Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Oh, Oprah

I was watching Oprah, and she was highlighting the Angels Gate dog sanctuary in New York.

The beautiful hearted woman in New York goes around to shelters etc rescuing dogs in all states of disrepair. She has paralyzed dogs, partially paralyzed dogs, blind dogs, dogs with no teeth. All kinds of dogs. She has over 150 on her property.

While I was watching I was moved to tears. I had seen earlier on the same Oprah a woman whose life was turned upside down by Hurricane Katrina. I was saddened for her. But I was moved to tears.

But, then a women said that she felt so compelled to help animals because they are helpless. Domestic animals are bred to lessen their instincts, and then people take these animals and then abuse them and leave them for dead.

I guess that's why I am so affected by the abuse of animals and children, and while I'm saddened by events in adults lives, I'm not as affected. It's weird.

Monday, April 21, 2008

When in the course of human events

I think that every person has defining and reaffirming moments. Moments in which a person realizes that their path they've chosen decidedly the path they should be on.

In the course of my life, I've had very few of these moments. Today my moment was spurred by HBO.

The one thing I've continuously felt impassioned about is the study and the knowledge of history. I believe that the study of history is as important as the study of reading, writing, arithmetic and science. Without knowledge of how things came to be this way, how can we look forward and make educated decisions? The philosopher George Santayana once said "Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it." I believe this whole-heartedly. Without the study of our past(s), how are we to recognize the warning signs of imperial collapse, ineffective government, tyrannical uprisings, or atrocities such as the holocaust?

I used to believe that the study of the Greeks and the Romans was the path to understanding how things came to be this way, but I have since learned to appreciate the importance of studying the pasts of all the people of the world. I have since come to appreciate the importance of learning the history of our own Independence movement before the Revolutionary War.

I once took a class on the American Revolution, and it was the first time that I actually felt a connection with that period of history. Before I had only felt intrigued and inspired by the pasts of the ancients - the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Celts. I suppose my interests stemmed from how these peoples began their governments, religions, social structure, EVERYTHING from scratch. They began with no guiding literature of people's past. No tomes of history or philosophy to refer to.

But, in the 1770's, a group of english subjects decided that the Imperial nature of the English crown was no longer performing it's duties effectively.
From The Declaration of Independence...
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

The writing of these words was a dire undertaking. These men were english subjects, and the current punishment for treason, the actions to which they were confessing to when writing and signing such documents, was death, typically by being drawn and quartered. There is no more cruel and unusual punishment than drawn and quartering. Gruesome death, that one.

The passionate belief of these men, these men who drew upon the democratic and republican traditions of Greece and Rome, the enlightenment philosophers such as John Locke, that eventually formed the basis of the government we have come to rely on wasn't just an upstart group of codgers. These men were staking their lives, the lives of their families, their children, their wives, and the lives of their families that still resided in England, on the ideal that a more fair and more representative government, held accountable by the people, was worth death.

I was watching the "John Adams" series on HBO this morning, the first episode, when the leaders of the colonies were meeting in what we now call "Independence Hall" in Philadelphia, and these men, these passionate men, who believe with all of their hearts that they must depart from the British in order to secure a more better life for posterity, their words moved me to teary eyes.

I have stood in that hall - I have looked upon the walls that contained such revolutionary ideas and men. And while hearing these words spoken in great portrayals, it dawns on me why exactly I want to teach history to the youth of America.

While in school, the most boring subject to me was American history. The concentration of the dates of battles, the dates that all those men signed the Declaration of Independence, the dates that John Adams was in France...those things are drab. Dates are always available to reference quickly. General timelines are important in order to understand the course of events and the course of ideology that lead to revolution, to war, to new governments. The words of the men who began such a noble cause are important, the reasoning is more important than the simple memorization of dates and names.

The dismal approach to history in our public schools today is a mockery of the study of the past. Real understanding of how things came to be this way comes in understanding the social, political and economical reasons and consequences of great movements in history. Not in the one-dimensional memorization of the date of the "shot heard round the world." That knowledge should fall in line with greater understand of the "big picture", and should not be the focus of study.

So, I have reaffirmed my desire to share the history of our past(s) with youth, even if it is only my offspring that I am able to share it with.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Things I can live without, but I'm glad I don't have to!

1. eye shadow primer - I've been doing some road-tests for the past few days. I've heard a lot of buzz about the difference a good primer makes, and so I picked up some Too Faced Herbal Eye Shadow Base awhile back. So, I used one of my favorite eye shadows for two days in a row without the base, and by the end of the day there was no shadow left. I used the base today (because of hella under eye circles), started work at 5 a.m. and as of an hour ago, the shadow was still there!

2. cuticle oil - I've tried all kinds of cuticle treatments, because I've always had to keep my hands in some harsh conditions while at work. My favorite by far is Nailtiques Oil Therapy. There's no cross parabens in it, it's got a great brush applicator (no messes!), and the ingredients are several nourishing natural oils.

3. ball-point pens - I've tried gel pens, liquid pens, liquid-gel pens, and I always gravitate back to the great classic ball-point. This is my current fave, the Bic Velocity

4. Blogs - Oh my god, am I addicted to blogs, particularly the ones whose personality really shows through the writing.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

exclusionary

I've been thinking about this recently, and why things are this way, and how things have come to be this way.

For some reason, in our society today, you are either one thing or another. Apparently, Christian liberals are unheard of. Can you not be both? Can you be an atheist conservative? If someone were to say such things, you might choke on your latte.

So, when people write profiles on myspace, on blogs, on facebook, they must choose to define themselves in limited words and space.

So, on any given day, you might find a profile that would say "I'm a christian conservative mother who is pro life". And that's ok. Those are decisions that you have chosen for yourself. Great. But, by saying that you're pro-life, you're decidedly anti-choice. To me, that also comes across postulating that if you're not pro-life, you must be pro-death (and to some extremists, pro-murder).

So, if someone claims "pro-choice", the mentality is that you're pro-death as well. Well, why can't we have terms that are inclusionary, and not exclusionary? If I say that I'm pro-choice, the conversation undoubtedly turns to how really I'm pro-murder, or pro-death of innocents. Is anyone REALLY pro those things (I would argue anyone ok with the death penalty is pro those things, but I digress)? My pro-choice stance does not limit me to saying "death to unborn babies". It simply says that you have no business telling me how to run my life, moral reasoning or not. Pro-choice shouldn't limit the label-ee to anti-life.

The term pro-life is so exclusionary and demeaning to those who believe what we all do with ourselves, our bodies, our lives is simply our business, and not that of random bible-thumper or one who falls on the right wing of the U.S. politic bird.

I am a person who believes that a child should have a chance to be a child if and only if that child actually has a chance to have a childhood. If there is any way that an unborn fetus is better off unborn than born, then the choice should be left up to those experiencing the pain.
So, I resent that the accepted labels are limiting. There's not a label for someone who doesn't believe abortion is completely ok, but that it's no one business but your own in that decision anyway.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

In the words of Obama

TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA – At a town hall meeting in Indiana, U.S.
Senator Barack Obama made the following comments in response to the Clinton and McCain campaign’s attacks:

"When I go around and I talk to people there is frustration and there is anger and there is bitterness. And what’s worse is when people are expressing their anger then politicians try to say what are you angry about? This just happened – I want to make a point here today.


"I was in San Francisco talking to a group at a fundraiser and somebody asked how’re you going to get votes in Pennsylvania? What’s going on there? We hear that’s its hard for some working class people to get behind your campaign. I said, "Well look, they’re frustrated and for good reason. Because for the last 25 years they’ve seen jobs shipped overseas. They’ve seen their economies collapse. They have lost their jobs. They have lost their pensions. They have lost their healthcare.


"And for 25, 30 years Democrats and Republicans have come before them and said we’re going to make your community better. We’re going to make it right and nothing ever happens. And of course they’re bitter. Of course they’re frustrated. You would be too. In fact many of you are. Because the same thing has happened here in Indiana. The same thing happened across the border in Decatur. The same thing has happened all across the country. Nobody is looking out for you. Nobody is thinking about you. And so people end up- they don’t vote on economic issues because they don’t expect anybody’s going to help them. So people end up, you know, voting on issues like guns, and are they going to have the right to bear arms. They vote on issues like gay marriage. And they take refuge in their faith and their community and their families and things they can count on. But they don’t believe they can count on Washington. So I made this statement-- so, here’s what rich. Senator Clinton says ‘No, I don’t think that people are bitter in Pennsylvania. You know, I think Barack’s being condescending.’ John McCain says, ‘Oh, how could he say that? How could he say people are bitter? You know, he’s obviously out of touch with people.


"Out of touch? Out of touch? I mean, John McCain—it took him three tries to finally figure out that the home foreclosure crisis was a problem and to come up with a plan for it, and he’s saying I’m out of touch? Senator Clinton voted for a credit card-sponsored bankruptcy bill that made it harder for people to get out of debt after taking money from the financial services companies, and she says I’m out of touch? No, I’m in touch. I know exactly what’s going on. I know what’s going on in Pennsylvania. I know what’s going on in Indiana. I know what’s going on in Illinois. People are fed-up. They’re angry and they’re frustrated and they’re bitter. And they want to see a change in Washington and that’s why I’m running for President of the United States of America."

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Time flies...

Hung out with Holly for a bit today. We met for breakfast at Panera, and of course we end up talking about work because we have some meeting tonight and we just don't think it's going to go well. Venting about work with someone who can commiserate is therapeutic undoubtedly, but Holly suggested that we meet and not talk about work and talk about ourselves instead.

Don't most people talk about work when they get together when they're over the age of say, 17? When you spend the majority of your waking hours at work, what else is left for a person to talk about?

I am currently talking to this girl I used to babysit over AIM. When I started babysitting her, she was 8 years old. Now she's 12! She moved to Florida a couple of years ago, and I miss her and her brother so much! I can't believe that she's 12 years old - that's so grown up!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Internet peeves

I dislike ambiguous blogs.

That is all!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

...

I have good intentions with this blog - I have intentions to update on a semi-regular basis to let people know what is going on in my head, but really, what happens, is I end up complaining.

But, here's what's going on.

I'm slowly trudging through getting my teaching certification. I'm still on the fence whether or not I am liking being in school. I don't think I like being in school, still.
Chris and I have found an apartment and I can finally move out of this house! This house has been so good to me, but it's time to move on. Most people don't move out of houses and into apartments, but we're not most people. I think apartment living will be just fine for us. The apartments we found are in the neighborhood that I love in town, with lots of history and old houses and character and a kick ass cemetery, and it's not too far from everything, so that's great. It's even better that it's up on the mountain near the state park where we were married almost 2 years ago!
Many people in my life, some who are peripheral, some who are quite close, are either pregnant, trying to get pregnant, have recently had a child, or are very comfortable in their life with their children. It makes my heart yearn. I don't necessarily dream of being pregnant, because that definitely doesn't sound like it would be my favorite stage in life. I like caffeine too much.
But seriously, my heart yearns for a child of my own - my own little person that I created with Chris, that I (hopefully) help grow into a happy, stable, productive person who is loved very much. I am able to stave the yearning with babysitting and visits with my friends' children, but I don't know how effective this will be long term!
In the meantime, I'm quite happy babying my dear cat, Nettles. That cat, who is just as sweet as anyone could ask for in a cat, is many times the highlight of my days. It is comforting knowing that I have created a relationship with an animal that is so mutually beneficial.

Ok, Nettles isn't the only highlight of my days, Chris is a wonderful highlight to my days. He takes care of me, makes sure I get things done that need to get done, brings me dinner to work if I forgot it. I <3 him.