Music Monday: Beach Boys & Black Keys

I do not really like the Beach Boys, but my mother did. In the next ten days I am going be very busy. A trip with the kids to visit my sister in FLA, while H stays home. Then a weekend away for some last of summer R & R. Then school starts. Whew a whirlwind!

What I want to know is why are their pants so tight? And seriously, how much did they pay those girls to scream like that... so weird.

Those shirts are scary in black and white...

Now I have to say-- the Black Keys, those guys I like... perhaps it is generational. I seriously doubt my mother would like the Black Keys... in any event as I write this the night before I leave town, after battling through a week full of ear infections (E), fever, headache and chills (L & I), and general mayhem-- I am very much looking forward to seeing my sister, relaxing on the beach and getting some real time with her. It has been too long! I need ocean, sand, sun, and my sister!

And to be fair-- these guys aren't wining any groovy dresser awards either...

Scared, very scared...

I have been controversial on Facebook the last few days. I keep my Facebook limited to friends only. I did want to share my thoughts with those of you who aren't on my Facebook.

I am very scared. I am scared for myself as a woman and for my daughter, who is now a tween. I believe to my very core that Romney and Ryan will set us on a course that will send women and women's rights into a tail spin. These men do not-- based on their deeds and their words respect women as equals.

Understand my opposition to Romney and Ryan is not an endorsement of Obama. Obama has been a huge disappointment and all of our civil rights under Obama have been effected-- THAT said he does not make policy based on gender. His moves are more rooted in political ideology. Doesn't give me a warm fuzzy-- but I do not feel that Obama is going to force my daughter to bear her rapist child, if god forbid that ever happens to her... Ryan has already said that is exactly what he would do and happily so. (Heck me too-- I am still biologically able to have children. I don't want any more children and honestly given my auto-immune issues, having a child would not be in my best interest.)

So below are my unedited Facebook posts from the past few days. (I was posting links to news stories and making comments. Links to stories included in this post.)

This post from the NYT.

NYT headline: Wed and Tortured at 13, Afghan Girl Finds Rare Justice

 And this is what happens when a society does not respect women as people and their fundamental right to have total sovereignty over their minds and bodies. I am very sure Paul Ryan would object to the treatment of this young woman-- all the

while voting for and proposing laws which are the first step towards making this Afghani girl's life the life many girls in this country will be bound to lead. We cannot go back... religion has no place in government and human rights the rights of all people-- not just the majority or the powerful... how pathetic are the men who tortured this fourteen year old child...

Mitt and Paul lead not with their minds -- not with a sense of fairness and equality-- but their twisted religious dogma. The same leadership style we see in Afghanistan.

I will seriously consider leaving my home if they are elected-- my daughter will grow up in a place that values her as an equal and not as chattel.

I got called on the carpet for being unfair to Christians. I do not believe that is the case at all. I would argue and I think history backs me up here, the Afghans still practice cultural mores and behaviors that are clearly laid out in great detail in the Old Testament. For those who have never taken a comparative religion class-- the Jews, the Muslims and the Christians (who were Jews with a new Leader) all spring from a similar cultural well and the first 5 books of the Torah and the Bible are the same... seriously... I think western Christianity has progressed given what we like to call Enlightenment... However a great many American Christians keep citing those same 5 books of the Bible as the reason that women, gays and anyone else they deem "other" should not be entitled to civil liberties equal to their own. I was merely pointing out that when on sets up a society that devalues women, women's rights to choose and steer their own destiny-- well this example from Afghanistan is what you get.

I am not saying Christians cannot have the right to believe anything they want to believe, in their own homes and their own places of worship. I don't care if they stand on the village green and pray, pray privately before major events in their life... I don't wish to join them, I don't want to be forced to join them and I do not want them forcing me to live my life by their belief structures. I don't believe life begins at conception, nor do I believe gays and lesbians are an abomination. I believe every human is entitled to basic civil rights and liberties.

Since my credibility was questioned and it was insinuated that I was bashing-- I offered another example-- this time from Communist China-- where religion is not part of the legislative process.

This post about forced abortion in China...

NPR:

After A Forced Abortion, A Roaring Debate In China

I was accused of being too harsh yesterday-- so here, an example from China, where the government has forcibly controlled women and men's right to choice with respect to family planning. Government officials kidnapping and forcing abortions on women who violate a law, that is an unconscionable violation of basic human rights. This One Child policy has caused a huge gender imbalance (because hello-- CHINESE CULTURE FAVORS MALE CHILDREN and girl children are aborted or abandoned in distressingly high numbers-- because people are allowed only one shot...) and as a result, this going to have dramatic impact on the number of workers in less than 10 years... not to mention the number of marriages and child bearing for years to come, given the dramatic gender imbalance which has happened since 1979. So here is another example of why government has NO BUSINESS meddling in the very private matter of child bearing. Adults, who intend to have children, should privately decide what is best for themselves. Women should be allowed to decide when and how many children they wish to bear and care for. No government should have the right to decide-- when, where and how many children a woman should have. It is her choice and her partner's choice to a degree. It is her body... Forcing a woman to have a child against her will is no better than forcing an abortion on her-- both actions say "you do not have the right to control your own destiny and your own physical body." The government does not know what is best for me, I know what is best for me... 

China is another example of a culture that really does value boys more than girls... and then this gross violation of a woman's fundamental human right to choose when and how she will bear children has created a cultural and societal problem, that is reaching epic proportions. (It is a violation of a man's right to choose too...)

I don't want to live in either of these systems. 

I think Mitt and Paul will take us in a direction that will set women's rights back light years...  I am scared, very, very scared...

Music Monday: Spice Girls

I loved the Spice Girls. A celebration of Girls and their various passions.  (The overall closing ceremonies were crazy-- in a fun but bizarre way. It was very youthful.)

It was fun to see them back together for the Olympics. I have enjoyed the games. I think London did a great job.

I think sport reminds us that each of us can accomplish something amazing, if we practice and live our passions. I think it is amazing too, that sport can unite us in our humanity, in our desire for sportsmanship and spirited competition. I think the Olympics show us that more unites us than divides us.

Thank you for the Jolly Good show!

Happy Birthday to my Little Diva

Today is L's 10th birthday. She is a decade old. I will never forget the Tuesday she came into our lives. She came into this world on her terms... the only way she knows how to do anything-- her way. I was overdue, it had been a long hot summer. My water broke at 5 am and naturally I cleaned up the mess, made myself breakfast, changed clothes, rechecked my hospital bag for the 50th time and then, when it was really later than it should it have been, we went to hospital.

 So much has happened in the last decade. We moved to the house we are in now, shortly after she was born. Her Omi died in 2006, when she was 4. My mother died, her Grammie died in 2011, when she was 9. My Dad and stepmother divorced a few years ago, as have some of good family friends.

She has experienced the big D's-- divorce and death in her first decade. She takes it in stride.

 My baby is fierce. She is tenacious. She takes on a challenge and beats the hell out of it. She has struggled with reading--> but no one tried harder to get better and read more challenging books than L. She reads to whoever will listen, the rabbit, the cat, the gerbils, the wall, me.

My baby has passion.

She wasn't always the most graceful girl or the most talented in her dance classes and gymnastic classes, but I will tell you what, she sometimes was the one working the hardest. She is an amazing dancer and she has achieved her goal, to be in the gym class she is today. It has meant extra practice, private lessons, home work and determination. All of that said-- she is there, per-placement gym and exhibition before middle school.

 Lately her passion is cupcakes and Cupcake Wars. Seriously, she is a tome of cupcake trivia.

L has wrought great change in my life. When I had her I was at a crossroads, a professional one, a personal one and an emotional one. I think had I not let H talk me into having a baby, I would not be where I am today... L has always inspired me, challenged me and shown me that being the best of who you are born be depends directly on your willingness to live the life you were born to live. So as I tell her every night, you know I love you and no one loves you more.

Happy 10th Birthday L... You light up my life and there is NOTHING you can't conquer. You have already proven that...

A week later...

So it is a week later, a week since I went to the periodontist and let her turn my gums into something that looks like Frankenstein's monster.

Did you miss that post?

I am happy to report that I well on the way to feeling and looking better. The lower front looks way better, the roof of my mouth is less tender and the lower right molar is looking better, I am still not sure but today it looks way better and the swelling is way down.

I will admit, this was tough. It was tough, toughing out the pain over the weekend with just prescription strength Motrin. I couldn't take the other pain meds, as they make me loopy, and I had two kids to take care of.

I grossly underestimated how very painful this was going to be and just how long it would have me down.

I am still eating soft foods. Yesterday I ate solid soft foods, so some dal, some saag, and some fantastic stuffed peppers. (mind you I stuffed them goat cheese-- so no chewing.)

Until yesterday I was pretty sure I would never chew again.

I see the doctor next Tuesday morning.

I really hope this worked, because honestly, I don't think I could go through this again.