too pissed for words right now

This is copied from the Reno News and Review. I'm about to troll around for more information on this.

Birth control under threat

By Kat Kerlin
katk@newsreview.com

Birth control pills, emergency contraception and intrauterine devices could be classified as abortion if a draft regulation proposed by the Bush Administration and circulating within the Department and Health and Human Services takes effect.

More than 98 percent of women have used birth control at some point in their lives. The draft regulation says these widely used methods of contraception could be considered as forms of abortion because they can prevent fertilized eggs from implanting in the uterus. The Wall Street Journal reports that most medical groups agree “pregnancy isn’t established until several days after conception, when the fertilized egg has grown to a cluster of several dozen cells and burrowed into the uterine wall.”

The proposed rule claims to protect the rights of anti-abortion doctors and nurses. As abortion is legal, the regulation would have little immediate effect on women taking these birth control methods, but some people fear that it could undercut state laws that promote easy access to birth control, and prompt insurance companies to drop coverage for prescription birth control, a notion Tom McClusky of the conservative Family Research Council called “fantastic” in the Wall Street Journal.

The draft regulation could still be revised or rejected. The Bush Administration doesn’t need congressional approval to put it into effect, but it also could be easily reversed by the next president.

As of Aug. 12, the world’s population: 6,716,350,368.

I don't know who's more upset about this, me or Cardo. I don't use birth control pills-- we use condoms and have plans for Cardo to eventually have a vasectomy. I have control issues and I don't take pills except for the very occasional pain reliever for headaches (this is an entirely different (neurotic) issue, that I won't deal with here). We have one (beautiful, wonderul, light-of-our-lives) daughter. We are finished having kids (and my body is, at this moment, acknowledging this). One child is enough for us, and we agree on this for a number of reasons. Although I don't use birth control pills and have yet to use an emergency contraceptive (although there have been some scares), I know many women who do. And, they should be able to continue to do so.

oh so common...and not

V is the #116 most common female first name

0.18% of females in the US are named V.

Around 220500 US females are named V!

source: namestatistics.com

Pic is the #2434 most common female first name

0.002% of females in the US are named Pic.

Around 2450 US females are named Pic!

source: namestatistics.com

I stole this from an old Gunma-Gal post.

the many woes...

I’ve decided that so much of the stress I’m dealing with lately comes from me being so horribly, negatively critical of myself. I’m so quick to point out where I’ve “failed” in life, instead of where I’ve done an okay job in getting by. (I can’t even type “where I’ve succeeded.”)

I’ve also decided that I need to begin to treat myself more kindly. I’m very much a believer of “treat others as you wish to be treated” (organized religions and I are not totally at odds) and I try to practice this in every interaction I have with others. I, however, do not extend the same courtesy to myself. Why is this?

Maybe I just can’t shake this perfectionist identity (although she has been shaken more and more often, the longer I stay in my current field). Maybe I’m too much a product of commercialism/capitalism. We are constantly shown that we are deficient in oh-so-many ways. We’re not young enough, pretty enough, thin enough, smart enough, engaging enough, sexy enough, strong enough, ecc, and there’s a product for everything. Just about. However, I have yet to purchase anything that has boosted my confidence and I don’t believe that anything I ever buy will ever help me achieve this end.

I’ve simply decided to make a conscious effort to be less harshly judging of myself. Executing this decision might not be so simple, but I’ll try to stick with it. I’ll try to look at the offensive thoughts I lob my own way and let them pass. I know that this will be incredibly difficult and will require years of shifting my mental processes, but I hope that, eventually, I will be more accepting of and more kind to my very own self. I hope you all will also treat yourselves in kind.

Now that that bit of catharsis has been enacted, on to other non-news.

As I’ve mentioned, I’m reading Gates of Fire for a class. (I have Tides of War to look forward to when I finish Gates of Fire.) I don’t know how I’m going to get through this book. I understand that war happens. I don’t like it or agree with it, but I also don’t know how to stop it. I have a hard time looking at war on a larger level. I tend to obsess about the individuals who are out fighting and killing other individuals. I constantly think about those who are not soldiers but who are direclty affected by war just the same. People who have families who may never see them again. And, often, when soldiers do make it home from war, they aren’t the same people they were when they left. I have to admit that I’m not speaking from first-hand experience. I am fortunate in that I have never had to go to war before. If I were ever forced to go to war, I have no idea what I would do. I can’t put into words how grateful I am that others are taking positions I wouldn’t. (I don’t know that these people always, or even very often, know what they are really getting into, how their lives will be different, how they will be different.) I am mainly a coward. I don’t know that I could kill another person, that I could bring death to many others, even if I didn’t see the results of my actions. There is so much I’m ignorant about on the subject (obviously), but I could continue to ramble on and on with these half-formed thoughts. I won’t.

I’ve never been a fan of war-media (books, movies, ecc) and now I’m diving into two novels on the subject. This leads me to another point: what I’m reading are novels. This doesn’t make the reading experience any easier for me. I’m barely into Gates of Fire and I’ve already read scenes that include gang-rape and torture. The gang-rape scene made me physically ill. I don’t know how I’m going to get through this book. Or the other one, which, I’m guessing, will have more of the same.

Okay, so, sorry about these two pieces of rambling. I’m off to continue reading…because I have to. (I wonder what our class discussion will be like the first day back?)

and...i'm tired

I know. You've never heard me utter anything like that phrase before.

Seriously, though, I'm exhausted. I slept two hours last night, had a short nap early this afternoon (about an hour) and went to the park and for a walk to wear myself out.

I've been trying to catch up on some blog archives, and I have actually. I completely caught up on Waiter Rant (completely addictive to me...I'm interested to see where he takes his blog now). I'm a little more than a year behind in State of Grace and I finally reached 2003 in Gunma-Gal. Catherine Newman posted today, and I, of course, read that the moment I noticed it was posted.

Although I'm catching up (yes, this is like a compulsive challenge thing with me), I keep adding more to the list of blogs I would like to read.

I might have mentioned this before, but I could totally get lost in the world of blogs, never to return from the blogosphere.

psa

These people, from whom we have bought books/videos twice at their warehouse sales, are buying used books (including textbooks), cds/dvds and software at the new Whole Foods' farmers' market every Saturday from 8-1 (I think) until October 4th.

for better or worse

During our trip to the grocery store tonight, I realized that my relationship to food is slowly changing…for the better.

Pic told us she wanted the “black” cookies. (She made sure we knew what color she was talking about by pointing out the black-as-ebony hair on the Snow White doll she was holding.) We haven’t had any Oreos or similar cookies in quite a while, but these are what she wanted. Before, I would have just grabbed a package of them and placed them in the cart. Today, I hesitated. I wanted to say no, but I am still working out this relationship with food and I gave in. I didn’t want to say no because they were unhealthy, necessarily. I would have bought some healthier version of them had Winco had such a version (something like Safeway’s O sandwich cookies…the “O” standing for organic, not Oprah), but they didn’t.

About a month back, I did purchase the Safeway “healthier” version of the cookies and I have to say, I still prefer the full fat- and chemical-filled cookies. Actually, I have a bit of an addiction to them. The day Pic was born, I was munching on entirely too many springtime Oreos, while sitting in our dark bedroom, using the computer (probably doing something school-related, as I had class that day). I no longer buy Oreos for myself because I’ll eat the entire package, by myself, in an embarrassingly short amount of time. I try not to buy the cookies, period, because I’ll probably eat them anyway.

When Pic asked tonight, I gave in and bought Oreo Cakesters (an affront to Oreos, as far as I’m concerned…but Pic and Cardo like them). I couldn’t help but look at the ingredients. Of course, that demon “high fructose corn syrup” is lurking in the cake-things. There’re also plenty of chemically-ingredients that are in no way related to natural food products.

I’ve begun to look at, and really pay attention to, more of these things. Our shopping experience was different than one we’d have had seven years ago, when we were first together, in that the only fruits and vegetables in our cart were fresh. We didn’t buy any chips. There was no candy.

I don’t mean, here, that we only bought the healthiest of products. We bought two frozen pizzas, the evil Cakesters (I just despise that word, even), non-100% juice and other stuff I can’t remember. Overall, though, our choices have become healthier over the years.

Also, I don’t mean to say that I only eat fresh produce and all-natural foods, even most of the time. I still eat a lot of junk. I’m addicted to ice cream. (I ate some tonight. We walked to the park after we put the groceries away. Then, we stopped by Cold Stone, where only I ordered ice cream – a Like It-sized oatmeal cookie batter with chocolate chips. Then, we walked home as I savored my ice cream. I joked that the beauty of the situation was that I was burning off the calories as I ate them. I also joked that we’d have to walk about four more hours before I even put a dent in the calorie consumption.) Also, we eat out too often, though I choose healthier items than I’d have chosen even a year ago.

I still weigh more than I feel I should and I've gained a few pounds in this last month, but I'm balancing my unhealthy food cravings much better than I did last summer. It's a start. Give me another five years, and maybe I’ll have something to show for these healthier choices. Let’s raise a glass of Odwalla Super Food juice/puree to that.

for all of us old, country grannies

Continuing this You Tube line of thought...

On Thursday, I presented the following videos. About each (and, among other questions), I asked who the audience is/was for each of these songs. For all of the older versions of each song, I heard the word "old." For the absolutely spectacular Dolly Parton's "Jolene," the audience, it seems, is "grandmas" from the country. And, someone whipped out her crossbow, loaded up and shot me through the hear with a dull arrow when she described Paul McCartney's "Let It Be" as boring. Ack!

Ah well, so be it.

Have fun comparing these.

Drift Away -- Dobie Gray

Drift Away -- Uncle Kracker

Jolene -- Dolly Parton (How much more do I love Dolly Parton after watching her shtick at the beginning of this? Oh, so much.)

Jolene -- White Stripes

Jolene -- Mindy Smith

Let It Be -- Beatles

Letter B -- Beetles

Even if you don't watch all, let me know what you think about the different versions. I happen to prefer Dobie Gray and Dolly Parton. On the last set, it's a toss-up. The songs are so different and serve such different purposes...I just love them both.

More random procrastination material to come at a later date, of course.