Things I Read That I Liked, 3.23.12

Hello, friends! Sorry I haven’t blogged much. It’s not that I’ve forgotten! I’ve been meaning to tell you all about my CNA training experience and how that all ended; and about our faux-garden and compost experiment and new recipes and whatnot, but…

…it’s been really gorgeous outside, so when I’m not tending to housework or cooking I’m outdoors enjoying the perfect weather. Look, you guys, it’s only a matter time before it becomes hotter than the inner sanctum of hell here in Texas. I need to enjoy 80-degree weather while I can.

…and while I’m doing that, here are some articles that I loved and wanted to share with you. Enjoy!

welcome back jesus! (from DIY dancer)

Losing Pace: Poverty and the Professional Dancer from Dance USA

The GOP’s God from Addicting Info

Mom Puts 7-Year Old on a Diet in the Worst Vogue Article Ever from jezebel (P.S. I read the article in Vogue and was horrified at the mother’s “methods.” I felt so terribly for the child; can only imagine how this experience is going to haunt her for years to come)

So much from Barefoot Foodie

 

That’s all for now. Have a great weekend!

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A few words on the contraception/women’s- health debate

I have never taken birth control pills, and would not consider doing so.

I have never had an abortion, and would not consider doing so.

Heck, I don’t even like Planned Parenthood all that much. I made an appointment for a well-woman exam at PP when I was twenty-one & broke; then walked out after I sat in their waiting room for three solid hours (and this was with an appointment. I shudder to think how long one would wait for a walk-in). I decided it was worth the extra money to go to a nurse-practitioner and save myself the time and aggravation.

All that said…

…There are over 155,000,000 women in the United States who are not me; who have different needs than me.

Those women may need birth control– either for contraception, or to help with other medical issues such as severe menstrual pain or migraines (Fun fact: a 2011 study found that 762,000 women who have never had sex use birth control pills for non-contraceptive reasons [source]). They may need one of the many services Planned Parenthood offers at a low cost. Or, heaven forbid, they may need an abortion. It’s not nice to think about, I agree; but it’s not our place to judge.

I want those women to have access to those things; things that they need for their health. It’s not a matter of “freedom of religion,” it’s a matter of human rights. This is not the greatest country in the world if a person cannot get the medical care that they need because it goes against another persons “beliefs.” When that becomes the case, we’re no better than Afghanistan.

As the magnificent Brittany Gibbons once said: “Stop reducing the importance of women’s healthcare to such a petty political talking point. It’s insulting.“

Bottom line: If you’re against birth control, don’t take it. If you’re against abortion, don’t have one. If you dislike Planned Parenthood, don’t go there.

But for the love of Pete, don’t take those things away from people who need them.

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The Prodigal Cat Returns

We both went to bed early on Monday night. I was sound asleep and didn’t even hear the knock on the door (luckily Craig did); all I heard was a woman’s voice saying “I have your cat. Come and get him.”

Wide-awake mode: Activate!

I flew out of bed and into some jeans and rushed to the door. I recognized the woman– she lived in our building, on the other side of us. She was drunk, loud, and in pajamas. As we walked over to her place, she told me– very loudly– that her girl friend had let “a black-and-white cat” into the apartment earlier, and she found him hiding under her bed. Or something. She wasn’t very clear. But! She had my cat, and that was all that was important.

So I carried home my wayward kitty– who was a little muddier and a little skinnier for his troubles– petted him for a few minutes, then crawled back into bed. Minutes later Torgo climbed into the bed, nuzzled my face and purred for a while* before curling up next to my neck…where he stayed until morning. It was good to have him home.

Prayers were answered.

*He does the purring-and-nuzzling thing to wake me up, too. Which I love, considering that the other two wake me up by swatting me in the face.

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Come Home

My cat Torgo has been missing for two days.

I don’t even know how he got out. Our bedroom window was open a few inches, but I don’t see how he could have fit his round head out through there (and the nearest landing is about ten feet down). \

When I woke up on Friday morning, only two cats were running around my feet meowing for breakfast. I figured Torgo was still asleep under our bed and would be around after a few minutes; so I didn’t think anything of it…
…until a few minutes came and went, and then a few more, and then a few more.
When Hubs woke up I told him I couldn’t find Torgo, and we searched the apartment until we’d exhausted every possible place a skinny little cat could hide. We finally had to admit to ourselves that he was simply not in the apartment.

***

We’ve searched outside for him multiple times; calling his name and asking people if they’ve seen a little black-and-white cat. Some maintenance workers reported seeing him crouching under a grill cover on someone’s porch, but he he was gone by the time we got there. He’s been seen, though. We know he’s around.

***

It’s been raining off and on all weekend. It was really bad this morning; with howling winds and tornado warnings and big thunder crashes. I’m worried sick over my poor sweet kitty. I keep praying that he found somewhere safe to wait out the storm, and that he’ll be back to us.

***

After I typed the paragraph above, I went outside to look for him some more. A kid that I spoke to said he’d seen the cat, so I went off to look for him. After nearly an hour I still hadn’t found him, and it was all I could do not to cry as I walked back upstairs.

***

Come home, my Torgo. I miss you.

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Asides: Google Screw

I Googled our zip code’s animal shelter, not realizing that I was in Google Image search and not web search.

The search results included pictures of seven astronauts, an ugly sneaker, and something labeled “RAPE POTATO.”

…..

….

…

I’m just as confused as you are, folks.

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Rush Out Of Hell (Updated)

I’m sorry, but I don’t buy Rush Limbaugh’s “apology” for one second. Not only is it incredibly insincere; but it smacks of a child glumly apologizing to another child because “my mom made me say I’m sorry.” It’s screamingly obvious that the only reason for his “apology” was because he lost several sponsors as a result of his comments.

Actions speak louder than words. A real act of remorse, on his part, would be to temporarily pull his show off the airwaves. Not permanently– just announce a two or three-week hiatus “out of sensitivity to the situation;” then take those 2 to three weeks to stay silent and think about what he did.

***

I must say that I’m happy about how President Obama handled the situation– he didn’t ignore it; he didn’t side with Limbaugh (not that he ever would in the first place), and he didn’t make a bland public statement about how we should all just be nice. Instead, he personally called Georgetown Student Sandra Fluke to expressed his disappointment over the tornado she’s been sucked into and thanked her for exercising her First-Amendment rights. What a guy! Thank you, President Obama.

 ***

The sponsors that have since pulled their advertisements from Limbaugh’s show are LegalZoom, Quicken Loans, Citrix Systems, Sleep Number,The Sleep Train, and Carbonite. Sponsors that haven’t pulled away include e-Harmony, Domino’s Pizza, ProFlowers, On*Star, AutoZone, and Hotwire. If you are a regular patron of any of these companies, I encourage you to take your business elsewhere. Sign the CREDOaction petition; or write to individual comapnies to tell them you cannot support a company that supports misogyny on such a public level.

UPDATE: ProFlowers has suspended advertising on the Rish Limbaugh Show as of 4pm CST.

***

You might say “but I don’t support contraception or birth control.” And that’s fine. But do support a public figure saying such horrible, hurtful– not to mention completely unfounded– things about another American citizen on the air? You can read (or hear) Limbaugh’s statements here.

No matter your politics, no matter your religion; I think we can all agree that his behavior is unacceptable.

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