Despite our best efforts, careful plant selection, mixing in of chicken manure, and the massive amount of rain we have been getting (too much?) - our garden is struggling. Several of the plants leaves are turning brown, and a couple plants are drooping. Why is this? Not knowing diddly-squat about horticulture, from the little I do know I believe that we have clay soil. Which is bad. The stuff was like play-dough between my fingers, is that normal? Anyway, I looked up what to do about clay soil, and they said that the addition of manure would only make things worse. Super. What we need to add is some sort of course material, like sand or compost. So, my plan is to pick up some free compost from the city, dig up my plants one at a time, turn over all the soil, mix in the compost, replant my poor plants, and then hope for the best.
Meet Fiona Lucinda the Cat posted by Amy on June 3, 2008 at 10:47 AM in Personal
Newest member of our family, and sweet as sweet can be. Plus, she has super-serious toe-hawk (picture forthcoming when I can get her to let me take a picture of the bottoms of her dainty paws).
Drunk Driver Crashes into Cyclists in Mexico posted by Amy on June 4, 2008 at 02:54 PM in St. Louis, News, Rants
Holy Crap. My jaw dropped when I saw this.
AP Report:
A car collides into cyclists participating in a race in Mexico's
northern border city of Matamoros, Sunday June 1, 2008. At least one
person was killed and 14 injured when a driver slammed into a bicycle
race.
What in the world, people? This touches a nerve with me on two issues that I feel very strongly about - drunk driving and cycling.
First of all, if I were in charge of the world, I would be crazy
harsh on drunk drivers. Like, get caught once over a certain level,
lose your licence for 2 years. Get caught twice, lose your license
forever. Get caught a third time, go to jail for a very very very long
time. There is no excuse and too many people's lives have been ruined
by this stupid, selfish behavior.
Secondly, I am not a cyclist (yet), but I passionately believe that
cyclists have the right to be on the road. I am irritated that even
now we (and by we I guess I mean St. Louis) do not take cyclists into
consideration enough when planning and building our streets. Nor do we
do enough to encourage cycling as an alternative form of
transportation. It doesn't help that I live in one of the most
sprawling cities in the country - but don't get me started on urban
sprawl or you won't hear the end of it.
Another interesting example of the importance of word choice and how our biases are revealed therein. Just now on NPR's Talk of the Nation, some lady (I thought her name was Ramona, but the website says her name was Lynn), was addressing the issue of John McCain's position on abortion. She described McCain as being "anti-choice" and said that he would "restrict women's reproductive rights" and make it harder for women to have access to "reproductive healthcare." Can anyone be mistaken about her personal views of the abortion issue?*
Of course, I don't have a problem with her right to hold and express her own opinion (though I may, and vehemently do, disagree with it). Sometimes bias in our words is not only unaviodable, but can be useful to explain more accurately what we mean. What I object to is strategically chosen words that attempt to color reality in such a way as to be deceptively persuasive.
Here is why I have problems with that lady's chosen terminology:
Anti-choice - What a terrible term for the pro-life position, as though pro-life people were against choice in general. You might as well call people who are against theft or terrorism "anti-choice." I mean afterall, aren't you restricing the choice of people to steal or blow things up by wanting to restrict those behaviors? No, the fact is abortion is not about choice whatsoever, it is about whether or not we acknowledge the baby in the womb as a person deserving of rights, and therefore deserving of protection under the law. Any attempt to couch the argument in other terms is a red herring.
(By the by, people may for similar reasons object to the term "anti-life" as though all people in favor of allowing abortion are therefore against all life. Of course they aren't. I think we should stop mincing words and white-washing the issue with terms like "life" and "choice" and just say "pro-abortion" and "anti-abortion" - let's tell it like it is.)
Reproductive Rights - As though our rights over our sex organs are somehow separate and elevated from the rest of our person! We don't talk about visual rights, or tactile rights, or gastro-intestinal rights. No, all behaviors involving and biological consequences of our reproductive system are integrated into the whole person. And I reject the notion that any person has the right to kill another human person, regardless of the fact that such killing takes place within the context of reproduction. A woman is of course entitled to her rights over her body, until they interfere with the rights and the body of another person, such as the person growing in her womb once she has become pregnant.
Reproductive Healthcare - This term is not objectionable in itself, but its use in this context is objectionable. The pro-life position does not want to deprive women of access to doctors, to pap-smears, or to any and all aspects of maintaining reproductive health. Open access to abortion is not an issue of reproductive health. Abortion in an urgent medical emergency where it is the only possible way in that moment to save the life of a woman, besides being so rare a situation as to be almost non-existant, is also a completely different scenario from the woman who wants to terminate her pregnancy for any reason whatsoever.
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*Note: Though this example is of a more left-wing perspective, I am perfectly aware that conservatives employ the same strategies. And I am also aware that the perception of the degree of bias is somewhat based on the position of the point of view of the listener.
In my return to blogging, my intention was that this blog would
eventually find a groove or niche that would help it somewhat stand out
as having a purpose and thus attracting an audience. I think I was a
bit inspired by the blogs of some people who earn at least part of
their living from their blogs. I guess I thought maybe I could try and
get a little of that sweet action.
Well, its almost been 6 months, and I don't think it is happening.
Why? Well I can think of a few reasons. 1. I am interested in too
many things, but not enough to write about them repeatedly week after
week - as the expression goes, Jack of all trades, master of none. 2.
I am not a disciplined enough blogger to come up with posts daily, let
alone multiple times a day. 3. Possibly I am just a boring writer???
Anyway, I guess in the great scheme of things it doesn't really
matter if I build much of an audience. Trying to make a blog into a
source of revenue was a pie in the sky idea anyway, and totally
unrealistic given the amount of time given to developing the blog. I
suppose as long as I enjoy writing, it is serving a worthy purpose and
therefore needs no further justification.
One thing that does help me develop content is to have regular blog
features, like my Funny Video Friday. I don't know if anyone else
appreciates these regulars, but I appreciate at least having something
that motivates and directs me towards content. So along that line, I
have come up with at least two additional features that I plan on
adding:
Music Monday Mayhem I am stealing this idea from this guy.
Basically I will shuffle my iTunes library, and let you know the first
10 things I end up listening to, thus perhaps introducing you to some
new music. If I find that I don't like this format, I might just scrap
the iTunes idea, and just write about music in some form or other on
Mondays. We'll see. Also, I love alliteration.
My New Favorite This won't be a weekly feature per se, but
will rather be an opportunity to regularly share about things that I am
currently jazzed about.
Ok, enough self-assessment for now. On to bigger and better things...
I can take a joke, so despite some initial bitter feelings, overall I can just dismiss this website as silliness. Afterall, I am hardly enamored with the Republican party either, despite the fact that I have been a Republican voter for my entire adult life. These days I lean towards being a libertarian-leaning cruncy con, and therefore I am disgusted with Bush, disappointed by McCain, and exasperated by the majority of Republican congressman.
All that being said, I am even more in disagreement with many positions the Democrats take, and I can't help but rebutt, with equally shallow treatment, some of the jibes from this website:
"Sometimes the Constitution is one big inconvenient headache"
OK,
I'm putting this one first because this is the one that really ticked
me off and inspired me to write this blog. When is the last time you
or anyone actually READ the constitution??? If you have read it, you would realize that if we really wanted to abide by the Constitution, we would be libertarians, not liberals. We would vote
for Ron Paul, not Barack Obama. Or John McCain for that matter.
Democrats and moderate Republicans alike have stopped paying attention
to the Constitution decades ago. So don't tell me that the
Democrats adhere more to the Constitution. All these promises that
Barack Obama is making - almost ALL of them should be relegated to the
States, if he actually cared one bit about what the Constitution says. Both
sides of the aisle have been overstepping the Constitutionally granted
powers of Congress for a long time now. And as for that B.S. about
Conservative Judges being the one's who interpret the Constitution to
make it fit their political beliefs, that just makes me want to puke!
It is the exact opposite! The most conservative judges are the most
strict Constitutionalists!!!! *breathe*
"We just love cheap plastic crap from China"
If you don't want cheap plastic crap fom China, don't buy it. Then the stores will stop selling it. That's how the market works. You can't lay the blame on elected officials for the decisions that consumers make.
"I don't want a cure for AIDS or breast cancer"
This is just emotional manipulation. Yeah, because that's what Republicans really think. An argument can be made that more dollars should be/could be spent on AIDS prevention than just treatment. But prevention is not the same as a cure, so to claim that Republicans don't want a cure is misleading and ridiculous. And where the heck does the breast cancer thing come in?
"I want a classroom with thirty other children"
I agree that No Child Left Behind has been a disaster. And I agree that teachers should be paid more. But throwing more money at schools is not the answer. Giving parents more freedom of choice in how and where to educate their children is the answer, which most Democrats oppose.
"I feel I don't deserve heath insurance"
Deserve?! Look, I deeply sympathize with with people who are in a tough health care situtation, I really do. The mother of a close friend of mine has been bed-ridden and near death sick for over a decade now, and this could have been prevented had her health insurance company not denied to cover the treatment she needed. That infuriates me, and I could list several more exmples of people who have been screwed by health insurance. So I am no friend to the health insurance industry as it is. But I do object to this sense of entitlement that has grown more and more vocal. Health Insurance is costing me a fortune, I am paying out of my own pocket. And while I would welcome not having to pay that cost, I also don't EXPECT anyone to take care of me. I am not necessarily against universal health coverage. I am ambivalent about it. In some cases, health insurance can be a God-send, and I am not convinced the Federal government can run our health insurance, considering how badly they manage other things. But even if we did move towards universal coverage, I would still be opposed to the socialist entitlement demanding spirit that I hear so often in the comments of my fellow citizens.
"Women just can't be trusted to make decisions about their own bodies..."
But they can be allowed to destroy the body of another? I don't think so.
"Continuing our use of fossil fuels..."
Ok, I am with the Democrats on this one. We need to be way more aggressive on cutting off our use of fossil fuels.
"Even if we're separate we'll still be called equal"
I am not sure how continuted challenges to civil rights all fall at the feet of Republicans. All the data and evidence I have seen was that the inner cities imploded exactly when the welfare state began. Hmm. I acknoweldge there are serious problems, but I reject the notion that we should expect the government to solve all of them.
"We need more minorities in prison"
As soon as people stop breaking the law, they will stop being sent to prison. I do think there needs to be a lot of reform to our sentancing system, and to the types of sentances that are handed out. For example, it makes no sense to send drug USERS to prison, where they can still get drugs and also can learn to become criminals that they weren't when they went in. That being said, people have to be held responsible for their actions, regardless of the circumstances they find themselves in. To say otherwise is an insult to all law-abiding people who also find themselves in hard circumsances.
"Texas needs more billionaires"
You know where else doesn't need more millionaries and billionaires? Hollywood. But wait, they're mostly Democrats....
"The world should be run by one big corporation"
Well let's see, if the Federal Government is in charge of my education, and my health care, and making sure I have employment, and my transportation, etc etc etc, while I am giving them huge chunks of my money...is that really any better?
Quick Red Beans and Rice posted by Amy on June 12, 2008 at 01:54 PM in Food and Recipes
I haven't posted a recipe in a while, and they seem to get higher hit counts. So today's lunch has inspired me! My version of this southern dish doesn't resemble REAL red beans and rice except that it has some of the same ingredients. This is a fast dinner to prepare, and one of our favorites. We eat it almost once a week!
Quick Red Beans and Rice (Serves 3-4)
1 cup your favorite rice (I like brown basmati best, but any will do)
2 cans kidney beans, drained (or however much dry beans soaked are equivalent)
Boil water and cook rice per directions, or use rice cooker if you have one. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in large frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion starts to get translucent. Add tomato soup, beans and spinach. Cook until hot all the way through, maybe 10 minutes. Salt to taste. Serve over the rice. Yum!
The REAL Mary Poppins posted by Amy on June 20, 2008 at 10:36 AM in
This is so funny because once I got old enough to really reflect on the movie, I had a completely different opinion of Mary Poppins. She was a total sheister! The worst is when she takes them on an adventure in the chalk drawing, and then later tells them it never happened and if they don't go to bed, she is going to call the cops. Yikes!
If you are anything like me (and heaven help you if you are) then one of your favorite things to do when your mind gets away from you is to daydream about what you would do if you had a crap-ton of money. My daydreams usually involve winning the lottery or something like that. So usually my wild fantasies stop at 10 or 20 million. Beyond that seems ridiculous. But recently I was reading a blog, and saw a meme going around that asks what you would do if you had a billion dollars. A BILLION. Might as well be a bazillion! Anyway, the blogger expressed not knowing what to do with that much money. Well let me tell you, I don't think I would have much trouble figuring out what to do with that money at all. Skipping the obvious everyday stuff like new cars and new clothes and blah blah blah, here is what I would do:
1. First off, right off the top, 10% would go to the Church. Now, $100 million seems a bit much for our local congregation, so how this would be distributed would take some thinking. My thought is we would take a major chunk of it and set up an endowment. The rest we would spread to other churches, missionaries and ministries supported by or related to our church.
2. After the 10% tithe, and with whatever is left after the following numbers 3-10, I would set up a charitable foundation. (NOT in my own name. Honestly, I don't need the recognition. I really wish I could be a philanthropist full time, and no one would ever need know it.) I would accept applications for grants in different categories: Christian Ministry, the Environment, Education, the Arts, Medical Research, and Social Issues (homelessness, child abuse, drug addiction, etc). I would personally oversee this as much as possible, and otherwise hire people I trust to run the foundation.
3. Pay off all my debts and all the debts of our immediate family. Invest enough money to allow us and our children to live a modest middle class lifestyle and to travel. Set up retirement trust funds for my mom and dad. My hubby's parents
are pretty well set I think, but we would of course be ready to give
them anything they needed. Take both my immediate family and my husband's immediate family
(which is over 50 people. I am not kidding.) on some kind of
unforgettable vacation to our own private island. After that it would be made kindly but absolutely clear that nothing further should be expected. We would of course be there in a genuine emergency and be generous gift-givers. But we would not become the family bankers, bailing everyone out and removing all personal responsibility to take care of themselves.
4. Set up an endowment for the Ranch to keep it open and in the family.
5. Buy a house along Tower Grove Park and (pay someone to) rehab it to make it totally awesome. And totally green.
7. Buy land somewhere beautiful in Missouri. Preferably along a river. Lease part of it to organic farmers.
8. Start a theatre company in St. Louis. This theatre company would be established to tell stories, interpreting the world through a Christian lens. That doesn't mean it would only tell Christian stories. What I mean is it would NOT tell stories that lead to despair, meaninglessness and amorality. We would do the highest quality theatre, exploring issues of fall and redemption, faith and doubt, mercy and justice, joy and sorrow, conflict and peace.
9. Start an alternative childbirth center. It would include childbirth and childcare education classes, doula services, lactation consultation, prenatal exercise classes, and a boutique with all sustainable products for mother and baby.
10. Have a couple kids and adopt a couple kids. Live simply, generously, creatively and grateful to God.
This last one I can do without being a billionaire, and is my life's goal.
Calhoun Tubbs posted by Amy on June 27, 2008 at 09:06 AM in
The first time I saw this video, I only though it was mildly amusing. But whenever my husband watches it (which is once every week or so) he just howls with laughter. So now it cracks me up; I find that often things are much more enjoyable when shared with someone else.
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