One day a fisherman got up very early in the morning. There was not enough sunlight to get into the sea. He saw a pack of stones to pass time. He started throwing the stone into the sea. While having the last stone in the hand,
the sun came up then he saw that the stone was a diamond. He felt for his misfortune of throwing all of them into the sea...
Moral of the story: *********************
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Do not get up early in the morning...
Hee hee hee
Cheers :)
(email from a friend in India)
I couldn't wake up this morning! %-0
No, that's not true, else you wouldn't be reading this, but I did have a terrible time of it this morning. At first I thought the reason was because our new blinds (cheap roller blinds from Wal-Mart) were still down, preventing the bright morning sun from waking me up. We bought them for privacy, and they sure do block out the light at night and in the morning. And I seem to have been sleeping more deeply, or "harder" since we got them last week. Nor do I like to crawl out from under my wool blanket and down comforter in the morning--it's SO cozy. :-)
I still felt spent, this morning. I didn't even exercise yesterday!
Hubby says it's because all my rolling is catching up with me. I did it four days in a row this week. And I moved my time up from 25 minutes a session last week to 35+ minutes this week.
What is rolling, you ask?
It's my/our new exercise this year: we bought a CycleOps Bicycle Roller to improve our balance and make us better bicyclists. It is an apparatus with three aluminum rollers and a belt; you set your bicycle on top and start cycling. Some describe as akin to riding on black ice! But if you're a newbie, like us, then you ought to start training between a narrow doorway, so that when you start sliding side to side, you won't fall off to the side. This is no stationary bike trainer--you really have to concentrate so you won't roll all over the place.
We love it! I love it! There are only 18 gears on my bicycle! ;-0 I've comfortably reached 4th gear after five weeks! %-) Maybe next week I can make it to 5th gear. Hubby's got 15 gears on his bike, but he can ride on that highest gear. Then again, he's got MUCH more experience of bicycling than me. I wonder where I'll be this time next year?
My leggies are still feeling tingly, like I put them through something fierce. My knees are warm. I'm creating a new set of leggies: tree-trunk leggies (scaled to my thin frame)! Blasting our favorite classical music radio station while I'm rolling helps a great deal, too. :-)
I've written before that I am NOT an athletically inclined person. I mean, p.e. was the trauma of my school years! Last one picked for a team, every single time, every day, every week, every year, first grade through tenth grade. (P.E. not required after sophomore year...yay!) One p.e. teacher in jr. high made me stay after class once because she apparently couldn't believe that I couldn't do the gymnastic type exercises that all the other kids could. Was I not trying hard enough? Let's try again after class, she suggested. I'd like to think she meant well, but she did a pretty fine job of making me feel like I was defective. :-((
I suppose I should be grateful I grew up in an era when p.e. was still mandatory in school, at least through 10th grade. Now that it seems to be barely existing in many schools, kids are becoming obese. I would hope that whoever teaches physical education these days is more sensitive to kids who are genuinely not athletically inclined, and would be encouraging to them, rather than make them feel like freaks--in part by condoning nasty behavior from other students who would inflate their own egos by verbally downsizing the klutzes in their class.
It wasn't until I signed up for taekwondo that my spirit was lifted from the ashes of turbulent years of p.e.! Yes! I have a real body! Yes! I can make it do things I never thought it could! Yes! Getting fit doesn't have to be a miserable chore! And yes! I earned my coveted black belt! :-D
I'd like go back to it someday, as I very much loved it: it was fun, enjoyable, and helped fulfill my early martial arts fantasies from earlier days (nights!) of watching badly dubbed kung fu flicks from Hong Kong! But as we live in the sticks now, I have found other ways to keep fit.
Miraculously, I've kept to my yin yoga every morning when I wake up (well, after I put my contact lenses in!) since I started last fall. I even practiced at the airports we camped out at during our Xmas vacation last year! Keeping to an exercise regimen more than a couple days is a phenomenon in my life! Stretching every morning is very calming for me.
And rolling? "Thirty five minutes a day keeps the doctor away." ;-) I'm not an apple person, so I can't say, "An apple a day, keeps the doctor away". I'd rather the fruit be a banana, papaya or fig! We have a book: The Wellness Guide to Lifelong Fitness, by the editors of the University of California at Berkeley WELLNESS LETTER. Of course, we got it used, but it's a good reference guide.
In the cycling section, it mentions you should aim for 45-60 minutes at least three times a week. Uh oh, I thought: I've got a ways to go! But maybe 35-40 minutes 5-6 times a week is just as good? Oh, and add a "leisurely" (their words) 20-30 MILE ride on the weekends!! %-0
I was being too dogmatic in the beginning, thinking I should stick to three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. But then, things came up on those days, and I wouldn't exercise. Did I think the world would come to an end? Of course not! (only if certain political figures came to power, then I might think so! ;-0) So I just try to go with the flow: roll a few days in a row, take one day off, roll again a couple days, take a day off. Doesn't matter. If I can roll a minimum five days a week, I feel like I'm doing something to strengthen my heart and legs. Six days would be my ideal goal.
Since I did it four days in a row this week, maybe that's why I was so tired yesterday, and decided to take a day off. My mind repeated the Nike motto: just do it! My leggies screamed, "Gimme a break, will you?" I think a lot of this is about listening to your body and deciding whether you want to challenge yourself, especially if you're not in the mood, or, if your mind and body were saying two different things to you, as mine was yesterday, whether to be a martyr and push your limits even though you knew your body wasn't quite up to it.
I'm not into martyrdom!
I started doing push-ups again. I used to do them all the time in my taekwondo class. It was embarrassing to me how much trouble I had, doing it yesterday! %-0 Out of shape! I don't like to be so out-of-shape and weak. It's an exhilarating feeling to feel like you're on top of the world after a good workout, rather than stewing in gloom and doom because you can't get your butt off a chair or couch, due to indecision: should I exercise? or not? ;-0
Getting motivated is the first step. Easier said than done when I'm buried beneath warm covers and the blinds are down! I've got yoga and bicycle rollers to entice me now. :-)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Facebook Addiction!
addiction (plural addictions)
- The state of being addicted; devotion; inclination.
- A habit or practice that damages, jeopardizes or shortens one's life but when ceased causes trauma.
- A pathological relationship to mood altering experience that has life damaging consequences.
Oh my! I hope that my participation in facebook will not damage, jeopardize, nor shorten my life! %-0
I have arrived at point where it is difficult not to log into facebook each day. When I don't, then I wonder what I've missed!
Mostly it's mushy, silly stuff. Like friends sending me virtual flowers, symbols, food, plants, and other gifts--though some of those things are meant to help save rainforests, feed a starving child in a war-torn area of the world, or help raise awareness and money for causes such as cancer research. Just click and go: you've done your good deed for the day! ;-0
Sometimes it's a friend request--someone who found me in the mass of people on that worldwide social network. Someone whom I've never met before. In fact, most of my facebook friends are people I've never met! But that's the benefit of a social network site: you can get to know people around the world who share similar interests. I enjoy meeting people from all over the world!
What I like best is the personal messages from friends. Out of a long list of friends, you're bound to get to know a few pretty well and become as close as you allow. Words can go a long way: traveling through distance and time. Why else do we still read literary classics during our school years and beyond?
Some people have a whopping amount of friends: hundreds! Or hundreds and hundreds! Olympic champion Michael Phelps has 1,745,206 fans on fb...as of today!
Or friends?
At what point does it become ridiculous? I don't need THAT many friends! %-0
Do I?
friend (plural friends)
- A person other than a family member, spouse or lover whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.
- A boyfriend or girlfriend.
- An associate who provides assistance.
- The Automobile Association is every motorist’s friend.
- The police is every law abiding citizen’s friend.
- A person with whom one is vaguely or indirectly acquainted
- a friend of a friend
- A person who backs something.
- I’m not a friend of cheap wine.
- An object or idea that can be used for good.
- Google is your friend.
- (colloquial, ironic, used only in the vocative) Used as a form of address when warning someone. You’d better watch it, friend.
- Sales pitch from a preacher or presidential candidate (my addition!) My friends....!
I have many good friends, some closer than others. I don't like to categorize, but it's true: I do feel genuinely closer to some than others. That in no way means the ones I'm less close to are not good-- not at all! %-0 Some friends are better communicators than others. Or want to keep in touch more often. ;-)
Much of that I attribute to WRITING. Exchanging thoughts. Picking each others' brains. Baring and sharing souls, your innermost thoughts. Communication does not always have to be verbal! Words are powerful!
Lately, I am finding myself closer to some new friends on facebook than people I've known most of my life. I daresay some would even understand me better than "older" friends, even though we have never met. Is it a crime to say some are more perceptive than others? I don't think so! Everyone has different gifts to offer. :-)
Living in the sticks has compelled me to become addicted to facebook. My pals are scattered across the country and the world. You know who you are if you're reading this! ;-)
How did people meet people from around the globe before computers where a common household item? I bet a lot of it started through pen pal clubs. After all, that's how I met the love of my life. :-) When I was little, I heard about a pen pal club on a kid's show called, "The Big Blue Marble". I was fascinated! I wanted to meet someone from somewhere else! I got a pen pal from Australia. I don't remember her name, but I think I have her old letter and photo in my temporary pen friend file (a.k.a. "flake file"!). I save all my written correspondence! Well, I saved most of it.
That's another story, which I shared last year (2/14/07) on my blog: I want to beat Napoleon. :-)
Going back to the top: if an addiction is a "pathological relationship to mood altering experience that has life damaging consequences", then am I in danger of being involved in facebook? Hey, it wouldn't be just me--it'd be millions of people! %-0 Doped up on a social networking site!
All I can say is that I enjoy it very much. And I've met some very cool people on there as well. Fb may very well have it's own problems, I don't know what (being connected to Uncle Bill Gates, for one?), and I am aware I am exposing facts about myself everytime I add a new application to my profile.
If fb suddenly shut down, I'm sure another social networking website will arrive in its place. But as my email is on my profile page, I'm quite certain a few friends will find me!
Be A Friend
Be a friend. You don't need money:
Just a disposition sunny;
Just the wish to help another
Get along some way or other;
Just a kindly hand extended
Out to one who's unbefriended;
Just the will to give or lend,
This will make you someone's friend.
Be a friend. You don't need glory.
Friendship is a simple story.
Pass by trifling errors blindly,
Gaze on honest effort kindly,
Cheer the youth who's bravely trying,
Pity him who's sadly sighing;
Just a little labor spend
On the duties of a friend.
Be a friend. The pay is bigger
(Though not written by a figure)
Than is earned by people clever
In what's merely self-endeavor.
You'll have friends instead of neighbors
For the profits of your labors;
You'll be richer in the end
Than a prince, if you're a friend
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
STOP IT!
TODAY is the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
How is it that in the 21st century one in three women will be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime, according to the United Nations? And also, according to the UN, women between the ages of 15 and 44 are at greater risk from rape and domestic violence than from cancer, traffic accidents, war and malaria?
Why do close-minded, religious zealots feel the need to throw acid in schoolgirls' faces? Why do the men who are "leaders" in a church establishment want to excommunicate a brave member for his open-minded respect for women? WHY are women STILL thought so little of today?
What are we women worth?
Everything! As good as any male on earth...equal as human beings, I'd say. We are all priceless. :-)
It hurts my heart every time I hear about a woman, or group of women, being violated. Abused. Harassed. Exploited. All of the above. I freeze whenever I hear the this sort of news or see it. As if I am held captive.
Either I have become more sensitive to these issues, or the ocurrence of violence has increased over the years. Certainly in war torn regions like Iraq, Afghanistan, and countries in Africa like the Democratic Republic of Congo--women have suffered acts of violence and abuse more than those living in non-conflict areas of the world.
Today, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called on the world (leaders) to do more to address the abuse of women and girls. Abuse of half of humanity affects all of humanity. What's the point? Power control? Threatened loss of power? What does that power mean if a leader is incapable of respecting the women and girls he OR she leads? Many women are guilty, too, of being silent. Silently accepting that women deserve to be treated like second-class citizens. I am not innocent of this.
Last month, our US President Bush declared October as National Domestic Violence Month. It looks very good what he has on paper. But I wonder how much he truly believes it, considering that he doesn't have a record of supporting women's reproductive health rights. Does he know all the facts about domestic abuse? Do YOU know? I'm still learning!
I wonder who it is who patronizes underage girls in the brothels of third world countries? No, I don't reeaaally want to know who, but those people are as guilty as the ones who deceive young women and their families with the promises of a "decent" job. It's evil what they're doing. The end of slavery never arrived. It just continues in a different form.
If people can overcome their prejudices and vote for the first African American president in history, vote in several states to allow gay marriages, and in other countries which are historically MUCH more patriarchial than ours to elect a woman to the highest office in their land, then surely, everyone can learn that violence, abuse, sexual exploitation and all that it encompasses--IS UNACCEPTABLE. Inexusable. Can't they? Can't we? Punish the wrongdoers with a zero tolerance policy. That's how I feel about it.
I hope we'll have more enlightened leaders in my lifetime. Those who could help to educate those who might have outdated ideas about women.
We are human beings, too, worthy of respect!
"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead."
-- Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), American novelist
How is it that in the 21st century one in three women will be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime, according to the United Nations? And also, according to the UN, women between the ages of 15 and 44 are at greater risk from rape and domestic violence than from cancer, traffic accidents, war and malaria?
Why do close-minded, religious zealots feel the need to throw acid in schoolgirls' faces? Why do the men who are "leaders" in a church establishment want to excommunicate a brave member for his open-minded respect for women? WHY are women STILL thought so little of today?
What are we women worth?
Everything! As good as any male on earth...equal as human beings, I'd say. We are all priceless. :-)
It hurts my heart every time I hear about a woman, or group of women, being violated. Abused. Harassed. Exploited. All of the above. I freeze whenever I hear the this sort of news or see it. As if I am held captive.
Either I have become more sensitive to these issues, or the ocurrence of violence has increased over the years. Certainly in war torn regions like Iraq, Afghanistan, and countries in Africa like the Democratic Republic of Congo--women have suffered acts of violence and abuse more than those living in non-conflict areas of the world.
Today, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called on the world (leaders) to do more to address the abuse of women and girls. Abuse of half of humanity affects all of humanity. What's the point? Power control? Threatened loss of power? What does that power mean if a leader is incapable of respecting the women and girls he OR she leads? Many women are guilty, too, of being silent. Silently accepting that women deserve to be treated like second-class citizens. I am not innocent of this.
Last month, our US President Bush declared October as National Domestic Violence Month. It looks very good what he has on paper. But I wonder how much he truly believes it, considering that he doesn't have a record of supporting women's reproductive health rights. Does he know all the facts about domestic abuse? Do YOU know? I'm still learning!
I wonder who it is who patronizes underage girls in the brothels of third world countries? No, I don't reeaaally want to know who, but those people are as guilty as the ones who deceive young women and their families with the promises of a "decent" job. It's evil what they're doing. The end of slavery never arrived. It just continues in a different form.
If people can overcome their prejudices and vote for the first African American president in history, vote in several states to allow gay marriages, and in other countries which are historically MUCH more patriarchial than ours to elect a woman to the highest office in their land, then surely, everyone can learn that violence, abuse, sexual exploitation and all that it encompasses--IS UNACCEPTABLE. Inexusable. Can't they? Can't we? Punish the wrongdoers with a zero tolerance policy. That's how I feel about it.
I hope we'll have more enlightened leaders in my lifetime. Those who could help to educate those who might have outdated ideas about women.
We are human beings, too, worthy of respect!
"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead."
-- Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), American novelist
Friday, November 7, 2008
One Small Step Forward for Women
This election convinced me more than ever that I will never vote for anyone, female or male, who does not represent what I value. What I believe in, and what I am willing to spend the rest of my life making a stand for.
It sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Vote your values.
I have too much self-respect and respect for the women in my family--both those who came before me, those who come after me (nieces, cousins), as well as my friends, and for the feminine half of humanity, to ever insult them with a vote for those who would so blatantly disrespect women.
If you know me or have been reading my posts in the last year, you know that I am impassioned about women's rights. Senator McCain and Governor Palin forced a lot of women to wake up and speak out. That's always a good thing! ;-)
It wouldn't have mattered if everything else they had on their platform was agreeable to me: I still could never stomach having a president who has a long record voting against women's health regarding family planning and reproductive rights for women both in the USA and abroad, has voted against funding the VAWA, the Violence Against Women Act. Furthermore, how could I have voted for someone who thinks so little of women--that he ultimately decided to put a anti-woman woman on his ticket, thinking that women would fall for it?
It's insulting, to say the least.
Women's rights: that's my number one priority. The measure I use to evaluate each candidate whom I am asked to consider to represent me for public office. Everything else is secondary. We make up more than half of humanity. We help create life and bring life into the world. Mothers are the glue of most families. But we still experience rampant sexism. And many women around the world are still being treated like second-class citizens at best, regarded as commodities to be exploited in sexual slave trafficking or in inhumane working conditions conveniently overlooked by governments and multi-national corporations.
I don't know who scares me more: him or her? The governor. Yes, definitely.
Thank goodness for blogs like Women Against Sarah Palin, for thinking women (which included women of her own party) to express their deepest fears about what might be if such a ticket of anti-women leaders were to govern our country.
She has given me every reason to dislike her. And continues to do so. You'd think she had committed a personal grievance against me the way I rant on about her, even post-election. But as I mentioned above, when I think about women's issues, I think about the women in my family, what my elders have suffered in the past, and what I don't want my nieces to have to endure in the future. Misogyny. Sexism. All the attendant harmful attitudes and actions that come along with them. I start with my family, my friends, and then I think of ALL the women around the world.
First, she dissed our president-elect (whom I didn't vote for) by mocking his background as community organizer. Those are the people who do the thankless job of trying to get everyone together, educate participants to better their community. I'm all for community improvements and social justice. Community organizers get the shit done! Even from my extremely limited experience of having to organize board members of a city orchestra to come together at a meeting (getting them to agree on the date, and sometimes, agenda) and organizing volunteers for various activities gave me a taste of what it takes to organize so many people for a common purpose.
What does the governor have to say about community organizing now that her running mate's rival will be in the White House, thanks due in part to the skills and lessons he learned so many years ago as a community organizer?
The fact that she would force rape victims to pay for their own rape kits is unimaginable to me. Is it because she is so religious and opposed to abortion and that there is (I assume) contraceptives in the kit that she doesn't want taxpayers to pay for it? And she wants the victim to go through with an unwanted pregancy from someone who violently violated her? No exception for rape or incest? How in the world can she call herself a feminist, as she answered that, yes she is, when asked by a reporter shortly before elections (she didn't seem very convincing in her tone to me!)?
The library incident was the last straw for me. That she even wanted to remove books from the PUBLIC LIBRARY that were offensive to her personal, religious beliefs was a big, red flag to me. THAT was, and is, totally unacceptable to me. I'll read whatever I please! I actually did write to reporter at the Anchorage Daily News to ask about a detail re: the letters--it seemed so high schoolish to me, and she wrote me back, saying that apparently it had been done before: sending letters of threatened termination, asking the recipient to reapply, and answer WHY they should have the job.
I don't trust anyone who would dare to censor books. It assumes people are so stupid that they can't think for themselves, especially when presented with material that offends the person or people who wish to ban the books in question. I really despise that to the marrow of my bones.
And this morning my blood was boiling! :-( On the radio news show "Democracy Now", songwriter Gretchen Peters expressed her disappointment with the governor from Alaska who used her song "Independence Day", which was recorded by singer Martina McBride in 1994, for her own campaign rally. That song is about an abused woman. A very powerful song, I might add. How ironic that the governor used it (out of context), and is for women paying for their own rape kits. Ms. Peters did the right thing: she decided to donate the royalties from that that song to Planned Parenthood during election time--in the governor's name, to help women in need. ;-b (though I wrote in a past post that I have a few issues with PP. :-()
What's next with her? Why should I care? I don't even know her, personally! However, I do think she can be very mean-spirited when she wants to be.
It is women like the governor of Alaska who scare me. Women who would set women's rights back decades. To my mind: centuries! %-( I'm keeping an eye on her, and women like her. Men, too. They shouldn't be allowed to be in public office for that reason alone...that's my personal bias. Leave your misogyny and religious beliefs at home at let people live freely!
I want to live in a progressive world, not a regressive police state. I will remain on guard until my last breath.
It sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Vote your values.
I have too much self-respect and respect for the women in my family--both those who came before me, those who come after me (nieces, cousins), as well as my friends, and for the feminine half of humanity, to ever insult them with a vote for those who would so blatantly disrespect women.
If you know me or have been reading my posts in the last year, you know that I am impassioned about women's rights. Senator McCain and Governor Palin forced a lot of women to wake up and speak out. That's always a good thing! ;-)
It wouldn't have mattered if everything else they had on their platform was agreeable to me: I still could never stomach having a president who has a long record voting against women's health regarding family planning and reproductive rights for women both in the USA and abroad, has voted against funding the VAWA, the Violence Against Women Act. Furthermore, how could I have voted for someone who thinks so little of women--that he ultimately decided to put a anti-woman woman on his ticket, thinking that women would fall for it?
It's insulting, to say the least.
Women's rights: that's my number one priority. The measure I use to evaluate each candidate whom I am asked to consider to represent me for public office. Everything else is secondary. We make up more than half of humanity. We help create life and bring life into the world. Mothers are the glue of most families. But we still experience rampant sexism. And many women around the world are still being treated like second-class citizens at best, regarded as commodities to be exploited in sexual slave trafficking or in inhumane working conditions conveniently overlooked by governments and multi-national corporations.
I don't know who scares me more: him or her? The governor. Yes, definitely.
Thank goodness for blogs like Women Against Sarah Palin, for thinking women (which included women of her own party) to express their deepest fears about what might be if such a ticket of anti-women leaders were to govern our country.
She has given me every reason to dislike her. And continues to do so. You'd think she had committed a personal grievance against me the way I rant on about her, even post-election. But as I mentioned above, when I think about women's issues, I think about the women in my family, what my elders have suffered in the past, and what I don't want my nieces to have to endure in the future. Misogyny. Sexism. All the attendant harmful attitudes and actions that come along with them. I start with my family, my friends, and then I think of ALL the women around the world.
First, she dissed our president-elect (whom I didn't vote for) by mocking his background as community organizer. Those are the people who do the thankless job of trying to get everyone together, educate participants to better their community. I'm all for community improvements and social justice. Community organizers get the shit done! Even from my extremely limited experience of having to organize board members of a city orchestra to come together at a meeting (getting them to agree on the date, and sometimes, agenda) and organizing volunteers for various activities gave me a taste of what it takes to organize so many people for a common purpose.
What does the governor have to say about community organizing now that her running mate's rival will be in the White House, thanks due in part to the skills and lessons he learned so many years ago as a community organizer?
The fact that she would force rape victims to pay for their own rape kits is unimaginable to me. Is it because she is so religious and opposed to abortion and that there is (I assume) contraceptives in the kit that she doesn't want taxpayers to pay for it? And she wants the victim to go through with an unwanted pregancy from someone who violently violated her? No exception for rape or incest? How in the world can she call herself a feminist, as she answered that, yes she is, when asked by a reporter shortly before elections (she didn't seem very convincing in her tone to me!)?
The library incident was the last straw for me. That she even wanted to remove books from the PUBLIC LIBRARY that were offensive to her personal, religious beliefs was a big, red flag to me. THAT was, and is, totally unacceptable to me. I'll read whatever I please! I actually did write to reporter at the Anchorage Daily News to ask about a detail re: the letters--it seemed so high schoolish to me, and she wrote me back, saying that apparently it had been done before: sending letters of threatened termination, asking the recipient to reapply, and answer WHY they should have the job.
I don't trust anyone who would dare to censor books. It assumes people are so stupid that they can't think for themselves, especially when presented with material that offends the person or people who wish to ban the books in question. I really despise that to the marrow of my bones.
And this morning my blood was boiling! :-( On the radio news show "Democracy Now", songwriter Gretchen Peters expressed her disappointment with the governor from Alaska who used her song "Independence Day", which was recorded by singer Martina McBride in 1994, for her own campaign rally. That song is about an abused woman. A very powerful song, I might add. How ironic that the governor used it (out of context), and is for women paying for their own rape kits. Ms. Peters did the right thing: she decided to donate the royalties from that that song to Planned Parenthood during election time--in the governor's name, to help women in need. ;-b (though I wrote in a past post that I have a few issues with PP. :-()
What's next with her? Why should I care? I don't even know her, personally! However, I do think she can be very mean-spirited when she wants to be.
It is women like the governor of Alaska who scare me. Women who would set women's rights back decades. To my mind: centuries! %-( I'm keeping an eye on her, and women like her. Men, too. They shouldn't be allowed to be in public office for that reason alone...that's my personal bias. Leave your misogyny and religious beliefs at home at let people live freely!
I want to live in a progressive world, not a regressive police state. I will remain on guard until my last breath.
| Warning |
| When I am an old woman I shall wear purple With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me. And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter. I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells And run my stick along the public railings And make up for the sobriety of my youth. I shall go out in my slippers in the rain And pick flowers in other people's gardens And learn to spit. You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat And eat three pounds of sausages at a go Or only bread and pickle for a week And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes. But now we must have clothes that keep us dry And pay our rent and not swear in the street And set a good example for the children. We must have friends to dinner and read the papers. But maybe I ought to practice a little now? So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple. Jenny Joseph, English poet (b. 1932) |
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Day After Witches Brew
At first cock-crow the ghosts must go/Back to their quiet graves below.
-Theodosia Garrison, American poet (1874-1944)
If you look out one of my bedroom windows, you can clearly see about six or seven graves across the way, beyond a little creek running in front of it. They are the final resting places of the original owner's family who lived on the property that we now live on; most of them died circa 1830.
In the spirit of Halloween (and I meant to post yesterday, but baked cookies instead), I was kind of hoping I could meet their ghosts. That they'd tap on our bedroom window to say hello. ;-0 Just to see what they looked liked. Is that morbid? Maybe I watched too many scary movies this past week? I'm just curious that's all! %-)
One night, hubby and I stayed up and watched "Halloween", and then the 4th and 5th sequels! I had no idea it had so many sequels. Eight or nine, including a remake of the original one. It was good for laughs, at best. Scary as always!
I still think psychological horror movies are the scariest movies, like "Psycho", "Raising Caine", and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". I don't like watching too much blood and gore, especially those that have disembodied head scenes. That would make me puke in a flash.
My little Halloween decorations are still on my windowsill and fridge. I haven't taken them down yet because I think they're awfully cute. Mice can be super cute in cartoon version. But not in real life. Well, maybe momentarily, but they no longer become cute when they've caused damage and/or pooped your property. The last three nights in a row, three mice have got caught in mil's kitchen. And the same trap in the same place. The second one let out a squeal and startled us! His back broke and it took longer for him to perish. The other two died instantly.
I prefer Tom and Jerry! :-)
No tricksters came by our home yesterday. We didn't have any candy to distribute anyway. There's NO light on these country roads! %-0 It is kind of fun to give candy out. The last time we did that was when we still lived in our house in DE. During the last couple of years we were there, door to door trick-or-treating seemed to be out of fashion, in favor of parties for kids, in the name of safety. That seems to be a reasonable thing to do, but if I were a kid, I'd still rather go door to door: there's more spookiness and fun there, in contrast to being herded into a party. I'm not a party person--that's not my style, so that's my personal bias. I like to go exploring on my own, or with a couple of close friends. ;-)
No fantastic, technicolor dreams last night, which is strange, considering all the horror movies I've watched each night in the last week. I dreamed I was scheduled to take a FRENCH class, for this morning! Why? I don't know! Are there secret travel agendas lurking in my mind? Was my five years of French not sufficient for whatever reason? Hey, if someone told me I had to be in class right now, I wouldn't mind--I love learning languages!
This year, I didn't don any of my Halloween earrings. I just didn't think of it until too late. I'll try to do better to get in the spirit next year!
-Theodosia Garrison, American poet (1874-1944)
If you look out one of my bedroom windows, you can clearly see about six or seven graves across the way, beyond a little creek running in front of it. They are the final resting places of the original owner's family who lived on the property that we now live on; most of them died circa 1830.
In the spirit of Halloween (and I meant to post yesterday, but baked cookies instead), I was kind of hoping I could meet their ghosts. That they'd tap on our bedroom window to say hello. ;-0 Just to see what they looked liked. Is that morbid? Maybe I watched too many scary movies this past week? I'm just curious that's all! %-)
One night, hubby and I stayed up and watched "Halloween", and then the 4th and 5th sequels! I had no idea it had so many sequels. Eight or nine, including a remake of the original one. It was good for laughs, at best. Scary as always!
I still think psychological horror movies are the scariest movies, like "Psycho", "Raising Caine", and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". I don't like watching too much blood and gore, especially those that have disembodied head scenes. That would make me puke in a flash.
My little Halloween decorations are still on my windowsill and fridge. I haven't taken them down yet because I think they're awfully cute. Mice can be super cute in cartoon version. But not in real life. Well, maybe momentarily, but they no longer become cute when they've caused damage and/or pooped your property. The last three nights in a row, three mice have got caught in mil's kitchen. And the same trap in the same place. The second one let out a squeal and startled us! His back broke and it took longer for him to perish. The other two died instantly.
I prefer Tom and Jerry! :-)
No tricksters came by our home yesterday. We didn't have any candy to distribute anyway. There's NO light on these country roads! %-0 It is kind of fun to give candy out. The last time we did that was when we still lived in our house in DE. During the last couple of years we were there, door to door trick-or-treating seemed to be out of fashion, in favor of parties for kids, in the name of safety. That seems to be a reasonable thing to do, but if I were a kid, I'd still rather go door to door: there's more spookiness and fun there, in contrast to being herded into a party. I'm not a party person--that's not my style, so that's my personal bias. I like to go exploring on my own, or with a couple of close friends. ;-)
No fantastic, technicolor dreams last night, which is strange, considering all the horror movies I've watched each night in the last week. I dreamed I was scheduled to take a FRENCH class, for this morning! Why? I don't know! Are there secret travel agendas lurking in my mind? Was my five years of French not sufficient for whatever reason? Hey, if someone told me I had to be in class right now, I wouldn't mind--I love learning languages!
This year, I didn't don any of my Halloween earrings. I just didn't think of it until too late. I'll try to do better to get in the spirit next year!
Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.
-Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven
Thursday, October 23, 2008
How to Stay Motivated to Move My Body?
It's been one month since I ended my taekwondo training and I miss it very much. I felt it was the ONLY thing that would force me to get moving as I am NOT the athletic type, nor am I one who can stick to any exercise program for a long period of time.
And it's been almost a month now since we've moved to our new home. Now the challenge is to move my body! %-0
Several days ago, I got tired of not doing anything about it, and went outside to do my tkd forms, walk around the property, and play tag with the front door by running up and down the front steps of my in-laws home (which is maybe a couple hundred feet from our cottage) a dozen times.
Yesterday, I forced myself to go outside, but this time I jogged around the entire property. I felt like a new woman! %-D I'm hoping I can keep this up at least every other day. It's hard cuz I like the social aspect of an exercise class, and my heart is still in martial arts--I worked so hard to get my black belt, after all!
But the reality is that we are now about 17 miles south of civilization (the nearest city), three miles from the main roads in our own town, and gas is expensive. Not to mention looking for work.
Am I a slave to fate? Not if I can help it!
I have my heart and mind set on finding further martial arts training in the future, but in the meantime, I'll have to try to remember my forms. I have to think of one of my heroines, Simone de Beauvoir, who wrote,
"I remained faithful to my declared intention of turning all that life imposed on me to my own purposes" (from Prime of Life)
Of course, this move was not imposed on me: I agreed it would be a good idea, not least being that it would be financially wise. There are pluses and minuses to every living area, however.
To counter the lack of civilization nearby (!), I bought The Yin Yoga Kit from half.com yesterday. I saw it in the public library near where we used to live and it looked intriguing to me, although I never got to check it out because someone else always had it. The massage therapist in me (I am one, after all!) likes the idea of yin yoga stretching the connective tissue, rather than conditioning the muscles, in the form of static stretching--holding the form for 3-5 minutes. It is supposedly a more meditative kind of yoga, and reputedly, the oldest form of hatha yoga. I'll have to do more reading on yoga, as I know little about it; I have discovered that there are some noteworthy books on the subject in our library system down here, so I am looking forward to that.
Hubby moved our Nordic Track into a spare room today, that is linked to a five-car garage. Fil wants to turn it into a fitness room. Our NT is the original model. No fancy digital stuff or heavy machinery to help stabilize your body: you gotta do all the work! We bought it used, years ago. Then I found another near-copy of our version lying next to the dumpster in our apt complex a couple years ago, with skis missing. Hubby's got the "new" version in the fitness room now. I'd rather run up and down the steps outside! ;-)
To make myself move, I've determined any activity I engage in must be on MY terms only, for some measure of long-term success, i.e.: continuity! It has to INTEREST me, and not seem like a chore! It must have some element of FUN and VARIETY, or I'll quit from boredom! The activity/ies must also incorporate the essential activities to meet my fitness goals of flexibility, cardio, and strength, or I'm wasting my time! %-0 I don't intend to ever become decrepit in old age.
I'll have to work on the social aspect in other ways, in regards to exercise and life in general. That's a big challenge in a rural area. Maybe mil and I could walk together some mornings; she's always been a great walker.
Thankfully, there's social groups I can bide my time with, like facebook. I just need to find real face time with women who have similar interests as I do.
And just maybe one day, I hope I can find a group of people to practice all the things that go along with taekwondo or another form of martial arts with...like sparring!;-)
And it's been almost a month now since we've moved to our new home. Now the challenge is to move my body! %-0
Several days ago, I got tired of not doing anything about it, and went outside to do my tkd forms, walk around the property, and play tag with the front door by running up and down the front steps of my in-laws home (which is maybe a couple hundred feet from our cottage) a dozen times.
Yesterday, I forced myself to go outside, but this time I jogged around the entire property. I felt like a new woman! %-D I'm hoping I can keep this up at least every other day. It's hard cuz I like the social aspect of an exercise class, and my heart is still in martial arts--I worked so hard to get my black belt, after all!
But the reality is that we are now about 17 miles south of civilization (the nearest city), three miles from the main roads in our own town, and gas is expensive. Not to mention looking for work.
Am I a slave to fate? Not if I can help it!
I have my heart and mind set on finding further martial arts training in the future, but in the meantime, I'll have to try to remember my forms. I have to think of one of my heroines, Simone de Beauvoir, who wrote,
"I remained faithful to my declared intention of turning all that life imposed on me to my own purposes" (from Prime of Life)
Of course, this move was not imposed on me: I agreed it would be a good idea, not least being that it would be financially wise. There are pluses and minuses to every living area, however.
To counter the lack of civilization nearby (!), I bought The Yin Yoga Kit from half.com yesterday. I saw it in the public library near where we used to live and it looked intriguing to me, although I never got to check it out because someone else always had it. The massage therapist in me (I am one, after all!) likes the idea of yin yoga stretching the connective tissue, rather than conditioning the muscles, in the form of static stretching--holding the form for 3-5 minutes. It is supposedly a more meditative kind of yoga, and reputedly, the oldest form of hatha yoga. I'll have to do more reading on yoga, as I know little about it; I have discovered that there are some noteworthy books on the subject in our library system down here, so I am looking forward to that.
Hubby moved our Nordic Track into a spare room today, that is linked to a five-car garage. Fil wants to turn it into a fitness room. Our NT is the original model. No fancy digital stuff or heavy machinery to help stabilize your body: you gotta do all the work! We bought it used, years ago. Then I found another near-copy of our version lying next to the dumpster in our apt complex a couple years ago, with skis missing. Hubby's got the "new" version in the fitness room now. I'd rather run up and down the steps outside! ;-)
To make myself move, I've determined any activity I engage in must be on MY terms only, for some measure of long-term success, i.e.: continuity! It has to INTEREST me, and not seem like a chore! It must have some element of FUN and VARIETY, or I'll quit from boredom! The activity/ies must also incorporate the essential activities to meet my fitness goals of flexibility, cardio, and strength, or I'm wasting my time! %-0 I don't intend to ever become decrepit in old age.
I'll have to work on the social aspect in other ways, in regards to exercise and life in general. That's a big challenge in a rural area. Maybe mil and I could walk together some mornings; she's always been a great walker.
Thankfully, there's social groups I can bide my time with, like facebook. I just need to find real face time with women who have similar interests as I do.
And just maybe one day, I hope I can find a group of people to practice all the things that go along with taekwondo or another form of martial arts with...like sparring!;-)
Friday, September 19, 2008
In Defense of Women's Health
I'm blazing hot! :-(
I have never signed a petition so fast and written my comments so quickly as I just did a few minutes ago.
This morning, I got an email from AlterNet.org:
Just three weeks ago, the Bush administration issued a rule that would limit the rights of patients to receive complete and accurate reproductive health information when they visit the doctor. It's more of the Bush administration's bad medicine, and we need your help to stop it.
This new rule could allow individual health care providers to redefine abortion to include the most common forms of birth control -- and then refuse to provide them. A woman's ability to manage her own health care is at risk of being compromised by politics and ideology. We have until September 25 to voice our opposition. Please, click here to help Planned Parenthood fight back by sending your comments to the Department of Health and Human Services:
And they give you a link to sign at the Planned Parenthood Action Center.
I have a few issues with Planned Parenthood, but this is too great for me to ignore. This is the template letter that the public can send to the Department of Health and Human Services:
I am writing to oppose the so-called "conscience" rule recently submitted by Secretary Leavitt. This regulation poses a serious threat to women's health care by limiting the rights of patients to receive complete and accurate health information and services.
At a time when more and more families are uninsured and under economic assault, we find our health care system is in crisis and our president taking steps to deny access to basic care. Women's ability to manage their own health care is at risk of being compromised by politics and ideology.
I was, and am, so outraged, I had to add my own thoughts:
And religion. This is like the Taliban: totally disrespectful of women. Think about the women in YOUR family for a moment. This rule has no "conscience"; it has no regard for the health of half of humanity. Some women need birth control for health reasons not related to preventing births but directly related to reproductive health. Would YOU deny something to your SONS, BROTHERS, FATHERS, and HUSBANDS if they needed something necessary for health maintenance? You certainly didn't turn a blind eye away from Viagra.
Don't be two-faced. Women are human beings, as worthy as men, not some commodity to be controlled by the religious and political ideologies of a few.
If the concern is abortion, banning access to contraceptives is not the answer. That is nothing but denying women their dignity and their health. It is INSULTING your mother, grandmother and ALL the women who came before them, and after them.
I haven't written this fast since the day I accidentally erased something off an ancient computer 20 years ago on the job and the executive director needed what I had just erased for a meeting she was attending. She needed it about 10 minutes. I re-produced the document it in 12 (not a bad memory, eh?), but when she left, my back was wet with sweat! %-0
I think I need to write more so I'll be a better writer. Be a better activist. Be better all-around.
There's always room for improvement. ;-)
I have never signed a petition so fast and written my comments so quickly as I just did a few minutes ago.
This morning, I got an email from AlterNet.org:
Just three weeks ago, the Bush administration issued a rule that would limit the rights of patients to receive complete and accurate reproductive health information when they visit the doctor. It's more of the Bush administration's bad medicine, and we need your help to stop it.
This new rule could allow individual health care providers to redefine abortion to include the most common forms of birth control -- and then refuse to provide them. A woman's ability to manage her own health care is at risk of being compromised by politics and ideology. We have until September 25 to voice our opposition. Please, click here to help Planned Parenthood fight back by sending your comments to the Department of Health and Human Services:
And they give you a link to sign at the Planned Parenthood Action Center.
I have a few issues with Planned Parenthood, but this is too great for me to ignore. This is the template letter that the public can send to the Department of Health and Human Services:
I am writing to oppose the so-called "conscience" rule recently submitted by Secretary Leavitt. This regulation poses a serious threat to women's health care by limiting the rights of patients to receive complete and accurate health information and services.
At a time when more and more families are uninsured and under economic assault, we find our health care system is in crisis and our president taking steps to deny access to basic care. Women's ability to manage their own health care is at risk of being compromised by politics and ideology.
I was, and am, so outraged, I had to add my own thoughts:
And religion. This is like the Taliban: totally disrespectful of women. Think about the women in YOUR family for a moment. This rule has no "conscience"; it has no regard for the health of half of humanity. Some women need birth control for health reasons not related to preventing births but directly related to reproductive health. Would YOU deny something to your SONS, BROTHERS, FATHERS, and HUSBANDS if they needed something necessary for health maintenance? You certainly didn't turn a blind eye away from Viagra.
Don't be two-faced. Women are human beings, as worthy as men, not some commodity to be controlled by the religious and political ideologies of a few.
If the concern is abortion, banning access to contraceptives is not the answer. That is nothing but denying women their dignity and their health. It is INSULTING your mother, grandmother and ALL the women who came before them, and after them.
I haven't written this fast since the day I accidentally erased something off an ancient computer 20 years ago on the job and the executive director needed what I had just erased for a meeting she was attending. She needed it about 10 minutes. I re-produced the document it in 12 (not a bad memory, eh?), but when she left, my back was wet with sweat! %-0
I think I need to write more so I'll be a better writer. Be a better activist. Be better all-around.
There's always room for improvement. ;-)
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