December 10, 2006
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And there's a tree up, too. Decorated, even.
Pics later. Maybe.
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December 08, 2006
some...
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December 07, 2006
GREEN:
At work or in school: I work best by myself. I like to focus on my ideas until my desire for understanding is satisfied. I am easily bored if the subject holds no interest to me. Sometimes, it is hard for me to set priorities because so many things are of interest.
With friends: I may seem reserved. Although my thoughts and feelings run deep, I am uneasy with frequent displays of emotion. I enjoy people who are interesting and of high integrity.
With family: I am probably seen as a loner because I like a lot of private time to think. Sometimes, I find family activities boring and have difficulty following family rules that don't make sense to me. I show love by spending time with my family and sharing ideas and interests.
Take this quiz!
Well, I'm certainly not that reserved or aloof with friends and family, but otherwise pretty nail on the head. And my favorite color.
h/t Sleepy Beth
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I am overjoyed for what seems to be a close and loving family, by all accounts, to be adding a new member. I am beyond happy for Mary and her partner Heather that they are about to realize their dream of becoming parents.
Seems a lot of people can't feel that way. On one side, they're too busy blaming the VP for supporting policies that go against his daughter's (and her partner's) interest. On the other side, they're panicking because a conservative leader is about to have a grandchild with homosexual parents.
Every article I've seen on this goes out of its way to point out that Gays and Straights are both up in arms over Mary Cheney's bundle of joy.
You'd think it was the second coming, or at least a new Brangelina baby for all of the fuss going on out there today. Or maybe that you'd picked up an old newspaper. Didn't we go through this when Melissa Etheridge and her (then) partner Julie Cypher had children a decade ago?
Can't we get past this and just say that a healthy baby is a blessing to a family, no matter how traditional? Can we admit that two stable parents are always better than one, whether it's two moms, two dads, or one of each? Can we agree that this child will have some wonderful role models for strength and integrity?
I am disgusted. These opportunistic political vultures have taken what should be a happy occasion for the entire family and turned it into a political fracas.
For myself, I will say this much: Congratulations to Mary and Heather and their families. I wish you a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby, and all the joys that come with that. Anything else that anyone has to say on the subject is bullshite.
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Go read the whole thing, and maybe leave a comment telling PBS how much you appreciate the story....While most of the bloggers who supported Valour-IT have been on the conservative side of the political spectrum, FbL notes that the project cuts across ideology by focusing on helping out wounded veterans.
"Doing a program like this is so beyond politics," FbL said. "You have someone here who is hurt, and you have the ability to make their lives better, why wouldn't you do that? That's part of our success with this. How do you say no to this without looking like a total jerk? [laughs] You can say, "It's all George Bush's fault." Yes, it is, but how are you going to help? It's beyond politics and it's so human. It's a winning concept and I am lucky enough to know brilliant people who have made this project work."
Valour-IT is another result of average folks banding together online to make a difference, getting beyond petty politics and government bureacracy to get something done and do it right. It's one of those classic holiday stories of people giving of their time, their money and even the bully-pulpit space of their blogs to help others in need.
h/t BethD
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h/t Linda
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Go wish Amanda a happy birthday!
There's a present for you below the jump, sweetie.... more...
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December 06, 2006
Yay!
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December 05, 2006
You Are Vixen |
 Sexy and sultry, you're the one all the other reindeer dream about. Why You're Naughty: That fur pulling spat you got into with Dancer over Santa. Why You're Nice: Because even when you're nice, you're still delightfully naughty! |
h/t Dancer from Pereiraville
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In this article from the City Journal, sociologist Kay Hymowitz posits that there is an increasing gap in marriage between the educated and the less educated in America, and that this gap has startling implications for the children of both married and unmarried parents.
Princeton sociologist Sara McLanahan, co-author of the breakthrough book Growing Up With a Single Parent, has fleshed out the implications of the Marriage Gap for children in an important paper in Demography—and they’re not pretty. McLanahan observes that, after 1970, women at all income levels began to marry at older ages, and the average age of first marriage moved into the mid-twenties. But where mothers at the top of the income scale also put off having children until they were married, spending their years before marriage getting degrees or working, those at the bottom did neither.The results radically split the experiences of children. Children in the top quartile now have mothers who not only are likely to be married, but also are older, more mature, better educated, and nearly three times as likely to be employed (whether full- or part-time) as are mothers of children in the bottom quartile. And not only do top-quartile children have what are likely to be more effective mothers; they also get the benefit of more time and money from their live-in fathers.
For children born at the bottom of the income scale, the situation is the reverse. They face a decrease in what McLanahan terms “resources”: their mothers are younger, less stable, less educated, and, of course, have less money. Adding to their woes, those children aren’t getting much (or any) financial support and time from their fathers. Surprisingly, McLanahan finds that in Europe, too—where welfare supports for “lone parents,” as they are known in Britain, are much higher than in the United States—single mothers are still more likely to be poor and less educated. As in the United States, so in Europe and, no doubt, the rest of the world: children in single-parent families are getting less of just about everything that we know helps to lead to successful adulthood.
All this makes depressing sense, but when you think about it, the Marriage Gap itself presents a puzzle. Why would women working for a pittance at the supermarket cash registers decide to have children without getting married, while women writing briefs at Debevoise & Plimpton, who could easily afford to go it alone, insist on finding husbands before they start families? For a long time, social scientists assumed, reasonably enough, that economic self-sufficiency would lead more women to opt for single motherhood. And to listen to the drone of complaint about men around water coolers, in Internet chat rooms, on the Oxygen Network, and in Maureen Dowdworld, there would seem to be plenty of potential recruits for Murphy Browndom. Certainly when they talk to pollsters, women say that they donÂ’t think thereÂ’s anything wrong with having a baby without a husband. Yet the women who are forgoing husbands are precisely the ones who can least afford to do so.
There's lot more to the article, including at least 2 more sections I'd like to excerpt. Go here to read the whole thing.
h/t Ron Coleman at Dean's World
Venomous Kate also has an interesting take on the article.
So, what do you think?
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A Christmas meme stolen from Cobb:
1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Hot Chocolate. Egg Nog is nasteeee. NASTY.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? WRAP!! Where's the fun otherwise?
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White is too boring to bother with. Colors on tree and house. The more the merrier.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Occasionally. Usually the plastic variety.
5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually the weekend after thanksgiving. Tree stays up until at least Epiphany (Jan 6).
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? My stuffing or latkes and bacon, our traditional Christmas eve fare
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child: Hmm, that's a tough one. Let's put it this way, I can tell a Barbie wrapped up under the tree from a mile away....
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? You mean that Santa isn't just one dude with a sleigh and Rudolph? I STILL believe in Santa. Come on now.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? My Dad's side comes to our house on Christmas Eve, so we open those presents then.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? well, we have a bunch of ornaments, most of which have some meaning for us from characters to tradiational ornaments, as well as colored globes and glass icecicles. Big Gold Star for the top.
11. Snow! Love it or dread it? I love love love snow! I hate the idiots who don't know how to drive in it.
12. Can you ice skate? Nope. My ankles are too weak.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My favorite gift I ever got was DH getting holiday leave from Basic Training. The best gift I ever gave was the microwave we got Mom last year. She was shocked!
14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? The time to relax and enjoy, to sing songs and smell pine trees. To act like a 4 year old.
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Peppermint ice cream. My favorite all year round, but much easier to find at the holidays.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Christmas Eve at my parents' house.
17. What tops your tree? This year, a big gold star. Previously a Winnie the Pooh Angel (which makes a better table decoration since it is usually to big for the HUGE ASS TREE we always get).
18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? I love giving. I'm very good at it, and I love to watch people's faces light up at the surprise. I'm terrible to buy for because I want to be surprised and blown away like they are, but no one has managed it yet.
19. What is your favorite Christmas song? All of them. The songs are the best part!
20. Candy canes: One is generally enough. Really. Give me the ice cream!
21. Favorite Christmas movie? 1. White Christmas 2. A Christmas Story 3. Love, Actually
22. What do you leave for Santa? Whatever Santa asks for. Usually popcorn and fudge and a glass of milk.
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5. When do you put your decorations up? I don't decorate
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? hmmmmm.... cranberry sauce
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child: when "Santa" tripped over and crushed the Hot Wheels city my brother and I received... and he was asking what happened... I knew my grandmother had gotten up in the middle of the night and forgotten about it being in the floor...
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I've always known Santa was someone in the house; mom asked me when I was six if I believed, and I told her no; she told me not to tell my brother... too many illogical things happening where the Santa myth was concerned, and I wasn't a child who took anything at face value
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I don't do Christmas, although I buy for my kids while secretly awaiting their realization that Christmas is BS
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? blah
11. Snow! Love it or dread it? snow? no such thing anymore... global warming killed it all out... unless you live in or near the Arctic Circle or near the South Pole... anyway, I like snow
12. Can you ice skate? no
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? no
14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? When they're over
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? pumpkin pie
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? hiding in a closet until everyone's gone
17. What tops your tree? what tree?
18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? are we still talking about holidays? ME. The queen of Christmas. The one who has the Christmas blog theme up and running by Thanksgiving. The one who counts down the days until her Hubby will let her sing Christmas songs. The one who drags other people into the spirit.
Yeah, not feeling it so much this year. I've seen White Christmas twice and Ralphie 3 times. I watched half of Miracle on 34th St last night (the original) before I fell asleep, but that's it. I haven't seen Love, Actually yet this year, or any of the others. I haven't switched the CDs in the car over to the christmas ones or anything.
I guess everyone has an off year, huh? Maybe next week.
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December 04, 2006
Gas, Dinner, and T-shirts: $121.50
Finding out that the tickets you thought were at the BACK of the floor were really in the FOURTH ROW: Priceless
No really, 4th row.
From our seats before the show:
More concert photos below the jump courtesy of my cell phone....
more...
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December 03, 2006
Yay! Pictures later if I get any good ones (they generally don't mind cameras, not to mention that they often come out before the show and take pictures with fans)
In any case, here's a little bit of what we're going to see tonight:
Did I mention I love YouTube?
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December 01, 2006
Kudos to Rachel for jumping in and covering for me with such a great post!
I just spent 3 days locked in Los Angeles area hotel (literally) at a planning retreat for our university. Interesting to say the least, and definitely worth the trip in terms of understanding the individuals and issues in my workplace..... but still, I am VERY glad to be home in my own bed with DH and our princess puppy.
The hotel's king sized bed was comfy, but somehow I missed my two living hot water bottles an awful lot.
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