Yes we can, but do we want to?

I have always straddled the desire for equality for women and the desire to have someone buy me dinner. Of course, this specific example doesn't apply to me because I have been married for 4 years and Jerome and I have shared everything since but generally speaking; I am a little old fashion. A few weekends ago I was loading about 16 bags of manure in my Subaru and this homeless man looking for money/job approached me and said, "You don't need no help, do you?" And I thought, why no I don't. I was feeling super accomplished and strong. Yes I can. But today I was unloading all of these sodas off of a cart, it's silly, I work in an old building and there are no ramps from the parking garage. So, when I am unloading a bunch of stuff for my office, like today I have to wheel it to the stairs, unload it, move my cart up the stairs and reload it. So, I am doing this and this man passed me and didn't even offer help. Not that I would have accepted but the offer would have been nice.

I actually said something to a few of the security guards in my building for not helping me with the door. I usually ride my bike to the office, and use the handicapped button to open the doors. On the weekends they are deactivated (ADA violation, hello? Jones Lang LaSalle- 621 17th Street) so I learn of this and am trying to move my bike over to the other door that is not locked and open the door, so frustrated, meanwhile 2 of the security guards just watch me... They got a piece of my mind that day. I am sure I said something about chivalry and it being dead. Some feminist I am.

One other weird gender equality thing that just makes me laugh is elevator etiquette. I don't know if this happens everywhere but in Denver, the men almost always let women on and off of the elevators first. I think it is so strange, I can literally be all the way in the back, and people will move to the side before stepping out to let me out first. Just go ahead, really, I don't mind.

a sad day

An incredible sad day in American politics. I suppose we all knew this day was coming but I had hoped that he would somehow pull through. I feel there are very few politicians who truly have the people's best interest at heart.

This is Obama's statement, he has said everything so eloquently:

I wanted to say a few words this morning about the passing of an extraordinary leader, Senator Edward Kennedy.

Over the past several years, I've had the honor to call Teddy a colleague, a counselor, and a friend. And even though we have known this day was coming for some time now, we awaited it with no small amount of dread.

Since Teddy's diagnosis last year, we've seen the courage with which he battled his illness. And while these months have no doubt been difficult for him, they've also let him hear from people in every corner of our nation and from around the world just how much he meant to all of us. His fight has given us the opportunity we were denied when his brothers John and Robert were taken from us: the blessing of time to say thank you -- and goodbye.

The outpouring of love, gratitude, and fond memories to which we've all borne witness is a testament to the way this singular figure in American history touched so many lives. His ideas and ideals are stamped on scores of laws and reflected in millions of lives -- in seniors who know new dignity, in families that know new opportunity, in children who know education's promise, and in all who can pursue their dream in an America that is more equal and more just -- including myself.

The Kennedy name is synonymous with the Democratic Party. And at times, Ted was the target of partisan campaign attacks. But in the United States Senate, I can think of no one who engendered greater respect or affection from members of both sides of the aisle. His seriousness of purpose was perpetually matched by humility, warmth, and good cheer. He could passionately battle others and do so peerlessly on the Senate floor for the causes that he held dear, and yet still maintain warm friendships across party lines.

And that's one reason he became not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy.

His extraordinary life on this earth has come to an end. And the extraordinary good that he did lives on. For his family, he was a guardian. For America, he was the defender of a dream.

I spoke earlier this morning to Senator Kennedy's beloved wife, Vicki, who was to the end such a wonderful source of encouragement and strength. Our thoughts and prayers are with her, his children Kara, Edward, and Patrick; his stepchildren Curran and Caroline; the entire Kennedy family; decades' worth of his staff; the people of Massachusetts; and all Americans who, like us, loved Ted Kennedy.

You better hope Blue Cross doesn't consider ugly a pre-existing condition

I heard that some of the protests were getting pretty ugly but I didn’t realize that the proposed health care plan was being described as a Nazi policy. WTF?!? Seriously, what does that even mean? It seems as thought these words or catch phrases like; Nazi, Hilter, Fascism, Socialism, Communism get thrown around and they don’t have any real meaning or relation to the actual argument but there is overall connotation that these things are bad. I am no historian by any stretch and I typically steered clear of the political sciences in college, but I never heard anything about the Nazi Health Care Plan, maybe I missed something.

If I were this woman I would be embarrassed. Barney Frank was probably not the best politician to say this to. He is absolutely right though, how can you argue with her. It’s illogical. There is no basis for this argument, what could one possibly say? I am so glad that someone finally said something to these people. Awesome.

Well, Hello...

As I wrote about earlier I have recently lost over 10 pounds. And of course, I am really happy about it but I am finding that none of my pants fit me! I think because I was feeling self conscious about my weight I was already buying clothes a tad big and now I am just swimming in them. So as I was pulling pants from my closet that need to be altered and dollar signs are swimming around my head I decide that it is time to learn to sew, an idea I have been throwing around for a while. I am 4’10” and always have to have my pants altered, so this is really something that I should have learned a long time ago. And because of my height I really have a hard time finding pants that fit right and new pants will of course have to be altered too. So, today I just went for it and bought this lovely machine. Though I am not really into Hello Kitty, It is really a Janome machine, which is awesome. My favorite craft store Fancy Tiger recommends this brand. This is going to look so cute in my craft room/studio! I am so excited!

Nevernude

My husband loves loves loves David Cross. He is currently on tour and I just bought tickets. I am stoked!

Tonight I am hoping to go to this. I love this kind of stuff, but my husband hates it so we'll see.

Things I Don’t Get: Fake Bake

I am pretty hardcore about sunscreen and limiting my exposure to the sun. Despite my Hispanic ancestry for most of the year I am pretty pale. During the summer months when I tend to run outdoors, work in the yard, etc. I tend to get a little color but mostly I am pretty pale.

In this informative article I found it states that some 30 million people are tanning indoors. What?! I just don’t get why people want to look like they have been lying on a beach for the past five days in the middle of January (unless of course you really have). I just don't think it looks good and I don't get it. I suppose it speaks to a larger issue I have with a serious artificial beauty going on these days. I think women are, and men too becoming too fake; fake hair (extensions, color, perms), too much makeup, tanning, plastic surgery. I don’t think any of these things per se are bad but when you put them all together and people stop looking real and start becoming scary it’s bad. I suppose everything in moderation.

According to my A&P professor we do need 15 minutes of unprotected sun exposure per day for the proper Vitamin D production. So, happy sunning!

Book Review: Prozac Nation

I recently finished reading Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America: A Memoir by Elizabeth Wurtzel. I wanted to read this book initially because I saw the movie and that some drama was added (like most movie adaptations), and I wanted to get the real story. What I found was that a lot of the drama was left out. I thought because of the book’s subtitle it would shed some light not only on Wurtzel’s personal experience but in the young depressed in America; stats, history, etc. It did not shed any light on depression in general.

I had a seriously hard time reading this book. I myself having struggled with (I wouldn’t say depression, because I have never been diagnosed or seen a therapist so don’t want to give an insincere impression) bouts of sadness or whatever you want to call it. For one I kept thinking; divorce – check, single-parent – check, low-income – check, absent parent (father) – check. Wurtzel leads readers to believe that her depression had everything to do with her circumstance, and I am reading and thinking that’s me and a huge portion of the rest of the country. How many poor people do you know grow up in Manhattan, attend after school programs, summer camp, go to Harvard…? I just don’t buy it.

For the most part I just thought of her as a spoiled brat. Her fits were constant and unbelievable. She went to London for a summer and spent it in a basement crying, gave an accidental blow job, only to brag about the incident later. Her friends would visit her and bring her gifts but it never seemed to be enough. She described her actions but her actions but just really didn’t describe depression well. I never really got a sense of why she was behaving so badly. Many times she repeats feeling a black wave, or not wanting to get out of bed, and I ask, who does? I just couldn’t feel empathy, and because of my personal experience this was very strange. I just couldn’t get over what an egocentric brat she was.

Initially in the book her therapist is adamant about her feelings are psychological and not biological. That with enough therapy, etc. she could be cured for a lack of a better word. In the end she ends up with a prescription drug remedy, which I just didn’t get. She never went into how the doctors changed their mind about her depression and the cause.

There was a prologue and an epilogue. In the epilogue (written after the publication of the book) she mentions that she received many letters about why she read this book. That in her words; why would twenty-something that hasn’t really accomplished anything. I never did get a clear answer on that one.