Informed Decisions are to Blame

Yup, that glowing thing is me.

As we approach the Super Bowl I can't help but be annoyed at people and their silly opinions.  Who gives a hoot if Colin Kaepernick has tattoos?  Do I like them?   Not really.  I think it is a shame for him to cover his beautiful skin with black ink.  If I had a skin tone like his, I think I'd stare at myself in the mirror all day.   I'm just a pale freak next to my lovely Ethiopian siblings.  I got confused for Nordic or British when I was living in France.  I did get asked if I was Italian once, but I'm assuming he thought I was an Italian from the mountain areas where they are super white and blond.  I honestly have a photo where I am glowing because I am so pale. I look like a ghost. 

There are those that want to cut the poor kid down because of his tattoos.  They want to say that he isn't a good role model, he isn't marketable, he looks like a thug, he isn't respectable enough to be the leader of an NFL team.  I get what you are saying people; however, you need to be an influence on your child's life too.  Are we going to ridicule every famous person with a tattoo, with a cigarette in their mouth, with a piercing, with crazy hair?  Do I think the people need to be responsible for themselves and make wise, educated decisions about their lives and bodies? Yes.  Colin isn't the one standing next to every kid getting inked and egging them on.  If you don't want your child getting a tattoo, make sure they know your wishes.  My parents have clearly stated to all of their children that if we come home with a tattoo, it will be Brillo padded off (scary hyperbole).  Our parents made their opinion known because my aunt, my dad's sister, has her cat tattooed on her shoulder.  There was an ESPN reporter commenting on the article about Colin's tattoos and talking about how we have to dress for the job that we want - our appearance does matter when we have to be judged and evaluated by our appearance.  I agree, getting a job is going to be hard with a face or neck tattoo.  Just be smart with your self expression.  If you can get a tattoo and still function in your position, go for it.  A girl I know recently got a huge tattoo across the whole of her forearm about her cat.  To me, I think it will be hard for her to get acting jobs with a huge scrawling tattoo memorial to her cat; however, it is her body and she may do as she sees fit.  I also know guys that are covered from head to toe in tattoos and really do look like they belong in a jail cell - turns out one of them was actually a cop. Sure, I can think Colin's tattoos are kind of gross and that they make him look less than reputable, but I'd miss out watching one awesome quarterback. 

Nobody seems to complain about Chris Brown's tattoos or Mike Tyson's tattoos making them less reputable or marketable; one beat up his girlfriend (his NECK tattoo being a picture of her bloody, beat up face) and the other bit off someone's ear! Chris Brown is still out there recording music and apparently is back with Rihanna too; while Mike Tyson just goes on with life and even gets movie appearances and even more famous because of that face tattoo and it's appearance in The Hangover. There are also other famous people with tattoos that HAVE NOT done anything crazy.  Take the Madden boys - be still my beating punk-rock heart! - for example.  Their tattoos are merely an expression of themselves and what they've been through.  They are upstanding Christian men who happen to appreciate the tattooing arts.

I do have a tattoo that I'd really like; however, I can't think of a good spot to get it.   For that simple reason, I may never get it. Enough said.  Smart, educated, thought-out decision about my body.

This topic reminds me of a radio program I heard while driving this last weekend.  There were women who'd had abortions in the past and now are upset with the decision they made.  Rather than taking responsibility for their decisions, they decided to blame the organizations or clinics that helped them abort the baby.  I am all for babies.  The safe, responsible making of babies is best.  Unwanted babies, wanted babies - I love them all.  I spent a whole week with orphan babies in Ethiopia and it was the best week!  I can't wait to start adopting babies and puppies.  Anyways, back to abortions.  In my opinion, if you turn up at a store and ask for a head of lettuce, do you expect the grocer to ask you why you want to purchase it before explaining the growth and harvest of a head of lettuce, what pesticides were put on it, how it was cultivated, etc.  No.  They expect you to be an informed consumer.  So if you go to the clinic and ask for an abortion, do you expect them to sit down and tell you all the details?  They don't tell you all the horrible things you could get as a side effect from the flu shot but they recommend you get it every year.  They don't tell you it only covers 2 of the hundreds of illnesses with flu like symptoms.  Heck, you could just suffer narcolepsy with  "episodes of cataplexy - when strong emotions trigger a sudden and dramatic loss of muscle strength."  Oh, by the way, you are more likely to develop narcolepsy as a side effect if you are under the age of 18; however, it is completely "safe" for you to get one every year from 6 months and beyond.  If a doctor won't tell you about a flu shot, do you really think they are going to go through every gut wrenching feeling that you will experience when you think about the way your baby died?  All the gory details about how they are going to cause premature labor and then scramble the baby's brain when it's head emerges (note: this is only one type of abortion and it usually occurs in the later trimesters of pregnancy)?  The clinic is going to assume that you have spent more than 5 seconds pondering the abortion of the fetus that you are carrying and that it was a very difficult and painful decision to come to; therefore, they probably don't want to burden you with more guilt than necessary.  You have made the decision to abort your child for your own reasons, it isn't the clinics job to make your decision for you.  I can't imagine the guilt of having aborted your child, but it doesn't do any good to blame others.  Accept responsibility.  It'll be hard, but once you accept responsibility you can work towards accepting yourself and forgiving your past. 

In other words, it is your body.  You are the one in control of it.  Parents, speak to your kids about issues that matter to you.  Help them make an informed decision by being an involved parent.  You can also help them by teaching them to make educated and thought out decisions (about important things, not what they want on their sandwich).

PS: I just have to add a post script about the player that made some pretty stupid comments about gay people: ''Ain't got no gay people on the team. They gotta get up outta here if they do. Can't be with that sweet stuff.''   If I remember correctly, I think there was already a gay member of the 49ers (retired now).  Wow, I'm glad he's taken back his comments and promises to learn from his mistake.  I hope he can realize that gay people are ordinary people like everyone else and they just didn't work themselves up to the pro-level of football to stare at other boys in the locker room.  He could probably even learn something from them; maybe they gots some grammar they can borrow him.

Grandma Toll House

So this weekend my sister and I made a bunch of family recipes.  We ended up just laughing ridiculously because almost all of the recipes were just partial.  My great grandma's bread roll recipe was hilarious to read.  Add a bunch of precisely measured ingredients into bowl, mix, then add more flour.  No amount, just add flour.  It also said, "bake for 15 minutes or so, they'll be done sooner or later."  I love my grandma so much.  It didn't end there though - the hummus recipe simply called for olive oil.  No amount, just add it.  The recipe for peanut butter frosting: butter, milk, powdered sugar, and peanut butter.  "I don't know amounts, if I were in the kitchen with you I could just show you how to do it."  Well, the first attempt at the frosting was a bit thick.  Despite someone convincing me it was fine, I still ended up adding milk and the bumpy frosting became smooth. Miracle!  It was a ridiculously good meal - thanks grandmas.  So maybe everyone should get a family recipe and try making it.  Heck, if you can only make Grandma Toll House's recipe, then go for it.

Roses are Crimson

This weekend I finished The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig.  Between driving to Minnesota, baking up a storm for my sister's house warming party, and avoiding Winter Storm Luna, I managed to get it finished.  It is really scary seeing that deadline on the rented e-books.  It's like a ticking time bomb - can I finish it before it goes puff!?!

Anyway, the book is part of the Pink Carnation series.  It follows the flowery sleuths on the trail of the Black Tulip, an evil Parisian spy.  Mary, a recently jilted and rather calculating lady when it comes to love, is recruited by the Pink Carnation to tempt the Black Tulip.  The Pink Carnation has a rather cold and calculating Lord Vaughn recruit and watch over Mary in her attempt to trap the Black Tulip.   Mary is exactly the type of woman that both the Black Tulip and Lord Vaughn have a weakness for: beautiful and calculating.  Mary isn't pure ice, she has just grown up knowing the only way to have a better life is to marry well.  After nearly 5 seasons and her last beau running off with her sister, she is really fed up with love and only looking for someone to make sure the rest of her days are comfortable.  She agrees to work for the Pink Carnation in order to have one more season paid for so she can catch a spy and a husband.  Twists and turns leave both Mary and Lord Vaughn bloody on the battle field of love (oi, I think I just made myself gag a bit). 
The modern day parts of the book follow Eloise on her hunt through Britain's archives to find the web of flowery spies that seem to have not only alluded the French government, but history as well.  She has made her way to the Vaughn Collection and a first date with Colin (*everyone, squeal with glee). 

Anyways, it was super cutesy. 

I'm gonna pop some keys

Who knew book club girls could get rowdy enough to start a stomp club midway through book club in an all-out battle of noise against the mormons. I swear, if I have to hear that same hymn one more time, I'm stomping until I go through the ...floor and can smash the piano with a hammer! It wouldn't be so bad if the words to the hymn weren't naggingly sitting on the tip of my tongue! You work for a church! A piano resonates so much more beautifully in a church than an apartment building at 6:45am, noon, and 10 at night. BTW: Thanks Thrift Shop for some music to stomp to - it was pretty epic.

Puppies for All

I don't have anything good to talk about.  I'm completely exhausted.  After yoga yesterday, my triceps have been killing me.  I've been stretching them out all day long but they still hurt!  Biofreeze for everyone!  Ok, mostly just my triceps galore.  Biofreeze is the greatest thing ever right now.  Not going to yoga class for a whole month gets you really out of shape!

Oh, last night, I totally had a dream at everyone was getting a dog.  All the people on my street had puppies and I was totally  jealous.  A patient brought his dog in today and I think I lit up like a Christmas tree because my boss was suddenly like, "you really need a dog!"   I know I do.  I really need to move my life in the direction that gets me a dog.  Silly girl, puppies are for adults.

Work It Out!

I haven't tested anything new recently.  At the beginning of the year though, I did create a list of chores to do every day.  This way, I spend like 15 minutes or so a day doing chores.  Done and done.  Oh, and my house is mostly clean all the time.  Yay. 

Inauguration of an Heiress

I've been either working or working out since 6:30am; I have yet to watch any of the inauguration.  *Fun fact: inauguration comes from a Latin word which means to divine by watching the flight of birds.  Apparently no Roman politician was appointed to office without consulting the birds first.  I just read that today in my Why We Say It book. 

I did finish my first book of the year though.  So happy.  Only 44 more to go before I meet my goal of 45 book read in a year.  The book I finished was American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin .  I both liked and didn't like the book.  Some parts were pretty interesting and others were just disappointing.  The whole time you were hoping that something great was going to happen, but it never did.  There never seemed to be a climax to the book.  Mostly just a flat line --------^---\.  There were a few ups and downs as you can see by that wonderful illustration I added.  The story follows an American heiress desperate to get away from her controlling mother but equally desperate to be loved for something more than her money.  She begs the American man she loves to marry her and take her away, but he is scared by her money and that it could mean the end of his dreams to be a painter.  She reluctantly follows her mother to Europe in her mother's crazy scheme to find her a husband with a title.  By accident, she winds up in the arms of a rather dark and mysterious Duke in want of a wife.  She is smitten by the dark Duke, but she can never really tell if his love in genuine or not.  She also is left to blunder about English society without knowing the social rules for a Duchess.  In the end, she has to decide what love is really worth keeping around. 

 

Awkward Turtle

I'm too excited about the trip I just set up to go to Virginia to talk about a movie!  I am so excited - I can hardly stand it!  History and hiking galore - oh my!  Not to mention, it will be like rock-a-billy HEAVEN.  I'm a little nervous to head out there with one of my rather new acquaintances, but it should be super fun.  I'm sure we'll be super sore from hiking and the drive is really going to suck. 

Besides being excited about my trip, I honestly have not watched a movie.  I bravely lasted until last night, but I started up again with How I Met Your Mother.   I almost made it a week!  Other than a lot of How I Met Your Mother, I was too involved in the 49s and Falcons game.  My sister was a little scared by my screaming at the tv.  I'm sure my neighbors were too. Oops.  It was a little intense and I often had to explain why I was "cheering" so loudly to my younger sister.  She understands soccer; I understand football.  She thought that by catching the ball they should really get points!  I'm glad the team I was cheering for won.  That's right, I was cheering for the 49s and Kaepernick.  They soundly trounced the Packers, so I have to cheer them on in the Super Bowl now. 


"Awkward turtle" - makes me laugh every time!

Do you know the best part about the Super Bowl?!?  No, it isn't the commercials!  It's partly the game and partly the knowledge that baseball season is starting up soon!!



It's Greek to Me

This is what I wanted to write last night, but my fatigued mind and body was having no part in it.

Hey you, yeah, you! I am a hypocrite. You are a hypocrite.  I know we all are, but I am so sick of  hypocrisy right now.  Sometimes, it just leaves my head spinning. 

I know someone who has a gay son.  She fiercely defends him and his sexuality; it wasn't a lifestyle choice for him, she saw what a living hell his life was when he tried to keep his true self hidden.   Then the other, there happens to be an article on Rosie O'Donnell and her partner and their family.  She snorts and says something along the lines of, "I get men being gay, but really, a woman has a choice."  I almost felt like smacking her.  Or at least recording her so I could play it back for her to hear just how ridiculous she sounded.  Are women not capable of having the same feelings?  I'm sure that there are numerous gay women that went through a period of depression because they were unsure of their feelings and scared of the way society would look at them. 

I had a friend this week bash Obama for his use of a particular metaphor involving guns.  This comment boggles my mind, since a few months ago he posted a rather insensitive comment along these lines: "Greek yogurt is so yummy.  The sale of it alone should fix Greece's economy." This comment was posted during a time when Greek austerity laws were a main topic and the very day an old man publicly committed suicide because the austerity laws were so severe he honestly couldn't afford to live. The story of this old man was not a footnote of a footnote on a story, it was a leading headline for the day he made his Greek yogurt comment.  I pointed this out to him and he of course was defensive.  This was the response I got:
"I would tend to disagree. For one, I hadn't mentioned the suicide of the Greek man only moments earlier - as Obama had just finished answering a question regarding gun laws post sandy hook. The correlation you are drawing is spurious and clearly stretched rather far to draw any useful comparison besides the fact that one can use the globalization of news to render any statement insensitive or hypocritical by decontextualizing and referencing the days events. Are you merely a supporter of Obama? Or, did you find the metaphor apt and useful in understanding the debt ceiling and its effects on the American public."
My response was very polite.  Declining to jump at the political debate bait and instead I chose to focus on his hypocrisy.  I don't think facebook is the time or place to get into an argument, let alone a political one.  I should have known his main response to mine would be mostly high worded BS.  He likes to think a lot of himself and his intelligence; thus the reason he was extremely jealous of a Professor's hyperbole in calling me a genius when I happened to step out of the thinking box and draw notice to an imagery theme throughout a novel we were reading.  But to my main argument.

First off, I am so sick of people nit picking just because they don't support Obama.  Deal with it, he is our PRESIDENT.  You can either sit around and piss and moan about it or you can learn to compromise and make deals so that our country can move forward and now stagnate in the middle.  We have some very real problems that need our attention and co-operation as a nation to solve. 

Secondly, I did not stretch to make the global connection to make his comment insensitive.  I would call it stretching if I had been the one to draw the connection of Greek yogurt to the Greek economy, but I didn't.  He drew the global connection.  I would have been responsible if I had taken offense at a mere statement of "Yummy, Greek yogurt - so good it should be worth a fortune!"

And thirdly, maybe a gun reference is what our nation needed.  The Sandy Hook school shooting is an extreme tragedy.  Not to mention there have been several school shootings since and I even had a friend in lock down because there was someone running around her work with a gun!  There seriously is a problem with the people who can get their hands on guns.  I'm not anti-gun.  I really do like guns and I enjoy them for sport, but this is ridiculous.  I work across from an elementary school and for two weeks I would tear up looking across the street at them playing on the playground.  This topic of gun control has really become a center of focus recently.  It is something that needs to be dealt with; however, we need to treat our economic problems just as serious as controlling gun violence.  Maybe we need to feel like dealing with our economic issues is like having a gun pressed against our head.  It may make us pull our heads out of the holes we've had them shoved in and really face what it is that we are scared of: economic ruin.  We can crumble beneath it, or we can ban together and come out on the other side of this hard time.  Our nation needs to buckle down and focus on our financial needs, not be distracted by a flashy subject like gun control. 

PS: The Greek economy tanked so badly because big business and banks didn't have any rules strict enough to keep them from creating the huge mess that would become Greek debt.  Oh wait, we can't possibly do anything like make sure banks and big business follow simple ethics, but we'll bail them out when they've bankrupted themselves.  Heck, maybe Greece will give us some of their Greek yogurt sales and we can all be out of debt.

Dr Freeze's New Assistant

I am really too tired to write anything useful. I was so cold at work all day long. My limbs were like ice despite my long sleeves and sweater this morning.  I then changed at lunch into a thick vest.  I was still frozen.  It is a little surprising since I wore a tank top and a short sleeve button-up earlier this week.  Horrible day, in the fact that it was slow, cold, and I felt tired all day despite sleeping just as much as the same night before.  Maybe, this is the day I die in the future.  Since chills are related to someone walking on your grave, maybe then feeling absolutely cold all day long is related to being stuck in the deep freeze in the morgue.  I felt like someone stuck in Dr Freeze's ice suit - I was cold with a hot pack!

Self Imposed Exile

Today/This week, I am beginning a rehab program for myself.  Seriously, I married Marshall a forth time last night.  It just needs to stop.  I need to get myself back to normalcy.  More books, less How I Met Your Mother.  I have been non-stop watching How I Met Your Mother since about Christmas.  I could really use an episode right about now.  Something to make the recent death toll a little less horrible.  Marshall is cuddly.  He'd be so amazing in real life.  I don't care it Ted is the main man, Marshall is my favorite.  I better stop talking about it or the next thing I know Jason Segel will be married.  I'd have to cry then and hide my face.  Much like I had to do while watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Get it Together!

I'm currently working on several books.  I have Why We Say It, The Seduction of the Crimson Rose, and The American Heiress.  I have yet to finish a book this year.  I feel a little behind the time since I haven't even finished a book so far this year.  I really need to stop watching How I Met Your Mother and get more books read.  The fact that I have married Marshall Eriksen three times in my dreams this last week means I REALLY have to stop watching How I Met Your Mother. 

Looper

This weekend I watched Looper.    It was a little weird and horrifying at parts.  The premise is that there is time travel in the future and criminals are in control of it.  Everyone they want offed gets sent back to the past tied up with their head in a sack to be shot by a looper with a blunderbuss.  Eventually, a looper turns over his hit and finds a stack of gold bricks attached to the back of the person.  This person, turns out to be themselves.  They have their loop closed.  This means they are now free from their contracts and can live out the next 30 years doing as they please. Joseph Gordon Levitt's character, Joe, has been saving his money and studying French so he can eventually move to France once his loop has been completed.  His best friend comes to him one night and tells him that his loop came to him and was singing the song his mother used to sing to him.  He couldn't kill himself, so he let's himself go.  This starts a man hunt for his future self.  It also starts Joe thinking about his looper.  Soon, his one self turns up, uncuffed and unhooded.  His future self, played by Bruce Willis, also kicks his ass.  The future Joe knows that the future is run my a new guy that was a kid at this current time.  He plans on killing the kid before he can grow up and become completely evil.   Young Joe is left to protect one of the three kids that turns out to be the "future evil," The Rainmaker.  So young Joe ends the loop.

Tennessee Me

Travel plans, travel plans....oh my, I can't wait to go travel somewhere.  Maine, Georgia, Tennessee...it's a goal to get to a state that I haven't ever been to before.  And to Canada.  And to Hungry.  Oh man, I'm hungry.  I am so tired and I've officially watched too many episodes of How I Met Your Mother.  I wonder if some day someone will be telling a story about how they met me.  hahaha.  Ok, eyes shutting and tummy growling.  Time to call it a night before it gets messy.

Test Kitchen Beware

This last week I decided to get organized in the kitchen: writing out menus, cleaning out the fridge (the freezer is a mess and I'm a little afraid to tackle that mess), organizing cupboards, and doing the dishes daily.  The menu has been great so far.  I spend a lot of time in the kitchen though.  Not that it isn't worth it to have some yummy chili or shrimp fried rice.  I just made chili and tomorrow's meal: Spanish rice.  I had a majority of the ingredients out tonight for chili, so I figured I'd save myself some time tonight and make up tomorrows dinner.  Score!  My fridge is becoming dangerously full with leftovers.  I have carrot soup, chili, Spanish rice, and cooked bacon EVERYWHERE.  It seems that no matter how you pare down soup recipes, you still end up having enough to feed an entire army!  I told my mother the majority of the meals I was going to be making this week and guess who else decided to have both chili and Spanish rice this week.  Silly mommy!  Oh well, my fridge is stocked and I very well may be going on a soup diet since I seem to have so much on hand now.  Now the real test is getting this to transfer over into the next week. 

Last Bus

Again, I have been cursed by the Internet working until I pull up my blog.  I wonder why that happens.  It could be because I am so tired right now that my eyes are barely open.  Typically, when I get like this, my grammar and spelling go out the window.  So maybe this is just fate telling me to go to bed.  I spent close to an hour or so making my dinner after not getting home until 8:30.  I pretty much didn't eat until 9:15.  I also broiled all my bacon up.  So that took up a good chunk of time.  Now I am well fed on lemon marinated turkey breast and carrot soup.  I thought I had reduced the recipe enough so it would be enough for just me.  Nope, I have so much soup, I think I may be eating carrot soup for the next month.  It is pretty good if I may so. 

I haven't really read anything new in the New Year.  I finished the Last Bus to Woodstock book by Colin Dexter.  The book did become more and more interesting and I did find myself enjoying it.  I kind of miss Sgt Hathaway though.  He was my favorite part about Inspector Lewis.  I may not go all crazy and read ever Inspector Morse novel that Dexter has put out, but I know it is going to be a good read if I ever am in need of a good book some day.  The plot was: 2 girls hitch hiking, one ends up dead in a pub parking lot, the hunt is on for the murderer, Inspector Morse falls for a girl, keeps searching for murderer, twists and turns and more bodies, voila - murderer behind bars!

Oh, I also found out what it is like to wash your hair with snow in that big storm we had.  It isn't really a voluntary thing.  It is more along the lines of having to walk out in thick falling wet snow.  You enter a building and you drip because your whole head is soaking wet!  Thanks Rosemary Clooney.