I'm sure those of you more familiar with photography than I already know about these incredible pictures. Alan and I were floored by what we saw. When you have a minute I recommend sitting down to look at these color photos and appreciate that they were all taken about 100 years ago.
How can you forget your mother's birthday, right? I mean, I am not good with birthdays but I at least remember my mom's. Today I forgot Mary's (as in Jesus' mother) birthday and feel just awful. I just now read about all the children around the world who brought flowers to shrines and made special food-- Lucy is now in bed and I didn't mention anything about the significance of the day. I could blame being raised Protestant, or that the kids and I have a cold, but these are lousy excuses.
At the very least we will celebrate in some way tomorrow, pray we remember next year, and perhaps I will find something that correlates to post here tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Misc: apology, miners, R&B, etc.
First off, I am sorry to all of you who left comments on my blog in the past few months only to find they never appeared. I was unaware that when you monitor comments, which I had to due to spam, Blogger does not alert you to their presence. Here I was feeling sorry for myself and those Few Faithful Readers were still following this thing. Sorry, and thanks.
Mark Shea is a Catholic writer who I really want to not like-- he is an abrasive Irish ass-- but usually find he is spot on. Here's some food for thought from Mr. Shea, how he handles intrinsic evils when it comes to politics and voting.
I've been following the story of the Chilean miners daily. It sparked a conversation about survival between Alan and I. We found an interesting list of survival tales and were especially intrigued by the one about Steven Callahan. Ever since a classmate of Alan's was lost to the wilderness in Glacier National Park a few years back, such tales have become more sobering than they are sensational to us.
Anyone else remember the Blu Cantrell song "Hit 'Em Up Style" from 2001 or so? Here is a folksy version of it by my new favorite band, Carolina Chocolate Drops. A great new way to enjoy an R&B/pop favorite.
Will be back to my usual abortion hating self tomorrow, I promise.
Mark Shea is a Catholic writer who I really want to not like-- he is an abrasive Irish ass-- but usually find he is spot on. Here's some food for thought from Mr. Shea, how he handles intrinsic evils when it comes to politics and voting.
I've been following the story of the Chilean miners daily. It sparked a conversation about survival between Alan and I. We found an interesting list of survival tales and were especially intrigued by the one about Steven Callahan. Ever since a classmate of Alan's was lost to the wilderness in Glacier National Park a few years back, such tales have become more sobering than they are sensational to us.
Anyone else remember the Blu Cantrell song "Hit 'Em Up Style" from 2001 or so? Here is a folksy version of it by my new favorite band, Carolina Chocolate Drops. A great new way to enjoy an R&B/pop favorite.
Will be back to my usual abortion hating self tomorrow, I promise.
NPR: a favored soft target hates on humans again
As I cruise around town, running errands with the kids, I listen to NPR. It serves three purposes:
1) I build up a better toleration to simpering, Baby Boomer liberalism
2) Tuck away bits of information that can be turned into small talk at all these social gatherings I've been attending
3) Avoid Top 40 stations
There is plenty to roll my eyes at-- like the recent story "Chinese Experiment Seeks Secret to Happiness" where Chinese psychologists, and the NPR reporters along with them, are baffled about why so many people in China are unhappy. It is confusing why the recent flood of consumerism into the nation wouldn't counterbalance the fact that their lovely, ancient civilization has been smashed to pieces by an oppressive government.
Anyway, what I really want to complain about is this bit on "un-natural selection" as they call it (listen for yourself, it is very short). They rehash the old notion that all this medical science, while keeping people alive and healthier for longer, is also perpetuating "bad genes" which undoes all those glorious eons of survival of the fittest. People who otherwise would not survive long enough to bear children now can thanks to scientific advances.
Joe Palaca says directly "But now, in some cases, we choose to keep these bad mutations around."
And this is followed up by the sound of a crying baby.
Ah yes, the bad mutation baby. I can't help but think there are people out there who really loathe the thought of sharing food, water, and the oxygen we are supposedly running out of with people whose genes are less than "perfect."
"But abortion isn't about eugenics at all!" say the detractors. "It isn't ever about weeding out the people that make some other people uncomfortable, abortion is just about personal choices." Right.
1) I build up a better toleration to simpering, Baby Boomer liberalism
2) Tuck away bits of information that can be turned into small talk at all these social gatherings I've been attending
3) Avoid Top 40 stations
There is plenty to roll my eyes at-- like the recent story "Chinese Experiment Seeks Secret to Happiness" where Chinese psychologists, and the NPR reporters along with them, are baffled about why so many people in China are unhappy. It is confusing why the recent flood of consumerism into the nation wouldn't counterbalance the fact that their lovely, ancient civilization has been smashed to pieces by an oppressive government.
Anyway, what I really want to complain about is this bit on "un-natural selection" as they call it (listen for yourself, it is very short). They rehash the old notion that all this medical science, while keeping people alive and healthier for longer, is also perpetuating "bad genes" which undoes all those glorious eons of survival of the fittest. People who otherwise would not survive long enough to bear children now can thanks to scientific advances.
Joe Palaca says directly "But now, in some cases, we choose to keep these bad mutations around."
And this is followed up by the sound of a crying baby.
Ah yes, the bad mutation baby. I can't help but think there are people out there who really loathe the thought of sharing food, water, and the oxygen we are supposedly running out of with people whose genes are less than "perfect."
"But abortion isn't about eugenics at all!" say the detractors. "It isn't ever about weeding out the people that make some other people uncomfortable, abortion is just about personal choices." Right.
Monday, September 6, 2010
The Chuavanistic Sexists at ZPG
“The 50 poorest countries on earth are also those with the highest fertility rates.”
So says the Zero Population Growth website. Does anyone else see this as terribly sexist? In other words, “Wherever women en masse are not guarding the Pandora’s Box (no giggling) of their uteri, starvation and poverty are sure to follow.”
So much for advances in feminism. No, no, it can’t be that the people in India grow enough food to feed themselves only to see it exported elsewhere and that is a significant cause of their suffering—it is because Mrs. Patel does not have proper access to birth control or an abortion clinic, and she has six children as a result. Did anyone ever bother to ask Mrs. Patel if maybe she intended to have all those kids?
Oh wait, the Zero Population people have that covered in another section on their site, “Defending Women’s Rights.” They say over 200 million women worldwide want fewer children than they have. With no stats to back that up, as far as I can tell. I recently read “Women in the Material World” which chronicles in photos and interviews the lives of women around the globe. Most of the women claimed they wanted fewer children than they had according to their little profiles:
Favorite Activity: Watching TV
Number of Children: 6
Number of Children Desired : 3
Number of children hardly came up in the printed interviews. And I have to wonder if "facts" like these are prompted by poor ethnographic tactics. Who wants to let down the pleasant American lady with a camera and notebook? Tell her what she wants to hear and get her the hell out of your rice paddy.
The Z.P.G. people love the saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Sites like this have a ton of information on how $1 million spent on birth control will keep so many children in the future from starving with so many less brothers and sisters to fight with over the food. But this does absolutely nothing for the children starving now (unless our pharmaceuticals companies have finally found a way to make birth control pills fulfill our daily requirement of vitamins along with curing acne, preventing bone thinning, and gentling down that nasty PMS).
It is chauvinistic for a bunch of white men and women from the West to tell women in the third world what to do with their bodies (I dare someone to frame it in a different light!), and it is sexist to accuse women as the ushers of poverty and destruction in the world.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
What's the News?
I recently asked "what's the news?" of a friend and he was so confused. Is this a regional expression? Or maybe it is too archaic and I should stick with "what's up?" instead?
Anyway, the few hangers on of this blog often tell me they like me to find interesting things to read for them. Here are some recycled bits from other people's blogs:
Baby boomers and movies, or how our parents' generation screwed things up (you know how I feel about those hippies)
David Bentley Hart on the death of Christian culture
Food for thought on migrant workers in Arizona
(And about this last article, I agree with the blogger that Christian charity should be shown to these migrant workers and their families. But what the hell does that have to do with the GOP? I cannot stand the association of Christian morality with Republicans any more than I can stomach liberals hijacking choice church teachings for themselves.
For the record, when the US government is sitting around with its you know what up its you know where (I worked for Migrant Education for two years, I know how little the gov't does for these kids) the Catholic Church and many Protestant denominations are busy feeding, clothing, and educating migrant families. Christian charity is in abundance for these families even when sensibility from our politicians is nowhere to be found. )
If you want links to juicy stuff in the news that intersects with matter of morality and faith I suggest frequenting the Anchoress and New Advent.
Anyway, the few hangers on of this blog often tell me they like me to find interesting things to read for them. Here are some recycled bits from other people's blogs:
Baby boomers and movies, or how our parents' generation screwed things up (you know how I feel about those hippies)
David Bentley Hart on the death of Christian culture
Food for thought on migrant workers in Arizona
(And about this last article, I agree with the blogger that Christian charity should be shown to these migrant workers and their families. But what the hell does that have to do with the GOP? I cannot stand the association of Christian morality with Republicans any more than I can stomach liberals hijacking choice church teachings for themselves.
For the record, when the US government is sitting around with its you know what up its you know where (I worked for Migrant Education for two years, I know how little the gov't does for these kids) the Catholic Church and many Protestant denominations are busy feeding, clothing, and educating migrant families. Christian charity is in abundance for these families even when sensibility from our politicians is nowhere to be found. )
If you want links to juicy stuff in the news that intersects with matter of morality and faith I suggest frequenting the Anchoress and New Advent.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Down on Dayton
We have only been in Dayton for a matter of weeks so I am not going to jump to any conclusions but the locals seem kind of down on Dayton. Before we moved here all I read online was reviews about what a dump the city is. Most of the people who grew up here tell me how much they hate it; there is a constant apology from the natives I chat up in the grocery store and at meet ups.
I don't see what is so bad about Dayton. I mean, the people drive like lunatics but that is Ohio (sorry Ohioans). And everyone seems a little grumpy but that is the state of our nation right now and I did just move from Kentucky, the friendliest place I've ever lived.
Young people here especially seem dissatisfied with their city. One young man on a review of the place said "Dayton is a great place to live if you just want to go to work, watch TV, shop at chain stores on the weekend." I wonder if he realizes this is reality for most of the people in places like Manhattan and San Fransisco, too. Besides, Dayton has culture hiding in many places. There is a farmers market and an art district downtown, the local Boston Stoker coffee brand has shops across town, lots of immigrant families from Eastern Europe, and historical sites throughout.
My guess is the people who don't think much of Dayton have seen it in better days and find its current state depressing or else they imagine life elsewhere is so much more exciting. We have come with a different perspective and so I think Alan and I are bound to see Dayton with fresh eyes, as a place worthy of exploring and, someday, even loving.
I don't see what is so bad about Dayton. I mean, the people drive like lunatics but that is Ohio (sorry Ohioans). And everyone seems a little grumpy but that is the state of our nation right now and I did just move from Kentucky, the friendliest place I've ever lived.
Young people here especially seem dissatisfied with their city. One young man on a review of the place said "Dayton is a great place to live if you just want to go to work, watch TV, shop at chain stores on the weekend." I wonder if he realizes this is reality for most of the people in places like Manhattan and San Fransisco, too. Besides, Dayton has culture hiding in many places. There is a farmers market and an art district downtown, the local Boston Stoker coffee brand has shops across town, lots of immigrant families from Eastern Europe, and historical sites throughout.
My guess is the people who don't think much of Dayton have seen it in better days and find its current state depressing or else they imagine life elsewhere is so much more exciting. We have come with a different perspective and so I think Alan and I are bound to see Dayton with fresh eyes, as a place worthy of exploring and, someday, even loving.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Broken AC 2010
When I was pregnant with Lucy our window unit air conditioner broke. Well, the good one broke. We were left with a crummy little one that could barely keep the square foot in front of it comfortable. Then last summer in Washington we went through a "heatwave" (95 degrees at its peak) with nothing but box fans to keep us cool until it passed.
Early this morning Alan woke me up. "The air won't come on," he said. My first thought was, whatever this is we have to fix it ourselves. We checked the thermostat, went into the basement to look for glaring problems, Alan ventured out to the compressor in the backyard (which was harrowing as we were in the midst of our first Ohio thunderstorm-- scary). Long story short we have to have an electrician come out tomorrow morning to fix our breaker box.
Like everything else in Dayton it will be dirt cheap to fix it. We've been languishing in the heat all day. Our house is certainly air tight! Once the cool of the evening came we opened what windows have screens and let in a little breeze. But all four of us are sweaty and moving slow.
Like our past experiences with high heat this one reminds me to take a breath and think on what is important. What is a little 85 degree weather inside once in a while? And how nice to have something break in our house for once. So what if we will all be sleeping in Lucy's room, the coolest room, tonight. Lucy will get to stay in her own bed while Alan, Iris, and I camp out on the futon mattress on the floor. And in the morning, hopefully, the electrician will get the whole thing up and running again. If not right away, we will manage in the meantime.
The joys of home-owning, Dayton living, and PhD programming are just beginning.
Early this morning Alan woke me up. "The air won't come on," he said. My first thought was, whatever this is we have to fix it ourselves. We checked the thermostat, went into the basement to look for glaring problems, Alan ventured out to the compressor in the backyard (which was harrowing as we were in the midst of our first Ohio thunderstorm-- scary). Long story short we have to have an electrician come out tomorrow morning to fix our breaker box.
Like everything else in Dayton it will be dirt cheap to fix it. We've been languishing in the heat all day. Our house is certainly air tight! Once the cool of the evening came we opened what windows have screens and let in a little breeze. But all four of us are sweaty and moving slow.
Like our past experiences with high heat this one reminds me to take a breath and think on what is important. What is a little 85 degree weather inside once in a while? And how nice to have something break in our house for once. So what if we will all be sleeping in Lucy's room, the coolest room, tonight. Lucy will get to stay in her own bed while Alan, Iris, and I camp out on the futon mattress on the floor. And in the morning, hopefully, the electrician will get the whole thing up and running again. If not right away, we will manage in the meantime.
The joys of home-owning, Dayton living, and PhD programming are just beginning.
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