know it had a bra inside. :(
I'm wondering if this is your standard built-in bra... or if the seller included a little adults-only prize inside!

Amazing Creatures & Stumblebums

2008-10-13T19:27:00.000-06:00

You might ask yourself, who uses the word stumblebum anyway? eBay buyers of course. And this pair of Shure headphones brought a river to life. Leave it to wacky eBay members...

"Uncomprimising,inflexible,ingrate.Stumblebum commo.Worst Seller in my experience"
Worst speller in my experience?

"I hear the natural sounding river. It sounds like an amazing creature."
For a pair of headphones... oookaaay...

This smells like smoke!

2008-10-12T22:58:00.001-06:00

So I found this feedback tonight, all for the same member:

"hand bag smells of smoke really bad will never use because of smell"

"purse smelled heavy of smoke"

"Shoes were beautiful, but have overwhelming odor of cigarette smoke"
"Response (2008-04-04): I DON'T SMOKE!"

Hmm... yeah sounds like they don't smoke. I'm convinced.