It's Official - I'm a Mommy!

Grace
Originally uploaded by Pookah.

Holy Shiite Muslim

I have had this conversation with many of my friends, but I still can't understand how backwards some of the Muslim population of the world is.

Now, before you get all up in my grill, as Erin would say, I am the one constantly telling my friends that it is not the Muslim religion itself that advocates violence, it is unstable individuals who are only looking to religion for an excuse for bad behavior. My essential point is that I honestly believe that most Muslims are good people.

However, the bad people have guns that they're willing to use so they get in the paper a lot more.

All that being said, this whole issue about the Dutch cartoons that depict the Prophet Muhammad is almost laughable. If it weren't for the Palestinian militants trying to kidnap Europeans in Gaza. What is wrong with these people?

I just can't get it through my thick skull why anyone would have to resort to violence, intimidation and fear tactics just because someone else doesn't believe the same things you do. Everything I believe in comes down to what my parents always taught me - just get over it. If someone else's behavior isn't harming you in any real sense, other than your feeling of moral superiority, then let it go. You don't have to live their life.

I feel this way about religion, abortion, gay marriage, politics...whatever the hot button issue of the day is, that is the way I roll, folks. It doesn't make any sense for the Arab world to hate the Jews for existing, nor does it make any sense that a lot of Christians think homosexuals are the devil incarnate. Yet while I don't agree with these sentiments, I can respect them, and just go about my day. The thing I can't just stand by and watch is when these people feel they have the right to hurt, abuse, or control the life of someone they don't agree with.

Seriously, what is the point?

I'm also pretty sick of the cop-out that God wants it so. If God wanted it so, all the Jews would be smitten, the gays would die out, doctors performing abortions would become sterile, etc. There is no religion in the world that advocates following god's will by destroying another life. If you continue to insist that you have that right, then you are a murderer, plain and simple, and it has nothing to do with religion. You simply have no moral foundation.

So today's news just blows me away. It's a CARICATURE folks, no big deal. Walk away.

Meme - Pass It On

I don't even know what this "meme" crap means, but I'm inspired by Heather's blog and I have nothing better to do right now.

Four jobs I’ve had

1. Pharmacy Assistant at CVS - that's right folks, I was allowed to tamper with other people's medication (Mwahahahaha!).
2. Law Clerk - didn't know that, did ya? It was awful (the tradeoff was that I sleep in Brent Stinski's freshman seminar instead). They let me go after I requested and received time off for Spring Break. When I returned, they had hired someone else and didn't even have the decency to call me before I showed up for work.
3. Babysitter - yeah, didn't think anyone would let their children spend time alone with me, would ya? Well, I needed to pay the man (a.k.a. Columbia House for all those CDs I ordered) and this was the best thing available. I did my best to twist the minds of all who were impressionable.
4. Professional Assasin, a.k.a. Special Agent - 'nuff said.

Four movies I can watch over and over
I'm a girl, so sue me. I like dramas and romantic comedies. And I prefer to watch them alone so y'all can't make fun of me for crying like the big, fat baby I am.

The other thing that is noteworthy about my movie-watching is that I am such an afficionado that I could watch ANYTHING over and over. Even paint peeling and grass growing. I'm THAT sick.

1. Dead Poets Society
2. What a Wonderful Life
3. Empire Records
4. Ever After / Office Space / Clerks / The Princess Bride

(Okay, that was more than four, but I assure you I had to force myself to stop when I did.)

Four places I have lived

1. Clinton, MA - oh, the stories I could bore you with.
2. Philadelphia, PA - hands down the best city for food I have ever encountered. Yet I still hate the people.
3. New York, NY
4. Washington, DC - the city without a soul.

Four TV shows I love
Let me tell you a little something about my relationship with the television. TV turns me into a drooling, vegetative, retarded zombie. Therefore, I don't really try to turn it on, and when I do, it may be days before I resurface again. So the following list is really those shows that I catch sort of regularly, and only because I am too brain-zapped at the end of the work day to get through all the other chores I've set for myself.

1. “America’s Next Top Model” - don't make fun. I know there are several of you out there who make special arrangements to watch things like the State of the Union address and West Wing. We are all the hugest dorks. I just embrace my dorkdom.
2. "Dancing with the Stars" - I'm not really married to this show, but I am fascinated that Master P is still on it after consistently getting the lowest scores I've ever seen from the judges.
3. "Stranded with Cash Peters"
4. "The Simpsons" - since I didn't start watching regularly until the past year or so, it's all new to me.

Four places I’ve vacationed

1. York Beach, ME - absolutely the best place on earth.
2. London, Paris, Belfast, Madrid, Munich, Dublin - all in the same summer.
3. Italy (Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan)
4. Dominican Republic

Four of my favorite dishes

1. Baked potatoes with I can't believe it's not butter, sour cream and garlic salt (I'm a slave to my Irish heritage)
2. Thanksgiving dinner - crispy turkey skin, turkey and homemade gravy, stuffing (cooked in the turkey), mashed potatoes, Ocean Spray cranberry sauce jelly that stays in the shape of the can, stuffed artichokes (my Nonnie's recipe), and pumpkin pie
3. Anything out of the kitchen at Marcel's in DC, and nearly everything Morimoto is willing to cook me.
4. Ben & Jerry's Vanilla Caramel Fudge, or two eggs (overeasy) with bacon, white toast and butter, crispy flavorful homefries, orange juice, hot herbal tea, and a half cup of good coffee with cream

Four sites I visit daily

1. Craigslist
2. USAJobs
3. Heather Armstrong's blog
4. Erin's blogs - here and here

Four places I would rather be right now

1. Since I think I'm coming down with my second cold in the past month, at home, in bed with the tv remote and my Netflix.
2. Even better, at my mom's house with her making me homemade tortellini soup and letting me veg out on the couch all day, constantly tucking me into a blanket and fluffing my pillows (moms are good like that).
3. Some tropical location I've never been to before, like Puerto Rico, Brazil, the Bahamas - anywhere close to the equator that's experiencing a high volume of sun and ocean right now. Mmmmm, sun.
4. Despite the illness, it's a pretty awesome day for hiking. I'd like to be learning how to rock climb right now - preferably somewhere out West, like Colorado, Wyoming, or some other rocky place.

Four people I am tagging
Tag, you're it!

1. Yael - and no, I don't want to hear any excuses about, "I just had a baby," or anything!
2. Darwin
3. Erin
4. Katie

Slackers 'r' Us

As a present to Vince, who's birthday is actually today, I am breaking the silence and writing in my Blog. I don't think many of you noticed that I've been away from here for a few weeks, but if you have been checking religiously every day, you might have.

Basically I'm still up to the same things: applying for jobs, applying to school, and adopting some animals. Yup, last weekend Anthony and I adopted a little girl and she is arriving this Saturday. Anthony's heart just melted when he saw her and he looked at me with such big watery eyes, and there was such a quiver to his lip, that I just couldn't say no.

Could you say no to this face?

My mom couldn't be prouder of her little granddog. She has already offered to drive out and puppysit.

Right now her name is Kate, but we are thinking of renaming her Grace. "Grace" just suits her sweet, calm personality.

Of course, we saw a lot of doggies that we loved at the adoption event and around at other shelters, but she was the best fit for our apartment and our lifestyle. (And who can say no to Anthony when he's fallen in love?) However, you can view several of the pups we met online:

Bingo

This 3-month old was my favorite scruffy dog! He just ran over to me and licked and bit my face (he didn't seem to know the difference). Then he would bound off and chase some other people (not a hint of loyalty in him whatsoever) before returning. What a precious, precious yip-yip dog.

Jazz

She was a Hurricane Katrina rescue with "Kate," with such a nice manner about her and beautiful face.

Kurt

This big bull of a dog ran over me in the Petco with his volunteer in tow. The two of them helped us pick out collars and leashes for our little girl (well, mostly he just pushed me over and sat in my lap - or tried to anyway!).

Lincoln

One of the puppies with the foster mom of "Kate." I didn't play with him because he was pretty terrified of the whole adoption event - I think it was something about the 50+ dogs milling about.

Riley

This sweetheart saw me and immediately sat and gave me his paw. There is nothing that pulls at your heartstrings more than an animal who clearly wants to be adopted. Riley, my friend, you are just too big for us! (sniffle)

Lydia

She gets the cutest puppy ever award! I saw this little furball from my perch with "Kate" and couldn't resist going over to touch her fluffy head.

We also went looking for a kitty to call our very own, but we're experiencing a little difficulty finding a rescue kitty that can handle being in the same room with a dog. There was a really big marmelade lovemuffin at one of the shelters named Poppy that we loved, but his temperament was checked with dogs and his 6-year old brain goes into a meltdown. It's too bad because I think the cat was about the same size as the dog and we know he would have f$#@ed Grace's shiite up if she ever got out of line.

But my favorite little bundle of joy isn't ruled out yet.

He's got all the qualities I look for in a man - cuddly, friendly, outgoing with people, loves to be held, and, above all else, is missing a foot! The only thing that would make him cuter is if he was missing an eye! (In case you are not familiar with my odd sense of aesthetics, I am SERIOUS here, folks.) He just lets you hold hm in your arms and never tries to get free - what a wonderful lap kitty.

Right now we are one of four applications on Chaplin and I'm hoping we are high on that list. As in number one. We have to take Grace over to the cattery next weekend to see how Chaplin interacts with a dog her size, but I'm hoping it's a perfect match. Grace is being fostered with kitties and other doggies and isn't experiencing any difficulties with any of them - it just might work! Keep your fingers crossed for me; I'm IN LOVE with this kitty.

Frankly, that's all that you kids missed. Well, there was the big Jew party last weekend, and the initial Game Night I hosted, and weeks of catching up on Oscar hopefuls (I highly recommend Transamerica and Brokeback Mountain) - but if you weren't here in DC, you didn't miss a thing.

Correction, a.k.a. Ryan is a moron

I goofed on my post about the smoking ban in DC. I will do my best to blame it on the onset of this cold I am currently suffering through, and the lack of mental faculties due to the upcoming GRE, but what it really comes down to is the general lack of time and effort put into my blog recently.

First, I made a giant leap about that greenhouse gases and ozone layer comment. Mostly I just failed to formulate a coherent thought, but I was trying to work on the sensationalism of the global warming theories and the lack of scientific evidence that global warming is indeed a bad thing. For a more coherent editorial on the matter, please go here.

As for my blunder about the effects of secondhand smoke, I suck at life. More to the point: holy shiite, have I been out of the loop. My memory is still working from a good 5-10 years ago, when all these studies had yet to be done and the switch to smoking bans in cities hadn't yet taken shape. It's a good thing I have friends like Eric to keep me on my toes. Maybe next time I will research before I leap, eh?

For more information on the health effects of secondhand smoke, please go here or here.

Please note that some recent studies still do question the degree to which secondhand smoke affects us, but that most health officials find offense with that. Eric and I haven't been able to find any original studies online through a quick search, but I am still interested to know the percentage chance that secondhand smoke will cause health issues for you, and how much secondhand smoke needs to be inhaled for health problems to occur.

Of course, being the historian that I am, I also wouldn't mind looking over a study or two to determine if their methods are scientifically sound.

The media be damned

Just as I was beginning to despair that no one feels about the media as I do, when I chanced upon an article in Playboy that decries the current state of the media. (And when I say, "I chanced upon," I mean that by chance I was in the bathroom and picked up our subscription copy.) It is the January 2006 edition, in the Playboy Forum, listed as Stepford Nation by Frederick Barthelme. The paragraph I love best is below:

Something is wrong with all this. There was a time, I think, though I don't quite remember it, when reporting was reporting, and it was reasonably measured, trustworthy, honest, decent, thoughtful and (occasionally) brave. My memory of Vietnam reporting, for example, is that reporters did not go loking for the most ghoulish and gruesome scenes, though they often found them. TV reporting then was not quite given over completely to the sensational. What we have now is a sideshow. Anything that can be made into a sideshow will be. Maybe reporters have learned that starring in a tragedy is the fast lane. Maybe producers are jsut feeding our insatiable desire.

Now go read you some sense.

Erin and I are practically twins (today)

Erin, I really dig your quizzes. They help eat up time in my afternoon.

Lao Tzu You two would probably really get along!

Founder of Taoism "In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present."

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 44% on Intuitive You scored higher than 42% on Structured You scored higher than 67% on Mildness You scored higher than 84% on Traditional

Link: The Religion Founder You Resemble Test written by Stinkbot on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test